Free Masonry - The Masonic Trowel

TO PROVE ANY GREAT MAN A FREE MASON. 195'
now I see it clear as the meridian sun. Noah applied the
principles of architecture, under the divine direction, to the
building of the ark; and Moses the same of the tabernacle,
and Solomon the same of the temple, " which was
built after the similitude of the tabernacle." Is it not
plain, then, that these builders were Masons ? and that Ma-
' sonry, in their hands, was a divine gift ? It is very plain;
I wonder at Masons' having made so much difficulty about
the matter.
Our author says, (p. 58.) " All civilized nations admit,
that Solomon most probably was a Mason; and the fact is
admitted from the circumstance of his building the temple.
If, therefore, his masonic character rests on this ground, the
conclusion is irresistible, that his masonic knowledge was
divinely derived."
How beautiful the truth! How perfectly plain, that from
the circumstance of building the temple, Solomon was a
Mason; and being directed of Heaven in the work, that
his masonic knowledge was divinely derived I And, as our
author adds, " The same inference is equally tine of
Moses. 91
And this unveils another mystery; for, if building the
ark constituted Noah a Mason, the tabernacle, Moses, and
the temple, Solomon, nothing is lacking to prove, that most
of those men claimed by Mr. Town were, in truth, Free Masons.
I could never before guess who had memory enough
to keep the catalogue of great names in all ages belonging
to the fraternity ;* Nebuchadnezzar, Herod the Great, Julius
Caesar, (be.—but now I have it; as the building of the
temple made Solomon, so the building of Babylon made
Nebuchadnezzar; and of many temples made Julius CSBsar;
and the building of a splendid Grecian temple at Jerusalem
made Herod a Mason; and to know whether any
ancient man were a Mason, find whether he applied theprin-
* It is well known Masonry intrusts nothing to records. " The bine de«
pees have no written records."— Datcho'i Orations,?. 11.
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