Section 29

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." Bryant, in his Analysis of Ancient Mythol-
ogy, asserts that "there is in every oracular temple
some legend about a stone."

Without further citations of examples from the relig-
ious usages of other countries, it will, we 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 firm-
ness— a symbol, also, of the divine power, and, by a
ready inference, a symbol or idol of the Deity Himself."^
And this symbolism is confirmed by Cornutus, who
says that the god Hermes was represented without

1 Dudley, "Naology," ch. iii. p. 119.

298 Symbolism of Fkeemasonry

hands or feet, being a cubical stone, because the cubical
figure betokened his solidity and stability.^

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 representa-
tives of Deity; second, 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 sys-
tem; and lastly, that the mystical stone there has re-
ceived 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 predi-
cates 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 de-
ceives 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. "^ 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 Freemasonry.

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 strength-
ened by the tetragrammaton, or sacred name of God,
that was inscribed upon it. This ineffable name sanc-
tifies the stone upon which it is engraved as the symbol

1 Cornutus, "de Nat. Deor." c. 16.

2 "Essais sur les Fables," tome i, lett. 2, p. 9.

Stone of Foundation 299

of the Grand Architect. It takes from it its heathen
signification as an idol, and consecrates it to the wor-
ship 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 Gahil, as the
Arabians called Him, that is, The Builder; or, as ex-
pressed in His Masonic title, the Grand Architect of the
Universe, by common consent abbreviated in the for-
mula G.*.A.*.0.*.T.*.U.*. Now, it is evident that no
symbol could so appropriately suit Him in this char-
acter 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 senti-
ment. Thus it is said that the truth of the Lord,
^'reached 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 specula-
tions, 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.

300 Symbolism of Freemasonry

In the Masonic system there are two temples; the
first temple, in which the degrees of Ancient Craft
Freemasonry 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 dis-
covered, 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

Stone of Foundation 301

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 Freemasonry 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 Freemason's labor,
and the discovery of which is his reward.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Lost Word

THE last of the symbols, depending for its exist-
ence on its connection with a myth to which we
shall invite attention, is the Lost Wordj 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 Freemasonry teaches us that
there can be no death without a resurrection — no decay
without a subsequent restoration — on the same prin-
ciple it follows that the loss of the Word must suppose
its eventual recovery.

302

Lost Word 303

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 im-
portance, necessary, it is true, for knowing the
legendary history, but not necessary for understand-
ing 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 we 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 practi-
cal 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 ex-
alted sense of eleemosynary aid, is the great design
of the institution.

Others, with a still more contracted view, remember-
ing the pleasant reunions at their Lodge banquets, the
unreserved communications which are thus encouraged,
and the solemn obligations of mutual trust and con-
fidence that are continually inculcated, believe that it
was intended solely to promote the social sentiments
and cement the bonds of friendship.

304 Symbolism of Freemasonry

But, although the modern lectures inform us that
Brotherly Love and Relief are two of **the principal
tenets of a Freemason'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,^ but in that
more strictly philosophical one in which it is opposed
to intellectual and religious error or falsehood.

But we have shown that the Primitive Freemasonry
of the ancients was instituted for the purpose of pre-
serving that truth which had been originally communi-
cated to the patriarchs, in all its integrity, and that the
Spurious Freemasonry, 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. We have shown,
also, that this same truth continued to be the object
of the Temple Freemasonry, which was formed by a
union of the Primitive, or Pure, and the Spurious sys-
tems. Lastly, we have endeavored to demonstrate that
this truth related to the nature of God and the human
soul.

The search, then, after this truth, we suppose to con-
stitute the end and design of Speculative Freemasonry.
From the very commencement of his career, the aspi-
rant is by significant symbols and expressive instruc-
tions 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 immor-
tality of the other — are the great truths, the search for

^Bosworth, "Anglo-Saxon Dictionary," defines treowth to signify
"troth, truth, treaty, league, pledge, covenant."

Lost Word 305

which is to constitute the constant occupation of every
Freemason, and which, when found, are to become the
chief corner-stone, or the stone of foundation, of the
spiritual temple — 'Hhe house not made with hands^' —
which he is engaged in erecting.

Now, this idea of a search after truth forms so promi-
nent a part of the whole science of Freemasonry, that
we conceive no better or more comprehensive answer
could be given to the question, What is Freemasonry?
than to say that it is a science engaged in the search
after divine truth.

But Freemasonry is eminently a system of sym-
bolism, 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 we 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 con-
sistency be left without its particular symbol.

The Word, therefore, we 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 circum-
stance, a patent reference to the substantive idea that
has been symbolized?

The answers to these questions embrace what is, per-
haps, the most intricate as well as most ingenious and
interesting portion of the science of Masonic symbolism.

This symbolism may be intrepreted, either in an
application to a general or to a special sense.

306 Symbolism of Freemasonry

The general application will embrace the whole his-
tory of Freemasonry, from its inception to its con-
summation. 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 then lost; His true nature
was not understood; the divine lessons imparted by
our father Noah were no longer remembered; the old
traditions were now corrupted; the ancient symbols
were perverted. Truth was buried beneath the rubbish
of Sabianism, 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 ob-
structed 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 dark-
ness 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

Lost Word 307

spiritual temple had been suspended. 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, los-
ing 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 Hutchin-
son, modified in its reference to the time, ''in this situa-
tion, 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."

Among the philosophers and priests in the ancient
Mysteries, or the spurious Freemasonry, 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 pa-
tiently, 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.

Schmidtz, therefore, 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 over-

308 Symbolism of Freemasonry

whelming 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."