ACCEPTED MASONS

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_The_ SYSTEM, _as taught in the regular_ LODGES, _may have some
Redundancies or Defects, occasion'd by the Ignorance or Indolence
of the old members. And indeed, considering through what Obscurity
and Darkness the_ MYSTERY _has been deliver'd down; the many
Centuries it has survived; the many Countries and Languages, and_
SECTS _and_ PARTIES _it has run through; we are rather to wonder
that it ever arrived to the present Age, without more
Imperfection. It has run long in muddy Streams, and as it were,
under Ground. But notwithstanding the great Rust it may have
contracted, there is much of the_ OLD FABRICK _remaining: the
essential Pillars of the Building may be discov'd through the
Rubbish, tho' the Superstructure be overrun with Moss and Ivy, and
the Stones, by Length of Time, be disjointed. And therefore, as
the Bust of an_ OLD HERO _is of great Value among the Curious,
tho' it has lost an Eye, the Nose or the Right Hand; so Masonry
with all its Blemishes and Misfortunes, instead of appearing
ridiculous, ought to be receiv'd with some Candor and Esteem, from
a Veneration of its_ ANTIQUITY.

--_Defence of Masonry_, 1730
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CHAPTER III

_Accepted Masons_

I

Whatever may be dim in the history of Freemasonry, and in the nature
of things much must remain hidden, its symbolism may be traced in
unbroken succession through the centuries; and its symbolism is its
soul. So much is this true, that it may almost be said that had the
order ceased to exist in the period when it was at its height, its
symbolism would have survived and developed, so deeply was it wrought
into the mind of mankind. When, at last, the craft finished its labors
and laid down its tools, its symbols, having served the faith of the
worker, became a language for the thoughts of the thinker.

Few realize the service of the science of numbers to the faith of man
in the morning of the world, when he sought to find some kind of key
to the mighty maze of things. Living amidst change and seeming chance,
he found in the laws of numbers a path by which to escape the awful
sense of life as a series of accidents in the hands of a capricious
Power; and, when we think of it, his insight was not invalid. "All
things are in numbers," said the wise Pythagoras; "the world is a
living arithmetic in its development--a realized geometry in its
repose." Nature is a realm of numbers; crystal