"For even at this trying moment our Master remained firm and unshaken."
Although it is in the first degree that the candidate is made
acquainted with the principles of moral virtue, and the second and third
degrees are devoted to more recondite researches, yet all three degrees
have their appropriate moral teachings interwoven with other allegorical
instruction. If we desired to find a word which most aptly summarises the
significance of the third degree, we could not find one more suitable than
the word "loyalty," although, of course, this does not preclude the fact
that other moral lessons are inculcated during the ceremony.
The brethren will remember the peculiar nature of the ob. in this
degree, which, while containing a definite reference to the f.p.o.f., also
contains a specific promise as to the loyalty we should show towards a
brother, by respecting his secrets, protecting his good name and
maintaining his honour, both in his absence and presence, and in
particular by never injuring him through certain of his relations.
Some masons have been inclined to criticise the last clause on the
grounds that by implication it releases the Freemason from a like
responsibility to the relations of those who are not masons. This,
however, is a gross travesty of the truth. The obligation must be
considered in its entirety, and not as if each sentence were a separate
and distinct command. The promise is one of loyalty to the Brotherhood as
a whole, and to every member thereof, as is shown by the great stress laid
on keeping inviolate th e lawful secrets of a brother. No one has ever
suggested that because a Freemason thus promises to keep a brother's
secrets, this implies that he is thereby exempted from a like duty in the
case of non-masons. Similarly, every clause in the ob. inculcates the
virtue of loyalty, a lesson which is immediately driven home by the
dramatic incidents which follow, in connection with the Traditional
History.
After all, what is the clearest moral teaching of the incident here
related, is it not loyalty to one's duty, to the promises one has made and
to Freemasonry itself? This does not mean that there are not more mystical
meanings hidden within the story, there undoubtedly are, but the moral
instruction is nevertheless of great importance.
Loyalty to duty. It is this which the story teaches us, and my readers
may be interested to know that the same theme is taught in the Mahabarata,
in the legend of the Last Journey of Yudisthira, which relates how he goes
on a long journey which ultimately ends at the gates of Heaven. There he
is told that he is welcome, but his dog, who has followed him, cannot
enter Heaven, for Heaven is not the place for dogs. Whereupon the Indian
king replies that the dog has followed him loyally throughout his lone,
weary journey, and that to forsake a friend is as vile as to commit a
murder. Rather than do such a foul deed he is prepared to give up all hope
of Heaven. Immediately on his utterance of these words the dog changes
form and stands beside him as Dharma, the god of Duty, and he enters into
heaven.
Here, then, we have the same underlying lesson of loyalty to duty, and
it should be remembered that the F.C.s who went in search, on a long and
dreary journey, were similarly actuated by loyalty to their lost Master,
and inspired by a sense of duty.
It is probably no exaggeration to say that among us English people
loyalty to duty is considered one of the highest virtues. The pages of our
history give countless examples of this fact, and this virtue probably
appeals to us more than almost any other. It is therefore fit and proper
that the culminating degree of the Craft should emphasise its importance
in almost every line in the ceremony.
We must be careful, however, not to give too narrow an interpretation
to the word "duty." The ceremony inculcates loyalty in all its aspects;
loyalty to our fellow men; loyalty to a sacred trust reposed in us;
loyalty to those set in authority over us and, above all, loyalty to the
Supreme Ruler of the Universe. The lesson is driven home by the manner in
which the opposite vice is depicted. To all right-minded men, treachery is
a peculiarly abhorrent defect. Dante places traitors in the very lowest
part of Hell and lowest of all places those who have betrayed a
benefactor. The three villains in our story are traitors first of all to a
brother, secondly, to their Master, and lastly, to their benefactor, for,
ex hypothesis, they must have received the F. C. degree from the very man
whom they subsequently treated so badly.
There is one important lesson on this subject which is apt to be
overlooked, namely, that the opportunity for the display of this virtue
seldom occurs except in times of sorrow and defeat. It is when the foemen
ring the castle round, the last food is eaten, the last water drunk and
the walls are crumbling before the assaults of the attacking party, that
the soldier is able to prove his loyalty. It is when false friends forsake
a man, when troubles creep in on every side, that the true friend shows
himself in his real colours. It is when a cause is lost, when victory
rests on the banners of the enemy, when cowards fly and false friends
prove traitors, that loyalty shines out as a glimmering ray amid the
darkness. It is tragic, but true, to say that the real test of loyalty is
usually on the brink of an open grave, and often the loyal man does not
live to receive the reward of his virtue in this life, It is, therefore,
in some ways one of the most unselfish of virtues, but it leaves behind it
a fragrance sw eeter than myrrh and a crown which is truly celestial.
