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Article THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON AS A SYMBOL OF FKE... ← Page 7 of 15 →
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The Temple Of Solomon As A Symbol Of Fke...
subjects of wisdom , in which sages might alone find themselves appropriately employed ; and yet having its birth and deriving its first life from a society of artizans , whose only object was apparently the construction of material edifices of stone and mortar . The nature , then , of this operative and speculative combination is the first problem to be solved ; and the symbolism which depends upon it is the first feature of the institution which is to be deyeloped .
Ereemasonry , in its character as an operative art , is familiar to every one . As such it is engaged in the application of the rules and principles of architecture to the construction of edifices for private and public use , houses for the dwelling-place of man , and temples for the worship of Deity . It abounds , like every other art , in the use of technical terms , and employs , in practice , an abundance of
implements and materials which are peculiar to itself . Now , if the ends of operative masonry"had here ceased—if this
technical dialect and these technical -implements had never been used for any other purpose , nor appropriated to any other object than that of enabling its disciples to pursue their artistic labours with greater convenience to themselves—Ereemasonry would never have existed . The same principles might , and in all probability would , have been developed in some other way , but the organisation , the
name , the mode of instruction , would all have most materially differed . But the operative masons , who founded the Order , were not content with the mere material and manual part of their profession ; they joined to it , under the Avise instructions of their leaders , a correlative branch of study .
And hence , to the Freemason , this operative art has been symbolized , in that intellectual deduction from it which has been correctly called speculative Masonry . At one time each was an integral part of one undivided system . Not that the period ever existed when every operative mason was acquainted with , or initiated into ,
the speculative science—even now there are thousands of skilful artisans who know as little of that as they do of the Hebrew
language which was spoken by its founder ; but operative masonry was , in the conception of our history , and is in some measure even now , the skeleton upon which was strung the living muscles and tendons and nerves of the speculative system . It was the block of marble , rude and unpolished it may have been , from which was sculptured the life-breathing statue . * Speculative Masonry—which is hut another name lor Ereemasonry in its modern acceptation—may bo briefly defined as the scientific
* " Thus did our wise Grand Master contrive a plan , by mechanical and practical illusions , to instruct the craftsmen in principles of the most sublime speculative philosophy , tending to the glory of God and to secure to them temporal blessings here and eternal life hereafter , as well as to unite the speculative and operative Masons ; thereby forming a twofold advantage from the principles of geometry and architecture on the one part , and the precepts of wisdom and ethics on the oilier . "— Culcoit , Candid Dimmition , p . 31 , ed . 1709 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Temple Of Solomon As A Symbol Of Fke...
subjects of wisdom , in which sages might alone find themselves appropriately employed ; and yet having its birth and deriving its first life from a society of artizans , whose only object was apparently the construction of material edifices of stone and mortar . The nature , then , of this operative and speculative combination is the first problem to be solved ; and the symbolism which depends upon it is the first feature of the institution which is to be deyeloped .
Ereemasonry , in its character as an operative art , is familiar to every one . As such it is engaged in the application of the rules and principles of architecture to the construction of edifices for private and public use , houses for the dwelling-place of man , and temples for the worship of Deity . It abounds , like every other art , in the use of technical terms , and employs , in practice , an abundance of
implements and materials which are peculiar to itself . Now , if the ends of operative masonry"had here ceased—if this
technical dialect and these technical -implements had never been used for any other purpose , nor appropriated to any other object than that of enabling its disciples to pursue their artistic labours with greater convenience to themselves—Ereemasonry would never have existed . The same principles might , and in all probability would , have been developed in some other way , but the organisation , the
name , the mode of instruction , would all have most materially differed . But the operative masons , who founded the Order , were not content with the mere material and manual part of their profession ; they joined to it , under the Avise instructions of their leaders , a correlative branch of study .
And hence , to the Freemason , this operative art has been symbolized , in that intellectual deduction from it which has been correctly called speculative Masonry . At one time each was an integral part of one undivided system . Not that the period ever existed when every operative mason was acquainted with , or initiated into ,
the speculative science—even now there are thousands of skilful artisans who know as little of that as they do of the Hebrew
language which was spoken by its founder ; but operative masonry was , in the conception of our history , and is in some measure even now , the skeleton upon which was strung the living muscles and tendons and nerves of the speculative system . It was the block of marble , rude and unpolished it may have been , from which was sculptured the life-breathing statue . * Speculative Masonry—which is hut another name lor Ereemasonry in its modern acceptation—may bo briefly defined as the scientific
* " Thus did our wise Grand Master contrive a plan , by mechanical and practical illusions , to instruct the craftsmen in principles of the most sublime speculative philosophy , tending to the glory of God and to secure to them temporal blessings here and eternal life hereafter , as well as to unite the speculative and operative Masons ; thereby forming a twofold advantage from the principles of geometry and architecture on the one part , and the precepts of wisdom and ethics on the oilier . "— Culcoit , Candid Dimmition , p . 31 , ed . 1709 .