of the Three Steps, the Pot of Incense, the Bee-Hive, the Book of Constitutions, guarded by the Tiler's Sword, the Sword, pointing to a Naked Heart, the All-seeing Eye, the Anchor and Ark, the Forty-seventh Problem of Euclid, the Hour-Glass, and the Scythe. They are thus explained:
THE THREE STEPS,
Usually delineated upon the Master's carpet, are emblematical of the three principal stages of human life, viz: Youth, Manhood, and Age. In Youth, as Entered Apprentices, we ought industriously to occupy our minds in the attainment of useful knowledge; in Manhood, as Fellow Crafts, we should apply our knowledge to the discharge of our respective duties to God, our neighbor, and ourselves; so that in Age, as Master Masons, we may enjoy the happy reflections consequent on a well-spent life, and die in the hope of a glorious immortality.
