to whom the care of rebuilding the Capitol had been committed, “laid his hand upon the fillets that adorned the foundation stone, and also the cords by which it was to be drawn to its place.  In that instant the magistrates, the priests, the senators, the Roman knights, and a number of citizens, all acting with one effort and general demonstrations of joy, laid hold of the ropes and dragged the ponderous load to its destined spot.  They then threw in ingots of gold and silver, and other metals, which had never been melted in the furnace, but still retained, untouched by human art, their first formation in the bowels of the earth.”—­Tac.  Hist., 1. iv. c. 53, Murphy’s transl.

[109] As, for instance, in Psalm cxviii. 22, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner,” which, Clarke says, “seems to have been originally spoken of David, who was at first rejected by the Jewish rulers, but was afterwards chosen by the Lord to be the great ruler of his people in Israel;” and in Isaiah xxviii. 16, “Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation,” which clearly refers to the promised Messiah.

[110] In the ritual “observed at laying the foundation-stone of public structures,” it is said, “The principal architect then presents the working tools to the Grand Master, who applies the plumb, square, and level to the stone, in their proper positions, and pronounces it to be well-formed, true, and trusty.”—­WEBB’S Monitor, p. 120.

[111] “The square teaches us to regulate our conduct by the principles of morality and virtue.”—­Ritual of the E. A. Degree.—­The old York lectures define the square thus:  “The square is the theory of universal duty, and consisteth in two right lines, forming an angle of perfect sincerity, or ninety degrees; the longest side is the sum of the lengths of the several duties which we owe to all men.  And every man should be agreeable to this square, when perfectly finished.”

[112] Aristotle.

[113] “The cube is a symbol of truth, of wisdom, and moral perfection.  The new Jerusalem, promised in the Apocalypse, is equal in length, breadth, and height.  The Mystical city ought to be considered as a new church, where divine wisdom will reign.”—­OLIVER’S Landmarks, ii. p. 357.—­And he might have added, where eternal truth will be present.

[114] In the most primitive times, all the gods appear to have been represented by cubical blocks of stone; and Pausanias says that he saw thirty of these stones in the city of Pharae, which represented as many deities.  The first of the kind, it is probable, were dedicated to Hermes, whence they derived their name of “Hermae.”

[115] “Give unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name; worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness.”—­Psalm xxix. 2.

[116] It is at least a singular coincidence that in the Brahminical religion great respect was paid to the north-east point of the heavens.  Thus it is said in the Institutes of Menu, “If he has any incurable disease, let him advance in a straight path towards the invincible north-east point, feeding on water and air till his mortal frame totally decay, and his soul become united with the Supreme.”