was best instructed by similitudes." [43]

Such is the system adopted in Freemasonry for the development and
inculcation of the great religious and philosophical truths, of which it
was, for so many years, the sole conservator. And it is for this reason
that I have already remarked, that any inquiry into the symbolic character
of Freemasonry, must be preceded by an investigation of the nature of
symbolism in general, if we would properly appreciate its particular use
in the organization of the masonic institution.




XI.

The Speculative Science and the Operative Art.



And now, let us apply this doctrine of symbolism to an investigation of
the nature of a speculative science, as derived from an operative art; for
the fact is familiar to every one that Freemasonry is of two kinds. We
work, it is true, in speculative Masonry only, but our ancient brethren
wrought in both operative and speculative; and it is now well understood
that the two branches are widely apart in design and in character--the one
a mere useful art, intended for the protection and convenience of man and
the gratification of his physical wants, the other a profound science,
entering into abstruse investigations of the soul and a future existence,
and originating in the craving need of humanity to know something that is
above and beyond the mere outward life that surrounds us with its gross