It is with pleasure I pursue tile duty I have imposed upon myself to give the solutions of the mysteries in Masonry; which, to minds inattentive to the real import of the objects in their view, might remain undiscovered; and the professor of Masonry night pass on without receiving a just sense of those dignities which he hath assumed. I have defined what is intended to be represented by a lodge, and its Origin and nature; it is now my duty to discover to you the import of the Furniture of a Lodge.
As Solomon, at Jerusalem, carried into the
Jewish temple all the vessels and instruments requisite for the
service of Jehovah, according to the law of his people, so we
Masons, as workers in moral duties, and as servants of the Great
Architect of the world, have before us those emblems which must
constantly remind us of what we are, and what is required of us.
The third emanation of Abrax, in the Gnostic hierarchy, was Phronæsis,
the emblem of Prudence, which is the first and most exalted object
that demands our attention in the lodge. It is placed
in the centre, ever to be present to the eye of the Mason, that
his heart may be attentive to her dictates, and stedfast in her
laws; for Prudence is the rule of all virtues; Prudence is the
path which leads to every degree of propriety; Prudence is the
channel whence self-approbation flows for ever she leads us forth
to worthy actions, and, as a blazing star, enlightens us through
the dreary and darksome paths of this life.
Virtue, by moralists, is defined to be "that stedfast purpose and firm will of doing those things which Nature hath dictated to us as the best aid most salutary; a habit of the soul by which mankind are inclined to do the things which are upright and good, and to avoid those that are evil." In short, virtue is moral honesty, and comprehends good principles. Of the virtues, of which Prudence is the rule, these are called Cardinal Virtues, of which, properly, a Mason should be possessed-Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice; for, without these, the name of Mason is an empty title, and but a painted bubble.
That Fortitude should he the characteristic
of a Mason we need not argue; by which, in the midst
of pressing evils, he is enabled always to do that which is agreeable
to the dictates of right reason. Temperance, also, must be one
of his stedfast principles, being a moderating or restraining
of our affections and passions, especially in sobriety and chastity.
We regard Temperance, under the various definitions of moralists,
as constituting honesty, decency, and bashfulness; and, in its
potential parts, instituting meekness, clemency, and modesty.
We profess Justice as dictating to us to do right to all, and
to yield to every man what belongs to him.
The cardinal virtues, prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice, hold, in their train, the inferior powers of peace, concord, quietness, liberty, safety, honor, felicity, piety, and charity, with many others which were adored by the ancients in those ages, when they confounded mythology with the worship of the Divinity. Within the starry girdle of prudence all the virtues are enfolded.
We may apply this emblem to a still more
religious import: it may be said to represent the star which led
the wise men to Bethlehem, proclaiming to mankind the nativity
of the Son of God,
and here conducting our spiritual progress to the Author of redemption.
As the steps of man tread in the various and uncertain incidents of life; as our days are checkered with a strange contrariety of events, and our massage through this existence, though sometimes attended with prosperous circumstances, is often beset by a multitude of evils; hence is the lodge furnished with Mosaic work to remind us of the precariousness of our state on earth: today our feet tread in prosperity, tomorrow we totter on the uneven paths of weakness, temptation, and adversity. Whilst this emblem is before us we are instructed to boast of nothing; to have compassion and give aid to those who are in adversity; to walk uprightly and with humility; for such is human existence, that there is no station in which pride can be stably founded: all men, in birth and in the grave, are on the level. Whilst we tread on this Mosaic work let our ideas return to the original which it copies; and let every Mason act as the dictates of reason prompt him, to live in brotherly love.*
(* Appendix, D.)
As more immediate guides for a Freemason,
the lodge is furnished with unerring rules, whereby he shall form
his conduct; the book of his law is laid before him, that he may
not say, through ignorance he erred; whatever the great Architect
of the world bath dictated to mankind as the mode in which he
would be served, and the path in which man is to tread to obtain
his approbation; whatever precepts he bath administered, and with
whatever laws he hath inspired the sages of old, the same are
comprised in the book of the law of Masonry. That book, which
is never closed in any lodge, reveals the duties which the great
Master of all exacts from us; open to every eye, comprehensible
to every mind: then, who shall say among us that he knows
not the acceptable service?
But, as the frailty of human nature constantly wages war with truth, and man's infirmities struggle with his virtues,-to aid and conduct every Mason, the master holds the compass, limiting the distance, progress, and circumference of the work; he dictateth the manners, he giveth the direction of the design, and delineates each portion and part of the labor; assigning to each his province and his order. And such is the mastership, that each part, when asunder, seems irregular and without form; yet, when put together, like the building of the temple at Jerusalem, is connected and framed in true symmetry, beauty, and order.
The moral implication of which is, that the master in his lodge sits dictating such salutary laws, for the regulation thereof, as his prudence directs; assigning to each brother his proper province; limiting the rashness of some, and circumscribing the imprudence of others; restraining all licentiousness and drunkenness, discord and malice, envy and reproach: and promoting brotherly love, morality, charity, cordiality, and innocent mirth; that the assembly of the brethren may be conducted with order, harmony, and love.
To try the works of every Mason, the square is presented, as the probation of his life, proving, whether his manners are regular and uniform; for Masons should be of one principle and one rank, without the distinctions of pride and pageantry: intimating, that from high to low, the minds of Masons should be inclined to good works, above which no man stands exalted by his fortune.
But superior to all, the lodge is furnished with three luminaries;* as the golden candlestick in the tabernacle of Moses was at once emblematical. of the spirit of God, whereby his chosen people were enlightened, and prophetical of the churches; or otherwise Josephus says, representative of the planets and the powerful works of God: so our three lights shew to us the three great stages of Masonry, the knowledge and worship of the God of nature in the purity of Eden - the service under the Mosaic law, when divested of idolatry - and the Christian revelation: but most especially our lights are typical of the holy Trinity. And as such is the furniture of the lodge ;** such the principles dictated to us as Masons, let us rejoice in the exercise of those excellencies, which should set us above the rank of other men; and prove that we are brought out of darkness into light, And let us show our good works unto the world, that through our light so shining unto men, they may glorify the Great Master of the Universe; and therefore "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God."
(* The particular attention paid by the ancients to the element of fire is in no wise to he wondered at, when we consider, that whenever the Deity deigned to reveal himself to the human senses, it was under this element. "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold the hush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way: and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light: to go by day and night. There were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. (Exod. iii. 2, 4; xiii. 21; xix. 16, 8; xxiv. 17; xxix. 18.) That thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. (Num. ix. 16.) The Lord talked to you face to face in the mount, out of the midst of the fire. For ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount. These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire. For the mountain did burn with fire. And we have beard his voice out of the midst of the fire. For who is there of all flesh that bath heard the voice of the living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire (as we have), and lived?" (Deut. v.4-24.) To these may be added the shechinah in the temple. It would, from a kind of parity in circumstances, naturally follow, that men would look up to the sun, as the throne of the Divinity, from whence his ministering spirits dispensed his will to the distant quarters of the universe. Fire became the general emblem of the Divinity among the eastern nations-was in great esteem with the Chaldeans and Persians. The Persians used consecrated fire as the emblem of the Supreme Being; to whom they would not build temples, or confine the Divinity to space. The ethereal fire was preserved in the temple of the Jews, and in the tabernacle, with great reverence. The druid priests in their worship looked towards the sun: they retained many of the Amonian rites: they are said to have made mystical processions round their consecrated fires sunwise, before they proceeded to sacrifice.)
(* Technically speaking, the furniture of
the lodge is. the Bible, Square, and Compass only. -EDITOR.)
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