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Article THE VISIBLE SYMBOLISM OF FREEMASONRY , ← Page 5 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Visible Symbolism Of Freemasonry ,
workman erects his temporal buildings with strict observance of that plumb-line which will not permit him to deviate a hair ' s breadth to the right or left , so the Speculative Mason , guided by the unerring principles of right 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 . v \
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 condition which is to be found only in the vain dreams of the anarchist or the Utopian , but that 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 pour on all alike , and who has so appointed the universal lot of h ^ the leveller of all human greatness , is made to visit with equal pace the prince ' s palace and the peasant ' s
Here , then , we have added three more signs to our alphabet of symbolism : others there are in this degree , but they belong to a higher grade of intelligence , and cannot be appropriately discoursed of at this time . ¥ e now reach the third degree , the Master Masons , of the modern science ; the Meriatzchim , or overseers , of the Temple ; the Epopts , or beholders of all things , of the ancient mysteries .
In the third degree the symbolic allusion to the Temple of Solomon , and the implements of Operative Masonry , is extended and fully completed . At the construction of that edifice we have already seen that one class of workmen was employed in the preparation ot 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 exactest accuracy had been observed in giving to them their true juxtaposition in the building . It was then only that the last finishing labour 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 common , though of course not the only implement , in use among the master builders . They did not suffer this important , indelible operation to be performed by less skilful hands 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
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Visible Symbolism Of Freemasonry ,
workman erects his temporal buildings with strict observance of that plumb-line which will not permit him to deviate a hair ' s breadth to the right or left , so the Speculative Mason , guided by the unerring principles of right 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 . v \
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 condition which is to be found only in the vain dreams of the anarchist or the Utopian , but that 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 pour on all alike , and who has so appointed the universal lot of h ^ the leveller of all human greatness , is made to visit with equal pace the prince ' s palace and the peasant ' s
Here , then , we have added three more signs to our alphabet of symbolism : others there are in this degree , but they belong to a higher grade of intelligence , and cannot be appropriately discoursed of at this time . ¥ e now reach the third degree , the Master Masons , of the modern science ; the Meriatzchim , or overseers , of the Temple ; the Epopts , or beholders of all things , of the ancient mysteries .
In the third degree the symbolic allusion to the Temple of Solomon , and the implements of Operative Masonry , is extended and fully completed . At the construction of that edifice we have already seen that one class of workmen was employed in the preparation ot 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 exactest accuracy had been observed in giving to them their true juxtaposition in the building . It was then only that the last finishing labour 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 common , though of course not the only implement , in use among the master builders . They did not suffer this important , indelible operation to be performed by less skilful hands 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