THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

Still more binding, if possible, were the vows of a Fellowcraft when
he was elevated to the dignity of Master of the Lodge or of the Work.
Once more he took solemn oath to keep the secrets of the order
unprofaned, and more than one old MS quotes the Golden Rule as the law
of the Master's office. He must be steadfast, trusty, and true; pay
his Fellows truly; take no bribe; and as a judge stand upright. He
must attend the annual Assembly, unless disabled by illness, if within
fifty miles--the distance varying, however, in different MSS. He must
be careful in admitting Apprentices, taking only such as are fit both
physically and morally, and keeping none without assurance that he
would stay seven years in order to learn his craft. He must be patient
with his pupils, instruct them diligently, encourage them with
increased pay, and not permit them to work at night, "unless in the
pursuit of knowledge, which shall be a sufficient excuse." He must be
wise and discreet, and undertake no work he cannot both perform and
complete equally to the profit of his employer and the craft. Should a
Fellow be overtaken by error, he must be gentle, skilful, and
forgiving, seeking rather to help than to hurt, abjuring scandal and
bitter words. He must not attempt to supplant a Master of the Lodge or
of the Work, or belittle his work, but recommend it and assist him in
improving it. He must be liberal in charity to those in need, helping
a Fellow who has fallen upon evil lot, giving him work and wages for
at least a fortnight, or if he has no work, "relieve him with money to
defray his reasonable charges to the next Lodge." For the rest, he
must in all ways act in a manner befitting the nobility of his office
and his order.
Such were some of the laws of the moral life by which the old
Craft-masonry sought to train its members, not only to be good
workmen, but to be good and true men, serving their Fellows; to which,
as the Rawlinson MS tells us, "divers new articles have been added by
the free choice and good consent and best advice of the Perfect and
True Masons, Masters, and Brethren." If, as an ethic of life, these
laws seem simple and rudimentary, they are none the less fundamental,
and they remain to this day the only gate and way by which those must
enter who would go up to the House of the Lord. As such they are great
and saving things to lay to heart and act upon, and if Masonry taught
nothing else its title to the respect of mankind would be clear. They
have a double aspect: first, the building of a spiritual man upon
immutable moral foundations; and second, the great and simple
religious faith in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, and
the Life Eternal, taught by Masonry from its earliest history to this
good day. Morality and theistic religion--upon these two rocks
Masonry has always stood, and they are the only basis upon which man
may ever hope to rear the spiritual edifice of his life, even to the
capstone thereof.
II
Imagine, now, a band of these builders, bound together by solemn vows
and mutual interests, journeying over the most abominable roads toward
the site selected for an abbey or cathedral. Traveling was attended
with many dangers, and the company was therefore always well armed,
the disturbed state of the country rendering such a precaution
necessary. Tools and provisions belonging to the party were carried on