In these days of talk-radio bloviators and tin-can patriots, it’s easy to forget that the so-called Founding Fathers, a loose affiliation of brilliant, brave, flawed, and privileged white men who laid the foundations of our nation, were actual human beings.

That point was driven home recently by the opening of a crusty brass box in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

The box, described in the popular media as a “time capsule,” contained memorabilia from July 4th, 1795, the day the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House was laid.

Time capsules, which are designed to be opened at some designated day in the future — be it twenty-five, a hundred, or a thousand years — are a relatively recent phenomenon. The small collection of coins, papers, and the commemorative silver plate contained in the State House box, on the other hand, are an expression of a much older tradition, one that dates back to the very first civic structures of the ancient Middle East: the sanctification of a foundation by way of a small sacrificial offering.

As the museum conservator carefully unpacked these Early American objects in the glare of the world’s cameras, politicians and administrators jockeyed to associate themselves with the discovery — and, by extension, with Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, who presided over the laying of the State House cornerstone.

There was ooh-ing and ah-ing over the 18th century newspapers, which were in surprisingly good shape, and the “pine-tree” shilling, a colonial coin rebelliously minted in 1652 in one of the earliest political protests against the terms of British rule.

But the real show-stopper was the commemorative plate at the bottom of the box, which may have been engraved by Paul Revere himself. Here’s what it says:

This Corner Stone of a building intended for the use of the Legislative and Executive Branches of Government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was laid by his Excellency SAMUEL ADAMS, Esq., Governor of said Commonwealth, assisted by the Most Worshipful PAUL REVERE, Grand Master, and the Right Worshipful WILLIAM SCOLLAY, Deputy Grand Master, the Grand Wardens and the Bretheren [sic] of the GRAND LODGE of Massachusetts, on the 4th Day of July, An. Dom. 1795, A.L. 5795, being the 20th anniversary of AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

For those unfamiliar with the terms “Grand Master” and “Grand Lodge,” or with the letters “A.L.” preceding a date, it’s worthwhile to remember that the laying of a significant cornerstone in the early days of our republic — and even, in some municipal settings to this day — involved a blessing by the Freemasons.

Paul Revere, among his many professional accomplishments, had recently been elected Grand Master, or supreme leader, of the Massachusetts Freemasons, so it was to him that the happy duty fell that July day in 1795. It’s likely that in addition to certifying that the cornerstone was set square, level, and plumb, he poured grain, wine, and oil on it before mortaring in the commemorative items.

There’s a certain level of discomfort in this country today with the idea of Freemasonry, with its pomp and secrecy, but Revere invested a great deal of energy into the society. Apparently, he liked a bit of pomp, and the social and professional connections he made in the Freemasons served him well throughout his life. Just like Benjamin Franklin, whose civic-mindedness went hand in glove with his business pursuits, Paul Revere was an entrepreneur. It should come as no surprise that his silversmithing eventually expanded in an industrial direction: he cast iron cannons for the Continental Army and provided copper cladding to the fledgling United States Navy.

In fact, Revere built the first successful copper rolling mill in this country, which enabled him to fulfill a huge contract with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: the sheathing of the dome of the brand new State House!

Unlike Samuel Adams, who was born into an established political family and was educated at Harvard, Paul Revere was the son of an immigrant, a Huguenot named Apollos Rivoire. The father “Americanized” the name to Revere, but young Paul still faced great barriers to success in Boston. Unlike Adams, he didn’t have an easy entree into the world of the Boston elite, or parents wealthy enough to bail him out of failed business enterprises. The Freemasons were a perfect fit for a humble, but ambitious, artisan seeking to perfect his craft and improve his station.

As for the letters, “A.L.,” they stand for Anno Lucis, or “In the year of light,” a reference to the creation of the world in Genesis and to the year 4000 B.C., which the Freemasons designated as “year zero” in a simplification of the Hebrew calendar.

The excitement in the museum conservator’s voice was palpable as she noted that there were visible fingerprints on the commemorative plate — perhaps they were Adams’s and Revere’s!

For a moment, you could almost believe that these American heroes were ordinary people like you and me — not supermen or secular saints — who’d done extraordinary things with their lives.

In other words, a message worthy of the ages.