THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

[58] In further illustration of the wisdom of these temple
contrivances,
it may be mentioned that, by marks placed upon the materials which had
been thus prepared at a distance, the individual production of every
craftsman was easily ascertained, and the means were provided of
rewarding
merit and punishing indolence.
[59] "Each of the pagan gods had (besides the _public_ and _open_) a
_secret worship_ paid unto him; to which none were admitted but those
who
had been selected by preparatory ceremonies, called Initiation. This
_secret-worship_ was termed the Mysteries."--WARBURTON, _Div. Leg. I.
i.
p. 189_.
[60] It must be remarked, however, that many of the Fellow Crafts were
also stone-cutters in the mountains, _chotzeb bahor_, and, with their
nicer implements, more accurately adjusted the stones which had been
imperfectly prepared by the apprentices. This fact does not at all
affect
the character of the symbolism we are describing. The due preparation
of
the materials, the symbol of purification, was necessarily continued in
all the degrees. The task of purification never ceases.
[61] The classical reader will here be reminded of that beautiful
passage
of Horace, commencing with "Justum et tenacem propositi virum."--Lib.
iii.
od. 3.
[62] "Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque
turres."--HOR. lib. i. od. 4.
[63] It is worth noticing that the verb _natzach_, from which the title
of the _menatzchim_ (the overseers or Master Masons in the ancient
temple), is derived, signifies also in Hebrew _to be perfected, to be
completed_. The third degree is the perfection of the symbolism of the
temple, and its lessons lead us to the completion of life. In like
manner the Mysteries, says Christie, "were termed [Greek: teletai\],
_perfections_, because they were supposed to induce a perfectness of
life. Those who were purified by them were styled [Greek: teloume/noi],
and [Greek: tetelesme/noi], that is, brought to
perfection."--_Observations on Ouvaroff's Essay on the Eleusinian
Mysteries_, p. 183.
[64] Dr. Oliver, in the first or preliminary lecture of his "Historical
Landmarks," very accurately describes the difference between the pure
or
primitive Freemasonry of the Noachites, and the spurious Freemasonry of
the heathens.
[65] The idea of the world, as symbolically representing God's temple,
has
been thus beautifully developed in a hymn by N.P. Willis, written for
the