Free Masonry - The Masonic Trowel

R6IAL ARCH MASONRY. 165
of New-York, and in Newport, R. I.;" and then follow the
names of forty-three degrees!—(FreeMas. Library, p. 317.)
What a beautiful structure is Ancient Free Masonry! so
consistent in its plan; so harmonious in its parts; so finished
in its execution 1 Generally, it is three stories high, sometimes
less, oftentimes four, and then seven, seventeen, thirty-three,
and forty-three; yet it is always the same superb
edifice; never too narrow on the ground, never too high in
the air; and never containing more or less than " the whole
duty of man as a moral being; comprising a summary of
principles conformable to the very nature and fitness of
things."—Town's Spec. Free Masonry, p. 23.
u Thy wisdom inspired the great institution;
44 Thy strength shall support it, till nature expire;
" And when the creation shall faH into ruin,
" Its beauty d;aU rise through the midst of the fire."*
Ri tol de rol, tol de rol, ri tolde. rol.
To reason with intoxicated men, is useless; with madmen,
is absurd: vana sunt et risu digna: intolerable vanity is a
fair object of ridicule; it is hardened against reason; satire
alone can correct h. The writer is not unkind towards
Free Masonry: even charity may laugh at folly, to make
others laugh at it, and avoid it
That the .Royal Arch is a degree of ancient Free Masonry,
one hundred chapters in the single state of New-York are
ready to testify,.with Webb, Town, Cross, Cole, Dalcho,
and a host of other authors, sanctioned by the highest authorities
of Free Masonry.
On the other hand, that it is not a degree of ancient Free
Masonry, is asserted by the Grand Lodges of England and
Scotland* and by all the legally constituted masonic authorities
of Great Britain, supported by Preston, Lawrie, and
the Book of Constitutions of Massachusetts.
It dates from its beginning, which date is inscribed by the
* Free Mason's Library, p. 233.