Free Masonry - The Masonic Trowel

MASONIC DEGREES.
Old grandfather grey-beard,
Without tooth or tongue, &c.
But suppose the tale, entire, or in one of its parts, were
as true as that the earth revolves round the sun, what is it
worth ? We have seen its total want of ingenuity in the
contrivance, and of wit in the result; it is no better calculated
to excite deep emotions, than the palsy to animate the
dying frame; its efforts to be solemn are too shallow to
affect the heart of a child ; and, altogether, it is like to the
ancient master's word, which, in the language of our Sovereign
Grand Inspector General, u is, in fact, not a word, but
merely a jumble of letters forming a sound without meaning/
1 (Dalcho's Ora. p. 22.)
CHAPTER XVIII.
* Pray, where are your tools,
u Your line and plumb rules?
u Each man to his work let him stand, boye;
M Work solid and sure,
u Upright and secure,
u And your building be sure will be strong, boys."
HAVING completed an examination of the several degrees
of Masonry within the lodges, in relation to their pretensions
individually, I propose now to review them collectively.
The three degrees are emblematic of three divine dispensations
of grace, the Antediluvian, the Mosaic, and the
Christian. (New Man. Smith,