Perfect Ashlar and the Lewis

Vocabulary · 6

Rough ashlar

A stone as it comes from the quarry: irregular, uncut, fit only to be worked on. The published emblem of the Entered Apprentice and of the Mason at the moment of his initiation: present, useful, but not yet fitted for the Master's plan.

Perfect ashlar

A stone made true on every face by the labor of skilled hands: square, level, and plumb to the eye and to the rule. The published emblem of the man whose education, both moral and mental, has fitted him to take his place in the building.

Cubic stone

Mackey's classical term for the perfect ashlar. A cube is the same when measured in any direction: an ancient image of moral consistency, of a man whose character does not change with who is watching.

Lewis (operative)

An iron clamp shaped to drop into a dovetailed cavity cut into the top of a heavy stone, so that the stone can be lifted by tackle and set in place. The published image of the strength by which the Mason raises the polished work to its station.

Lewis (speculative)

In English and Scottish published usage, the son of a Master Mason is also called a lewis: a young man who, by the strength of his own character, bears up the latter age of his father and supports him as the iron lewis bears the stone.

Lodge contains both

The published Lodge furnishes both ashlars side by side (the rough stone and the perfect stone) because every Mason is both at once. He is a rough ashlar in what he has not yet learned, and a perfect ashlar in what he has already finished.

Practice questions · 6

1. What does the published lecture say the rough ashlar represents?

   • a. The Mason at the end of his life
   • b. The Mason at the moment of initiation ✓
   • c. The Grand Master in office
   • d. The Lodge after it is chartered

2. The perfect ashlar is described in the monitor as:

   • a. A stone the candidate carries home
   • b. A cube, true on every face by the labor of skilled hands ✓
   • c. A flat slab paving the Lodge floor
   • d. A pillar at the porch of the temple

3. Mackey calls the perfect ashlar by what classical name?

   • a. Trestle
   • b. Cubical stone ✓
   • c. Keystone
   • d. Plinth

4. In operative use, what is a lewis?

   • a. A wooden hammer for shaping stone
   • b. An iron device that drops into a stone and lets it be lifted by tackle ✓
   • c. A measuring rod for ashlars
   • d. A title for the youngest member of a Lodge

5. In published English and Scottish usage, whom is the son of a Master Mason sometimes called?

   • a. A cowan
   • b. A lewis ✓
   • c. An entered son
   • d. A Tyler

6. Why does the published Lodge furnish both the rough and the perfect ashlar?

   • a. To distinguish the EA from the MM
   • b. Because every Mason is both at once: finished in part, still under labor in part ✓
   • c. Because the operative Mason used both daily
   • d. Because the Grand Lodge requires it as decoration