Page:Manual of the Lodge.pdf/78

Rh substance, such as linen, silk, or satin, can be substituted, without entirely destroying the symbolic character of the apron, because the lamb has in all ages been deemed the appropriate emblem of innocence.

The true Masonic apron should, then, be of unspotted lamb skin, from 14 to 16 inches wide, and from 12 to 14 inches deep, with a fall about 3 or 4 inches deep, square at the bottom, with sharp angular corners, and without device or ornament of any kind. The usage of the craft in this country has, within a few years past, allowed a narrow edging of blue ribbon, in allusion to that universal friendship which is the bond of the Society, and of which virtue blue is the symbol. But this, undoubtedly, is an innovation, for the ancient apron was without any edging or ornament. All extraneous ornaments and devices are in bad taste, and detract from the symbolic character of the investiture. But the silk or satin aprons, bespangled, and painted, and embroidered, which have been gradually creeping into our Lodges, have no sort of connection with Ancient Craft Masonry. They are an innovation of French origin, which should be persistently discouraged by all who admire the simplicity and beauty of our symbols. A Mason who duly and truly appreciates the symbolic meaning of his apron would no more tolerate a linen one for its economy, or an embroidered satin one for its decorations, than an artist would a gilded statue. The lambskin, and the lambskin alone, is the badge "more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, and more honorable than the Star and Garter."

THE NORTHEAST CORNER.

In the important ceremony which refers to the northeast corner of the Lodge, the candidate becomes as one who is to all outward appearance a perfect and upright man and Mason, the representative of a spiritual corner-stone, on which he is to erect his future moral and Masonic edifice.

This symbolic reference of the corner-stone of a material edifice to a Mason when, at his first initiation, he commences the moral and intellectual task of erecting a spiritual temple in his heart, is beautifully sustained when we look at all the qualities