The upright posture of the Apprentice in the Northeast Corner, as a symbol of upright conduct, was emphasized in the ritual by Preston, who taught in his lectures that the candidate then represented "a just and upright man and Mason." The same symbolism is referred to by Hutchinson, who says that "as the builder who raises his column by the plane and perpendicular, so should the Mason carry himself toward the world." Indeed, the application of the Corner-stone, or the Square Stone, as a symbol of uprightness of conduct, which is precisely the Masonic symbolism of the candidate in the Northeast, was familiar to the ancients; for Plato says that he who valiantly sustains the shocks of adverse fortune, demeaning himself uprightly, is truly good and of a square posture.
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This page is adapted from the Glossary at Phoenixmasonry — Used with permission.
