"The interior of a Freemason's Lodge," says the lecture on the first tracing board, "is composed of ornaments, furniture and jewels."
I invite the brethren present to consider at somewhat greater length than is possible in that lecture the symbolism of these so-called jewels.
In the first place I must ask you to bear with me for a little space while I endeavour to give a very brief dissertation on the word "jewel" itself.
It was first used in English towards the end of the thirteenth century (the earliest quotation in the Oxford Dictionary is dated 1290), and it came into English from the French.
