The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

834
Chapter 10 - Conclusion
Freemasonry is a system of symbolic architecture. The grand
superstructure to be erected is the cosmic temple of humanity. Therein,
labor is nobility and all is dedicate to work and worth-ship. Man, the
rough ashlar, is symbolically taken from the quarry of life, - is hewn,
squared, polished, and made well-fit for his place in the great living
temple whose chief foundation stones are truth and right; whose main
pillars are wisdom, strength, and beauty; whose adornments are all the
virtues; the key-stone of whose world-o'erspanning arch is brotherhood;
and whose Master Builder is The Great Architect of the Universe. 2040
The architectural metaphors, the working tools, and the other symbols of the
Craft can certainly claim the greatest universality, although a few have come into
oblivion, like the beehive. As Past Grand Master John L. Lewis states in an
oration in 1875, the humble tools of Masonry are mankind's companion from the
beginning to the end, which he demonstrates by the antithesis "the cradle of
helpless infancy - the coffin of the dead." In a metaphor, he opposes the vanity of
diamonds which may lose their sparkling, or gold which may become dim,
which denotes that wealth and fame are ephemeral, while the honesty of the tools
remains unalterable:
The square, and the compass, and the plumb-line, are but the humble
implements of toiling handicraft, but they bring into existence the
sumptuous palace and the storied monument, at which a world gazes
with awe; and yet, not even the cradle of helpless infancy or the coffin
of the sepulchred dead can be constructed without their aid. And they, at
least, are never false or deceitful. Ever true and exact, their mute
language symbolizes verity in every land, and at every season, despite
the mutations of human events, or the cadences of time. The diamond
may cease to sparkle, and the fine gold become dimmed, but the
rectitude of these humble working tools is unaltered and unalterable
forever and forever. 2041
However, the composition of some tools may vary a little in different nations;
thus, in his oration before the M. W. Grand Lodge of Kansas in February 1927,
W. Brother Robert P. McColloch makes a remark about the sort of square being
used in America and France, and it is evident that he thinks the American usage
more proper and exact:
There is a difference among Masons as to the particular kind of a square
to be used as the symbol. In France the carpenter's square is used.
American Masons more closely follow tradition and history in the use
of the stonemason's "trying square," a tool with which the operative
2040 Stillson (ed.); History of Freemasonry and Concordant Orders, p. 693.
2041 Oration by M.W. John L. Lewis, P.G.M., 1875; cited in Myler, Jewels of Masonic Oratory, p. 369.