Free Masonry - The Masonic Trowel

DR. DALCHO'S OPINION OF THE MASTER^ DEGREE. 95
I am interested in this part of the subject, because it is
this part which is said to give sublimity to the master's
degree; because this is the boasted history of events taking
place at the building of the temple, which is important to
be known, which the scriptures do not record, and which
is carefully treasured in the faithful breasts of Free Masons.
But it is, not history; it is a contrivance of the imagination,
no better calculated to gain credit in the reflecting mind,
than the fable of Cadmus and the dragon.
11 Longo caput extulit antro
" Caeruleus serpens, horrendaque sibila misit"—Ovid.
The dragon slain, his teeth sown, armed men sprout up
with sword and spear.
I am happy to find in the Sublime Master of the degree
of Perfection, and Sovereign Inspector General,' Dr. Dalcho,
an able supporter of my views. He, from his high
throne in the East, pronounces the words " ridiculous 91 and
" false," in connexion with the traditions and ceremonies of
this degree, in a way worth noticing.
" In the Master's degree, there is another inconsistency.
The candidate is told that he represents Hiram Abiff, a
man of the greatest masonic knowledge, and from whom
no secret of the craft was hid. Yet a word is demanded
of him, of which he has no knowledge. The person whom
he represents, had the mystic word, but how can the candidate
give what he never had ? [A second Daniel come to
judgment!] It certainly is an insult-to his feelings, as it
makes him appear ridiculous; for it sometimes happens,
that he blunders upon one which excites laughter, and the
solemnity of the occasion is thereby destroyed."*
" In the Master's degree, the ceremonies of initiation are
designed to represent the circumstances which took place
* Dalcho's Oration, p. 23.