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Architecture was the supreme art and at the same time, in its larger monuments, was the principal enterprise of Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; as architecture was itself supreme over all other arts so was Gothic architecture supreme over all other kinds of buildings. The Freemasons were the builders, some believe the discoverers and perfecters, of Gothic. This fact alone is sufficient to give us a proper conception of their standing and of the ability of the men who filled their ranks. Their work called for talents of a very high order, the intelligence to design and to understand the science necessary to the construction of such a cathedral as Amiens, the skill to execute every one of a bewildering variety of details, the character necessary to carry the burden of heavy and difficult responsibilities.

It was necessary, therefore, for the Freemasons to exercise precautions in the admittance of new members to their ranks. The candidate had to be in the teachable age, from twelve to fifteen years old; he had to have a sound physique; able to keep a secret; of sound reputation; willing to submit himself to a long period of intensive training, both physical and mental, lasting some seven years. During that long period he was an Apprentice, receiving no wages, could not hold full membership in the Craft, was eligible to no office, was not his own master but under the constant direction of the Master to whom he was bound.

At the end of this period he was carefully examined in open Lodge, both as to his skill and his character; if he passed the tests successfully he was then by ballot elected to become a full member of the Craft, and took an obligation as such. In respect of his now being on an equality with all others he was called a Fellow of the Craft; in respect of his having mastered the art he was called a Master Mason. The two titles did not stand for separate grades, as they now do, but were names for two aspects of the same grade.

The Operative Master Mason was a man of proved skill in a calling that demanded a finer skill than any other in the period, of brain as well as of hand, for Gothic architecture was an embodiment of geometry in stone, and the complexity of its structure involved scores of engineering problems of exquisite difficulty.

At the same time he was an artist. No two buildings were alike. Each was a new creation, in size, in arrangement, in its adaptation to its site and purposes, often, even, in its materials, and each had a design of its own.

He was a free man. As an Apprentice he had been constantly at the beck and call of his Master, and was obligated to go wherever his Master went; as a Master Mason he could go and come as he pleased, accept work wherever he might find it, and could have Apprentices of his
own.

At the same time he was a privileged man. Other Masons (local or "guild Masons") were by the laws of the period compelled to remain in the same community all their lives and to work under local restrictions; he was free to move from place to place or from country to country, and local regulations wherever he chanced to be were not binding on him. This may have been the principal reason for calling him a "free" Mason.

He could earn money, and at a higher rate than other Masons, according to whatever contract he might enter into, not obliged like an Apprentice to work for nothing, or be, as so many other workmen often were, impressed into service of some overlord without pay.

In his own Craft he enjoyed the same privileges as all other members, had similar duties, equal rights, could hold office, and, if chosen, could become a Master of the Works, or overseer. In beginning work on a new building he could join with others in the formation of a Lodge, had a voice in the selection of Apprentices, and a voice and a vote in all the affairs of his Lodge. When among strangers he possessed modes of recognition to make himself known to other Master Masons and to prove them to be such to his own satisfaction. All the secrets of the Craft, whether having to do with the art itself or with the confidential affairs of the Lodge, belonged fully to him.

When in the eighteenth century, after Operative Freemasonry had suffered a decline owing to the cessation of Gothic architecture, and the Craft had undergone many changes and speculative Freemasonry developed out of it, like a new growth springing from the old roots, the Master Mason grade naturally was made the capstone of the new system. And while the Third Degree as we now have it is no longer Operative, differs in many respects from the old, and exists for another purpose, it remains in its fundamental character what it was originally, a Degree representing proficiency in the art of living, a ceremony bodying forth the secret of self-mastery. It was a miracle of insight which led the early Speculative Masons to see in the Operative Mason's Master Degree an almost perfect analogy of the spiritual process by which the soul learns to build itself up in mastership and to conquer the enemies and difficulties of its own life in the world.

How true this is will emerge, it is hoped, from a rapid study of the symbols and ceremonies of the Degree. In the booklets on the Entered Apprentice Degree and on the Fellow Craft Degree something was said about many symbols which recur in the Master Mason Degree; there is no need to repeat the interpretation of them; this is fortunate because it will leave us more time for a consideration of those important symbols which belong alone to the Master Mason rites.

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