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The Symbolism of Freemasonry

Albert G. Mackey

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Title: The Symbolism of Freemasonry

Author: Albert G. Mackey

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Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the work.

This book contains words and phrases in both Greek and Hebrew. Greek

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The Symbolism of Freemasonry:

Illustrating and Explaining

Its Science and Philosophy, its Legends,

Myths and Symbols.

Albert G. Mackey, M.D.,

"_Ea enim quae scribuntur tria habere decent, utilitatem praesentem,

certum finem, inexpugnabile fundamentum._"

Cardanus.

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1882.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by ALBERT G.

MACKEY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of

South Carolina.

To General John C. Fremont.

My Dear Sir:

While any American might be proud of associating his name with that of

one who has done so much to increase the renown of his country, and to

enlarge the sum of human knowledge, this book is dedicated to you as a

slight testimonial of regard for your personal character, and in grateful

recollection of acts of friendship.

Yours very truly,

A. G. Mackey.

Preface.

Of the various modes of communicating instruction to the uninformed, the

masonic student is particularly interested in two; namely, the instruction

by legends and that by symbols. It is to these two, almost exclusively,

that he is indebted for all that he knows, and for all that he can know,

of the philosophic system which is taught in the institution. All its

mysteries and its dogmas, which constitute its philosophy, are intrusted

for communication to the neophyte, sometimes to one, sometimes to the

other of these two methods of instruction, and sometimes to both of them

combined. The Freemason has no way of reaching any of the esoteric

teachings of the Order except through the medium of a legend or a symbol.

A legend differs from an historical narrative only in this--that it is

without documentary evidence of authenticity. It is the offspring solely

of tradition. Its details may be true in part or in whole. There may be no

internal evidence to the contrary, or there may be internal evidence that

they are altogether false. But neither the possibility of truth in the one

case, nor the certainty of falsehood in the other, can remove the

traditional narrative from the class of legends. It is a legend simply

because it rests on no written foundation. It is oral, and therefore

legendary.

In grave problems of history, such as the establishment of empires, the

discovery and settlement of countries, or the rise and fall of dynasties,

the knowledge of the truth or falsity of the legendary narrative will be

of importance, because the value of history is impaired by the imputation

of doubt. But it is not so in Freemasonry. Here there need be no absolute

question of the truth or falsity of the legend. The object of the masonic

legends is not to establish historical facts, but to convey philosophical

doctrines. They are a method by which esoteric instruction is

communicated, and the student accepts them with reference to nothing else

except their positive use and meaning as developing masonic dogmas. Take,

ads:

for instance, the Hiramic legend of the third degree. Of what importance

is it to the disciple of Masonry whether it be true or false? All that he

wants to know is its internal signification; and when he learns that it is

intended to illustrate the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, he is

content with that interpretation, and he does not deem it necessary,

except as a matter of curious or antiquarian inquiry, to investigate its

historical accuracy, or to reconcile any of its apparent contradictions.

So of the lost keystone; so of the second temple; so of the hidden ark:

these are to him legendary narratives, which, like the casket, would be of

no value were it not for the precious jewel contained within. Each of

these legends is the expression of a philosophical idea.

But there is another method of masonic instruction, and that is by

symbols. No science is more ancient than that of symbolism. At one time,

nearly all the learning of the world was conveyed in symbols. And although

modern philosophy now deals only in abstract propositions, Freemasonry

still cleaves to the ancient method, and has preserved it in its

primitive importance as a means of communicating knowledge.

According to the derivation of the word from the Greek, "to symbolize"

signifies "to compare one thing with another." Hence a symbol is the

expression of an idea that has been derived from the comparison or

contrast of some object with a moral conception or attribute. Thus we say

that the plumb is a symbol of rectitude of conduct. The physical qualities

of the plumb are here compared or contrasted with the moral conception of

virtue, or rectitude. Then to the Speculative Mason it becomes, after he

has been taught its symbolic meaning, the visible expression of the idea

of moral uprightness.

But although there are these two modes of instruction in Freemasonry,--by

legends and by symbols,--there really is no radical difference between the

two methods. The symbol is a visible, and the legend an audible

representation of some contrasted idea--of some moral conception produced

from a comparison. Both the legend and the symbol relate to dogmas of a

deep religious character; both of them convey moral sentiments in the same

peculiar method, and both of them are designed by this method to

illustrate the philosophy of Speculative Masonry.

To investigate the recondite meaning of these legends and symbols, and to

elicit from them the moral and philosophical lessons which they were

intended to teach, is to withdraw the veil with which ignorance and

indifference seek to conceal the true philosophy of Freemasonry.

To study the symbolism of Masonry is the only way to investigate its

philosophy. This is the portal of its temple, through which alone we can

gain access to the sacellum where its aporrheta are concealed.

Its philosophy is engaged in the consideration of propositions relating to

God and man, to the present and the future life. Its science is the

symbolism by which these propositions are presented to the mind.

The work now offered to the public is an effort to develop and explain

this philosophy and science. It will show that there are in Freemasonry

the germs of profound speculation. If it does not interest the learned, it

may instruct the ignorant. If so, I shall not regret the labor and

research that have been bestowed upon its composition.

ALBERT G. MACKEY, M.D.

CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 22, 1869.

Contents.

I. Preliminary.

II. The Noachidae.

III. The Primitive Freemasonry of Antiquity.

IV. The Spurious Freemasonry of Antiquity.

V. The Ancient Mysteries.

VI. The Dionysiac Artificers.

VII. The Union of Speculative and Operative Masonry at the Temple of

Solomon.

VIII. The Travelling Freemasons of the Middle Ages.

IX. Disseverance of the Operative Element.

X. The System of Symbolic Instruction.

XI. The Speculative Science and the Operative Art.

XII. The Symbolism of Solomon's Temple.

XIII. The Form of the Lodge.

XIV. The Officers of a Lodge.

XV. The Point within a Circle.

XVI. The Covering of the Lodge.

XVII. Ritualistic Symbolism.

XVIII. The Rite of Discalceation.

XIX. The Rite of Investiture.

XX. The Symbolism of the Gloves.

XXI. The Rite of Circumambulation.

XXII. The Rite of Intrusting, and the Symbolism of Light.

XXIII. Symbolism of the Corner-stone.

XXIV. The Ineffable Name.

XXV. The Legends of Freemasonry.

XXVI. The Legend of the Winding Stairs.

XXVII. The Legend of the Third Degree.

XXVIII. The Sprig of Acacia.

XXIX. The Symbolism of Labor.

XXX. The Stone of Foundation.

XXXI. The Lost Word.

Synoptical Index.

Preliminary.

The Origin and Progress of Freemasonry.

Any inquiry into the symbolism and philosophy of Freemasonry must

necessarily be preceded by a brief investigation of the origin and history

of the institution. Ancient and universal as it is, whence did it arise?

What were the accidents connected with its birth? From what kindred or

similar association did it spring? Or was it original and autochthonic,

independent, in its inception, of any external influences, and unconnected

with any other institution? These are questions which an intelligent

investigator will be disposed to propound in the very commencement of the

inquiry; and they are questions which must be distinctly answered before

he can be expected to comprehend its true character as a symbolic

institution. He must know something of its antecedents, before he can

appreciate its character.

But he who expects to arrive at a satisfactory solution of this inquiry

must first--as a preliminary absolutely necessary to success--release

himself from the influence of an error into which novices in Masonic

philosophy are too apt to fall. He must not confound the doctrine of

Freemasonry with its outward and extrinsic form. He must not suppose that

certain usages and ceremonies, which exist at this day, but which, even

now, are subject to extensive variations in different countries,

constitute the sum and substance of Freemasonry. "Prudent antiquity," says

Lord Coke, "did for more solemnity and better memory and observation of

that which is to be done, express substances under ceremonies." But it

must be always remembered that the ceremony is not the substance. It is

but the outer garment which covers and perhaps adorns it, as clothing does

the human figure. But divest man of that outward apparel, and you still

have the microcosm, the wondrous creation, with all his nerves, and bones,

and muscles, and, above all, with his brain, and thoughts, and feelings.

And so take from Masonry these external ceremonies, and you still have

remaining its philosophy and science. These have, of course, always

continued the same, while the ceremonies have varied in different ages,

and still vary in different countries.

The definition of Freemasonry that it is "a science of morality, veiled in

allegory, and illustrated by symbols," has been so often quoted, that,

were it not for its beauty, it would become wearisome. But this definition

contains the exact principle that has just been enunciated. Freemasonry

is a science--a philosophy--a system of doctrines which is taught, in a

manner peculiar to itself, by allegories and symbols. This is its internal

character. Its ceremonies are external additions, which affect not its

substance.

Now, when we are about to institute an inquiry into the origin of

Freemasonry, it is of this peculiar system of philosophy that we are to

inquire, and not of the ceremonies which have been foisted on it. If we

pursue any other course we shall assuredly fall into error.

Thus, if we seek the origin and first beginning of the Masonic philosophy,

we must go away back into the ages of remote antiquity, when we shall find

this beginning in the bosom of kindred associations, where the same

philosophy was maintained and taught. But if we confound the ceremonies of

Masonry with the philosophy of Masonry, and seek the origin of the

institution, moulded into outward form as it is to-day, we can scarcely be

required to look farther back than the beginning of the eighteenth

century, and, indeed, not quite so far. For many important modifications

have been made in its rituals since that period.

Having, then, arrived at the conclusion that it is not the Masonic ritual,

but the Masonic philosophy, whose origin we are to investigate, the next

question naturally relates to the peculiar nature of that philosophy.

Now, then, I contend that the philosophy of Freemasonry is engaged in the

contemplation of the divine and human character; of GOD as one eternal,

self-existent being, in contradiction to the mythology of the ancient

peoples, which was burdened with a multitude of gods and goddesses, of

demigods and heroes; of MAN as an immortal being, preparing in the present

life for an eternal future, in like contradiction to the ancient

philosophy, which circumscribed the existence of man to the present life.

These two doctrines, then, of the unity of God and the immortality of the

soul, constitute the philosophy of Freemasonry. When we wish to define it

succinctly, we say that it is an ancient system of philosophy which

teaches these two dogmas. And hence, if, amid the intellectual darkness

and debasement of the old polytheistic religions, we find interspersed

here and there, in all ages, certain institutions or associations which

taught these truths, and that, in a particular way, allegorically and

symbolically, then we have a right to say that such institutions or

associations were the incunabula--the predecessors--of the Masonic

institution as it now exists.

With these preliminary remarks the reader will be enabled to enter upon

the consideration of that theory of the origin of Freemasonry which I

advance in the following propositions:--

1. In the first place, I contend that in the very earliest ages of the

world there were existent certain truths of vast importance to the welfare

and happiness of humanity, which had been communicated,--no matter how,

but,--most probably, by direct inspiration from God to man.

2. These truths principally consisted in the abstract propositions of the

unity of God and the immortality of the soul. Of the truth of these two

propositions there cannot be a reasonable doubt. The belief in these

truths is a necessary consequence of that religious sentiment which has

always formed an essential feature of human nature. Man is, emphatically,

and in distinction from all other creatures, a religious animal. Gross

commences his interesting work on "The Heathen Religion in its Popular and

Symbolical Development" by the statement that "one of the most remarkable

phenomena of the human race is the universal existence of religious

ideas--a belief in something supernatural and divine, and a worship

corresponding to it." As nature had implanted the religious sentiment, the

same nature must have directed it in a proper channel. The belief and the

worship must at first have been as pure as the fountain whence they

flowed, although, in subsequent times, and before the advent of Christian

light, they may both have been corrupted by the influence of the priests

and the poets over an ignorant and superstitious people. The first and

second propositions of my theory refer only to that primeval period which

was antecedent to these corruptions, of which I shall hereafter speak.

3. These truths of God and immortality were most probably handed down

through the line of patriarchs of the race of Seth, but were, at all

events, known to Noah, and were by him communicated to his immediate

descendants.

4. In consequence of this communication, the true worship of God

continued, for some time after the subsidence of the deluge, to be

cultivated by the Noachidae, the Noachites, or the descendants of Noah.

5. At a subsequent period (no matter when, but the biblical record places

it at the attempted building of the tower of Babel), there was a secession

of a large number of the human race from the Noachites.

6. These seceders rapidly lost sight of the divine truths which had been

communicated to them from their common ancestor, and fell into the most

grievous theological errors, corrupting the purity of the worship and the

orthodoxy of the religious faith which they had primarily received.

7. These truths were preserved in their integrity by but a very few in the

patriarchal line, while still fewer were enabled to retain only dim and

glimmering portions of the true light.

8. The first class was confined to the direct descendants of Noah, and the

second was to be found among the priests and philosophers, and, perhaps,

still later, among the poets of the heathen nations, and among those whom

they initiated into the secrets of these truths. Of the prevalence of

these religious truths among the patriarchal descendants of Noah, we have

ample evidence in the sacred records. As to their existence among a body

of learned heathens, we have the testimony of many intelligent writers who

have devoted their energies to this subject. Thus the learned Grote, in

his "History of Greece," says, "The allegorical interpretation of the

myths has been, by several learned investigators, especially by Creuzer,

connected with the hypothesis of _an ancient and highly instructed body of

priests_, having their origin either in Egypt or in the East, and

communicating to the rude and barbarous Greeks religious, physical, and

historical knowledge, _under the veil of symbols_." What is here said only

of the Greeks is equally applicable to every other intellectual nation of

antiquity.

9. The system or doctrine of the former class has been called by Masonic

writers the "Pure or Primitive Freemasonry" of antiquity, and that of the

latter class the "Spurious Freemasonry" of the same period. These terms

were first used, if I mistake not, by Dr. Oliver, and are intended to

refer--the word _pure_ to the doctrines taught by the descendants of Noah

in the Jewish line and the word _spurious_ to his descendants in the

heathen or Gentile line.

10. The masses of the people, among the Gentiles especially, were totally

unacquainted with this divine truth, which was the foundation stone of

both species of Freemasonry, the pure and the spurious, and were deeply

immersed in the errors and falsities of heathen belief and worship.

11. These errors of the heathen religions were not the voluntary

inventions of the peoples who cultivated them, but were gradual and almost

unavoidable corruptions of the truths which had been at first taught by

Noah; and, indeed, so palpable are these corruptions, that they can be

readily detected and traced to the original form from which, however much

they might vary among different peoples, they had, at one time or another,

deviated. Thus, in the life and achievements of Bacchus or Dionysus, we

find the travestied counterpart of the career of Moses, and in the name of

Vulcan, the blacksmith god, we evidently see an etymological corruption of

the appellation of Tubal Cain, the first artificer in metals. For

_Vul-can_ is but a modified form of _Baal-Cain_, the god Cain.

12. But those among the masses--and there were some--who were made

acquainted with the truth, received their knowledge by means of an

initiation into certain sacred Mysteries, in the bosom of which it was

concealed from the public gaze.

13. These Mysteries existed in every country of heathendom, in each under

a different name, and to some extent under a different form, but always

and everywhere with the same design of inculcating, by allegorical and

symbolic teachings, the great Masonic doctrines of the unity of God and

the immortality of the soul. This is an important proposition, and the

fact which it enunciates must never be lost sight of in any inquiry into

the origin of Freemasonry; for the pagan Mysteries were to the spurious

Freemasonry of antiquity precisely what the Masters' lodges are to the

Freemasonry of the present day. It is needless to offer any proof of their

existence, since this is admitted and continually referred to by all

historians, ancient and modern; and to discuss minutely their character

and organization would occupy a distinct treatise. The Baron de Sainte

Croix has written two large volumes on the subject, and yet left it

unexhausted.

14. These two divisions of the Masonic Institution which were defined in

the 9th proposition, namely, the pure or primitive Freemasonry among the

Jewish descendants of the patriarchs, who are called, by way of

distinction, the Noachites, or descendants of Noah, because they had not

forgotten nor abandoned the teachings of their great ancestor, and the

spurious Freemasonry practised among the pagan nations, flowed down the

stream of time in parallel currents, often near together, but never

commingling.

15. But these two currents were not always to be kept apart, for,

springing, in the long anterior ages, from one common fountain,--that

ancient priesthood of whom I have already spoken in the 8th

proposition,--and then dividing into the pure and spurious Freemasonry of

antiquity, and remaining separated for centuries upon centuries, they at

length met at the building of the great temple of Jerusalem, and were

united, in the instance of the Israelites under King Solomon, and the

Tyrians under Hiram, King of Tyre, and Hiram Abif. The spurious

Freemasonry, it is true, did not then and there cease to exist. On the

contrary, it lasted for centuries subsequent to this period; for it was

not until long after, and in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, that

the pagan Mysteries were finally and totally abolished. But by the union

of the Jewish or pure Freemasons and the Tyrian or spurious Freemasons at

Jerusalem, there was a mutual infusion of their respective doctrines and

ceremonies, which eventually terminated in the abolition of the two

distinctive systems and the establishment of a new one, that may be

considered as the immediate prototype of the present institution. Hence

many Masonic students, going no farther back in their investigations than

the facts announced in this 15th proposition, are content to find the

origin of Freemasonry at the temple of Solomon. But if my theory be

correct, the truth is, that it there received, not its birth, but only a

new modification of its character. The legend of the third degree--the

golden legend, the _legenda aurea_--of Masonry was there adopted by pure

Freemasonry, which before had no such legend, from spurious Freemasonry.

But the legend had existed under other names and forms, in all the

Mysteries, for ages before. The doctrine of immortality, which had

hitherto been taught by the Noachites simply as an abstract proposition,

was thenceforth to be inculcated by a symbolic lesson--the symbol of Hiram

the Builder was to become forever after the distinctive feature of

Freemasonry.

16. But another important modification was effected in the Masonic system

at the building of the temple. Previous to the union which then took

place, the pure Freemasonry of the Noachites had always been speculative,

but resembled the present organization in no other way than in the

cultivation of the same abstract principles of divine truth.

17. The Tyrians, on the contrary, were architects by profession, and, as

their leaders were disciples of the school of the spurious Freemasonry,

they, for the first time, at the temple of Solomon, when they united with

their Jewish contemporaries, infused into the speculative science, which

was practised by the latter, the elements of an operative art.

18. Therefore the system continued thenceforward, for ages, to present the

commingled elements of operative and speculative Masonry. We see this in

the _Collegia Fabrorum_, or Colleges of Artificers, first established at

Rome by Numa, and which were certainly of a Masonic form in their

organization; in the Jewish sect of the Essenes, who wrought as well as

prayed, and who are claimed to have been the descendants of the temple

builders, and also, and still more prominently, in the Travelling

Freemasons of the middle ages, who identify themselves by their very name

with their modern successors, and whose societies were composed of learned

men who thought and wrote, and of workmen who labored and built. And so

for a long time Freemasonry continued to be both operative and

speculative.

19. But another change was to be effected in the institution to make it

precisely what it now is, and, therefore, at a very recent period

(comparatively speaking), the operative feature was abandoned, and

Freemasonry became wholly speculative. The exact time of this change is

not left to conjecture. It took place in the reign of Queen Anne, of

England, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Preston gives us the

very words of the decree which established this change, for he says that

at that time it was agreed to "that the privileges of Masonry should no

longer be restricted to operative Masons, but extend to men of various

professions, provided they were regularly approved and initiated into the

order."

The nineteen propositions here announced contain a brief but succinct view

of the progress of Freemasonry from its origin in the early ages of the

world, simply as a system of religious philosophy, through all the

modifications to which it was submitted in the Jewish and Gentile races,

until at length it was developed in its present perfected form. During all

this time it preserved unchangeably certain features that may hence be

considered as its specific characteristics, by which it has always been

distinguished from every other contemporaneous association, however such

association may have simulated it in outward form. These characteristics

are, first, the doctrines which it has constantly taught, namely, that of

the unity of God and that of the immortality of the soul; and, secondly,

the manner in which these doctrines have been taught, namely, by symbols

and allegories.

Taking these characteristics as the exponents of what Freemasonry is, we

cannot help arriving at the conclusion that the speculative Masonry of the

present day exhibits abundant evidence of the identity of its origin with

the spurious Freemasonry of the ante-Solomonic period, both systems coming

from the same pure source, but the one always preserving, and the other

continually corrupting, the purity of the common fountain. This is also

the necessary conclusion as a corollary from the propositions advanced in

this essay.

There is also abundant evidence in the history, of which these

propositions are but a meagre outline, that a manifest influence was

exerted on the pure or primitive Freemasonry of the Noachites by the

Tyrian branch of the spurious system, in the symbols, myths, and legends

which the former received from the latter, but which it so modified and

interpreted as to make them consistent with its own religious system. One

thing, at least, is incapable of refutation; and that is, that we are

indebted to the Tyrian Masons for the introduction of the symbol of Hiram

Abif. The idea of the symbol, although modified by the Jewish Masons, is

not Jewish in its inception. It was evidently borrowed from the pagan

mysteries, where Bacchus, Adonis, Proserpine, and a host of other

apotheosized beings play the same role that Hiram does in the Masonic

mysteries.

And lastly, we find in the technical terms of Masonry, in its working

tools, in the names of its grades, and in a large majority of its symbols,

ample testimony of the strong infusion into its religious philosophy of

the elements of an operative art. And history again explains this fact by

referring to the connection of the institution with the Dionysiac

Fraternity of Artificers, who were engaged in building the temple of

Solomon, with the Workmen's Colleges of Numa, and with the Travelling

Freemasons of the middle ages, who constructed all the great buildings of

that period.

These nineteen propositions, which have been submitted in the present

essay, constitute a brief summary or outline of a theory of the true

origin of Freemasonry, which long and patient investigation has led me to

adopt. To attempt to prove the truth of each of these propositions in its

order by logical demonstration, or by historical evidence, would involve

the writing of an elaborate treatise. They are now offered simply as

suggestions on which the Masonic student may ponder. They are but intended

as guide-posts, which may direct him in his journey should he undertake

the pleasant although difficult task of instituting an inquiry into the

origin and progress of Freemasonry from its birth to its present state of

full-grown manhood.

But even in this abridged form they are absolutely necessary as

preliminary to any true understanding of the symbolism of Freemasonry.

II.

The Noachidae.

I proceed, then, to inquire into the historical origin of Freemasonry, as

a necessary introduction to any inquiry into the character of its

symbolism. To do this, with any expectation of rendering justice to the

subject, it is evident that I shall have to take my point of departure at

a very remote era. I shall, however, review the early and antecedent

history of the institution with as much brevity as a distinct

understanding of the subject will admit.

Passing over all that is within the antediluvian history of the world, as

something that exerted, so far as our subject is concerned, no influence

on the new world which sprang forth from the ruins of the old, we find,

soon after the cataclysm, the immediate descendants of Noah in the

possession of at least two religious truths, which they received from

their common father, and which he must have derived from the line of

patriarchs who preceded him. These truths were the doctrine of the

existence of a Supreme Intelligence, the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of

the Universe, and, as a necessary corollary, the belief in the immortality

of the soul[1], which, as an emanation from that primal cause, was to be

distinguished, by a future and eternal life, from the vile and perishable

dust which forms its earthly tabernacle.

The assertion that these doctrines were known to and recognized by Noah

will not appear as an assumption to the believer in divine revelation. But

any philosophic mind must, I conceive, come to the same conclusion,

independently of any other authority than that of reason.

The religious sentiment, so far, at least, as it relates to the belief in

the existence of God, appears to be in some sense innate, or instinctive,

and consequently universal in the human mind[2]. There is no record of

any nation, however intellectually and morally debased, that has not given

some evidence of a tendency to such belief. The sentiment may be

perverted, the idea may be grossly corrupted, but it is nevertheless

there, and shows the source whence it sprang[3].

Even in the most debased forms of fetichism, where the negro kneels in

reverential awe before the shrine of some uncouth and misshapen idol,

which his own hands, perhaps, have made, the act of adoration, degrading

as the object may be, is nevertheless an acknowledgment of the longing

need of the worshipper to throw himself upon the support of some unknown

power higher than his own sphere. And this unknown power, be it what it

may, is to him a God.[4]

But just as universal has been the belief in the immortality of the soul.

This arises from the same longing in man for the infinite; and although,

like the former doctrine, it has been perverted and corrupted, there

exists among all nations a tendency to its acknowledgment. Every people,

from the remotest times, have wandered involuntarily into the ideal of

another world, and sought to find a place for their departed spirits. The

deification of the dead, man-worship, or hero-worship, the next

development of the religious idea after fetichism, was simply an

acknowledgment of the belief in a future life; for the dead could not have

been deified unless after death they had continued to live. The adoration

of a putrid carcass would have been a form of fetichism lower and more

degrading than any that has been discovered.

But man-worship came after fetichism. It was a higher development of the

religious sentiment, and included a possible hope for, if not a positive

belief in, a future life.

Reason, then, as well as revelation, leads us irresistibly to the

conclusion that these two doctrines prevailed among the descendants of

Noah, immediately after the deluge. They were believed, too, in all their

purity and integrity, because they were derived from the highest and

purest source.

These are the doctrines which still constitute the creed of Freemasonry;

and hence one of the names bestowed upon the Freemasons from the earliest

times was that of the "_Noachidae_" or "_Noachites_" that is to say, the

descendants of Noah, and the transmitters of his religious dogmas.

III.

The Primitive Freemasonry of Antiquity.

The next important historical epoch which demands our attention is that

connected with what, in sacred history, is known as the dispersion at

Babel. The brightness of truth, as it had been communicated by Noah,

became covered, as it were, with a cloud. The dogmas of the unity of God

and the immortality of the soul were lost sight of, and the first

deviation from the true worship occurred in the establishment of

Sabianism, or the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, among some peoples,

and the deification of men among others. Of these two deviations,

Sabianism, or sun-worship, was both the earlier and the more generally

diffused.[5] "It seems," says the learned Owen, "to have had its rise

from some broken traditions conveyed by the patriarchs touching the

dominion of the sun by day and of the moon by night." The mode in which

this old system has been modified and spiritually symbolized by

Freemasonry will be the subject of future consideration.

But Sabianism, while it was the most ancient of the religious corruptions,

was, I have said, also the most generally diffused; and hence, even among

nations which afterwards adopted the polytheistic creed of deified men and

factitious gods, this ancient sun-worship is seen to be continually

exerting its influences. Thus, among the Greeks, the most refined people

that cultivated hero-worship, Hercules was the sun, and the mythologic

fable of his destroying with his arrows the many-headed hydra of the

Lernaean marshes was but an allegory to denote the dissipation of paludal

malaria by the purifying rays of the orb of day. Among the Egyptians, too,

the chief deity, Osiris, was but another name for the sun, while his

arch-enemy and destroyer, Typhon, was the typification of night, or

darkness. And lastly, among the Hindus, the three manifestations of their

supreme deity, Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu, were symbols of the rising,

meridian, and setting sun.

This early and very general prevalence of the sentiment of sun-worship is

worthy of especial attention on account of the influence that it exercised

over the spurious Freemasonry of antiquity, of which I am soon to speak,

and which is still felt, although modified and Christianized in our modern

system. Many, indeed nearly all, of the masonic symbols of the present day

can only be thoroughly comprehended and properly appreciated by this

reference to sun-worship.

This divine truth, then, of the existence of one Supreme God, the Grand

Architect of the Universe, symbolized in Freemasonry as the TRUE WORD, was

lost to the Sabians and to the polytheists who arose after the dispersion

at Babel, and with it also disappeared the doctrine of a future life; and

hence, in one portion of the masonic ritual, in allusion to this historic

fact, we speak of "the lofty tower of Babel, where language was confounded

and Masonry lost."

There were, however, some of the builders on the plain of Shinar who

preserved these great religious and masonic doctrines of the unity of God

and the immortality of the soul in their pristine purity. These were the

patriarchs, in whose venerable line they continued to be taught. Hence,

years after the dispersion of the nations at Babel, the world presented

two great religious sects, passing onward down the stream of time, side by

side, yet as diverse from each other as light from darkness, and truth

from falsehood.

One of these lines of religious thought and sentiment was the idolatrous

and pagan world. With it all masonic doctrine, at least in its purity, was

extinct, although there mingled with it, and at times to some extent

influenced it, an offshoot from the other line, to which attention will be

soon directed.

The second of these lines consisted, as has already been said, of the

patriarchs and priests, who preserved in all their purity the two great

masonic doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul.

This line embraced, then, what, in the language of recent masonic writers,

has been designated as the _Primitive Freemasonry of Antiquity_.

Now, it is by no means intended to advance any such gratuitous and

untenable theory as that proposed by some imaginative writers, that the

Freemasonry of the patriarchs was in its organization, its ritual, or its

symbolism, like the system which now exists. We know not indeed, that it

had a ritual, or even a symbolism. I am inclined to think that it was made

up of abstract propositions, derived from antediluvian traditions. Dr.

Oliver thinks it probable that there were a few symbols among these

Primitive and Pure Freemasons, and he enumerates among them the serpent,

the triangle, and the point within a circle; but I can find no authority

for the supposition, nor do I think it fair to claim for the order more

than it is fairly entitled to, nor more than it can be fairly proved to

possess. When Anderson calls Moses a Grand Master, Joshua his Deputy, and

Aholiab and Bezaleel Grand Wardens, the expression is to be looked upon

simply as a _facon de parler_, a mode of speech entirely figurative in its

character, and by no means intended to convey the idea which is

entertained in respect to officers of that character in the present

system. It would, undoubtedly, however, have been better that such

language should not have been used.

All that can be claimed for the system of Primitive Freemasonry, as

practised by the patriarchs, is, that it embraced and taught the two great

dogmas of Freemasonry, namely, the unity of God, and the immortality of

the soul. It may be, and indeed it is highly probable, that there was a

secret doctrine, and that this doctrine was not indiscriminately

communicated. We know that Moses, who was necessarily the recipient of the

knowledge of his predecessors, did not publicly teach the doctrine of the

immortality of the soul. But there was among the Jews an oral or secret

law which was never committed to writing until after the captivity; and

this law, I suppose, may have contained the recognition of those dogmas of

the Primitive Freemasonry.

Briefly, then, this system of Primitive Freemasonry,--without ritual or

symbolism, that has come down to us, at least,--consisting solely of

traditionary legends, teaching only the two great truths already alluded

to, and being wholly speculative in its character, without the slightest

infusion of an operative element, was regularly transmitted through the

Jewish line of patriarchs, priests, and kings, without alteration,

increase, or diminution, to the time of Solomon, and the building of the

temple at Jerusalem.

Leaving it, then, to pursue this even course of descent, let us refer once

more to that other line of religious history, the one passing through the

idolatrous and polytheistic nations of antiquity, and trace from it the

regular rise and progress of another division of the masonic institution,

which, by way of distinction, has been called the _Spurious Freemasonry of

Antiquity_.

IV.

The Spurious Freemasonry of Antiquity.

In the vast but barren desert of polytheism--dark and dreary as were its

gloomy domains--there were still, however, to be found some few oases of

truth. The philosophers and sages of antiquity had, in the course of their

learned researches, aided by the light of nature, discovered something of

those inestimable truths in relation to God and a future state which their

patriarchal contemporaries had received as a revelation made to their

common ancestry before the flood, and which had been retained and

promulgated after that event by Noah.

They were, with these dim but still purifying perceptions, unwilling to

degrade the majesty of the First Great Cause by sharing his attributes

with a Zeus and a Hera in Greece, a Jupiter and a Juno in Rome, an Osiris

and an Isis in Egypt; and they did not believe that the thinking, feeling,

reasoning soul, the guest and companion of the body, would, at the hour of

that body's dissolution, be consigned, with it, to total annihilation.

Hence, in the earliest ages after the era of the dispersion, there were

some among the heathen who believed in the unity of God and the

immortality of the soul. But these doctrines they durst not publicly

teach. The minds of the people, grovelling in superstition, and devoted,

as St. Paul testifies of the Athenians, to the worship of unknown gods,

were not prepared for the philosophic teachings of a pure theology. It

was, indeed, an axiom unhesitatingly enunciated and frequently repeated by

their writers, that "there are many truths with which it is useless for

the people to be made acquainted, and many fables which it is not

expedient that they should know to be false." [6] Such is the language of

Varro, as preserved by St. Augustine; and Strabo, another of their

writers, exclaims, "It is not possible for a philosopher to conduct a

multitude of women and ignorant people by a method of reasoning, and thus

to invite them to piety, holiness, and faith; but the philosopher must

also make use of superstition, and not omit the invention of fables and

the performance of wonders." [7]

While, therefore, in those early ages of the world, we find the masses

grovelling in the intellectual debasement of a polytheistic and idolatrous

religion, with no support for the present, no hope for the future,--living

without the knowledge of a supreme and superintending Providence, and

dying without the expectation of a blissful immortality,--we shall at the

same time find ample testimony that these consoling doctrines were

secretly believed by the philosophers and their disciples.

But though believed, they were not publicly taught. They were heresies

which it would have been impolitic and dangerous to have broached to the

public ear; they were truths which might have led to a contempt of the

established system and to the overthrow of the popular superstition.

Socrates, the Athenian sage, is an illustrious instance of the punishment

that was meted out to the bold innovator who attempted to insult the gods

and to poison the minds of youth with the heresies of a philosophic

religion. "They permitted, therefore," says a learned writer on this

subject[8], "the multitude to remain plunged as they were in the depth of

a gross and complicated idolatry; but for those philosophic few who could

bear the light of truth without being confounded by the blaze, they

removed the mysterious veil, and displayed to them the Deity in the

radiant glory of his unity. From the vulgar eye, however, these doctrines

were kept inviolably sacred, and wrapped in the veil of impenetrable

mystery."

The consequence of all this was, that no one was permitted to be invested

with the knowledge of these sublime truths, until by a course of severe

and arduous trials, by a long and painful initiation, and by a formal

series of gradual preparations, he had proved himself worthy and capable

of receiving the full light of wisdom. For this purpose, therefore, those

peculiar religious institutions were organized which the ancients

designated as the MYSTERIES, and which, from the resemblance of their

organization, their objects, and their doctrines, have by masonic writers

been called the "Spurious Freemasonry of Antiquity."

Warburton,[9] in giving a definition of what these Mysteries were, says,

"Each of the pagan gods had (besides the public and open) a secret worship

paid unto him, to which none were admitted but those who had been selected

by preparatory ceremonies, called initiation. This secret worship was

termed the Mysteries." I shall now endeavor briefly to trace the

connection between these Mysteries and the institution of Freemasonry; and

to do so, it will be necessary to enter upon some details of the

constitution of those mystic assemblies.

Almost every country of the ancient world had its peculiar Mysteries,

dedicated to the occult worship of some especial and favorite god, and to

the inculcation of a secret doctrine, very different from that which was

taught in the public ceremonial of devotion. Thus in Persia the Mysteries

were dedicated to Mithras, or the Sun; in Egypt, to Isis and Osiris; in

Greece, to Demeter; in Samothracia, to the gods Cabiri, the Mighty Ones;

in Syria, to Dionysus; while in the more northern nations of Europe, such

as Gaul and Britain, the initiations were dedicated to their peculiar

deities, and were celebrated under the general name of the Druidical

rites. But no matter where or how instituted, whether ostensibly in honor

of the effeminate Adonis, the favorite of Venus, or of the implacable

Odin, the Scandinavian god of war and carnage; whether dedicated to

Demeter, the type of the earth, or to Mithras, the symbol of all that

fructifies that earth,--the great object and design of the secret

instruction were identical in all places, and the Mysteries constituted a

school of religion in which the errors and absurdities of polytheism were

revealed to the initiated. The candidate was taught that the multitudinous

deities of the popular theology were but hidden symbols of the various

attributes of the supreme god,--a spirit invisible and indivisible,--and

that the soul, as an emanation from his essence, could "never see

corruption," but must, after the death of the body, be raised to an

eternal life.[10]

That this was the doctrine and the object of the Mysteries is evident from

the concurrent testimony both of those ancient writers who flourished

contemporaneously with the practice of them, and of those modern scholars

who have devoted themselves to their investigation.

Thus Isocrates, speaking of them in his Panegyric, says, "Those who have

been initiated in the Mysteries of Ceres entertain better hopes both as to

the end of life and the whole of futurity." [11]

Epictetus[12] declares that everything in these Mysteries was instituted

by the ancients for the instruction and amendment of life.

And Plato[13] says that the design of initiation was to restore the soul

to that state of perfection from which it had originally fallen.

Thomas Taylor, the celebrated Platonist, who possessed an unusual

acquaintance with the character of these ancient rites, asserts that they

"obscurely intimated, by mystic and splendid visions, the felicity of the

soul, both here and hereafter, when purified from the defilements of a

material nature, and constantly elevated to the realities of intellectual

vision." [14]

Creuzer,[15] a distinguished German writer, who has examined the subject

of the ancient Mysteries with great judgment and elaboration, gives a

theory on their nature and design which is well worth consideration.

This theory is, that when there had been placed under the eyes of the

initiated symbolical representations of the creation of the universe, and

the origin of things, the migrations and purifications of the soul, the

beginning and progress of civilization and agriculture, there was drawn

from these symbols and these scenes in the Mysteries an instruction

destined only for the more perfect, or the epopts, to whom were

communicated the doctrines of the existence of a single and eternal God,

and the destination of the universe and of man.

Creuzer here, however, refers rather to the general object of the

instructions, than to the character of the rites and ceremonies by which

they were impressed upon the mind; for in the Mysteries, as in

Freemasonry, the Hierophant, whom we would now call the Master of the

Lodge, often, as Lobeck observes, delivered a mystical lecture, or

discourse, on some moral subject.

Faber, who, notwithstanding the predominance in his mind of a theory which

referred every rite and symbol of the ancient world to the traditions of

Noah, the ark, and the deluge, has given a generally correct view of the

systems of ancient religion, describes the initiation into the Mysteries

as a scenic representation of the mythic descent into Hades, or the grave,

and the return from thence to the light of day.

In a few words, then, the object of instruction in all these Mysteries was

the unity of God, and the intention of the ceremonies of initiation into

them was, by a scenic representation of death, and subsequent restoration

to life,[16] to impress the great truths of the resurrection of the dead

and the immortality of the soul.

I need scarcely here advert to the great similarity in design and

conformation which existed between these ancient rites and the third or

Master's degree of Masonry. Like it they were all funereal in their

character: they began in sorrow and lamentation, they ended in joy; there

was an aphanism, or burial; a pastos, or grave; an euresis, or discovery

of what had been lost; and a legend, or mythical relation,--all of which

were entirely and profoundly symbolical in their character.

And hence, looking to this strange identity of design and form, between

the initiations of the ancients and those of the modern Masons, writers

have been disposed to designate these mysteries as the SPURIOUS

FREEMASONRY OF ANTIQUITY.

The Ancient Mysteries.

I now propose, for the purpose of illustrating these views, and of

familiarizing the reader with the coincidences between Freemasonry and the

ancient Mysteries, so that he may be better enabled to appreciate the

mutual influences of each on the other as they are hereafter to be

developed, to present a more detailed relation of one or more of these

ancient systems of initiation.

As the first illustration, let us select the Mysteries of Osiris, as they

were practised in Egypt, the birthplace of all that is wonderful in the

arts or sciences, or mysterious in the religion, of the ancient world.

It was on the Lake of Sais that the solemn ceremonies of the Osirian

initiation were performed. "On this lake," says Herodotus, "it is that the

Egyptians represent by night his sufferings whose name I refrain from

mentioning; and this representation they call their Mysteries." [17]

Osiris, the husband of Isis, was an ancient king of the Egyptians. Having

been slain by Typhon, his body was cut into pieces[18] by his murderer,

and the mangled remains cast upon the waters of the Nile, to be dispersed

to the four winds of heaven. His wife, Isis, mourning for the death and

the mutilation of her husband, for many days searched diligently with her

companions for the portions of the body, and having at length found them,

united them together, and bestowed upon them decent interment,--while

Osiris, thus restored, became the chief deity of his subjects, and his

worship was united with that of Isis, as the fecundating and fertilizing

powers of nature. The candidate in these initiations was made to pass

through a mimic repetition of the conflict and destruction of Osiris, and

his eventual recovery; and the explanations made to him, after he had

received the full share of light to which the painful and solemn

ceremonies through which he had passed had entitled him, constituted the

secret doctrine of which I have already spoken, as the object of all the

Mysteries. Osiris,--a real and personal god to the people,--to be

worshipped with fear and with trembling, and to be propitiated with

sacrifices and burnt offerings, became to the initiate but a symbol of the

"Great first cause, least understood,"

while his death, and the wailing of Isis, with the recovery of the body,

his translation to the rank of a celestial being, and the consequent

rejoicing of his spouse, were but a tropical mode of teaching that after

death comes life eternal, and that though the body be destroyed, the soul

shall still live.

"Can we doubt," says the Baron Sainte Croix, "that such ceremonies as

those practised in the Mysteries of Osiris had been originally instituted

to impress more profoundly on the mind the dogma of future rewards and

punishments?" [19]

"The sufferings and death of Osiris," says Mr. Wilkinson,[20] "were the

great Mystery of the Egyptian religion; and some traces of it are

perceptible among other people of antiquity. His being the divine goodness

and the abstract idea of 'good,' his manifestation upon earth (like an

Indian god), his death and resurrection, and his office as judge of the

dead in a future state, look like the early revelation of a future

manifestation of the deity converted into a mythological fable."

A similar legend and similar ceremonies, varied only as to time, and

place, and unimportant details, were to be found in all the initiations of

the ancient Mysteries. The dogma was the same,--future life,--and the

method of inculcating it was the same. The coincidences between the design

of these rites and that of Freemasonry, which must already begin to

appear, will enable us to give its full value to the expression of

Hutchinson, when he says that "the Master Mason represents a man under the

Christian doctrine saved from the grave of iniquity and raised to the

faith of salvation." [21]

In Phoenicia similar Mysteries were celebrated in honor of Adonis, the

favorite lover of Venus, who, having, while hunting, been slain by a wild

boar on Mount Lebanon, was restored to life by Proserpine. The

mythological story is familiar to every classical scholar. In the popular

theology, Adonis was the son of Cinyras, king of Cyrus, whose untimely

death was wept by Venus and her attendant nymphs: in the physical theology

of the philosophers,[22] he was a symbol of the sun, alternately present

to and absent from the earth; but in the initiation into the Mysteries of

his worship, his resurrection and return from Hades were adopted as a type

of the immortality of the soul. The ceremonies of initiation in the Adonia

began with lamentation for his loss,--or, as the prophet Ezekiel expresses

it, "Behold, there sat women weeping for Thammuz,"--for such was the name

under which his worship was introduced among the Jews; and they ended with

the most extravagant demonstrations of joy at the representation of his

return to life,[23] while the hierophant exclaimed, in a congratulatory

strain,--

"Trust, ye initiates; the god is safe,

And from our grief salvation shall arise."

Before proceeding to an examination of those Mysteries which are the most

closely connected with the masonic institution, it will be as well to take

a brief view of their general organization.

The secret worship, or Mysteries, of the ancients were always divided into

the lesser and the greater; the former being intended only to awaken

curiosity, to test the capacity and disposition of the candidate, and by

symbolical purifications to prepare him for his introduction into the

greater Mysteries.

The candidate was at first called an aspirant, or seeker of the truth,

and the initial ceremony which he underwent was a lustration or

purification by water. In this condition he may be compared to the Entered

Apprentice of the masonic rites, and it is here worth adverting to the

fact (which will be hereafter more fully developed) that all the

ceremonies in the first degree of masonry are symbolic of an internal

purification.

In the lesser Mysteries[24] the candidate took an oath of secrecy, which

was administered to him by the mystagogue, and then received a preparatory

instruction,[25] which enabled him afterwards to understand the

developments of the higher and subsequent division. He was now called a

_Mystes_, or initiate, and may be compared to the Fellow Craft of

Freemasonry.

In the greater Mysteries the whole knowledge of the divine truths, which

was the object of initiation, was communicated. Here we find, among the

various ceremonies which assimilated these rites to Freemasonry, the

_aphanism_, which was the disappearance or death; the _pastos_, the couch,

coffin, or grave; the _euresis_, or the discovery of the body; and the

_autopsy_, or full sight of everything, that is, the complete

communication of the secrets. The candidate was here called an _epopt_, or

eye-witness, because nothing was now hidden from him; and hence he may be

compared to the Master Mason, of whom Hutchinson says that "he has

discovered the knowledge of God and his salvation, and been redeemed from

the death of sin and the sepulchre of pollution and unrighteousness."

VI.

The Dionysiac Artificers.

After this general view of the religious Mysteries of the ancient world,

let us now proceed to a closer examination of those which are more

intimately connected with the history of Freemasonry, and whose influence

is, to this day, most evidently felt in its organization.

Of all the pagan Mysteries instituted by the ancients none were more

extensively diffused than those of the Grecian god Dionysus. They were

established in Greece, Rome, Syria, and all Asia Minor. Among the Greeks,

and still more among the Romans, the rites celebrated on the Dionysiac

festival were, it must be confessed, of a dissolute and licentious

character.[26] But in Asia they assumed a different form. There, as

elsewhere, the legend (for it has already been said that each Mystery had

its legend) recounted, and the ceremonies represented, the murder of

Dionysus by the Titans. The secret doctrine, too, among the Asiatics, was

not different from that among the western nations, but there was something

peculiar in the organization of the system. The Mysteries of Dionysus in

Syria, more especially, were not simply of a theological character. There

the disciples joined to the indulgence in their speculative and secret

opinions as to the unity of God and the immortality of the soul, which

were common to all the Mysteries, the practice of an operative and

architectural art, and occupied themselves as well in the construction of

temples and public buildings as in the pursuit of divine truth.

I can account for the greater purity of these Syrian rites only by

adopting the ingenious theory of Thirwall,[27] that all the Mysteries

"were the remains of a worship which preceded the rise of the Hellenic

mythology, and its attendant rites, grounded on a view of nature less

fanciful, more earnest, and better fitted to awaken both philosophical

thought and religious feeling," and by supposing that the Asiatics, not

being, from their geographical position, so early imbued with the errors

of Hellenism, had been better able to preserve the purity and philosophy

of the old Pelasgic faith, which, itself, was undoubtedly a direct

emanation from the patriarchal religion, or, as it has been called, the

Pure Freemasonry of the antediluvian world.

Be this, however, as it may, we know that "the Dionysiacs of Asia Minor

were undoubtedly an association of architects and engineers, who had the

exclusive privilege of building temples, stadia, and theatres, under the

mysterious tutelage of Bacchus, and were distinguished from the

uninitiated or profane inhabitants by the science which they possessed,

and by many private signs and tokens by which they recognized each

other." [28]

This speculative and operative society[29]--speculative in the esoteric,

theologic lessons which were taught in its initiations, and operative in

the labors of its members as architects--was distinguished by many

peculiarities that closely assimilate it to the institution of

Freemasonry. In the practice of charity, the more opulent were bound to

relieve the wants and contribute to the support of the poorer brethren.

They were divided, for the conveniences of labor and the advantages of

government, into smaller bodies, which, like our lodges, were directed by

superintending officers. They employed, in their ceremonial observances,

many of the implements of operative Masonry, and used, like the Masons, a

universal language; and conventional modes of recognition, by which _one

brother might know another in the dark as well as the light_, and which

served to unite the whole body, wheresoever they might be dispersed, in

one common brotherhood.[30]

I have said that in the mysteries of Dionysus the legend recounted the

death of that hero-god, and the subsequent discovery of his body. Some

further details of the nature of the Dionysiac ritual are, therefore,

necessary for a thorough appreciation of the points to which I propose

directly to invite attention.

In these mystic rites, the aspirant was made to represent, symbolically

and in a dramatic form, the events connected with the slaying of the god

from whom the Mysteries derived their name. After a variety of preparatory

ceremonies, intended to call forth all his courage and fortitude, the

aphanism or mystical death of Dionysus was figured out in the ceremonies,

and the shrieks and lamentations of the initiates, with the confinement or

burial of the candidate on the pastos, couch, or coffin, constituted the

first part of the ceremony of initiation. Then began the search of Rhea

for the remains of Dionysus, which was continued amid scenes of the

greatest confusion and tumult, until, at last, the search having been

successful, the mourning was turned into joy, light succeeded to darkness,

and the candidate was invested with the knowledge of the secret doctrine

of the Mysteries--the belief in the existence of one God, and a future

state of rewards and punishments.[31]

Such were the mysteries that were practised by the architect,--the

Freemasons, so to speak--of Asia Minor. At Tyre, the richest and most

important city of that region, a city memorable for the splendor and

magnificence of the buildings with which it was decorated, there were

colonies or lodges of these mystic architects; and this fact I request

that you will bear in mind, as it forms an important link in the chain

that connects the Dionysiacs with the Freemasons.

But to make every link in this chain of connection complete, it is

necessary that the mystic artists of Tyre should be proved to be at least

contemporaneous with the building of King Solomon's temple; and the

evidence of that fact I shall now attempt to produce.

Lawrie, whose elaborate researches into this subject leave us nothing

further to discover, places the arrival of the Dionysiacs in Asia Minor at

the time of the Ionic migration, when "the inhabitants of Attica,

complaining of the narrowness of their territory and the unfruitfulness of

its soil, went in quest of more extensive and fertile settlements. Being

joined by a number of the inhabitants of surrounding provinces, they

sailed to Asia Minor, drove out the original inhabitants, and seized upon

the most eligible situations, and united them under the name of Ionia,

because the greatest number of the refugees were natives of that Grecian

province." [32] With their knowledge of the arts of sculpture and

architecture, in which the Greeks had already made some progress, the

emigrants brought over to their new settlements their religious customs

also, and introduced into Asia the mysteries of Athene and Dionysus long

before they had been corrupted by the licentiousness of the mother

country.

Now, Playfair places the Ionic migration in the year 1044 B.C., Gillies in

1055, and the Abbe Barthelemy in 1076. But the latest of these periods

will extend as far back as forty-four years before the commencement of

the temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, and will give ample time for the

establishment of the Dionysiac fraternity at the city of Tyre, and the

initiation of "Hiram the Builder" into its mysteries.

Let us now pursue the chain of historical events which finally united

this purest branch of the Spurious Freemasonry of the pagan nations with

the Primitive Freemasonry of the Jews at Jerusalem.

When Solomon, king of Israel, was about to build, in accordance with the

purposes of his father, David, "a house unto the name of Jehovah, his

God," he made his intention known to Hiram, king of Tyre, his friend and

ally; and because he was well aware of the architectural skill of the

Tyrian Dionysiacs, he besought that monarch's assistance to enable him to

carry his pious design into execution. Scripture informs us that Hiram

complied with the request of Solomon, and sent him the necessary workmen

to assist him in the glorious undertaking. Among others, he sent an

architect, who is briefly described, in the First Book of Kings, as "a

widow's son, of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father a man of Tyre, a

worker in brass, a man filled with wisdom and understanding and cunning to

work all works in brass;" and more fully, in the Second Book of

Chronicles, as "a cunning man, endued with understanding of Hiram my

father's, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father, a

man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in

stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen and in

crimson, also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out any device

which shall be put to him."

To this man--this widow's son (as Scripture history, as well as masonic

tradition informs us)--was intrusted by King Solomon an important position

among the workmen at the sacred edifice, which was constructed on Mount

Moriah. His knowledge and experience as an artificer, and his eminent

skill in every kind of "curious and cunning workmanship," readily placed

him at the head of both the Jewish and Tyrian craftsmen, as the chief

builder and principal conductor of the works; and it is to him, by means

of the large authority which this position gave him, that we attribute the

union of two people, so antagonistical in race, so dissimilar in manners,

and so opposed in religion, as the Jews and Tyrians, in one common

brotherhood, which resulted in the organization of the institution of

Freemasonry. This Hiram, as a Tyrian and an artificer, must have been

connected with the Dionysiac fraternity; nor could he have been a very

humble or inconspicuous member, if we may judge of his rank in the

society, from the amount of talent which he is said to have possessed, and

from the elevated position that he held in the affections, and at the

court, of the king of Tyre. He must, therefore, have been well acquainted

with all the ceremonial usages of the Dionysiac artificers, and must have

enjoyed a long experience of the advantages of the government and

discipline which they practised in the erection of the many sacred

edifices in which they were engaged. A portion of these ceremonial usages

and of this discipline he would naturally be inclined to introduce among

the workmen at Jerusalem. He therefore united them in a society, similar

in many respects to that of the Dionysiac artificers. He inculcated

lessons of charity and brotherly love; he established a ceremony of

initiation, to test experimentally the fortitude and worth of the

candidate; adopted modes of recognition; and impressed the obligations of

duty and principles of morality by means of symbols and allegories.

To the laborers and men of burden, the Ish Sabal, and to the craftsmen,

corresponding with the first and second degrees of more modern Masonry,

but little secret knowledge was confided. Like the aspirants in the lesser

Mysteries of paganism, their instructions were simply to purify and

prepare them for a more solemn ordeal, and for the knowledge of the

sublimest truths. These were to be found only in the Master's degree,

which it was intended should be in imitation of the greater Mysteries; and

in it were to be unfolded, explained, and enforced the great doctrines of

the unity of God and the immortality of the soul. But here there must have

at once arisen an apparently insurmountable obstacle to the further

continuation of the resemblance of Masonry to the Mysteries of Dionysus.

In the pagan Mysteries, I have already said that these lessons were

allegorically taught by means of a legend. Now, in the Mysteries of

Dionysus, the legend was that of the death and subsequent resuscitation of

the god Dionysus. But it would have been utterly impossible to introduce

such a legend as the basis of any instructions to be communicated to

Jewish candidates. Any allusion to the mythological fables of their

Gentile neighbors, any celebration of the myths of pagan theology, would

have been equally offensive to the taste and repugnant to the religious

prejudices of a nation educated, from generation to generation, in the

worship of a divine being jealous of his prerogatives, and who had made

himself known to his people as the JEHOVAH, the God of time present, past,

and future. How this obstacle would have been surmounted by the

Israelitish founder of the order I am unable to say: a substitute would,

no doubt, have been invented, which would have met all the symbolic

requirements of the legend of the Mysteries, or Spurious Freemasonry,

without violating the religious principles of the Primitive Freemasonry of

the Jews; but the necessity for such invention never existed, and before

the completion of the temple a melancholy event is said to have occurred,

which served to cut the Gordian knot, and the death of its chief architect

has supplied Freemasonry with its appropriate legend--a legend which, like

the legends of all the Mysteries, is used to testify our faith in the

resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul.

Before concluding this part of the subject, it is proper that something

should be said of the authenticity of the legend of the third degree. Some

distinguished Masons are disposed to give it full credence as an

historical fact, while others look upon it only as a beautiful allegory.

So far as the question has any bearing upon the symbolism of Freemasonry

it is not of importance; but those who contend for its historical

character assert that they do so on the following grounds:--

First. Because the character of the legend is such as to meet all the

requirements of the well-known axiom of Vincentius Lirinensis, as to what

we are to believe in traditionary matters.[33]

"_Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus traditum

est._"

That is, we are to believe whatever tradition has been at all times, in

all places, and by all persons handed down.

With this rule the legend of Hiram Abif, they say, agrees in every

respect. It has been universally received, and almost universally

credited, among Freemasons from the earliest times. We have no record of

any Masonry having ever existed since the time of the temple without it;

and, indeed, it is so closely interwoven into the whole system, forming

the most essential part of it, and giving it its most determinative

character, that it is evident that the institution could no more exist

without the legend, than the legend could have been retained without the

institution. This, therefore, the advocates of the historical character of

the legend think, gives probability at least to its truth.

Secondly. It is not contradicted by the scriptural history of the

transactions at the temple, and therefore, in the absence of the only

existing written authority on the subject, we are at liberty to depend on

traditional information, provided the tradition be, as it is contended

that in this instance it is, reasonable, probable, and supported by

uninterrupted succession.

Thirdly. It is contended that the very silence of Scripture in relation to

the death of Hiram, the Builder, is an argument in favor of the mysterious

nature of that death. A man so important in his position as to have been

called the favorite of two kings,--sent by one and received by the other

as a gift of surpassing value, and the donation thought worthy of a

special record, would hardly have passed into oblivion, when his labor was

finished, without the memento of a single line, unless his death had taken

place in such a way as to render a public account of it improper. And

this is supposed to have been the fact. It had become the legend of the

new Mysteries, and, like those of the old ones, was only to be divulged

when accompanied with the symbolic instructions which it was intended to

impress upon the minds of the aspirants.

But if, on the other hand, it be admitted that the legend of the third

degree is a fiction,--that the whole masonic and extra-scriptural account

of Hiram Abif is simply a myth,--it could not, in the slightest degree,

affect the theory which it is my object to establish. For since, in a

mythic relation, as the learned Mueller[34] has observed, fact and

imagination, the real and the ideal, are very closely united, and since

the myth itself always arises, according to the same author, out of a

necessity and unconsciousness on the part of its framers, and by impulses

which act alike on all, we must go back to the Spurious Freemasonry of the

Dionysiacs for the principle which led to the involuntary formation of

this Hiramic myth; and then we arrive at the same result, which has been

already indicated, namely, that the necessity of the religious sentiment

in the Jewish mind, to which the introduction of the legend of Dionysus

would have been abhorrent, led to the substitution for it of that of

Hiram, in which the ideal parts of the narrative have been intimately

blended with real transactions. Thus, that there was such a man as Hiram

Abif; that he was the chief builder at the temple of Jerusalem; that he

was the confidential friend of the kings of Israel and Tyre, which is

indicated by his title of _Ab_, or father; and that he is not heard of

after the completion of the temple,--are all historical facts. That he

died by violence, and in the way described in the masonic legend, may be

also true, or may be merely mythical elements incorporated into the

historical narrative.

But whether this be so or not,--whether the legend be a fact or a fiction,

a history or a myth,--this, at least, is certain: that it was adopted by

the Solomonic Masons of the temple as a substitute for the idolatrous

legend of the death of Dionysus which belonged to the Dionysiac Mysteries

of the Tyrian workmen.

VII.

The Union of Speculative and Operative Masonry at the Temple of Solomon.

Thus, then, we arrive at another important epoch in the history of the

origin of Freemasonry.

I have shown how the Primitive Freemasonry, originating in this new world;

with Noah, was handed down to his descendants as a purely speculative

institution, embracing certain traditions of the nature of God and of the

soul.

I have shown how, soon after the deluge, the descendants of Noah

separated, one portion, losing their traditions, and substituting in their

place idolatrous and polytheistic religions, while the other and smaller

portion retained and communicated those original traditions under the name

of the Primitive Freemasonry of antiquity.

I have shown how, among the polytheistic nations, there were a few persons

who still had a dim and clouded understanding of these traditions, and

that they taught them in certain secret institutions, known as the

"Mysteries," thus establishing another branch of the speculative science

which is known under the name of the Spurious Freemasonry of antiquity.

Again, I have shown how one sect or division of these Spurious Freemasons

existed at Tyre about the time of the building of King Solomon's temple,

and added to their speculative science, which was much purer than that of

their contemporary Gentile mystics, the practice of the arts of

architecture and sculpture, under the name of the Dionysiac Fraternity of

Artificers.

And, lastly, I have shown how, at the building of the Solomonic temple, on

the invitation of the king of Israel, a large body of these architects

repaired from Tyre to Jerusalem, organized a new institution, or, rather,

a modification of the two old ones, the Primitive Freemasons among the

Israelites yielding something, and the Spurious Freemasons among the

Tyrians yielding more; the former purifying the speculative science, and

the latter introducing the operative art, together with the mystical

ceremonies with which they accompanied its administration.

It is at this epoch, then, that I place the first union of speculative and

operative Masonry,--a union which continued uninterruptedly to exist until

a comparatively recent period, to which I shall have occasion hereafter

briefly to advert.

The other branches of the Spurious Freemasonry were not, however,

altogether and at once abolished by this union, but continued also to

exist and teach their half-truthful dogmas, for ages after, with

interrupted success and diminished influence, until, in the fifth century

of the Christian era, the whole of them were proscribed by the Emperor

Theodosius. From time to time, however, other partial unions took place,

as in the instance of Pythagoras, who, originally a member of the school

of Spurious Freemasonry, was, during his visit to Babylon, about four

hundred and fifty years after the union at the temple of Jerusalem,

initiated by the captive Israelites into the rites of Temple Masonry,

whence the instructions of that sage approximate much more nearly to the

principles of Freemasonry, both in spirit and in letter, than those of any

other of the philosophers of antiquity; for which reason he is familiarly

called, in the modern masonic lectures, "an ancient friend and brother,"

and an important symbol of the order, the forty-seventh problem of Euclid,

has been consecrated to his memory.

I do not now propose to enter upon so extensive a task as to trace the

history of the institution from the completion of the first temple to its

destruction by Nebuchadnezzar; through the seventy-two years of Babylonish

captivity to the rebuilding of the second temple by Zerubbabel; thence to

the devastation of Jerusalem by Titus, when it was first introduced into

Europe; through all its struggles in the middle ages, sometimes protected

and sometimes persecuted by the church, sometimes forbidden by the law and

oftener encouraged by the monarch; until, in the beginning of the

sixteenth century, it assumed its present organization. The details would

require more time for their recapitulation than the limits of the present

work will permit.

But my object is not so much to give a connected history of the progress

of Freemasonry as to present a rational view of its origin and an

examination of those important modifications which, from time to time,

were impressed upon it by external influences, so as to enable us the more

readily to appreciate the true character and design of its symbolism.

Two salient points, at least, in its subsequent history, especially invite

attention, because they have an important bearing on its organization, as

a combined speculative and operative institution.

VIII.

The Travelling Freemasons of the Middle Ages.

The first of these points to which I refer is the establishment of a body

of architects, widely disseminated throughout Europe during the middle

ages under the avowed name of _Travelling Freemasons_. This association of

workmen, said to have been the descendants of the Temple Masons, may be

traced by the massive monuments of their skill at as early a period as the

ninth or tenth century; although, according to the authority of Mr. Hope,

who has written elaborately on the subject, some historians have found the

evidence of their existence in the seventh century, and have traced a

peculiar masonic language in the reigns of Charlemagne of France and

Alfred of England.

It is to these men, to their preeminent skill in architecture, and to

their well-organized system as a class of workmen, that the world is

indebted for those magnificent edifices which sprang up in such

undeviating principles of architectural form during the middle ages.

"Wherever they came," says Mr. Hope, "in the suite of missionaries, or

were called by the natives, or arrived of their own accord, to seek

employment, they appeared headed by a chief surveyor, who governed the

whole troop, and named one man out of every ten, under the name of warden,

to overlook the nine others, set themselves to building temporary huts[35]

for their habitation around the spot where the work was to be carried on,

regularly organized their different departments, fell to work, sent for

fresh supplies of their brethren as the object demanded, and, when all was

finished, again raised their encampment, and went elsewhere to undertake

other jobs." [36]

This society continued to preserve the commingled features of operative

and speculative masonry, as they had been practised at the temple of

Solomon. Admission to the community was not restricted to professional

artisans, but men of eminence, and particularly ecclesiastics, were

numbered among its members. "These latter," says Mr. Hope, "were

especially anxious, themselves, to direct the improvement and erection of

their churches and monasteries, and to manage the expenses of their

buildings, and became members of an establishment which had so high and

sacred a destination, was so entirely exempt from all local, civil

jurisdiction, acknowledged the pope alone as its direct chief, and only

worked under his immediate authority; and thence we read of so many

ecclesiastics of the highest rank--abbots, prelates, bishops--conferring

additional weight and respectability on the order of Freemasonry by

becoming its members--themselves giving the designs and superintending

the construction of their churches, and employing the manual labor of

their own monks in the edification of them."

Thus in England, in the tenth century, the Masons are said to have

received the special protection of King Athelstan; in the eleventh

century, Edward the Confessor declared himself their patron; and in the

twelfth, Henry I. gave them his protection.

Into Scotland the Freemasons penetrated as early as the beginning of the

twelfth century, and erected the Abbey of Kilwinning, which afterwards

became the cradle of Scottish Masonry under the government of King Robert

Bruce.

Of the magnificent edifices which they erected, and of their exalted

condition under both ecclesiastical and lay patronage in other countries,

it is not necessary to give a minute detail. It is sufficient to say that

in every part of Europe evidences are to be found of the existence of

Freemasonry, practised by an organized body of workmen, and with whom men

of learning were united; or, in other words, of a combined operative and

speculative institution.

What the nature of this speculative science continued to be, we may learn

from that very curious, if authentic, document, dated at Cologne, in the

year 1535, and hence designated as the "Charter of Cologne." In that

instrument, which purports to have been issued by the heads of the order

in nineteen different and important cities of Europe, and is addressed to

their brethren as a defence against the calumnies of their enemies, it is

announced that the order took its origin at a time "when a few adepts,

distinguished by their life, their moral doctrine, and their sacred

interpretation of the arcanic truths, withdrew themselves from the

multitude in order more effectually to preserve uncontaminated the moral

precepts of that religion which is implanted in the mind of man."

We thus, then, have before us an aspect of Freemasonry as it existed in

the middle ages, when it presents itself to our view as both operative and

speculative in its character. The operative element that had been infused

into it by the Dionysiac artificers of Tyre, at the building of the

Solomonic temple, was not yet dissevered from the pure speculative element

which had prevailed in it anterior to that period.

IX.

Disseverance of the Operative Element.

The next point to which our attention is to be directed is when, a few

centuries later, the operative character of the institution began to be

less prominent, and the speculative to assume a pre-eminence which

eventually ended in the total separation of the two.

At what precise period the speculative began to predominate over the

operative element of the society, it is impossible to say. The change was

undoubtedly gradual, and is to be attributed, in all probability, to the

increased number of literary and scientific men who were admitted into the

ranks of the fraternity.

The Charter of Cologne, to which I have just alluded, speaks of "learned

and enlightened men" as constituting the society long before the date of

that document, which was 1535; but the authenticity of this work has, it

must be confessed, been impugned, and I will not, therefore, press the

argument on its doubtful authority. But the diary of that celebrated

antiquary, Elias Ashmole, which is admitted to be authentic, describes his

admission in the year 1646 into the order, when there is no doubt that the

operative character was fast giving way to the speculative. Preston tells

us that about thirty years before, when the Earl of Pembroke assumed the

Grand Mastership of England, "many eminent, wealthy, and learned men were

admitted."

In the year 1663 an assembly of the Freemasons of England was held at

London, and the Earl of St. Albans was elected Grand Master. At this

assembly certain regulations were adopted, in which the qualifications

prescribed for candidates clearly allude to the speculative character of

the institution.

And, finally, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, and during

the reign of Queen Anne, who died, it will be remembered, in 1714, a

proposition was agreed to by the society "that the privileges of Masonry

should no longer be restricted to operative masons, but extend to men of

various professions, provided that they were regularly approved and

initiated into the order."

Accordingly the records of the society show that from the year 1717, at

least, the era commonly, but improperly, distinguished as the restoration

of Masonry, the operative element of the institution has been completely

discarded, except so far as its influence is exhibited in the choice and

arrangement of symbols, and the typical use of its technical language.

* * * * *

The history of the origin of the order is here concluded; and in briefly

recapitulating, I may say that in its first inception, from the time of

Noah to the building of the temple of Solomon, it was entirely speculative

in its character; that at the construction of that edifice, an operative

element was infused into it by the Tyrian builders; that it continued to

retain this compound operative and speculative organization until about

the middle of the seventeenth century, when the latter element began to

predominate; and finally, that at the commencement of the eighteenth

century, the operative element wholly disappeared, and the society has

ever since presented itself in the character of a simply speculative

association.

The history that I have thus briefly sketched, will elicit from every

reflecting mind at least two deductions of some importance to the

intelligent Mason.

In the first place, we may observe, that ascending, as the institution

does, away up the stream of time, almost to the very fountains of history,

for its source, it comes down to us, at this day, with so venerable an

appearance of antiquity, that for that cause and on that claim alone it

demands the respect of the world. It is no recent invention of human

genius, whose vitality has yet to be tested by the wear and tear of time

and opposition, and no sudden growth of short-lived enthusiasm, whose

existence may be as ephemeral as its birth was recent. One of the oldest

of these modern institutions, the Carbonarism of Italy, boasts an age that

scarcely amounts to the half of a century, and has not been able to extend

its progress beyond the countries of Southern Europe, immediately adjacent

to the place of its birth; while it and every other society of our own

times that have sought to simulate the outward appearance of Freemasonry,

seem to him who has examined the history of this ancient institution to

have sprung around it, like mushrooms bursting from between the roots and

vegetating under the shade of some mighty and venerable oak, the

patriarch of the forest, whose huge trunk and wide-extended branches have

protected them from the sun and the gale, and whose fruit, thrown off in

autumn, has enriched and fattened the soil that gives these humbler plants

their power of life and growth.

But there is a more important deduction to be drawn from this narrative.

In tracing the progress of Freemasonry, we shall find it so intimately

connected with the history of philosophy, of religion, and of art in all

ages of the world, that it is evident that no Mason can expect thoroughly

to understand the nature of the institution, or to appreciate its

character, unless he shall carefully study its annals, and make himself

conversant with the facts of history, to which and from which it gives and

receives a mutual influence. The brother who unfortunately supposes that

the only requisites of a skilful Mason consist in repeating with fluency

the ordinary lectures, or in correctly opening and closing the lodge, or

in giving with sufficient accuracy the modes of recognition, will hardly

credit the assertion, that he whose knowledge of the "royal art" extends

no farther than these preliminaries has scarcely advanced beyond the

rudiments of our science. There is a far nobler series of doctrines with

which Freemasonry is connected, and which no student ever began to

investigate who did not find himself insensibly led on, from step to step

in his researches, his love and admiration of the order increasing with

the augmentation of his acquaintance with its character. It is this which

constitutes the science and the philosophy of Freemasonry, and it is this

alone which will return the scholar who devotes himself to the task a

sevenfold reward for his labor.

With this view I propose, in the next place, to enter upon an examination

of that science and philosophy as they are developed in the system of

symbolism, which owes its existence to this peculiar origin and

organization of the order, and without a knowledge of which, such as I

have attempted to portray it in this preliminary inquiry, the science

itself could never be understood.

The System of Symbolic Instuction.

The lectures of the English lodges, which are far more philosophical than

our own,--although I do not believe that the system itself is in general

as philosophically studied by our English brethren as by ourselves,--have

beautifully defined Freemasonry to be "a science of morality veiled in

allegory and illustrated by symbols." But allegory itself is nothing else

but verbal symbolism; it is the symbol of an idea, or of a series of

ideas, not presented to the mind in an objective and visible form, but

clothed in language, and exhibited in the form of a narrative. And

therefore the English definition amounts, in fact, to this: that

_Freemasonry is a science of morality, developed and inculcated by the

ancient method of symbolism_. It is this peculiar character as a symbolic

institution, this entire adoption of the method of instruction by

symbolism, which gives its whole identity to Freemasonry, and has caused

it to differ from every other association that the ingenuity of man has

devised. It is this that has bestowed upon it that attractive form which

has always secured the attachment of its disciples and its own perpetuity.

The Roman Catholic church[37] is, perhaps, the only contemporaneous

institution which continues to cultivate, in any degree, the beautiful

system of symbolism. But that which, in the Catholic church, is, in a

great measure, incidental, and the fruit of development, is, in

Freemasonry, the very life-blood and soul of the institution, born with it

at its birth, or, rather, the germ from which the tree has sprung, and

still giving it support, nourishment, and even existence. Withdraw from

Freemasonry its symbolism, and you take from the body its soul, leaving

behind nothing but a lifeless mass of effete matter, fitted only for a

rapid decay.

Since, then, the science of symbolism forms so important a part of the

system of Freemasonry, it will be well to commence any discussion of that

subject by an investigation of the nature of symbols in general.

There is no science so ancient as that of symbolism,[38] and no mode of

instruction has ever been so general as was the symbolic in former ages.

"The first learning in the world," says the great antiquary, Dr. Stukely,

"consisted chiefly of symbols. The wisdom of the Chaldeans, Phoenicians,

Egyptians, Jews, of Zoroaster, Sanchoniathon, Pherecydes, Syrus,

Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, of all the ancients that is come to our hand,

is symbolic." And the learned Faber remarks, that "allegory and

personification were peculiarly agreeable to the genius of antiquity, and

the simplicity of truth was continually sacrificed at the shrine of

poetical decoration."

In fact, man's earliest instruction was by symbols.[39] The objective

character of a symbol is best calculated to be grasped by the infant mind,

whether the infancy of that mind be considered _nationally_ or

_individually_. And hence, in the first ages of the world, in its infancy,

all propositions, theological, political, or scientific, were expressed in

the form of symbols. Thus the first religions were eminently symbolical,

because, as that great philosophical historian, Grote, has remarked, "At a

time when language was yet in its infancy, visible symbols were the most

vivid means of acting upon the minds of ignorant hearers."

Again: children receive their elementary teaching in symbols. "A was an

Archer;" what is this but symbolism? The archer becomes to the infant mind

the symbol of the letter A, just as, in after life, the letter becomes, to

the more advanced mind, the symbol of a certain sound of the human

voice.[40] The first lesson received by a child in acquiring his alphabet

is thus conveyed by symbolism. Even in the very formation of language, the

medium of communication between man and man, and which must hence have

been an elementary step in the progress of human improvement, it was found

necessary to have recourse to symbols, for words are only and truly

certain arbitrary symbols by which and through which we give an utterance

to our ideas. The construction of language was, therefore, one of the

first products of the science of symbolism.

We must constantly bear in mind this fact, of the primary existence and

predominance of symbolism in the earliest times.[41] when we are

investigating the nature of the ancient religions, with which the history

of Freemasonry is so intimately connected. The older the religion, the

more the symbolism abounds. Modern religions may convey their dogmas in

abstract propositions; ancient religions always conveyed them in symbols.

Thus there is more symbolism in the Egyptian religion than in the Jewish,

more in the Jewish than in the Christian, more in the Christian than in

the Mohammedan, and, lastly, more in the Roman than in the Protestant.

But symbolism is not only the most ancient and general, but it is also the

most practically useful, of sciences. We have already seen how actively it

operates in the early stages of life and of society. We have seen how the

first ideas of men and of nations are impressed upon their minds by means

of symbols. It was thus that the ancient peoples were almost wholly

educated.

"In the simpler stages of society," says one writer on this subject,

"mankind can be instructed in the abstract knowledge of truths only by

symbols and parables. Hence we find most heathen religions becoming

mythic, or explaining their mysteries by allegories, or instructive

incidents. Nay, God himself, knowing the nature of the creatures formed by

him, has condescended, in the earlier revelations that he made of himself,

to teach by symbols; and the greatest of all teachers instructed the

multitudes by parables.[42] The great exemplar of the ancient philosophy

and the grand archetype of modern philosophy were alike distinguished by

their possessing this faculty in a high degree, and have told us that man

was best instructed by similitudes." [43]

Such is the system adopted in Freemasonry for the development and

inculcation of the great religious and philosophical truths, of which it

was, for so many years, the sole conservator. And it is for this reason

that I have already remarked, that any inquiry into the symbolic character

of Freemasonry, must be preceded by an investigation of the nature of

symbolism in general, if we would properly appreciate its particular use

in the organization of the masonic institution.

XI.

The Speculative Science and the Operative Art.

And now, let us apply this doctrine of symbolism to an investigation of

the nature of a speculative science, as derived from an operative art; for

the fact is familiar to every one that Freemasonry is of two kinds. We

work, it is true, in speculative Masonry only, but our ancient brethren

wrought in both operative and speculative; and it is now well understood

that the two branches are widely apart in design and in character--the one

a mere useful art, intended for the protection and convenience of man and

the gratification of his physical wants, the other a profound science,

entering into abstruse investigations of the soul and a future existence,

and originating in the craving need of humanity to know something that is

above and beyond the mere outward life that surrounds us with its gross

atmosphere here below.[44] Indeed, the only bond or link that unites

speculative and operative Masonry is the symbolism that belongs

altogether to the former, but which, throughout its whole extent, is

derived from the latter.

Our first inquiry, then, will be into the nature of the symbolism which

operative gives to speculative Masonry; and thoroughly to understand

this--to know its origin, and its necessity, and its mode of

application--we must begin with a reference to the condition of a long

past period of time.

Thousands of years ago, this science of symbolism was adopted by the

sagacious priesthood of Egypt to convey the lessons of worldly wisdom and

religious knowledge, which they thus communicated to their disciples.[45]

Their science, their history, and their philosophy were thus concealed

beneath an impenetrable veil from all the profane, and only the few who

had passed through the severe ordeal of initiation were put in possession

of the key which enabled them to decipher and read with ease those mystic

lessons which we still see engraved upon the obelisks, the tombs, and the

sarcophagi, which lie scattered, at this day, in endless profusion along

the banks of the Nile.

From the Egyptians the same method of symbolic instruction was diffused

among all the pagan nations of antiquity, and was used in all the ancient

Mysteries[46] as the medium of communicating to the initiated the esoteric

and secret doctrines for whose preservation and promulgation these

singular associations were formed.

Moses, who, as Holy Writ informs us, was skilled in all the learning of

Egypt, brought with him, from that cradle of the sciences, a perfect

knowledge of the science of symbolism, as it was taught by the priests of

Isis and Osiris, and applied it to the ceremonies with which he invested

the purer religion of the people for whom he had been appointed to

legislate.[47]

Hence we learn, from the great Jewish historian, that, in the construction

of the tabernacle, which gave the first model for the temple at Jerusalem,

and afterwards for every masonic lodge, this principle of symbolism was

applied to every part of it. Thus it was divided into three parts, to

represent the three great elementary divisions of the universe--the land,

the sea, and the air. The first two, or exterior portions, which were

accessible to the priests and the people, were symbolic of the land and

the sea, which all men might inhabit; while the third, or interior

division,--the holy of holies,--whose threshold no mortal dared to cross,

and which was peculiarly consecrated to GOD, was emblematic of heaven, his

dwelling-place. The veils, too, according to Josephus, were intended for

symbolic instruction in their color and their materials. Collectively,

they represented the four elements of the universe; and, in passing, it

may be observed that this notion of symbolizing the universe characterized

all the ancient systems, both the true and the false, and that the remains

of the principle are to be found everywhere, even at this day, pervading

Masonry, which is but a development of these systems. In the four veils of

the tabernacle, the white or fine linen signified the earth, from which

flax was produced; the scarlet signified fire, appropriately represented

by its flaming color; the purple typified the sea, in allusion to the

shell-fish murex, from which the tint was obtained; and the blue, the

color of the firmament, was emblematic of air.[48]

It is not necessary to enter into a detail of the whole system of

religious symbolism, as developed in the Mosaic ritual. It was but an

application of the same principles of instruction, that pervaded all the

surrounding Gentile nations, to the inculcation of truth. The very idea of

the ark itself[49] was borrowed, as the discoveries of the modern

Egyptologists have shown us, from the banks of the Nile; and the

breastplate of the high priest, with its Urim and Thummim,[50] was

indebted for its origin to a similar ornament worn by the Egyptian judge.

The system was the same; in its application, only, did it differ.

With the tabernacle of Moses the temple of King Solomon is closely

connected: the one was the archetype of the other. Now, it is at the

building of that temple that we must place the origin of Freemasonry in

its present organization: not that the system did not exist before, but

that the union of its operative and speculative character, and the mutual

dependence of one upon the other, were there first established.

At the construction of this stupendous edifice--stupendous, not in

magnitude, for many a parish church has since excelled it in size,[51] but

stupendous in the wealth and magnificence of its ornaments--the wise king

of Israel, with all that sagacity for which he was so eminently

distinguished, and aided and counselled by the Gentile experience of the

king of Tyre, and that immortal architect who superintended his workmen,

saw at once the excellence and beauty of this method of inculcating moral

and religious truth, and gave, therefore, the impulse to that symbolic

reference of material things to a spiritual sense, which has ever since

distinguished the institution of which he was the founder.

If I deemed it necessary to substantiate the truth of the assertion that

the mind of King Solomon was eminently symbolic in its propensities, I

might easily refer to his writings, filled as they are to profusion with

tropes and figures. Passing over the Book of Canticles,--that great

lyrical drama, whose abstruse symbolism has not yet been fully evolved or

explained, notwithstanding the vast number of commentators who have

labored at the task,--I might simply refer to that beautiful passage in

the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, so familiar to every Mason as being

appropriated, in the ritual, to the ceremonies of the third degree, and in

which a dilapidated building is metaphorically made to represent the

decays and infirmities of old age in the human body. This brief but

eloquent description is itself an embodiment of much of our masonic

symbolism, both as to the mode and the subject matter.

In attempting any investigation into the symbolism of Freemasonry, the

first thing that should engage our attention is the general purport of the

institution, and the mode in which its symbolism is developed. Let us

first examine it as a whole, before we investigate its parts, just as we

would first view, as critics, the general effect of a building, before we

began to inquire into its architectural details.

Looking, then, in this way, at the institution--coming down to us, as it

has, from a remote age--having passed unaltered and unscathed through a

thousand revolutions of nations--and engaging, as disciples in its school

of mental labor, the intellectual of all times--the first thing that must

naturally arrest the attention is the singular combination that it

presents of an operative with a speculative organization--an art with a

science--the technical terms and language of a mechanical profession with

the abstruse teachings of a profound philosophy.

Here it is before us--a venerable school, discoursing of the deepest

subjects of wisdom, in which sages might alone find themselves

appropriately employed, and yet having its birth and deriving its first

life from a society of artisans, whose only object was, apparently, the

construction of material edifices of stone and mortar.

The nature, then, of this operative and speculative combination, is the

first problem to be solved, and the symbolism which depends upon it is the

first feature of the institution which is to be developed.

Freemasonry, in its character as an operative art, is familiar to every

one. As such, it is engaged in the application of the rules and principles

of architecture to the construction of edifices for private and public

use--houses for the dwelling-place of man, and temples for the worship of

Deity. It abounds, like every other art, in the use of technical terms,

and employs, in practice, an abundance of implements and materials which

are peculiar to itself.

Now, if the ends of operative Masonry had here ceased,--if this technical

dialect and these technical implements had never been used for any other

purpose, nor appropriated to any other object, than that of enabling its

disciples to pursue their artistic labors with greater convenience to

themselves,--Freemasonry would never have existed. The same principles

might, and in all probability would, have been developed in some other

way; but the organization, the name, the mode of instruction, would all

have most materially differed.

But the operative Masons, who founded the order, were not content with

the mere material and manual part of their profession: they adjoined to

it, under the wise instructions of their leaders, a correlative branch of

study.

And hence, to the Freemason, this operative art has been symbolized in

that intellectual deduction from it, which has been correctly called

Speculative Masonry. At one time, each was an integrant part of one

undivided system. Not that the period ever existed when every operative

mason was acquainted with, or initiated into, the speculative science.

Even now, there are thousands of skilful artisans who know as little of

that as they do of the Hebrew language which was spoken by its founder.

But operative Masonry was, in the inception of our history, and is, in

some measure, even now, the skeleton upon which was strung the living

muscles, and tendons, and nerves of the speculative system. It was the

block of marble--rude and unpolished it may have been--from which was

sculptured the life-breathing statue.[52]

Speculative Masonry (which is but another name for Freemasonary in its

modern acceptation) may be briefly defined as the scientific application

and the religious consecration of the rules and principles, the language,

the implements and materials of operative Masonry to the veneration of

God, the purification of the heart, and the inculcation of the dogmas of a

religious philosophy.

XII.

He Symbolism of Solomon'S Temple.

I have said that the operative art is symbolized--that is to say, used as

a symbol--in the speculative science. Let us now inquire, as the subject

of the present essay, how this is done in reference to a system of

symbolism dependent for its construction on types and figures derived from

the temple of Solomon, and which we hence call the "Temple Symbolism of

Freemasonry."

Bearing in mind that speculative Masonry dates its origin from the

building of King Solomon's temple by Jewish and Tyrian artisans,[53] the

first important fact that attracts the attention is, that the operative

masons at Jerusalem were engaged in the construction of an earthly and

material temple, to be dedicated to the service and worship of God--a

house in which Jehovah was to dwell visibly by his Shekinah, and whence he

was, by the Urim and Thummim, to send forth his oracles for the

government and direction of his chosen people.

Now, the operative art having, _for us_, ceased, we, as speculative

Masons, symbolize the labors of our predecessors by engaging in the

construction of a spiritual temple in our hearts, pure and spotless, fit

for the dwelling-place of Him who is the author of purity--where God is to

be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and whence every evil thought and

unruly passion is to be banished, as the sinner and the Gentile were

excluded from the sanctuary of the Jewish temple.

This spiritualizing of the temple of Solomon is the first, the most

prominent and most pervading of all the symbolic instructions of

Freemasonry. It is the link that binds the operative and speculative

divisions of the order. It is this which gives it its religious character.

Take from Freemasonry its dependence on the temple, leave out of its

ritual all reference to that sacred edifice, and to the legends connected

with it, and the system itself must at once decay and die, or at best

remain only as some fossilized bone, imperfectly to show the nature of the

living body to which it once belonged.

Temple worship is in itself an ancient type of the religious sentiment in

its progress towards spiritual elevation. As soon as a nation emerged, in

the world's progress, out of Fetichism, or the worship of visible

objects,--the most degraded form of idolatry,--its people began to

establish a priesthood and to erect temples.[54] The Scandinavians, the

Celts, the Egyptians, and the Greeks, however much they may have differed

in the ritual and the objects of their polytheistic worship, all were

possessed of priests and temples. The Jews first constructed their

tabernacle, or portable temple, and then, when time and opportunity

permitted, transferred their monotheistic worship to that more permanent

edifice which is now the subject of our contemplation. The mosque of the

Mohammedan and the church or the chapel of the Christian are but

embodiments of the same idea of temple worship in a simpler form.

The adaptation, therefore, of the material temple to a science of

symbolism would be an easy, and by no means a novel task, to both the

Jewish and the Tyrian mind. Doubtless, at its original conception, the

idea was rude and unembellished, to be perfected and polished only by

future aggregations of succeeding intellects. And yet no biblical scholar

will venture to deny that there was, in the mode of building, and in all

the circumstances connected with the construction of King Solomon's

temple, an apparent design to establish a foundation for symbolism.[55]

I propose now to illustrate, by a few examples, the method in which the

speculative Masons have appropriated this design of King Solomon to their

own use.

To construct his earthly temple, the operative mason followed the

architectural designs laid down on the _trestle-board_, or tracing-board,

or book of plans of the architect. By these he hewed and squared his

materials; by these he raised his walls; by these he constructed his

arches; and by these strength and durability, combined with grace and

beauty, were bestowed upon the edifice which he was constructing.

The trestle-board becomes, therefore, one of our elementary symbols. For

in the masonic ritual the speculative Mason is reminded that, as the

operative artist erects his temporal building, in accordance with the

rules and designs laid down on the trestle-board of the master-workman, so

should he erect that spiritual building, of which the material is a type,

in obedience to the rules and designs, the precepts and commands, laid

down by the grand Architect of the universe, in those great books of

nature and revelation, which constitute the spiritual trestle-board of

every Freemason.

The trestle-board is, then, the symbol of the natural and moral law. Like

every other symbol of the order, it is universal and tolerant in its

application; and while, as Christian Masons, we cling with unfaltering

integrity to that explanation which makes the Scriptures of both

dispensations our trestle-board, we permit our Jewish and Mohammedan

brethren to content themselves with the books of the Old Testament, or the

Koran. Masonry does not interfere with the peculiar form or development of

any one's religious faith. All that it asks is, that the interpretation

of the symbol shall be according to what each one supposes to be the

revealed will of his Creator. But so rigidly exacting is it that the

symbol shall be preserved, and, in some rational way, interpreted, that it

peremptorily excludes the Atheist from its communion, because, believing

in no Supreme Being, no divine Architect, he must necessarily be without a

spiritual trestle-board on which the designs of that Being may be

inscribed for his direction.

But the operative mason required materials wherewith to construct his

temple. There was, for instance, the _rough ashlar_--the stone in its rude

and natural state--unformed and unpolished, as it had been lying in the

quarries of Tyre from the foundation of the earth. This stone was to be

hewed and squared, to be fitted and adjusted, by simple, but appropriate

implements, until it became a _perfect ashlar_, or well-finished stone,

ready to take its destined place in the building.

Here, then, again, in these materials do we find other elementary symbols.

The rough and unpolished stone is a symbol of man's natural

state--ignorant, uncultivated, and, as the Roman historian expresses it,

"grovelling to the earth, like the beasts of the field, and obedient to

every sordid appetite;" [56] but when education has exerted its salutary

influences in expanding his intellect, in restraining his hitherto unruly

passions, and purifying his life, he is then represented by the perfect

ashlar, or finished stone, which, under the skilful hands of the workman,

has been smoothed, and squared, and fitted for its appropriate place in

the building.

Here an interesting circumstance in the history of the preparation of

these materials has been seized and beautifully appropriated by our

symbolic science. We learn from the account of the temple, contained in

the First Book of Kings, that "The house, when it was in building, was

built of stone, made ready before it was brought thither, so that there

was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house while

it was in building." [57]

Now, this mode of construction, undoubtedly adopted to avoid confusion and

discord among so many thousand workmen,[58] has been selected as an

elementary symbol of concord and harmony--virtues which are not more

essential to the preservation and perpetuity of our own society than they

are to that of every human association.

The perfect ashlar, therefore,--the stone thus fitted for its appropriate

position in the temple,--becomes not only a symbol of human perfection (in

itself, of course, only a comparative term), but also, when we refer to

the mode in which it was prepared, of that species of perfection which

results from the concord and union of men in society. It is, in fact, a

symbol of the social character of the institution.

There are other elementary symbols, to which I may hereafter have occasion

to revert; the three, however, already described,--the rough ashlar, the

perfect ashlar, and the trestle-board,--and which, from their importance,

have received the name of "jewels," will be sufficient to give some idea

of the nature of what may be called the "symbolic alphabet" of Masonry.

Let us now proceed to a brief consideration of the method in which this

alphabet of the science is applied to the more elevated and abstruser

portions of the system, and which, as the temple constitutes its most

important type, I have chosen to call the "Temple Symbolism of Masonry."

Both Scripture and tradition inform us that, at the building of King

Solomon's temple, the masons were divided into different classes, each

engaged in different tasks. We learn, from the Second Book of Chronicles,

that these classes were the bearers of burdens, the hewers of stones, and

the overseers, called by the old masonic writers the _Ish sabal_, the _Ish

chotzeb_, and the _Menatzchim_. Now, without pretending to say that the

modern institution has preserved precisely the same system of regulations

as that which was observed at the temple, we shall certainly find a

similarity in these divisions to the Apprentices, Fellow Crafts and Master

Masons of our own day. At all events, the three divisions made by King

Solomon, in the workmen at Jerusalem, have been adopted as the types of

the three degrees now practised in speculative Masonry; and as such we

are, therefore, to consider them. The mode in which these three divisions

of workmen labored in constructing the temple, has been beautifully

symbolized in speculative Masonry, and constitutes an important and

interesting part of temple symbolism.

Thus we know, from our own experience among modern workmen, who still

pursue the same method, as well as from the traditions of the order, that

the implements used in the quarries were few and simple, the work there

requiring necessarily, indeed, but two tools, namely, the _twenty-four

inch gauge_, or two foot rule, and the _common gavel_, or stone-cutter's

hammer. With the former implement, the operative mason took the necessary

dimensions of the stone he was about to prepare, and with the latter, by

repeated blows, skilfully applied, he broke off every unnecessary

protuberance, and rendered it smooth and square, and fit to take its place

in the building.

And thus, in the first degree of speculative Masonry, the Entered

Apprentice receives these simple implements, as the emblematic working

tools of his profession, with their appropriate symbolical instruction. To

the operative mason their mechanical and practical use alone is signified,

and nothing more of value does their presence convey to his mind. To the

speculative Mason the sight of them is suggestive of far nobler and

sublimer thoughts; they teach him to measure, not stones, but time; not to

smooth and polish the marble for the builder's use, but to purify and

cleanse his heart from every vice and imperfection that would render it

unfit for a place in the spiritual temple of his body.

In the symbolic alphabet of Freemasonry, therefore, the twenty-four inch

gauge is a symbol of time well employed; the common gavel, of the

purification of the heart.

Here we may pause for a moment to refer to one of the coincidences between

Freemasonry and those _Mysteries_[59] which formed so important a part of

the ancient religions, and which coincidences have led the writers on this

subject to the formation of a well-supported theory that there was a

common connection between them. The coincidence to which I at present

allude is this: in all these Mysteries--the incipient ceremony of

initiation--the first step taken by the candidate was a lustration or

purification. The aspirant was not permitted to enter the sacred

vestibule, or take any part in the secret formula of initiation, until, by

water or by fire, he was emblematically purified from the corruptions of

the world which he was about to leave behind. I need not, after this, do

more than suggest the similarity of this formula, in principle, to a

corresponding one in Freemasonry, where the first symbols presented to the

apprentice are those which inculcate a purification of the heart, of which

the purification of the body in the ancient Mysteries was symbolic.

We no longer use the bath or the fountain, because in our philosophical

system the symbolization is more abstract, if I may use the term; but we

present the aspirant with the _lamb-skin apron_, the _gauge_, and the

_gavel_, as symbols of a spiritual purification. The design is the same,

but the mode in which it is accomplished is different.

Let us now resume the connected series of temple symbolism.

At the building of the temple, the stones having been thus prepared by the

workmen of the lowest degree (the Apprentices, as we now call them, the

aspirants of the ancient Mysteries), we are informed that they were

transported to the site of the edifice on Mount Moriah, and were there

placed in the hands of another class of workmen, who are now technically

called the Fellow Crafts, and who correspond to the Mystes, or those who

had received the second degree of the ancient Mysteries. At this stage of

the operative work more extensive and important labors were to be

performed, and accordingly a greater amount of skill and knowledge was

required of those to whom these labors were intrusted. The stones, having

been prepared by the Apprentices[60] (for hereafter, in speaking of the

workmen of the temple, I shall use the equivalent appellations of the more

modern Masons), were now to be deposited in their destined places in the

building, and the massive walls were to be erected. For these purposes

implements of a higher and more complicated character than the gauge and

gavel were necessary. The _square_ was required to fit the joints with

sufficient accuracy, the _level_ to run the courses in a horizontal line,

and the _plumb_ to erect the whole with due regard to perfect

perpendicularity. This portion of the labor finds its symbolism in the

second degree of the speculative science, and in applying this symbolism

we still continue to refer to the idea of erecting a spiritual temple in

the heart.

The necessary preparations, then, having been made in the first degree,

the lessons having been received by which the aspirant is taught to

commence the labor of life with the purification of the heart, as a Fellow

Craft he continues the task by cultivating those virtues which give form

and impression to the character, as well adapted stones give shape and

stability to the building. And hence the "working tools" of the Fellow

Craft are referred, in their symbolic application, to those virtues. In

the alphabet of symbolism, we find the square, the level, and the plumb

appropriated to this second degree. The square is a symbol denoting

morality. It teaches us to apply the unerring principles of moral science

to every action of our lives, to see that all the motives and results of

our conduct shall coincide with the dictates of divine justice, and that

all our thoughts, words, and deeds shall harmoniously conspire, like the

well-adjusted and rightly-squared joints of an edifice, to produce a

smooth, unbroken life of virtue.

The plumb is a symbol of rectitude of conduct, and inculcates that

integrity of life and undeviating course of moral uprightness which can

alone distinguish the good and just man. As the operative workman erects

his temporal building with strict observance of that plumb-line, which

will not permit him to deviate a hair's breadth to the right or to the

left, so the speculative Mason, guided by the unerring principles of right

and truth inculcated in the symbolic teachings of the same implement, is

steadfast in the pursuit of truth, neither bending beneath the frowns of

adversity nor yielding to the seductions of prosperity.[61]

The level, the last of the three working tools of the operative craftsman,

is a symbol of equality of station. Not that equality of civil or social

position which is to be found only in the vain dreams of the anarchist or

the Utopian, but that great moral and physical equality which affects the

whole human race as the children of one common Father, who causes his sun

to shine and his rain to fall on all alike, and who has so appointed the

universal lot of humanity, that death, the leveller of all human

greatness, is made to visit with equal pace the prince's palace and the

peasant's hut.[62]

Here, then, we have three more signs or hieroglyphics added to our

alphabet of symbolism. Others there are in this degree, but they belong

to a higher grade of interpretation, and cannot be appropriately discussed

in an essay on temple symbolism only.

We now reach the third degree, the Master Masons of the modern science,

and the Epopts, or beholders of the sacred things in the ancient

Mysteries.

In the third degree the symbolic allusions to the temple of Solomon, and

the implements of Masonry employed in its construction, are extended and

fully completed. At the building of that edifice, we have already seen

that one class of the workmen was employed in the preparation of the

materials, while another was engaged in placing those materials in their

proper position. But there was a third and higher class,--the master

workmen,--whose duty it was to superintend the two other classes, and to

see that the stones were not only duly prepared, but that the most exact

accuracy had been observed in giving to them their true juxtaposition in

the edifice. It was then only that the last and finishing labor[63] was

performed, and the cement was applied by these skilful workmen, to secure

the materials in their appropriate places, and to unite the building in

one enduring and connected mass. Hence the _trowel_, we are informed, was

the most important, though of course not the only, implement in use among

the master builders. They did not permit this last, indelible operation to

be performed by any hands less skilful than their own. They required that

the craftsmen should prove the correctness of their work by the square,

level, and plumb, and test, by these unerring instruments, the accuracy of

their joints; and, when satisfied of the just arrangement of every part,

the cement, which was to give an unchangeable union to the whole, was then

applied by themselves.

Hence, in speculative Masonry, the trowel has been assigned to the third

degree as its proper implement, and the symbolic meaning which accompanies

it has a strict and beautiful reference to the purposes for which it was

used in the ancient temple; for as it was there employed "to spread the

cement which united the building in one common mass," so is it selected as

the symbol of brotherly love--that cement whose object is to unite our

mystic association in one sacred and harmonious band of brethren.

Here, then, we perceive the first, or, as I have already called it, the

elementary form of our symbolism--the adaptation of the terms, and

implements, and processes of an operative art to a speculative science.

The temple is now completed. The stones having been hewed, squared, and

numbered in the quarries by the apprentices,--having been properly

adjusted by the craftsmen, and finally secured in their appropriate

places, with the strongest and purest cement, by the master builders,--the

temple of King Solomon presented, in its finished condition, so noble an

appearance of sublimity and grandeur as to well deserve to be selected, as

it has been, for the type or symbol of that immortal temple of the body,

to which Christ significantly and symbolically alluded when he said,

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

This idea of representing the interior and spiritual man by a material

temple is so apposite in all its parts as to have occurred on more than

one occasion to the first teachers of Christianity. Christ himself

repeatedly alludes to it in other passages, and the eloquent and

figurative St. Paul beautifully extends the idea in one of his Epistles to

the Corinthians, in the following language: "Know ye not that ye are the

temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?" And again, in

a subsequent passage of the same Epistle, he reiterates the idea in a more

positive form: "What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy

Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" And

Dr. Adam Clarke, while commenting on this latter passage, makes the very

allusions which have been the topic of discussion in the present essay.

"As truly," says he, "as the living God dwelt in the Mosaic tabernacle and

in the temple of Solomon, so truly does the Holy Ghost dwell in the souls

of genuine Christians; and as the temple and all its _utensils_ were holy,

separated from all common and profane uses, and dedicated alone to the

service of God, so the bodies of genuine Christians are holy, and should

be employed in the service of God alone."

The idea, therefore, of making the temple a symbol of the body, is not

exclusively masonic; but the mode of treating the symbolism by a reference

to the particular temple of Solomon, and to the operative art engaged in

its construction, is peculiar to Freemasonry. It is this which isolates it

from all other similar associations. Having many things in common with the

secret societies and religious Mysteries of antiquity, in this "temple

symbolism" it differs from them all.

XIII.

The Form of the Lodge.

In the last essay, I treated of that symbolism of the masonic system which

makes the temple of Jerusalem the archetype of a lodge, and in which, in

consequence, all the symbols are referred to the connection of a

speculative science with an operative art. I propose in the present to

discourse of a higher and abstruser mode of symbolism; and it may be

observed that, in coming to this topic, we arrive, for the first time, at

that chain of resemblances which unites Freemasonry with the ancient

systems of religion, and which has given rise, among masonic writers, to

the names of Pure and Spurious Freemasonry--the pure Freemasonry being

that system of philosophical religion which, coming through the line of

the patriarchs, was eventually modified by influences exerted at the

building of King Solomon's temple, and the spurious being the same system

as it was altered and corrupted by the polytheism of the nations of

heathendom.[64]

As this abstruser mode of symbolism, if less peculiar to the masonic

system, is, however, far more interesting than the one which was treated

in the previous essay,--because it is more philosophical,--I propose to

give an extended investigation of its character. And, in the first place,

there is what may be called an elementary view of this abstruser

symbolism, which seems almost to be a corollary from what has already been

described in the preceding article.

As each individual mason has been supposed to be the symbol of a spiritual

temple,--"a temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,"--the

lodge or collected assemblage of these masons, is adopted as a symbol of

the world.[65]

It is in the first degree of Masonry, more particularly, that this

species of symbolism is developed. In its detail it derives the

characteristics of resemblance upon which it is founded, from the form,

the supports, the ornaments, and general construction and internal

organization of a lodge, in all of which the symbolic reference to the

world is beautifully and consistently sustained.

The form of a masonic lodge is said to be a parallelogram, or oblong

square; its greatest length being from east to west, its breadth from

north to south. A square, a circle, a triangle, or any other form but that

of an _oblong square_, would be eminently incorrect and unmasonic, because

such a figure would not be an expression of the symbolic idea which is

intended to be conveyed.

Now, as the world is a globe, or, to speak more accurately, an oblate

spheroid, the attempt to make an oblong square its symbol would seem, at

first view, to present insuperable difficulties. But the system of masonic

symbolism has stood the test of too long an experience to be easily found

at fault; and therefore this very symbol furnishes a striking evidence of

the antiquity of the order. At the Solomonic era--the era of the building

of the temple at Jerusalem--the world, it must be remembered, was supposed

to have that very oblong form,[66] which has been here symbolized. If, for

instance, on a map of the world we should inscribe an oblong figure whose

boundary lines would circumscribe and include just that portion which was

known to be inhabited in the clays of Solomon, these lines, running a

short distance north and south of the Mediterranean Sea, and extending

from Spain in the west to Asia Minor in the east, would form an oblong

square, including the southern shore of Europe, the northern shore of

Africa, and the western district of Asia, the length of the parallelogram

being about sixty degrees from east to west, and its breadth being about

twenty degrees from north to south. This oblong square, thus enclosing the

whole of what was then supposed to be the habitable globe,[67] would

precisely represent what is symbolically said to be _the form of the

lodge_, while the Pillars of Hercules in the west, on each side of the

straits of Gades or Gibraltar, might appropriately be referred to the two

pillars that stood at the porch of the temple.

[Illustration: Map of Mediterranean Sea and surrounding area.]

A masonic lodge is, therefore, a symbol of the world.

This symbol is sometimes, by a very usual figure of speech, extended, in

its application, and the world and the universe are made synonymous, when

the lodge becomes, of course, a symbol of the universe. But in this case

the definition of the symbol is extended, and to the ideas of length and

breadth are added those of height and depth, and the lodge is said to

assume the form of a double cube.[68] The solid contents of the earth

below and the expanse of the heavens above will then give the outlines of

the cube, and the whole created universe[69] will be included within the

symbolic limits of a mason's lodge.

By always remembering that the lodge is the symbol, in its form and

extent, of the world, we are enabled, readily and rationally, to explain

many other symbols, attached principally to the first degree; and we are

enabled to collate and compare them with similar symbols of other kindred

institutions of antiquity, for it should be observed that this symbolism

of the world, represented by a place of initiation, widely pervaded all

the ancient rites and mysteries.

It will, no doubt, be interesting to extend our investigations on this

subject, with a particular view to the method in which this symbolism of

the world or the universe was developed, in some of its most prominent

details; and for this purpose I shall select the mystical explanation of

the _officers_ of a lodge, its _covering_, and a portion of its

_ornaments_.

XIV.

The Officers of a Lodge.

The Three Principal Officers of a lodge are, it is needless to say,

situated in the east, the west, and the south. Now, bearing in mind that

the lodge is a symbol of the world, or the universe, the reference of

these three officers to the sun at its rising, its setting, and its

meridian height, must at once suggest itself.

This is the first development of the symbol, and a very brief inquiry will

furnish ample evidence of its antiquity and its universality.

In the Brahminical initiations of Hindostan, which are among the earliest

that have been transmitted to us, and may almost be considered as the

cradle of all the others of subsequent ages and various countries, the

ceremonies were performed in vast caverns, the remains of some of which,

at Salsette, Elephanta, and a few other places, will give the spectator

but a very inadequate idea of the extent and splendor of these ancient

Indian lodges.[70] More imperfect remains than these are still to be found

in great numbers throughout Hindostan and Cashmere. Their form was

sometimes that of a cross, emblematic of the four elements of which the

earth is composed,--fire, water, air, and earth,--but more generally an

oval, as a representation of the mundane egg, which, in the ancient

systems, was a symbol of the world.[71]

The interior of the cavern of initiation was lighted by innumerable lamps,

and there sat in the east, the west, and the south the principal

Hierophants, or explainers of the Mysteries, as the representatives of

Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Now, Brahma was the supreme deity of the

Hindoos, borrowed or derived from the Sun-god of their Sabean ancestors,

and Vishnu and Siva were but manifestations of his attributes. We learn

from the Indian Pantheon that "when the sun rises in the east, he is

Brahma; when he gains his meridian in the south, he is Siva; and when he

sets in the west, he is Vishnu."

Again, in the Zoroasteric mysteries of Persia, the temple of initiation

was circular, being made so to represent the universe; and the sun in the

east, with the surrounding zodiac, formed an indispensable part of the

ceremony of reception.[72]

In the Egyptian mysteries of Osiris, the same reference to the sun is

contained, and Herodotus, who was himself an initiate, intimates that the

ceremonies consisted in the representation of a Sun-god, who had been

incarnate, that is, had appeared upon earth, or rose, and who was at

length put to death by Typhon, the symbol of darkness, typical of the

sun's setting.

In the great mysteries of Eleusis,[73] which were celebrated at Athens, we

learn from St. Chrysostom, as well as other authorities, that the temple

of initiation was symbolic of the universe, and we know that one of the

officers represented the sun.[74]

In the Celtic mysteries of the Druids, the temple of initiation was either

oval, to represent the mundane egg--a symbol, as has already been said, of

the world; or circular, because the circle was a symbol of the universe;

or cruciform, in allusion to the four elements, or constituents of the

universe. In the Island of Lewis, in Scotland, there is one combining the

cruciform and circular form. There is a circle, consisting of twelve

stones, while three more are placed in the east, and as many in the west

and south, and thirty-eight, in two parallel lines, in the north, forming

an avenue to the circular temple. In the centre of the circle is the image

of the god. In the initiations into these rites, the solar deity performed

an important part, and the celebrations commenced at daybreak, when the

sun was hailed on his appearance above the horizon as "the god of victory,

the king who rises in light and ascends the sky."

But I need not multiply these instances of sun-worship. Every country and

religion of the ancient world would afford one.[75] Sufficient has been

cited to show the complete coincidence, in reference to the sun, between

the symbolism of Freemasonry and that of the ancient rites and Mysteries,

and to suggest for them a common origin, the sun being always in the

former system, from the earliest times of the primitive or patriarchal

Masonry, considered simply as a manifestation of the Wisdom, Strength, and

Beauty of the Divine Architect, visibly represented by the position of the

three principal officers of a lodge, while by the latter, in their

degeneration from, and corruption of the true Noachic faith, it was

adopted as the special object of adoration.

XV.

The Point Within a Circle.

The point within a Circle is another symbol of great importance in

Freemasonry, and commands peculiar attention in this connection with the

ancient symbolism of the universe and the solar orb. Everybody who has

read a masonic "Monitor" is well acquainted with the usual explanation of

this symbol. We are told that the point represents an individual brother,

the circle the boundary line of his duty to God and man, and the two

perpendicular parallel lines the patron saints of the order--St. John the

Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.

Now, this explanation, trite and meagre as it is, may do very well for the

exoteric teaching of the order; but the question at this time is, not how

it has been explained by modern lecturers and masonic system-makers, but

what was the ancient interpretation of the symbol, and how should it be

read as a sacred hieroglyphic in reference to the true philosophic system

which constitutes the real essence and character of Freemasonry?

Perfectly to understand this symbol, I must refer, as a preliminary

matter, to the worship of the _Phallus_, a peculiar modification of

sun-worship, which prevailed to a great extent among the nations of

antiquity.

The Phallus was a sculptured representation of the _membrum virile_, or

male organ of generation,[76] and the worship of it is said to have

originated in Egypt, where, after the murder of Osiris by Typhon, which is

symbolically to be explained as the destruction or deprivation of the

sun's light by night, Isis, his wife, or the symbol of nature, in the

search for his mutilated body, is said to have found all the parts except

the organs of generation, which myth is simply symbolic of the fact, that

the sun having set, its fecundating and invigorating power had ceased. The

Phallus, therefore, as the symbol of the male generative principle, was

very universally venerated among the ancients,[77] and that too as a

religious rite, without the slightest reference to any impure or

lascivious application.[78] He is supposed, by some commentators, to be

the god mentioned under the name of Baal-peor, in the Book of Numbers,[79]

as having been worshipped by the idolatrous Moabites. Among the eastern

nations of India the same symbol was prevalent, under the name of

"Lingam." But the Phallus or Lingam was a representation of the male

principle only. To perfect the circle of generation it is necessary to

advance one step farther. Accordingly we find in the _Cteis_ of the

Greeks, and the _Yoni_ of the Indians, a symbol of the female generative

principle, of co-extensive prevalence with the Phallus. The _Cteis_ was a

circular and concave pedestal, or receptacle, on which the Phallus or

column rested, and from the centre of which it sprang.

The union of the Phallus and Cteis, or the Lingam and Yoni, in one

compound figure, as an object of adoration, was the most usual mode of

representation. This was in strict accordance with the whole system of

ancient mythology, which was founded upon a worship of the prolific powers

of nature. All the deities of pagan antiquity, however numerous they may

be, can always be reduced to the two different forms of the generative

principle--the active, or male, and the passive, or female. Hence the gods

were always arranged in pairs, as Jupiter and Juno, Bacchus and Venus,

Osiris and Isis. But the ancients went farther. Believing that the

procreative and productive powers of nature might be conceived to exist in

the same individual, they made the older of their deities hermaphrodite,

and used the term [Greek: a)r)r(enothe/lys], or _man-virgin,_ to denote

the union of the two sexes in the same divine person.[80]

Thus, in one of the Orphic Hymns, we find this line:--

[Greek: Zey\s a)/rsen ge/neto, Zey\s a)/mbrotos e)/Pleto ny/mphe]

Jove was created a male and an unspotted virgin.

And Plutarch, in his tract "On Isis and Osiris," says, "God, who is a male

and female intelligence, being both life and light, brought forth another

intelligence, the Creator of the World."

Now, this hermaphrodism of the Supreme Divinity was again supposed to be

represented by the sun, which was the male generative energy, and by

nature, or the universe, which was the female prolific principle.[81] And

this union was symbolized in different ways, but principally by _the

point within the circle_, the point indicating the sun, and the circle the

universe, invigorated and fertilized by his generative rays. And in some

of the Indian cave-temples, this allusion was made more manifest by the

inscription of the signs of the zodiac on the circle.

So far, then, we arrive at the true interpretation of the masonic

symbolism of the point within the circle. It is the same thing, but under

a different form, as the Master and Wardens of a lodge. The Master and

Wardens are symbols of the sun, the lodge of the universe, or world, just

as the point is the symbol of the same sun, and the surrounding circle of

the universe.

But the two perpendicular parallel lines remain to be explained. Every one

is familiar with the very recent interpretation, that they represent the

two Saints John, the Baptist and the Evangelist. But this modern

exposition must be abandoned, if we desire to obtain the true ancient

signification.

In the first place, we must call to mind the fact that, at two particular

points of his course, the sun is found in the zodiacal signs of Cancer and

Capricorn. These points are astronomically distinguished as the summer and

winter solstice. When the sun is in these points, he has reached his

greatest northern and southern declination, and produces the most evident

effects on the temperature of the seasons, and on the length of the days

and nights. These points, if we suppose the circle to represent the sun's

apparent course, will be indicated by the points where the parallel lines

touch the circle, or, in other words, the parallels will indicate the

limits of the sun's extreme northern and southern declination, when he

arrives at the solstitial points of Cancer and Capricorn.

But the days when the sun reaches these points are, respectively, the 21st

of June and the 22d of December, and this will account for their

subsequent application to the two Saints John, whose anniversaries have

been placed by the church near those days.

XVI.

The Covering of the Lodge.

The Covering of the lodge is another, and must be our last reference to

this symbolism of the world or the universe. The mere mention of the fact

that this covering is figuratively supposed to be "a clouded canopy," or

the firmament, on which the host of stars is represented, will be enough

to indicate the continued allusion to the symbolism of the world. The

lodge, as a representative of the world, is of course supposed to have no

other roof than the heavens;[82] and it would scarcely be necessary to

enter into any discussion on the subject, were it not that another

symbol--the theological ladder--is so intimately connected with it, that

the one naturally suggests the other. Now, this mystic ladder, which

connects the ground floor of the lodge with its roof or covering, is

another important and interesting link, which binds, with one common

chain, the symbolism and ceremonies of Freemasonry, and the symbolism and

rites of the ancient initiations.

This mystical ladder, which in Masonry is referred to "the theological

ladder, which Jacob in his vision saw, reaching from earth to heaven," was

widely dispersed among the religions of antiquity, where it was always

supposed to consist of seven rounds or steps.

For instance, in the Mysteries of Mithras, in Persia, where there were

seven stages or degrees of initiation, there was erected in the temples,

or rather caves,--for it was in them that the initiation was

conducted,--a high ladder, of seven steps or gates, each of which was

dedicated to one of the planets, which was typified by one of the metals,

the topmost step representing the sun, so that, beginning at the bottom,

we have Saturn represented by lead, Venus by tin, Jupiter by brass,

Mercury by iron, Mars by a mixed metal, the Moon by silver, and the Sun by

gold, the whole being a symbol of the sidereal progress of the solar orb

through the universe.

In the Mysteries of Brahma we find the same reference to the ladder of

seven steps; but here the names were different, although there was the

same allusion to the symbol of the universe. The seven steps were

emblematical of the seven worlds which constituted the Indian universe.

The lowest was the Earth; the second, the World of Reexistence; the third,

Heaven; the fourth, the Middle World, or intermediate region between the

lower and upper worlds; the fifth, the World of Births, in which souls are

again born; the sixth, the Mansion of the Blessed; and the seventh, or

topmost round, the Sphere of Truth, the abode of Brahma, he himself being

but a symbol of the sun, and hence we arrive once more at the masonic

symbolism of the universe and the solar orb.

Dr. Oliver thinks that in the Scandinavian Mysteries he has found the

mystic ladder in the sacred tree _Ydrasil;_[83] but here the reference to

the septenary division is so imperfect, or at least abstruse, that I am

unwilling to press it into our catalogue of coincidences, although there

is no doubt that we shall find in this sacred tree the same allusion as in

the ladder of Jacob, to an ascent from earth, where its roots were

planted, to heaven, where its branches expanded, which ascent being but a

change from mortality to immortality, from time to eternity, was the

doctrine taught in all the initiations. The ascent of the ladder or of the

tree was the ascent from life here to life hereafter--from earth to

heaven.

It is unnecessary to carry these parallelisms any farther. Any one can,

however, see in them an undoubted reference to that septenary division

which so universally prevailed throughout the ancient world, and the

influence of which is still felt even in the common day life and

observances of our time. Seven was, among the Hebrews, their perfect

number; and hence we see it continually recurring in all their sacred

rites. The creation was perfected in seven days; seven priests, with

seven trumpets, encompassed the walls of Jericho for seven days; Noah

received seven days' notice of the commencement of the deluge, and seven

persons accompanied him into the ark, which rested on Mount Ararat on the

seventh month; Solomon was seven years in building the temple: and there

are hundreds of other instances of the prominence of this talismanic

number, if there were either time or necessity to cite them.

Among the Gentiles the same number was equally sacred. Pythagoras called

it a "venerable number." The septenary division of time into weeks of

seven days, although not universal, as has been generally supposed, was

sufficiently so to indicate the influence of the number. And it is

remarkable, as perhaps in some way referring to the seven-stepped ladder

which we have been considering, that in the ancient Mysteries, as Apuleius

informs us, the candidate was seven times washed in the consecrated waters

of ablution.

There is, then, an anomaly in giving to the mystical ladder of Masonry

only _three_ rounds. It is an anomaly, however, with which Masonry has had

nothing to do. The error arose from the ignorance of those inventors who

first engraved the masonic symbols for our monitors. The ladder of

Masonry, like the equipollent ladders of its kindred institutions, always

had seven steps, although in modern times the three principal or upper

ones are alone alluded to. These rounds, beginning at the lowest, are

_Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, Justice, Faith, Hope,_ and _Charity_.

Charity, therefore, takes the same place in the ladder of masonic virtues

as the sun does in the ladder of planets. In the ladder of metals we find

gold, and in that of colors yellow, occupying the same elevated position.

Now, St. Paul explains Charity as signifying, not alms-giving, which is

the modern popular meaning, but love--that love which "suffereth long and

is kind;" and when, in our lectures on this subject, we speak of it as the

greatest of virtues, because, when Faith is lost and Hope has ceased, it

extends "beyond the grave to realms of endless bliss," we there refer it

to the Divine Love of our Creator. But Portal, in his Essay on Symbolic

Colors, informs us that the sun represents Divine Love, and gold indicates

the goodness of God.

So that if Charity is equivalent to Divine Love, and Divine Love is

represented by the sun, and lastly, if Charity be the topmost round of the

masonic ladder, then again we arrive, as the result of our researches, at

the symbol so often already repeated of the solar orb. The natural sun or

the spiritual sun--the sun, either as the vivifying principle of animated

nature, and therefore the special object of adoration, or as the most

prominent instrument of the Creator's benevolence--was ever a leading idea

in the symbolism of antiquity.

Its prevalence, therefore, in the masonic institution, is a pregnant

evidence of the close analogy existing between it and all these systems.

How that analogy was first introduced, and how it is to be explained,

without detriment to the purity and truthfulness of our own religious

character, would involve a long inquiry into the origin of Freemasonry,

and the history of its connection with the ancient systems.

These researches might have been extended still farther; enough, however,

has been said to establish the following leading principles:--

1. That Freemasonry is, strictly speaking, a science of symbolism.

2. That in this symbolism it bears a striking analogy to the same science,

as seen in the mystic rites of the ancient religions.

3. That as in these ancient religions the universe was symbolized to the

candidate, and the sun, as its vivifying principle, made the object of his

adoration, or at least of his veneration, so, in Masonry, the lodge is

made the representative of the world or the universe, and the sun is

presented as its most prominent symbol.

4. That this identity of symbolism proves an identity of origin, which

identity of origin can be shown to be strictly compatible with the true

religious sentiment of Masonry.

5. And fifthly and lastly, that the whole symbolism of Freemasonry has an

exclusive reference to what the Kabalists have called the ALGABIL--the

_Master Builder_--him whom Freemasons have designated as the Grand

Architect of the Universe.

XVII.

Ritualistic Symbolism.

We have hitherto been engaged in the consideration of these simple

symbols, which appear to express one single and independent idea. They

have sometimes been called the "alphabet of Freemasonry," but improperly,

I think, since the letters of the alphabet have, in themselves, unlike

these masonic symbols, no significance, but are simply the component parts

of words, themselves the representatives of ideas.

These masonic symbols rather may be compared to the elementary characters

of the Chinese language, each of which denotes an idea; or, still better,

to the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians, in which one object was

represented in full by another which bore some subjective relation to it,

as the wind was represented by the wings of a bird, or courage by the head

and shoulders of a lion.

It is in the same way that in Masonry the plumb represents rectitude, the

level, human equality, and the trowel, concord or harmony. Each is, in

itself, independent, each expresses a single elementary idea.

But we now arrive at a higher division of masonic symbolism, which,

passing beyond these tangible symbols, brings us to those which are of a

more abstruse nature, and which, as being developed in a ceremonial form,

controlled and directed by the ritual of the order, may be designated as

the _ritualistic symbolism_ of Freemasonry.

It is to this higher division that I now invite attention; and for the

purpose of exemplifying the definition that I have given, I shall select a

few of the most prominent and interesting ceremonies of the ritual.

Our first researches were into the symbolism of objects; our next will be

into the symbolism of ceremonies.

In the explanations which I shall venture to give of this ritualistic

symbolism, or the symbolism of ceremonies, a reference will constantly be

made to what has so often already been alluded to, namely, to the analogy

existing between the system of Freemasonry and the ancient rites and

Mysteries, and hence we will again develop the identity of their origin.

Each of the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry contains some of these

ritualistic symbols: the lessons of the whole order are, indeed, veiled in

their allegoric clothing; but it is only to the most important that I can

find opportunity to refer. Such, among others, are the rites of

discalceation, of investiture, of circumambulation, and of intrusting.

Each of these will furnish an appropriate subject for consideration.

XVIII.

The Rite of Discalceation.

The _rite of discalceation_, or uncovering the feet on approaching holy

ground, is derived from the Latin word _discalceare_, to pluck off one's

shoes. The usage has the prestige of antiquity and universality in its

favor.

That it not only very generally prevailed, but that its symbolic

signification was well understood in the days of Moses, we learn from that

passage of Exodus where the angel of the Lord, at the burning bush,

exclaims to the patriarch, "Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from

off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." [84]

Clarke[85] thinks it is from this command that the Eastern nations have

derived the custom of performing all their acts of religious worship with

bare feet. But it is much more probable that the ceremony was in use long

anterior to the circumstance of the burning bush, and that the Jewish

lawgiver at once recognized it as a well-known sign of reverence.

Bishop Patrick[86] entertains this opinion, and thinks that the custom

was derived from the ancient patriarchs, and was transmitted by a general

tradition to succeeding times.

Abundant evidence might be furnished from ancient authors of the existence

of the custom among all nations, both Jewish and Gentile. A few of them,

principally collected by Dr. Mede, must be curious and interesting.

The direction of Pythagoras to his disciples was in these words:

"[Greek: Anypo/detos thy/e kai pro/skynei];" that is, Offer sacrifice and

worship with thy shoes off.[87]

Justin Martyr says that those who came to worship in the sanctuaries and

temples of the Gentiles were commanded by their priests to put off their

shoes.

Drusius, in his Notes on the Book of Joshua, says that among most of the

Eastern nations it was a pious duty to tread the pavement of the temple

with unshod feet.[88]

Maimonides, the great expounder of the Jewish law, asserts that "it was

not lawful for a man to come into the mountain of God's house with his

shoes on his feet, or with his staff, or in his working garments, or with

dust on his feet." [89]

Rabbi Solomon, commenting on the command in Leviticus xix. 30, "Ye shall

reverence my sanctuary," makes the same remark in relation to this custom.

On this subject Dr. Oliver observes, "Now, the act of going with naked

feet was always considered a token of humility and reverence; and the

priests, in the temple worship, always officiated with feet uncovered,

although it was frequently injurious to their health." [90]

Mede quotes Zago Zaba, an Ethiopian bishop, who was ambassador from David,

King of Abyssinia, to John III., of Portugal, as saying, "We are not

permitted to enter the church, except barefooted." [91]

The Mohammedans, when about to perform their devotions, always leave their

slippers at the door of the mosque. The Druids practised the same custom

whenever they celebrated their sacred rites; and the ancient Peruvians are

said always to have left their shoes at the porch when they entered the

magnificent temple consecrated to the worship of the sun.

Adam Clarke thinks that the custom of worshipping the Deity barefooted was

so general among all nations of antiquity, that he assigns it as one of

his thirteen proofs that the whole human race have been derived from one

family.[92]

A theory might be advanced as follows: The shoes, or sandals, were worn on

ordinary occasions as a protection from the defilement of the ground. To

continue to wear them, then, in a consecrated place, would be a tacit

insinuation that the ground there was equally polluted and capable of

producing defilement. But, as the very character of a holy and consecrated

spot precludes the idea of any sort of defilement or impurity, the

acknowledgment that such was the case was conveyed, symbolically, by

divesting the feet of all that protection from pollution and uncleanness

which would be necessary in unconsecrated places.

So, in modern times, we uncover the head to express the sentiment of

esteem and respect. Now, in former days, when there was more violence to

be apprehended than now, the casque, or helmet, afforded an ample

protection from any sudden blow of an unexpected adversary. But we can

fear no violence from one whom we esteem and respect; and, therefore, to

deprive the head of its accustomed protection, is to give an evidence of

our unlimited confidence in the person to whom the gesture is made.

The rite of discalceation is, therefore, a symbol of reverence. It

signifies, in the language of symbolism, that the spot which is about to

be approached in this humble and reverential manner is consecrated to some

holy purpose.

Now, as to all that has been said, the intelligent mason will at once see

its application to the third degree. Of all the degrees of Masonry, this

is by far the most important and sublime. The solemn lessons which it

teaches, the sacred scene which it represents, and the impressive

ceremonies with which it is conducted, are all calculated to inspire the

mind with feelings of awe and reverence. Into the holy of holies of the

temple, when the ark of the covenant had been deposited in its appropriate

place, and the Shekinah was hovering over it, the high priest alone, and

on one day only in the whole year, was permitted, after the most careful

purification, to enter with bare feet, and to pronounce, with fearful

veneration, the tetragrammaton or omnific word.

And into the Master Mason's lodge--this holy of holies of the masonic

temple, where the solemn truths of death and immortality are

inculcated--the aspirant, on entering, should purify his heart from every

contamination, and remember, with a due sense of their symbolic

application, those words that once broke upon the astonished ears of the

old patriarch, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon

thou standest is holy ground."

XIX.

The Rite of Investiture.

Another ritualistic symbolism, of still more importance and interest, is

the _rite of investiture_.

The rite of investiture, called, in the colloquially technical language of

the order, the _ceremony of clothing_, brings us at once to the

consideration of that well-known symbol of Freemasonry, the LAMB-SKIN

APRON.

This rite of investiture, or the placing upon the aspirant some garment,

as an indication of his appropriate preparation for the ceremonies in

which he was about to engage, prevailed in all the ancient initiations. A

few of them only it will be requisite to consider.

Thus in the Levitical economy of the Israelites the priests always wore

the abnet, or linen apron, or girdle, as a part of the investiture of the

priesthood. This, with the other garments, was to be worn, as the text

expresses it, "for glory and for beauty," or, as it has been explained by

a learned commentator, "as emblematical of that holiness and purity which

ever characterize the divine nature, and the worship which is worthy of

him."

In the Persian Mysteries of Mithras, the candidate, having first received

light, was invested with a girdle, a crown or mitre, a purple tunic, and,

lastly, a white apron.

In the initiations practised in Hindostan, in the ceremony of investiture

was substituted the sash, or sacred zennaar, consisting of a cord,

composed of nine threads twisted into a knot at the end, and hanging from

the left shoulder to the right hip. This was, perhaps, the type of the

masonic scarf, which is, or ought to be, always worn in the same position.

The Jewish sect of the Essenes, who approached nearer than any other

secret institution of antiquity to Freemasonry in their organization,

always invested their novices with a white robe.

And, lastly, in the Scandinavian rites, where the military genius of the

people had introduced a warlike species of initiation, instead of the

apron we find the candidate receiving a white shield, which was, however,

always presented with the accompaniment of some symbolic instruction, not

very dissimilar to that which is connected with the masonic apron.

In all these modes of investiture, no matter what was the material or the

form, the symbolic signification intended to be conveyed was that of

purity.

And hence, in Freemasonry, the same symbolism is communicated by the

apron, which, because it is the first gift which the aspirant

receives,--the first symbol in which he is instructed,--has been called

the "badge of a mason." And most appropriately has it been so called; for,

whatever may be the future advancement of the candidate in the "Royal

Art," into whatever deeper arcana his devotion to the mystic institution

or his thirst for knowledge may carry him, with the apron--his first

investiture--he never parts. Changing, perhaps, its form and its

decorations, and conveying at each step some new and beautiful allusion,

its substance is still there, and it continues to claim the honorable

title by which it was first made known to him on the night of his

initiation.

The apron derives its significance, as the symbol of purity, from two

sources--from its color and from its material. In each of these points of

view it is, then, to be considered, before its symbolism can be properly

appreciated.

And, first, the color of the apron must be an unspotted white. This color

has, in all ages, been esteemed an emblem of innocence and purity. It was

with reference to this symbolism that a portion of the vestments of the

Jewish priesthood was directed to be made white. And hence Aaron was

commanded, when he entered into the holy of holies to make an expiation

for the sins of the people, to appear clothed in white linen, with his

linen apron, or girdle, about his loins. It is worthy of remark that the

Hebrew word LABAN, which signifies _to make white_, denotes also _to

purify_; and hence we find, throughout the Scriptures, many allusions to

that color as an emblem of purity. "Though thy sins be as scarlet," says

Isaiah, "they shall be _white_ as snow;" and Jeremiah, in describing the

once innocent condition of Zion, says, "Her Nazarites were purer than

snow; they were _whiter_ than milk."

In the Apocalypse a _white stone_ was the reward promised by the Spirit to

those who overcame; and in the same mystical book the apostle is

instructed to say, that fine linen, clean and _white_, is the

righteousness of the saints.

In the early ages of the Christian church a _white garment_ was always

placed upon the catechumen who had been recently baptized, to denote that

he had been cleansed from his former sins, and was thenceforth to lead a

life of innocence and purity. Hence it was presented to him with this

appropriate charge: "Receive the white and undefiled garment, and produce

it unspotted before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may

obtain immortal life."

The _white alb_ still constitutes a part of the vestments of the Roman

church, and its color is said by Bishop England "to excite to piety by

teaching us the purity of heart and body which we should possess in being

present at the holy mysteries."

The heathens paid the same attention to the symbolic signification of this

color. The Egyptians, for instance, decorated the head of their principal

deity, Osiris, with a white tiara, and the priests wore robes of the

whitest linen.

In the school of Pythagoras, the sacred hymns were chanted by the

disciples clothed in garments of white. The Druids gave white vestments to

those of their initiates who had arrived at the ultimate degree, or that

of perfection. And this was intended, according to their ritual, to teach

the aspirant that none were admitted to that honor but such as were

cleansed from all impurities, both of body and mind.

In all the Mysteries and religions rites of the other nations of

antiquity the same use of white garments was observed.

Portal, in his "Treatise on Symbolic Colors," says that "white, the symbol

of the divinity and of the priesthood, represents divine wisdom; applied

to a young girl, it denotes virginity; to an accused person, innocence; to

a judge, justice;" and he adds--what in reference to its use in Masonry

will be peculiarly appropriate--that, "as a characteristic sign of purity,

it exhibits a promise of hope after death." We see, therefore, the

propriety of adopting this color in the masonic system as a symbol of

purity. This symbolism pervades the whole of the ritual, from the lowest

to the highest degree, wherever white vestments or white decorations are

used.

As to the material of the apron, this is imperatively required to be of

lamb-skin. No other substance, such as linen, silk, or satin, could be

substituted without entirely destroying the symbolism of the vestment.

Now, the lamb has, as the ritual expresses it, "been, in all ages, deemed

an emblem of innocence;" but more particularly in the Jewish and Christian

churches has this symbolism been observed. Instances of this need hardly

be cited. They abound throughout the Old Testament, where we learn that a

lamb was selected by the Israelites for their sin and burnt offerings, and

in the New, where the word _lamb_ is almost constantly employed as

synonymous with innocence. "The paschal lamb," says Didron, "which was

eaten by the Israelites on the night preceding their departure, is the

type of that other divine Lamb, of whom Christians are to partake at

Easter, in order thereby to free themselves from the bondage in which they

are held by vice." The paschal lamb, a lamb bearing a cross, was,

therefore, from an early period, depicted by the Christians as referring

to Christ crucified, "that spotless Lamb of God, who was slain from the

foundation of the world."

The material, then, of the apron, unites with its color to give to the

investiture of a mason the symbolic signification of purity. This, then,

together with the fact which I have already shown, that the ceremony of

investiture was common to all the ancient religious rites, will form

another proof of the identity of origin between these and the masonic

institution.

This symbolism also indicates the sacred and religious character which its

founders sought to impose upon Freemasonry, and to which both the moral

and physical qualifications of our candidates undoubtedly have a

reference, since it is with the masonic lodge as it was with the Jewish

church, where it was declared that "no man that had a blemish should come

nigh unto the altar;" and with the heathen priesthood, among whom we are

told that it was thought to be a dishonor to the gods to be served by any

one that was maimed, lame, or in any other way imperfect; and with both,

also, in requiring that no one should approach the sacred things who was

not pure and uncorrupt.

The pure, unspotted lamb-skin apron is, then, in Masonry, symbolic of that

perfection of body and purity of mind which are essential qualifications

in all who would participate in its sacred mysteries.

XX.

The Symbolism of the Gloves.

The investiture with the gloves is very closely connected with the

investiture with the apron, and the consideration of the symbolism of the

one naturally follows the consideration of the symbolism of the other.

In the continental rites of Masonry, as practised in France, in Germany,

and in other countries of Europe, it is an invariable custom to present

the newly-initiated candidate not only, as we do, with a white leather

apron, but also with two pairs of white kid gloves, one a man's pair for

himself, and the other a woman's, to be presented by him in turn to his

wife or his betrothed, according to the custom of the German masons, or,

according to the French, to the female whom he most esteems, which,

indeed, amounts, or should amount, to the same thing.

There is in this, of course, as there is in everything else which pertains

to Freemasonry, a symbolism. The gloves given to the candidate for himself

are intended to teach him that the acts of a mason should be as pure and

spotless as the gloves now given to him. In the German lodges, the word

used for _acts_ is of course _handlungen_, or _handlings_, "the works of

his hands," which makes the symbolic idea more impressive.

Dr. Robert Plott--no friend of Masonry, but still an historian of much

research--says, in his "Natural History of Staffordshire," that the

Society of Freemasons, in his time (and he wrote in 1660), presented their

candidates with gloves for themselves and their wives. This shows that the

custom still preserved on the continent of Europe was formerly practised

in England, although there as well as in America, it is discontinued,

which is, perhaps, to be regretted.

But although the presentation of the gloves to the candidate is no longer

practised as a ceremony in England or America, yet the use of them as a

part of the proper professional clothing of a mason in the duties of the

lodge, or in processions, is still retained, and in many well-regulated

lodges the members are almost as regularly clothed in their white gloves

as in their white aprons.

The symbolism of the gloves, it will be admitted, is, in fact, but a

modification of that of the apron. They both signify the same thing; both

are allusive to a purification of life. "Who shall ascend," says the

Psalmist, "into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy

place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The apron may be said

to refer to the "pure heart," the gloves to the "clean hands." Both are

significant of purification--of that purification which was always

symbolized by the ablution which preceded the ancient initiations into the

sacred Mysteries. But while our American and English masons have adhered

only to the apron, and rejected the gloves as a Masonic symbol, the

latter appear to be far more important in symbolic science, because the

allusions to pure or clean hands are abundant in all the ancient writers.

"Hands," says Wemyss, in his "Clavis Symbolica," "are the symbols of human

actions; pure hands are pure actions; unjust hands are deeds of

injustice." There are numerous references in sacred and profane writers to

this symbolism. The washing of the hands has the outward sign of an

internal purification. Hence the Psalmist says, "I will wash my hands in

innocence, and I will encompass thine altar, Jehovah."

In the ancient Mysteries the washing of the hands was always an

introductory ceremony to the initiation, and, of course, it was used

symbolically to indicate the necessity of purity from crime as a

qualification of those who sought admission into the sacred rites; and

hence on a temple in the Island of Crete this inscription was placed:

"Cleanse your feet, wash your hands, and then enter."

Indeed, the washing of hands, as symbolic of purity, was among the

ancients a peculiarly religious rite. No one dared to pray to the gods

until he had cleansed his hands. Thus Homer makes Hector say,--

[Greek: "Chersi\ d' a)ni/Ptoisin Dii\+lei/bein A(\zomai."]--_Iliad_, vi. 266.

"I dread with unwashed hands to bring

My incensed wine to Jove an offering."

In a similar spirit of religion, AEneas, when leaving burning Troy, refuses

to enter the temple of Ceres until his hands, polluted by recent strife,

had been washed in the living stream.

"Me bello e tanto digressum et caede recenti,

Attrectare nefas, donec me flumine vivo

Abluero."--_AEn._ ii. 718.

"In me, now fresh from war and recent strife,

'Tis impious the sacred things to touch

Till in the living stream myself I bathe."

The same practice prevailed among the Jews, and a striking instance of the

symbolism is exhibited in that well-known action of Pilate, who, when the

Jews clamored for Jesus, that they might crucify him, appeared before the

people, and, having taken water, washed his hands, saying at the same

time, "I am innocent of the blood of this just man. See ye to it." In the

Christian church of the middle ages, gloves were always worn by bishops or

priests when in the performance of ecclesiastical functions. They were

made of linen, and were white; and Durandus, a celebrated ritualist, says

that "by the white gloves were denoted chastity and purity, because the

hands were thus kept clean and free from all impurity."

There is no necessity to extend examples any further. There is no doubt

that the use of the gloves in Masonry is a symbolic idea borrowed from the

ancient and universal language of symbolism, and was intended, like the

apron, to denote the necessity of purity of life.

We have thus traced the gloves and the apron to the same symbolic source.

Let us see if we cannot also derive them from the same historic origin.

The apron evidently owes its adoption in Freemasonry to the use of that

necessary garment by the operative masons of the middle ages. It is one of

the most positive evidences--indeed we may say, absolutely, the most

tangible evidence--of the derivation of our speculative science from an

operative art. The builders, who associated in companies, who traversed

Europe, and were engaged in the construction of palaces and cathedrals,

have left to us, as their descendants, their name, their technical

language, and that distinctive piece of clothing by which they protected

their garments from the pollutions of their laborious employment. Did they

also bequeath to us their gloves? This is a question which some modern

discoveries will at last enable us to solve.

M. Didron, in his "Annales Archeologiques," presents us with an engraving,

copied from the painted glass of a window in the cathedral of Chartres, in

France. The painting was executed in the thirteenth century, and

represents a number of operative masons at work. _Three_ of them are

adorned with laurel crowns. May not these be intended to represent the

three officers of a lodge? All of the Masons wear gloves. M. Didron

remarks that in the old documents which he has examined, mention is often

made of gloves which are intended to be presented to masons and

stone-cutters. In a subsequent number of the "Annales," he gives the

following three examples of this fact:--

In the year 1331, the Chatelan of Villaines, in Duemois, bought a

considerable quantity of gloves, to be given to the workmen, in order, as

it is said, "to shield their hands from the stone and lime."

In October, 1383, as he learns from a document of that period, three dozen

pairs of gloves were bought and distributed to the masons when they

commenced the buildings at the Chartreuse of Dijon.

And, lastly, in 1486 or 1487, twenty-two pair of gloves were given to the

masons and stone-cutters who were engaged in work at the city of Amiens.

It is thus evident that the builders--the operative masons--of the middle

ages wore gloves to protect their hands from the effects of their work.

It is equally evident that the speculative masons have received from their

operative predecessors the gloves as well as the apron, both of which,

being used by the latter for practical uses, have been, in the spirit of

symbolism, appropriated by the former to "a more noble and glorious

purpose."

XXI.

The Rite of Circumambulation.

The _rite of circumambulation_ will supply us with another ritualistic

symbol, in which we may again trace the identity of the origin of

Freemasonry with that of the religious and mystical ceremonies of the

ancients.

"Circumambulation" is the name given by sacred archaeologists to that

religious rite in the ancient initiations which consisted in a formal

procession around the altar, or other holy and consecrated object.

The prevalence of this rite among the ancients appears to have been

universal, and it originally (as I shall have occasion to show) alluded to

the apparent course of the sun in the firmament, which is from east to

west by the way of the south.

In ancient Greece, when the priests were engaged in the rites of

sacrifice, they and the people always walked three times around the altar

while chanting a sacred hymn or ode. Sometimes, while the people stood

around the altar, the rite of circumambulation was performed by the

priest alone, who, turning towards the right hand, went around it, and

sprinkled it with meal and holy water. In making this circumambulation, it

was considered absolutely necessary that the right side should always be

next to the altar, and consequently, that the procession should move from

the east to the south, then to the west, next to the north, and afterwards

to the east again. It was in this way that the apparent revolution was

represented.

This ceremony the Greeks called moving [Greek: ek dexia en dexia], _from

the right to the right_, which was the direction of the motion, and the

Romans applied to it the term _dextrovorsum,_ or _dextrorsum_, which

signifies the same thing. Thus Plautus makes Palinurus, a character in his

comedy of "Curculio," say, "If you would do reverence to the gods, you

must turn to the right hand." Gronovius, in commenting on this passage of

Plautus, says, "In worshipping and praying to the gods they were

accustomed to _turn to the right hand_."

A hymn of Callimachus has been preserved, which is said to have been

chanted by the priests of Apollo at Delos, while performing this ceremony

of circumambulation, the substance of which is, "We imitate the example of

the sun, and follow his benevolent course."

It will be observed that this circumambulation around the altar was

accompanied by the singing or chanting of a sacred ode. Of the three parts

of the ode, the _strophe_, the _antistrophe_, and the _epode_, each was to

be sung at a particular part of the procession. The analogy between this

chanting of an ode by the ancients and the recitation of a passage of

Scripture in the masonic circumambulation, will be at once apparent.

Among the Romans, the ceremony of circumambulation was always used in the

rites of sacrifice, of expiation or purification. Thus Virgil describes

Corynasus as purifying his companions, at the funeral of Misenus, by

passing three times around them while aspersing them with the lustral

waters; and to do so conveniently, it was necessary that he should have

moved with his right hand towards them.

"Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,

Spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivae."

_AEn._ vi. 229.

"Thrice with pure water compassed he the crew,

Sprinkling, with olive branch, the gentle dew."

In fact, so common was it to unite the ceremony of circumambulation with

that of expiation or purification, or, in other words, to make a

circuitous procession, in performing the latter rite, that the term

_lustrare_, whose primitive meaning is "to purify," came at last to be

synonymous with _circuire_, to walk round anything; and hence a

purification and a circumambulation were often expressed by the same word.

Among the Hindoos, the same rite of circumambulation has always been

practised. As an instance, we may cite the ceremonies which are to be

performed by a Brahmin upon first rising from bed in the morning, an

accurate account of which has been given by Mr. Colebrooke in the "Asiatic

Researches." The priest, having first adored the sun while directing his

face to the east, then walks towards the west by the way of the south,

saying, at the same time, "I follow the course of the sun," which he thus

explains: "As the sun in his course moves round the world by the way of

the south, so do I follow that luminary, to obtain the benefit arising

from a journey round the earth by the way of the south." [93]

Lastly, I may refer to the preservation of this rite among the Druids,

whose "mystical dance" around the _cairn_, or sacred stones, was nothing

more nor less than the rite of circumambulation. On these occasions the

priest always made three circuits, from east to west, by the right hand,

around the altar or cairn, accompanied by all the worshippers. And so

sacred was the rite once considered, that we learn from Toland[94] that in

the Scottish Isles, once a principal seat of the Druidical religion, the

people "never come to the ancient sacrificing and fire-hallowing _cairns_,

but they walk three times around them, from east to west, according to the

course of the sun." This sanctified tour, or round by the south, he

observes, is called _Deiseal_, as the contrary, or unhallowed one by the

north, is called _Tuapholl_. And he further remarks, that this word

_Deiseal_ was derived "from _Deas_, the _right_ (understanding _hand_) and

_soil_, one of the ancient names of the sun, the right hand in this round

being ever next the heap."

I might pursue these researches still further, and trace this rite of

circumambulation to other nations of antiquity; but I conceive that enough

has been said to show its universality, as well as the tenacity with which

the essential ceremony of performing the motion a mystical number of

times, and always by the right hand, from the east, through the south, to

the west, was preserved. And I think that this singular analogy to the

same rite in Freemasonry must lead us to the legitimate conclusion, that

the common source of all these rites is to be found in the identical

origin of the Spurious Freemasonry or pagan mysteries, and the pure,

Primitive Freemasonry, from which the former seceded only to be

deteriorated.

In reviewing what has been said on this subject, it will at once be

perceived that the essence of the ancient rite consisted in making the

circumambulation around the altar, from the east to the south, from the

south to the west, thence to the north, and to the east again.

Now, in this the masonic rite of circumambulation strictly agrees with the

ancient one.

But this circuit by the right hand, it is admitted, was done as a

representation of the sun's motion. It was a symbol of the sun's apparent

course around the earth.

And so, then, here again we have in Masonry that old and often-repeated

allusion to sun-worship, which has already been seen in the officers of a

lodge, and in the point within a circle. And as the circumambulation is

made around the lodge, just as the sun was supposed to move around the

earth, we are brought back to the original symbolism with which we

commenced--that the lodge is a symbol of the world.

XXII.

The Rite of Intrusting, and the Symbolism of Light.

The _rite of intrusting_, to which we are now to direct our attention,

will supply us with many important and interesting symbols.

There is an important period in the ceremony of masonic initiation, when

the candidate is about to receive a full communication of the mysteries

through which he has passed, and to which the trials and labors which he

has undergone can only entitle him. This ceremony is technically called

the "_rite of intrusting_," because it is then that the aspirant begins to

be intrusted with that for the possession of which he was seeking.[95]

It is equivalent to what, in the ancient Mysteries, was called the

"autopsy," [96] or the seeing of what only the initiated were permitted to

behold.

This _rite of intrusting_ is, of course, divided into several parts or

periods; for the _aporreta_, or secret things of Masonry, are not to be

given at once, but in gradual progression. It begins, however, with the

communication of LIGHT, which, although but a preparation for the

development of the mysteries which are to follow, must be considered as

one of the most important symbols in the whole science of masonic

symbolism. So important, indeed, is it, and so much does it pervade with

its influence and its relations the whole masonic system, that Freemasonry

itself anciently received, among other appellations, that of Lux, or

Light, to signify that it is to be regarded as that sublime doctrine of

Divine Truth by which the path of him who has attained it is to be

illuminated in his pilgrimage of life.

The Hebrew cosmogonist commences his description of the creation by the

declaration that "God said, Let there be light, and there was light"--a

phrase which, in the more emphatic form that it has received in the

original language of "Be light, and light was," [97] is said to have won

the praise, for its sublimity, of the greatest of Grecian critics. "The

singularly emphatic summons," says a profound modern writer,[98] "by which

light is called into existence, is probably owing to the preeminent

utility and glory of that element, together with its mysterious nature,

which made it seem as

'The God of this new world,'

and won for it the earliest adoration of mankind."

Light was, in accordance with this old religious sentiment, the great

object of attainment in all the ancient religious Mysteries. It was there,

as it is now, in Masonry, made the symbol of _truth_ and _knowledge_. This

was always its ancient symbolism, and we must never lose sight of this

emblematic meaning, when we are considering the nature and signification

of masonic light. When the candidate makes a demand for light, it is not

merely for that material light which is to remove a physical darkness;

that is only the outward form, which conceals the inward symbolism. He

craves an intellectual illumination which will dispel the darkness of

mental and moral ignorance, and bring to his view, as an eye-witness, the

sublime truths of religion, philosophy, and science, which it is the great

design of Freemasonry to teach.

In all the ancient systems this reverence for light, as the symbol of

truth, was predominant. In the Mysteries of every nation, the candidate

was made to pass, during his initiation, through scenes of utter darkness,

and at length terminated his trials by an admission to the

splendidly-illuminated sacellum, or sanctuary, where he was said to have

attained pure and perfect light, and where he received the necessary

instructions which were to invest him with that knowledge of the divine

truth which it had been the object of all his labors to gain, and the

design of the institution, into which he had been initiated, to bestow.

_Light_, therefore, became synonymous with truth and knowledge, and

_darkness_ with falsehood and ignorance. We shall find this symbolism

pervading not only the institutions, but the very languages, of antiquity.

Thus, among the Hebrews, the word AUR, in the singular, signified

_light_, but in the plural, AURIM, it denoted the revelation of the divine

will; and the _aurim _ and _thummim_, literally the _lights_ and _truths_,

constituted a part of the breastplate whence the high priest obtained

oracular responses to the questions which he proposed.[99]

There is a peculiarity about the word "light," in the old Egyptian

language, which is well worth consideration in this connection. Among the

Egyptians, the _hare_ was the hieroglyphic of _eyes that are open_; and it

was adopted because that timid animal was supposed never to close his

organs of vision, being always on the watch for his enemies. The hare was

afterwards adopted by the priests as a symbol of the mental illumination

or mystic light which was revealed to the neophytes, in the contemplation

of divine truth, during the progress of their initiation; and hence,

according to Champollion, the hare was also the symbol of Osiris, their

chief god; thus showing the intimate connection which they believed to

exist between the process of initiation into their sacred rites and the

contemplation of the divine nature. But the Hebrew word for hare is

ARNaBeT. Now, this is compounded of the two words AUR, _light_, and NaBaT,

_to behold_, and therefore the word which in the Egyptian denoted

_initiation_, in the Hebrew signified _to behold the light_. In two

nations so intimately connected in history as the Hebrew and the Egyptian,

such a coincidence could not have been accidental. It shows the prevalence

of the sentiment, at that period, that the communication of light was the

prominent design of the Mysteries--so prominent that the one was made the

synonyme of the other.[100]

The worship of light, either in its pure essence or in the forms of

sun-worship and fire-worship, because the sun and the fire were causes of

light, was among the earliest and most universal superstitions of the

world. Light was considered as the primordial source of all that was holy

and intelligent; and darkness, as its opposite, was viewed as but another

name for evil and ignorance. Dr. Beard, in an article on this subject, in

Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, attributes this view of the

divine nature of light, which was entertained by the nations of the East,

to the fact that, in that part of the world, light "has a clearness and

brilliancy, is accompanied by an intensity of heat, and is followed in its

influence by a largeness of good, of which the inhabitants of less genial

climates have no conception. Light easily and naturally became, in

consequence, with Orientals, a representative of the highest human good.

All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of

the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse, were described

under imagery derived from light. The transition was natural--from earthly

to heavenly, from corporeal to spiritual things; and so light came to

typify true religion and the felicity which it imparts. But as light not

only came from God, but also makes man's way clear before him, so it was

employed to signify moral truth, and preeminently that divine system of

truth which is set forth in the Bible, from its earliest gleamings onward

to the perfect day of the Great Sun of Righteousness."

I am inclined to believe that in this passage the learned author has

erred, not in the definition of the symbol, but in his deduction of its

origin. Light became the object of religious veneration, not because of

the brilliancy and clearness of a particular sky, nor the warmth and

genial influence of a particular climate,--for the worship was universal,

in Scandinavia as in India,--but because it was the natural and inevitable

result of the worship of the sun, the chief deity of Sabianism--a faith

which pervaded to an extraordinary extent the whole religious sentiment of

antiquity.[101]

Light was venerated because it was an emanation from the sun, and, in the

materialism of the ancient faith, _light_ and _darkness_ were both

personified as positive existences, the one being the enemy of the other.

Two principles were thus supposed to reign over the world, antagonistic to

each other, and each alternately presiding over the destinies of

mankind.[102]

The contests between the good and evil principle, symbolized by light and

darkness, composed a very large part of the ancient mythology in all

countries.

Among the Egyptians, Osiris was light, or the sun; and his arch-enemy,

Typhon, who ultimately destroyed him, was the representative of darkness.

Zoroaster, the father of the ancient Persian religion, taught the same

doctrine, and called the principle of light, or good, Ormuzd, and the

principle of darkness, or evil, Ahriman. The former, born of the purest

light, and the latter, sprung from utter darkness, are, in this mythology,

continually making war on each other.

Manes, or Manichaeus, the founder of the sect of Manichees, in the third

century, taught that there are two principles from which all things

proceed; the one is a pure and subtile matter, called Light, and the other

a gross and corrupt substance, called Darkness. Each of these is subject

to the dominion of a superintending being, whose existence is from all

eternity. The being who presides over the light is called _God_; he that

rules over the darkness is called _Hyle_, or _Demon_. The ruler of the

light is supremely happy, good, and benevolent, while the ruler over

darkness is unhappy, evil, and malignant.

Pythagoras also maintained this doctrine of two antagonistic principles.

He called the one, unity, _light_, the right hand, equality, stability,

and a straight line; the other he named binary, _darkness_, the left hand,

inequality, instability, and a curved line. Of the colors, he attributed

white to the good principle, and black to the evil one.

The Cabalists gave a prominent place to light in their system of

cosmogony. They taught that, before the creation of the world, all space

was filled with what they called _Aur en soph_, or the _Eternal Light,_

and that when the Divine Mind determined or willed the production of

Nature, the Eternal Light withdrew to a central point, leaving around it

an empty space, in which the process of creation went on by means of

emanations from the central mass of light. It is unnecessary to enter into

the Cabalistic account of creation; it is sufficient here to remark that

all was done through the mediate influence of the _Aur en soph_, or

eternal light, which produces coarse matter, but one degree above

nonentity, only when it becomes so attenuated as to be lost in darkness.

The Brahminical doctrine was, that "light and darkness are esteemed the

world's eternal ways; he who walketh in the former returneth not; that is

to say, he goeth to eternal bliss; whilst he who walketh in the latter

cometh back again upon earth," and is thus destined to pass through

further transmigrations, until his soul is perfectly purified by

light.[103]

In all the ancient systems of initiation the candidate was shrouded in

darkness, as a preparation for the reception of light. The duration varied

in the different rites. In the Celtic Mysteries of Druidism, the period in

which the aspirant was immersed in darkness was nine days and nights;

among the Greeks, at Eleusis, it was three times as long; and in the still

severer rites of Mithras, in Persia, fifty days of darkness, solitude, and

fasting were imposed upon the adventurous neophyte, who, by these

excessive trials, was at length entitled to the full communication of the

light of knowledge.

Thus it will be perceived that the religious sentiment of a good and an

evil principle gave to darkness, in the ancient symbolism, a place equally

as prominent as that of light.

The same religious sentiment of the ancients, modified, however, in its

details, by our better knowledge of divine things, has supplied

Freemasonry with a double symbolism--that of _Light_ and _Darkness_.

Darkness is the symbol of initiation. It is intended to remind the

candidate of his ignorance, which Masonry is to enlighten; of his evil

nature, which Masonry is to purify; of the world, in whose obscurity he

has been wandering, and from which Masonry is to rescue him.

Light, on the other hand, is the symbol of the autopsy, the sight of the

mysteries, the intrusting, the full fruition of masonic truth and

knowledge.

Initiation precedes the communication of knowledge in Masonry, as darkness

preceded light in the old cosmogonies. Thus, in Genesis, we see that in

the beginning "the world was without form, and void, and darkness was on

the face of the deep." The Chaldean cosmogony taught that in the beginning

"all was darkness and water." The Phoenicians supposed that "the beginning

of all things was a wind of black air, and a chaos dark as Erebus." [104]

But out of all this darkness sprang forth light, at the divine command,

and the sublime phrase, "Let there be light," is repeated, in some

substantially identical form, in all the ancient histories of creation.

So, too, out of the mysterious darkness of Masonry comes the full blaze of

masonic light. One must precede the other, as the evening preceded the

morning. "So the evening and the morning were the first day."

This thought is preserved in the great motto of the Order, "_Lux e

tenebris_"--Light out of darkness. It is equivalent to this other

sentence: Truth out of initiation. _Lux_, or light, is truth; _tenebrae_,

or darkness, is initiation.

It is a beautiful and instructive portion of our symbolism, this

connection of darkness and light, and well deserves a further

investigation.

"Genesis and the cosmogonies," says Portal, "mention the antagonism of

light and darkness. The form of this fable varies according to each

nation, but the foundation is everywhere the same. Under the symbol of the

creation of the world it presents the picture of regeneration and

initiation." [105]

Plutarch says that to die is to be initiated into the greater Mysteries;

and the Greek word [Greek: teleuta~|n], which signifies _to die_, means

also _to be initiated_. But black, which is the symbolic color of

darkness, is also the symbol of death. And hence, again, darkness, like

death, is the symbol of initiation. It was for this reason that all the

ancient initiations were performed at night. The celebration of the

Mysteries was always nocturnal. The same custom prevails in Freemasonry,

and the explanation is the same. Death and the resurrection were taught

in the Mysteries, as they are in Freemasonry. The initiation was the

lesson of death. The full fruition or autopsy, the reception of light, was

the lesson of regeneration or resurrection.

Light is, therefore, a fundamental symbol in Freemasonry. It is, in fact,

the first important symbol that is presented to the neophyte in his

instructions, and contains within itself the very essence of Speculative

Masonry, which is nothing more than the contemplation of intellectual

light or truth.[106]

XXIII.

Symbolism of the Corner-Stone.

We come next, in a due order of precedence, to the consideration of the

symbolism connected with an important ceremony in the ritual of the first

degree of Masonry, which refers to the north-east corner of the lodge. In

this ceremony the candidate becomes the representative of a spiritual

corner-stone. And hence, to thoroughly comprehend the true meaning of the

emblematic ceremony, it is essential that we should investigate the

symbolism of the _corner-stone_.

The corner-stone,[107] as the foundation on which the entire building is

supposed to rest, is, of course, the most important stone in the whole

edifice. It is, at least, so considered by operative masons. It is laid

with impressive ceremonies; the assistance of speculative masons is often,

and always ought to be, invited, to give dignity to the occasion; and the

event is viewed by the workmen as an important era in the construction of

the edifice.[108]

In the rich imagery of Orientalism, the corner-stone is frequently

referred to as the appropriate symbol of a chief or prince who is the

defence and bulwark of his people, and more particularly in Scripture, as

denoting that promised Messiah who was to be the sure prop and support of

all who should put their trust in his divine mission.[109]

To the various properties that are necessary to constitute a true

corner-stone,--its firmness and durability, its perfect form, and its

peculiar position as the connecting link between the walls,--we must

attribute the important character that it has assumed in the language of

symbolism. Freemasonry, which alone, of all existing institutions, has

preserved this ancient and universal language, could not, as it may well

be supposed, have neglected to adopt the corner-stone among its most

cherished and impressive symbols; and hence it has referred to it many of

its most significant lessons of morality and truth.

I have already alluded to that peculiar mode of masonic symbolism by which

the speculative mason is supposed to be engaged in the construction of a

spiritual temple, in imitation of, or, rather, in reference to, that

material one which was erected by his operative predecessors at Jerusalem.

Let us again, for a few moments, direct our attention to this important

fact, and revert to the connection which originally existed between the

operative and speculative divisions of Freemasonry. This is an essential

introduction to any inquiry into the symbolism of the corner-stone.

The difference between operative and speculative Masonry is simply

this--that while the former was engaged in the construction of a material

temple, formed, it is true, of the most magnificent materials which the

quarries of Palestine, the mountains of Lebanon, and the golden shores of

Ophir could contribute, the latter occupies itself in the erection of a

spiritual house,--a house not made with hands,--in which, for stones and

cedar, and gold and precious stones, are substituted the virtues of the

heart, the pure emotions of the soul, the warm affections gushing forth

from the hidden fountains of the spirit, so that the very presence of

Jehovah, our Father and our God, shall be enshrined within us as his

Shekinah was in the holy of holies of the material temple at Jerusalem.

The Speculative Mason, then, if he rightly comprehends the scope and

design of his profession, is occupied, from his very first admission into

the order until the close of his labors and his life,--and the true

mason's labor ends only with his life,--in the construction, the

adornment, and the completion of this spiritual temple of his body. He

lays its foundation in a firm belief and an unshaken confidence in the

wisdom, power, and goodness of God. This is his first step. Unless his

trust is in God, and in him only, he can advance no further than the

threshold of initiation. And then he prepares his materials with the gauge

and gavel of Truth, raises the walls by the plumb-line of Rectitude,

squares his work with the square of Virtue, connects the whole with the

cement of Brotherly Love, and thus skilfullv erects the living edifice of

thoughts, and words, and deeds, in accordance with the designs laid down

by the Master Architect of the universe in the great Book of Revelation.

The aspirant for masonic light--the Neophyte--on his first entrance within

our sacred porch, prepares himself for this consecrated labor of erecting

within his own bosom a fit dwelling-place for the Divine Spirit, and thus

commences the noble work by becoming himself the corner-stone on which

this spiritual edifice is to be erected.

Here, then, is the beginning of the symbolism of the corner-stone; and it

is singularly curious to observe how every portion of the archetype has

been made to perform its appropriate duty in thoroughly carrying out the

emblematic allusions.

As, for example, this symbolic reference of the corner-stone of a material

edifice to a mason, when, at his first initiation, he commences the

intellectual task of erecting a spiritual temple in his heart, is

beautifully sustained in the allusions to all the various parts and

qualities which are to be found in a "well-formed, true and trusty"

corner-stone.[110] Its form and substance are both seized by the

comprehensive grasp of the symbolic science.

Let us trace this symbolism in its minute details. And, first, as to the

form of the corner-stone.

The corner-stone of an edifice must be perfectly square on its surfaces,

lest, by a violation of this true geometric figure, the walls to be

erected upon it should deviate from the required line of perpendicularity

which can alone give strength and proportion to the building.

Perfectly square on its surfaces, it is, in its form and solid contents, a

cube. Now, the square and the cube are both important and significant

symbols.

The square is an emblem of morality, or the strict performance of every

duty.[111] Among the Greeks, who were a highly poetical and imaginative

people, the square was deemed a figure of perfection, and the

[Greek: a)ne\r tetra/gonos]--"the square or cubical man," as the words may

be translated--was a term used to designate a man of unsullied integrity.

Hence one of their most eminent metaphysicians[112] has said that "he who

valiantly sustains the shocks of adverse fortune, demeaning himself

uprightly, is truly good and of a square posture, without reproof; and he

who would assume such a square posture should often subject himself to

the perfectly square test of justice and integrity."

The cube, in the language of symbolism, denotes truth.[113] Among the

pagan mythologists, Mercury, or Hermes, was always represented by a

cubical stone, because he was the type of truth,[114] and the same form

was adopted by the Israelites in the construction of the tabernacle, which

was to be the dwelling-place of divine truth.

And, then, as to its material: This, too, is an essential element of all

symbolism. Constructed of a material finer and more polished than that

which constitutes the remainder of the edifice, often carved with

appropriate devices and fitted for its distinguished purpose by the utmost

skill of the sculptor's art, it becomes the symbol of that beauty of

holiness with which the Hebrew Psalmist has said that we are to worship

Jehovah.[115]

The ceremony, then, of the north-east corner of the lodge, since it

derives all its typical value from this symbolism of the corner-stone, was

undoubtedly intended to portray, in this consecrated language, the

necessity of integrity and stability of conduct, of truthfulness and

uprightness of character, and of purity and holiness of life, which, just

at that time and in that place, the candidate is most impressively charged

to maintain.

But there is also a symbolism about the position of the corner-stone,

which is well worthy of attention. It is familiar to every one,--even to

those who are without the pale of initiation,--that the custom of laying

the corner-stones of public buildings has always been performed by the

masonic order with peculiar and impressive ceremonies, and that this stone

is invariably deposited in the north-east corner of the foundation of the

intended structure. Now, the question naturally suggests itself, Whence

does this ancient and invariable usage derive its origin? Why may not the

stone be deposited in any other corner or portion of the edifice, as

convenience or necessity may dictate? The custom of placing the

foundation-stone in the north-east corner must have been originally

adopted for some good and sufficient reason; for we have a right to

suppose that it was not an arbitrary selection.[116] Was it in reference

to the ceremony which takes place in the lodge? Or is that in reference

to the position of the material stone? No matter which has the precedence

in point of time, the principle is the same. The position of the stone in

the north-east corner of the building is altogether symbolic, and the

symbolism exclusively alludes to certain doctrines which are taught in the

speculative science of Masonry.

The interpretation, I conceive, is briefly this: Every Speculative Mason

is familiar with the fact that the east, as the source of material light,

is a symbol of his own order, which professes to contain within its bosom

the pure light of truth. As, in the physical world, the morning of each

day is ushered into existence by the reddening dawn of the eastern sky,

whence the rising sun dispenses his illuminating and prolific rays to

every portion of the visible horizon, warming the whole earth with his

embrace of light, and giving new-born life and energy to flower and tree,

and beast and man, who, at the magic touch, awake from the sleep of

darkness, so in the moral world, when intellectual night was, in the

earliest days, brooding over the world, it was from the ancient priesthood

living in the east that those lessons of God, of nature, and of humanity

first emanated, which, travelling westward, revealed to man his future

destiny, and his dependence on a superior power. Thus every new and true

doctrine, coming from these "wise men of the east," was, as it were, a new

day arising, and dissipating the clouds of intellectual darkness and

error. It was a universal opinion among the ancients that the first

learning came from the east; and the often-quoted line of Bishop

Berkeley, that--

"Westward the course of empire takes its way"--

is but the modern utterance of an ancient thought, for it was always

believed that the empire of truth and knowledge was advancing from the

east to the west.

Again: the north, as the point in the horizon which is most remote from

the vivifying rays of the sun when at his meridian height, has, with equal

metaphorical propriety, been called the place of darkness, and is,

therefore, symbolic of the profane world, which has not yet been

penetrated and illumined by the intellectual rays of masonic light. All

history concurs in recording the fact that, in the early ages of the

world, its northern portion was enveloped in the most profound moral and

mental darkness. It was from the remotest regions of Northern Europe that

those barbarian hordes "came down like the wolf on the fold," and

devastated the fair plains of the south, bringing with them a dark curtain

of ignorance, beneath whose heavy folds the nations of the world lay for

centuries overwhelmed. The extreme north has ever been, physically and

intellectually, cold, and dark, and dreary. Hence, in Masonry, the north

has ever been esteemed the place of darkness; and, in obedience to this

principle, no symbolic light is allowed to illumine the northern part of

the lodge.

The east, then, is, in Masonry, the symbol of the order, and the north the

symbol of the profane world.

Now, the spiritual corner-stone is deposited in the north-east corner of

the lodge, because it is symbolic of the position of the neophyte, or

candidate, who represents it in his relation to the order and to the

world. From the profane world he has just emerged. Some of its

imperfections are still upon him; some of its darkness is still about him;

he as yet belongs in part to the north. But he is striving for light and

truth; the pathway upon which he has entered is directed towards the east.

His allegiance, if I may use the word, is divided. He is not altogether a

profane, nor altogether a mason. If he were wholly in the world, the north

would be the place to find him--the north, which is the reign of darkness.

If he were wholly in the order,--a Master Mason,--the east would have

received him--the east, which is the place of light. But he is neither; he

is an Apprentice, with some of the ignorance of the world cleaving to him,

and some of the light of the order beaming upon him. And hence this

divided allegiance--this double character--this mingling of the departing

darkness of the north with the approaching brightness of the east--is well

expressed, in our symbolism, by the appropriate position of the spiritual

corner-stone in the north-east corner of the lodge. One surface of the

stone faces the north, and the other surface faces the east. It is neither

wholly in the one part nor wholly in the other, and in so far it is a

symbol of initiation not fully developed--that which is incomplete and

imperfect, and is, therefore, fitly represented by the recipient of the

first degree, at the very moment of his initiation.[117]

But the strength and durability of the corner-stone are also eminently

suggestive of symbolic ideas. To fulfil its design as the foundation and

support of the massive building whose erection it precedes, it should be

constructed of a material which may outlast all other parts of the

edifice, so that when that "eternal ocean whose waves are years" shall

have ingulfed all who were present at the construction of the building in

the vast vortex of its ever-flowing current; and when generation after

generation shall have passed away, and the crumbling stones of the ruined

edifice shall begin to attest the power of time and the evanescent nature

of all human undertakings, the corner-stone will still remain to tell, by

its inscriptions, and its form, and its beauty, to every passer-by, that

there once existed in that, perhaps then desolate, spot, a building

consecrated to some noble or some sacred purpose by the zeal and

liberality of men who now no longer live.

So, too, do this permanence and durability of the corner-stone, in

contrast with the decay and ruin of the building in whose foundations it

was placed, remind the mason that when this earthly house of his

tabernacle shall have passed away, he has within him a sure foundation of

eternal life--a corner-stone of immortality--an emanation from that Divine

Spirit which pervades all nature, and which, therefore, must survive the

tomb, and rise, triumphant and eternal, above the decaying dust of death

and the grave.[118]

It is in this way that the student of masonic symbolism is reminded by the

corner-stone--by its form, its position, and its permanence--of

significant doctrines of duty, and virtue, and religious truth, which it

is the great object of Masonry to teach.

But I have said that the material corner-stone is deposited in its

appropriate place with solemn rites and ceremonies, for which the order

has established a peculiar ritual. These, too, have a beautiful and

significant symbolism, the investigation of which will next attract our

attention.

And here it may be observed, in passing, that the accompaniment of such an

act of consecration to a particular purpose, with solemn rites and

ceremonies, claims our respect, from the prestige that it has of all

antiquity. A learned writer on symbolism makes, on this subject, the

following judicious remarks, which may be quoted as a sufficient defence

of our masonic ceremonies:--

"It has been an opinion, entertained in all past ages, that by the

performance of certain acts, things, places, and persons acquire a

character which they would not have had without such performances. The

reason is plain: certain acts signify firmness of purpose, which, by

consigning the object to the intended use, gives it, in the public

opinion, an accordant character. This is most especially true of things,

places, and persons connected with religion and religious worship. After

the performance of certain acts or rites, they are held to be altogether

different from what they were before; they acquire a sacred character, and

in some instances a character absolutely divine. Such are the effects

imagined to be produced by religious dedication." [119]

The stone, therefore, thus properly constructed, is, when it is to be

deposited by the constituted authorities of our order, carefully examined

with the necessary implements of operative masonry,--the square, the

level, and the plumb,--and declared to be "well-formed, true, and trusty."

This is not a vain nor unmeaning ceremony. It teaches the mason that his

virtues are to be tested by temptation and trial, by suffering and

adversity, before they can be pronounced by the Master Builder of souls to

be materials worthy of the spiritual building of eternal life, fitted "as

living stones, for that house not made with hands, eternal in the

heavens." But if he be faithful, and withstand these trials,--if he shall

come forth from these temptations and sufferings like pure gold from the

refiner's fire,--then, indeed, shall he be deemed "well-formed, true, and

trusty," and worthy to offer "unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."

In the ceremony of depositing the corner-stone, the sacred elements of

masonic consecration are then produced, and the stone is solemnly set

apart by pouring corn, wine, and oil upon its surface. Each of these

elements has a beautiful significance in our symbolism.

Collectively, they allude to the Corn of Nourishment, the Wine of

Refreshment, and the Oil of Joy, which are the promised rewards of a

faithful and diligent performance of duty, and often specifically refer to

the anticipated success of the undertaking whose incipiency they have

consecrated. They are, in fact, types and symbols of all those abundant

gifts of Divine Providence for which we are daily called upon to make an

offering of our thanks, and which are enumerated by King David, in his

catalogue of blessings, as "wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and

oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart."

"Wherefore, my brethren," says Harris, "do you carry _corn, wine, and oil_

in your processions, but to remind you that in the pilgrimage of human

life you are to impart a portion of your bread to feed the hungry, to send

a cup of your wine to cheer the sorrowful, and to pour the healing oil of

your consolation into the wounds which sickness hath made in the bodies,

or affliction rent in the hearts, of your fellow-travellers?" [120]

But, individually, each of these elements of consecration has also an

appropriate significance, which is well worth investigation.

Corn, in the language of Scripture, is an emblem of the resurrection, and

St. Paul, in that eloquent discourse which is so familiar to all, as a

beautiful argument for the great Christian doctrine of a future life,

adduces the seed of grain, which, being sown, first dieth, and then

quickeneth, as the appropriate type of that corruptible which must put on

incorruption, and of that mortal which must assume immortality. But, in

Masonry, the sprig of acacia, for reasons purely masonic, has been always

adopted as the symbol of immortality, and the ear of corn is appropriated

as the symbol of plenty. This is in accordance with the Hebrew derivation

of the word, as well as with the usage of all ancient nations. The word

_dagan_, which signifies _corn_, is derived from the verb _dagah_, _to

increase, to multiply_, and in all the ancient religions the horn or vase,

filled with fruits and with grain, was the recognized symbol of plenty.

Hence, as an element of consecration, corn is intended to remind us of

those temporal blessings of life and health, and comfortable support,

which we derive from the Giver of all good, and to merit which we should

strive, with "clean hands and a pure heart," to erect on the corner-stone

of our initiation a spiritual temple, which shall be adorned with the

"beauty of holiness."

Wine is a symbol of that inward and abiding comfort with which the heart

of the man who faithfully performs his part on the great stage of life is

to be refreshed; and as, in the figurative language of the East, Jacob

prophetically promises to Judah, as his reward, that he shall wash his

garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape, it seems

intended, morally, to remind us of those immortal refreshments which, when

the labors of this earthly lodge are forever closed, we shall receive in

the celestial lodge above, where the G.A.O.T.U. forever presides.

Oil is a symbol of prosperity, and happiness, and joy. The custom of

anointing every thing or person destined for a sacred purpose is of

venerable antiquity.[121] The statues of the heathen deities, as well as

the altars on which the sacrifices were offered to them, and the priests

who presided over the sacred rites, were always anointed with perfumed

ointment, as a consecration of them to the objects of religious worship.

When Jacob set up the stone on which he had slept in his journey to

Padan-aram, and where he was blessed with the vision of ascending and

descending angels, he anointed it with oil, and thus consecrated it as an

altar to God. Such an inunction was, in ancient times, as it still

continues to be in many modern countries and contemporary religions, a

symbol of the setting apart of the thing or person so anointed and

consecrated to a holy purpose.

Hence, then, we are reminded by this last impressive ceremony, that the

cultivation of virtue, the practice of duty, the resistance of temptation,

the submission to suffering, the devotion to truth, the maintenance of

integrity, and all those other graces by which we strive to fit our

bodies, as living stones, for the spiritual building of eternal life,

must, after all, to make the object effectual and the labor successful, be

consecrated by a holy obedience to God's will and a firm reliance on God's

providence, which alone constitute the chief corner-stone and sure

foundation, on which any man can build with the reasonable hope of a

prosperous issue to his work.

It may be noticed, in concluding this topic, that the corner-stone seems

to be peculiarly a Jewish symbol. I can find no reference to it in any of

the ancient pagan rites, and the EBEN PINAH, the _corner-stone,_ which is

so frequently mentioned in Scripture as the emblem of an important

personage, and most usually, in the Old Testament, of the expected

Messiah, appears, in its use in Masonry, to have had, unlike almost every

other symbol of the order, an exclusively temple origin.

XXIV.

The Ineffable Name.

Another important symbol is the Ineffable Name, with which the series of

ritualistic symbols will be concluded.

The Tetragrammaton,[122] or Ineffable Word,--the Incommunicable Name,--is

a symbol--for rightly-considered it is nothing more than a symbol--that

has more than any other (except, perhaps, the symbols connected with

sun-worship), pervaded the rites of antiquity. I know, indeed, of no

system of ancient initiation in which it has not some prominent form and

place.

But as it was, perhaps, the earliest symbol which was corrupted by the

spurious Freemasonry of the pagans, in their secession from the primitive

system of the patriarchs and ancient priesthood, it will be most expedient

for the thorough discussion of the subject which is proposed in the

present paper, that we should begin the investigation with an inquiry into

the nature of the symbol among the Israelites.

That name of God, which we, at a venture, pronounce Jehovah,--although

whether this is, or is not, the true pronunciation can now never be

authoritatively settled,--was ever held by the Jews in the most profound

veneration. They derived its origin from the immediate inspiration of the

Almighty, who communicated it to Moses as his especial appellation, to be

used only by his chosen people; and this communication was made at the

Burning Bush, when he said to him, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children

of Israel: Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God

of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this [Jehovah] is

my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." [123] And

at a subsequent period he still more emphatically declared this to be his

peculiar name: "I am _Jehovah_; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac,

and unto Jacob, by the name of _El Shaddai_; but by my name _Jehovah_ was

I not known unto them." [124]

It will be perceived that I have not here followed precisely the somewhat

unsatisfactory version of King James's Bible, which, by translating or

anglicizing one name, and not the other, leaves the whole passage less

intelligible and impressive than it should be. I have retained the

original Hebrew for both names. El Shaddai, "the Almighty One," was the

name by which he had been heretofore known to the preceding patriarchs; in

its meaning it was analogous to Elohim, who is described in the first

chapter of Genesis as creating the world. But his name of Jehovah was now

for the first time to be communicated to his people.

Ushered to their notice with all the solemnity and religious consecration

of these scenes and events, this name of God became invested among the

Israelites with the profoundest veneration and awe. To add to this

mysticism, the Cabalists, by the change of a single letter, read the

passage, "This is my name forever," or, as it is in the original, _Zeh

shemi l'olam_, as if written _Zeh shemi l'alam_, that is to say, "This is

my name to be concealed."

This interpretation, although founded on a blunder, and in all probability

an intentional one, soon became a precept, and has been strictly obeyed to

this day.[125] The word _Jehovah_ is never pronounced by a pious Jew,

who, whenever he meets with it in Scripture, substitutes for it the word

_Adonai_ or _Lord_--a practice which has been followed by the translators

of the common English version of the Bible with almost Jewish

scrupulosity, the word "Jehovah" in the original being invariably

translated by the word "Lord." [126] The pronunciation of the word, being

thus abandoned, became ultimately lost, as, by the peculiar construction

of the Hebrew language, which is entirely without vowels, the letters,

being all consonants, can give no possible indication, to one who has not

heard it before, of the true pronunciation of any given word.

To make this subject plainer to the reader who is unacquainted with the

Hebrew, I will venture to furnish an explanation which will, perhaps, be

intelligible.

The Hebrew alphabet consists entirely of consonants, the vowel sounds

having always been inserted orally, and never marked in writing until the

"vowel points," as they are called, were invented by the Masorites, some

six centuries after the Christian era. As the vowel sounds were originally

supplied by the reader, while reading, from a knowledge which he had

previously received, by means of oral instruction, of the proper

pronunciation of the word, he was necessarily unable to pronounce any word

which had never before been uttered in his presence. As we know that _Dr._

is to be pronounced _Doctor_, and _Mr. Mister_, because we have always

heard those peculiar combinations of letters thus enunciated, and not

because the letters themselves give any such sound; so the Jew knew from

instruction and constant practice, and not from the power of the letters,

how the consonants in the different words in daily use were to be

vocalized. But as the four letters which compose the word _Jehovah_, as we

now call it, were never pronounced in his presence, but were made to

represent another word, _Adonai_, which was substituted for it, and as the

combination of these four consonants would give no more indication for any

sort of enunciation than the combinations _Dr._ or _Mr._ give in our

language, the Jew, being ignorant of what vocal sounds were to be

supplied, was unable to pronounce the word, so that its true pronunciation

was in time lost to the masses of the people.

There was one person, however, who, it is said, was in possession of the

proper sound of the letters and the true pronunciation of the word. This

was the high priest, who, receiving it from his predecessor, preserved the

recollection of the sound by pronouncing it three times, once a year, on

the day of the atonement, when he entered the holy of holies of the

tabernacle or the temple.

If the traditions of Masonry on this subject are correct, the kings, after

the establishment of the monarchy, must have participated in this

privilege; for Solomon is said to have been in possession of the word, and

to have communicated it to his two colleagues at the building of the

temple.

This is the word which, from the number of its letters, was called the

"tetragrammaton," or four-lettered name, and, from its sacred

inviolability, the "ineffable" or unutterable name.

The Cabalists and Talmudists have enveloped it in a host of mystical

superstitions, most of which are as absurd as they are incredible, but all

of them tending to show the great veneration that has always been paid to

it.[127] Thus they say that it is possessed of unlimited powers, and that

he who pronounces it shakes heaven and earth, and inspires the very angels

with terror and astonishment.

The Rabbins called it "shem hamphorash," that is to say, "the name that is

declaratory," and they say that David found it engraved on a stone while

digging into the earth.

/ \

/[Yod]\

/ \

---------

the triangle itself being a symbol of Deity.

This symbol of the name of God is peculiarly worthy of our attention,

since not only is the triangle to be found in many of the ancient

religions occupying the same position, but the whole symbol itself is

undoubtedly the origin of that hieroglyphic exhibited in the second degree

of Masonry, where, the explanation of the symbolism being the same, the

form of it, as far as it respects the letter, has only been anglicized by

modern innovators. In my own opinion, the letter _G_, which is used in the

Fellow Craft's degree, should never have been permitted to intrude into

Masonry; it presents an instance of absurd anachronism, which would never

have occurred if the original Hebrew symbol had been retained. But being

there now, without the possibility of removal, we have only to remember

that it is in fact but the symbol of a symbol.[128]

Widely spread, as I have already said, was this reverence for the name of

God; and, consequently, its symbolism, in some peculiar form, is to be

found in all the ancient rites.

Thus the Ineffable Name itself, of which we have been discoursing, is said

to have been preserved in its true pronunciation by the Essenes, who, in

their secret rites, communicated it to each other only in a whisper, and

in such form, that while its component parts were known, they were so

separated as to make the whole word a mystery.

Among the Egyptians, whose connection with the Hebrews was more immediate

than that of any other people, and where, consequently, there was a

greater similarity of rites, the same sacred name is said to have been

used as a password, for the purpose of gaining admission to their

Mysteries.

In the Brahminic Mysteries of Hindostan the ceremony of initiation was

terminated by intrusting the aspirant with the sacred, triliteral name,

which was AUM, the three letters of which were symbolic of the creative,

preservative, and destructive principles of the Supreme Deity, personified

in the three manifestations of Bramah, Siva, and Vishnu. This word was

forbidden to be pronounced aloud. It was to be the subject of silent

meditation to the pious Hindoo.

In the rites of Persia an ineffable name was also communicated to the

candidate after his initiation.[129] Mithras, the principal divinity in

these rites, who took the place of the Hebrew Jehovah, and represented the

sun, had this peculiarity in his name--that the numeral value of the

letters of which it was composed amounted to precisely 365, the number of

days which constitute a revolution of the earth around the sun, or, as

they then supposed, of the sun around the earth.

In the Mysteries introduced by Pythagoras into Greece we again find the

ineffable name of the Hebrews, obtained doubtless by the Samian Sage

during his visit to Babylon.[130] The symbol adopted by him to express it

was, however, somewhat different, being ten points distributed in the

form of a triangle, each side containing four points, as in the annexed

figure.

. .

. . .

. . . .

The apex of the triangle was consequently a single point then followed

below two others, then three; and lastly, the base consisted of four.

These points were, by the number in each rank, intended, according to the

Pythagorean system, to denote respectively the _monad_, or active

principle of nature; the _duad_, or passive principle; the _triad_, or

world emanating from their union; and the _quaterniad_, or intellectual

science; the whole number of points amounting to ten, the symbol of

perfection and consummation. This figure was called by Pythagoras the

_tetractys_--a word equivalent in signification to the _tetragrammaton_;

and it was deemed so sacred that on it the oath of secrecy and fidelity

was administered to the aspirants in the Pythagorean rites.[131]

Among the Scandinavians, as among the Jewish Cabalists, the Supreme God

who was made known in their mysteries had twelve names, of which the

principal and most sacred one was _Alfader_, the Universal Father.

Among the Druids, the sacred name of God was _Hu_[132]--a name which,

although it is supposed, by Bryant, to have been intended by them for

Noah, will be recognized as one of the modifications of the Hebrew

tetragrammaton. It is, in fact, the masculine pronoun in Hebrew, and may

be considered as the symbolization of the male or generative principle in

nature--a sort of modification of the system of Phallic worship.

This sacred name among the Druids reminds me of what is the latest, and

undoubtedly the most philosophical, speculation on the true meaning, as

well as pronunciation, of the ineffable tetragrammaton. It is from the

ingenious mind of the celebrated Lanci; and I have already, in another

work, given it to the public as I received it from his pupil, and my

friend, Mr. Gliddon, the distinguished archaeologist. But the results are

too curious to be omitted whenever the tetragrammaton is discussed.

Elsewhere I have very fully alluded to the prevailing sentiment among the

ancients, that the Supreme Deity was bisexual, or hermaphrodite, including

in the essence of his being the male and female principles, the generative

and prolific powers of nature. This was the universal doctrine in all the

ancient religions, and was very naturally developed in the symbol of the

_phallus_ and _cteis_ among the Greeks, and in the corresponding one of

the _lingam_ and _yoni_ among the Orientalists; from which symbols the

masonic _point within a circle_ is a legitimate derivation. They all

taught that God, the Creator, was both male and female.

Now, this theory is undoubtedly unobjectionable on the score of orthodoxy,

if we view it in the spiritual sense, in which its first propounders must

necessarily have intended it to be presented to the mind, and not in the

gross, sensual meaning in which it was subsequently received. For, taking

the word _sex_, not in its ordinary and colloquial signification, as

denoting the indication of a particular physical organization, but in that

purely philosophical one which alone can be used in such a connection, and

which simply signifies the mere manifestation of a power, it is not to be

denied that the Supreme Being must possess in himself, and in himself

alone, both a generative and a prolific power. This idea, which was so

extensively prevalent among all the nations of antiquity,[133] has also

been traced in the tetragrammaton, or name of Jehovah, with singular

ingenuity, by Lanci; and, what is almost equally as interesting, he has,

by this discovery, been enabled to demonstrate what was, in all

probability, the true pronunciation of the word.

In giving the details of this philological discovery, I will endeavor to

make it as comprehensible as it can be made to those who are not

critically acquainted with the construction of the Hebrew language; those

who are will at once appreciate its peculiar character, and will excuse

the explanatory details, of course unnecessary to them.

The ineffable name, the tetragrammaton, the shem hamphorash,--for it is

known by all these appellations,--consists of four letters, _yod, heh,

vau_, and _heh_, forming the word [Hebrew: yod-heh-vau-heh]. This word, of

course, in accordance with the genius of the Hebrew language, is read, as

we would say, backward, or from right to left, beginning with _yod_, and

ending with _heh_.

Of these letters, the first, _yod_, is equivalent to the English _i_

pronounced as _e_ in the word _machine_.

The second and fourth letter, _heh_, is an aspirate, and has here the

sound of the English _h_.

And the third letter, _vau_, has the sound of open _o_.

Now, reading these four letters, [Hebrew: yod], or I, [Hebrew: heh], or H,

[Hebrew: vau], or O, and [Hebrew: heh], or H, as the Hebrew requires, from

right to left, we have the word [Hebrew: yod-heh-vau-heh], equivalent in

English to IH-OH, which is really as near to the pronunciation as we can

well come, notwithstanding it forms neither of the seven ways in which the

word is said to have been pronounced, at different times, by the

patriarchs.[134]

But, thus pronounced, the word gives us no meaning, for there is no such

word in Hebrew as _ihoh_; and, as all the Hebrew names were significative

of something, it is but fair to conclude that this was not the original

pronunciation, and that we must look for another which will give a

meaning to the word. Now, Lanci proceeds to the discovery of this true

pronunciation, as follows:--

In the Cabala, a hidden meaning is often deduced from a word by

transposing or reversing its letters, and it was in this way that the

Cabalists concealed many of their mysteries.

Now, to reverse a word in English is to read its letters from _right to

left_, because our normal mode of reading is from _left to right_. But in

Hebrew the contrary rule takes place, for there the normal mode of reading

is from _right to left_; and therefore, to reverse the reading of a word,

is to read it from _left to right_.

Lanci applied this cabalistic mode to the tetragrammaton, when he found

that IH-OH, being read reversely, makes the word HO-HI.[135]

But in Hebrew, _ho_ is the masculine pronoun, equivalent to the English

_he_; and _hi_ is the feminine pronoun, equivalent to _she_; and therefore

the word HO-HI, literally translated, is equivalent to the English

compound HE-SHE; that is to say, the Ineffable Name of God in Hebrew,

being read cabalistically, includes within itself the male and female

principle, the generative and prolific energy of creation; and here we

have, again, the widely-spread symbolism of the phallus and the cteis, the

lingam and the yoni, or their equivalent, the point within a circle, and

another pregnant proof of the connection between Freemasonry and the

ancient Mysteries.

And here, perhaps, we may begin to find some meaning for the hitherto

incomprehensible passage in Genesis (i. 27): "So God created man _in his

own image; in the image of God_ created he him; _male and female_ created

he them." They could not have been "in the image" of IHOH, if they had not

been "male and female."

The Cabalists have exhausted their ingenuity and imagination in

speculations on this sacred name, and some of their fancies are really

sufficiently interesting to repay an investigation. Sufficient, however,

has been here said to account for the important position that it occupies

in the masonic system, and to enable us to appreciate the symbols by which

it has been represented.

The great reverence, or indeed the superstitious veneration, entertained

by the ancients for the name of the Supreme Being, led them to express it

rather in symbols or hieroglyphics than in any word at length.

We know, for instance, from the recent researches of the archaeologists,

that in all the documents of the ancient Egyptians, written in the demotic

or common character of the country, the names of the gods were invariably

denoted by symbols; and I have already alluded to the different modes by

which the Jews expressed the tetragrammaton. A similar practice prevailed

among the other nations of antiquity. Freemasonry has adopted the same

expedient, and the Grand Architect of the Universe, whom it is the usage,

even in ordinary writing, to designate by the initials G.A.O.T.U., is

accordingly presented to us in a variety of symbols, three of which

particularly require attention. These are the letter _G_, the equilateral

triangle, and the All-Seeing Eye.

Of the letter _G_ I have already spoken. A letter of the English alphabet

can scarcely be considered an appropriate symbol of an institution which

dates its organization and refers its primitive history to a period long

anterior to the origin of that language. Such a symbol is deficient in the

two elements of antiquity and universality which should characterize every

masonic symbol. There can, therefore, be no doubt that, in its present

form, it is a corruption of the old Hebrew symbol, the letter _yod_, by

which the sacred name was often expressed. This letter is the initial of

the word _Jehovah_, or _Ihoh_, as I have already stated, and is constantly

to be met with in Hebrew writings as the symbol or abbreviature of

_Jehovah_, which word, it will be remembered, is never written at length.

But because _G_ is, in like manner, the initial of _God_, the equivalent

of _Jehovah_, this letter has been incorrectly, and, I cannot refrain from

again saying, most injudiciously, selected to supply, in modern lodges,

the place of the Hebrew symbol.

Having, then, the same meaning and force as the Hebrew _yod_, the letter

_G_ must be considered, like its prototype, as the symbol of the

life-giving and life-sustaining power of God, as manifested in the meaning

of the word Jehovah, or Ihoh, the generative and prolific energy of the

Creator.

The _All-Seeing Eye_ is another, and a still more important, symbol of the

same great Being. Both the Hebrews and the Egyptians appear to have

derived its use from that natural inclination of figurative minds to

select an organ as the symbol of the function which it is intended

peculiarly to discharge. Thus the foot was often adopted as the symbol of

swiftness, the arm of strength, and the hand of fidelity. On the same

principle, the open eye was selected as the symbol of watchfulness, and

the eye of God as the symbol of divine watchfulness and care of the

universe. The use of the symbol in this sense is repeatedly to be found in

the Hebrew writers. Thus the Psalmist says (Ps. xxxiv. 15), "The eyes of

the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry,"

which explains a subsequent passage (Ps. cxxi. 4), in which it is said,

"Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." [136]

On the same principle, the Egyptians represented Osiris, their chief

deity, by the symbol of an open eye, and placed this hieroglyphic of him

in all their temples. His symbolic name, on the monuments, was represented

by the eye accompanying a throne, to which was sometimes added an

abbreviated figure of the god, and sometimes what has been called a

hatchet, but which, I consider, may as correctly be supposed to be a

representation of a square.

The All-Seeing Eye may, then, be considered as a symbol of God manifested

in his omnipresence--his guardian and preserving character--to which

Solomon alludes in the Book of Proverbs (xv. 3), when he says, "The eyes

of Jehovah are in every place, beholding (or as it might be more

faithfully translated, watching) the evil and the good." It is a symbol of

the Omnipresent Deity.

The _triangle_ is another symbol which is entitled to our consideration.

There is, in fact, no other symbol which is more various in its

application or more generally diffused throughout the whole system of both

the Spurious and the Pure Freemasonry.

The equilateral triangle appears to have been adopted by nearly all the

nations of antiquity as a symbol of the Deity.

Among the Hebrews, it has already been stated that this figure, with a

_yod_ in the centre, was used to represent the tetragrammaton, or

ineffable name of God.

The Egyptians considered the equilateral triangle as the most perfect of

figures, and a representative of the great principle of animated

existence, each of its sides referring to one of the three departments of

creation--the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral.

The symbol of universal nature among the Egyptians was the right-angled

triangle, of which the perpendicular side represented Osiris, or the male

principle; the base, Isis, or the female principle; and the hypothenuse,

their offspring, Horus, or the world emanating from the union of both

principles.

All this, of course, is nothing more nor less than the phallus and cteis,

or lingam and yoni, under a different form.

The symbol of the right-angled triangle was afterwards adopted by

Pythagoras when he visited the banks of the Nile; and the discovery which

he is said to have made in relation to the properties of this figure, but

which he really learned from the Egyptian priests, is commemorated in

Masonry by the introduction of the forty-seventh problem of Euclid's First

Book among the symbols of the third degree. Here the same mystical

application is supplied as in the Egyptian figure, namely, that the union

of the male and female, or active and passive principles of nature, has

produced the world. For the geometrical proposition being that the squares

of the perpendicular and base are equal to the square of the hypothenuse,

they may be said to produce it in the same way as Osiris and Isis are

equal to, or produce, the world.

Thus the perpendicular--Osiris, or the active, male principle--being

represented by a line whose measurement is 3; and the base--Isis, or the

passive, female principle--by a line whose measurement is 4; then their

union, or the addition of the squares of these numbers, will produce a

square whose root will be the hypothenuse, or a line whose measurement

must be 5. For the square of 3 is 9, and the square of 4 is 16, and the

square of 5 is 25; but 9 added to 16 is equal to 25; and thus, out of the

addition, or coming together, of the squares of the perpendicular and

base, arises the square of the hypothenuse, just as, out of the coming

together, in the Egyptian system, of the active and passive principles,

arises, or is generated, the world.

In the mediaeval history of the Christian church, the great ignorance of

the people, and their inclination to a sort of materialism, led them to

abandon the symbolic representations of the Deity, and to depict the

Father with the form and lineaments of an aged man, many of which

irreverent paintings, as far back as the twelfth century, are to be found

in the religious books and edifices of Europe.[137] But, after the period

of the renaissance, a better spirit and a purer taste began to pervade the

artists of the church, and thenceforth the Supreme Being was represented

only by his name--the tetragrammaton--inscribed within an equilateral

triangle, and placed within a circle of rays. Didron, in his invaluable

work on Christian Iconography, gives one of these symbols, which was

carved on wood in the seventeenth century, of which I annex a copy.

[Illustration: tetragrammaton inscribed with an equilateral triangle and

placed within a circle of rays]

But even in the earliest ages, when the Deity was painted or sculptured as

a personage, the nimbus, or glory, which surrounded the head of the

Father, was often made to assume a triangular form. Didron says on this

subject, "A nimbus, of a triangular form, is thus seen to be the exclusive

attribute of the Deity, and most frequently restricted to the Father

Eternal. The other persons of the trinity sometimes wear the triangle, but

only in representations of the trinity, and because the Father is with

them. Still, even then, beside the Father, who has a triangle, the Son

and the Holy Ghost are often drawn with a circular nimbus only." [138]

The triangle has, in all ages and in all religions, been deemed a symbol

of Deity.

The Egyptians, the Greeks, and the other nations of antiquity, considered

this figure, with its three sides, as a symbol of the creative energy

displayed in the active and passive, or male and female, principles, and

their product, the world; the Christians referred it to their dogma of the

trinity as a manifestation of the Supreme God; and the Jews and the

primitive masons to the three periods of existence included in the

signification of the tetragrammaton--the past, the present, and the

future.

In the higher degrees of Masonry, the triangle is the most important of

all symbols, and most generally assumes the name of the _Delta_, in

allusion to the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, which is of the same

form and bears that appellation.

The Delta, or mystical triangle, is generally surrounded by a circle of

rays, called a "glory." When this glory is distinct from the figure, and

surrounds it in the form of a circle (as in the example just given from

Didron), it is then an emblem of God's eternal glory. When, as is most

usual in the masonic symbol, the rays emanate from the centre of the

triangle, and, as it were, enshroud it in their brilliancy, it is symbolic

of the Divine Light. The perverted ideas of the pagans referred these rays

of light to their Sun-god and their Sabian worship.

But the true masonic idea of this glory is, that it symbolizes that

Eternal Light of Wisdom which surrounds the Supreme Architect as with a

sea of glory, and from him, as a common centre, emanates to the universe

of his creation, and to which the prophet Ezekiel alludes in his eloquent

description of Jehovah: "And I saw as the color of amber, as the

appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins

even upward, and from his loins even downward, I saw, as it were, the

appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about." (Chap. 1,

ver. 27.)

Dante has also beautifully described this circumfused light of Deity:--

"There is in heaven a light whose goodly shine

Makes the Creator visible to all

Created, that in seeing him, alone

Have peace; and in a circle spreads so far,

That the circumference were too loose a zone

To girdle in the sun."

On a recapitulation, then, of the views that have been advanced in

relation to these three symbols of the Deity which are to be found in the

masonic system, we may say that each one expresses a different attribute.

The letter _G_ is the symbol of the self-existent Jehovah.

The _All-Seeing Eye_ is the symbol of the omnipresent God.

The _triangle_[139] is the symbol of the Supreme Architect of the

Universe--the Creator; and when surrounded by rays of glory, it becomes a

symbol of the Architect and Bestower of Light.

And now, after all, is there not in this whole prevalence of the name of

God, in so many different symbols, throughout the masonic system,

something more than a mere evidence of the religious proclivities of the

institution? Is there not behind this a more profound symbolism, which

constitutes, in fact, the very essence of Freemasonry? "The names of God,"

said a learned theologian at the beginning of this century, "were intended

to communicate the knowledge of God himself. By these, men were enabled to

receive some scanty ideas of his essential majesty, goodness, and power,

and to know both whom we are to believe, and what we are to believe of

him."

And this train of thought is eminently applicable to the admission of the

name into the system of Masonry. With us, the name of God, however

expressed, is a symbol of DIVINE TRUTH, which it should be the incessant

labor of a Mason to seek.

XXV.

The Legends of Freemasonry.

The compound character of a speculative science and an operative art,

which the masonic institution assumed at the building of King Solomon's

temple, in consequence of the union, at that era, of the Pure Freemasonry

of the Noachidae[140] with the Spurious Freemasonry of the Tyrian workmen,

has supplied it with two distinct kinds of symbols--the _mythical_, or

_legendary_, and the _material_; but these are so thoroughly united in

object and design, that it is impossible to appreciate the one without an

investigation of the other.

Thus, by way of illustration, it may be observed, that the temple itself

has been adopted as a material symbol of the world (as I have already

shown in former articles), while the legendary history of the fate of its

builder is a mythical symbol of man's destiny in the world. Whatever is

visible or tangible to the senses in our types and emblems--such as the

implements of operative masonry, the furniture and ornaments of a lodge,

or the ladder of seven steps--is a _material symbol_; while whatever

derives its existence from tradition, and presents itself in the form of

an allegory or legend, is a _mythical symbol_. Hiram the Builder,

therefore, and all that refers to the legend of his connection with the

temple, and his fate,--such as the sprig of acacia, the hill near Mount

Moriah, and the lost word,--are to be considered as belonging to the class

of mythical or legendary symbols.

And this division is not arbitrary, but depends on the nature of the types

and the aspect in which they present themselves to our view.

Thus the sprig of acacia, although it is material, visible, and tangible,

is, nevertheless, not to be treated as a material symbol; for, as it

derives all its significance from its intimate connection with the legend

of Hiram Abif, which is a mythical symbol, it cannot, without a violent

and inexpedient disruption, be separated from the same class. For the same

reason, the small hill near Mount Moriah, the search of the twelve Fellow

Crafts, and the whole train of circumstances connected with the lost word,

are to be viewed simply as mythical or legendary, and not as material

symbols.

These legends of Freemasonry constitute a considerable and a very

important part of its ritual. Without them, the most valuable portions of

the masonic as a scientific system would cease to exist. It is, in fact,

in the traditions and legends of Freemasonry, more, even, than in its

material symbols, that we are to find the deep religious instruction which

the institution is intended to inculcate. It must be remembered that

Freemasonry has been defined to be "a system of morality, veiled in

allegory and illustrated by symbols." Symbols, then, alone, do not

constitute the whole of the system: allegory comes in for its share; and

this allegory, which veils the divine truths of masonry, is presented to

the neophyte in the various legends which have been traditionally

preserved in the order.

The close connection, at least in design and method of execution, between

the institution of Freemasonry and the ancient Mysteries, which were

largely imbued with the mythical character of the ancient religions, led,

undoubtedly, to the introduction of the same mythical character into the

masonic system.

So general, indeed, was the diffusion of the myth or legend among the

philosophical, historical, and religious systems of antiquity, that Heyne

remarks, on this subject, that all the history and philosophy of the

ancients proceeded from myths.[141]

The word _myth_, from the Greek [Greek: my~thos], _a story_, in its

original acceptation, signified simply a statement or narrative of an

event, without any necessary implication of truth or falsehood; but, as

the word is now used, it conveys the idea of a personal narrative of

remote date, which, although not necessarily untrue, is certified only by

the internal evidence of the tradition itself.[142]

Creuzer, in his "Symbolik," says that myths and symbols were derived, on

the one hand, from the helpless condition and the poor and scanty

beginnings of religious knowledge among the ancient peoples, and on the

other, from the benevolent designs of the priests educated in the East, or

of Eastern origin, to form them to a purer and higher knowledge.

But the observations of that profoundly philosophical historian, Mr.

Grote, give so correct a view of the probable origin of this universality

of the mythical element in all the ancient religions, and are, withal, so

appropriate to the subject of masonic legends which I am now about to

discuss, that I cannot justly refrain from a liberal quotation of his

remarks.

"The allegorical interpretation of the myths," he says, "has been, by

several learned investigators, especially by Creuzer, connected with the

hypothesis of an ancient and highly-instructed body of priests, having

their origin either in Egypt or the East, and communicating to the rude

and barbarous Greeks religious, physical, and historical knowledge, under

the veil of symbols. At a time (we are told) when language was yet in its

infancy, visible symbols were the most vivid means of acting upon the

minds of ignorant hearers. The next step was to pass to symbolical

language and expressions; for a plain and literal exposition, even if

understood at all, would at least have been listened to with indifference,

as not corresponding with any mental demand. In such allegorizing way,

then, the early priests set forth their doctrines respecting God, nature,

and humanity,--a refined monotheism and theological philosophy,--and to

this purpose the earliest myths were turned. But another class of myths,

more popular and more captivating, grew up under the hands of the

poets--myths purely epical, and descriptive of real or supposed past

events. The allegorical myths, being taken up by the poets, insensibly

became confounded in the same category with the purely narrative myths;

the matter symbolized was no longer thought of, while the symbolizing

words came to be construed in their own literal meaning, and the basis of

the early allegory, thus lost among the general public, was only preserved

as a secret among various religious fraternities, composed of members

allied together by initiation in certain mystical ceremonies, and

administered by hereditary families of presiding priests.

"In the Orphic and Bacchic sects, in the Eleusinian and Samothracian

Mysteries, was thus treasured up the secret doctrine of the old

theological and philosophical myths, which had once constituted the

primitive legendary stock of Greece in the hands of the original

priesthood and in the ages anterior to Homer. Persons who had gone through

the preliminary ceremonies of initiation were permitted at length to hear,

though under strict obligation of secrecy, this ancient religion and

cosmogonic doctrine, revealing the destination of man and the certainty

of posthumous rewards and punishments, all disengaged from the corruptions

of poets, as well as from the symbols and allegories under which they

still remained buried in the eyes of the vulgar. The Mysteries of Greece

were thus traced up to the earliest ages, and represented as the only

faithful depositaries of that purer theology and physics which had been

originally communicated, though under the unavoidable inconvenience of a

symbolical expression, by an enlightened priesthood, coming from abroad,

to the then rude barbarians of the country." [143]

In this long but interesting extract we find not only a philosophical

account of the origin and design of the ancient myths, but a fair synopsis

of all that can be taught in relation to the symbolical construction of

Freemasonry, as one of the depositaries of a mythical theology.

The myths of Masonry, at first perhaps nothing more than the simple

traditions of the Pure Freemasonry of the antediluvian system, having been

corrupted and misunderstood in the separation of the races, were again

purified, and adapted to the inculcation of truth, at first by the

disciples of the Spurious Freemasonry, and then, more fully and perfectly,

in the development of that system which we now practise. And if there be

any leaven of error still remaining in the interpretation of our masonic

myths, we must seek to disengage them from the corruptions with which they

have been invested by ignorance and by misinterpretation. We must give to

them their true significance, and trace them back to those ancient

doctrines and faith whence the ideas which they are intended to embody

were derived.

The myths or legends which present themselves to our attention in the

course of a complete study of the symbolic system of Freemasonry may be

considered as divided into three classes:--

1. The historical myth.

2. The philosophical myth.

3. The mythical history.

And these three classes may be defined as follows:--

1. The myth may be engaged in the transmission of a narrative of early

deeds and events, having a foundation in truth, which truth, however, has

been greatly distorted and perverted by the omission or introduction of

circumstances and personages, and then it constitutes the _historical

myth_.

2. Or it may have been invented and adopted as the medium of enunciating a

particular thought, or of inculcating a certain doctrine, when it becomes

a _philosophical myth_.

3. Or, lastly, the truthful elements of actual history may greatly

predominate over the fictitious and invented materials of the myth, and

the narrative may be, in the main, made up of facts, with a slight

coloring of imagination, when it forms a _mythical history_.[144]

These form the three divisions of the legend or myth (for I am not

disposed, on the present occasion, like some of the German mythological

writers, to make a distinction between the two words[145]); and to one of

these three divisions we must appropriate every legend which belongs to

the mythical symbolism of Freemasonry.

These masonic myths partake, in their general character, of the nature of

the myths which constituted the foundation of the ancient religions, as

they have just been described in the language of Mr. Grote. Of these

latter myths, Mueller[146] says that "their source is to be found, for the

most part, in oral tradition," and that the real and the ideal--that is to

say, the facts of history and the inventions of imagination--concurred, by

their union and reciprocal fusion, in producing the myth.

Those are the very principles that govern the construction of the masonic

myths or legends. These, too, owe their existence entirely to oral

tradition, and are made up, as I have just observed, of a due admixture of

the real and the ideal--the true and the false--the facts of history and

the inventions of allegory.

Dr. Oliver remarks that "the first series of historical facts, after the

fall of man, must necessarily have been traditional, and transmitted from

father to son by oral communication." [147] The same system, adopted in

all the Mysteries, has been continued in the masonic institution; and all

the esoteric instructions contained in the legends of Freemasonry are

forbidden to be written, and can be communicated only in the oral

intercourse of Freemasons with each other.[148]

De Wette, in his Criticism on the Mosaic History, lays down the test by

which a myth is to be distinguished from a strictly historical narrative,

as follows, namely: that the myth must owe its origin to the intention of

the inventor not to satisfy the natural thirst for historical truth by a

simple narration of facts, but rather to delight or touch the feelings, or

to illustrate some philosophical or religious truth.

This definition precisely fits the character of the myths of Masonry.

Take, for instance, the legend of the master's degree, or the myth of

Hiram Abif. As "a simple narration of facts," it is of no great

value--certainly not of value commensurate with the labor that has been

engaged in its transmission. Its invention--by which is meant, not the

invention or imagination of all the incidents of which it is composed, for

there are abundant materials of the true and real in its details, but its

invention or composition in the form of a myth by the addition of some

features, the suppression of others, and the general arrangement of the

whole--was not intended to add a single item to the great mass of history,

but altogether, as De Wette says, "to illustrate a philosophical or

religious truth," which truth, it is hardly necessary for me to say, is

the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.

It must be evident, from all that has been said respecting the analogy in

origin and design between the masonic and the ancient religious myths,

that no one acquainted with the true science of this subject can, for a

moment, contend that all the legends and traditions of the order are, to

the very letter, historical facts. All that can be claimed for them is,

that in some there is simply a substratum of history, the edifice

constructed on this foundation being purely inventive, to serve us a

medium for inculcating some religious truth; in others, nothing more than

an idea to which the legend or myth is indebted for its existence, and of

which it is, as a symbol, the exponent; and in others, again, a great deal

of truthful narrative, more or less intermixed with fiction, but the

historical always predominating.

Thus there is a legend, contained in some of our old records, which states

that Euclid was a distinguished Mason, and that he introduced Masonry

among the Egyptians.[149] Now, it is not at all necessary to the orthodoxy

of a Mason's creed that he should literally believe that Euclid, the great

geometrician, was really a Freemason, and that the ancient Egyptians were

indebted to him for the establishment of the institution among them.

Indeed, the palpable anachronism in the legend which makes Euclid the

contemporary of Abraham necessarily prohibits any such belief, and shows

that the whole story is a sheer invention. The intelligent Mason, however,

will not wholly reject the legend, as ridiculous or absurd; but, with a

due sense of the nature and design of our system of symbolism, will rather

accept it as what, in the classification laid down on a preceding page,

would be called "a philosophical myth"--an ingenious method of conveying,

symbolically, a masonic truth.

Euclid is here very appropriately used as a type of geometry, that science

of which he was so eminent a teacher, and the myth or legend then

symbolizes the fact that there was in Egypt a close connection between

that science and the great moral and religious system, which was among the

Egyptians, as well as other ancient nations, what Freemasonry is in the

present day--a secret institution, established for the inculcation of the

same principles, and inculcating them in the same symbolic manner. So

interpreted, this legend corresponds to all the developments of Egyptian

history, which teach us how close a connection existed in that country

between the religious and scientific systems. Thus Kenrick tells us, that

"when we read of foreigners [in Egypt] being obliged to submit to painful

and tedious ceremonies of initiation, it was not that they might learn the

secret meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis, but that they might partake

of the knowledge of astronomy, physic, geometry, and theology." [150]

Another illustration will be found in the myth or legend of the _Winding

Stairs_, by which the Fellow Crafts are said to have ascended to the

middle chamber to receive their wages. Now, this myth, taken in its

literal sense, is, in all its parts, opposed to history and probability.

As a myth, it finds its origin in the fact that there was a place in the

temple called the "Middle Chamber," and that there were "winding stairs"

by which it was reached; for we read, in the First Book of Kings, that

"they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber." [151] But we

have no historical evidence that the stairs were of the construction, or

that the chamber was used for the purpose, indicated in the mythical

narrative, as it is set forth in the ritual of the second degree. The

whole legend is, in fact, an historical myth, in which the mystic number

of the steps, the process of passing to the chamber, and the wages there

received, are inventions added to or ingrafted on the fundamental history

contained in the sixth chapter of Kings, to inculcate important symbolic

instruction relative to the principles of the order. These lessons might,

it is true, have been inculcated in a dry, didactic form; but the

allegorical and mythical method adopted tends to make a stronger and

deeper impression on the mind, and at the same time serves more closely

to connect the institution of Masonry with the ancient temple.

Again: the myth which traces the origin of the institution of Freemasonry

to the beginning of the world, making its commencement coeval with the

creation,--a myth which is, even at this day, ignorantly interpreted, by

some, as an historical fact, and the reference to which is still preserved

in the date of "anno lucis," which is affixed to all masonic

documents,--is but a philosophical myth, symbolizing the idea which

analogically connects the creation of physical light in the universe with

the birth of masonic or spiritual and intellectual light in the candidate.

The one is the type of the other. When, therefore, Preston says that "from

the commencement of the world we may trace the foundation of Masonry," and

when he goes on to assert that "ever since symmetry began, and harmony

displayed her charms, our order has had a being," we are not to suppose

that Preston intended to teach that a masonic lodge was held in the Garden

of Eden. Such a supposition would justly subject us to the ridicule of

every intelligent person. The only idea intended to be conveyed is this:

that the principles of Freemasonry, which, indeed, are entirely

independent of any special organization which it may have as a society,

are coeval with the existence of the world; that when God said, "Let there

be light," the material light thus produced was an antitype of that

spiritual light that must burst upon the mind of every candidate when his

intellectual world, theretofore "without form and void," becomes adorned

and peopled with the living thoughts and divine principles which

constitute the great system of Speculative Masonry, and when the spirit of

the institution, brooding over the vast deep of his mental chaos, shall,

from intellectual darkness, bring forth intellectual light.[152]

In the legends of the Master's degree and of the Royal Arch there is a

commingling of the historical myth and the mythical history, so that

profound judgment is often required to discriminate these differing

elements. As, for example, the legend of the third degree is, in some of

its details, undoubtedly mythical--in others, just as undoubtedly

historical. The difficulty, however, of separating the one from the other,

and of distinguishing the fact from the fiction, has necessarily produced

a difference of opinion on the subject among masonic writers. Hutchinson,

and, after him, Oliver, think the whole legend an allegory or

philosophical myth. I am inclined, with Anderson and the earlier writers,

to suppose it a mythical history. In the Royal Arch degree, the legend of

the rebuilding of the temple is clearly historical; but there are so many

accompanying circumstances, which are uncertified, except by oral

tradition, as to give to the entire narrative the appearance of a mythical

history. The particular legend of the _three weary sojourners_ is

undoubtedly a myth, and perhaps merely a philosophical one, or the

enunciation of an idea--namely, the reward of successful perseverance,

through all dangers, in the search for divine truth.

"To form symbols and to interpret symbols," says the learned Creuzer,

"were the main occupation of the ancient priesthood." Upon the studious

Mason the same task of interpretation devolves. He who desires properly

to appreciate the profound wisdom of the institution of which he is the

disciple, must not be content, with uninquiring credulity, to accept all

the traditions that are imparted to him as veritable histories; nor yet,

with unphilosophic incredulity, to reject them in a mass, as fabulous

inventions. In these extremes there is equal error. "The myth," says

Hermann, "is the representation of an idea." It is for that idea that the

student must search in the myths of Masonry. Beneath every one of them

there is something richer and more spiritual than the mere narrative.[153]

This spiritual essence he must learn to extract from the ore in which,

like a precious metal, it lies imbedded. It is this that constitutes the

true value of Freemasonry. Without its symbols, and its myths or legends,

and the ideas and conceptions which lie at the bottom of them, the time,

the labor, and the expense incurred in perpetuating the institution, would

be thrown away. Without them, it would be a "vain and empty show." Its

grips and signs are worth nothing, except for social purposes, as mere

means of recognition. So, too, would be its words, were it not that they

are, for the most part, symbolic. Its social habits and its charities are

but incidental points in its constitution--of themselves good, it is true,

but capable of being attained in a simpler way. Its true value, as a

science, consists in its symbolism--in the great lessons of divine truth

which it teaches, and in the admirable manner in which it accomplishes

that teaching. Every one, therefore, who desires to be a skilful Mason,

must not suppose that the task is accomplished by a perfect knowledge of

the mere phraseology of the ritual, by a readiness in opening and closing

a lodge, nor by an off-hand capacity to confer degrees. All these are good

in their places, but without the internal meaning they are but mere

child's play. He must study the myths, the traditions, and the symbols of

the order, and learn their true interpretation; for this alone constitutes

the science and the philosophy--the end, aim, and design of Speculative

Masonry.

XXVI.

The Legend of the Winding Stairs.

Before proceeding to the examination of those more important mythical

legends which appropriately belong to the Master's degree, it will not, I

think, be unpleasing or uninstructive to consider the only one which is

attached to the Fellow Craft's degree--that, namely, which refers to the

allegorical ascent of the Winding Stairs to the Middle Chamber, and the

symbolic payment of the workmen's wages.

Although the legend of the Winding Stairs forms an important tradition of

Ancient Craft Masonry, the only allusion to it in Scripture is to be found

in a single verse in the sixth chapter of the First Book of Kings, and is

in these words: "The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of

the house; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber,

and out of the middle into the third." Out of this slender material has

been constructed an allegory, which, if properly considered in its

symbolical relations, will be found to be of surpassing beauty. But it is

only as a symbol that we can regard this whole tradition; for the

historical facts and the architectural details alike forbid us for a

moment to suppose that the legend, as it is rehearsed in the second degree

of Masonry, is anything more than a magnificent philosophical myth.

Let us inquire into the true design of this legend, and learn the lesson

of symbolism which it is intended to teach.

In the investigation of the true meaning of every masonic symbol and

allegory, we must be governed by the single principle that the whole

design of Freemasonry as a speculative science is the investigation of

divine truth. To this great object everything is subsidiary. The Mason is,

from the moment of his initiation as an Entered Apprentice, to the time at

which he receives the full fruition of masonic light, an investigator--a

laborer in the quarry and the temple--whose reward is to be Truth. All the

ceremonies and traditions of the order tend to this ultimate design. Is

there light to be asked for? It is the intellectual light of wisdom and

truth. Is there a word to be sought? That word is the symbol of truth. Is

there a loss of something that had been promised? That loss is typical of

the failure of man, in the infirmity of his nature, to discover divine

truth. Is there a substitute to be appointed for that loss? It is an

allegory which teaches us that in this world man can only approximate to

the full conception of truth.

Hence there is in Speculative Masonry always a progress, symbolized by its

peculiar ceremonies of initiation. There is an advancement from a lower to

a higher state--from darkness to light--from death to life--from error to

truth. The candidate is always ascending; he is never stationary; he

never goes back, but each step he takes brings him to some new mental

illumination--to the knowledge of some more elevated doctrine. The

teaching of the Divine Master is, in respect to this continual progress,

the teaching of Masonry--"No man having put his hand to the plough, and

looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven." And similar to this is

the precept of Pythagoras: "When travelling, turn not back, for if you do

the Furies will accompany you."

Now, this principle of masonic symbolism is apparent in many places in

each of the degrees. In that of the Entered Apprentice we find it

developed in the theological ladder, which, resting on earth, leans its

top upon heaven, thus inculcating the idea of an ascent from a lower to a

higher sphere, as the object of masonic labor. In the Master's degree we

find it exhibited in its most religious form, in the restoration from

death to life--in the change from the obscurity of the grave to the holy

of holies of the Divine Presence. In all the degrees we find it presented

in the ceremony of circumambulation, in which there is a gradual

inquisition, and a passage from an inferior to a superior officer. And

lastly, the same symbolic idea is conveyed in the Fellow Craft's degree in

the legend of the Winding Stairs.

In an investigation of the symbolism of the Winding Stairs we shall be

directed to the true explanation by a reference to their origin, their

number, the objects which they recall, and their termination, but above

all by a consideration of the great design which an ascent upon them was

intended to accomplish.

The steps of this Winding Staircase commenced, we are informed, at the

porch of the temple; that is to say, at its very entrance. But nothing is

more undoubted in the science of masonic symbolism than that the temple

was the representative of the world purified by the Shekinah, or the

Divine Presence. The world of the profane is without the temple; the world

of the initiated is within its sacred walls. Hence to enter the temple, to

pass within the porch, to be made a Mason, and to be born into the world

of masonic light, are all synonymous and convertible terms. Here, then,

the symbolism of the Winding Stairs begins.

The Apprentice, having entered within the porch of the temple, has begun

his masonic life. But the first degree in Masonry, like the lesser

Mysteries of the ancient systems of initiation, is only a preparation and

purification for something higher. The Entered Apprentice is the child in

Masonry. The lessons which he receives are simply intended to cleanse the

heart and prepare the recipient for that mental illumination which is to

be given in the succeeding degrees.

As a Fellow Craft, he has advanced another step, and as the degree is

emblematic of youth, so it is here that the intellectual education of the

candidate begins. And therefore, here, at the very spot which separates

the Porch from the Sanctuary, where childhood ends and manhood begins, he

finds stretching out before him a winding stair which invites him, as it

were, to ascend, and which, as the symbol of discipline and instruction,

teaches him that here must commence his masonic labor--here he must enter

upon those glorious though difficult researches, the end of which is to be

the possession of divine truth. The Winding Stairs begin after the

candidate has passed within the Porch and between the pillars of Strength

and Establishment, as a significant symbol to teach him that as soon as he

has passed beyond the years of irrational childhood, and commenced his

entrance upon manly life, the laborious task of self-improvement is the

first duty that is placed before him. He cannot stand still, if he would

be worthy of his vocation; his destiny as an immortal being requires him

to ascend, step by step, until he has reached the summit, where the

treasures of knowledge await him.

The number of these steps in all the systems has been odd. Vitruvius

remarks--and the coincidence is at least curious--that the ancient temples

were always ascended by an odd number of steps; and he assigns as the

reason, that, commencing with the right foot at the bottom, the worshipper

would find the same foot foremost when he entered the temple, which was

considered as a fortunate omen. But the fact is, that the symbolism of

numbers was borrowed by the Masons from Pythagoras, in whose system of

philosophy it plays an important part, and in which odd numbers were

considered as more perfect than even ones. Hence, throughout the masonic

system we find a predominance of odd numbers; and while three, five,

seven, nine, fifteen, and twenty-seven, are all-important symbols, we

seldom find a reference to two, four, six, eight, or ten. The odd number

of the stairs was therefore intended to symbolize the idea of perfection,

to which it was the object of the aspirant to attain.

As to the particular number of the stairs, this has varied at different

periods. Tracing-boards of the last century have been found, in which only

_five_ steps are delineated, and others in which they amount to _seven_.

The Prestonian lectures, used in England in the beginning of this century,

gave the whole number as thirty-eight, dividing them into series of one,

three, five, seven, nine, and eleven. The error of making an even number,

which was a violation of the Pythagorean principle of odd numbers as the

symbol of perfection, was corrected in the Hemming lectures, adopted at

the union of the two Grand Lodges of England, by striking out the eleven,

which was also objectionable as receiving a sectarian explanation. In this

country the number was still further reduced to _fifteen_, divided into

three series of _three, five_, and _seven_. I shall adopt this American

division in explaining the symbolism, although, after all, the particular

number of the steps, or the peculiar method of their division into

series, will not in any way affect the general symbolism of the whole

legend.

The candidate, then, in the second degree of Masonry, represents a man

starting forth on the journey of life, with the great task before him of

self-improvement. For the faithful performance of this task, a reward is

promised, which reward consists in the development of all his intellectual

faculties, the moral and spiritual elevation of his character, and the

acquisition of truth and knowledge. Now, the attainment of this moral and

intellectual condition supposes an elevation of character, an ascent from

a lower to a higher life, and a passage of toil and difficulty, through

rudimentary instruction, to the full fruition of wisdom. This is therefore

beautifully symbolized by the Winding Stairs; at whose foot the aspirant

stands ready to climb the toilsome steep, while at its top is placed "that

hieroglyphic bright which none but Craftsmen ever saw," as the emblem of

divine truth. And hence a distinguished writer has said that "these steps,

like all the masonic symbols, are illustrative of discipline and doctrine,

as well as of natural, mathematical, and metaphysical science, and open to

us an extensive range of moral and speculative inquiry."

The candidate, incited by the love of virtue and the desire of knowledge,

and withal eager for the reward of truth which is set before him, begins

at once the toilsome ascent. At each division he pauses to gather

instruction from the symbolism which these divisions present to his

attention.

At the first pause which he makes he is instructed in the peculiar

organization of the order of which he has become a disciple. But the

information here given, if taken in its naked, literal sense, is barren,

and unworthy of his labor. The rank of the officers who govern, and the

names of the degrees which constitute the institution, can give him no

knowledge which he has not before possessed. We must look therefore to the

symbolic meaning of these allusions for any value which may be attached to

this part of the ceremony.

The reference to the organization of the masonic institution is intended

to remind the aspirant of the union of men in society, and the development

of the social state out of the state of nature. He is thus reminded, in

the very outset of his journey, of the blessings which arise from

civilization, and of the fruits of virtue and knowledge which are derived

from that condition. Masonry itself is the result of civilization; while,

in grateful return, it has been one of the most important means of

extending that condition of mankind.

All the monuments of antiquity that the ravages of time have left, combine

to prove that man had no sooner emerged from the savage into the social

state, than he commenced the organization of religious mysteries, and the

separation, by a sort of divine instinct, of the sacred from the profane.

Then came the invention of architecture as a means of providing convenient

dwellings and necessary shelter from the inclemencies and vicissitudes of

the seasons, with all the mechanical arts connected with it; and lastly,

geometry, as a necessary science to enable the cultivators of land to

measure and designate the limits of their possessions. All these are

claimed as peculiar characteristics of Speculative Masonry, which may be

considered as the type of civilization, the former bearing the same

relation to the profane world as the latter does to the savage state.

Hence we at once see the fitness of the symbolism which commences the

aspirant's upward progress in the cultivation of knowledge and the search

after truth, by recalling to his mind the condition of civilization and

the social union of mankind as necessary preparations for the attainment

of these objects. In the allusions to the officers of a lodge, and the

degrees of Masonry as explanatory of the organization of our own society,

we clothe in our symbolic language the history of the organization of

society.

Advancing in his progress, the candidate is invited to contemplate another

series of instructions. The human senses, as the appropriate channels

through which we receive all our ideas of perception, and which,

therefore, constitute the most important sources of our knowledge, are

here referred to as a symbol of intellectual cultivation. Architecture, as

the most important of the arts which conduce to the comfort of mankind, is

also alluded to here, not simply because it is so closely connected with

the operative institution of Masonry, but also as the type of all the

other useful arts. In his second pause, in the ascent of the Winding

Stairs, the aspirant is therefore reminded of the necessity of cultivating

practical knowledge.

So far, then, the instructions he has received relate to his own condition

in society as a member of the great social compact, and to his means of

becoming, by a knowledge of the arts of practical life, a necessary and

useful member of that society.

But his motto will be, "Excelsior." Still must he go onward and forward.

The stair is still before him; its summit is not yet reached, and still

further treasures of wisdom are to be sought for, or the reward will not

be gained, nor the _middle chamber_, the abiding place of truth, be

reached.

In his third pause, he therefore arrives at that point in which the whole

circle of human science is to be explained. Symbols, we know, are in

themselves arbitrary and of conventional signification, and the complete

circle of human science might have been as well symbolized by any other

sign or series of doctrines as by the seven liberal arts and sciences. But

Masonry is an institution of the olden time; and this selection of the

liberal arts and sciences as a symbol of the completion of human learning

is one of the most pregnant evidences that we have of its antiquity.

In the seventh century, and for a long time afterwards, the circle of

instruction to which all the learning of the most eminent schools and most

distinguished philosophers was confined, was limited to what were then

called the liberal arts and sciences, and consisted of two branches, the

_trivium_ and the _quadrivium_.[154] The _trivium_ included grammar,

rhetoric, and logic; the _quadrivium_ comprehended arithmetic, geometry,

music, and astronomy.

"These seven heads," says Enfield, "were supposed to include universal

knowledge. He who was master of these was thought to have no need of a

preceptor to explain any books or to solve any questions which lay within

the compass of human reason, the knowledge of the _trivium_ having

furnished him with the key to all language, and that of the _quadrivium_

having opened to him the secret laws of nature." [155]

At a period, says the same writer, when few were instructed in the

_trivium_, and very few studied the _quadrivium_, to be master of both was

sufficient to complete the character of a philosopher. The propriety,

therefore, of adopting the seven liberal arts and sciences as a symbol of

the completion of human learning is apparent. The candidate, having

reached this point, is now supposed to have accomplished the task upon

which he had entered--he has reached the last step, and is now ready to

receive the full fruition of human learning.

So far, then, we are able to comprehend the true symbolism of the Winding

Stairs. They represent the progress of an inquiring mind with the toils

and labors of intellectual cultivation and study, and the preparatory

acquisition of all human science, as a preliminary step to the attainment

of divine truth, which it must be remembered is always symbolized in

Masonry by the WORD.

Here let me again allude to the symbolism of numbers, which is for the

first time presented to the consideration of the masonic student in the

legend of the Winding Stairs. The theory of numbers as the symbols of

certain qualities was originally borrowed by the Masons from the school of

Pythagoras. It will be impossible, however, to develop this doctrine, in

its entire extent, on the present occasion, for the numeral symbolism of

Masonry would itself constitute materials for an ample essay. It will be

sufficient to advert to the fact that the total number of the steps,

amounting in all to _fifteen_, in the American system, is a significant

symbol. For _fifteen_ was a sacred number among the Orientals, because the

letters of the holy name JAH, were, in their numerical value, equivalent

to fifteen; and hence a figure in which the nine digits were so disposed

as to make fifteen either way when added together perpendicularly,

horizontally, or diagonally, constituted one of their most sacred

talismans.[156] The fifteen steps in the Winding Stairs are therefore

symbolic of the name of God.

But we are not yet done. It will be remembered that a reward was promised

for all this toilsome ascent of the Winding Stairs. Now, what are the

wages of a Speculative Mason? Not money, nor corn, nor wine, nor oil. All

these are but symbols. His wages are TRUTH, or that approximation to it

which will be most appropriate to the degree into which he has been

initiated. It is one of the most beautiful, but at the same time most

abstruse, doctrines of the science of masonic symbolism, that the Mason is

ever to be in search of truth, but is never to find it. This divine truth,

the object of all his labors, is symbolized by the WORD, for which we all

know he can only obtain a _substitute_; and this is intended to teach the

humiliating but necessary lesson that the knowledge of the nature of God

and of man's relation to him, which knowledge constitutes divine truth,

can never be acquired in this life. It is only when the portals of the

grave open to us, and give us an entrance into a more perfect life, that

this knowledge is to be attained. "Happy is the man," says the father of

lyric poetry, "who descends beneath the hollow earth, having beheld these

mysteries; he knows the end, he knows the origin of life."

The Middle Chamber is therefore symbolic of this life, where the symbol

only of the word can be given, where the truth is to be reached by

approximation only, and yet where we are to learn that that truth will

consist in a perfect knowledge of the G.A.O.T.U. This is the reward of the

inquiring Mason; in this consist the wages of a Fellow Craft; he is

directed to the truth, but must travel farther and ascend still higher to

attain it.

It is, then, as a symbol, and a symbol only, that we must study this

beautiful legend of the Winding Stairs. If we attempt to adopt it as an

historical fact, the absurdity of its details stares us in the face, and

wise men will wonder at our credulity. Its inventors had no desire thus to

impose upon our folly; but offering it to us as a great philosophical

myth, they did not for a moment suppose that we would pass over its

sublime moral teachings to accept the allegory as an historical narrative,

without meaning, and wholly irreconcilable with the records of Scripture,

and opposed by all the principles of probability. To suppose that eighty

thousand craftsmen were weekly paid in the narrow precincts of the temple

chambers, is simply to suppose an absurdity. But to believe that all this

pictorial representation of an ascent by a Winding Staircase to the place

where the wages of labor were to be received, was an allegory to teach us

the ascent of the mind from ignorance, through all the toils of study and

the difficulties of obtaining knowledge, receiving here a little and there

a little, adding something to the stock of our ideas at each step, until,

in the middle chamber of life,--in the full fruition of manhood,--the

reward is attained, and the purified and elevated intellect is invested

with the reward in the direction how to seek God and God's truth,--to

believe this is to believe and to know the true design of Speculative

Masonry, the only design which makes it worthy of a good or a wise man's

study.

Its historical details are barren, but its symbols and allegories are

fertile with instruction.

XXVII.

The Legend of the Third Degree.

The most important and significant of the legendary symbols of Freemasonry

is, undoubtedly, that which relates to the fate of Hiram Abif, commonly

called, "by way of excellence," the Legend of the Third Degree.

The first written record that I have been able to find of this legend is

contained in the second edition of Anderson's Constitutions, published in

1738, and is in these words:--

"It (the temple) was finished in the short space of seven years and six

months, to the amazement of all the world; when the cape-stone was

celebrated by the fraternity with great joy. But their joy was soon

interrupted by the sudden death of their dear master, Hiram Abif, whom

they decently interred, in the lodge near the temple, according to ancient

dusage." [157]

In the next edition of the same work, published in 1756, a few additional

circumstances are related, such as the participation of King Solomon in

the general grief, and the fact that the king of Israel "ordered his

obsequies to be conducted with great solemnity and decency." [158] With

these exceptions, and the citations of the same passages, made by

subsequent authors, the narrative has always remained unwritten, and

descended, from age to age, through the means of oral tradition.

The legend has been considered of so much importance that it has been

preserved in the symbolism of every masonic rite. No matter what

modifications or alterations the general system may have undergone,--no

matter how much the ingenuity or the imagination of the founders of rites

may have perverted or corrupted other symbols, abolishing the old and

substituting new ones,--the legend of the Temple Builder has ever been

left untouched, to present itself in all the integrity of its ancient

mythical form.

What, then, is the signification of this symbol, so important and so

extensively diffused? What interpretation can we give to it that will

account for its universal adoption? How is it that it has thus become so

intimately interwoven with Freemasonry as to make, to all appearances, a

part of its very essence, and to have been always deemed inseparable from

it?

To answer these questions, satisfactorily, it is necessary to trace, in a

brief investigation, the remote origin of the institution of Freemasonry,

and its connection with the ancient systems of initiation.

It was, then, the great object of all the rites and mysteries which

constituted the "Spurious Freemasonry" of antiquity to teach the

consoling doctrine of the immortality of the soul.[159] This dogma,

shining as an almost solitary beacon-light in the surrounding gloom of

pagan darkness, had undoubtedly been received from that ancient people or

priesthood[160] what has been called the system of "Pure Freemasonry," and

among whom it probably existed only in the form of an abstract proposition

or a simple and unembellished tradition. But in the more sensual minds of

the pagan philosophers and mystics, the idea, when presented to the

initiates in their Mysteries, was always conveyed in the form of a scenic

representation.[161] The influence, too, of the early Sabian worship of

the sun and heavenly bodies, in which the solar orb was adored, on its

resurrection, each morning, from the apparent death of its evening

setting, caused this rising sun to be adopted in the more ancient

Mysteries as a symbol of the regeneration of the soul.

Thus in the Egyptian Mysteries we find a representation of the death and

subsequent regeneration of Osiris; in the Phoenician, of Adonis; in the

Syrian, of Dionysus; in all of which the scenic apparatus of initiation

was intended to indoctrinate the candidate into the dogma of a future

life.

It will be sufficient here to refer simply to the fact, that through the

instrumentality of the Tyrian workmen at the temple of King Solomon, the

spurious and pure branches of the masonic system were united at Jerusalem,

and that the same method of scenic representation was adopted by the

latter from the former, and the narrative of the temple builder

substituted for that of Dionysus, which was the myth peculiar to the

mysteries practised by the Tyrian workmen.

The idea, therefore, proposed to be communicated in the myth of the

ancient Mysteries was the same as that which is now conveyed in the

masonic legend of the Third Degree.

Hence, then, Hiram Abif is, in the masonic system, the symbol of human

nature, as developed in the life here and the life to come; and so, while

the temple was, as I have heretofore shown, the visible symbol of the

world, its builder became the mythical symbol of man, the dweller and

worker in that world.

Now, is not this symbolism evident to every reflective mind?

Man, setting forth on the voyage of life, with faculties and powers

fitting him for the due exercise of the high duties to whose performance

he has been called, holds, if he be "a curious and cunning workman," [162]

skilled in all moral and intellectual purposes (and it is only of such men

that the temple builder can be the symbol), within the grasp of his

attainment the knowledge of all that divine truth imparted to him as the

heirloom of his race--that race to whom it has been granted to look, with

exalted countenance, on high;[163] which divine truth is symbolized by the

WORD.

Thus provided with the word of life, he occupies his time in the

construction of a spiritual temple, and travels onward in the faithful

discharge of all his duties, laying down his designs upon the

trestle-board of the future and invoking the assistance and direction of

God.

But is his path always over flowery meads and through pleasant groves? Is

there no hidden foe to obstruct his progress? Is all before him clear and

calm, with joyous sunshine and refreshing zephyrs? Alas! not so. "Man is

born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward." At every "gate of life"--as

the Orientalists have beautifully called the different ages--he is beset

by peril. Temptations allure his youth, misfortunes darken the pathway of

his manhood, and his old age is encumbered with infirmity and disease. But

clothed in the armor of virtue he may resist the temptation; he may cast

misfortunes aside, and rise triumphantly above them; but to the last, the

direst, the most inexorable foe of his race, he must eventually yield;

and stricken down by death, he sinks prostrate into the grave, _and is

buried in the rubbish_ of his sin and human frailty.

Here, then, in Masonry, is what was called the _aphanism_[164] in

the ancient Mysteries. The bitter but necessary lesson of death has

been imparted. The living soul, with the lifeless body which encased

it, has disappeared, and _can nowhere be found_. All is

darkness--confusion--despair. Divine truth--the WORD--for a time is

lost, and the Master Mason may now say, in the language of Hutchinson,

"I prepare my sepulchre. I make my grave in the pollution of the earth.

I am under the shadow of death."

But if the mythic symbolism ended here, with this lesson of death, then

were the lesson incomplete. That teaching would be vain and idle--nay,

more, it would be corrupt and pernicious--which should stop short of the

conscious and innate instinct for another existence. And hence the

succeeding portions of the legend are intended to convey the sublime

symbolism of a resurrection from the grave and a new birth into a future

life. The discovery of the body, which, in the initiations of the ancient

Mysteries, was called the _euresis_,[165] and its removal, from the

polluted grave into which it had been cast, to an honored and sacred place

within the precincts of the temple, are all profoundly and beautifully

symbolic of that great truth, the discovery of which was the object of all

the ancient initiations, as it is almost the whole design of Freemasonry,

namely, that when man shall have passed the gates of life and have yielded

to the inexorable fiat of death, he shall then (not in the pictured ritual

of an earthly lodge, but in the realities of that eternal one, of which

the former is but an antitype) be raised, at the omnific word of the Grand

Master of the Universe, from time to eternity; from the tomb of corruption

to the chambers of hope; from the darkness of death to the celestial beams

of life; and that his disembodied spirit shall be conveyed as near to the

holy of holies of the divine presence as humanity can ever approach to

Deity.

Such I conceive to be the true interpretation of the symbolism of the

legend of the Third Degree.

I have said that this mythical history of the temple builder was universal

in all nations and all rites, and that in no place and at no time had it,

by alteration, diminution, or addition, acquired any essentially new or

different form: the myth has always remained the same.

But it is not so with its interpretation. That which I have just given,

and which I conceive to be the correct one, has been very generally

adopted by the Masons of this country. But elsewhere, and by various

writers, other interpretations have been made, very different in their

character, although always agreeing in retaining the general idea of a

resurrection or regeneration, or a restoration of something from an

inferior to a higher sphere or function.

Thus some of the earlier continental writers have supposed the myth to

have been a symbol of the destruction of the Order of the Templars,

looking upon its restoration to its original wealth and dignities as being

prophetically symbolized.

In some of the high philosophical degrees it is taught that the whole

legend refers to the sufferings and death, with the subsequent

resurrection, of Christ.[166]

Hutchinson, who has the honor of being the earliest philosophical writer

on Freemasonry in England, supposes it to have been intended to embody the

idea of the decadence of the Jewish religion, and the substitution of the

Christian in its place and on its ruins.[167]

Dr. Oliver--"clarum et venerabile nomen"--thinks that it is typical of the

murder of Abel by Cain, and that it symbolically refers to the universal

death of our race through Adam, and its restoration to life in the

Redeemer,[168] according to the expression of the apostle, "As in Adam we

all died, so in Christ we all live."

Ragon makes Hiram a symbol of the sun shorn of its vivifying rays and

fructifying power by the three winter months, and its restoration to

generative heat by the season of spring.[169]

And, finally, Des Etangs, adopting, in part, the interpretation of Ragon,

adds to it another, which he calls the moral symbolism of the legend, and

supposes that Hiram is no other than eternal reason, whose enemies are the

vices that deprave and destroy humanity.[170]

To each of these interpretations it seems to me that there are important

objections, though perhaps to some less so than to others.

As to those who seek for an astronomical interpretation of the legend, in

which the annual changes of the sun are symbolized, while the ingenuity

with which they press their argument cannot but be admired, it is evident

that, by such an interpretation, they yield all that Masonry has gained

of religious development in past ages, and fall back upon that corruption

and perversion of Sabaism from which it was the object, even of the

Spurious Freemasonry of antiquity, to rescue its disciples.

The Templar interpretation of the myth must at once be discarded if we

would avoid the difficulties of anachronism, unless we deny that the

legend existed before the abolition of the Order of Knights Templar, and

such denial would be fatal to the antiquity of Freemasonry.[171]

And as to the adoption of the Christian reference, Hutchinson, and after

him Oliver, profoundly philosophical as are the masonic speculations of

both, have, I am constrained to believe, fallen into a great error in

calling the Master Mason's degree a Christian institution. It is true that

it embraces within its scheme the great truths of Christianity upon the

subject of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body;

but this was to be presumed, because Freemasonry is truth, and

Christianity is truth, and all truth must be identical. But the origin of

each is different; their histories are dissimilar. The institution of

Freemasonry preceded the advent of Christianity. Its symbols and its

legends are derived from the Solomonic temple, and from the people even

anterior to that. Its religion comes from the ancient priesthood. Its

faith was that primitive one of Noah and his immediate descendants. If

Masonry were simply a Christian institution, the Jew and the Moslem, the

Brahmin and the Buddhist, could not conscientiously partake of its

illumination; but its universality is its boast. In its language citizens

of every nation may converse; at its altar men of all religions may kneel;

to its creed disciples of every faith may subscribe.

Yet it cannot be denied, that since the advent of Christianity a Christian

element has been almost imperceptibly infused into the masonic system, at

least among Christian Masons. This has been a necessity; for it is the

tendency of every predominant religion to pervade with its influences all

that surrounds it, or is about it, whether religious, political, or

social. This arises from a need of the human heart. To the man deeply

imbued with the spirit of his religion there is an almost unconscious

desire to accommodate and adapt all the business and the amusements of

life, the labors and the employments of his every-day existence, to the

indwelling faith of his soul.

The Christian Mason, therefore, while acknowledging and justly

appreciating the great doctrines taught in Masonry, and while grateful

that these doctrines were preserved in the bosom of his ancient order at a

time when they were unknown to the multitudes of the surrounding nations,

is still anxious to give to them a Christian character, to invest them, in

some measure, with the peculiarities of his own creed, and to bring the

interpretation of their symbolism more nearly home to his own religious

sentiments.

The feeling is an instinctive one, belonging to the noblest aspirations of

our human nature; and hence we find Christian masonic writers indulging in

it almost to an unwarrantable excess, and by the extent of their sectarian

interpretations materially affecting the cosmopolitan character of the

institution.

This tendency to Christianization has, in some instances, been so

universal, and has prevailed for so long a period, that certain symbols

and myths have been, in this way, so deeply and thoroughly imbued with the

Christian element as to leave those who have not penetrated into the cause

of this peculiarity, in doubt whether they should attribute to the symbol

an ancient or a modern and Christian origin.

As an illustration of the idea here advanced, and as a remarkable example

of the result of a gradually Christianized interpretation of a masonic

symbol, I will refer to the subordinate myth (subordinate, I mean, to the

great legend of the Builder), which relates the circumstances connected

with the grave upon "_the brow of a small hill near Mount Moriah._"

Now, the myth or legend of a grave is a legitimate deduction from the

symbolism of the ancient Spurious Masonry. It is the analogue of the

_Pastos_, _Couch,_ or _Coffin_, which was to be found in the ritual of all

the pagan Mysteries. In all these initiations, the aspirant was placed in

a cell or upon a couch, in darkness, and for a period varying, in the

different rites, from the three days of the Grecian Mysteries to the fifty

of the Persian. This cell or couch, technically called the "pastos," was

adopted as a symbol of the being whose death and resurrection or

apotheosis, was represented in the legend.

The learned Faber says that this ceremony was doubtless the same as the

descent into Hades,[172] and that, when the aspirant entered into the

mystic cell, he was directed to lay himself down upon the bed which

shadowed out the tomb of the Great Father, or Noah, to whom, it will be

recollected, that Faber refers all the ancient rites. "While stretched

upon the holy couch," he continues to remark, "in imitation of his

figurative deceased prototype, he was said to be wrapped in the deep sleep

of death. His resurrection from the bed was his restoration to life or his

regeneration into a new world."

Now, it is easy to see how readily such a symbolism would be seized by the

Temple Masons, and appropriated at once to _the grave at the brow of the

hill_. At first, the interpretation, like that from which it had been

derived, would be cosmopolitan; it would fit exactly to the general dogmas

of the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul.

But on the advent of Christianity, the spirit of the new religion being

infused into the old masonic system, the whole symbolism of the grave was

affected by it. The same interpretation of a resurrection or restoration

to life, derived from the ancient "pastos," was, it is true, preserved;

but the facts that Christ himself had come to promulgate to the multitudes

the same consoling dogma, and that Mount Calvary, "the place of a skull,"

was the spot where the Redeemer, by his own death and resurrection, had

testified the truth of the doctrine, at once suggested to the old

Christian Masons the idea of Christianizing the ancient symbol.

Let us now examine briefly how that idea has been at length developed.

In the first place, it is necessary to identify the spot where the

"newly-made grave" was discovered with Mount Calvary, the place of the

sepulchre of Christ. This can easily be done by a very few but striking

analogies, which will, I conceive, carry conviction to any thinking mind.

1. Mount Calvary was a _small hill_.[173]

2. It was situated in a _westward direction_ from the temple, and _near

Mount Moriah_.

3. It was on the direct road from Jerusalem to Joppa, and is thus the very

spot where a _weary brother_, travelling on that road, would find it

convenient to _sit down to rest and refresh himself_.[174]

4. It was _outside_ the gate of the temple.

5. It has at least _one cleft in the rock_, or cave, which was the place

which subsequently became the sepulchre of our Lord. But this coincidence

need scarcely to be insisted on, since the whole neighborhood abounds in

rocky clefts, which meet at once the conditions of the masonic legend.

But to bring this analogical reasoning before the mind in a more

expressive mode, it may be observed that if a party of persons were to

start forth from the temple at Jerusalem, and travel in a westward

direction towards the port of Joppa, Mount Calvary would be the first hill

met with; and as it may possibly have been used as a place of sepulture,

which its name of Golgotha[175] seems to import, we may suppose it to have

been the very spot alluded to in the Third Degree, as the place where the

craftsmen, on their way to Joppa, discovered the evergreen acacia.

Having thus traced the analogy, let us look a little to the symbolism.

Mount Calvary has always retained an important place in the legendary

history of Freemasonry, and there are many traditions connected with it

that are highly interesting in their import.

One of these traditions is, that it was the burial-place of Adam, in

order, says the old legend, that where he lay, who effected the ruin of

mankind, there also might the Savior of the world suffer, die, and be

buried. Sir R. Torkington, who published a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in

1517, says that "under the Mount of Calvary is another chapel of our

Blessed Lady and St. John the Evangelist, that was called Golgotha; and

there, right under the mortise of the cross, was found the head of our

forefather, Adam." [176] Golgotha, it will be remembered, means, in

Hebrew, "the place of a skull;" and there may be some connection between

this tradition and the name of Golgotha, by which the Evangelists inform

us, that in the time of Christ Mount Calvary was known. Calvary, or

Calvaria, has the same signification in Latin.

Another tradition states, that it was in the bowels of Mount Calvary that

Enoch erected his nine-arched vault, and deposited on the foundation-stone

of Masonry that Ineffable Name, whose investigation, as a symbol of divine

truth, is the great object of Speculative Masonry.

A third tradition details the subsequent discovery of Enoch's deposit by

King Solomon, whilst making excavations in Mount Calvary, during the

building of the temple.

On this hallowed spot was Christ the Redeemer slain and buried. It was

there that, rising on the third day from his sepulchre, he gave, by that

act, the demonstrative evidence of the resurrection of the body and the

immortality of the soul.

And it was on this spot that the same great lesson was taught in

Masonry--the same sublime truth--the development of which evidently forms

the design of the Third or Master Mason's degree.

There is in these analogies a sublime beauty as well as a wonderful

coincidence between the two systems of Masonry and Christianity, that

must, at an early period, have attracted the attention of the Christian

Masons.

Mount Calvary is consecrated to the Christian as the place where his

crucified Lord gave the last great proof of the second life, and fully

established the doctrine of the resurrection which he had come to teach.

It was the sepulchre of him

"Who captive led captivity,

Who robbed the grave of victory,

And took the sting from death."

It is consecrated to the Mason, also, as the scene of the _euresis_, the

place of the discovery, where the same consoling doctrines of the

resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul are shadowed

forth in profoundly symbolic forms.

These great truths constitute the very essence of Christianity, in which

it differs from and excels all religious systems that preceded it; they

constitute, also, the end, aim, and object of all Freemasonry, but more

especially that of the Third Degree, whose peculiar legend, symbolically

considered, teaches nothing more nor less than that there is an immortal

and better part within us, which, as an emanation from that divine spirit

which pervades all nature, can never die.

The identification of the spot on which this divine truth was promulgated

in both systems--the Christian and the Masonic--affords an admirable

illustration of the readiness with which the religious spirit of the

former may be infused into the symbolism of the latter. And hence

Hutchinson, thoroughly imbued with these Christian views of Masonry, has

called the Master Mason's order a Christian degree, and thus Christianizes

the whole symbolism of its mythical history.

"The Great Father of all, commiserating the miseries of the world, sent

his only Son, who was _innocence_ itself, to teach the doctrine of

salvation--by whom man was raised from the death of sin unto the life of

righteousness--from the tomb of corruption unto the chamber of hope--from

the darkness of despair to the celestial beams of faith; and not only

working for us this redemption, but making with us the covenant of

regeneration; whence we are become the children of the Divinity, and

inheritors of the realms of heaven.

"We, _Masons_, describing the deplorable estate of religion under the

Jewish law, speak in figures: 'Her tomb was in the rubbish and filth cast

forth of the temple, and _acacia_ wove its branches over her monuments;'

_akakia_ being the Greek word for innocence, or being free from sin;

implying that the sins and corruptions of the old law, and devotees of the

Jewish altar, had hid Religion from those who sought her, and she was only

to be found where _innocence_ survived, and under the banner of the Divine

Lamb, and, as to ourselves, professing that we were to be distinguished by

our _Acacy_, or as true _Acacians_ in our religious faiths and tenets.

"The acquisition of the doctrine of redemption is expressed in the typical

character of _Huramen_ (I have found it.--_Greek_), and by the

applications of that name with Masons, it is implied that we have

discovered the knowledge of God and his salvation, and have been redeemed

from the death of sin and the sepulchre of pollution and unrighteousness.

"Thus the _Master Mason_ represents a man, under the Christian doctrine,

saved from the grave of iniquity and raised to the faith of salvation."

It is in this way that Masonry has, by a sort of inevitable process (when

we look to the religious sentiment of the interpreters), been

Christianized by some of the most illustrious and learned writers on

masonic science--by such able men as Hutchinson and Oliver in England, and

by Harris, by Scott, by Salem Towne, and by several others in this

country.

I do not object to the system when the interpretation is not strained, but

is plausible, consistent, and productive of the same results as in the

instance of Mount Calvary: all that I contend for is, that such

interpretations are modern, and that they do not belong to, although they

may often be deduced from, the ancient system.

But the true ancient interpretation of the legend,--the universal masonic

one,--for all countries and all ages, undoubtedly was, that the fate of

the temple builder is but figurative of the pilgrimage of man on earth,

through trials and temptations, through sin and sorrow, until his eventual

fall beneath the blow of death and his final and glorious resurrection to

another and an eternal life.

XXVIII.

The Sprig of Acacia.

Intimately connected with the legend of the third degree is the mythical

history of the Sprig of Acacia, which we are now to consider.

There is no symbol more interesting to the masonic student than the Sprig

of Acacia, not only on account of its own peculiar import, but also

because it introduces us to an extensive and delightful field of research;

that, namely, which embraces the symbolism of sacred plants. In all the

ancient systems of religion, and Mysteries of initiation, there was always

some one plant consecrated, in the minds of the worshippers and

participants, by a peculiar symbolism, and therefore held in extraordinary

veneration as a sacred emblem. Thus the ivy was used in the Mysteries of

Dionysus, the myrtle in those of Ceres, the erica in the Osirian, and the

lettuce in the Adonisian. But to this subject I shall have occasion to

refer more fully in a subsequent part of the present investigation.

Before entering upon an examination of the symbolism of the _Acacia_, it

will be, perhaps, as well to identify the true plant which occupies so

important a place in the ritual of Freemasonry.

And here, in passing, I may be permitted to say that it is a very great

error to designate the symbolic plant of Masonry by the name of

"Cassia"--an error which undoubtedly arose, originally, from the very

common habit among illiterate people of sinking the sound of the letter

_a_ in the pronunciation of any word of which it constitutes the initial

syllable. Just, for instance, as we constantly hear, in the conversation

of the uneducated, the words _pothecary_ and _prentice_ for _apothecary_

and _apprentice_, shall we also find _cassia_ used for _acacia_.[177]

Unfortunately, however, this corruption of _acacia_ into _cassia_ has not

always been confined to the illiterate: but the long employment of the

corrupted form has at length introduced it, in some instances, among a few

of our writers. Even the venerable Oliver, although well acquainted with

the symbolism of the acacia, and having written most learnedly upon it,

has, at times, allowed himself to use the objectionable corruption,

unwittingly influenced, in all probability, by the too frequent adoption

of the latter word in the English lodges. In America, but few Masons fall

into the error of speaking of the _Cassia_. The proper teaching of the

_Acacia_ is here well understood.[178]

The _cassia_ of the ancients was, in fact, an ignoble plant having no

mystic meaning and no sacred character, and was never elevated to a higher

function than that of being united, as Virgil informs us, with other

odorous herbs in the formation of a garland:--

"...violets pale,

The poppy's flush, and dill which scents the gale,

Cassia, and hyacinth, and daffodil,

With yellow marigold the chaplet fill." [179]

Alston says that the "Cassia lignea of the ancients was the larger

branches of the cinnamon tree, cut off with their bark and sent together

to the druggists; their Cassia fistula, or Syrinx, was the same cinnamon

in the bark only;" but Ruaeus says that it also sometimes denoted the

lavender, and sometimes the rosemary.

In Scripture the cassia is only three times mentioned,[180] twice as the

translation of the Hebrew word _kiddak_, and once as the rendering of

_ketzioth_, but always as referring to an aromatic plant which formed a

constituent portion of some perfume. There is, indeed, strong reason for

believing that the cassia is only another name for a coarser preparation

of cinnamon, and it is also to be remarked that it did not grow in

Palestine, but was imported from the East.

The _acacia_, on the contrary, was esteemed a sacred tree. It is the

_acacia vera_ of Tournefort, and the _mimosa nilotica_ of Linnaeus. It

grew abundantly in the vicinity of Jerusalem,[181] where it is still to be

found, and is familiar to us all, in its modern uses at least, as the tree

from which the gum arabic of commerce is obtained.

The acacia, which, in Scripture, is always called _shittah_[182] and in

the plural _shittim_, was esteemed a sacred wood among the Hebrews. Of it

Moses was ordered to make the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the

table for the showbread, and the rest of the sacred furniture. Isaiah, in

recounting the promises of God's mercy to the Israelites on their return

from the captivity, tells them, that, among other things, he will plant in

the wilderness, for their relief and refreshment, the cedar, the acacia

(or, as it is rendered in our common version, the _shittah_), the fir, and

other trees.

The first thing, then, that we notice in this symbol of the acacia, is,

that it had been always consecrated from among the other trees of the

forest by the sacred purposes to which it was devoted. By the Jew the tree

from whose wood the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the holy ark had been

constructed would ever be viewed as more sacred than ordinary trees. The

early Masons, therefore, very naturally appropriated this hallowed plant

to the equally sacred purpose of a symbol which was to teach an important

divine truth in all ages to come.

Having thus briefly disposed of the natural history of this plant, we may

now proceed to examine it in its symbolic relations.

First. The acacia, in the mythic system of Freemasonry, is preeminently

the symbol of the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL--that important doctrine which

it is the great design of the institution to teach. As the evanescent

nature of the flower which "cometh forth and is cut down" reminds us of

the transitory nature of human life, so the perpetual renovation of the

evergreen plant, which uninterruptedly presents the appearance of youth

and vigor, is aptly compared to that spiritual life in which the soul,

freed from the corruptible companionship of the body, shall enjoy an

eternal spring and an immortal youth. Hence, in the impressive funeral

service of our order, it is said, "This evergreen is an emblem of our

faith in the immortality of the soul. By this we are reminded that we have

an immortal part within us, which shall survive the grave, and which shall

never, never, never die." And again, in the closing sentences of the

monitorial lecture of the Third Degree, the same sentiment is repeated,

and we are told that by "the ever green and ever living sprig" the Mason

is strengthened "with confidence and composure to look forward to a

blessed immortality." Such an interpretation of the symbol is an easy and

a natural one; it suggests itself at once to the least reflective mind,

and consequently, in some one form or another, is to be found existing in

all ages and nations. It was an ancient custom, which is not, even now,

altogether disused, for mourners to carry in their hands at funerals a

sprig of some evergreen, generally the cedar or the cypress, and to

deposit it in the grave of the deceased. According to Dalcho,[183] the

Hebrews always planted a sprig of the acacia at the head of the grave of a

departed friend. Potter tells us that the ancient Greeks "had a custom of

bedecking tombs with herbs and flowers." [184] All sorts of purple and

white flowers were acceptable to the dead, but principally the amaranth

and the myrtle. The very name of the former of these plants, which

signifies "never fading," would seem to indicate the true symbolic meaning

of the usage, although archaeologists have generally supposed it to be

simply an exhibition of love on the part of the survivors. Ragon says,

that the ancients substituted the acacia for all other plants because they

believed it to be incorruptible, and not liable to injury from the attacks

of any kind of insect or other animal--thus symbolizing the incorruptible

nature of the soul.

Hence we see the propriety of placing the sprig of acacia, as an emblem of

immortality, among the symbols of that degree, all of whose ceremonies are

intended to teach us the great truth, that "the life of man, regulated by

morality, faith, and justice, will be rewarded at its closing hour by the

prospect of eternal bliss." [185] So, therefore, says Dr. Oliver, when the

Master Mason exclaims, "My name is Acacia," it is equivalent to saying, "I

have been in the grave,--I have triumphed over it by rising from the

dead,--and being regenerated in the process, I have a claim to life

everlasting."

The sprig of acacia, then, in its most ordinary signification, presents

itself to the Master Mason as a symbol of the immortality of the soul,

being intended to remind him, by its evergreen and unchanging nature, of

that better and spiritual part within us, which, as an emanation from the

Grand Architect of the Universe, can never die. And as this is the most

ordinary, the most generally accepted signification, so also is it the

most important; for thus, as the peculiar symbol of immortality, it

becomes the most appropriate to an order all of whose teachings are

intended to inculcate the great lesson that "life rises out of the grave."

But incidental to this the acacia has two other interpretations, which

are well worthy of investigation.

Secondly, then, the acacia is a symbol of INNOCENCE. The symbolism here is

of a peculiar and unusual character, depending not on any real analogy in

the form or use of the symbol to the idea symbolized, but simply on a

double or compound meaning of the word. For [Greek: akakia], in the Greek

language, signifies both the plant in question and the moral quality of

innocence or purity of life. In this sense the symbol refers, primarily,

to him over whose solitary grave the acacia was planted, and whose

virtuous conduct, whose integrity of life and fidelity to his trusts, have

ever been presented as patterns to the craft, and consequently to all

Master Masons, who, by this interpretation of the symbol, are invited to

emulate his example.

Hutchinson, indulging in his favorite theory of Christianizing Masonry,

when he comes to this signification of the symbol, thus enlarges on the

interpretation: "We Masons, describing the deplorable estate of religion

under the Jewish law, speak in figures: 'Her tomb was in the rubbish and

filth cast forth of the temple, and _Acacia_ wove its branches over her

monument;' _akakia_ being the Greek word for innocence, or being free from

sin; implying that the sins and corruptions of the old law and devotees of

the Jewish altar had hid Religion from those who sought her, and she was

only to be found where _innocence_ survived, and under the banner of the

divine Lamb; and as to ourselves, professing that we were to be

distinguished by our _Acacy_, or as true _Acacians_ in our religious faith

and tenets." [186]

Among the nations of antiquity, it was common thus by peculiar plants to

symbolize the virtues and other qualities of the mind. In many instances

the symbolism has been lost to the moderns, but in others it has been

retained, and is well understood, even at the present day. Thus the olive

was adopted as the symbol of peace, because, says Lee, "its oil is very

useful, in some way or other, in all arts manual which principally

flourish in times of peace." [187]

The quince among the Greeks was the symbol of love and happiness;[188] and

hence, by the laws of Solon, in Athenian marriages, the bride and

bridegroom were required to eat a quince together.

The palm was the symbol of victory;[189] and hence, in the catacombs of

Rome, the burial-place of so many of the early Christians, the palm leaf

is constantly found as an emblem of the Christian's triumph over sin and

death.

The rosemary was a symbol of remembrance, and hence was used both at

marriages and at funerals, the memory of the past being equally

appropriate in both rites.[190]

The parsley was consecrated to grief; and hence all the Greeks decked

their tombs with it; and it was used to crown the conquerors in the Nemean

games, which were of a funereal character.[191]

But it is needless to multiply instances of this symbolism. In adopting

the acacia as a symbol of innocence, Masonry has but extended the

principle of an ancient and universal usage, which thus consecrated

particular plants, by a mystical meaning, to the representation of

particular virtues.

But lastly, the acacia is to be considered as the symbol of INITIATION.

This is by far the most interesting of its interpretations, and was, we

have every reason to believe, the primary and original, the others being

but incidental. It leads us at once to the investigation of that

significant fact to which I have already alluded, that in all the ancient

initiations and religious mysteries there was some plant, peculiar to

each, which was consecrated by its own esoteric meaning, and which

occupied an important position in the celebration of the rites; so that

the plant, whatever it might be, from its constant and prominent use in

the ceremonies of initiation, came at length to be adopted as the symbol

of that initiation.

A reference to some of these _sacred plants_--for such was the character

they assumed--and an investigation of their symbolism will not, perhaps,

be uninteresting or useless, in connection with the subject of the present

article.

In the Mysteries of Adonis, which originated in Phoenicia, and were

afterwards transferred to Greece, the death and resurrection of Adonis was

represented. A part of the legend accompanying these mysteries was, that

when Adonis was slain by a wild boar, Venus laid out the body on a bed of

lettuce. In memorial of this supposed fact, on the first day of the

celebration, when funeral rites were performed, lettuces were carried in

the procession, _newly planted_ in shells of earth. Hence the lettuce

became the sacred plant of the Adonia, or Adonisian Mysteries.

The lotus was the sacred plant of the Brahminical rites of India, and was

considered as the symbol of their elemental trinity,--earth, water, and

air,--because, as an aquatic plant, it derived its nutriment from all of

these elements combined, its roots being planted in the earth, its stem

rising through the water, and its leaves exposed to the air.[192] The

Egyptians, who borrowed a large portion of their religious rites from the

East, adopted the lotus, which was also indigenous to their country, as a

mystical plant, and made it the symbol of their initiation, or the birth

into celestial light. Hence, as Champollion observes, they often on their

monuments represented the god Phre, or the sun, as borne within the

expanded calyx of the lotus. The lotus bears a flower similar to that of

the poppy, while its large, tongue-shaped leaves float upon the surface of

the water. As the Egyptians had remarked that the plant expands when the

sun rises, and closes when it sets, they adopted it as a symbol of the

sun; and as that luminary was the principal object of the popular worship,

the lotus became in all their sacred rites a consecrated and mystical

plant.

The Egyptians also selected the _erica_[193] or heath, as a sacred plant.

The origin of the consecration of this plant presents us with a singular

coincidence, that will be peculiarly interesting to the masonic student.

We are informed that there was a legend in the mysteries of Osiris, which

related, that Isis, when in search of the body of her murdered husband,

discovered it interred at the brow of a hill, near which an erica, or

heath plant, grew; and hence, after the recovery of the body and the

resurrection of the god, when she established the mysteries to

commemorate her loss and her recovery, she adopted the erica, as a sacred

plant,[194] in memory of its having pointed out the spot where the

_mangled remains_ of Osiris were concealed.[195]

The _mistletoe_ was the sacred plant of Druidism. Its consecrated

character was derived from a legend of the Scandinavian mythology, and

which is thus related in the Edda, or sacred books. The god Balder, the

son of Odin, having dreamed that he was in some great danger of life, his

mother, Friga, exacted an oath from all the creatures of the animal, the

vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms, that they would do no harm to her

son. The mistletoe, contemptible from its size and weakness, was alone

neglected, and of it no oath of immunity was demanded. Lok, the evil

genius, or god of Darkness, becoming acquainted with this fact, placed an

arrow made of mistletoe in the hands of Holder, the blind brother of

Balder, on a certain day, when the gods were throwing missiles at him in

sport, and wondering at their inability to do him injury with any arms

with which they could attack him. But, being shot with the mistletoe

arrow, it inflicted a fatal wound, and Balder died.

Ever afterwards the mistletoe was revered as a sacred plant, consecrated

to the powers of darkness; and annually it became an important rite among

the Druids to proceed into the forest in search of the mistletoe, which,

being found, was cut down by the Arch Druid, and its parts, after a solemn

sacrifice, were distributed among the people. Clavel[196] very ingeniously

remarks, that it is evident, in reference to the legend, that as Balder

symbolizes the Sun-god, and Lok, Darkness, this search for the mistletoe

was intended to deprive the god of Darkness of the power of destroying the

god of Light. And the distribution of the fragments of the mistletoe among

their pious worshippers, was to assure them that henceforth a similar

attempt of Lok would prove abortive, and he was thus deprived of the means

of effecting his design.[197]

The _myrtle_ performed the same office of symbolism in the Mysteries of

Greece as the lotus did in Egypt, or the mistletoe among the Druids. The

candidate, in these initiations, was crowned with myrtle, because,

according to the popular theology, the myrtle was sacred to Proserpine,

the goddess of the future life. Every classical scholar will remember the

golden branch with which Aeneas was supplied by the Sibyl, before

proceeding on his journey to the infernal regions[198]--a voyage which

is now universally admitted to be a mythical representation of the

ceremonies of initiation.

In all of these ancient Mysteries, while the sacred plant was a symbol of

initiation, the initiation itself was symbolic of the resurrection to a

future life, and of the immortality of the soul. In this view, Freemasonry

is to us now in the place of the ancient initiations, and the acacia is

substituted for the lotus, the erica, the ivy, the mistletoe, and the

myrtle. The lesson of wisdom is the same; the medium of imparting it is

all that has been changed.

Returning, then, to the acacia, we find that it is capable of three

explanations. It is a symbol of immortality, of innocence, and of

initiation. But these three significations are closely connected, and that

connection must be observed, if we desire to obtain a just interpretation

of the symbol. Thus, in this one symbol, we are taught that in the

initiation of life, of which the initiation in the third-degree is simply

emblematic, innocence must for a time lie in the grave, at length,

however, to be called, by the word of the Grand Master of the Universe, to

a blissful immortality. Combine with this the recollection of the place

where the sprig of acacia was planted, and which I have heretofore shown

to be Mount Calvary, the place of sepulture of Him who "brought life and

immortality to light," and who, in Christian Masonry, is designated, as he

is in Scripture, as "the lion of the tribe of Judah," and remember, too,

that in the mystery of his death, the wood of the cross takes the place of

the acacia, and in this little and apparently insignificant symbol, but

which is really and truly the most important and significant one in

masonic science, we have a beautiful suggestion of all the mysteries of

life and death, of time and eternity, of the present and of the future.

Thus read (and thus all our symbols should be read), Masonry proves

something more to its disciples than a mere social society or a charitable

association. It becomes a "lamp to our feet," whose spiritual light shines

on the darkness of the deathbed, and dissipates the gloomy shadows of the

grave.

XXIX.

The Symbolism of Labor.

It is one of the most beautiful features of the Masonic Institution, that

it teaches not only the necessity, but the nobility, of labor. Among the

earliest of the implements in whose emblematic use it instructs its

neophytes is the Trestle Board, the acknowledged symbol of the Divine Law,

in accordance with whose decree[199] labor was originally instituted as

the common lot of all; and therefore the important lesson that is closely

connected with this symbol is, that to labor well and truly, to labor

honestly and persistently, is the object and the chief end of all

humanity.

To work out well the task that is set before us is our highest duty, and

should constitute our greatest happiness. All men, then, must have their

trestle boards; for the principles that guide us in the discharge of our

duty--the schemes that we devise--the plans that we propose--are but the

trestle board, whose designs we follow, for good or for evil, in our labor

of life.

Earth works with every coming spring, and within its prolific bosom

designs the bursting seed, the tender plant, and the finished tree, upon

its trestle board.

Old ocean works forever--restless and murmuring--but still bravely

working; and storms and tempests, the purifiers of stagnant nature, are

inscribed upon its trestle board.

And God himself, the Grand Architect, the Master Builder of the world, has

labored from eternity; and working by his omnipotent will, he inscribes

his plans upon illimitable space, for the universe is his trestle board.

There was a saying of the monks of old which is well worth meditation.

They taught that "_laborare est orare_"--labor is worship. They did not,

it is true, always practise the wise precept. They did not always make

labor a part of their religion. Like Onuphrius, who lived threescore years

and ten in the desert, without human voice or human sympathy to cheer him,

because he had not learned that man was made for man, those old ascetics

went into the wilderness, and built cells, and occupied themselves in

solitary meditation and profitless thought. They prayed much, but they did

no work. And thus they passed their lives, giving no pity, aid, or

consolation to their fellow-men, adding no mite to the treasury of human

knowledge, and leaving the world, when their selfish pilgrimage was

finished, without a single contribution, in labor of mind or body, to its

welfare.[200]

And men, seeing the uselessness of these ascetic lives, shrink now from

their example, and fall back upon that wiser teaching, that he best does

God's will who best does God's work. The world now knows that heaven is

not served by man's idleness--that the "_dolce far niente_," though it

might suit an Italian lazzaroni, is not fit for a brave Christian man,

and that they who would do rightly, and act well their part, must take

this distich for their motto:--

"With this hand work, and with the other pray,

And God will bless them both from day to day."

Now, this doctrine, that labor is worship, is the very doctrine that has

been advanced and maintained, from time immemorial, as a leading dogma of

the Order of Freemasonry. There is no other human institution under the

sun which has set forth this great principle in such bold relief. We hear

constantly of Freemasonry as an institution that inculcates morality, that

fosters the social feeling, that teaches brotherly love; and all this is

well, because it is true; but we must never forget that from its

foundation-stone to its pinnacle, all over its vast temple, is inscribed,

in symbols of living light, the great truth that _labor is worship_.

It has been supposed that, because we speak of Freemasonry as a

speculative system, it has nothing to do with the practical. But this is a

most grievous error. Freemasonry is, it is true, a speculative science,

but it is a speculative science based upon an operative art. All its

symbols and allegories refer to this connection. Its very language is

borrowed from the art, and it is singularly suggestive that the initiation

of a candidate into its mysteries is called, in its peculiar phraseology,

_work_.

I repeat that this expression is singularly suggestive. When the lodge is

engaged in reading petitions, hearing reports, debating financial matters,

it is said to be occupied in _business_; but when it is engaged in the

form and ceremony of initiation into any of the degrees, it is said to be

at _work_. Initiation is masonic labor. This phraseology at once suggests

the connection of our speculative system with an operative art that

preceded it, and upon which it has been founded. This operative art must

have given it form and features and organization. If the speculative

system had been founded solely on philosophical or ethical principles, if

it had been derived from some ancient or modern sect of

philosophers,--from the Stoics, the Epicureans, or the Platonists of the

heathen world, or from any of the many divisions of the scholastics of the

middle ages,--this origin would most certainly have affected its interior

organization as well as its external form, and we should have seen our

modern masonic reunions assuming the style of academies or schools. Its

technical language--for, like every institution isolated from the ordinary

and general pursuits of mankind, it would have had its own technical

dialect--would have been borrowed from, and would be easily traced to, the

peculiar phraseology of the philosophic sects which had given it birth.

There would have been the _sophists_ and the _philosophers_; the

_grammatists_ and the _grammarians_; the _scholars_, the _masters_, and

the _doctors_. It would have had its _trivial_ and its _quadrivial_

schools; its occupation would have been research, experiment, or

investigation; in a word, its whole features would have been colored by a

grammatical, a rhetorical, or a mathematical cast, accordingly as it

should have been derived from a sect in which any one of these three

characteristics was the predominating influence.

But in the organization of Freemasonry, as it now presents itself to us,

we see an entirely different appearance. Its degrees are expressive, not

of advancement in philosophic attainments, but of progress in a purely

mechanical pursuit. Its highest grade is that of _Master of the Work_. Its

places of meeting are not schools, but _lodges_, places where the workmen

formerly lodged, in the neighborhood of the building on whose construction

they were engaged. It does not form theories, but builds temples. It knows

nothing of the rules of the dialecticians,--of the syllogism, the dilemma,

the enthymeme, or the sorites,--but it recurs to the homely implements of

its operative parent for its methods of instruction, and with the

plumb-line it inculcates rectitude of conduct, and draws lessons of

morality from the workman's square. It sees in the Supreme God that it

worships, not a "_numen divinum_," a divine power, nor a "_moderator rerum

omnium_," a controller of all things, as the old philosophers designated

him, but a _Grand Architect of the Universe_. The masonic idea of God

refers to Him as the Mighty Builder of this terrestrial globe, and all the

countless worlds that surround it. He is not the _ens entium_, or _to

theion_, or any other of the thousand titles with which ancient and modern

speculation has invested him, but simply the Architect,--as the Greeks

have it, the [Greek: a)rcho\s], the chief workman,--under whom we are all

workmen also;[201] and hence our labor is his worship.

This idea, then, of masonic labor, is closely connected with the history

of the organization of the institution. When we say "the lodge is at

work," we recognize that it is in the legitimate practice of that

occupation for which it was originally intended. The Masons that are in it

are not occupied in thinking, or speculating, or reasoning, but simply

and emphatically in working. The duty of a Mason as such, in his lodge, is

to work. Thereby he accomplishes the destiny of his Order. Thereby he best

fulfils his obligation to the Grand Architect, for with the Mason

_laborare est orare_--labor is worship.

The importance of masonic labor being thus demonstrated, the question next

arises as to the nature of that labor. What is the work that a Mason is

called upon to perform?

Temple building was the original occupation of our ancient brethren.

Leaving out of view that system of ethics and of religious philosophy,

that search after truth, those doctrines of the unity of God and the

immortality of the soul, which alike distinguish the ancient Mysteries and

the masonic institution, and which both must have derived from a common

origin,--most probably from some priesthood of the olden time,--let our

attention be exclusively directed, for the present, to that period, so

familiar to every Mason, when, under the supposed Grand Mastership of

King Solomon, Freemasonry first assumed "a local habitation and a name" in

the holy city of Jerusalem. There the labor of the Israelites and the

skill of the Tyrians were occupied in the construction of that noble

temple whose splendor and magnificence of decoration made it one of the

wonders of the world.

Here, then, we see the two united nations directing their attention, with

surprising harmony, to the task of temple building. The Tyrian workmen,

coming immediately from the bosom of the mystical society of Dionysian

artificers, whose sole employment was the erection of sacred edifices

throughout all Asia Minor, indoctrinated the Jews with a part of their

architectural skill, and bestowed upon them also a knowledge of those

sacred Mysteries which they had practised at Tyre, and from which the

present interior form of Freemasonry is said to be derived.

Now, if there be any so incredulous as to refuse their assent to the

universally received masonic tradition on this subject, if there be any

who would deny all connection of King Solomon with the origin of

Freemasonry, except it be in a mythical or symbolical sense, such

incredulity will, not at all affect the chain of argument which I am

disposed to use. For it will not be denied that the corporations of

builders in the middle ages, those men who were known as "Travelling

Freemasons," were substantial and corporeal, and that the cathedrals,

abbeys, and palaces, whose ruins are still objects of admiration to all

observers, bear conclusive testimony that their existence was nothing like

a myth, and that their labors were not apocryphal. But these Travelling

Freemasons, whether led into the error, if error it be, by a mistaken

reading of history, or by a superstitious reverence for tradition, always

esteemed King Solomon as the founder of their Order. So that the first

absolutely historical details that we have of the masonic institution,

connect it with the idea of a temple. And it is only for this idea that I

contend, for it proves that the first Freemasons of whom we have authentic

record, whether they were at Jerusalem or in Europe, and whether they

flourished a thousand years before or a thousand years after the birth of

Christ, always supposed that temple building was the peculiar specialty of

their craft, and that their labor was to be the erection of temples in

ancient times, and cathedrals and churches in the Christian age.

So that we come back at last to the proposition with which I had

commenced, namely: that temple building was the original occupation of our

ancient brethren. And to this is added the fact, that after a long lapse

of centuries, a body of men is found in the middle ages who were

universally recognized as Freemasons, and who directed their attention and

their skill to the same pursuit, and were engaged in the construction of

cathedrals, abbeys, and other sacred edifices, these being the Christian

substitute for the heathen or the Jewish temple.

And therefore, when we view the history of the Order as thus developed in

its origin and its design, we are justified in saying that, in all times

past, its members have been recognized as men of labor, and that their

labor has been temple building.

But our ancient brethren wrought in both operative and speculative

Masonry, while we work only in speculative. They worked with the hand; we

work with the brain. They dealt in the material; we in the spiritual.

They used in their labor wood and stones; we use thoughts, and feelings,

and affections. We both devote ourselves to labor, but the object of the

labor and the mode of the labor are different.

The French rituals have given us the key-note to the explanation of what

is masonic labor when they say that "Freemasons erect temples for virtue

and dungeons for vice."

The modern Freemasons, like the Masons of old, are engaged in the

construction of a temple;--but with this difference: that the temple of

the latter was material, that of the former spiritual. When the operative

art was the predominant characteristic of the Order, Masons were engaged

in the construction of material and earthly temples. But when the

operative art ceased, and the speculative science took its place, then the

Freemasons symbolized the labors of their predecessors by engaging in the

construction of a spiritual temple in their hearts, which was to be made

so pure that it might become the dwelling-place of Him who is all purity.

It was to be "a house not made with hands," where the hewn stone was to be

a purified heart.

This symbolism, which represents man as a temple, a house, a sacred

building in which God is to dwell, is not new, nor peculiar to the masonic

science. It was known to the Jewish, and is still recognized by the

Christian, system. The Talmudists had a saying that the threefold

repetition of the words "Temple of Jehovah," in the seventh chapter and

fourth verse of the book of Jeremiah, was intended to allude to the

existence of three temples; and hence in one of their treatises it is

said, "Two temples have been destroyed, but the third will endure

forever," in which it is manifest that they referred to the temple of the

immortal soul in man.

By a similar allusion, which, however, the Jews chose wilfully to

misunderstand, Christ declared, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I

will raise it up." And the beloved disciple, who records the conversation,

does not allow us to doubt of the Saviour's meaning.

"Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and

wilt thou rear it up in three days?

"But he spake of the temple of his body." [202]

In more than one place the apostle Paul has fondly dwelt upon this

metaphor. Thus he tells the Corinthians that they are "God's building,"

and he calls himself the "wise master builder," who was to lay the

foundation in his truthful doctrine, upon which they were to erect the

edifice.[203] And he says to them immediately afterwards, "Know ye not

that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in

you?"

In consequence of these teachings of the apostles, the idea that the body

was a temple has pervaded, from the earliest times to the present day, the

system of Christian or theological symbolism. Indeed, it has sometimes

been carried to an almost too fanciful excess. Thus Samuel Lee, in that

curious and rare old work, "_The Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by

Scripture Light,_" thus dilates on this symbolism of the temple:--

"The _foundation_ of this temple may be laid in humility and contrition of

spirit, wherein the inhabiter of eternity delighteth to dwell; we may

refer the _porch_ to the mouth of a saint, wherein every holy Jacob erects

the _pillars_ of God's praise, calling upon and blessing his name for

received mercies; when songs of deliverance are uttered from the _doors_

of his lips. The _holy place_ is the renewed mind, and the _windows_

therein may denote divine illumination from above, cautioning a saint lest

they be darkened with the smoke of anger, the mist of grief, the dust of

vain-glory, or the filthy mire of worldly cares. The _golden

candlesticks,_ the infused habits of divine knowledge resting within the

soul. The _shew-bread,_ the word of grace exhibited in the promises for

the preservation of a Christian's life and glory. The _golden altar_ of

odors, the breathings, sufferings, and groanings after God, ready to break

forth into Abba, Father. The _veiles_, the righteousness of Christ. The

_holy of holies_ may relate to the conscience purified from dead works and

brought into a heavenly frame." [204] And thus he proceeds, symbolizing

every part and utensil of the temple as alluding to some emotion or

affection of man, but in language too tedious for quotation.

In a similar vein has the celebrated John Bunyan, the author of the

"_Pilgrim's Progress_" proceeded in his "_Temple of Solomon

Spiritualized_" to refer every part of that building to a symbolic

meaning, selecting, however, the church, or congregation of good men,

rather than the individual man, as the object of the symbolism.

In the middle ages the Hermetic philosophers seem to have given the same

interpretation of the temple, and Swedenborg, in his mystical writings,

adopts the idea.

Hitchcock, who has written an admirable little work on Swedenborg

considered as a Hermetic Philosopher, thus alludes to this subject, and

his language, as that of a learned and shrewd investigator, is well worthy

of quotation:--

"With, perhaps, the majority of readers, the Tabernacle of Moses and the

Temple of Solomon were mere buildings; very magnificent indeed, but still

mere buildings for the worship of God. But some are struck with many

portions of the account of their erection, admitting a moral

interpretation; and while the buildings are allowed to stand (or to have

stood once) visible objects, these interpreters are delighted to meet with

indications that Moses and Solomon, in building the temples, were wise in

the knowledge of God and of man; from which point it is not difficult to

pass on to the moral meaning altogether, and to affirm that the building

which was erected without 'the noise of a hammer or axe, or any tool of

iron,' was altogether a moral building--a building of God, not made with

hands: in short, many see in the story of Solomon's temple a symbolical

representation of MAN as the temple of God, with its _holy of holies_

deep-seated in the centre of the human heart." [205]

The French Masons have not been inattentive to this symbolism. Their

already quoted expression that the "Freemasons build temples for virtue

and dungeons for vice," has very clearly a reference to it, and their most

distinguished writers never lose sight of it.

Thus Ragon, one of the most learned of the French historians of

Freemasonry, in his lecture to the Apprentice, says that the founders of

our Order "called themselves Masons, and proclaimed that they were

building a temple to truth and virtue." [206] And subsequently he

addresses the candidate who has received the Master's degree in the

following language:--

"Profit by all that has been revealed to you. Improve your heart and your

mind. Direct your passions to the general good; combat your prejudices;

watch over your thoughts and your actions; love, enlighten, and assist

your brethren; and you will have perfected that _temple_ of which you are

at once the _architect_, the _material_, and the _workman_." [207]

Rebold, another French historian of great erudition, says, "If Freemasonry

has ceased to erect temples, and by the aid of its architectural designs

to elevate all hearts to the Deity, and all eyes and hopes to heaven, it

has not therefore desisted from its work of moral and intellectual

building;" and he thinks that the success of the institution has justified

this change of purpose and the disruption of the speculative from the

operative character of the Order.[208]

Eliphas Levi, who has written abstrusely and mystically on Freemasonry and

its collateral sciences, sees very clearly an allegorical and a real

design in the institution, the former being the rebuilding of the temple

of Solomon, and the latter the improvement of the human race by a

reconstruction of its social and religious elements.[209]

The Masons of Germany have elaborated this idea with all the

exhaustiveness that is peculiar to the German mind, and the masonic

literature of that country abounds in essays, lectures, and treatises, in

which the prominent topic is this building of the Solomonic temple as

referring to the construction of a moral temple.

Thus writes Bro. Rhode, of Berlin:--

"So soon as any one has received the consecration of our Order, we say to

him that we are building a mystical temple;" and he adds that "this temple

which we Masons are building is nothing else than that which will conduce

to the greatest possible happiness of mankind." [210]

And another German brother, Von Wedekind, asserts that "we only labor in

our temple when we make man our predominating object, when we unite

goodness of heart with polished manners, truth with beauty, virtue with

grace." [211]

Again we have Reinhold telling us, in true Teutonic expansiveness of

expression, that "by the mystical Solomonic temple we are to understand

the high ideal or archetype of humanity in the best possible condition of

social improvement, wherein every evil inclination is overcome, every

passion is resolved into the spirit of love, and wherein each for all,

and all for each, kindly strive to work." [212]

And thus the German Masons call this striving for an almost millennial

result _labor in the temple_.

The English Masons, although they have not treated the symbolism of the

Order with the same abstruse investigation that has distinguished those of

Germany and France, still have not been insensible to this idea that the

building of the Solomonic temple is intended to indicate a cultivation of

the human character. Thus Hutchinson, one of the earliest of the symbolic

writers of England, shows a very competent conception--for the age in

which he lived--of the mystical meaning of the temple; and later writers

have improved upon his crude views. It must, however, be acknowledged that

neither Hutchinson nor Oliver, nor any other of the distinguished masonic

writers of England, has dwelt on this peculiar symbolism of a moral temple

with that earnest appreciation of the idea that is to be found in the

works of the French and German Masons. But although the allusions are

rather casual and incidental, yet the symbolic theory is evidently

recognized.[213]

Our own country has produced many students of Masonic symbolism, who have

thoroughly grasped this noble thought, and treated it with eloquence and

erudition.

Fifty years ago Salem Towne wrote thus: "Speculative Masonry, according to

present acceptation, has an ultimate reference to that spiritual building

erected by virtue in the heart, and summarily implies the arrangement and

perfection of those holy and sublime principles by which the soul is

fitted for a meet temple of God in a world of immortality." [214]

Charles Scott has devoted one of the lectures in his "Analogy of Ancient

Craft Masonry to Natural and Revealed Religion" to a thorough

consideration of this subject. The language is too long for quotation, but

the symbol has been well interpreted by him.[215]

Still more recently, Bro. John A. Loclor has treated the topic in an

essay, which I regret has not had a larger circulation. A single and brief

passage may show the spirit of the production, and how completely it

sustains the idea of this symbolism.

"We may disguise it as we will," says Bro. Lodor, "we may evade a scrutiny

of it; but our character, as it is, with its faults and blemishes, its

weaknesses and infirmities, its vices and its stains, together with its

redeeming traits, its better parts, is our speculative temple." And he

goes on to extend the symbolic idea: "Like the exemplar temple on Mount

Moriah, it should be preserved as a hallowed shrine, and guarded with the

same vigilant care. It should be our pearl of price set round with walls

and enclosures, even as was the Jewish temple, and the impure, the

vicious, the guilty, and the profane be banished from even its outer

courts. A faithful sentinel should be placed at every gate, a watchman on

every wall, and the first approach of a cowan and eavesdropper be

promptly met and resisted."

Teachings like this are now so common that every American Mason who has

studied the symbolism of his Order believes, with Carlyle, that "there is

but one temple in the world, and that is the body of man."

This inquiry into the meaning and object of labor, as a masonic symbol,

brings us to these conclusions:--

1. That our ancient brethren worked as long as the operative art

predominated in the institution at material temples, the most prominent of

these being the temple of King Solomon.

2. That when the speculative science took the place of the operative art,

the modern Masons, working no longer at material temples, but holding

still to the sacred thought, the reverential idea, of a holy temple, a

Lord's house to be built, began to labor at living temples, and to make

man, the true house of the Lord, the tabernacle for the indwelling of the

Holy Spirit.

And, 3. Therefore to every Freemason who rightly comprehends his art, this

construction of a living temple is his labor.

"Labor," says Gadicke, the German masonic lexicographer, "is an important

word in Masonry; indeed, we might say the most important. For this, and

this alone, does a man become a Freemason. Every other object is secondary

or incidental. Labor is the accustomed design of every lodge meeting. But

does such meeting always furnish evidence of industry? The labor of an

operative mason will be visible, and he will receive his reward for it,

even though the building he has constructed may, in the next hour, be

overthrown by a tempest. He knows that he has done his labor. And so must

the Freemason labor. His labor must be visible to himself and to his

brethren, or, at least, it must conduce to his own internal satisfaction.

As we build neither a visible Solomonic temple nor an Egyptian pyramid,

our industry must become visible in works that are imperishable, so that

when we vanish from the eyes of mortals it may be said of us that our

labor was well done."

And remembering what the apostle has said, that we are the temple of God,

and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in us, we know that our labor is so to

build that temple that it shall become worthy of its divine Dweller.

And thus, too, at last, we can understand the saying of the old monks that

"labor is worship;" and as Masons we labor in our lodge, labor to make

ourselves a perfect building, without blemish, working hopefully for the

consummation, when the house of our earthly tabernacle shall be finished,

when the LOST WORD of divine truth shall at last be discovered, and when

we shall be found by our own efforts at perfection to have done God

service. For so truly is the meaning of those noble words--LABOR IS

WORSHIP.

XXX.

The Stone of Foundation.[216]

The Stone of Foundation constitutes one of the most important and abstruse

of all the symbols of Freemasonry. It is referred to in numerous legends

and traditions, not only of the Freemasons, but also of the Jewish

Rabbins, the Talmudic writers, and even the Mussulman doctors. Many of

these, it must be confessed, are apparently puerile and absurd; but some

of them, and especially the masonic ones, are deeply interesting in their

allegorical signification.

The Stone of Foundation is, properly speaking, a symbol of the higher

degrees. It makes its first appearance in the Royal Arch, and forms,

indeed, the most important symbol of that degree. But it is so intimately

connected, in its legendary history, with the construction of the

Solomonic temple, that it must be considered as a part of Ancient Craft

Masonry, although he who confines the range of his investigations to the

first three degrees, will have no means, within that narrow limit, of

properly appreciating the symbolism of the Stone of Foundation.

As preliminary to the inquiry which is about to be instituted, it is

necessary to distinguish the Stone of Foundation, both in its symbolism

and in its legendary history, from other stones which play an important

part in the masonic ritual, but which are entirely distinct from it. Such

are the _corner-stone_, which was always placed in the north-east corner

of the building about to be erected, and to which such a beautiful

reference is made in the ceremonies of the first degree; or the

_keystone_, which constitutes an interesting part of the Mark Master's

degree; or, lastly, the _cape-stone_, upon which all the ritual of the

Most Excellent Master's degree is founded. These are all, in their proper

places, highly interesting and instructive symbols, but have no connection

whatever with the Stone of Foundation or its symbolism. Nor, although the

Stone of Foundation is said, for peculiar reasons, to have been of a

cubical form, must it be confounded with that stone called by the

continental Masons the _cubical stone_--the _pierre cubique_ of the

French, and the _cubik stein_ of the German Masons, but which in the

English system is known as the _perfect ashlar_.

The Stone of Foundation has a legendary history and a symbolic

signification which are peculiar to itself, and which differ from the

history and meaning which belong to these other stones.

Let us first define this masonic Stone of Foundation, then collate the

legends which refer to it, and afterwards investigate its significance as

a symbol. To the Mason who takes a pleasure in the study of the mysteries

of his institution, the investigation cannot fail to be interesting, if it

is conducted with any ability.

But in the very beginning, as a necessary preliminary to any investigation

of this kind, it must be distinctly understood that all that is said of

this Stone of Foundation in Masonry is to be strictly taken in a mythical

or allegorical sense. Dr. Oliver, the most learned of our masonic writers,

while undoubtedly himself knowing that it was simply a symbol, has written

loosely of it, as though it were a substantial reality; and hence, if the

passages in his "Historical Landmarks," and in his other works which refer

to this celebrated stone are accepted by his readers in a literal sense,

they will present absurdities and puerilities which would not occur if the

Stone of Foundation was received, as it really is, as a philosophical

myth, conveying a most profound and beautiful symbolism. Read in this

spirit, as all the legends of Masonry should be read, the mythical story

of the Stone of Foundation becomes one of the most important and

interesting of all the masonic symbols.

The Stone of Foundation is supposed, by the theory which establishes it,

to have been a stone placed at one time within the foundations of the

temple of Solomon, and afterwards, during the building of the second

temple, transported to the Holy of Holies. It was in form a perfect cube,

and had inscribed upon its upper face, within a delta or triangle, the

sacred tetragrammaton, or ineffable name of God. Oliver, speaking with the

solemnity of an historian, says that Solomon thought that he had rendered

the house of God worthy, so far as human adornment could effect, for the

dwelling of God, "when he had placed the celebrated Stone of Foundation,

on which the sacred name was mystically engraven, with solemn ceremonies,

in that sacred depository on Mount Moriah, along with the foundations of

Dan and Asher, the centre of the Most Holy Place, where the ark was

overshadowed by the shekinah of God." [217] The Hebrew Talmudists, who

thought as much of this stone, and had as many legends concerning it as

the masonic Talmudists, called it _eben shatijah_[218] or "Stone of

Foundation," because, as they said, it had been laid by Jehovah as the

foundation of the world; and hence the apocryphal book of Enoch speaks of

the "stone which supports the corners of the earth."

This idea of a foundation stone of the world was most probably derived

from that magnificent passage of the book of Job, in which the Almighty

demands of the afflicted patriarch,--

"Where wast thou, when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Declare, since thou hast such knowledge!

Who fixed its dimensions, since thou knowest?

Or who stretched out the line upon it?

Upon what were its foundations fixed?

And who laid its corner-stone,

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?" [219]

Noyes, whose beautiful translation I have adopted as not materially

differing from the common version, but which is far more poetical and more

in the strain of the original, thus explains the allusions to the

foundation-stone: "It was the custom to celebrate the laying of the

corner-stone of an important building with music, songs, shouting, &c.

Hence the morning stars are represented as celebrating the laying of the

corner-stone of the earth." [220]

Upon this meagre statement have been accumulated more traditions than

appertain to any other masonic symbol. The Rabbins, as has already been

intimated, divide the glory of these apocryphal histories with the Masons;

indeed, there is good reason for a suspicion that nearly all the masonic

legends owe their first existence to the imaginative genius of the writers

of the Jewish Talmud. But there is this difference between the Hebrew and

the masonic traditions, that the Talmudic scholar recited them as truthful

histories, and swallowed, in one gulp of faith, all their impossibilities

and anachronisms, while the masonic student has received them as

allegories, whose value is not in the facts, but in the sentiments which

they convey.

With this understanding of their meaning, let us proceed to a collation of

these legends.

In that blasphemous work, the "_Toldoth Jeshu_" or _Life of Jesus_,

written, it is supposed, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, we find

the following account of this wonderful stone:--

"At that time [the time of Jesus] there was in the House of the Sanctuary

[that is, the temple] a Stone of Foundation, which is the very stone that

our father Jacob anointed with oil, as it is described in the

twenty-eighth chapter of the book of Genesis. On that stone the letters of

the tetragrammaton were inscribed, and whosoever of the Israelites should

learn that name would be able to master the world. To prevent, therefore,

any one from learning these letters, two iron dogs were placed upon two

columns in front of the Sanctuary. If any person, having acquired the

knowledge of these letters, desired to depart from the Sanctuary, the

barking of the dogs, by magical power, inspired so much fear, that he

suddenly forgot what he had acquired."

This passage is cited by the learned Buxtorf, in his "_Lexicon

Talmudicum_;" [221] but in the copy of the "_Toldoth Jeshu_" which I have

the good fortune to possess (for it is among the rarest of books), I find

another passage which gives some additional particulars, in the following

words:--

"At that time there was in the temple the ineffable name of God, inscribed

upon the Stone of Foundation. For when King David was digging the

foundation for the temple, he found in the depths of the excavation a

certain stone, on which the name of God was inscribed. This stone he

removed, and deposited it in the Holy of Holies." [222]

The same puerile story of the barking dogs is repeated, still more at

length. It is not pertinent to the present inquiry, but it may be stated

as a mere matter of curious information, that this scandalous book, which

is throughout a blasphemous defamation of our Saviour, proceeds to say,

that he cunningly obtained a knowledge of the tetragrammaton from the

Stone of Foundation, and by its mystical influence was enabled to perform

his miracles.

The masonic legends of the Stone of Foundation, based on these and other

rabbinical reveries, are of the most extraordinary character, if they are

to be viewed as histories, but readily reconcilable with sound sense, if

looked at only in the light of allegories. They present an uninterrupted

succession of events, in which the Stone of Foundation takes a prominent

part, from Adam to Solomon, and from Solomon to Zerubbabel.

Thus the first of these legends, in order of time, relates that the Stone

of Foundation was possessed by Adam while in the garden of Eden; that he

used it as an altar, and so reverenced it, that, on his expulsion from

Paradise, he carried it with him into the world in which he and his

descendants were afterwards to earn their bread by the sweat of their

brow.

Another legend informs us that from Adam the Stone of Foundation descended

to Seth. From Seth it passed by regular succession to Noah, who took it

with him into the ark, and after the subsidence of the deluge, made on it

his first thank-offering. Noah left it on Mount Ararat, where it was

subsequently found by Abraham, who removed it, and consequently used it as

an altar of sacrifice. His grandson Jacob took it with him when he fled to

his uncle Laban in Mesopotamia, and used it as a pillow when, in the

vicinity of Luz, he had his celebrated vision.

Here there is a sudden interruption in the legendary history of the

stane, and we have no means of conjecturing how it passed from the

possession of Jacob into that of Solomon. Moses, it is true, is said to

have taken it with him out of Egypt at the time of the exodus, and thus it

may have finally reached Jerusalem. Dr. Adam Clarke[223] repeats what he

very properly calls "a foolish tradition," that the stone on which Jacob

rested his head was afterwards brought to Jerusalem, thence carried after

a long lapse of time to Spain, from Spain to Ireland, and from Ireland to

Scotland, where it was used as a seat on which the kings of Scotland sat

to be crowned. Edward I., we know, brought a stone, to which this legend

is attached, from Scotland to Westminster Abbey, where, under the name of

Jacob's Pillow, it still remains, and is always placed under the chair

upon which the British sovereign sits to be crowned, because there is an

old distich which declares that wherever this stone is found the Scottish

kings shall reign.[224]

But this Scottish tradition would take the Stone of Foundation away from

all its masonic connections, and therefore it is rejected as a masonic

legend.

The legends just related are in many respects contradictory and

unsatisfactory, and another series, equally as old, are now very generally

adopted by masonic scholars, as much better suited to the symbolism by

which all these legends are explained.

This series of legends commences with the patriarch Enoch, who is supposed

to have been the first consecrator of the Stone of Foundation. The legend

of Enoch is so interesting and important in masonic science as to excuse

something more than a brief reference to the incidents which it details.

The legend in full is as follows: Enoch, under the inspiration of the Most

High, and in obedience to the instructions which he had received in a

vision, built a temple under ground on Mount Moriah, and dedicated it to

God. His son, Methuselah, constructed the building, although he was not

acquainted with his father's motives for the erection. This temple

consisted of nine vaults, situated perpendicularly beneath each other, and

communicating by apertures left in each vault.

Enoch then caused a triangular plate of gold to be made, each side of

which was a cubit long; he enriched it with the most precious stones, and

encrusted the plate upon a stone of agate of the same form. On the plate

he engraved the true name of God, or the tetragrammaton, and placing it

on a cubical stone, known thereafter as the Stone of Foundation, he

deposited the whole within the lowest arch.

When this subterranean building was completed, he made a door of stone,

and attaching to it a ring of iron, by which it might be occasionally

raised, he placed it over the opening of the uppermost arch, and so

covered it that the aperture could not be discovered. Enoch himself was

not permitted to enter it but once a year, and after the days of Enoch,

Methuselah, and Lamech, and the destruction of the world by the deluge,

all knowledge of the vault or subterranean temple, and of the Stone of

Foundation, with the sacred and ineffable name inscribed upon it, was lost

for ages to the world.

At the building of the first temple of Jerusalem, the Stone of Foundation

again makes its appearance. Reference has already been made to the Jewish

tradition that David, when digging the foundations of the temple, found in

the excavation which he was making a certain stone, on which the ineffable

name of God was inscribed, and which stone he is said to have removed and

deposited in the Holy of Holies. That King David laid the foundations of

the temple upon which the superstructure was subsequently erected by

Solomon, is a favorite theory of the legend-mongers of the Talmud.

The masonic tradition is substantiallv the same as the Jewish, but it

substitutes Solomon for David, thereby giving a greater air of probability

to the narrative; and it supposes that the stone thus discovered by

Solomon was the identical one that had been deposited in his secret vault

by Enoch. This Stone of Foundation, the tradition states, was subsequently

removed by King Solomon, and, for wise purposes, deposited in a secret and

safer place.

In this the masonic tradition again agrees with the Jewish, for we find in

the third chapter of the "_Treatise on the Temple_" written by the

celebrated Maimonides, the following narrative--

"There was a stone in the Holy of Holies, on its west side, on which was

placed the ark of the covenant, and before it the pot of manna and Aaron's

rod. But when Solomon had built the temple, and foresaw that it was, at

some future time, to be destroyed, he constructed a deep and winding vault

under ground, for the purpose of concealing the ark, wherein Josiah

afterwards, as we learn in the Second Book of Chronicles, xxxv. 3,

deposited it, with the pot of manna, the rod of Aaron, and the oil of

anointing."

The Talmudical book "_Yoma_" gives the same tradition, and says that "the

ark of the covenant was placed in the centre of the Holy of Holies, upon a

stone rising three fingers' breadth above the floor, to be, as it were, a

pedestal for it." "This stone," says Prideaux,[225] "the Rabbins call the

Stone of Foundation, and give us a great deal of trash about it."

There is much controversy as to the question of the existence of any ark

in the second temple. Some of the Jewish writers assert that a new one was

made; others, that the old one was found where it had been concealed by

Solomon; and others again contend that there was no ark at all in the

temple of Zerubbabel, but that its place was supplied by the Stone of

Foundation on which it had originally rested.

Royal Arch Masons well know how all these traditions are sought to be

reconciled by the masonic legend, in which the substitute ark and the

Stone of Foundation play so important a part.

In the thirteenth degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the Stone of

Foundation is conspicuous as the resting-place of the sacred delta.

In the Royal Arch and Select Master's degrees of the Americanized York

Rite, the Stone of Foundation constitutes the most important part of the

ritual. In both of these it is the receptacle of the ark, on which the

ineffable name is inscribed.

Lee, in his "_Temple of Solomon_", has devoted a chapter to this Stone of

Foundation, and thus recapitulates the Talmudic and Rabbinical traditions

on the subject:--

"Vain and futilous are the feverish dreams of the ancient Rabbins

concerning the Foundation Stone of the temple. Some assert that God placed

this stone in the centre of the world, for a future basis and settled

consistency for the earth to rest upon. Others held this stone to be the

first matter, out of which all the beautiful visible beings of the world

have been hewn forth and produced to light. Others relate that this was

the very same stone laid by Jacob for a pillow under his head, in that

night when he dreamed of an angelic vision at Bethel, and afterwards

anointed and consecrated it to God. Which when Solomon had found (no doubt

by forged revelation, or some tedious search, like another Rabbi Selemoh),

he durst not but lay it sure, as the principal foundation stone of the

temple. Nay, they say further, he caused to be engraved upon it the

tetragrammaton, or the ineffable name of Jehovah." [226]

It will be seen that the masonic traditions on the subject of the Stone of

Foundation do not differ very materially from these Rabbinical ones,

although they give a few additional circumstances.

In the masonic legend, the Foundation Stone first makes its appearance, as

I have already said, in the days of Enoch, who placed it in the bowels of

Mount Moriah. There it was subsequently discovered by King Solomon, who

deposited it in a crypt of the first temple, where it remained concealed

until the foundations of the second temple were laid, when it was

discovered and removed to the Holy of Holies. But the most important point

of the legend of the Stone of Foundation is its intimate and constant

connection with the tetragrammaton, or ineffable name. It is this name,

inscribed upon it, within the sacred and symbolic delta, that gives to the

stone all its masonic value and significance. It is upon this fact, that

it was so inscribed, that its whole symbolism depends.

Looking at these traditions in anything like the light of historical

narratives, we are compelled to consider them, to use the plain language

of Lee, "but as so many idle and absurd conceits." We must go behind the

legend, viewing it only as an allegory, and study its symbolism.

The symbolism of the Foundation Stone of Masonry is therefore the next

subject of investigation.

In approaching this, the most abstruse, and one of the most important,

symbols of the Order, we are at once impressed with its apparent

connection with the ancient doctrine of stone worship. Some brief

consideration of this species of religious culture is therefore necessary

for a proper understanding of the real symbolism of the Stone of

Foundation.

The worship of stones is a kind of fetichism, which in the very infancy

of religion prevailed, perhaps, more extensively than any other form of

religious culture. Lord Kames explains the fact by supposing that stones

erected as monuments of the dead became the place where posterity paid

their veneration to the memory of the deceased, and that at length the

people, losing sight of the emblematical signification, which was not

readily understood, these monumental stones became objects of worship.

Others have sought to find the origin of stone-worship in the stone that

was set up and anointed by Jacob at Bethel, and the tradition of which had

extended into the heathen nations and become corrupted. It is certain that

the Phoenicians worshipped sacred stones under the name of _Baetylia_,

which word is evidently derived from the Hebrew _Bethel_; and this

undoubtedly gives some appearance of plausibility to the theory.

But a third theory supposes that the worship of stones was derived from

the unskilfulness of the primitive sculptors, who, unable to frame, by

their meagre principles of plastic art, a true image of the God whom they

adored, were content to substitute in its place a rude or scarcely

polished stone. Hence the Greeks, according to Pausanias, originally used

unhewn stones to represent their deities, thirty of which that historian

says he saw in the city of Pharas. These stones were of a cubical form,

and as the greater number of them were dedicated to the god Hermes, or

Mercury, they received the generic name of _Hermaa_. Subsequently, with

the improvement of the plastic art, the head was added.[227]

One of these consecrated stones was placed before the door of almost every

house in Athens. They were also placed in front of the temples, in the

gymnasia or schools, in libraries, and at the corners of streets, and in

the roads. When dedicated to the god Terminus they were used as landmarks,

and placed as such upon the concurrent lines of neighboring possessions.

The Thebans worshipped Bacchus under the form of a rude, square stone.

Arnobius[228] says that Cybele was represented by a small stone of a

black color. Eusebius cites Porphyry as saying that the ancients

represented the deity by a black stone, because his nature is obscure and

inscrutable. The reader will here be reminded of the black stone _Hadsjar

el Aswad_, placed in the south-west corner of the Kaaba at Mecca, which

was worshipped by the ancient Arabians, and is still treated with

religious veneration by the modern Mohammedans. The Mussulman priests,

however, say that it was originally white, and of such surprising splendor

that it could be seen at the distance of four days' journey, but that it

has been blackened by the tears of pilgrims.

The Druids, it is well known, had no other images of their gods but

cubical, or sometimes columnar, stones, of which Toland gives several

instances.

The Chaldeans had a sacred stone, which they held in great veneration,

under the name of _Mnizuris_, and to which they sacrificed for the purpose

of evoking the Good Demon.

Stone-worship existed among the early American races. Squier quotes

Skinner as asserting that the Peruvians used to set up rough stones in

their fields and plantations, which were worshipped as protectors of their

crops. And Gam a says that in Mexico the presiding god of the spring was

often represented without a human body, and in place thereof a pilaster or

square column, whose pedestal was covered with various sculptures.

Indeed, so universal was this stone-worship, that Higgins, in his

"_Celtic Druids_," says that, "throughout the world the first object of

idolatry seems to have been a plain, unwrought stone, placed in the

ground, as an emblem of the generative or procreative powers of nature."

And the learned Bryant, in his "_Analysis of Ancient Mythology_," asserts

that "there is in every oracular temple some legend about a stone."

Without further citations of examples from the religious usages of other

countries, it will, I think, be conceded that the cubical stone formed an

important part of the religious worship of primitive nations. But

Cudworth, Bryant, Faber, and all other distinguished writers who have

treated the subject, have long since established the theory that the pagan

religions were eminently symbolic. Thus, to use the language of Dudley,

the pillar or stone "was adopted as a symbol of strength and firmness,--a

symbol, also, of the divine power, and, by a ready inference, a symbol or

idol of the Deity himself." [229] And this symbolism is confirmed by

Cornutus, who says that the god Hermes was represented without hands or

feet, being a cubical stone, because the cubical figure betokened his

solidity and stability.[230]

Thus, then, the following facts have been established, but not precisely

in this order: First, that there was a very general prevalence among the

earliest nations of antiquity of the worship of stones as the

representatives of Deity; secondly, that in almost every ancient temple

there was a legend of a sacred or mystical stone; thirdly, that this

legend is found in the masonic system; and lastly, that the mystical stone

there has received the name of the "Stone of Foundation."

Now, as in all the other systems the stone is admitted to be symbolic,

and the tradition connected with it mystical, we are compelled to assume

the same predicates of the masonic stone. It, too, is symbolic, and its

legend a myth or an allegory.

Of the fable, myth, or allegory, Bailly has said that, "subordinate to

history and philosophy, it only deceives that it may the better instruct

us. Faithful in preserving the realities which are confided to it, it

covers with its seductive envelope the lessons of the one and the truths

of the other." [231] It is from this stand-point that we are to view the

allegory of the Stone of Foundation, as developed in one of the most

interesting and important symbols of Masonry.

The fact that the mystical stone in all the ancient religions was a symbol

of the Deity, leads us necessarily to the conclusion that the Stone of

Foundation was also a symbol of Deity. And this symbolic idea is

strengthened by the tetragrammaton, or sacred name of God, that was

inscribed upon it. This ineffable name sanctifies the stone upon which it

is engraved as the symbol of the Grand Architect. It takes from it its

heathen signification as an idol, and consecrates it to the worship of the

true God.

The predominant idea of the Deity, in the masonic system, connects him

with his creative and formative power. God is, to the Freemason, _Al

Gabil,_ as the Arabians called him, that is, _The Builder_; or, as

expressed in his masonic title, the _Grand Architect of the Universe_, by

common consent abbreviated in the formula G.A.O.T.U. Now, it is evident

that no symbol could so appropriately suit him in this character as the

Stone of Foundation, upon which he is allegorically supposed to have

erected his world. Such a symbol closely connects the creative work of

God, as a pattern and exemplar, with the workman's erection of his

temporal building on a similar foundation stone.

But this masonic idea is still further to be extended. The great object of

all Masonic labor is _divine truth_. The search for the _lost word_ is the

search for truth. But divine truth is a term synonymous with God. The

ineffable name is a symbol of truth, because God, and God alone, is truth.

It is properly a scriptural idea. The Book of Psalms abounds with this

sentiment. Thus it is said that the truth of the Lord "reacheth unto the

clouds," and that "his truth endureth unto all generations." If, then, God

is truth, and the Stone of Foundation is the masonic symbol of God, it

follows that it must also be the symbol of divine truth.

When we have arrived at this point in our speculations, we are ready to

show how all the myths and legends of the Stone of Foundation may be

rationally explained as parts of that beautiful "science of morality,

veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols," which is the acknowledged

definition of Freemasonry.

In the masonic system there are two temples; the first temple, in which

the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry are concerned, and the second temple,

with which the higher degrees, and especially the Royal Arch, are related.

The first temple is symbolic of the present life; the second temple is

symbolic of the life to come. The first temple, the present life, must be

destroyed; on its foundations the second temple, the life eternal, must be

built.

But the mystical stone was placed by King Solomon in the foundations of

the first temple. That is to say, the first temple of our present life

must be built on the sure foundation of divine truth, "for other

foundation can no man lay."

But although the present life is necessarily built upon the foundation of

truth, yet we never thoroughly attain it in this sublunary sphere. The

Foundation Stone is concealed in the first temple, and the Master Mason

knows it not. He has not the true word. He receives only a substitute.

But in the second temple of the future life, we have passed from the

grave, which had been the end of our labors in the first. We have removed

the rubbish, and have found that Stone of Foundation which had been

hitherto concealed from our eyes. We now throw aside the substitute for

truth which had contented us in the former temple, and the brilliant

effulgence of the tetragrammaton and the Stone of Foundation are

discovered, and thenceforth we are the possessors of the true word--of

divine truth. And in this way, the Stone of Foundation, or divine truth,

concealed in the first temple, but discovered and brought to light in the

second, will explain that passage of the apostle, "For now we see through

a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall

I know even as also I am known."

And so, the result of this inquiry is, that the masonic Stone of

Foundation is a symbol of divine truth, upon which all Speculative Masonry

is built, and the legends and traditions which refer to it are intended to

describe, in an allegorical way, the progress of truth in the soul, the

search for which is a Mason's labor, and the discovery of which is his

reward.

XXXI.

The Lost Word.

The last of the symbols, depending for its existence on its connection

with a myth to which I shall invite attention, is _the Lost Word, and the

search for it_. Very appropriately may this symbol terminate our

investigations, since it includes within its comprehensive scope all the

others, being itself the very essence of the science of masonic symbolism.

The other symbols require for their just appreciation a knowledge of the

origin of the order, because they owe their birth to its relationship with

kindred and anterior institutions. But the symbolism of the Lost Word has

reference exclusively to the design and the objects of the institution.

First, let us define the symbol, and then investigate its interpretation.

The mythical history of Freemasonry informs us that there once existed a

WORD of surpassing value, and claiming a profound veneration; that this

Word was known to but few; that it was at length lost; and that a

temporary substitute for it was adopted. But as the very philosophy of

Masonry teaches us that there can be no death without a resurrection,--no

decay without a subsequent restoration,--on the same principle it follows

that the loss of the Word must suppose its eventual recovery.

Now, this it is, precisely, that constitutes the myth of the Lost Word and

the search for it. No matter what was the word, no matter how it was lost,

nor why a substitute was provided, nor when nor where it was recovered.

These are all points of subsidiary importance, necessary, it is true, for

knowing the legendary history, but not necessary for understanding the

symbolism. The only term of the myth that is to be regarded in the study

of its interpretation, is the abstract idea of a word lost and afterwards

recovered.

This, then, points us to the goal to which we must direct our steps in the

pursuit of the investigation.

But the symbolism, referring in this case, as I have already said, solely

to the great design of Freemasonry, the nature of that design at once

suggests itself as a preliminary subject of inquiry in the investigation.

What, then, is the design of Freemasonry? A very large majority of its

disciples, looking only to its practical results, as seen in the every-day

business of life,--to the noble charities which it dispenses, to the tears

of widows which it has dried, to the cries of orphans which it has hushed,

to the wants of the destitute which it has supplied,--arrive with too much

rapidity at the conclusion that Charity, and that, too, in its least

exalted sense of eleemosynary aid, is the great design of the institution.

Others, with a still more contracted view, remembering the pleasant

reunions at their lodge banquets, the unreserved communications which are

thus encouraged, and the solemn obligations of mutual trust and

confidence that are continually inculcated, believe that it was intended

solely to promote the social sentiments and cement the bonds of

friendship.

But, although the modern lectures inform us that Brotherly Love and Relief

are two of "the principal tenets of a Mason's profession," yet, from the

same authority, we learn that Truth is a third and not less important one;

and Truth, too, not in its old Anglo-Saxon meaning of fidelity to

engagements,[232] but in that more strictly philosophical one in which it

is opposed to intellectual and religious error or falsehood.

But I have shown that the Primitive Freemasonry of the ancients was

instituted for the purpose of preserving that truth which had been

originally communicated to the patriarchs, in all its integrity, and that

the Spurious Masonry, or the Mysteries, originated in the earnest need of

the sages, and philosophers, and priests, to find again the same truth

which had been lost by the surrounding multitudes. I have shown, also,

that this same truth continued to be the object of the Temple Masonry,

which was formed by a union of the Primitive, or Pure, and the Spurious

systems. Lastly, I have endeavored to demonstrate that this truth related

to the nature of God and the human soul.

The search, then, after this truth, I suppose to constitute the end and

design of Speculative Masonry. From the very commencement of his career,

the aspirant is by significant symbols and expressive instructions

directed to the acquisition of this divine truth; and the whole lesson, if

not completed in its full extent, is at least well developed in the myths

and legends of the Master's degree. _God and the soul_--the unity of the

one and the immortality of the other--are the great truths, the search for

which is to constitute the constant occupation of every Mason, and which,

when found, are to become the chief corner-stone, or the stone of

foundation, of the spiritual temple--"the house not made with

hands"--which he is engaged in erecting.

Now, this idea of a search after truth forms so prominent a part of the

whole science of Freemasonry, that I conceive no better or more

comprehensive answer could be given to the question, _What is

Freemasonry?_ than to say that it is a science which is engaged in the

search after divine truth.

But Freemasonry is eminently a system of symbolism, and all its

instructions are conveyed in symbols. It is, therefore, to be supposed

that so prominent and so prevailing an idea as this,--one that

constitutes, as I have said, the whole design of the institution, and

which may appropriately be adopted as the very definition of its

science,--could not with any consistency be left without its particular

symbol.

The WORD, therefore, I conceive to be the symbol of _Divine Truth;_ and

all its modifications--the loss, the substitution, and the recovery--are

but component parts of the mythical symbol which represents a search after

truth.

How, then, is this symbolism preserved? How is the whole history of this

Word to be interpreted, so as to bear, in all its accidents of time, and

place, and circumstance, a patent reference to the substantive idea that

has been symbolized?

The answers to these questions embrace what is, perhaps, the most

intricate as well as most ingenious and interesting portion of the science

of masonic symbolism.

This symbolism may be interpreted, either in an application to a general

or to a special sense.

The general application will embrace the whole history of Freemasonry,

from its inception to its consummation. The search after the Word is an

epitome of the intellectual and religious progress of the order, from the

period when, by the dispersion at Babel, the multitudes were enshrouded in

the profundity of a moral darkness where truth was apparently forever

extinguished. The true name of God was lost; his true nature was not

understood; the divine lessons imparted by our father Noah were no longer

remembered; the ancient traditions were now corrupted; the ancient symbols

were perverted. Truth was buried beneath the rubbish of Sabaism, and the

idolatrous adoration of the sun and stars had taken the place of the olden

worship of the true God. A moral darkness was now spread over the face of

the earth, as a dense, impenetrable cloud, which obstructed the rays of

the spiritual sun, and covered the people as with a gloomy pall of

intellectual night.

But this night was not to last forever. A brighter dawn was to arise, and

amidst all this gloom and darkness there were still to be found a few

sages in whom the religious sentiment, working in them with powerful

throes, sent forth manfully to seek after truth. There were, even in those

days of intellectual and religious darkness, craftsmen who were willing to

search for the _Lost Word_. And though they were unable to find it, their

approximation to truth was so near that the result of their search may

well be symbolized by the _Substitute Word_.

It was among the idolatrous multitudes that the _Word_ had been lost. It

was among them that the Builder had been smitten, and that the works of

the spiritual temple had been suspended; and so, losing at each successive

stage of their decline, more and more of the true knowledge of God and of

the pure religion which had originally been imparted by Noah, they finally

arrived at gross materialism and idolatry, losing all sight of the divine

existence. Thus it was that the truth--the Word--was said to have been

lost; or, to apply the language of Hutchinson, modified in its reference

to the time, "in this situation, it might well be said that the guide to

heaven was lost, and the master of the works of righteousness was smitten.

The nations had given themselves up to the grossest idolatry, and the

service of the true God was effaced from the memory of those who had

yielded themselves to the dominion of sin."

And now it was among the philosophers and priests in the ancient

Mysteries, or the spurious Freemasonry, that an anxiety to discover the

truth led to the search for the Lost Word. These were the craftsmen who

saw the fatal-blow which had been given, who knew that the Word was now

lost, but were willing to go forth, manfully and patiently, to seek its

restoration. And there were the craftsmen who, failing to rescue it from

the grave of oblivion into which it had fallen, by any efforts of their

own incomplete knowledge, fell back upon the dim traditions which had

been handed down from primeval times, and through their aid found a

substitute for truth in their own philosophical religions.

And hence Schmidtz, speaking of these Mysteries of the pagan world, calls

them the remains of the ancient Pelasgian religion, and says that "the

associations of persons for the purpose of celebrating them must therefore

have been formed at the time when the overwhelming influence of the

Hellenic religion began to gain the upper hand in Greece, and when persons

who still entertained a reverence for the worship of former times united

together, with the intention of preserving and upholding among themselves

as much as possible of the religion of their forefathers."

Applying, then, our interpretation in a general sense, the _Word_ itself

being the symbol of _Divine Truth_, the narrative of its loss and the

search for its recovery becomes a mythical symbol of the decay and loss of

the true religion among the ancient nations, at and after the dispersion

on the plains of Shinar, and of the attempts of the wise men, the

philosophers, and priests, to find and retain it in their secret Mysteries

and initiations, which have hence been designated as the Spurious

Freemasonry of Antiquity.

But I have said that there is a special, or individual, as well as a

general interpretation. This compound or double symbolism, if I may so

call it, is by no means unusual in Freemasonry. I have already exhibited

an illustration of it in the symbolism of Solomon's temple, where, in a

general sense, the temple is viewed as a symbol of that spiritual temple

formed by the aggregation of the whole order, and in which each mason is

considered as a stone; and, in an individual or special sense, the same

temple is considered as a type of that spiritual temple which each mason

is directed to erect in his heart.

Now, in this special or individual interpretation, the Word, with its

accompanying myth of a loss, a substitute, and a recovery, becomes a

symbol of the personal progress of a candidate from his first initiation

to the completion of his course, when he receives a full development of

the Mysteries.

The aspirant enters on this search after truth, as an Entered Apprentice,

in darkness, seeking for light--the light of wisdom, the light of truth,

the light symbolized by the Word. For this important task, upon which he

starts forth gropingly, falteringly, doubtingly, in want and in weakness,

he is prepared by a purification of the heart, and is invested with a

first substitute for the true Word, which, like the pillar that went

before the Israelites in the wilderness, is to guide him onwards in his

weary journey. He is directed to take, as a staff and scrip for his

journey, all those virtues which expand the heart and dignify the soul.

Secrecy, obedience, humility, trust in God, purity of conscience, economy

of time, are all inculcated by impressive types and symbols, which connect

the first degree with the period of youth.

And then, next in the degree of Fellow Craft, he fairly enters upon his

journey. Youth has now passed, and manhood has come on. New duties and

increased obligations press upon the individual. The thinking and working

stage of life is here symbolized. Science is to be cultivated; wisdom is

to be acquired; the lost Word--divine truth--is still to be sought for.

But even yet it is not to be found.

And now the Master Mason comes, with all the symbolism around him of old

age--trials, sufferings, death. And here, too, the aspirant, pressing

onward, _always onward_, still cries aloud for "light, more light." The

search is almost over, but the lesson, humiliating to human nature, is to

be taught, that in this life--gloomy and dark, earthly and carnal--pure

truth has no abiding place; and contented with a substitute, and to that

_second temple_ of eternal life, for that true Word, that divine Truth,

which will teach us all that we shall ever learn of God and his emanation,

the human soul.

So, the Master Mason, receiving this substitute for the lost Word, waits

with patience for the time when it shall be found, and perfect wisdom

shall be attained.

But, work as we will, this symbolic Word--this knowledge of divine

Truth--is never thoroughly attained in this life, or in its symbol, the

Master Mason's lodge. The corruptions of mortality, which encumber and

cloud the human intellect, hide it, as with a thick veil, from mortal

eyes. It is only, as I have just said, beyond the tomb, and when released

from the earthly burden of life, that man is capable of fully receiving

and appreciating the revelation. Hence, then, when we speak of the

recovery of the Word, in that higher degree which is a supplement to

Ancient Craft Masonry, we intimate that that sublime portion of the

masonic system is a symbolic representation of the state after death. For

it is only after the decay and fall of this temple of life, which, as

masons, we have been building, that from its ruins, deep beneath its

foundations, and in the profound abyss of the grave, we find that divine

truth, in the search for which life was spent, if not in vain, at least

without success, and the mystic key to which death only could supply.

And now we know by this symbolism what is meant by masonic _labor_, which,

too, is itself but another form of the same symbol. The search for the

Word--to find divine Truth--this, and this only, is a mason's work, and

the WORD is his reward.

Labor, said the old monks, is worship--_laborare est orare_; and thus in

our lodges do we worship, working for the Word, working for the Truth,

ever looking forward, casting no glance behind, but cheerily hoping for

the consummation and the reward of our labor in the knowledge which is

promised to him who plays no laggard's part.

Goethe, himself a mason and a poet, knew and felt all this symbolism of a

mason's life and work, when he wrote that beautiful poem, which Carlyle

has thus thrown into his own rough but impulsive language.

"The mason's ways are

A type of existence,--

And to his persistence

Is as the days are

Of men in this world.

"The future hides in it

Gladness and sorrow;

We press still thorow,

Nought that abides in it

Daunting us--onward.

"And solemn before us

Veiled the dark portal,

Goal of all mortal;

Stars silent rest o'er us

Graves under us silent.

"While earnest thou gazest

Come boding of terror,

Comes phantasm and error,

Perplexing the bravest

With doubt and misgiving.

"But heard are the voices,

Heard are the sages,

The worlds and the ages;

'Choose well; your choice is

Brief and yet endless.

"'Here eyes do regard you,

In eternity's stillness;

Here is all fullness,

Ye, brave to reward you;

Work and despair not.'"

* * * * *

And now, in concluding this work, so inadequate to the importance of the

subjects that have been discussed, one deduction, at least, may be drawn

from all that has been said.

In tracing the progress of Freemasonry, and in detailing its system of

symbolism, it has been found to be so intimately connected with the

history of philosophy, of religion, and of art, in all ages of the world,

that the conviction at once forces itself upon the mind, that no mason can

expect thoroughly to comprehend its nature, or to appreciate its character

as a science, unless he shall devote himself, with some labor and

assiduity, to this study of its system. That skill which consists in

repeating, with fluency and precision, the ordinary lectures, in complying

with all the ceremonial requisitions of the ritual, or the giving, with

sufficient accuracy, the appointed modes of recognition, pertains only to

the very rudiments of the masonic science.

But there is a far nobler series of doctrines with which Freemasonry is

connected, and which it has been my object, in this work, to present in

some imperfect way. It is these which constitute the science and the

philosophy of Freemasonry, and it is these alone which will return the

student who devotes himself to the task, a sevenfold reward for his labor.

Freemasonry, viewed no longer, as too long it has been, as a merely social

institution, has now assumed its original and undoubted position as a

speculative science. While the mere ritual is still carefully preserved,

as the casket should be which contains so bright a jewel; while its

charities are still dispensed as the necessary though incidental result of

all its moral teachings; while its social tendencies are still cultivated

as the tenacious cement which is to unite so fair a fabric in symmetry and

strength, the masonic mind is everywhere beginning to look and ask for

something, which, like the manna in the desert, shall feed us, in our

pilgrimage, with intellectual food. The universal cry, throughout the

masonic world, is for light; our lodges are henceforth to be schools; our

labor is to be study; our wages are to be learning; the types and symbols,

the myths and allegories, of the institution are beginning to be

investigated with reference to their ultimate meaning; our history is now

traced by zealous inquiries as to its connection with antiquity; and

Freemasons now thoroughly understand that often quoted definition, that

"Masonry is a science of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by

symbols."

Thus to learn Masonry is to know our work and to do it well. What true

mason would shrink from the task?

Synoptical Index.

AB. The Hebrew word AB signifies "father," and was among the Hebrews a

title of honor. From it, by the addition of the possessive pronoun, is

compounded the word _Abif_, signifying "his father," and applied to the

Temple Builder.

ABIF. See _Hiram Abif_.

ABNET. The band or apron, made of fine linen, variously wrought, and worn

by the Jewish priesthood. It seems to have been borrowed directly from the

Egyptians, upon the representations of all of whose gods is to be found a

similar girdle. Like the zennaar, or sacred cord of the Brahmins, and the

white shield of the Scandinavians, it is the analogue of the masonic

apron.

ACACIA, SPRIG OF. No symbol is more interesting to the masonic student

than the sprig of acacia.

It is the _mimosa nilotica_ of Linnaeus, the _shittah_ of the Hebrew

writers, and grows abundantly in Palestine.

It is preeminently the symbol of the immortality of the soul.

It was for this reason planted by the Jews at the head of a grave.

This symbolism is derived from its never-fading character as an evergreen.

It is also a symbol of innocence, and this symbolism is derived from the

double meaning of the word [Greek: akakia], which in Greek signifies the

plant, and innocence; in this point of view Hutchinson has Christianized

the symbol.

It is, lastly, a symbol of initiation.

This symbolism is derived from the fact that it is the sacred plant of

Masonry; and in all the ancient rites there were sacred plants, which

became in each rite the respective symbol of initiation into its

Mysteries; hence the idea was borrowed by Freemasonry.

ADONIA. The Mysteries of Adonis, principally celebrated in Phoenicia and

Syria. They lasted for two days, and were commemorative of the death and

restoration of Adonis. The ceremonies of the first day were funereal in

their character, and consisted in the lamentations of the initiates for

the death of Adonis, whose picture or image was carried in procession. The

second day was devoted to mirth and joy for the return of Adonis to life.

In their spirit and their mystical design, these Mysteries bore a very

great resemblance to the third degree of Masonry, and they are quoted to

show the striking analogy between the ancient and the modern initiations.

ADONIS. In mythology, the son of Cinyras and Myrrha, who was greatly

beloved by Venus, or Aphrodite. He was slain by a wild boar, and having

descended into the realm of Pluto, Persephone became enamoured of him.

This led to a contest for him between Venus and Persephone, which was

finally settled by his restoration to life upon the condition that he

should spend six months upon earth, and six months in the inferior

regions. In the mythology of the philosophers, Adonis was a symbol of the

sun; but his death by violence, and his subsequent restoration to life,

make him the analogue of Hiram Abif in the masonic system, and identify

the spirit of the initiation in his Mysteries, which was to teach the

second life with that of the third degree of Freemasonry.

AHRIMAN, or ARIMANES. In the religious system of Zoroaster, the principle

of evil, or darkness, which was perpetually opposing Ormuzd, the principle

of good, or light. See _Zoroaster_.

ALFADER. The father of all, or the universal Father. The principal deity

of the Scandinavian mythology.

The Edda gives twelve names of God, of which Alfader is the first and most

ancient, and is the one most generally used.

ALGABIL. One of the names of the Supreme Being among the Cabalists. It

signifies "the Master Builder," and is equivalent to the masonic epithet

of "Grand Architect of the Universe."

ALLEGORY. A discourse or narrative, in which there is a literal and a

figurative sense, a patent and a concealed meaning; the literal or patent

sense being intended by analogy or comparison to indicate the figurative

or concealed one. Its derivation from the Greek [Greek: a)llos] and

[Greek: a)gorein], _to say something different,_ that is, to say something

where the language is one thing, and the true meaning different, exactly

expresses the character of an allegory. It has been said in the text that

there is no essential difference between an allegory and a symbol. There

is not in design, but there is this in their character: An allegory may be

interpreted without any previous conventional agreement, but a symbol

cannot. Thus the legend of the third degree is an allegory evidently to be

interpreted as teaching a restoration to life; and this we learn from the

legend itself, without any previous understanding. The sprig of acacia is

a symbol of the immortality of the soul. But this we know only because

such meaning had been conventionally determined when the symbol was first

established. It is evident, then, that an allegory which is obscure is

imperfect. The enigmatical meaning should be easy of interpretation; and

hence Lemiere, a French poet, has said, "L'allegorie habite un palais

diaphane"--_Allegory lives in a transparent palace._ All the legends of

Freemasonry are more or less allegorical, and whatever truth there may be

in some of them in an historical point of view, it is only as allegories,

or legendary symbols, that they are important.

ALL-SEEING EYE. A symbol of the third degree, of great antiquity. See

_Eye_.

ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY. The first three degrees of Freemasonry; viz.,

Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. They are so called

because they alone are supposed to have been practised by the ancient

craft. In the agreement between the two grand lodges of England in 1813,

the definition was made to include the Royal Arch degree. Now if by the

"ancient craft" are meant the workmen at the first temple, the definition

will be wrong, because the Royal Arch degree could have had no existence

until the time of the building of the second temple. But if by the

"ancient craft" is meant the body of workmen who introduced the rites of

Masonry into Europe in the early ages of the history of the Order, then

it will be correct; because the Royal Arch degree always, from its origin

until the middle of the eighteenth century, formed a part of the Master's.

"Ancient Craft Masonry," however, in this country, is generally understood

to embrace only the first three degrees.

ANDERSON. James Anderson, D.D., is celebrated as the compiler and editor

of "The Constitutions of the Freemasons," published by order of the Grand

Lodge of England, in 1723. A second edition was published by him in 1738.

Shortly after, Anderson died, and the subsequent editions, of which there

are several, have been edited by other persons. The edition of 1723 has

become exceedingly rare, and copies of it bring fancy prices among the

collectors of old masonic books. Its intrinsic value is derived only from

the fact that it contains the first printed copy of the "Old Charges," and

also the "General Regulations." The history of Masonry which precedes

these, and constitutes the body of the work, is fanciful, unreliable, and

pretentious to a degree that often leads to absurdity. The craft are

greatly indebted to Anderson for his labors in reorganizing the

institution, but doubtless it would have been better if he had contented

himself with giving the records of the Grand Lodge from 1717 to 1738 which

are contained in his second edition, and with preserving for us the

charges and regulations, which without his industry might have been lost.

No masonic writer would now venture to quote Anderson as authority for the

history of the Order anterior to the eighteenth century. It must also be

added that in the republication of the old charges in the edition of 1738,

he made several important alterations and interpolations, which justly

gave some offence to the Grand Lodge, and which render the second edition

of no authority in this respect.

ANIMAL WORSHIP. The worship of animals is a species of idolatry that was

especially practised by the ancient Egyptians. Temples were erected by

this people in their honor, in which they were fed and cared for during

life; to kill one of them was a crime punishable with death; and after

death, they were embalmed, and interred in the catacombs. This worship was

derived first from the earlier adoration of the stars, to certain

constellations of which the names of animals had been given; next, from an

Egyptian tradition that the gods, being pursued by Typhon, had concealed

themselves under the forms of animals; and lastly, from the doctrine of

the metempsychosis, according to which there was a continual circulation

of the souls of men and animals. But behind the open and popular exercise

of this degrading worship the priests concealed a symbolism full of

philosophical conceptions. How this symbolism was corrupted and

misinterpreted by the uninitiated people, is shown by Gliddon, and quoted

in the text.

APHANISM (Greek [Greek: a)phani/zo], _to conceal_). In each of the

initiations of the ancient Mysteries, there was a scenic representation of

the death or disappearance of some god or hero, whose adventures

constituted the legend of the Mystery. That part of the ceremony of

initiation which related to and represented the death or disappearance was

called the _aphanism_.

Freemasonry, which has in its ceremonial form been framed after the model

of these ancient Mysteries, has also its aphanism in the third degree.

APORRHETA (Greek [Greek: apor)r(e/ta]). The holy things in the ancient

Mysteries which were known only to the initiates, and were not to be

disclosed to the profane, were called the _aporrheta_. What are the

aporrheta of Freemasonry? what are the arcana of which there can be no

disclosure? is a question that for some years past has given rise to much

discussion among the disciples of the institution. If the sphere and

number of these aporrheta be very considerably extended, it is evident

that much valuable investigation by public discussion of the science of

Masonry will be prohibited. On the other hand, if the aporrheta are

restricted to only a few points, much of the beauty, the permanency, and

the efficacy of Freemasonry, which are dependent on its organization as a

secret and mystical association, will be lost. We move between Scylla and

Charybdis, and it is difficult for a masonic writer to know how to steer

so as, in avoiding too frank an exposition of the principles of the Order,

not to fall by too much reticence into obscurity. The European Masons are

far more liberal in their views of the obligation of secrecy than the

English or the American. There are few things, indeed, which a French or

German masonic writer will refuse to discuss with the utmost frankness. It

is now beginning to be very generally admitted, and English and American

writers are acting on the admission, that the only real aporrheta of

Freemasonry are the modes of recognition, and the peculiar and distinctive

ceremonies of the Order; and to these last it is claimed that reference

may be publicly made for the purposes of scientific investigation,

provided that the reference be so made as to be obscure to the profane,

and intelligible only to the initiated.

APRON. The lambskin, or white leather apron, is the peculiar and

distinctive badge of a mason.

Its color must be white, and its material a lambskin.

It is a symbol of purity, and it derives this symbolism from its color,

white being symbolic of purity; from its material, the lamb having the

same symbolic character; and from its use, which is to preserve the

garments clean.

The apron, or abnet, worn by the Egyptian and the Hebrew priests, and

which has been considered as the analogue of the masonic apron, is

supposed to have been a symbol of authority; but the use of the apron in

Freemasonry originally as an implement of labor, is an evidence of the

derivation of the speculative science from an operative art.

APULEIUS. Lucius Apuleius, a Latin writer, born at Medaura, in Africa,

flourished in the reigns of the emperors Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius.

His most celebrated book, entitled "Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass," was

written, Bishop Warburton thinks, for the express purpose of recommending

the ancient Mysteries. He had been initiated into many of them, and his

descriptions of them, and especially of his own initiation into those of

the Egyptian Isis, are highly interesting and instructive, and should be

read by every student of the science of masonic symbolism.

ARCHETYPE. The principal type, figure, pattern, or example, whereby and

whereon a thing is formed. In the science of symbolism, the archetype is

the thing adopted as a symbol, whence the symbolic idea is derived. Thus

we say the temple is the archetype of the lodge, because the former is the

symbol whence all the temple symbolism of the latter is derived.

ARCHITECTURE. The art which teaches the proper method of constructing

public and private edifices. It is to Freemasonry the "ars artium," the

art of arts, because to it the institution is indebted for its origin in

its present organization. The architecture of Freemasonry is altogether

related to the construction of public edifices, and principally sacred or

religious ones,--such as temples, cathedrals, churches,--and of these,

masonically, the temple of Solomon is the archetype. Much of the symbolism

of Freemasonry is drawn from the art of architecture. While the

improvements of Greek and Roman architecture are recognized in

Freemasonry, the three ancient orders, the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian

are alone symbolized. No symbolism attaches to the Tuscan and Composite.

ARK OF THE COVENANT. One of the most sacred objects among the Israelites.

It was a chest made of shittim wood, or acacia, richly decorated,

forty-five inches long, and eighteen inches wide, and contained the two

tables of stone on which the ten commandments were engraved, the golden

pot that held manna, and Aaron's rod. It was placed in the holy of holies,

first of the tabernacle, and then of the temple. Such is its masonic and

scriptural history. The idea of this ark was evidently borrowed from the

Egyptians, in whose religious rites a similar chest or coffer is to be

found. Herodotus mentions several instances. Speaking of the festival of

Papremis, he says (ii. 63) that the image of the god was kept in a small

wooden shrine covered with plates of gold, which shrine was conveyed in a

procession of the priests and people from the temple into a second sacred

building. Among the sculptures are to be found bass reliefs of the ark of

Isis. The greatest of the religious ceremonies of the Egyptians was the

procession of the shrines mentioned in the Rosetta stone, and which is

often found depicted on the sculptures. These shrines were of two kinds,

one a canopy, but the other, called the great shrine, was an ark or sacred

boat. It was borne on the shoulders of priests by means of staves passing

through rings in its sides, and was taken into the temple and deposited on

a stand. Some of these arks contained, says Wilkinson (_Notes to Herod._

II. 58, _n._ 9), the elements of life and stability, and others the sacred

beetle of the sun, overshadowed by the wings of two figures of the goddess

Thmei. In all this we see the type of the Jewish ark. The introduction of

the ark into the ceremonies of Freemasonry evidently is in reference to

its loss and recovery; and hence its symbolism is to be interpreted as

connected with the masonic idea of loss and recovery, which always alludes

to a loss of life and a recovery of immortality. In the first temple of

this life the ark is lost; in the second temple of the future life it is

recovered. And thus the ark of the covenant is one of the many masonic

symbols of the resurrection.

ARTS AND SCIENCES, LIBERAL. In the seventh century, and for many centuries

afterwards, all learning was limited to and comprised in what were called

the seven liberal arts and sciences; namely, grammar, rhetoric, logic,

arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The epithet "liberal" is a

fair translation of the Latin "ingenuus," which means "free-born;" thus

Cicero speaks of the "artes ingenuae," or the arts befitting a free-born

man; and Ovid says in the well-known lines,--

"Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes

Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros,"--

_To have studied carefully the liberal arts refines the manners, and

prevents us from being brutish._ And Phillips, in his "New World of Words"

(1706), defines the liberal arts and sciences to be "such as are fit for

gentlemen and scholars, as mechanic trades and handicrafts for meaner

people." As Freemasons are required by their landmarks to be _free-born_,

we see the propriety of incorporating the arts of free-born men among

their symbols. As the system of Masonry derived its present form and

organization from the times when the study of these arts and sciences

constituted the labors of the wisest men, they have very appropriately

been adopted as the symbol of the completion of human learning.

ASHLAR. In builders' language, a stone taken from the quarries.

ASHLAR, PERFECT. A stone that has been hewed, squared, and polished, so as

to be fit for use in the building. Masonically, it is a symbol of the

state of perfection attained by means of education. And as it is the

object of Speculative Masonry to produce this state of perfection, it may

in that point of view be also considered as a symbol of the social

character of the institution of Freemasonry.

ASHLAR, ROUGH. A stone in its rude and natural state. Masonically, it is a

symbol of men's natural state of ignorance. But if the perfect ashlar be,

in reference to its mode of preparation, considered as a symbol of the

social character of Freemasonry, then the rough ashlar must be considered

as a symbol of the profane world. In this species of symbolism, the rough

and perfect ashlars bear the same relation to each other as ignorance does

to knowledge, death to life, and light to darkness. The rough ashlar is

the profane, the perfect ashlar is the initiate.

ASHMOLE, ELIAS. A celebrated antiquary of England, who was born in 1617.

He has written an autobiography, or rather diary of his life, which

extends to within eight years of his death. Under the date of October 16,

1646, he has made the following entry: "I was made a Free-Mason at

Warrington, in Lancashire, with Col. Henry Mainwaring, of Carticham, in

Cheshire; the names of those that were then at the lodge: Mr. Richard

Penket, warden; Mr. James Collier, Mr. Richard Sankey, Henry Littler, John

Ellam and Hugh Brewer." Thirty-six years afterwards, under date of March

10, 1682, he makes the following entry: "I received a summons to appear at

a lodge to be held the next day at Masons' Hall, in London. 11.

Accordingly I went, and about noon was admitted into the fellowship of

Freemasons by Sir William Wilson, Knight, Captain Richard Borthwick, Mr.

William Woodman, Mr. William Grey, Mr. Samuel Taylour, and Mr. William

Wise. I was the senior fellow among them (it being thirty-five years since

I was admitted); there was present beside myself the fellows after named:

Mr. Thomas Wise, master of the Masons' Company this year; Mr. Thomas

Shorthose, Mr. Thomas Shadbolt, ---- Waidsfford, Esq., Mr. Nicholas Young,

Mr. John Shorthose, Mr. William Hamon, Mr. John Thompson, and Mr. William

Stanton. We all dined at the Half-Moon Tavern, in Cheapside, at a noble

dinner prepared at the charge of the new-accepted Masons." The titles of

some of the persons named in these two receptions confirm what is said in

the text, that the operative was at that time being superseded by the

speculative element. It is deeply to be regretted that Ashmole did not

carry out his projected design of writing a history of Freemasonry, for

which it is said that he had collected abundant materials. His History of

the Order of the Garter shows what we might have expected from his

treatment of the masonic institution.

ASPIRANT. One who aspires to or seeks after the truth. The title given to

the candidate in the ancient Mysteries.

ATHELSTAN. King of England, who ascended the throne in 924. Anderson cites

the old constitutions as saying that he encouraged the Masons, and brought

many over from France and elsewhere. In his reign, and in the year 926,

the celebrated General Assembly of the Craft was held in the city of York,

with prince Edward, the king's brother, for Grand Master, when new

constitutions were framed. From this assembly the York Rite dates its

origin.

AUTOPSY (Greek [Greek: ay)topsi/a], _a seeing with one's own eyes_). The

complete communication of the secrets in the ancient Mysteries, when the

aspirant was admitted into the sacellum, or most sacred place, and was

invested by the Hierophant with all the aporrheta, or sacred things, which

constituted the perfect knowledge of the initiate. A similar ceremony in

Freemasonry is called the Rite of Intrusting.

AUM. The triliteral name of God in the Brahminical mysteries, and

equivalent among the Hindoos to the tetragrammaton of the Jews. In one of

the Puranas, or sacred books of the Hindoos, it is said, "All the rites

ordained in the Vedas, the sacrifices to fire, and all other solemn

purifications, shall pass away; but that which shall never pass away is

the word AUM, for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things."

BABEL. The biblical account of the dispersion of mankind in consequence of

the confusion of tongues at Babel, has been incorporated into the history

of Masonry. The text has shown the probability that the pure and abstract

principles of the Primitive Freemasonry had been preserved by Noah and his

immediate descendants; and also that, as a consequence of the dispersion,

these principles had been lost or greatly corrupted by the Gentiles, who

were removed from the influence and teachings of the great patriarch.

Now there was in the old rituals a formula in the third degree, preserved

in some places to the present day, which teaches that the candidate has

come _from the tower of Babel, where language was confounded and Masonry

lost_, and that he is travelling _to the threshing-floor of Ornan the

Jebusite, where language was restored and Masonry found_. An attentive

perusal of the nineteen propositions set forth in the preliminary chapter

of this work will furnish the reader with a key for the interpretation of

this formula. The principles of the Primitive Freemasonry of the early

priesthood were corrupted or lost at Babel by the defection of a portion

of mankind from Noah, the conservator of those principles. Long after, the

descendants of this people united with those of Noah at the temple of

Solomon, whose site was the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, from

whom it had been bought by David; and here the lost principles were

restored by this union of the Spurious Freemasons of Tyre with the

Primitive Freemasons of Jerusalem. And this explains the latter clause of

the formula.

BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. When the city and temple of Jerusalem were destroyed

by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, and the inhabitants conveyed as captives to

Babylon, we have a right to suppose,--that is to say, if there be any

truth in masonic history, the deduction is legitimate,--that among these

captives were many of the descendants of the workmen at the temple. If so,

then they carried with them into captivity the principles of Masonry which

they had acquired at home, and the city of Babylon became the great seat

of Speculative Masonry for many years. It was during the captivity that

the philosopher Pythagoras, who was travelling as a seeker after

knowledge, visited Babylon. With his ardent thirst for wisdom, he would

naturally hold frequent interviews with the leading Masons among the

Jewish captives. As he suffered himself to be initiated into the Mysteries

of Egypt during his visit to that country, it is not unlikely that he may

have sought a similar initiation into the masonic Mysteries. This would

account for the many analogies and resemblances to Masonry that we find in

the moral teachings, the symbols, and the peculiar organization of the

school of Pythagoras--resemblances so extraordinary as to have justified,

or at least excused, the rituals for calling the sage of Samos "our

ancient brother."

BACCHUS. One of the appellations of the "many-named" god Dionysus. The son

of Jupiter and Semele was to the Greeks Dionysus, to the Romans Bacchus.

BARE FEET. A symbol of reverence when both feet are uncovered. Otherwise

the symbolism is modern; and from the ritualistic explanation which is

given in the first degree, it would seem to require that the single bare

foot should be interpreted as the symbol of a covenant.

BLACK. Pythagoras called this color the symbol of the evil principle in

nature. It was equivalent to darkness, which is the antagonist of light.

But in masonic symbolism the interpretation is different. There, black is

a symbol of grief, and always refers to the fate of the temple-builder.

BRAHMA. In the mythology of the Hindoos there is a trimurti, or trinity,

the Supreme Being exhibiting himself in three manifestations; as, Brahma

the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the Destroyer,--the united

godhead being a symbol of the sun.

Brahma was a symbol of the rising sun, Siva of the sun at meridian, and

Vishnu of the setting sun.

BRUCE. The introduction of Freemasonry into Scotland has been attributed

by some writers to King Robert Bruce, who is said to have established in

1314 the Order of Herodom, for the reception of those Knights Templars who

had taken refuge in his dominions from the persecutions of the Pope and

the King of France. Lawrie, who is excellent authority for Scottish

Masonry, does not appear, however, to give any credit to the narrative.

Whatever Bruce may have done for the higher degrees, there is no doubt

that Ancient Craft Masonry was introduced into Scotland at an earlier

period. See _Kilwinning_. Yet the text is right in making Bruce one of the

patrons and encouragers of Scottish Freemasonry.

BRYANT. Jacob Bryant, frequently quoted in this work, was a distinguished

English antiquary, born in the year 1715, and deceased in 1804. His most

celebrated work is "A New System of Ancient Mythology," which appeared in

1773-76. Although objectionable on account of its too conjectural

character, it contains a fund of details on the subject of symbolism, and

may be consulted with advantage by the masonic student.

BUILDER. The chief architect of the temple of Solomon is often called "the

Builder." But the word is also applied generally to the craft; for every

Speculative Mason is as much a builder as was his operative predecessor.

An American writer (F.S. Wood, of Arkansas) thus alludes to this symbolic

idea. "Masons are called moral builders. In their rituals, they declare

that a more noble and glorious purpose than squaring stones and hewing

timbers is theirs, fitting immortal nature for that spiritual building not

made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And he adds, "The builder builds

for a century; masons for eternity." In this sense, "the builder" is the

noblest title that can be bestowed upon a mason.

BUNYAN, JOHN. Familiar to every one as the author of the "Pilgrim's

Progress." He lived in the seventeenth century, and was the most

celebrated allegorical writer of England. His work entitled "Solomon's

Temple Spiritualized" will supply the student of masonic symbolism with

many valuable suggestions.

CABALA. The mystical philosophy of the Jews. The word which is derived

from a Hebrew root, signifying _to receive_, has sometimes been used in an

enlarged sense, as comprehending all the explanations, maxims, and

ceremonies which have been traditionally handed down to the Jews; but in

that more limited acceptation, in which it is intimately connected with

the symbolic science of Freemasonry, the cabala may be defined to be a

system of philosophy which embraces certain mystical interpretations of

Scripture, and metaphysical speculations concerning the Deity, man, and

spiritual beings. In these interpretations and speculations, according to

the Jewish doctors, were enveloped the most profound truths of religion,

which, to be comprehended by finite beings, are obliged to be revealed

through the medium of symbols and allegories. Buxtorf (Lex. Talm.) defines

the Cabala to be a secret science, which treats in a mystical and

enigmatical manner of things divine, angelical, theological, celestial,

and metaphysical, the subjects being enveloped in striking symbols and

secret modes of teaching.

CABALIST. A Jewish philosopher. One who understands and teaches the

doctrines of the Cabala, or the Jewish philosophy.

CABIRI. Certain gods, whose worship was first established in the Island of

Samothrace, where the Cabiric Mysteries were practised until the beginning

of the Christian era. They were four in number, and by some are supposed

to have referred to Noah and his three sons. In the Mysteries there was a

legend of the death and restoration to life of Atys, the son of Cybele.

The candidate represented Cadmillus, the youngest of the Cabiri, who was

slain by his three brethren. The legend of the Cabiric Mysteries, as far

as it can be understood from the faint allusions of ancient authors, was

in spirit and design very analogous to that of the third degree of

Masonry.

CADMILLUS. One of the gods of the Cabiri, who was slain by his brothers,

on which circumstance the legend of the Cabiric or Samothracian Mysteries

is founded. He is the analogue of the Builder in the Hiramic legend of

Freemasonry. 256

CAIRNS. Heaps of stones of a conical form, erected by the Druids. Some

suppose them to have been sepulchral monuments, others altars. They were

undoubtedly of a religious character, since sacrificial fires were lighted

upon them, and processions were made around them. These processions were

analogous to the circumambulations in Masonry, and were conducted like

them with reference to the apparent course of the sun.

CASSIA. A gross corruption of _Acacia_. The cassia is an aromatic plant,

but it has no mystical or symbolic character.

CELTIC MYSTERIES. The religious rites of ancient Gaul and Britain, more

familiarly known as _Druidism_, which see.. 109

CEREMONIES. The outer garments which cover and adorn Freemasonry as

clothing does the human body.

Although ceremonies give neither life nor truth to doctrines or

principles, yet they have an admirable influence, since by their use

certain things are made to acquire a sacred character which they would not

otherwise have had; and hence Lord Coke has most wisely said that "prudent

antiquity did, for more solemnity and better memory and observation of

that which is to be done, express substances under ceremonies.".

CERES. Among the Romans the goddess of agriculture; but among the more

poetic Greeks she became, as Demeter, the symbol of the prolific earth.

See _Demeter_.

CHARTER OF COLOGNE. A masonic document of great celebrity, but not of

unquestioned authenticity. It is a declaration or affirmation of the

design and principles of Freemasonry, issued in the year 1535, by a

convention of masons who had assembled in the city of Cologne. The

original is in the Latin language. The assertors of the authenticity of

the document claim that it was found in the chest of a lodge at Amsterdam

in 1637, and afterwards regularly transmitted from hand to hand until the

year 1816, when it was presented to Prince Frederick of Nassau, through

whom it was at that time made known to the masonic world. Others assert

that it is a forgery, which was perpetrated about the year 1816. Like the

Leland manuscript, it is one of those vexed questions of masonic literary

history over which so much doubt has been thrown, that it will probably

never be satisfactorily solved. For a translation of the charter, and

copious explanatory notes, by the author of this work, the reader is

referred to the "American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry," vol. ii. p.

52.

CHRISTIANIZATION OF FREEMASONRY. The interpretation of its symbols from a

Christian point of view. This is an error into which Hutchinson and

Oliver in England, and Scott and one or two others of less celebrity in

this country, have fallen. It is impossible to derive Freemasonry from

Christianity, because the former, in point of time, preceded the latter.

In fact, the symbols of Freemasonry are Solomonic, and its religion was

derived from the ancient priesthood.

The infusion of the Christian element was, however, a natural result of

surrounding circumstances; yet to sustain it would be fatal to the

cosmopolitan character of the institution.

Such interpretation is therefore modern, and does not belong to the

ancient system.

CIRCULAR TEMPLES. These were used in the initiations of the religion of

Zoroaster. Like the square temples of Masonry, and the other Mysteries,

they were symbolic of the world, and the symbol was completed by making

the circumference of the circle a representation of the zodiac.

CIRCUMAMBULATION. The ceremony of perambulating the lodge, or going in

procession around the altar, which was universally practised in the

ancient initiations and other religious ceremonies, and was always

performed so that the persons moving should have the altar on their right

hand. The rite was symbolic of the apparent daily course of the sun from

the east to the west by the way of the south, and was undoubtedly derived

from the ancient sun-worship.

CIVILIZATION. Freemasonry is a result of civilization, for it exists in no

savage or barbarous state of society; and in return it has proved, by its

social and moral principles, a means of extending and elevating the

civilization which gave it birth.

Freemasonry is therefore a type of civilization, bearing the same relation

to the profane world that civilization does to the savage state.

COLLEGES OF ARTIFICERS. The _Collegia Fabrorum_, or Workmen's Colleges,

were established in Rome by Numa, who for this purpose distributed all the

artisans of the city into companies, or colleges, according to their arts

and trades. They resembled the modern corporations, or _guilds_, which

sprang up in the middle ages. The rule established by their founder, that

not less than three could constitute a college,--"_tres faciunt

collegium_,"--has been retained in the regulations of the third degree of

masonry, to a lodge of which these colleges bore other analogies.

COLOGNE, CHARTER OF. See _Charter of Cologne_.

COMMON GAVEL. See _Gavel_.

CONSECRATION. The appropriating or dedicating, with certain ceremonies,

anything to sacred purposes or offices, by separating it from common use.

Masonic lodges, like ancient temples and modern churches, have always been

consecrated. Hobbes, in his _Leviathan_ (p. iv. c. 44), gives the best

definition of this ceremony. "To consecrate is in Scripture to offer,

give, or dedicate, in pious and decent language and gesture, a man, or any

other thing, to God, by separating it from common use.".

CONSECRATION, ELEMENTS OF. Those things, the use of which in the ceremony

as constituent and elementary parts of it, are necessary to the perfecting

and legalizing of the act of consecration. In Freemasonry, these elements

of consecration are _corn_, _wine_, and _oil_,--which see.

CORN. One of the three elements of masonic consecration, and as a symbol

of plenty it is intended, under the name of the "corn of nourishment," to

remind us of those temporal blessings of life, support, and nourishment

which we receive from the Giver of all good.

CORNER STONE. The most important stone in the edifice, and in its

symbolism referring to an impressive ceremony in the first degree of

Masonry.

The ancients laid it with peculiar ceremonies, and among the Oriental

nations it was the symbol of a prince, or chief.

It is one of the most impressive symbols of Masonry.

It is a symbol of the candidate on his initiation.

As a symbol it is exclusively masonic, and confined to a temple origin.

COVERING OF THE LODGE. Under the technical name of the "clouded canopy or

starry-decked heavens," it is a symbol of the future world,--of the

celestial lodge above, where the G.A.O.T.U. forever presides, and which

constitutes the "foreign country" which every mason hopes to reach.

CREUZER. George Frederick Creuzer, who was born in Germany in 1771, and

was a professor at the University of Heidelberg, devoted himself to the

study of the ancient religions, and with profound learning, established a

peculiar system on the subject. Many of his views have been adopted in the

text of the present work. His theory was, that the religion and mythology

of the ancient Greeks were borrowed from a far more ancient people,--a

body of priests coming from the East,--who received them as a revelation.

The myths and traditions of this ancient people were adopted by Hesiod,

Homer, and the later poets, although not without some misunderstanding of

them, and they were finally preserved in the Mysteries, and became

subjects of investigation for the philosophers. This theory Creuzer has

developed in his most important work, entitled "Symbolik und Mythologie

der alten Voelker, besonders der Greichen," which was published at Leipsic

in 1819. There is no translation of this work into English, but Guigniaut

published at Paris, in 1824, a paraphrastic translation of it, under the

title of "Religions de l'Antiquite considerees principalement dans leur

Formes Symboliques et Mythologiques." Creuzer's views throw much light on

the symbolic history of Freemasonry.

CROSS. No symbol was so universally diffused at an early period as the

cross. It was, says Faber (Cabir. ii. 390), a symbol throughout the pagan

world long previous to its becoming an object of veneration to Christians.

In ancient symbology it was a symbol of eternal life. M. de Mortillet, who

in 1866 published a work entitled "Le Signe de la Croix avant le

Christianisme," found in the very earliest epochs three principal symbols

of universal occurrences; viz., the _circle_, the _pyramid_, and the

_cross_. Leslie (Man's Origin and Destiny, p. 312), quoting from him in

reference to the ancient worship of the cross, says "It seems to have been

a worship of such a peculiar nature as to exclude the worship of idols."

This sacredness of the crucial symbol may be one reason why its form was

often adopted, especially by the Celts in the construction of their

temples, though I have admitted in the text the commonly received opinion

that in cross-shaped temples the four limbs of the cross referred to the

four elements. But in a very interesting work lately published--"The Myths

of the New World" (N.Y., 1863)--Mr. Brinton assigns another symbolism.

"The symbol," says this writer, "that beyond all others has fascinated the

human mind, THE CROSS, finds here its source and meaning. Scholars have

pointed out its sacredness in many natural religions, and have reverently

accepted it as a mystery, or offered scores of conflicting, and often

debasing, interpretations. _It is but another symbol of the four cardinal

points, the four winds of heaven._ This will luminously appear by a study

of its use and meaning in America." (p. 95.) And Mr. Brinton gives many

instances of the religious use of the cross by several of the aboriginal

tribes of this continent, where the allusion, it must be confessed, seems

evidently to be to the four cardinal points, or the four winds, or four

spirits, of the earth. If this be so, and if it is probable that a similar

reference was adopted by the Celtic and other ancient peoples, then we

would have in the cruciform temple as much a symbolism of the world, of

which the four cardinal points constitute the boundaries, as we have in

the square, the cubical, and the circular.

CTEIS. A representation of the female generative organ. It was, as a

symbol, always accompanied by the phallus, and, like that symbol, was

extensively venerated by the nations of antiquity. It was a symbol of the

prolific powers of nature. See _Phallus_.

CUBE. A geometrical figure, consisting of six equal sides and six equal

angles. It is the square solidified, and was among the ancients a symbol

of truth. The same symbolism is recognized in Freemasonry.

DARKNESS. It denotes falsehood and ignorance, and was a very universal

symbol among the nations of antiquity.

In all the ancient initiations, the aspirant was placed in darkness for a

period differing in each,--among the Druids for three days, among the

Greeks for twenty-seven, and in the Mysteries of Mithras for fifty.

In all of these, as well as in Freemasonry, darkness is the symbol of

initiation not complete.

DEATH. Because it was believed to be the entrance to a better and eternal

life, which was the dogma of the Mysteries, death became the symbol of

initiation; and hence among the Greeks the same word signified _to die_,

and _to be initiated_. In the British Mysteries, says Davies (Mythol. of

the British Druids), the novitiate passed the river of death in the boat

of Garanhir, the Charon of the Greeks; and before he could be admitted to

this privilege, it was requisite that he should have been mystically

buried, as well as mystically dead.

DEFINITION OF FREEMASONRY. The definition quoted in the text, that it is a

science of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, is the

one which is given in the English lectures.

But a more comprehensive and exact definition is, that it is a science

which is engaged in the search after divine truth.

DELTA. In the higher degrees of Masonry, the triangle is so called because

the Greek letter of that name is of a triangular form.

It is a symbol of Deity, because it is the first perfect figure in

geometry; it is the first figure in which space is enclosed by lines.

DEMETER. Worshipped by the Greeks as the symbol of the prolific earth. She

was the Ceres of the Romans. To her is attributed the institution of the

Eleusinian Mysteries in Greece, the most popular of all the ancient

initiations.

DESIGN OF FREEMASONRY. It is not charity or alms-giving.

Nor the cultivation of the social sentiment; for both of these are merely

incidental to its organization.

But it is the search after truth, and that truth is the unity of God, and

the immortality of the soul.

DIESEAL. A term used by the Druids to designate the circumambulation

around the sacred cairns, and is derived from two words signifying "on the

right of the sun," because the circumambulation was always in imitation of

the course of the sun, with the right hand next to the cairn or altar.

DIONYSIAC ARTIFICERS. An association of architects who possessed the

exclusive privilege of erecting temples and other public buildings in Asia

Minor. The members were distinguished from the uninitiated inhabitants by

the possession of peculiar marks of recognition, and by the secret

character of their association. They were intimately connected with the

Dionysiac Mysteries, and are supposed to have furnished the builders for

the construction of the temple of Solomon.

DIONYSIAC MYSTERIES. In addition to what is said in the text, I add the

following, slightly condensed, from the pen of that accomplished writer,

Albert Pike: "The initiates in these Mysteries had preserved the ritual

and ceremonies that accorded with the simplicity of the earliest ages, and

the manners of the first men. The rules of Pythagoras were followed there.

Like the Egyptians, who held wool unclean, they buried no initiate in

woollen garments. They abstained from bloody sacrifices, and lived on

fruits or vegetables. They imitated the life of the contemplative sects of

the Orient. One of the most precious advantages promised by their

initiation was to put man in communion with the gods by purifying his

soul of all the passions that interfere with that enjoyment, and dim the

rays of divine light that are communicated to every soul capable of

receiving them. The sacred gates of the temple, where the ceremonies of

initiation were performed, were opened but once in each year, and no

stranger was allowed to enter. Night threw her veil over these august

Mysteries. There the sufferings of Dionysus were represented, who, like

Osiris, died, descended to hell, and rose to life again; and raw flesh was

distributed to the initiates, which each ate in memory of the death of the

deity torn in pieces by the Titans."

DIONYSUS. Or Bacchus; mythologically said to be the son of Zeus and

Semele. In his Mysteries he was identified with Osiris, and regarded as

the sun. His Mysteries prevailed in Greece, Rome, and Asia, and were

celebrated by the Dionysiac artificers--those builders who united with the

Jews in the construction of King Solomon's temple. Hence, of all the

ancient Mysteries, they are the most interesting to the masonic student.

DISSEVERANCE. The disseverance of the operative from the speculative

element of Freemasonry occurred at the beginning of the eighteenth

century.

DISCALCEATION, RITE OF. The ceremony of uncovering the feet, or taking off

the shoes; from the Latin _discalceare_. It is a symbol of reverence. See

_Bare Feet_.

DRUIDICAL MYSTERIES. The Celtic Mysteries celebrated in Britain and Gaul.

They resembled, in all material points, the other mysteries of antiquity,

and had the same design. The aspirant was subjected to severe trials,

underwent a mystical death and burial in imitation of the death of the god

Hu, and was eventually enlightened by the communication to him of the

great truths of God and immortality, which it was the object of all the

Mysteries to teach.

DUALISM. A mythological and philosophical doctrine, which supposes the

world to have been always governed by two antagonistic principles,

distinguished as the good and the evil principle. This doctrine pervaded

all the Oriental religions, and its influences are to be seen in the

system of Speculative Masonry, where it is developed in the symbolism of

Light and Darkness.

EAST. That part of the heavens where the sun rises; and as the source of

material light to which we figuratively apply the idea of intellectual

light, it has been adopted as a symbol of the Order of Freemasonry. And

this symbolism is strengthened by the fact that the earliest learning and

the earliest religion came from the east, and have ever been travelling to

the west.

In Freemasonry, the east has always been considered the most sacred of the

cardinal points, because it is the place where light issues; and it was

originally referred to the primitive religion, or sun-worship. But in

Freemasonry it refers especially to that east whence an ancient priesthood

first disseminated truth to enlighten the world; wherefore the east is

masonically called "the place of light."

EGG. The mundane egg is a well-recognized symbol of the world. "The

ancient pagans," says Faber, "in almost every part of the globe, were wont

to symbolize the world by an egg. Hence this symbol is introduced into the

cosmogony of nearly all nations; and there are few persons, even among

those who have not made mythology their study, to whom the _Mundane Egg_

is not perfectly familiar. It was employed not only to represent the

earth, but also the universe in its largest extent." _Origin of Pag.

Idolatry_, i. 175.

EGG AND LUNETTE. The egg, being a symbol not only of the resurrection,

but also of the world rescued from destruction by the Noachic ark, and the

lunette, or horizontal crescent, being a symbol of the Great Father,

represented by Noah, the egg and lunette combined, which was the

hieroglyphic of the god Lunus, at Heliopolis, was a symbol of the world

proceeding from the Great Father.

EGYPT. Egypt has been considered as the cradle not only of the sciences,

but of the religions of the ancient world. Although a monarchy, with a

king nominally at the head of the state, the government really was in the

hands of the priests, who were the sole depositaries of learning, and were

alone acquainted with the religious formularies that in Egypt controlled

all the public and private actions of the life of every inhabitant.

ELEPHANTA. An island in the Bay of Bombay, celebrated for the stupendous

caverns artificially excavated out of the solid rock, which were

appropriated to the initiations in the ancient Indian Mysteries.

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES. Of all the Mysteries of the ancients these were the

most popular. They were celebrated at the village of Eleusis, near Athens,

and were dedicated to Demeter. In them the loss and the restoration of

Persephone were scenically represented, and the doctrines of the unity of

God and the immortality of the soul were taught. See _Demeter_.

ENTERED APPRENTICE. The first degree of Ancient Craft Masonry, analogous

to the aspirant in the Lesser Mysteries.

It is viewed as a symbol of childhood, and is considered as a preparation

and purification for something higher.

EPOPT. (From the Greek [Greek: e)po/Ptes], _an eye witness_.) One who,

having been initiated in the Greater Mysteries of paganism, has seen the

aporrheta.

ERA OF MASONRY. The legendary statement that the origin of Masonry is

coeval with the beginning of the world, is only a philosophical myth to

indicate the eternal nature of its principles.

ERICA. The tree heath; a sacred plant among the Egyptians, and used in the

Osirian Mysteries as the symbol of immortality, and the analogue of the

masonic acacia.

ESSENES. A society or sect of the Jews, who combined labor with religious

exercises, whose organization partook of a secret character, and who have

been claimed to be the descendants of the builders of the temple of

Solomon.

EUCLID. The masonic legend which refers to Euclid is altogether

historically untrue. It is really a philosophical myth intended to convey

a masonic truth.

EURESIS. (From the Greek [Greek: ey)/resis], _a discovery_.) That part of

the initiation in the ancient Mysteries which represented the finding of

the body of the god or hero whose death was the subject of the initiation.

The euresis has been adopted in Freemasonry, and forms an essential part

of the ritual of the third degree.

EVERGREEN. A symbol of the immortality of the soul.

Planted by the Hebrews and other ancient peoples at the heads of graves.

For this purpose the Hebrews preferred the acacia, because its wood was

incorruptible, and because, as the material of the ark, it was already

considered as a sacred plant.

EYE, ALL-SEEING. A symbol of the omniscient and watchful providence of

God. It is a very ancient symbol, and is supposed by some to be a relic of

the primitive sun-worship. Volney says (_Les Ruines_, p. 186) that in most

of the ancient languages of Asia, the _eye_ and the _sun_ are expressed by

the same word. Among the Egyptians the eye was the symbol of their supreme

god, Osiris, or the sun.

FABER. The works of the Rev. G.S. Faber, on the Origin of Pagan Idolatry,

and on the Cabiri, are valuable contributions to the science of mythology.

They abound in matters of interest to the investigator of masonic

symbolism and philosophy, but should be read with a careful view of the

preconceived theory of the learned author, who refers everything in the

ancient religions to the influences of the Noachic cataclysm, and the

arkite worship which he supposes to have resulted from it.

FELLOW CRAFT. The second degree of Ancient Craft Masonry, analogous to the

mystes in the ancient Mysteries.

The symbol of a youth setting forth on the journey of life.

FETICHISM. The worship of uncouth and misshapen idols, practised only by

the most ignorant and debased peoples, and to be found at this day among

some of the least civilized of the negro tribes of Africa. "Their

fetiches," says Du Chaillu, speaking of some of the African races,

"consisted of fingers and tails of monkeys; of human hair, skin, teeth,

bones; of clay, old nails, copper chains; shells, feathers, claws, and

skulls of birds; pieces of iron, copper, or wood; seeds of plants, ashes

of various substances, and I cannot tell what more." _Equatorial Africa_,

p. 93.

FIFTEEN. A sacred number, symbolic of the name of God, because the letters

of the holy name JAH are equal, in the Hebrew mode of numeration by the

letters of the alphabet, to fifteen; for [Hebrew: yod] is equal to ten,

and [Hebrew: heh] is equal to five. Hence, from veneration for this sacred

name, the Hebrews do not, in ordinary computations, when they wish to

express the number 15, make use of these two letters, but of two others,

which are equivalent to 9 and 6.

FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM. The forty-seventh problem of the first book of

Euclid is, that in any right-angled triangle the square which is described

upon the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares described

upon the sides which contain the right angle. It is said to have been

discovered by Pythagoras while in Egypt, but was most probably taught to

him by the priests of that country, in whose rites he had been initiated;

it is a symbol of the production of the world by the generative and

prolific powers of the Creator; hence the Egyptians made the perpendicular

and base the representatives of Osiris and Isis, while the hypothenuse

represented their child Horus. Dr. Lardner says (_Com. on Euclid_, p. 60)

of this problem, "Whether we consider the forty-seventh proposition with

reference to the peculiar and beautiful relation established by it, or to

its innumerable uses in every department of mathematical science, or to

its fertility in the consequences derivable from it, it must certainly be

esteemed the most celebrated and important in the whole of the elements,

if not in the whole range of mathematical science."

FOURTEEN. Some symbologists have referred the fourteen pieces into which

the mutilated body of Osiris was divided, and the fourteen days during

which the body of the builder was buried, to the fourteen days of the

disappearance of the moon. The Sabian worshippers of "the hosts of heaven"

were impressed with the alternate appearance and disappearance of the

moon, which at length became a symbol of death and resurrection. Hence

fourteen was a sacred number. As such it was viewed in the Osirian

Mysteries, and may have been introduced into Freemasonry with other relics

of the old worship of the sun and planets.

FREEMASONRY, DEFINITION OF. See _Definition_.

FREEMASONS, TRAVELLING. The travelling Freemasons were a society existing

in the middle ages, and consisting of learned men and prelates, under whom

were operative masons. The operative masons performed the labors of the

craft, and travelling from country to country, were engaged in the

construction of cathedrals, monasteries, and castles. "There are few

points in the history of the middle ages," says Godwin, "more pleasing to

look back upon than the existence of the associated masons; they are the

bright spot in the general darkness of that period; the patch of verdure

when all around is barren." _The Builder_, ix. 463

G. The use of the letter G in the Fellow Craft's degree is an anachronism.

It is really a corruption of, or perhaps rather a substitution for, the

Hebrew letter (yod), which is the initial of the ineffable name. As such,

it is a symbol of the life-giving and life-sustaining power of God.

G.A.O.T.U. A masonic abbreviation used as a symbol of the name of God, and

signifying the _Grand Architect of the Universe_. It was adopted by the

Freemasons in accordance with a similar practice among all the nations of

antiquity of noting the Divine Name by a symbol.

GAVEL. What is called in Masonry a common gavel is a stone-cutter's

hammer; it is one of the working tools of an Entered Apprentice, and is a

symbol of the purification of the heart.

GLOVES. On the continent of Europe they are given to candidates at the

same time that they are invested with the apron; the same custom formerly

prevailed in England; but although the investiture of the gloves is

abandoned as a ceremony both there and in America, they are worn as a part

of masonic clothing.

They are a symbol of purification of life.

In the middle ages gloves were worn by operative masons.

GOD, UNITY OF. See _Unity of God_.

GOD, NAME OF. See _Name_.

GOLGOTHA. In Hebrew and Syriac it means _a skull_; a name of Mount

Calvary, and so called, probably, because it was the place of public

execution. The Latin _Calvaria_, whence Mount Calvary, means also a skull.

GRAVE. In the Master's degree, a symbol which is the analogue of the

pastos, or couch, in the ancient Mysteries.

The symbolism has been Christianized by some masonic writers, and the

grave has thus been referred to the sepulchre of Christ.

GRIPS AND SIGNS. They are valuable only for social purposes as modes of

recognition.

HAND. The hand is a symbol of human actions; pure hands symbolize pure

actions, and impure or unclean hands symbolize impure actions.

HARE. Among the Egyptians the hare was a hieroglyphic of _eyes that are

open_, and was the symbol of initiation into the Mysteries of Osiris. The

Hebrew word for _hare_ is _arnabet_, and this is compounded of two words

that signify _to behold the light_. The connection of ideas is apparent.

HELLENISM. The religion of the Helles, or ancient Greeks who immediately

succeeded the Pelasgians in the settlement of that country. It was, in

consequence of the introduction of the poetic element, more refined than

the old Pelasgic worship for which it was substituted. Its myths were more

philosophical and less gross than those of the religion to which it

succeeded.

HERMAE. Stones of a cubical form, which were originally unhewn, by which

the Greeks at first represented all their deities. They came in the

progress of time to be especially dedicated by the Greeks to the god

Hermes, whence the name, and by the Romans to the god Terminus, who

presided over landmarks.

HERO WORSHIP. The worship of men deified after death. It is a theory of

some, both ancient and modern writers, that all the pagan gods were once

human beings, and that the legends and traditions of mythology are mere

embellishments of the acts of these personages when alive. It was the

doctrine taught by Euhemerus among the ancients, and has been maintained

among the moderns by such distinguished authorities as Bochart, Bryant,

Voss, and Banier.

HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY. The system of the Alchemists, the Adepts, or seekers

of the philosopher's stone. No system has been more misunderstood than

this. It was secret, esoteric, and highly symbolical. No one has so well

revealed its true design as E.A. Hitchcock, who, in his delightful work

entitled "Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alchemists," says, "The genuine

Alchemists were religious men, who passed their time in legitimate

pursuits, earning an honest subsistence, and in religious contemplation,

studying how to realize in themselves the union of the divine and human

nature, expressed in man by an enlightened submission to God's will; and

they thought out and published, after a manner of their own, a method of

attaining or entering upon this state, as the only rest of the soul."

There is a very great similarity between their doctrines and those of the

Freemasons; so much so that the two associations have sometimes been

confounded.

HIEROPHANT. (From the Greek [Greek: i(ero\s], _holy, sacred_, and

[Greek: phai/no] _to show_.) One who instructs in sacred things; the

explainer of the aporrheta, or secret doctrines, to the initiates in the

ancient Mysteries. He was the presiding officer, and his rank and duties

were analogous to those of the master of a masonic lodge.

HIRAM ABIF. The architect of Solomon's temple. The word "Abif" signifies

in Hebrew "his father," and is used by the writer of Second Chronicles

(iv. 16) when he says, "These things did _Hiram his father_ [in the

original _Hiram Abif _] do for King Solomon.".

The legend relating to him is of no value as a mere narrative, but of vast

importance in a symbolical point of view, as illustrating a great

philosophical and religious truth; namely, the dogma of the immortality of

the soul.

Hence, Hiram Abif is the symbol of man in the abstract sense, or human

nature, as developed in the life here and in the life to come.

HIRAM OF TYRE. The king of Tyre, the friend and ally of King Solomon, whom

he supplied with men and materials for building the temple. In the recent,

or what I am inclined to call the grand lecturer's symbolism of Masonry (a

sort of symbolism for which I have very little veneration), Hiram of Tyre

is styled the symbol of strength, as Hiram Abif is of beauty. But I doubt

the antiquity or authenticity of any such symbolism. Hiram of Tyre can

only be considered, historically, as being necessary to complete the myth

and symbolism of Hiram Abif. The king of Tyre is an historical personage,

and there is no necessity for transforming him into a symbol, while his

historical character lends credit and validity to the philosophical myth

of the third degree of Masonry.

HIRAM THE BUILDER. An epithet of Hiram Abif. For the full significance of

the term, see the word _Builder_.

HO-HI. A cabalistic pronunciation of the tetragrammaton, or ineffable name

of God; it is most probably the true one; and as it literally means

HE-SHE, it is supposed to denote the hermaphroditic essence of Jehovah, as

containing within himself the male and the female principle,--the

generative and the prolific energy of creation.

HO. The sacred name of God among the Druids. Bryant supposes that by it

they intended the Great Father Noah; but it is very possible that it was a

modification of the Hebrew tetragrammaton, being the last syllable read

cabalistically (see _ho-hi_); if so, it signified the great male principle

of nature. But HU is claimed by Talmudic writers to be one of the names of

God; and the passage in Isaiah xlii. 8, in the original _ani Jehovah, Hu

shemi_, which is in the common version "I am the LORD; that is my name,"

they interpret, "I am Jehovah; my name is Hu."

HUTCHINSON, WILLIAM. A distinguished masonic writer of England, who lived

in the eighteenth century. He is the author of "The Spirit of Masonry,"

published in 1775. This was the first English work of any importance that

sought to give a scientific interpretation of the symbols of Freemasonry;

it is, in fact, the earliest attempt of any kind to treat Freemasonry as a

science of symbolism. Hutchinson, however, has to some extent impaired the

value of his labors by contending that the institution is exclusively

Christian in its character and design.

IH-HO. See _Ho-hi_.

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. This is one of the two religious dogmas which

have always been taught in Speculative Masonry.

It was also taught in all the Rites and Mysteries of antiquity.

The doctrine was taught as an abstract proposition by the ancient

priesthood of the Pure or Primitive Freemasonry of antiquity, but was

conveyed to the mind of the initiate, and impressed upon him by a scenic

representation in the ancient Mysteries, or the Spurious Freemasonry of

the ancients.

INCOMMUNICABLE NAME. The tetragrammaton, so called because it was not

common to, and could not be bestowed upon, nor shared by, any other being.

It was proper to the true God alone. Thus Drusius (Tetragrammaton, sive de

Nomine Dei proprio, p. 108) says, "Nomen quatuor literarum proprie et

absolute non tribui nisi Deo vero. Unde doctores catholici dicunt

_incommunicabile_ [not common] esse creaturae."

INEFFABLE NAME. The tetragrammaton. So called because it is _ineffabile_,

or unpronounceable. See _Tetragrammaton_.

INTRUSTING, RITE OF. That part of the ceremony of initiation which

consists in communicating to the aspirant or candidate the aporrheta, or

secrets of the mystery.

INUNCTION. The act of anointing. This was a religious ceremony practised

from the earliest times. By the pouring on of oil, persons and things were

consecrated to sacred purposes.

INVESTITURE, RITE OF. That part of the ceremony of initiation which

consists of clothing the candidate masonically. It is a symbol of purity.

ISH CHOTZEB. Hebrew, _hewers of stones_. The Fellow Crafts at the temple of

Solomon. (2 Chron. ii. 2.).

ISH SABAL. Hebrew, _bearers of burdens_. The Apprentices

at the temple of Solomon. (2 Chron. ii. 2.).

JAH. It is in Hebrew [Hebrew: yod-heh] whence Maimonides calls it "the

two-lettered name," and derives it from the tetragrammaton, of which it is

an abbreviation. Others have denied this, and assert that _Jah_ is a name

independent of Jehovah, but expressing the same idea of the divine

essenee. See Gataker, _De Nom. Tetrag._.

JEHOVAH. The incommunicable, ineffable name of God, in Hebrew

[Hebrew: yod-heh-vau-heh], and called, from the four letters of which it

consists, the tetragrammaton, or four-lettered name.

LABOR. Since the article on the Symbolism of Labor was written, I have met

with an address delivered in 1868 by brother Troue, before St. Peter's

Lodge in Martinico, which contains sentiments on the relation of Masonry

to labor which are well worth a translation from the original French. See

_Bulletin du Grand Orient de France_, December, 1868.

"Our name of Mason, and our emblems, distinctly announce that our object

is the elevation of labor.

"We do not, as masons, consider labor as a punishment inflicted on man;

but on the contrary, we elevate it in our thought to the height of a

religious act, which is the most acceptable to God because it is the most

useful to man and to society.

"We decorate ourselves with the emblems of labor to affirm that our

doctrine is an incessant protest against the stigma branded on the law of

labor, and which an error of apprehension, proceeding from the ignorance

of men in primitive times has erected into a dogma; an error that has

resulted in the production of this anti-social phenomenon which we meet

with every day; namely, that the degradation of the workman is the greater

as his labor is more severe, and the elevation of the idler is higher as

his idleness is more complete. But the study of the laws which maintain

order in nature, released from the fetters of preconceived ideas, has led

the Freemasons to that doctrine, far more moral than the contrary belief,

that labor is not an expiation, but a law of harmony, from the subjection

to which man cannot be released without impairing his own happiness, and

deranging the order of creation. The design of Freemasons is, then, the

rehabilitation of labor, which is indicated by the apron which we wear,

and the gavel, the trowel, and the level, which are found among our

symbols."

Hence the doctrine of this work is, that Freemasonry teaches not only the

necessity, but the nobility, of labor.

And that labor is the proper worship due by man to God.

LADDER. A symbol of progressive advancement from a lower to a higher

sphere, which is common to Masonry, and to many, if not all, of the

ancient Mysteries.

LADDER, BRAHMINICAL. The symbolic ladder used in the Mysteries of Brahma.

It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven worlds of the Indian universe.

LADDER, MITHRAITIC. The symbolic ladder used in the Persian Mysteries of

Mithras. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven planets and the seven

metals.

LADDER, SCANDINAVIAN. The symbolic ladder used in the Gothic Mysteries.

Dr. Oliver refers it to the Yggrasil, or sacred ash tree. But the

symbolism is either very abstruse or very doubtful.

LADDER, THEOLOGICAL. The symbolic ladder of the masonic Mysteries. It

refers to the ladder seen by Jacob in his vision, and consists, like all

symbolical ladders, of seven rounds, alluding to the four cardinal and the

three theological virtues.

LAMB. A symbol of innocence. A very ancient symbol.

LAMB, PASCHAL. See _Paschal Lamb_.

LAMBSKIN APRON. See _Apron_.

LAW, ORAL. See _Oral Law_.

LEGEND. A narrative, whether true or false, that has been traditionally

preserved from the time of its first oral communication. Such is the

definition of a masonic legend. The authors of the Conversations-Lexicon,

referring to the monkish Lives of the Saints which originated in the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries, say that the title _legend_ was given to

all fictions which make pretensions to truth. Such a remark, however

correct it may be in reference to these monkish narratives, which were

often invented as ecclesiastical exercises, is by no means applicable to

the legends of Freemasonry. These are not necessarily fictitious, but are

either based on actual and historical facts which have been but slightly

modificd, or they are the offspring and expansion of some symbolic idea in

which latter respect they differ entirely from the monastic legends, which

often have only the fertile imagination of some studious monk for the

basis of their construction.

LEGEND OF THE ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. Much of this legend is a mythical

history; but some portion of it is undoubtedly a philosophical myth. The

destruction and the reedification of the temple, the captivity and the

return of the captives, are matters of history; but many of the details

have been invented and introduced for the purpose of giving form to a

symbolic idea.

LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. In all probability this legend is a mythical

history, in which truth is very largely and preponderatingly mixed with

fiction.

It is the most important and significant of the legendary symbols of

Freemasonry.

Has descended from age to age by oral tradition, and has been preserved in

every masonic rite.

No essential alteration of it has ever been made in any masonic system,

but the interpretations of it have been various; the most general one is,

that it is a symbol of the resurrection and the immortality of the soul.

Some continental writers have supposed that it was a symbol of the

downfall of the Order of Templars, and its hoped-for restoration. In some

of the high philosophical degrees it is supposed to be a symbol of the

sufferings, death, and resurrection Christ. Hutchinson thought it a symbol

of the decadence of the Jewish religion, and the rise of the Christian on

its ruins. Oliver says that it symbolically refers to the murder of Abel,

the death of our race through Adam, and its restoration through Christ.

Ragon thinks that it is a symbol of the sun shorn of its vigor by the

three winter months, and restored to generative power by the spring. And

lastly, Des Etangs says that it is a symbol of eternal reason, whose

enemies are the vices that deprave and finally destroy humanity.

But none of these interpretations, except the first, can be sustained.

LETTUCE. The sacred plant of the Mysteries of Adonis; a symbol of

immortality, and the analogue of the acacia.

LEVEL. One of the working tools of a Fellow Craft. It is a symbol of the

equality of station of all men before God.

LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES. In the seventh century, all learning was

limited to the seven liberal arts and sciences; their introduction into

Freemasonry, referring to this theory, is a symbol of the completion of

human learning.

LIGHT. It denotes truth and knowledge, and is so explained in all the

ancient systems; in initiation, it is not material but intellectual light

that is sought.

It is predominant as a symbol in all the ancient initiations.

There it was revered because it was an emanation trom the sun, the common

object of worship; but the theory advanced by some writers, that the

veneration of light originally proceeded from its physical qualities, is

not correct.

Pythagoras called it the good principle in nature; and the Cabalists

taught that eternal light filled all space before the creation, and that

after creation it retired to a central spot, and became the instrument of

the Divine Mind in creating matter.

It is the symbol of the autopsy, or the full perfection and fruition of

initiation.

It is therefore a fundamental symbol in Freemasonry, and contains within

itself the very essence of the speculative science.

LINGAM. The phallus was so called by the Indian nations of the East. See

_Phallus_.

LODGE. The place where Freemasons meet, and also the congregation of

masons so met. The word is derived from the _lodges_ occupied by the

travelling Freemasons of the middle ages.

It is a symbol of the world, or universe.

Its form, an oblong square, is symbolic of the supposed oblong form of the

world as known to the ancients.

LOST WORD. There is a masonic myth that there was a certain word which was

lost and afterwards recovered.

It is not material what the word was, nor how lost, nor when recovered:

the symbolism refers only to the abstract idea of a loss and a recovery.

It is a symbol of divine truth.

The search for it was also made by the philosophers and priests in the

Mysteries of the Spurious Freemasonry.

LOTUS. The sacred plant of the Brahminical Mysteries, and the analogue of

the acacia.

It was also a sacred plant among the Egyptians.

LUSTRATION. A purification by washing the hands or body in consecrated

water, practised in the ancient Mysteries. See _Purification_.

LUX (_light_). One of the appellations bestowed upon Freemasonry, to

indicate that it is that sublime doctrine of truth by which the pathway of

him who has attained it is to be illumined in the pilgrimage of life.

Among the Rosicrucians, light was the knowledge of the philosopher's

stone; and Mosheim says that in chemical language the cross was an emblem

of light, because it contains within its figure the forms of the three

figures of which LVX, or light, is composed.

LUX E TENEBRIS (_light out of darkness_). A motto of the Masonic Order,

which is equivalent to "truth out of initiation;" light being the symbol

of truth, and darkness the symbol of initiation commenced.

MAN. Repeatedly referred to by Christ and the apostles as the symbol of a

temple.

MASTER MASON. The third degree of Ancient Craft Masonry, analogous to the

epopt of the ancient Mysteries.

MENATZCHIM. Hebrew _superintendents_, or _overseers_. The Master

Masons at the temple of Solomon. (2 Chron. ii. 2.)

MENU. In the Indian mythology, Menu is the son of Brahma, and the founder

of the Hindoo religion. Thirteen other Menus are said to exist, seven of

whom have already reigned on earth. But it is the first one whose

instructions constitute the whole civil and religious polity of the

Hindoos. The code attributed to him by the Brahmins has been translated by

Sir William Jones, with the title of "The Institutes of Menu."

MIDDLE CHAMBER. A part of the Solomonic temple, which was approached by

winding stairs, but which was certainly not appropriated to the purpose

indicated in the Fellow Craft's degree.

The legend of the Winding Stairs is therefore only a philosophical myth.

It is a symbol of this life and its labors.

MISTLETOE. The sacred plant of Druidism; commemorated also in the

Scandinavian rites. It is the analogue of the acacia, and like all the

other sacred plants of antiquity, is a symbol of the immortality of the

soul. Lest the language of the text should be misunderstood, it may be

remarked here that the Druidical and the Scandinavian rites are not

identical. The former are Celtic, the latter Gothic. But the fact that in

both the mistletoe was a sacred plant affords a violent presumption that

there must have been a common point from which both religions started.

There was, as I have said, an identity of origin for the same ancient and

general symbolic idea.

MITHRAS. He was the god worshipped by the ancient Persians, and celebrated

in their Mysteries as the symbol of the sun. In the initiation in these

Mysteries, the candidate passed through many terrible trials, and his

courage and fortitude were exposed to the most rigorous tests. Among

others, after ascending the mystical ladder of seven steps, he passed

through a scenic representation of Hades, or the infernal regions; out of

this and the surrounding darkness he was admitted into the full light of

Elysium, where he was obligated by an oath of secrecy, and invested by the

Archimagus, or High Priest, with the secret instructions of the rite,

among which was a knowledge of the Ineffable Name.

MOUNT CALVARY. A small hill of Jerusalem, in a westerly direction, and not

far from Mount Moriah. In the legends of Freemasonry it is known as "a

small hill near Mount Moriah," and is referred to in the third degree.

This "small hill" having been determined as the burial-place of Jesus, the

symbol has been Christianized by many modern masons.

There are many masonic traditions, principally borrowed from the Talmud,

connected with Mount Calvary; such as, that it was the place where Adam

was buried, &c.

MOUNT MORIAH. The hill in Jerusalem on which the temple of Solomon was

built.

MYRTLE. The sacred plant in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and, as symbolic of

a resurrection and immortality, the analogue of the acacia.

MYSTERIES. A secret worship paid by the ancients to several of the pagan

gods, to which none were admitted but those who had been solemnly

initiated. The object of instruction in these Mysteries was, to teach the

unity of God and the immortality of the soul. They were divided into

Lesser and Greater Mysteries. The former were merely preparatory. In the

latter the whole knowledge was communicated. Speaking of the doctrine that

was communicated to the initiates, Philo Judaeus says that "it is an

incorruptible treasure, not like gold or silver, but more precious than

everything beside; for it is the knowledge of the Great Cause, and of

nature, and of that which is born of both." And his subsequent language

shows that there was a confraternity existing among the initiates like

that of the masonic institution; for he says, with his peculiar mysticism,

"If you meet an initiate, besiege him with your prayers that he conceal

from you no new mysteries that he may know; and rest not until you have

obtained them. For me, although I was initiated into the Great Mysteries

by Moses, the friend of God, yet, having seen Jeremiah, I recognized him

not only as an Initiate, but as a Hierophant; and I followed his school."

So, too, the mason acknowledges every initiate as his brother, and is ever

ready and anxious to receive all the light that can be bestowed on the

Mysteries in which he has been indoctrinated.

MYSTES. (From the Greek [Greek: my/o], _to shut the eyes_.) One who had

been initiated into the Lesser Mysteries of paganism. He was now blind,

but when he was initiated into the Greater Mysteries he was called an

Epopt, or one who saw.

MYTH. Grote's definition of the myth, which is cited in the text, may be

applied without modification to the myths of Freemasonry, although

intended by the author only for the myths of the ancient Greek religion.

The myth, then, is a narrative of remote date, not necessarily true or

false, but whose truth can only be certified by internal evidence. The

word was first applied to those fables of the pagan gods which have

descended from the remotest antiquity, and in all of which there prevails

a symbolic idea, not always, however, capable of a positive

interpretation. As applied to Freemasonry, the words _myth_ and _legend_

are synonymous.

From this definition it will appear that the myth is really only the

interpretation of an idea. But how we are to read these myths will best

appear from these noble words of Max Mueller: "Everything is true, natural,

significant, if we enter with a reverent spirit into the meaning of

ancient art and ancient language. Everything becomes false, miraculous,

and unmeaning, if we interpret the deep and mighty words of the seers of

old in the shallow and feeble sense of modern chroniclers." (Science of

Language, 2d Ser. p. 578.).

MYTH, HISTORICAL. An historical myth is a myth that has a known and

recognized foundation in historical truth, but with the admixture of a

preponderating amount of fiction in the introduction of personages and

circumstances. Between the historical myth and the mythical history, the

distinction as laid down in the text cannot always be preserved, because

we are not always able to determine whether there is a preponderance of

truth or of fiction in the legend or narrative under examination.

MYTHICAL HISTORY. A myth or legend in which the historical and truthful

greatly preponderate over the inventions of fiction.

MYTHOLOGY. Literally, the science of myths; and this is a very appropriate

definition, for mythology is the science which treats of the religion of

the ancient pagans, which was almost altogether founded on myths, or

popular traditions and legendary tales; and hence Keightly (Mythol. of

Ancient Greece and Italy, p. 2) says that "mythology may be regarded as

the repository of the early religion of the people." Its interest to a

masonic student arises from the constant antagonism that existed between

its doctrines and those of the Primitive Freemasonry of antiquity and the

light that the mythological Mysteries throw upon the ancient organization

of Speculative Masonry.

MYTH, PHILOSOPHICAL. This is a myth or legend that is almost wholly

unhistorical, and which has been invented only for the purpose of

enunciating and illustrating a particular thought or dogma.

NAME. All Hebrew names are significant, and were originally imposed with

reference to some fact or feature in the history or character of the

persons receiving them. Camden says that the same custom prevailed among

all the nations of antiquity. So important has this subject been

considered, that "Onomastica," or treatises on the signification of names

have been written by Eusebius and St. Jerome, by Simonis and Hillerus, and

by several other scholars, of whom Eusebe Salverte is the most recent and

the most satisfactory. Shuckford (Connect. ii. 377) says that the Jewish

Rabbins thought that the true knowledge of names was a science preferable

to the study of the written law.

NAME OF GOD. The true pronunciation, and consequently the signification,

of the name of God can only be obtained through a cabalistical

interpretation.

It is a symbol of divine truth. None but those who are familiar with the

subject can have any notion of the importance bestowed on this symbol by

the Orientalists. The Arabians have a science called _Ism Allah_, or the

_science of the name of God_; and the Talmudists and Rabbins have written

copiously on the same subject. The Mussulmans, says Salverte (Essai sur

les Noms, ii. 7), have one hundred names of God, which they repeat while

counting the beads of a rosary.

NEOPHYTE. (From the Greek [Greek: ne/on] and [Greek: phyio\n], _a new

plant_.) One who has been recently initiated in the Mysteries. St. Paul

uses the same word (I Tim. iii. 6) to denote one who had been recently

converted to the Christian faith.

NOACHIDAE. The descendants of Noah, and the transmitters of his religious

dogmas, which were the unity of God and the immortality of the soul. The

name has from the earliest times been bestowed upon the Freemasons, who

teach the same doctrines. Thus in the "old charges," as quoted by Anderson

(Const. edit. 1738, p. 143), it is said, "A mason is obliged by his tenure

to observe the moral law as a true Noachidae."

NOACHITES. The same as _Noachidae_, which see.

NORTH. That part of the earth which, being most removed from the influence

of the sun at his meridian height, is in Freemasonry called "a place of

darkness." Hence it is a symbol of the profane world.

NORTH-EAST CORNER. An important ceremony of the first degree, which refers

to the north-east corner of the lodge, is explained by the symbolism of

the corner-stone.

The corner-stone of a building is always laid in the north-east corner,

for symbolic reasons.

The north-east point of the heavens was especially sacred among the

Hindoos.

In the symbolism of Freemasonry, the north refers to the outer or profane

world, and the east to the inner world of Masonry; and hence the

north-east is symbolic of the double position of the neophyte, partly in

the darkness of the former, partly in the light of the latter.

NUMBERS. The symbolism of sacred numbers, which prevails very extensively

in Freemasonry, was undoubtedly borrowed from the school of Pythagoras;

but it is just as likely that he got it from Egypt or Babylon, or from

both. The Pythagorean doctrine was, according to Aristotle (Met. xii. 8),

that all things proceed from numbers. M. Dacier, however, in his life of

the philosopher, denies that the doctrine of numbers was taught by

Pythagoras himself, but attributes it to his later disciples. But his

arguments are not conclusive or satisfactory.

OATH OF SECRECY. It was always administered to the candidate in the

ancient Mysteries.

ODD NUMBERS. In the system of Pythagoras, odd numbers were symbols of

perfection. Hence the sacred numbers of Freemasonry are all odd. They are

3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 27, 33, and 81.

OIL. An element of masonic consecration, and, as a symbol of prosperity

and happiness, is intended, under the name of the "oil of joy," to

indicate the expected propitious results of the consecration of any thing

or person to a sacred purpose.

OLIVE. In a secondary sense, the symbol of peace and of victory; but in

its primary meaning, like all the other Sacred plants of antiquity, a

symbol of immortality; and thus in the Mysteries it was the analogue of

the acacia of the Freemasons.

OLIVER. The Rev. George Oliver, D.D., of Lincolnshire, England, who died

in 1868, is by far the most distinguished and the most voluminous of the

English writers on Freemasonry. Looking to his vast labors and researches

in the arcana of the science, no student of masonry can speak of his name

or his memory without profound reverence for his learning, and deep

gratitude for the services that he has accomplished. To the author of this

work the recollection will ever be most grateful that he enjoyed the

friendship of so good and so great a man; one of whom we may testify, as

Johnson said of Goldsmith, that "nihil quod tetigit non ornavit." In his

writings he has traversed the whole field of masonic literature and

science, and has treated, always with great ability and wonderful

research, of its history, its antiquities, its rites and ceremonies, its

ethics, and its symbols. Of all his works, his "Historical Landmarks," in

two volumes, is the most important, the most useful, and the one which

will perhaps the longest perpetuate his memory. In the study of his works,

the student must be careful not to follow too implicitly all his

conclusions. These were in his own mind controlled by the theory which he

had adopted, and which he continuously maintained, that Freemasonry was a

Christian institution, and that the connection between it and the

Christian religion was absolute and incontrovertible. He followed in the

footsteps of Hutchinson, but with a far more expanded view of the masonic

system.

OPERATIVE MASONRY. Masonry considered merely as a useful art, intended for

the protection and the convenience of man by the erection of edifices

which may supply his intellectual, religious, and physical wants.

In contradistinction to Speculative Masonry, therefore, it is said to be

engaged in the construction of a material temple.

ORAL LAW. The oral law among the Jews was the commentary on and the

interpretation of the written contained in the Pentateuch; and the

tradition is, that it was delivered to Moses at the same time, accompanied

by the divine command, "Thou shalt not divulge the words which I have said

to thee out of my mouth." The oral law was, therefore, never intrusted to

books; but being preserved in the memories of the judges, prophets,

priests, and wise men, was handed down from one to the other through a

long succession of ages. But after the destruction of Jerusalem by the

Romans under Adrian, A.D. 135, and the final dispersion of the Jews, fears

being entertained that the oral law would be lost, it was then committed

to writing, and now constitutes the text of the Talmud.

ORMUZD. Worshipped by the disciples of Zoroaster as the principle of good,

and symbolized by light. See _Ahriman_.

OSIRIS. The chief god of the ancient Egyptians, and worshipped as a symbol

of the sun, and more philosophically as the male or generative principle.

Isis, his wife, was the female or prolific principle; and Horus, their

child, was matter, or the world--the product of the two principles.

OSIRIS, MYSTERIES OF. The Osirian Mysteries consisted in a scenic

representation of the murder of Osiris by Typhon, the subsequent recovery

of his mutilated body by Isis, and his deification, or restoration to

immortal life.

OVAL TEMPLES. Temples of an oval form were representations of the mundane

egg, a symbol of the world.

PALM TREE. In its secondary sense the palm tree is a symbol of victory;

but in its primary signification it is a symbol of the victory over death,

that is, immortality.

PARABLE. A narrative in which one thing is compared with another. It is in

principle the same as a symbol or an allegory.

PARALLEL LINES. The lines touching the circle in the symbol of the point

within a circle. They are said to represent St. John the Baptist and St.

John the Evangelist; but they really refer to the solstitial points Cancer

and Capricorn, in the zodiac.

PASTOS. (From the Greek [Greek: pasto\s], _a nuptial couch_.) The coffin

or grave which contained the body of the god or hero whose death was

scenically represented in the ancient Mysteries.

It is the analogue of the grave in the third degree of Masonry.

PELASGIAN RELIGION. The Pelasgians were the oldest if not the aboriginal

inhabitants of Greece. Their religion differed from that of the Hellenes

who succeeded them in being less poetical, less mythical, and more

abstract. We know little of their religious worship, except by conjecture;

but we may suppose it resembled in some respects the doctrines of the

Primitive Freemasonry. Creuzer thinks that the Pelasgians were either a

nation of priests or a nation ruled by priests.

PHALLUS. A representation of the virile member, which was venerated as a

religious symbol very universally, and without the slightest

lasciviousness, by the ancients. It was one of the modifications of sun

worship, and was a symbol of the fecundating power of that luminary. The

masonic point within a circle is undoubtedly of phallic origin.

PHILOSOPHY OF FREEMASONRY. The dogmas taught in the masonic system

constitute its philosophy. These consist in the contemplation of God as

one and eternal, and of man as immortal. In other words, the philosophy of

Freemasonry inculcates the unity of God and the immortality of the soul.

PLUMB. One of the working tools of a Fellow Craft, and a symbol of

rectitude of conduct.

POINT WITHIN A CIRCLE. It is derived from the ancient sun worship, and is

in reality of phallic origin. It is a symbol of the universe, the sun

being represented by the point, while the circumference is the universe.

PORCH OF THE TEMPLE. A symbol of the entrance into life.

PRIMITIVE FREEMASONRY. The Primitive Freemasonry of the antediluvians is a

term for which we are indebted to Oliver, although the theory was broached

by earlier writers, and among them by the Chevalier Ramsay. The theory is,

that the principles and doctrines of Freemasonry existed in the earliest

ages of the world, and were believed and practised by a primitive people,

or priesthood, under the name of Pure or Primitive Freemasonry. That this

Freemasonry, that is to say, the religious doctrine inculcated by it, was,

after the flood, corrupted by the pagan philosophers and priests, and,

receiving the title of _Spurious Freemasory_, was exhibited in the ancient

Mysteries. The Noachidae, however, preserved the principles of the

Primitive Freemasonry, and transmitted them to succeeding ages, when at

length they assumed the name of _Speculative Masonry_. The Primitive

Freemasonry was probably without ritual or symbolism, and consisted only

of a series of abstract propositions derived from antediluvian traditions.

Its dogmas were the unity of God and the immortality of the soul.

PROFANE. One who has not been initiated as a Freemason. In the technical

language of the Order, all who are not Freemasons are profanes. The term

is derived from the Latin words _pro fano_, which literally signify "in

front of the temple," because those in the ancient religions who were not

initiated in the sacred rites or Mysteries of any deity were not permitted

to enter the temple, but were compelled to remain outside, or in front of

it. They were kept on the outside. The expression a _profane_ is not

recognized as a noun substantive in the general usage of the language; but

it has been adopted as a technical term in the dialect of Freemasonry, in

the same relative sense in which the word _layman_ is used in the

professions of law and divinity.

PURE FREEMASONRY OF ANTIQUITY. The same as Primitive Freemasonry,--which

see.

PURIFICATION. A religious rite practised by the ancients, and which was

performed before any act of devotion. It consisted in washing the hands,

and sometimes the whole body, in lustral or consecrated water. It was

intended as a symbol of the internal purification of the heart. It was a

ceremony preparatory to initiation in all the ancient Mysteries.

PYTHAGORAS. A Grecian philosopher, supposed to have been born in the

island of Samos, about 584 B.C. He travelled extensively for the purpose

of acquiring knowledge. In Egypt he was initiated in the Mysteries of that

country by the priests. He also repaired to Babylon, where he became

acquainted with the mystical learning of the Chaldeans, and had, no doubt,

much communication with the Israelitish captives who had been exiled from

Jerusalem, and were then dwelling in Babylon. On his return to Europe he

established a school, which in its organization, as well as its doctrines,

bore considerable resemblance to Speculative Masonry; for which reason he

has been claimed as "an ancient friend and brother" by the modern

Freemasons.

RESURRECTION. This doctrine was taught in the ancient Mysteries, as it is

in Freemasonry, by a scenic representation. The initiation was death, the

autopsy was resurrection. Freemasonry does not interest itself with the

precise mode of the resurrection, or whether the body buried and the body

raised are in all their parts identical. Satisfied with the general

teaching of St. Paul, concerning the resurrection that "it is sown a

natural body, it is raised a spiritual body," Freemasonry inculcates by

its doctrine of the resurrection the simple fact of a progressive

advancement from a lower to a higher sphere, and the raising of the soul

from the bondage of death to its inheritance of eternal life.

RITUAL. The forms and ceremonies used in conferring the degrees, or in

conducting the labors, of a lodge are called the ritual. There are many

rites of Freemasonry, which differ from each other in the number and

division of the degrees, and in their rituals, or forms and ceremonies.

But the great principles of Freemasonry, its philosophy and its

symbolism, are alike in all. It is evident, then, that in an investigation

of the symbolism of Freemasonry, we have no concern with its ritual, which

is but an outer covering that is intended to conceal the treasure that is

within.

ROSICRUCIANS. A sect of hermetical philosophers, founded in the fifteenth

century, who were engaged in the study of abstruse sciences. It was a

secret society much resembling the masonic in its organization, and in

some of the subjects of its investigation; but it was in no other way

connected with Freemasonry. It is, however, well worth the study of the

masonic student on account of the light that it throws upon many of the

masonic symbols.

ROYAL ART. Freemasonry is so called because it is supposed to have been

founded by two kings,--the kings of Israel and Tyre,--and because it has

been subsequently encouraged and patronized by monarchs in all countries.

SABIANISM, or SABAISM. The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, the TSABA

_Hashmaim_, "the host of heaven." It was practised in Persia, Chaldea,

India, and other Oriental countries, at an early period of the world's

history. Sun-worship has had a powerful influence on subsequent and more

rational religions, and relics of it are to be found even in the symbolism

of Freemasonry.

SACELLUM. A sacred place consecrated to a god, and containing an altar.

SAINTE CROIX. The work of the Baron de Sainte Croix, in two volumes,

entitled, "Recherches Historiques et Critiques sur les Mysteres du

Paganisme," is one of the most valuable and instructive works that we have

in any language on the ancient Mysteries,--those religious associations

whose history and design so closely connect them with Freemasonry. To the

student of masonic philosophy and symbolism this work of Sainte Croix is

absolutely essential.

SALSETTE. An island in the Bay of Bombay, celebrated for stupendous

caverns excavated artificially out of the solid rock, and which were

appropriated to the initiations in the ancient Mysteries of India.

SENSES, FIVE HUMAN. A symbol of intellectual cultivation.

SETH. It is the masonic theory that the principles of the Pure or

Primitive Freemasonry were preserved in the race of Seth, which had always

kept separate from that of Cain, but that after the flood they became

corrupted, by a secession of a portion of the Sethites, who established

the Spurious Freemasonry of the Gentiles.

SEVEN. A sacred number among the Jews and the Gentiles, and called by

Pythagoras a "venerable number."

SHEM HAMPHORASH. (_the declaratory name_.) The tetragrammaton is so

called, because, of all the names of God, it alone distinctly declares his

nature and essence as self-existent and eternal.

SHOE. See _Investiture, Rite of_.

SIGNS. There is abundant evidence that they were used in the ancient

Mysteries. They are valuable only as modes of recognition. But while they

are absolutely conventional, they have, undoubtedly, in Freemasonry, a

symbolic reference.

SIVA. One of the manifestations of the supreme deity of the Hindoos, and a

symbol of the sun in its meridian.

SONS OF LIGHT. Freemasons are so called because _Lux_, or _Light_, is one

of the names of Speculative Masonry.

SOLOMON. The king of Israel, and the founder of the temple of Jerusalem

and of the temple organization of Freemasonry.

That his mind was eminently symbolic in its propensities, is evident from

all the writings that are attributed to him.

SPECULATIVE MASONRY. Freemasonry considered as a science which speculates

on the character of God and man, and is engaged in philosophical

investigations of the soul and a future existence, for which purpose it

uses the terms of an operative art.

It is engaged symbolically in the construction of a spiritual temple.

There is in it always a progress--an advancement from a lower to a higher

sphere.

SPIRITUAL TEMPLE. The body of man; that temple alluded to by Christ and

St. Paul; the temple, in the construction of which the Speculative Mason

is engaged, in contradistinction to that material temple which occupies

the labors of the Operative Mason.

SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY OF ANTIQUITY. A term applied to the initiations in

the Mysteries of the ancient pagan world, and to the doctrines taught in

those Mysteries. See _Mysteries_.

SQUARE. A geometric figure consisting of four equal sides and equal

angles. In Freemasonry it is a symbol of morality, or the strict

performance of every duty. The Greeks deemed it a figure of perfection,

and the "square man" was a man of unsullied integrity.

SQUARE, TRYING. One of the working-tools of a Fellow Craft, and a symbol

of morality.

STONE OF FOUNDATION. A very important symbol in the masonic system. It is

like the _word_, the symbol of divine truth.

STONE WORSHIP. A very early form of fetichism. The Pelasgians are supposed

to have given to their statues of the gods the general form of cubical

stones, whence in Hellenic times came the Hermae, or images of Hermes.

SUBSTITUTE WORD. A symbol of the unsuccessful search after divine truth,

and the discovery in this life of only an approximation to it.

SUN, RISING. In the Sabian worship the rising sun was adored on its

resurrection from the apparent death of its evening setting. Hence, in the

ancient Mysteries, the rising sun was a symbol of the regeneration of the

soul.

SUN-WORSHIP. The most ancient of all superstitions. It prevailed

especially in Phoenicia, Chaldea. and Egypt, and traces of it have been

discovered in Peru and Mexico. Its influence was felt in the ancient

Mysteries, and abundant allusions to it are to be found in the symbolism

of Freemasonry.

SWEDENBORG. A Swedish philosopher, and the founder of a religious sect.

Clavel, Ragon, and some other writers have sought to make him the founder

of a masonic rite also, but without authority. In 1767 Chastanier

established the rite of Illuminated Theosophists, whose instructions are

derived from the writings of Swedenborg, but the sage himself had nothing

to do with it. Yet it cannot be denied that the mind of Swedenborg was

eminently symbolic in character, and that the masonic student may derive

many valuable ideas from portions of his numerous works, especially from

his "Celestial Arcana" and his "Apocalypse Revealed."

SYMBOL. A visible sign with which a spiritual feeling, emotion, or idea is

connected.--_Mueller_. Every natural thing which is made the sign or

representation of a moral idea is a symbol.

SYMBOL, COMPOUND. A species of symbol not unusual in Freemasonry, where

the symbol is to be taken in a double sense, meaning in its general

application one thing, and then in a special application another.

SYMBOLISM, SCIENCE OF. To what has been said in the text, may be added the

following apposite remarks of Squier: "In the absence of a written

language or forms of expression capable of conveying abstract ideas, we

can readily comprehend the necessity, among a primitive people, of a

symbolic system. That symbolism in a great degree resulted from this

necessity, is very obvious; and that, associated with man's primitive

religious systems, it was afterwards continued, when in the advanced stage

of the human mind, the previous necessity no longer existed, is equally

undoubted. It thus came to constitute a kind of sacred language, and

became invested with an esoteric significance understood only by the

few."--_The Serpent Symbol in America_, p. 19.

TABERNACLE. Erected by Moses in the wilderness as a temporary place for

divine worship. It was the antitype of the temple of Jerusalem, and, like

it, was a symbol of the universe.

TALISMAN. A figure either carved in metal or stone, or delineated on

parchment or paper, made with superstitious ceremonies under what was

supposed to be the special influence of the planetary bodies, and believed

to possess occult powers of protecting the maker or possessor from danger.

The figure in the text is a talisman, and among the Orientals no talisman

was more sacred than this one where the nine digits are so disposed as to

make 15 each way. The Arabians called it _zahal_, which was the name of

the planet Saturn, because the nine digits added together make 45, and the

letters of the word _zahal_ are, according to the numerical powers of the

Arabic alphabet, equivalent to 45. The cabalists esteem it because 15 was

the numerical power of the letters composing the word JAH, which is one of

the names of God.

TALMUD. The mystical philosophy of the Jewish Rabbins is contained in the

Talmud, which is a collection of books divided into two parts, the

_Mishna_, which contains the record of the oral law, first committed to

writing in the second or third century, and the _Gemara_, or commentaries

on it. In the Talmud much will be found of great interest to the masonic

student.

TEMPLE. The importance of the temple in the symbolism of Freemasonry will

authorize the following citation from the learned Montfaucon (_Ant._ ii.

1. ii. ch. ii.): "Concerning the origin of _temples_, there is a variety

of opinions. According to Herodotus, the Egyptians were the first that

made altars, statues, and temples. It does not, however, appear that there

were any in Egypt in the time of Moses, for he never mentions them,

although he had many opportunities for doing so. Lucian says that the

Egyptians were the first people who built temples, and that the Assyrians

derived the custom from them, all of which is, however, very uncertain.

The first allusion to the subject in Scripture is the Tabernacle, which

was, in fact, a portable temple, and contained one place within it more

holy and secret than the others, called the _Holy of Holies_, and to which

the _adytum_ in the pagan temples corresponded. The first heathen temple

mentioned in Scripture is that of Dagon, the god of the Philistines. The

Greeks, who were indebted to the Phoenicians for many things, may be

supposed to have learned from them the art of building temples; and it is

certain that the Romans borrowed from the Greeks both the worship of the

gods and the construction of temples."

TEMPLE BUILDER. The title by which Hiram Abif is sometimes designated.

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. The building erected by King Solomon on Mount Moriah,

in Jerusalem, has been often called "the cradle of Freemasonry," because

it was there that that union took place between the operative and

speculative masons, which continued for centuries afterwards to present

the true organization of the masonic system.

As to the size of the temple, the dimensions given in the text may be

considered as accurate so far as they agree with the description given in

the First Book of Kings. Josephus gives a larger measure, and makes the

length 105 feet, the breadth 35 feet, and the height 210 feet; but even

these will not invalidate the statement in the text, that in size it was

surpassed by many a parish church.

TEMPLE SYMBOLISM. That symbolism which is derived from the temple of

Solomon. It is the most fertile of all kinds of symbolism in the

production of materials for the masonic science.

TERMINUS. One of the most ancient of the Roman deities. He was the god of

boundaries and landmarks, and his statue consisted only of a cubical

stone, without arms or legs, to show that he was immovable.

TETRACTYS. A figure used by Pythagoras, consisting of ten points, arranged

in a triangular form so as to represent the monad, duad, triad, and

quarterniad. It was considered as very sacred by the Pythagoreans, and was

to them what the tetragrammaton was to the Jews.

TETRAGRAMMATON. (From the Greek [Greek: tetra\s], _four_,

and [Greek: gra\mma], a letter. The four-lettered name of God in the Hebrew

language, which consisted of four letters, viz. [Hebrew: yod-heh-vau-heh]

commonly, but incorrectly, pronounced _Jehovah_. As a symbol it greatly

pervaded the rites of antiquity, and was perhaps the earliest symbol

corrupted by the Spurious Freemasonry of the pagan Mysteries.

It was held by the Jews in profound veneration, and its origin supposed to

have been by divine revelation at the burning bush.

The word was never pronounced, but wherever met with _Adonai_ was

substituted for it, which custom was derived from the perverted reading of

a, passage in the Pentateuch. The true pronunciation consequently was

utterly lost; this is explained by the want of vowels in the Hebrew

alphabet, so that the true vocalization of a word cannot be learned from

the letters of which it is composed.

The true pronunciation was intrusted to the high priest; but lest the

knowledge of it should be lost by his sudden death, it was also

communicated to his assistant; it was known also, probably, to the kings

of Israel.

The Cabalists and Talmudists enveloped it in a host of superstitions.

It was also used by the Essenes in their sacred rites, and by the

Egyptians as a pass-word.

Cabalistically read and pronounced, it means the male and female principle

of nature, the generative and prolific energy of creation.

THAMMUZ. A Syrian god, who was worshipped by those women of the Hebrews

who had fallen into idolatry. The idol was the same as the Phoenician

Adonis, and the Mysteries of the two were identical.

TRAVELLING FREEMASONS. See _Freemasons, Travelling_.

TRESTLE BOARD. The board or tablet on which the designs of the architect

are inscribed. It is a symbol of the moral law as set forth in the

revealed will of God.

Every man must have his trestle board, because it is the duty of every man

to work out the task which God, the chief Architect, has assigned to him.

TRIANGLE. A symbol of Deity.

This symbolism is found in many of the ancient religions.

Among the Egyptians it was a symbol of universal nature, or of the

protection of the world by the male and female energies of creation.

TRIANGLE, RADIATED. A triangle placed within a circle of rays. In

Christian art it is a symbol of God; then the rays are called a _glory_.

When they surround the triangle in the form of a circle, the triangle is a

symbol of the glory of God. When the rays emanate from the centre of the

triangle, it is a symbol of divine light. This is the true form of the

masonic radiated triangle.

TRILITERAL NAME. This is the word AUM, which is the ineffable name of God

among the Hindoos, and symbolizes the three manifestations of the

Brahminical supreme god, Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu. It was never to be

pronounced aloud, and was analogous to the sacred tetragrammaton of the

Jews.

TROWEL. One of the working tools of a Master Mason. It is a symbol of

brotherly love.

TRUTH. It was not always taught publicly by the ancient philosophers to

the people.

The search for it is the object of Freemasonry. It is never found on

earth, but a substitute for it is provided.

TUAPHOLL. A term used by the Druids to designate an unhallowed

circumambulation around the sacred cairn, or altar, the movement being

against the sun, that is, from west to east by the north, the cairn being

on the left hand of the circumambulator.

TUBAL CAIN. Of the various etymologies of this name, only one is given in

the text; but most of the others in some way identify him with Vulcan.

Wellsford (_Mithridates Minor_ p. 4) gives a singular etymology, deriving

the name of the Hebrew patriarch from the definite article [Hebrew: heh]

converted into _T_ and _Baal_, "Lord," with the Arabic _kayn_, "a

blacksmith," so that the word would then signify "the lord of the

blacksmiths." Masonic writers have, however, generally adopted the more

usual derivation of _Cain_, from a word signifying _possession_; and

Oliver descants on Tubal Cain as a symbol of worldly possessions. As to

the identity of Vulcan with Tubal Cain, we may learn something from the

definition of the offices of the former, as given by Diodorus Siculus:

"Vulcan was the first founder of works in iron, brass, gold, silver, and

all fusible metals; and he taught the uses to which fire can be applied in

the arts." See Genesis: "Tubal Cain, an instructor of every artificer in

brass and iron."

TWENTY-FOUR INCH GAUGE. A two-foot rule. One of the working-tools of an

Entered Apprentice, and a symbol of time well employed.

TYPHON. The brother and slayer of Osiris in the Egyptian mythology. As

Osiris was a type or symbol of the sun, Typhon was the symbol of winter,

when the vigor, heat, and, as it were, life of the sun are destroyed, and

of darkness as opposed to light.

TYRE. A city of Phoenicia, the residence of King Hiram, the friend and

ally of Solomon, whom he supplied with men and materials for the

construction of the temple.

TYRIAN FREEMASONS. These were the members of the Society of Dionysiac

Artificers, who at the time of the building of Solomon's temple flourished

at Tyre. Many of them were sent to Jerusalem by Hiram, King of Tyre, to

assist King Solomon in the construction of his temple. There, uniting with

the Jews, who had only a knowledge of the speculative principles of

Freemasonry, which had been transmitted to them from Noah, through the

patriarchs, the Tyrian Freemasons organized that combined system of

Operative and Speculative Masonry which continued for many centuries,

until the beginning of the eighteenth, to characterize the institution.

See _Dionysiac Artificers_.

UNION. The union of the operative with the speculative element of

Freemasonry took place at the building of King Solomon's temple.

UNITY OF GOD. This, as distinguished from the pagan doctrine of

polytheism, or a multitude of gods, is one of the two religious truths

taught in Speculative Masonry, the other being the immortality of the

soul.

WEARY SOJOURNERS. The legend of the "three weary sojourners" in the Royal

Arch degree is undoubtedly a philosophical myth, symbolizing the search

after truth.

WHITE. A symbol of innocence and purity.

Among the Pythagoreans it was a symbol of the good principle in nature,

equivalent to light.

WIDOW'S SON. An epithet bestowed upon the chief architect of the temple,

because he was "a widow's son of the tribe of Naphthali." 1 Kings vii. 14.

WINDING STAIRS, LEGEND OF. A legend in the Fellow Craft's degree having no

historical truth, but being simply a philosophical myth or legendary

symbol intended to communicate a masonic dogma.

It is the symbol of an ascent from a lower to a higher sphere.

It commences at the porch of the temple, which is a symbol of the entrance

into life.

The number of steps are always odd, because odd numbers are a symbol of

perfection.

But the fifteen steps in the American system are a symbol of the name of

God, _Jah_.

WINE. An element of masonic consecration, and, as a symbol of the inward

refreshment of a good conscience, is intended under the name of the "wine

of refreshment," to remind us of the eternal refreshments which the good

are to receive in the future life for the faithful performance of duty in

the present.

WORD. In Freemasonry this is a technical and symbolic term, and signifies

divine truth. The search after this word constitutes the whole system of

speculative masonry.

WORD, LOST. See _Lost Word_.

WORD, SUBSTITUTE. See _Substitute Word_.

WORK. In Freemasonry the initiation of a candidate is called _work_. It is

suggestive of the doctrine that labor is a masonic duty.

YGGDRASIL. The sacred ash tree in the Scandinavian Mysteries. Dr. Oliver

propounds the theory that it is the analogue of the theological ladder in

the Masonic Mysteries. But it is doubtful whether this theory is tenable.

YOD. A Hebrew letter and about equivalent to the English I or Y. It is the

initial letter of the tetragrammaton, and is often used, especially

enclosed within a triangle, as a substitute for, or an abridgement of,

that sacred word.

It is a symbol of the life-giving and sustaining power of God.

YONI. Among the nations and religions of India the yoni was the

representation of the female organ of generation, and was the symbol of

the prolific power of nature. It is the same as the _cteis_ among the

Occidental nations.

ZENNAAR. The sacred girdle of the Hindoos. It is supposed to be the

analogue of the masonic apron.

ZOROASTER. A distinguished philosopher and reformer, whose doctrines were

professed by the ancient Persians. The religion of Zoroaster was a

dualism, in which the two antagonizing principles were Ormuzd and Abriman,

symbols of Light and Darkness. It was a modification and purification of

the old fire-worship, in which the fire became a symbol of the sun, so

that it was really a species of sun-worship. Mithras, representing the

sun, becomes the mediator between Ormuzd, or the principle of Darkness,

and the world.

Footnotes

[1] "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, if it is a real

advantage, follows unavoidably from the idea of God. The _best_ Being, he

must _will_ the best of good things; the _wisest_, he must devise plans

for that effect; the _most powerful_, he must bring it about. None can

deny this."--THEO. PARKER, _Discourse of Matters pertaining to Religion_,

b. ii. ch. viii. p. 205.

[2] "This institution of religion, like society, friendship, and marriage,

comes out of a principle, deep and permanent in the heart: as humble, and

transient, and partial institutions come out of humble, transient, and

partial wants, and are to be traced to the senses and the phenomena of

life, so this sublime, permanent, and useful institution came out from

sublime, permanent, and universal wants, and must be referred to the soul,

and the unchanging realities of life."--PARKER, _Discourse of Religion_,

b. i. ch. i. p. 14.

[3] "The sages of all nations, ages, and religions had some ideas of these

sublime doctrines, though more or less degraded, adulterated and obscured;

and these scattered hints and vestiges of the most sacred and exalted

truths were originally rays and emanations of ancient and primitive

traditions, handed down from, generation to generation, since the

beginning of the world, or at least since the fall of man, to all

mankind."--CHEV. RAMSAY, _Philos. Princ. of Nat. and Rev. Relig.,_ vol ii.

p. 8.

[4] "In this form, not only the common objects above enumerated, but gems,

metals, stones that fell from heaven, images, carved bits of wood, stuffed

skins of beasts, like the medicine-bags of the North American Indians, are

reckoned as divinities, and so become objects of adoration. But in this

case, the visible object, is idealized; not worshipped as the brute thing

really is, but as the type and symbol of God."--PARKER, _Disc. of Relig._

b. i. ch. v. p. 50.

[5] A recent writer thus eloquently refers to the universality, in ancient

times, of sun-worship: "Sabaism, the worship of light, prevailed amongst

all the leading nations of the early world. By the rivers of India, on the

mountains of Persia, in the plains of Assyria, early mankind thus adored,

the higher spirits in each country rising in spiritual thought from the

solar orb up to Him whose vicegerent it seems--to the Sun of all being,

whose divine light irradiates and purifies the world of soul, as the solar

radiance does the world of sense. Egypt, too, though its faith be but

dimly known to us, joined in this worship; Syria raised her grand temples

to the sun; the joyous Greeks sported with the thought while feeling it,

almost hiding it under the mythic individuality which their lively fancy

superimposed upon it. Even prosaic China makes offerings to the yellow orb

of day; the wandering Celts and Teutons held feasts to it, amidst the

primeval forests of Northern Europe; and, with a savagery characteristic

of the American aborigines, the sun temples of Mexico streamed with human

blood in honor of the beneficent orb."--_The Castes and Creeds of India,_

Blackw. Mag., vol. lxxxi. p. 317.--"There is no people whose religion is

known to us," says the Abbe Banier, "neither in our own continent nor in

that of America, that has not paid the sun a religious worship, if we

except some inhabitants of the torrid zone, who are continually cursing

the sun for scorching them with his beams."--_Mythology_, lib. iii. ch.

iii.--Macrobius, in his _Saturnalia,_ undertakes to prove that all the

gods of Paganism may be reduced to the sun.

[6] "Varro de religionibus loquens, evidenter dicit, multa esse vera, quae

vulgo scire non sit utile; multaque, quae tametsi falsa sint, aliter

existimare populum expediat."--St. AUGUSTINE, _De Civil. Dei._--We must

regret, with the learned Valloisin, that the sixteen books of Varro, on

the religious antiquities of the ancients, have been lost; and the regret

is enhanced by the reflection that they existed until the beginning of the

fourteenth century, and disappeared only when their preservation for less

than two centuries more would, by the discovery of printing, have secured

their perpetuity.

[7] Strabo, Geog., lib. i.

[8] Maurice, Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 297.

[9] Div. Leg., vol. i. b. ii. Sec. iv. p. 193, 10th Lond. edit.

[10] The hidden doctrines of the unity of the Deity and the immortality of

the soul were taught originally in all the Mysteries, even those of Cupid

and Bacchus.--WARBURTON, apud Spence's _Anecdotes_, p. 309.

[11] Isoc. Paneg., p. 59.

[12] Apud Arrian. Dissert., lib. iii. c. xxi.

[13] Phaedo.

[14] Dissert. on the Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries, in the Pamphleteer,

vol. viii. p. 53.

[15] Symbol. und Mythol. der Alt. Voelk.

[16] In these Mysteries, after the people had for a long time bewailed the

loss of a particular person, he was at last supposed to be restored to

life.--BRYANT, _Anal. of Anc. Mythology_, vol. iii. p. 176.

[17] Herod. Hist., lib. iii. c. clxxi.

[18] The legend says it was cut into _fourteen_ pieces. Compare this with

the _fourteen_ days of burial in the masonic legend of the third degree.

Why the particular number in each? It has been thought by some, that in

the latter legend there was a reference to the half of the moon's age, or

its dark period, symbolic of the darkness of death, followed by the

fourteen days of bright moon, or restoration to life.

[19] Mysteres du Paganisme, tom. i. p. 6.

[20] Notes to Rawlinson's Herodotus, b. ii. ch. clxxi. Mr. Bryant

expresses the same opinion: "The principal rites in Egypt were confessedly

for a person lost and consigned for a time to darkness, who was at last

found. This person I have mentioned to have been described under the

character of Osiris."--_Analysis of Ancient Mythology_, vol. iii. p. 177.

[21] Spirit of Masonry, p. 100.

[22] Varro, according to St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, vi. 5), says that

among the ancients there were three kinds of theology--a _mythical_, which

was used by the poets; a _physical_, by the philosophers, and a _civil_,

by the people.

[23] "Tous les ans," says Sainte Croix, "pendant les jours consacres au

souvenir de sa mort, tout etoit plonge dans la tristesse: on ne cessoit de

pousser des gemissemens; on alloit meme jusqu'a se flageller et se donner

des coups. Le dernier jour de ce deuil, on faisoit des sacrifices funebres

en l'honneur de ce dieu. Le jour suivant, on recevoit la nouvelle

qu'Adonis venoit d'etre rappele a la vie, qui mettoit fin a leur

deuil."--_Recherches sur les Myst. du Paganisme_, tom. ii. p. 105.

[24] Clement of Alexandria calls them [Greek: myste/ria ta\ pro\

mysteri/on], "the mysteries before the mysteries."

[25] Les petits mysteres ne consistoient qu'en ceremonies

preparatoires.--_Sainte Croix_, i. 297.--As to the oath of secrecy, Bryant

says, "The first thing at these awful meetings was to offer an oath of

secrecy to all who were to be initiated, after which they proceeded to the

ceremonies."--_Anal. of Anc. Myth._, vol. iii. p. 174.--The Orphic

Argonautics allude to the oath: [Greek: meta\ d' o(rkia My/si~ais,

k. t. l.], "after the oath was administered to the mystes," &c.--_Orph.

Argon._, v. 11.

[26] The satirical pen of Aristophanes has not spared the Dionysiac

festivals. But the raillery and sarcasm of a comic writer must always be

received with many grains of allowance. He has, at least, been candid

enough to confess that no one could be initiated who had been guilty of

any crime against his country or the public security.--_Ranae_, v.

360-365.--Euripides makes the chorus in his Bacchae proclaim that the

Mysteries were practised only for virtuous purposes. In Rome, however,

there can be little doubt that the initiations partook at length of a

licentious character. "On ne peut douter," says Ste. Croix, "que

l'introduction des fetes de Bacchus en Italie n'ait accelere les progres

du libertinage et de la debauche dans cette contree."--_Myst. du Pag._,

tom. ii. p. 91.--St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, lib. vii. c. xxi.) inveighs

against the impurity of the ceremonies in Italy of the sacred rites of

Bacchus. But even he does not deny that the motive with which they were

performed was of a religious, or at least superstitious nature--"Sic

videlicet Liber deus placandus fuerat." The propitiation of a deity was

certainly a religious act.

[27] Hist. Greece, vol. ii. p. 140.

[28] This language is quoted from Robison (_Proofs of a Conspiracy_, p.

20, Lond. edit. 1797), whom none will suspect or accuse of an undue

veneration for the antiquity or the morality of the masonic order.

[29] We must not confound these Asiatic builders with the play-actors, who

were subsequently called by the Greeks, as we learn from Aulus Gellius

(lib. xx. cap. 4), "artificers of Dionysus"--[Greek: Dionysiakoi

technitai\].

[30] There is abundant evidence, among ancient authors, of the existence

of signs and passwords in the Mysteries. Thus Apuleius, in his Apology,

says, "Si qui forte adest eorundem Solemnium mihi particeps, signum dato,"

etc.; that is, "If any one happens to be present who has been initiated

into the same rites as myself, if he will give me the sign, he shall then

be at liberty to hear what it is that I keep with so much care." Plautus

also alludes to this usage, when, in his "Miles Gloriosus," act iv. sc. 2,

he makes Milphidippa say to Pyrgopolonices, "Cedo signum, si harunc

Baccharum es;" i.e., "Give the sign if you are one of these Bacchae," or

initiates into the Mysteries of Bacchus. Clemens Alexandrinus calls these

modes of recognition [Greek: sothemata], as if _means of safety_. Apuleius

elsewhere uses _memoracula_, I think to denote passwords, when he says,

"sanctissime sacrorum signa et memoracula custodire," which I am inclined

to translate, "most scrupulously to preserve the signs and passwords of

the sacred rites."

[31] The Baron de Sainte Croix gives this brief view of the ceremonies:

"Dans ces mysteres on employoit, pour remplir l'ame des assistans d'une

sainte horreur, les memes moyens qu'a Eleusis. L'apparition de fantomes et

de divers objets propres a effrayer, sembloit disposer les esprits a la

credulite. Ils en avoient sans doute besoin, pour ajouter foi a toutes les

explications des mystagogues: elles rouloient sur le massacre de Bacchus

par les Titans," &c.--_Recherches sur les Mysteres du Paganisme_, tom. ii.

sect. vii. art. iii. p. 89.

[32] Lawrie, Hist. of Freemasonry, p. 27.

[33] Vincentius Lirinensis or Vincent of Lirens, who lived in the fifth

century of the Christian era, wrote a controversial treatise entitled

"Commonitorium," remarkable for the blind veneration which it pays to the

voice of tradition. The rule which he there lays down, and which is cited

in the text, may be considered, in a modified application, as an axiom by

which we may test the _probability_, at least, of all sorts of traditions.

None out of the pale of Vincent's church will go so far as he did in

making it the criterion of positive truth.

[34] Prolog. zu einer wissenshaftlich. Mythologie.

[35] In German _hutten_, in English _lodges_, whence the masonic term.

[36] Historical Essay on Architecture, ch. xxi.

[37] Bishop England, in his "Explanation of the Mass," says that in every

ceremony we must look for three meanings: "the first, the literal,

natural, and, it may be said, the original meaning; the second, the

figurative or emblematic signification; and thirdly, the pious or

religious meaning: frequently the two last will be found the same;

sometimes all three will be found combined." Here lies the true difference

between the symbolism of the church and that of Masonry. In the former,

the symbolic meaning was an afterthought applied to the original, literal

one; in the latter, the symbolic was always the original signification of

every ceremony.

[38] /P "Was not all the knowledge Of the Egyptians writ in mystic

symbols? Speak not the Scriptures oft in parables? Are not the choicest

fables of the poets, That were the fountains and first springs of wisdom,

Wrapped in perplexed allegories?"

BEN JONSON, _Alchemist_, act ii. sc. i. P/

[39] The distinguished German mythologist Mueller defines a symbol to be

"an eternal, visible sign, with which a spiritual feeling, emotion, or

idea is connected." I am not aware of a more comprehensive, and at the

same time distinctive, definition.

[40] And it may be added, that the word becomes a symbol of an idea; and

hence, Harris, in his "Hermes," defines language to be "a system of

articulate voices, the symbols of our ideas, but of those principally

which are general or universal."--_Hermes_, book iii. ch. 3.

[41] "Symbols," says Mueller, "are evidently coeval with the human race;

they result from the union of the soul with the body in man; nature has

implanted the feeling for them in the human heart."--_Introduction to a

Scientific System of Mythology_, p. 196, Leitch's translation.--R.W.

Mackay says, "The earliest instruments of education were symbols, the most

universal symbols of the multitudinously present Deity, being earth or

heaven, or some selected object, such as the sun or moon, a tree or a

stone, familiarly seen in either of them."--_Progress of the Intellect_,

vol. i p. 134.

[42] Between the allegory, or parable, and the symbol, there is, as I have

said, no essential difference. The Greek verb [Greek: paraballo], whence

comes the word _parable_, and the verb [Greek: symballo] in the same

language, which is the root of the word _symbol_, both have the synonymous

meaning "to compare." A parable is only a spoken symbol. The definition of

a parable given by Adam Clarke is equally applicable to a symbol, viz.: "A

comparison or similitude, in which one thing is compared with another,

especially spiritual things with natural, by which means these spiritual

things are better understood, and make a deeper impression on the

attentive mind."

[43] North British Review, August, 1851. Faber passes a similar encomium.

"Hence the language of symbolism, being so purely a language of ideas, is,

in one respect, more perfect than any ordinary language can be: it

possesses the variegated elegance of synonymes without any of the

obscurity which arises from the use of ambiguous terms."--_On the

Prophecies_, ii. p. 63.

[44] "By speculative Masonry we learn to subdue our passions, to act upon

the square, to keep a tongue of good report, to maintain secrecy, and

practise charity."--_Lect. of Fel. Craft._ But this is a very meagre

definition, unworthy of the place it occupies in the lecture of the second

degree.

[45] "Animal worship among the Egyptians was the natural and unavoidable

consequence of the misconception, by the vulgar, of those emblematical

figures invented by the priests to record their own philosophical

conception of absurd ideas. As the pictures and effigies suspended in

early Christian churches, to commemorate a person or an event, became in

time objects of worship to the vulgar, so, in Egypt, the esoteric or

spiritual meaning of the emblems was lost in the gross materialism of the

beholder. This esoteric and allegorical meaning was, however, preserved by

the priests, and communicated in the mysteries alone to the initiated,

while the uninstructed retained only the grosser conception."--GLIDDON,

_Otia Aegyptiaca_, p. 94.

[46] "To perpetuate the esoteric signification of these symbols to the

initiated, there were established the Mysteries, of which institution we

have still a trace in Freemasonry."--GLIDDON, _Otia Aegyp._ p. 95.

[47] Philo Judaeus says, that "Moses had been initiated by the Egyptians

into the philosophy of symbols and hieroglyphics, as well as into the

ritual of the holy animals." And Hengstenberg, in his learned work on

"Egypt and the Books of Moses," conclusively shows, by numerous examples,

how direct were the Egyptian references of the Pentateuch; in which fact,

indeed, he recognizes "one of the most powerful arguments for its

credibility and for its composition by Moses."--HENGSTENBERG, p. 239,

Robbins's trans.

[48] Josephus, _Antiq._ book iii. ch. 7.

[49] The ark, or sacred boat, of the Egyptians frequently occurs on the

walls of the temples. It was carried in great pomp by the priests on the

occasion of the "procession of the shrines," by means of staves passed

through metal rings in its side. It was thus conducted into the temple,

and deposited on a stand. The representations we have of it bear a

striking resemblance to the Jewish ark, of which it is now admitted to

have been the prototype.

[50] "The Egyptian reference in the Urim and Thummim is especially

distinct and incontrovertible."--HENGSTENBERG, p. 158.

[51] According to the estimate of Bishop Cumberland, it was only one

hundred and nine feet in length, thirty-six in breadth, and fifty-four in

height.

[52] "Thus did our wise Grand Master contrive a plan, by mechanical and

practical allusions, to instruct the craftsmen in principles of the most

sublime speculative philosophy, tending to the glory of God, and to secure

to them temporal blessings here and eternal life hereafter, as well as to

unite the speculative and operative Masons, thereby forming a twofold

advantage, from the principles of geometry and architecture on the one

part, and the precepts of wisdom and ethics on the other."--CALCOTT,

_Candid Disquisition_, p. 31, ed. 1769.

[53] This proposition I ask to be conceded; the evidences of its truth

are, however, abundant, were it necessary to produce them. The craft,

generally, will, I presume, assent to it.

[54]

"The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned

To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,

And spread the roof above them--ere he framed

The lofty vault, to gather and roll back

The sound of anthems--in the darkling wood,

Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down,

And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks

And supplication."--BRYANT.

[55] Theologians have always given a spiritual application to the temple

of Solomon, referring it to the mysteries of the Christian dispensation.

For this, consult all the biblical commentators. But I may particularly

mention, on this subject, Bunyan's "Solomon's Temple Spiritualized," and a

rare work in folio, by Samuel Lee, Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford,

published at London in 1659, and entitled "Orbis Miraculum, or the Temple

of Solomon portrayed by Scripture Light." A copy of this scarce work,

which treats very learnedly of "the spiritual mysteries of the gospel

veiled under the temple," I have lately been, by good fortune, enabled to

add to my library.

[56] Veluti pecora, quae natura finxit prona et obedientia

ventri.--SALLUST, _Bell. Catil._ i.

[57] I Kings vi. 7.

[58] In further illustration of the wisdom of these temple contrivances,

it may be mentioned that, by marks placed upon the materials which had

been thus prepared at a distance, the individual production of every

craftsman was easily ascertained, and the means were provided of rewarding

merit and punishing indolence.

[59] "Each of the pagan gods had (besides the _public_ and _open_) a

_secret worship_ paid unto him; to which none were admitted but those who

had been selected by preparatory ceremonies, called Initiation. This

_secret-worship_ was termed the Mysteries."--WARBURTON, _Div. Leg. I. i.

p. 189_.

[60] It must be remarked, however, that many of the Fellow Crafts were

also stone-cutters in the mountains, _chotzeb bahor_, and, with their

nicer implements, more accurately adjusted the stones which had been

imperfectly prepared by the apprentices. This fact does not at all affect

the character of the symbolism we are describing. The due preparation of

the materials, the symbol of purification, was necessarily continued in

all the degrees. The task of purification never ceases.

[61] The classical reader will here be reminded of that beautiful passage

of Horace, commencing with "Justum et tenacem propositi virum."--Lib. iii.

od. 3.

[62] "Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque

turres."--HOR. lib. i. od. 4.

[63] It is worth noticing that the verb _natzach_, from which the title

of the _menatzchim_ (the overseers or Master Masons in the ancient

temple), is derived, signifies also in Hebrew _to be perfected, to be

completed_. The third degree is the perfection of the symbolism of the

temple, and its lessons lead us to the completion of life. In like

manner the Mysteries, says Christie, "were termed [Greek: teletai\],

_perfections_, because they were supposed to induce a perfectness of

life. Those who were purified by them were styled [Greek: teloume/noi],

and [Greek: tetelesme/noi], that is, brought to

perfection."--_Observations on Ouvaroff's Essay on the Eleusinian

Mysteries_, p. 183.

[64] Dr. Oliver, in the first or preliminary lecture of his "Historical

Landmarks," very accurately describes the difference between the pure or

primitive Freemasonry of the Noachites, and the spurious Freemasonry of

the heathens.

[65] The idea of the world, as symbolically representing God's temple, has

been thus beautifully developed in a hymn by N.P. Willis, written for the

dedication of a church:--

"The perfect world by Adam trod

Was the first temple built by God;

His fiat laid the corner stone,

And heaved its pillars, one by one.

"He hung its starry roof on high--

The broad, illimitable sky;

He spread its pavement, green and bright,

And curtained it with morning light.

"The mountains in their places stood,

The sea, the sky, and 'all was good;'

And when its first pure praises rang,

The 'morning stars together sang.'

"Lord, 'tis not ours to make the sea,

And earth, and sky, a house for thee;

But in thy sight our offering stands,

A humbler temple, made with hands."

[66] "The idea," says Dudley, "that the earth is a level surface, and of a

square form, is so likely to have been entertained by persons of little

experience and limited observation, that it may be justly supposed to have

prevailed generally in the early ages of the world."--_Naology_, p. 7.

[67] The quadrangular form of the earth is preserved in almost all the

scriptural allusions that are made to it. Thus Isaiah (xi. 12) says, "The

Lord shall gather together the dispersed of Judah from the _four corners_

of the earth;" and we find in the Apocalypse (xx. 9) the prophetic version

of "four angels standing on the _four corners_ of the earth."

[68] "The form of the lodge ought to be a double cube, as an expressive

emblem of the powers of darkness and light in the creation."--OLIVER,

_Landmarks_, i. p. 135, note 37.

[69] Not that whole visible universe, in its modern signification, as

including solar systems upon solar systems, rolling in illimitable space,

but in the more contracted view of the ancients, where the earth formed

the floor, and the sky the ceiling. "To the vulgar and untaught eye," says

Dudley, "the heaven or sky above the earth appears to be co-extensive with

the earth, and to take the same form, enclosing a cubical space, of which

the earth was the base, the heaven or sky the upper surface."--_Naology_,

7.--And it is to this notion of the universe that the masonic symbol of

the lodge refers.

[70] "These rocky shrines, the formation of which Mr. Grose supposes to

have been a labor equal to that of erecting the Pyramids of Egypt, are of

various height, extent, and depth. They are partitioned out, by the labor

of the hammer and the chisel, into many separate chambers, and the roof,

which in the pagoda of Elephanta is flat, but in that of Salsette is

arched, is supported by rows of pillars of great thickness, and arranged

with much regularity. The walls are crowded with gigantic figures of men

and women, engaged in various actions, and portrayed in various whimsical

attitudes; and they are adorned with several evident symbols of the

religion now prevailing in India. Above, as in a sky, once probably

adorned with gold and azure, in the same manner as Mr. Savary lately

observed in the ruinous remains of some ancient Egyptian temples, are seen

floating the children of imagination, genii and dewtahs, in multitudes,

and along the cornice, in high relief, are the figures of elephants,

horses, and lions, executed with great accuracy. Two of the principal

figures at Salsette are twenty-seven feet in height, and of proportionate

magnitude; the very bust only of the triple-headed deity in the grand

pagoda of Elephanta measures fifteen feet from the base to the top of the

cap, while the face of another, if Mr. Grose, who measured it, may be

credited, is above five feet in length, and of corresponding

breadth."--MAURICE, _Ind. Ant._ vol. ii. p. 135.

[71] According to Faber, the egg was a symbol of the world or megacosm,

and also of the ark, or microcosm, as the lunette or crescent was a symbol

of the Great Father, the egg and lunette--which was the hieroglyphic of

the god Lunus, at Heliopolis--was a symbol of the world proceeding from

the Great Father.--_Pagan Idolatry_, vol. i. b. i. ch. iv.

[72] Zoroaster taught that the sun was the most perfect fire of God, the

throne of his glory, and the residence of his divine presence, and he

therefore instructed his disciples "to direct all their worship to God

first towards the sun (which they called Mithras), and next towards their

sacred fires, as being the things in which God chiefly dwelt; and their

ordinary way of worship was to do so towards both. For when they came

before these fires to worship, _they always approached them on the west

side_, that, having their faces towards them and also towards the rising

sun at the same time, they might direct their worship to both. And in this

posture they always performed every act of their worship."--PRIDEAUX.

_Connection._ i. 216.

[73] "The mysteries of Ceres (or Eleusis) are principally distinguished

from all others as having been the depositories of certain traditions

coeval with the world."--OUVAROFF, _Essay on the Mysteries of Eleusis_, p.

[74] The dadouchus, or torch-bearer, carried a symbol of the sun.

[75] "Indeed, the most ancient superstition of all nations," says Maurice,

"has been the worship of the sun, as the lord of heaven and the governor

of the world; and in particular it prevailed in Phoenicia, Chaldaea,

Egypt, and from later information we may add, Peru and Mexico, represented

in a variety of ways, and concealed under a multitude of fanciful names.

Through all the revolutions of time the great luminary of heaven hath

exacted from the generations of men the tribute of devotion."--_Indian

Antiquities_, vol. ii. p. 91.

[76] Facciolatus thus defines the Phallus: "penis ligneus, vel vitreus,

vel coriaceus, quem in Bacchi festis plaustro impositum per rura et urbes

magno honore circumferebant."--_Lex. in voc._

[77] The exhibition of these images in a colossal form, before the gates

of ancient temples, was common. Lucian tells us of two colossal Phalli,

each one hundred and eighty feet high, which stood in the fore court of

the temple at Hierapolis. Mailer, in his "Ancient Art and its Remains,"

mentions, on the authority of Leake, the fact that a colossal Phallus,

which once stood on the top of the tomb of the Lydian king Halyattes, is

now lying near the same spot; it is not an entire Phallus, but only the

head of one; it is twelve feet in diameter below and nine feet over the

glands. The Phallus has even been found, so universal was this worship,

among the savages of America. Dr. Arthaut discovered, in the year 1790, a

marble Phallic image in a cave of the island of St. Domingo.--CLAVEL,

_Hist. Pittoresq. des Religions_, p. 9.

[78] Sonnerat (Voyage aux Indes Orient, i. p. 118) observes, that the

professors of this worship were of the purest principles and most

unblemished conduct, and it seems never to have entered into the heads of

the Indian legislator and people that anything natural could be grossly

obscene.--Sir William Jones remarks (Asiatic Researches, i. 254), that

from the earliest periods the women of Asia, Greece, and Italy wore this

symbol as a jewel, and Clavel tells us that a similar usage prevails at

this day among the women in some of the villages of Brittany. Seely tells

us that the Lingam, or Indian Phallus, is an emblem as frequently met with

in Hindostan as the cross is in Catholic countries.--_Wonders of Elora._

p. 278.

[79] Num. xxv. 1-3. See also Psalm cvi. 28: "They joined themselves also

unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead." This last expression,

according to Russel, has a distinct reference to the physical qualities of

matter, and to the time when death, by the winter absence of the solar

heat, gets, as it were, possession of the earth. Baal-peor was, he says,

the sun exercising his powers of fecundity.--_Connection of Sacred and

Profane History_

[80] Is there not a seeming reference to this thought of divine

hermaphrodism in the well-known passage of Genesis? "So God created man in

his own image, in the image of God created he him: _male and female_

created he them." And so being created "male and female," they were "in

the image of God."

[81] The world being animated by man, says Creuzer, in his learned work on

Symbolism, received from him the two sexes, represented by heaven and the

earth. Heaven, as the fecundating principle, was male, and the source of

fire; the earth, as the fecundated, was female, and the source of

humidity. All things issued from the alliance of these two principles. The

vivifying powers of the heavens are concentrated in the sun, and the

earth, eternally fixed in the place which it occupies, receives the

emanations from the sun, through the medium of the moon, which sheds upon

the earth the germs which the sun had deposited in its fertile bosom. The

Lingam is at once the symbol and the mystery of this religious idea.

[82] Such was the opinion of some of the ancient sun-worshippers, whose

adorations were always performed in the open air, because they thought no

temple was spacious enough to contain the sun; and hence the saying,

"Mundus universus est templum solis"--the universe is the temple of the

sun. Like our ancient brethren, they worshipped only on _the highest

hills_. Another analogy.

[83] _Asgard_, the abode of the gods, is shaded by the ash tree,

_Ydrasil_, where the gods assemble every day to do justice. The branches

of this tree extend themselves over the whole world, and reach above the

heavens. It hath three roots, extremely distant from each other: one of

them is among the gods; the second is among the giants, where the abyss

formerly was; the third covers _Niflheim_, or hell, and under this root is

the fountain _Vergelmer_, whence flow the infernal rivers.--_Edda, Fab._

[84] Exod. iii. 5.

[85] Commentaries _in loco_.

[86] Commentary on Exod. iii. 5.

[87] Iamblichi Vita Pythag. c. 105. In another place he says, "[Greek:

Thy/ein chre\ a)nypo/deton, kai pro\s ta i(era\ prostie/nai],"--We must

sacrifice and enter temples with the shoes off. Ibid. c. 85.

[88] "Quod etiam nunc apud plerasque Orientis nationes piaculum sit,

calceato pede templorum pavimenta calcasse."

[89] Beth Habbechirah, cap. vii.

[90] Histor. Landm. vol. ii. p. 481.

[91] "Non datur nobis potestas adeundi templum nisi nudibus pedibus."

[92] Commentaries, _ut supra_.

[93] See a paper "on the religious ceremonies of the Hindus," by H.T.

Colebrooke, Esq. in the Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 357.

[94] A Specimen of the Critical History of the Celtic Religion and

Learning. Letter ii. Sec. xvii.

[95] Dr. Oliver, referring to the "twelve grand points in Masonry," which

formed a part of the old English lectures, says, "When the candidate was

_intrusted_, he represented Asher, for he was then presented with the

glorious fruit of masonic knowledge, as Asher was represented by fatness

and royal dainties."--_Hist. Landm._, vol. i. lect. xi. p. 313.

[96] From the Greek [Greek: ay)topsi/a], signifying _a seeing with ones

own eyes_. The candidate, who had previously been called a _mystes_, or a

_blind man_, from [Greek: mi/o], to _shut the eyes_, began at this point

to change his title to that of an _epopt_, or an _eye-witness_.

[97] _Yehi aur va yehi aur._

[98] Robert William Mackay, Progress of the Intellect, vol. i. p. 93.

[99] "And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the

Thummim."--_Exod._ xxviii. 30.--The Egyptian judges also wore

breastplates, on which was represented the figure of _Ra_, the sun, and

_Thme_, the goddess of Truth, representing, says Gliddon, "_Ra_, or the

sun, in a double capacity--physical and intellectual light; and _Thme_, in

a double capacity--justice and truth."--_Ancient Egypt_, p. 33.

[100] We owe this interesting discovery to F. Portal, who has given it in

his elaborate work on Egyptian symbols as compared with those of the

Hebrews. To those who cannot consult the original work in French, I can

safely recommend the excellent translation by my esteemed friend, Bro.

John W. Simons, of New York, and which will be found in the thirtieth

volume of the "Universal Masonic Library."

[101] "The most early defection to Idolatry," says Bryant, "consisted in

the adoration of the sun and the worship of demons, styled

Baalim."--_Analysts of Anc. Mythol._ vol. iii. p. 431.

[102] The remarks of Mr. Duncan on this subject are well worth perusal.

"Light has always formed one of the primary objects of heathen adoration.

The glorious spectacle of animated nature would lose all its interest if

man were deprived of vision, and light extinguished; for that which is

unseen and unknown becomes, for all practical purposes, as valueless as if

it were non-existent. Light is a source of positive happiness; without it,

man could barely exist; and since all religious opinion is based on the

ideas of pleasure and pain, and the corresponding sensations of hope and

fear, it is not to be wondered if the heathen reverenced light. Darkness,

on the contrary, by replunging nature, as it were, into a state of

nothingness, and depriving man of the pleasurable emotions conveyed

through the organ of sight, was ever held in abhorrence, as a source of

misery and fear. The two opposite conditions in which man thus found

himself placed, occasioned by the enjoyment or the banishment of light,

induced him to imagine the existence of two antagonist principles in

nature, to whose dominion he was alternately subject. Light multiplied his

enjoyments, and darkness diminished them. The former, accordingly, became

his friend, and the latter his enemy. The words 'light' and 'good,' and

'darkness' and 'evil,' conveyed similar ideas, and became, in sacred

language, synonymous terms. But as good and evil were not supposed to flow

from one and the same source, no more than light and darkness were

supposed to have a common origin, two distinct and independent principles

were established, totally different in their nature, of opposite

characters, pursuing a conflicting line of action, and creating

antagonistic effects. Such was the origin of this famous dogma, recognized

by all the heathens, and incorporated with all the sacred fables,

cosmogonies, and mysteries of antiquity."--_The Religions of Profane

Antiquity_, p. 186.

[103] See the "Bhagvat Geeta," one of the religious books of Brahminism. A

writer in Blackwood, in an article on the "Castes and Creeds of India,"

vol. lxxxi. p. 316, thus accounts for the adoration of light by the early

nations of the world: "Can we wonder at the worship of light by those

early nations? Carry our thoughts back to their remote times, and our only

wonder would be if they did not so adore it. The sun is life as well as

light to all that is on the earth--as we of the present day know even

better than they of old. Moving in dazzling radiance or brilliant-hued

pageantry through the sky, scanning in calm royalty all that passes below,

it seems the very god of this fair world, which lives and blooms but in

his smile."

[104] The _Institutes of Menu_, which are the acknowledged code of the

Brahmins, inform us that "the world was all darkness, undiscernible,

undistinguishable altogether, as in a profound sleep, till the

self-existent, invisible God, making it manifest with five elements and

other glorious forms, perfectly dispelled the gloom."--Sir WILLIAM JONES,

_On the Gods of Greece. Asiatic Researches_, i. 244.

Among the Rosicrucians, who have, by some, been improperly confounded with

the Freemasons, the word _lux_ was used to signify a knowledge of the

philosopher's stone, or the great desideratum of a universal elixir and a

universal menstruum. This was their _truth_.

[105] On Symbolic Colors, p. 23, Inman's translation.

[106] Freemasonry having received the name of _lux_, or light, its

disciples have, very appropriately, been called "the Sons of Light." Thus

Burns, in his celebrated Farewell:--

"Oft have I met your social band,

And spent the cheerful, festive night;

Oft, honored with supreme command,

Presided o'er the _sons of light_."

[107] Thus defined: "The stone which lies at the corner of two walls, and

unites them; the principal stone, and especially the stone which forms the

corner of the foundation of an edifice."--Webster.

[108] Among the ancients the corner-stone of important edifices was laid

with impressive ceremonies. These are well described by Tacitus, in his

history of the rebuilding of the Capitol. After detailing the preliminary

ceremonies which consisted in a procession of vestals, who with chaplets

of flowers encompassed the ground and consecrated it by libations of

living water, he adds that, after solemn prayer, Helvidius, to whom the

care of rebuilding the Capitol had been committed, "laid his hand upon the

fillets that adorned the foundation stone, and also the cords by which it

was to be drawn to its place. In that instant the magistrates, the

priests, the senators, the Roman knights, and a number of citizens, all

acting with one effort and general demonstrations of joy, laid hold of the

ropes and dragged the ponderous load to its destined spot. They then threw

in ingots of gold and silver, and other metals, which had never been

melted in the furnace, but still retained, untouched by human art, their

first formation in the bowels of the earth."--_Tac. Hist._, 1. iv. c. 53,

Murphy's transl.

[109] As, for instance, in Psalm cxviii. 22, "The stone which the builders

refused is become the head-stone of the corner," which, Clarke says,

"seems to have been originally spoken of David, who was at first rejected

by the Jewish rulers, but was afterwards chosen by the Lord to be the

great ruler of his people in Israel;" and in Isaiah xxviii. 16, "Behold, I

lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious

corner-stone, a sure foundation," which clearly refers to the promised

Messiah.

[110] In the ritual "observed at laying the foundation-stone of public

structures," it is said, "The principal architect then presents the

working tools to the Grand Master, who applies the plumb, square, and

level to the stone, in their proper positions, and pronounces it to be

_well-formed, true, and trusty_."--WEBB'S _Monitor_, p. 120.

[111] "The square teaches us to regulate our conduct by the principles of

morality and virtue."--_Ritual of the E. A. Degree._--The old York

lectures define the square thus: "The square is the theory of universal

duty, and consisteth in two right lines, forming an angle of perfect

sincerity, or ninety degrees; the longest side is the sum of the lengths

of the several duties which we owe to all men. And every man should be

agreeable to this square, when perfectly finished."

[112] Aristotle.

[113] "The cube is a symbol of truth, of wisdom, and moral perfection. The

new Jerusalem, promised in the Apocalypse, is equal in length, breadth,

and height. The Mystical city ought to be considered as a new church,

where divine wisdom will reign."--OLIVER'S _Landmarks_, ii. p. 357.--And

he might have added, where eternal truth will be present.

[114] In the most primitive times, all the gods appear to have been

represented by cubical blocks of stone; and Pausanias says that he saw

thirty of these stones in the city of Pharae, which represented as many

deities. The first of the kind, it is probable, were dedicated to Hermes,

whence they derived their name of "Hermae."

[115] "Give unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name; worship Jehovah in

the beauty of holiness."--_Psalm_ xxix. 2.

[116] It is at least a singular coincidence that in the Brahminical

religion great respect was paid to the north-east point of the heavens.

Thus it is said in the Institutes of Menu, "If he has any incurable

disease, let him advance in a straight path towards _the invincible

north-east point_, feeding on water and air till his mortal frame totally

decay, and his soul become united with the Supreme."

[117] This symbolism of the double position of the corner-stone has not

escaped the attention of the religious symbologists. Etsius, an early

commentator, in 1682, referring to the passage in Ephesians ii. 20, says,

"That is called the corner-stone, or chief corner-stone, which is placed

in the extreme angle of a foundation, conjoining and holding together two

walls of the pile, meeting from different quarters. And the apostle not

only would be understood by this metaphor that Christ is the principal

foundation of the whole church, but also that in him, as in a

corner-stone, the two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, are conjoined, and so

conjoined as to rise together into one edifice, and become one church."

And Julius Firmicius, who wrote in the sixteenth century, says that Christ

is called the corner-stone, because, being placed in the angle of the two

walls, which are the Old and the New Testament, he collects the nations

into one fold. "Lapis sanctus, i.e. Christus, aut fidei fundamenta

sustentat aut in angulo positus duorum parietum membra aequata moderatione

conjungit, i.e., Veteris et Novi Testamenti in unum colligit gentes."--_De

Errore profan. Religionum_, chap. xxi.

[118] This permanence of position was also attributed to those cubical

stones among the Romans which represented the statues of the god Terminus.

They could never lawfully be removed from the spot which they occupied.

Hence, when Tarquin was about to build the temple of Jupiter, on the

Capitoline Hill, all the shrines and statues of the other gods were

removed from the eminence to make way for the new edifice, except that of

Terminus, represented by a stone. This remained untouched, and was

enclosed within the temple, to show, says Dudley, "that the stone, having

been a personification of the God Supreme, could not be reasonably

required to yield to Jupiter himself in dignity and power."--DUDLEY'S

_Naology_, p 145.

[119] Dudley's Naology, p. 476.

[120] Masonic Discourses, Dis. iv. p. 81.

[121] "The act of consecration chiefly consisted in the unction, which was

a ceremony derived from the most primitive antiquity. The sacred

tabernacle, with all the vessels and utensils, as also the altar and the

priests themselves, were consecrated in this manner by Moses, at the

divine command. It is well known that the Jewish kings and prophets were

admitted to their several offices by unction. The patriarch Jacob, by the

same right, consecrated the altars which he made use of; in doing which it

is more probable that he followed the tradition of his forefathers, than

that he was the author of this custom. The same, or something like it, was

also continued down to the times of Christianity."--POTTER'S

_Archaeologia Graeca_, b. ii. p. 176.

[122] From the Greek [Greek: tetra\s], four, and [Greek: gra/mma], letter,

because it is composed of four Hebrew letters. Brande thus defines it:

"Among several ancient nations, the name of the mystic number _four_,

which was often symbolized to represent the Deity, whose name was

expressed by four letters." But this definition is incorrect. The

tetragrammaton is not the name of the number _four_, but the word which

expresses the name of God in four letters, and is always applied to the

Hebrew word only.

[123] Exod. iii. 15. In our common version of the Bible, the word "Lord"

is substituted for "Jehovah," whence the true import of the original is

lost.

[124] Exod. vi. 2. 3.

[125] "The Jews have many superstitious stories and opinions relative to

this name, which, because they were forbidden to mention _in vain_, they

would not mention _at all_. They substituted _Adonai_, &c., in its room,

whenever it occurred to them in reading or speaking, or else simply and

emphatically styled it _the Name_. Some of them attributed to a certain

repetition of this name the virtue of a charm, and others have had the

boldness to assert that our blessed Savior wrought all his miracles (for

they do not deny them to be such) by that mystical use of this venerable

name. See the _Toldoth Jeschu_, an infamously scurrilous life of Jesus,

written by a Jew not later than the thirteenth century. On p. 7, edition

of Wagenseilius, 1681, is a succinct detail of the manner in which our

Savior is said to have entered the temple and obtained possession of the

Holy Name. Leusden says that he had offered to give a sum of money to a

very poor Jew at Amsterdam, if he would only once deliberately pronounce

the name _Jehovah_; but he refused it by saying that he did not

dare."--_Horae Solitariae_, vol. i. p. 3.--"A Brahmin will not pronounce

the name of the Almighty, without drawing down his sleeve and placing it

on his mouth with fear and trembling."--MURRAY, _Truth of Revelation_, p.

321.

[126] The same scrupulous avoidance of a strict translation has been

pursued in other versions. For Jehovah, the Septuagint substitutes

"[Greek: Ky/rios]," the Vulgate "Dominus," and the German "der Herr," all

equivalent to "the Lord." The French version uses the title "l'Eternel."

But, with a better comprehension of the value of the word, Lowth in his

"Isaiah," the Swedenborgian version of the Psalms, and some other recent

versions, have restored the original name.

[127] In the Talmudical treatise, _Majan Hachochima_, quoted by Stephelin

(Rabbinical Literature, i. p. 131), we are informed that rightly to

understand the shem hamphorash is a key to the unlocking of all mysteries.

"There," says the treatise, "shalt thou understand the words of men, the

words of cattle, the singing of birds, the language of beasts, the barking

of dogs, the language of devils, the language of ministering angels, the

language of date-trees, the motion of the sea, the unity of hearts, and

the murmuring of the tongue--nay, even the thoughts of the reins."

[128] The gamma, [Greek: G], or Greek letter G, is said to have been

sacred among the Pythagoreans as the initial of [Greek: Geomeiri/a] or

Geometry.

[129] Vide Oliver, _Hist. Init._ p. 68, note.

[130] Jamblichus says that Pythagoras passed over from Miletus to Sidon,

thinking that he could thence go more easily into Egypt, and that while

there he caused himself to be initiated into all the mysteries of Byblos

and Tyre, and those which were practised in many parts of Syria, not

because he was under the influence of any superstitious motives, but from

the fear that if he were not to avail himself of these opportunities, he

might neglect to acquire some knowledge in those rites which was worthy of

observation. But as these mysteries were originally received by the

Phoenicians from Egypt, he passed over into that country, where he

remained twenty-two years, occupying himself in the study of geometry,

astronomy, and all the initiations of the gods ([Greek: pa/sas theo~n

teleta/s]), until he was carried a captive into Babylon by the soldiers of

Cambyses, and that twelve years afterwards he returned to Samos at the age

of sixty years.--_Vit. Pythag_, cap. iii., iv.

[131] "The sacred words were intrusted to him, of which the Ineffable

Tetractys, or name of God, was the chief."--OLIVER, _Hist. Init._ p. 109.

[132] "Hu, the mighty, whose history as a patriarch is precisely that of

Noah, was promoted to the rank of the principal demon-god among the

Britons; and, as his chariot was composed of rays of the sun, it may be

presumed that he was worshipped in conjunction with that luminary, and to

the same superstition we may refer what is said of his light and swift

course."--DAVIES, _Mythol. and Rites of the Brit. Druids_, p. 110.

[133] "All the male gods (of the ancients) may be reduced to one, the

generative energy; and all the female to one, the prolific principle. In

fact, they may all be included in the one great Hermaphrodite, the

[Greek: a)r(r)enothelys] who combines in his nature all the elements of

production, and who continues to support the vast creation which

originally proceeded from his will."--RUSSELL'S _Connection_, i. p. 402.

[134] It is a tradition that it was pronounced in the following seven

different ways by the patriarchs, from Methuselah to David, viz.: _Juha,

Jeva, Jova, Jevo, Jeveh, Johe_, and _Jehovah_. In all these words the _j_

is to be pronounced as _y_, the _a_ as _ah_, the _e_ as a, and the _v_ as

_w_.

[135] The _i_ is to be pronounced as _e_, and the whole word as if spelled

in English _ho-he_.

[136] In the apocryphal "Book of the Conversation of God with Moses on

Mount Sinai," translated by the Rev. W. Cureton from an Arabic MS. of the

fifteenth century, and published by the Philobiblon Society of London, the

idea of the eternal watchfulness of God is thus beautifully allegorized:--

"Then Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, dost thou sleep or not? The Lord

said unto Moses, I never sleep: but take a cup and fill it with water.

Then Moses took a cup and filled it with water, as the Lord commanded him.

Then the Lord cast into the heart of Moses the breath of slumber; so he

slept, and the cup fell from his hand, and the water which was therein was

spilled. Then Moses awoke from his sleep. Then said God to Moses, I

declare by my power, and by my glory, that if I were to withdraw my

providence from the heavens and the earth for no longer a space of time

than thou hast slept, they would at once fall to ruin and confusion, like

as the cup fell from thy hand."

[137] I have in my possession a rare copy of the Vulgate Bible, in black

letter, printed at Lyons, in 1522. The frontispiece is a coarsely executed

wood cut, divided into six compartments, and representing the six days of

the creation. The Father is, in each compartment, pictured as an aged man

engaged in his creative task.

[138] Christian Iconography, Millington's trans., vol. i. p. 59.

[139] The triangle, or delta, is the symbol of Deity for this reason. In

geometry a single line cannot represent a perfect figure; neither can two

lines; three lines, however, constitute the triangle or first perfect and

demonstrable figure. Hence this figure symbolizes the Eternal God,

infinitely perfect in his nature. But the triangle properly refers to God

only in his quality as an Eternal Being, its three sides representing the

Past, the Present, and the Future. Some Christian symbologists have made

the three sides represent the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but they

evidently thereby destroy the divine unity, making a trinity of Gods in

the unity of a Godhead. The Gnostic trinity of Manes consisted of one God

and two principles, one of good and the other of evil. The Indian trinity,

symbolized also by the triangle, consisted of Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu,

the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, represented by Earth, Water, and

Air. This symbolism of the Eternal God by the triangle is the reason why a

trinitarian scheme has been so prevalent in all religions--the three sides

naturally suggesting the three divisions of the Godhead. But in the Pagan

and Oriental religions this trinity was nothing else but a tritheism.

[140] Noachidae, or Noachites, the descendants of Noah. This patriarch

having alone preserved the true name and worship of God amid a race of

impious idolaters, the Freemasons claim to be his descendants, because

they preserve that pure religion which distinguished this second father of

the human race from the rest of the world. (See the author's _Lexicon of

Freemasonry_.) The Tyrian workmen at the temple of Solomon were the

descendants of that other division of the race who fell off, at Shinar,

from the true worship, and repudiated the principles of Noah. The Tyrians,

however, like many other ancient mystics, had recovered some portion of

the lost light, and the complete repossession was finally achieved by

their union with the Jewish masons, who were Noachidae.

[141] "A mythis omnis priscorum hominum tum historia tum philosophia

procedit."--_Ad Apollod. Athen. Biblioth. not._ f. p. 3.--And Faber says,

"Allegory and personification were peculiarly agreeable to the genius of

antiquity; and the simplicity of truth was continually sacrificed at the

shrine of poetical decoration."--_On the Cabiri._

[142] See Grote, History of Greece, vol. i. ch. xvi. p. 479, whence this

definition has been substantially derived. The definitions of Creuzer,

Hermann, Buttmann, Heyne, Welcker, Voss, and Mueller are none of them

Better, and some of them not as good.

[143] Hist. of Greece, vol. i. ch. xvi. p. 579. The idea of the existence

of an enlightened people, who lived at a remote era, and came from the

East, was a very prevalent notion among the ancient traditions. It is

corroborative of this that the Hebrew word _kedem_,

signifies, in respect to place, _the east_, and, in respect to time,

_olden time, ancient days_. The phrase in Isaiah xix. 11, which reads, "I

am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings," might just as well have

been translated "the son of kings of the East." In a note to the passage

Ezek. xliii. 2, "the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the

East," Adam Clarke says, "All knowledge, all religion, and all arts and

sciences, have travelled, according to the _course of the sun_, FROM EAST

TO WEST!" Bazot tells us (in his Manuel du Franc-macon, p. 154) that "the

veneration which masons entertain for the east confirms an opinion

previously announced, that the religious system of Masonry came from the

east, and has reference to the _primitive religion_, whose first

corruption was the worship of the sun." And lastly, the masonic reader

will recollect the answer given in the Leland MS. to the question

respecting the origin of Masonry, namely, "It did begin" (I modernize the

orthography) "with the first men in the east, which were before the first

men of the west; and coming westerly, it hath brought herewith all

comforts to the wild and comfortless." Locke's commentary on this answer

may conclude this note: "It should seem, by this, that masons believe

there were men in the east before Adam, who is called the 'first man of

the west,' and that arts and sciences began in the east. Some authors, of

great note for learning, have been of the same opinion; and it is certain

that Europe and Africa (which, in respect to Asia, may be called western

countries) were wild and savage long after arts and politeness of manners

were in great perfection in China and the Indies." The Talmudists make the

same allusions to the superiority of the east. Thus, Rabbi Bechai says,

"Adam was created with his face towards the east that he might behold the

light and the rising sun, whence the east was to him the anterior part of

the world."

[144] Strauss makes a division of myths into historical, philosophical,

and poetical.--_Leben Jesu._--His poetical myth agrees with my first

division, his philosophical with my second, and his historical with my

third. But I object to the word _poetical_, as a distinctive term, because

all myths have their foundation in the poetic idea.

[145] Ulmann, for instance, distinguishes between a myth and a legend--the

former containing, to a great degree, fiction combined with history, and

the latter having but a few faint echoes of mythical history.

[146] In his "Prolegomena zu einer wissenshaftlichen Mythologie," cap. iv.

This valuable work was translated in 1844, by Mr. John Leitch.

[147] Historical Landmarks, i. 53.

[148] See an article, by the author, on "The Unwritten Landmarks of

Freemasonry," in the first volume of the Masonic Miscellany, in which this

subject is treated at considerable length.

[149] As a matter of some interest to the curious reader, I insert the

legend as published in the Gentleman's Magazine of June, 1815, from, it is

said, a parchment roll supposed to have been written early in the

seventeenth century, and which, if so, was in all probability copied from

one of an older date:--

"Moreover, when Abraham and Sara his wife went into Egipt, there he taught

the Seaven Scyences to the Egiptians; and he had a worthy Scoller that

height Ewclyde, and he learned right well, and was a master of all the vij

Sciences liberall. And in his dayes it befell that the lord and the

estates of the realme had soe many sonns that they had gotten some by

their wifes and some by other ladyes of the realme; for that land is a

hott land and a plentious of generacion. And they had not competent

livehode to find with their children; wherefor they made much care. And

then the King of the land made a great counsell and a parliament, to witt,

how they might find their children honestly as gentlemen. And they could

find no manner of good way. And then they did crye through all the realme,

if there were any man that could enforme them, that he should come to

them, and he should be soe rewarded for his travail, that he should hold

him pleased.

"After that this cry was made, then came this worthy clarke Ewclyde, and

said to the King and to all his great lords: 'If yee will, take me your

children to governe, and to teach them one of the Seaven Scyences,

wherewith they may live honestly as gentlemen should, under a condicion

that yee will grant mee and them a commission that I may have power to

rule them after the manner that the science ought to be ruled.' And that

the Kinge and all his counsell granted to him anone, and sealed their

commission. And then this worthy tooke to him these lords' sonns, and

taught them the science of Geometric in practice, for to work in stones

all manner of worthy worke that belongeth to buildinge churches, temples,

castells, towres, and mannors, and all other manner of buildings."

[150] Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs, vol. I p. 393.

[151] 1 Kings vi. 8.

[152] An allusion to this symbolism is retained in one of the well-known

mottoes of the order--"_Lux e tenebris._"

[153] "An allegory is that in which, under borrowed characters and

allusions, is shadowed some real action or moral instruction; or, to keep

more strictly to its derivation ([Greek: a)/llos], _alius_, and [Greek:

a)gorey/o], _dico_), it is that in which one thing is related and another

thing is understood. Hence it is apparent that an allegory must have two

senses--the literal and mystical; and for that reason it must convey its

instruction under borrowed characters and allusions throughout."--_The

Antiquity, Evidence, and Certainty of Christianity canvassed, or Dr.

Middleton's Examination of the Bishop of London's Discourses on Prophecy.

By Anselm Bayly, LL.B., Minor Canon of St. Paul's._ Lond, 1751.

[154] The words themselves are purely classical, but the meanings here

given to them are of a mediaeval or corrupt Latinity. Among the old

Romans, a _trivium_ meant a place where three ways met, and a _quadrivium_

where four, or what we now call a _cross-road_. When we speak of the

_paths of learning_, we readily discover the origin of the signification

given by the scholastic philosophers to these terms.

[155] Hist. of Philos. vol. ii. p. 337.

[156] Such a talisman was the following figure:--

-----------

| 8 | 1 | 6 |

|---|---|---|

| 3 | 5 | 7 |

|---|---|---|

| 4 | 9 | 2 |

-----------

[157] Anderson's Constitutions, 2d ed. 1738, p. 14.

[158] Anderson's Constitutions, 3d ed. 1756, p. 24.

[159] "The hidden doctrines of the unity of the Deity and the immortality

of the soul were originally in all the Mysteries, even those of Cupid and

Bacchus."--WARBURTON, _in Spence's Anecdotes,_ p. 309.

[160] "The allegorical interpretation of the myths has been, by several

learned investigators, especially by Creuzer, connected with the

hypothesis of an ancient and highly instructed body of priests, having

their origin either in Egypt or in the East, and communicating to the rude

and barbarous Greeks religious, physical, and historical knowledge, under

the veil of symbols."--GROTE, _Hist. of Greece,_ vol. i. ch. xvi. p.

579.--And the Chevalier Ramsay corroborates this theory: "Vestiges of the

most sublime truths are to be found in the sages of all nations, times,

and religions, both sacred and profane, and these vestiges are emanations

of the antediluvian and noevian tradition, more or less disguised and

adulterated."--_Philosophical Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion

unfolded in a Geometrical Order,_ vol. 1, p. iv.

[161] Of this there is abundant evidence in all the ancient and modern

writers on the Mysteries. Apuleius, cautiously describing his initiation

into the Mysteries of Isis, says, "I approached the confines of death, and

having trod on the threshold of Proserpine, I returned therefrom, being

borne through all the elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with its

brilliant light; and I approached the presence of the gods beneath, and

the gods of heaven, and stood near and worshipped them."--_Metam._ lib.

vi. The context shows that all this was a scenic representation.

[162] _Aish hakam iodea binah,_ "a cunning man, endued with

understanding," is the description given by the king of Tyre of Hiram

Abif. See 2 Chron. ii. 13. It is needless to say that "cunning" is a good

old Saxon word meaning _skilful_.

[163]

"Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram;

Os homini sublime dedit: coelumque tueri

Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus."

OVID, _Met._ i. 84.

"Thus, while the mute creation downward bend

Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend,

Man looks aloft, and with erected eyes

Beholds his own hereditary skies."

DRYDEN.

[164] "[Greek: A)phanismo\s], disappearance, destruction, a perishing,

death, from [Greek: a)phani/zo], to remove from one's view, to conceal,"

&c.--_Schrevel. Lex._

[165] "[Greek: Ey~resis], a finding, invention, discovery."--_Schrevel.

Lex._

[166] A French writer of the last century, speaking of the degree of "Tres

Parfait Maitre," says, "C'est ici qu'on voit reellement qu'Hiram n'a ete

que le type de Jesus Christ, que le temple et les autres symboles

maconniques sont des allegories relatives a l'Eglise, a la Foi, et aux

bonnes moeurs."--_Origine et Objet de la Franchemaconnerie, par le F.B._

Paris, 1774.

[167] "This our order is a positive contradiction to the Judaic blindness

and infidelity, and testifies our faith concerning the resurrection of the

body."--HUTCHINSON, _Spirit of Masonry,_ lect. ix. p. 101.--The whole

lecture is occupied in advancing and supporting his peculiar theory.

[168] "Thus, then, it appears that the historical reference of the legend

of Speculative Freemasonry, in all ages of the world, was--to our death in

Adam and life in Christ. What, then, was the origin of our tradition? Or,

in other words, to what particular incident did the legend of initiation

refer before the flood? I conceive it to have been the offering and

assassination of Abel by his brother Cain; the escape of the murderer; the

discovery of the body by his disconsolate parents, and its subsequent

interment, under a certain belief of its final resurrection from the dead,

and of the detection and punishment of Cain by divine vengeance."--OLIVER,

_Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry_, vol. ii. p. 171.

[169] "Le grade de Maitre va donc nous retracer allegoriquement la mort du

_dieu-lumiere_--mourant en hiver pour reparaitre et ressusciter au

printemps."--RAGON, _Cours Philos. et Interp. des Init._ p. 158.

[170] "Dans l'ordre moral, Hiram n'est autre chose que la raison

eternelle, par qui tout est pondere, regle, conserve."--DES ETANGS,

_Oeuvres Maconniques_, p. 90.

[171] With the same argument would I meet the hypothesis that Hiram was

the representative of Charles I. of England--an hypothesis now so

generally abandoned, that I have not thought it worth noticing in the

text.

[172] "The initiation into the Mysteries," he says, "scenically

represented the mythic descent into Hades and the return from thence to

the light of day; by which was meant the entrance into the Ark and the

subsequent liberation from its dark enclosure. Such Mysteries were

established in almost every part of the pagan world; and those of Ceres

were substantially the same as the Orgies of Adonis, Osiris, Hu, Mithras,

and the Cabiri. They all equally related to the allegorical disappearance,

or death, or descent of the great father at their commencement, and to his

invention, or revival, or return from Hades, at their conclusion."--_Origin

of Pagan Idolatry,_ vol. iv. b. iv. ch. v. p. 384--But this Arkite

theory, as it is called, has not met with the general approbation of

subsequent writers.

[173] Mount Calvary is a small hill or eminence, situated in a westerly

direction from that Mount Moriah on which the temple of Solomon was built.

It was originally a hillock of notable eminence, but has, in modern times,

been greatly reduced by the excavations made in it for the construction of

the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Buckingham, in his Palestine, p. 283,

says, "The present rock, called Calvary, and enclosed within the Church of

the Holy Sepulchre, bears marks, in every part that is naked, of its

having been a round nodule of rock standing above the common level of the

surface."

[174] Dr. Beard, in the art. "Golgotha," in Kitto's Encyc. of Bib. Lit.,

reasons in a similar method as to the place of the crucifixion, and

supposing that the soldiers, from the fear of a popular tumult, would

hurry Jesus to the most convenient spot for execution, says, "Then the

road to Joppa or Damascus would be most convenient, and no spot in the

vicinity would probably be so suitable as the slight rounded elevation

which bore the name of Calvary."

[175] Some have supposed that it was so called because it was the place of

public execution. _Gulgoleth_ in Hebrew, or _gogultho_ in Syriac, means _a

skull_.

[176] Quoted in Oliver, _Landmarks_, vol. i. p. 587, note.

[177] Oliver's idea (_Landmarks_, ii. 149) that _cassia_ has, since the

year 1730, been corrupted into _acacia_, is contrary to all etymological

experience. Words are corrupted, not by lengthening, but by abbreviating

them. The uneducated and the careless are always prone to cut off a

syllable, not to add a new one.

[178] And yet I have been surprised by seeing, once or twice, the word

"Cassia" adopted as the name of a lodge. "Cinnamon" or "sandal wood" would

have been as appropriate, for any masonic meaning or symbolism.

[179] Eclog. ii. 49.

"Pallentes violas et summa papavera carpens,

Narcissum et florem jungit bene olentis anethi:

Tum casia, atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis,

Mollia luteola pingit vaccinia, caltha."

[180] Exod. xxx. 24, Ezek. xxvii. 9, and Ps. xlv. 8.

[181] Oliver, it is true, says, that "there is not the smallest trace of

any tree of the kind growing so far north as Jerusalem" (_Landm._ ii.

136); but this statement is refuted by the authority of Lieutenant Lynch,

who saw it growing in great abundance at Jericho, and still farther

north.--_Exped. to the Dead Sea_, p. 262.--The Rabbi Joseph Schwarz, who

is excellent authority, says, "The Acacia (Shittim) Tree, Al Sunt, is

found in Palestine of different varieties; it looks like the Mulberry

tree, attains a great height, and has a hard wood. The gum which is

obtained from it is the gum Arabic."--_Descriptive Geography and

Historical Sketch of Palestine_, p. 308, Leeser's translation. Phila.,

1850.--Schwarz was for sixteen years a resident of Palestine, and wrote

from personal observation. The testimony of Lynch and Schwarz should,

therefore, forever settle the question of the existence of the acacia in

Palestine.

[182] Calmet, Parkhurst, Gesenius, Clarke, Shaw, and all the best

authorities, concur in saying that the _otzi shittim_, or shittim wood of

Exodus, was the common acacia or mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus.

[183] "This custom among the Hebrews arose from this circumstance.

Agreeably to their laws, no dead bodies were allowed to be interred within

the walls of the city; and as the Cohens, or priests, were prohibited from

crossing a grave, it was necessary to place marks thereon, that they might

avoid them. For this purpose the acacia was used."--DALCHO, _Oration_, p.

27, note.--I object to the reason assigned by Dalcho; but of the existence

of the custom there can be no question, notwithstanding the denial or

doubt of Dr. Oliver. Blount (_Travels in the Levant_, p. 197) says,

speaking of the Jewish burial customs, "those who bestow a marble stone

over any [grave] have a hole a yard long and a foot broad, in which _they

plant an evergreen_, which seems to grow from the body, and is carefully

watched." Hasselquist (_Travels_, p. 28) confirms his testimony. I borrow

the citations from Brown (_Antiquities of the Jews_, vol. ii. p. 356), but

have verified the reference to Hasselquist. The work of Blount I have not

been enabled to consult.

[184] Antiquities of Greece, p. 569.

[185] Dr. Crucefix, MS., quoted by Oliver, _Landmarks_, ii. 2.

[186] Spirit of Masonry, lect. ix. p. 99.

[187] The Temple of Solomon, ch. ix. p. 233.

[188] It is probable that the quince derived this symbolism, like the

acacia, from its name; for there seems to be some connection between the

Greek word [Greek: kydo/nios], which means _a quince_, and the participle

[Greek: kydi/on], which signifies _rejoicing, exulting_. But this must

have been an afterthought, for the name is derived from Cydon, in Crete,

of which island the quince is a native.

[189] Desprez, speaking of the palm as an emblem of victory, says

(_Comment. in Horat. Od._ I. i. 5), "Palma vero signum victoriae passim

apud omnes statuitur, ex Plutarcho, propterea quod ea est ejus natura

ligni, ut urgentibus opprimentibusque minime cedat. Unde est illud Alciati

epigramma,--

'Nititur in pondus palma, et consurgit in altum:

Quoque magis premitur, hoc mage tollit onus.'"

It is in the eighth book of his Symposia that Plutarch states this

peculiar property of the palm to resist the oppression of any

superincumbent weight, and to rise up against it, whence it was adopted as

the symbol of victory. Cowley also alludes to it in his _Davideis_.

"Well did he know how palms by oppression speed

Victorious, and the victor's sacred meed."

[190] "Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, and was

not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings."--STEEVENS, _Notes on

Hamlet_, a. iv. s. 5.--Douce (_Illustrations of Shakspeare_, i. 345) gives

the following old song in reference to this subject:--

"Rosemarie is for remembrance

Betweene us daie and night,

Wishing that I might always have

You present in my sight."

[191] Ste. Croix (_Recherches sur les Mysteres_, i. 56) says that in the

Samothracian Mysteries it was forbidden to put parsley on the table,

because, according to the mystagogues, it had been produced by the blood

of Cadmillus, slain by his brothers.

[192] "The Hindoos," says Faber, "represent their mundane lotus, as having

four large leaves and four small leaves placed alternately, while from the

centre of the flower rises a protuberance. Now, the circular cup formed by

the eight leaves they deem a symbol of the earth, floating on the surface

of the ocean, and consisting of four large continents and four

intermediate smaller islands; while the centrical protuberance is viewed

by them as representing their sacred Mount Menu."--_Communication to Gent.

Mag._ vol. lxxxvi. p. 408.

[193] The _erica arborea_ or tree heath.

[194] Ragon thus alludes to this mystical event: "Isis found the body of

Osiris in the neighborhood of Biblos, and near a tall plant called the

_erica_. Oppressed with grief, she seated herself on the margin of a

fountain, whose waters issued from a rock. This rock is the _small hill

_mentioned in the ritual; the erica has been replaced by the acacia, and

the grief of Isis has been changed for that of the fellow crafts."--_Cours

des Initiations,_ p. 151.

[195] It is singular, and perhaps significant, that the word _eriko_, in

Greek, [Greek: e)ri/ko], whence _erica_ is probably derived, means _to

break in pieces, to mangle_.

[196] Histoire Pittoresque des Religions, t. i. p. 217.

[197] According to Toland (_Works_, i. 74), the festival of searching,

cutting, and consecrating the mistletoe, took place on the 10th of March,

or New Year's day. "This," he says, "is the ceremony to which Virgil

alludes, by his _golden branch,_ in the Sixth Book of the AEneid." No doubt

of it; for all these sacred plants had a common origin in some ancient and

general symbolic idea.

[198] "Under this branch is figured the wreath of myrtle, with which the

initiated were crowned at the celebration of the Mysteries."--WARBURTON,

_Divine Legation,_ vol. i. p. 299.

[199] "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Gen. iii. 19. Bush

interprets the decree to mean that "some species of toilsome occupation is

the appointed lot of all men."

[200] Aristotle says, "He that cannot contract society with others, or

who, through his own self-sufficiency [Greek: ay)ta/rkeian], does not need

it, forms no part of the community, but is either a wild beast or a god."

[201] "Der Arbeiter," says Lenning, "ist der symbolische Name eines

Freimaurers"--the Workman is the symbolic name of a Freemason.--_Encyclop.

der Fraumererei._

[202] John iii. 19-21.

[203] I Corinth, iii. 9.

[204] Orbis Miraculum, or the Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture

Light, ch. ix. p. 192. London, 1659.

[205] Swedenborg a Hermetic Philosopher, &c., p. 210. The object of the

author is to show that the Swedish sage was an adept, and that his

writings may be interpreted from the point of view of Hermetic philosophy.

[206] Cours Philosophique et Interpretatif des Initiations Anciennes et

Modernes, p. 99.

[207] Ibid., p. 176.

[208] Histoire Generale de la Franc-maconnerie, p. 52.

[209] Histoire de la Magie, liv. v. ch. vii. p. 100.

[210] Vorlesung ueber das Symbol des Tempels, in the "Jarbuechern der Gross.

Loge Roy. York zur Freundschaft," cited by Lenning, Encyc., voc. _Tempel_.

[211] In an Essay on the Masonic Idea of Man's Destination, cited by

Lenning, _ut supra_, from the Altenburg _Zeitschift der Freimaurerei_.

[212] Cited by Lenning, _ut sup._

[213] Thus Dr. Oliver, while treating of the relation of the temple to the

lodge, thus briefly alludes to this important symbol: "As our ancient

brethren erected a material temple, without the use of axe, hammer, or

metal tool, so is our moral temple constructed."--_Historical Landmarks_,

lect. xxxi.

[214] System of Speculative Masonry, ch. vi. p. 63.

[215] On the Speculative Temple--an essay read in 1861 before the Grand

Lodge of Alabama.

[216] A portion of this essay, but in a very abridged form, was used by

the author in his work on "Cryptic Masonry."

[217] Hist. Landmarks, i. 459, note 52.

[218] See the Gemara and Buxtorf Lex. Talm., p. 2541.

[219] Job xxxviii. 4-7.

[220] A New Translation of the Book of Job, notes, p. 196.

[221] In voc. [Hebrew: shint-tav-yod-yod-heh], where some other curious

extracts from the Talmud and Talmudic writers on the subject of the Stone

of Foundation are given.

[222] Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, p. 6. The abominably scurrilous character of

this work aroused the indignation of the Christians, who, in the fifteenth

century, were not distinguished for a spirit of tolerance, and the Jews,

becoming alarmed, made every effort to suppress it. But, in 1681, it was

republished by Wagenselius in his "Tela Ignea Satanae," with a Latin

translation.

[223] Comment, on Gen. xxviii. 18.

[224] "Ni fallit fatum, Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem, regnare

tenentur ibidem."

[225] Old and New Testament connected, vol. i. p. 148.

[226] The Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture Light, ch. ix. p.

194. Of the Mysteries laid up in the Foundation of the Temple.

[227] See Pausanias, lib. iv.

[228] The "Disputationes adversus Gentes" of Arnobius supplies us with a

fund of information on the symbolism of the classic mythology.

[229] Naology, ch. iii. p. 119.

[230] Cornut. de Nat. Deor. c. 16.

[231] Essais sur les Fables, t. i. lett. 2. p. 9.

[232] Bosworth (_Aug. Sax. Dict._) defines _treowth_ to signify "troth,

truth, treaty, league, pledge, covenant."

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