Are You Still An Apprentice?

ARE YOU STILL AN APPRENTICE ?

IN its broad sense , an apprentice is a learner , one who takes hold of knowledge with his mind , or his mind and his hand together . In its Masonic sense an Apprentice , or an Entered Apprentice , is one who has received only the first degree in Freemasonry , by which he was mado a Mason .

Unfortunately , it is possible for a Brother to bo a Master Mason in name and an Entered Apprentice Mason in fact .

The Brother who has merely received the degrees and not mastered Masonry , is not in truth a Master Mason , no matter what the Lodge records may say concerning him .

In the highest and best sense of the term we should all be apprentices to Masonry through life , finding in ifc every day fresh sources of instruction and enjoyment . We should all be apprentices to Masonry , but nofc Entered Apprentices masquerading as Master Masons , feet us

recall a few instances of this class in tho Fraternity . You all have met them . Bro . Hicksum was made a Mason twenty years ago , and two months later bloomed upon the Fraternity as a Master Mason , but during tho whole of tho intervening period he

has been , afc best , but an annual visitor to the Craft , when election season rolled round and a banquet was the order of the evening . The ratio of his knowledge of Masonry regularly grew less aud less from the moment that he was

" brought to light . " He is only a Mason in the Pickwickian sense of the term . He "has been there , " bufc no one can say of him , " he still would go . " He is an Entered Apprentice of the lowest type .

Bro . Blocksum is the opposite of Bro . Hicksum in many respects , and yet he also is an Entered Apprentice . He never misses a meeting of his Lodge . He is a good workman ; indeed he prides himself on his work , but ho regards ifc as the complete body , mind and spirit of Freemasonry .

It makes the Mason , passes him to be a Fellow Craft , and raises him a Master Mason . He knows the A B C of Masonry from A to Z , but ho cannot frame these A B C ' s into any intelligible form . Ho is a parrot Mason . He has not an idea above the ritual . He cannot explain a

single part of ifc . He received ifc like medicine and it went through him like a dose of salts . The symbols , the legends , the history of Freemasonry aro to him unknown quantities . The ritual is enough for him . Ho wears a Past Master ' s jewel , bufc what it indicates he could not

tell you if he had to hang for it . He is a Master Mason , and a Past Master , by courtesy so called , but in reality he is only an Entered Apprentice . Bro . Stacksum is also a Past Master , according to Lodge and Grand Lodge records , and he is a right bright fellow

too , naturally , but he is so self-sufficient that he despises any other culture than thafc he received in tho Lodgo . He is nofc a reading Mason . He does nofc think that anything ought to be printed about Masonry . Ifc is a secret ; society and ifc should keep knowledge concerning ifc

confined strictly to the Lodge Room . This Brother forgets that every Grand Lodge prints its Constitutions and Annual Proceedings , and every Lodge its Bye-Laws , and many Lodges their histories—of courso under proper official supervision , for nothing of this character may

he placed in print without tho previous approval , in Pennsylvania , of the Right Worshipful Grand Master But all of these are in print , and many related matters besides . Freemasonry now has an elevated and elevating literature , treating of SymbolismHistoryAntiquities ,

, , Landmarks , Masonic Parliamentary Law , Masonic Jurisprudence , and the like . Ifc has also its representative journals , conducted by able and experienced Craftsmen , who know what to print and what not to print . But it cannot ieacn

~ . ~ . uwuaoum uespises an . ID mm anything , because he does not want to know it . He was born into the world several centuries too late ; he should have entered ifc in fche Dark Ages , before the invention of

S" *? „ S- We < l uite a gree with the Canadian Craftsman , that ' a Mason who does not subscribe for a Masonic paper or read a Masonic book is a " rough ashlar "—not even an Entered A pprentice .

Bro . Mocksum is an « old Past Master , " so old that he nas gone to seed . The sun rises and sets on him , in his own estimation , and skips over every one else . He knows wore than the Grand Lod ge or Grand Master , and as to

Are You Still An Apprentice?

the W . M . of his Lodge , in comparison with himself , he knows " leas than nothing at all !" Bro . Mocksum has the old Work—old as Adam , and he never intends to lose his grip on it . Anything else is an innovation . You cannot do anything with Bro . Mocksum .

He is impervious to reason , never having been brought up on ifc . He will live , die and bo buried an Entered Apprentice Mason , for ho only thought he was a Master . Brother reader , do not bo an Entered Apprentice , "don't be a clam , " but always be an apprentice to

Masonry . See , hoar , road , mark , learn and inwardly digest all you can about it . It is worthy of your closest study . You will find this study a perennial source of

enjoyment , and while you live and when you die you will have the satisfaction of feeling and knowing that you were a Master Mason , and not merely an Entered Apprentice . —Keystone

Traditional And Historic Masonry.

TRADITIONAL AND HISTORIC MASONRY .

TRADITION has its uses . It serves to perpetuate much of truth and excellence that else would bo lost to the world . Tradition , depending on oral communications for the most part , sends on , from ono generation to another ,

very much of truth and knowledge that does not appear in written history . Thus important doctrines , rites , practices , and customs , maintain a hold upon human thought and faith , even if not attested by historical evidence .

It is a good rule , '" Mock not at an ancient tradition . A Christian Apostle exhorts in this wise : " Standfast , and hold the traditions which ye have been taught "—the plain implication of such an injunction being thafc there is value

in traditional lore . But care needs to bo taken to adjust tho results of tradition with the well ascertained facts of history ; and to keep in remembrance the fact thafc everything is comparative , and hence that true history is more important than doubtful traditions .

Traditional Masonry builds npon resemblances thafc can be traced between itself and certain societies of a very remote period , thereby establishing a sort of alliance between tho modern organization and the Pythagoreans , the Eleusinians , tho Essenes , the Druids , and other

associations . Ifc brings into account an abundance of legends that seem to justify such a relationship , at least an evolution the steps of whose progress are distinctly

shown . By tradition and legend Freemasonry is linked with the earliest period of time , and with a great number of mysterious societies of which some record has bsen preserved .

In the same way , only along lines clearly drawn , Freemasonry is identified with the scenes and personages of the Hebrew nation . The ritual of the Craft refers to Moses , Joshua , Aholiab , Bezaleel and others who lived at the time of the Exodus , and who may have established or been

prominent in some kind of a Fraternal association . Bufc there is no certain evidence thafc theso ancient worthies wero thus bound in Fellowship by ties akin to Masonic bonds , or that any Fraternity at all like Freemasonry existed in thoir day . There is about as much difficulty in

the attempt to identify Freemasonry with King Solomon and the building of the great Temple . The traditions and legends of tho Craft in this regard are all right . We would not ask to have them abrogated , but ifc is absurd to

claim that Freemasonry , as a system or an institution , is derived from Solomon and the two Hirams , who were the first throe Grand Masters . There is no historic chain of connection between the events and personages of that age and the Masonic Institution of our day .

How far back can we trace the line of historic Masonry ? Evidently we can go back of the date of the Revival—1717 . There was something to be revived at that time . The testimony is ample and conclusive that there were Lodges of Masons in Great Britain as early as the middle of the

seventeenth century , while there is good reason to believe that such organizations were in existence at a much earlier date . That the associations which then existed had many of the features which characterise the modern

Institution cannot be doubted . They recognised the bond of fraternity—they were pledged to mutual helpfulnessthey enacted certain ceremonies—communicated to candidates the Master ' s word , and recognised a classification of degrees according to the divisions now observed . Those