The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1862-07-30
WHOLE NO. 3O2.

symbols early became the mystic languag:
of Free Masonry. A part OF this symbolic
, language is safely locked in every Mason
faithful breast. A part has been made pat,
ent to mankind, and to day, constitutes the
} most splendid imagery in every living Ian.
guage The bee is the symbol of industry;tbe
lamb of innocence. The cythe is an en-
blem of time, and the setting maui of death.
How forcbly are We reminded Of our i'm.
perfect state by nature by the rough ash
ler--and by the perfect ashlcr, of that state of
perfection we hope 10 arrive at by leading
well ordered lives.
Each Of the various implements Of ma.
sonic labor, taught in their beautiful en-
blematic language perfect system of NOR
ais, so that to the we'll instructed Mason,
every object, animate or inanimate, in the
material world, became page in the great
volume of wisdom. Thus Free Masonry
has gathered to herself the rarest Jewels of
the universe. Turn over her symbols and
.compass-climb her ladder of faith and
walk among her globes and pillars. Sur
vey the ornaments of her lodge, her jew
els, her broken columns and the splendid
designs drawn on her trestle board, and
tell me Of moral lesson the human
heart has ever learned, that Masonic en-
blems do not teach.
The great Cicero in his excellent treatise
on the Immortality of the soul, labored to
prove what Masonry had already taught
in the sublime, yet, simple language of the
sprig of acasia. Plato reasoned we'll when
ne supposed virtue to be it's own reward,
but did he reason better than Masonry
taught? One of the ancient Philosophers
was deified as God, because he announced
as one Of his maxms, MAN know thy
sell - but Masonry was wiser than the old
PhilOsol her, for it taught man to gorern him.
self. What deeper lesson of wisdom did the
wisest of men teach, than this, taken at
random from Masonic lore.
1.-The plumb is an instrument made use Of
by operative Masons to try perpendculars,
the square to square their work and the
level to prove horizontals. The plumb ad-
monishes us to walk uprightly in our several
stations before God and man squaring our
actions by the square Of virtue towards all
mankind and ever remembering that we
are travelling on the level Of time, to that
undiscovered country from whose bourne
no traveller returns
At first, the knowledge Of the useful arts
and sciences was exclusively in the keeping
of MasonS, but in the progress of time, it be-
gan to be ditfuSed among mankind, SO that
masonry became a schoomastcr in the
world. Anciently Masons worked in both
speculative and operative Masonry; but at
the present day, they work in speculative
Masonry only. BY it, they are taught to
subduc the passions, act upon the square,
to keep tongue of good report, and prac-
tice charity towards all mankind. | do
not say, and regret cannot, that all Ma.
sons work by the plumb line, or that they
conform to the rules of the order. Bad
men sometimes enter the lodge under the
guise of virtue. Good men are sometimes
led astray, and fall into temptations, dishon-
oring themselves and the order; but this is
attributable to the weakness Of human ma
ture and not to masonry. A bad man cannot
be good Mason; a good Mason cannot be Il
bad man. There is no requirement Of the
moral law, that we, as Masons, are not
taught to obey, and if we act as Masonry
teaches we will never stray from the path
of virtue.
The first duty Of every Mason is to his God,
then to himself and then to his neighbor.
The true Mason recognizes God as the
source of all masonic light. The first OBJ
ject that meets his eye on entering the
lodge, reminds him of God. The Bible
ever stands open on his altar.
On entering and in leaving, he is remind
ed in the most solemn manner, that God
reigns in h aven and on earth.
Is it insisted that Masons are often pro-
fame and irrevcrent? answer that the
Mason who protanes the name of God dis
honors his profession and disgraces him
self Such Masons are poisoning adders
in the garden of her virtues, and the lodge
that permits its members to indulge in pro-
family, or in the practice of any of the vi.
ces, will ultimately find itself, and Justly
too, looked upon with suspicion and dis
trust Every Mason should remember in this
respect that he has a duty to perform, to
fit himself as ticing stone for the Great
Temple.
He must remember, that although he
may deface the ASHER entrusted to his skill,
yet he can never mar the beauty of the
Temple itself Every Mason has his pri
yate mark on his own workmanship, and
the Master Builder will try him by the
square, and If he has not worked by the
line and the level, will cast him in dishonor
among the rubbish at the Temples base
WI en- the great work is completed, he
will find himself without a knowledge of
the Grand Masters art. He will find him
self without the word, or the sign, or the
secret he has sought.
He may be rufiian in the lodge and at.
tempt to win by violence what merit did
not confer, but in the end, like others who
have travelled that way before him, he will
| md oil frr,, fhnn n,.la Il
dishonored Of men.
Let every craftsman remember that Ma
sonry has yet great mission to fulfill,
and that it will not soon perish from among
the institutions of men. 1t has ou,lvcd
the centuries and the generations. Its glo.
ry as an institution is undnmed and its
fame untarnShed. In peace and in war it
has exerted its genial Influence and has
sought to allay the storms of passion that
revcl in the human heart. 1t has been the
foster mother of civilization, and the apos-
tie ard friend of religion in all ages of the
world. Intense dislike and bitter opposi.
ton have met it at every turn. Fanatcal
men, blinded with passion and heated with
jealousy, have misrepresentcd its objects
and hurled at its good name the shafts of
their venom; yet, with the grandeur of its
noble purposes, il has moved on with the
march of time, OUTLYING its enemies and
rising above their opposition. With that
true charity which it teaches. when reviled,
it has revled not again. 1t has never re-
sorted to argument or force to crush its
enemies, but has pointed to its fruits to
vindicate its honor. Its enemies have had
little reason to complain. They have had
the field of controversy to themselves
We can now trace back the institution for
more than twenty-eight centuries. 1t ex-
i>ted before the schools of Philosophy es-
tablished by Socrates, or Plato, or Thales,
or Pythagoras, before Homer chanted his
Illiad, before Sophocles sung in melodious