d for the lotus, the erica, the ivy, the mistletoe, and the
myrtle. The lesson of wisdom is the same; the medium of imparting it is
all that has been changed.

Returning, then, to the acacia, we find that it is capable of three
explanations. It is a symbol of immortality, of innocence, and of
initiation. But these three significations are closely connected, and that
connection must be observed, if we desire to obtain a just interpretation
of the symbol. Thus, in this one symbol, we are taught that in the
initiation of life, of which the initiation in the third-degree is simply
emblematic, innocence must for a time lie in the grave, at length,
however, to be called, by the word of the Grand Master of the Universe, to
a blissful immortality. Combine with this the recollection of the place
where the sprig of acacia was planted, and which I have heretofore shown
to be Mount Calvary, the place of sepulture of Him who "brought life and
immortality to light," and who, in Christian Masonry, is designated, as he
is in Scripture, as "the lion of the tribe of Judah," and remember, too,
that in the mystery of his death, the wood of the cross takes the place of
the acacia, and in this little and apparently insignificant symbol, but
which is really and truly the most important and significant one in
masonic science, we have a beautiful suggestion of all the mysteries of
life and death, of time and eternity, of the present and of the future.
Thus read (and thus all our symbols should be read), Masonry proves
something more to its disciples than a mere social society or a charitable
association. It becomes a "lamp to our feet," whose spiritual light shines
on the darkness of the deathbed, and dissipates the gloomy shadows of the
grave.

XXIX.

The Symbolism of Labor.

It is one of the most beautiful features of the Masonic Institution, that
it teaches not only the necessity, but the nobility, of labor. Among the
earliest of the implements in whose emblematic use it instructs its
neophytes is the Trestle Board, the acknowledged symbol of the Divine Law,
in accordance with whose decree[199] labor was originally instituted as
the common lot of all; and therefore the important lesson that is closely
connected with this symbol is, that to labor well and truly, to labor
honestly and persistently, is the object and the chief end of all
humanity.

To work out well the task that is set before us is our highest duty, and
should c