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== MACKEY – E == | == MACKEY – E == | ||
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| + | [[Datei:Albert Mackeywww.jpg|thumb|350px]] | ||
:'''Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry''' | :'''Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry''' | ||
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The compositions of the lectures was but a recreation. Familiar from childhood as I had been with the Holy Scriptures, I scarcely needed to look up my proof texts, so tamely did they come to my call. A number of odes were also composed at that time, but the greater part of the threescore odes and poems of the Eastern Star that I have written were the work of subsequent years. The first Ode of the series of 1850 was one commencing "Light from the East, 'tis gilded with hope." | The compositions of the lectures was but a recreation. Familiar from childhood as I had been with the Holy Scriptures, I scarcely needed to look up my proof texts, so tamely did they come to my call. A number of odes were also composed at that time, but the greater part of the threescore odes and poems of the Eastern Star that I have written were the work of subsequent years. The first Ode of the series of 1850 was one commencing "Light from the East, 'tis gilded with hope." | ||
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| + | The theory of the whole subject is succinctly stated in my Rosary of take Eastern Star, published in 1865: To take from the ancient writings five prominent female characters, illustrating as many Masonic virtues, and to adopt them into the fold of Masonry. The selections were: | ||
:1. Jephthah's Daughter, as illustrating respect to the binding force of a vow. | :1. Jephthah's Daughter, as illustrating respect to the binding force of a vow. | ||
| Zeile 1.215: | Zeile 1.218: | ||
In compliment, however, to the four old Lodges, the privileges which they had always possessed under the old organization were particularly reserved to them; and it was enacted that "no law, rule, or regulation, to be hereafter made or passed in Grand` Lodge, should deprive them of such privilege, or encroach on any landmark which was at that time established as the standard of Masonic government" (as recorded by Preston, Illustrations, edition of 1792, pages 248 and 249). | In compliment, however, to the four old Lodges, the privileges which they had always possessed under the old organization were particularly reserved to them; and it was enacted that "no law, rule, or regulation, to be hereafter made or passed in Grand` Lodge, should deprive them of such privilege, or encroach on any landmark which was at that time established as the standard of Masonic government" (as recorded by Preston, Illustrations, edition of 1792, pages 248 and 249). | ||
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| + | The Grand Lodges of York and of London kept up a friendly intercourse, and mutual interchange of recognition, until the latter Body, in 1725, granted a Warrant of constitution to some Freemasons who had seceded from the former. This un-Masonic act was severely reprobated by the York Grand Lodge, and produced the first interruption to the harmony that had long subsisted between them. It was, however, followed some years after by another unjustifiable act of interference. In 1735, the Earl of Crawford, Grand Master of England, constituted two Lodges within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of York, and granted, without its consent, Deputations for Lancaster, Durham, and Northumberland. "This circumstance," says Preston (Illustrationa; edition of 1792, page 279), "the Grand Lodge at York highly resented, and ever afterward viewed the proceedings of the Brethren in the south with a jealous eye. All friendly intercourse ceased, and the York Masons, from that moment, considered their interests distinct from the Masons under the Grand Lodge in London." | ||
Three years after, in 1738, several Brethren, dissatisfied with the conduct of the Grand Lodge of England, seceded from it, and held unauthorized meetings for the purpose of initiation. Taking advantage of the breach between the Grand Lodges of York and London. they assumed the character of York Freemasons. On the Grand Lodge's determination to put strictly in execution the laws against such seceders, they still further separated from its jurisdiction, and assumed the appellation of Ancient York Masons. They announced that the ancient landmarks were alone preserved by them; and, declaring that the regular Lodges had adopted new plans, and sanctioned innovations, they branded them with the name of Modern Masons. In 1739, they established a new Grand Lodge in London, under the name of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York: Masons, and, persevering in the measures they had adopted, held communications and appointed annual feasts. They were soon afterward recognized by the Freemasons of Scotland and Ireland, and were encouraged and fostered by many of the nobility. The two Grand Lodges continued to exist, and to act in opposition to each other, extending their schisms into other countries, especially into America, until the year 1813, when, under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex, they were united under the title of the United Grand Lodge of England. Such is the history of Freemasonry in England as uninterruptedly believed by all Freemasons and Masonic writers for nearly a century and a half. | Three years after, in 1738, several Brethren, dissatisfied with the conduct of the Grand Lodge of England, seceded from it, and held unauthorized meetings for the purpose of initiation. Taking advantage of the breach between the Grand Lodges of York and London. they assumed the character of York Freemasons. On the Grand Lodge's determination to put strictly in execution the laws against such seceders, they still further separated from its jurisdiction, and assumed the appellation of Ancient York Masons. They announced that the ancient landmarks were alone preserved by them; and, declaring that the regular Lodges had adopted new plans, and sanctioned innovations, they branded them with the name of Modern Masons. In 1739, they established a new Grand Lodge in London, under the name of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York: Masons, and, persevering in the measures they had adopted, held communications and appointed annual feasts. They were soon afterward recognized by the Freemasons of Scotland and Ireland, and were encouraged and fostered by many of the nobility. The two Grand Lodges continued to exist, and to act in opposition to each other, extending their schisms into other countries, especially into America, until the year 1813, when, under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex, they were united under the title of the United Grand Lodge of England. Such is the history of Freemasonry in England as uninterruptedly believed by all Freemasons and Masonic writers for nearly a century and a half. | ||
| Zeile 1.554: | Zeile 1.558: | ||
The equipoised balance, an instrument for weighing, is an ancient symbol of equity. On the medals, this virtue is represented by a female holding in the right hand a balance, and in the left a measuring wand, to indicate that she gives to each one his just measure. In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the thirty-first Degree, or Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander, is illustrative of the virtue of equity; and hence the balance is a prominent symbol of that degree, as it is also of the Sixteenth Degree, or Princes of Jerusalem, because according to the old books, the members were Chiefs in Freemasonry, and administered justice to the inferior degrees. | The equipoised balance, an instrument for weighing, is an ancient symbol of equity. On the medals, this virtue is represented by a female holding in the right hand a balance, and in the left a measuring wand, to indicate that she gives to each one his just measure. In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the thirty-first Degree, or Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander, is illustrative of the virtue of equity; and hence the balance is a prominent symbol of that degree, as it is also of the Sixteenth Degree, or Princes of Jerusalem, because according to the old books, the members were Chiefs in Freemasonry, and administered justice to the inferior degrees. | ||
| − | * | + | *EQUIVOCATION |
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| − | EQUIVOCATION | ||
Derived from two Latin words meaning equal and voice, and indicating doubtful interpretation, something most questionable. To equivocate is to say something with the intention to deceive. The words of the covenant of Freemasonry require that it should be made without evasion, equivocation or mental reservation. This is exactly in accordance with the law of ethics in relation to promises made. | Derived from two Latin words meaning equal and voice, and indicating doubtful interpretation, something most questionable. To equivocate is to say something with the intention to deceive. The words of the covenant of Freemasonry require that it should be made without evasion, equivocation or mental reservation. This is exactly in accordance with the law of ethics in relation to promises made. | ||
| Zeile 1.564: | Zeile 1.566: | ||
All of this is in direct violation of the law of veracity. The doctrine of the Jesuits is very different. Suarez, one of their most distinguished casuists, lays it down as good law, that if any one makes a promise or contract, he may secretly understand that he does not sincerely promise, or that he promises without any intention of fulfilling the promise. This is not the rule of Freemasonry, which requires that the words of the covenant be taken in the patent sense which they were intended by the ordinary use of language to convey. It adheres to the true rule of ethics, which is, as Paley says, that a promise is binding in the sense in which the promiser supposed the promisee to receive it (see Mental Reservation). | All of this is in direct violation of the law of veracity. The doctrine of the Jesuits is very different. Suarez, one of their most distinguished casuists, lays it down as good law, that if any one makes a promise or contract, he may secretly understand that he does not sincerely promise, or that he promises without any intention of fulfilling the promise. This is not the rule of Freemasonry, which requires that the words of the covenant be taken in the patent sense which they were intended by the ordinary use of language to convey. It adheres to the true rule of ethics, which is, as Paley says, that a promise is binding in the sense in which the promiser supposed the promisee to receive it (see Mental Reservation). | ||
| − | * | + | *ERANOI |
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| − | ERANOI | ||
Among the ancient Greeks there were friendly societies, whose object was, like the modern Masonic Lodges, to relieve the distresses of their necessitous members. They were permanently organized, and had a common fund by the voluntary contributions of the members. If a member was reduced to poverty, or was in temporary distress for money, he applied to the eranos, and, if worthy, received the necessary assistance, which was, however, advanced rather as a loan than a gift, and the amount was to be returned when the recipient was in better circumstances. In the days of the Roman Empire these friendly societies were frequent among the Greek cities, and were looked on with suspicion by the emperors, as tending to political combinations. Smith says (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities) that the Anglo-Saxon gilds, or fraternities for mutual aid, resembled the eranoi of the Greeks. In their spirit, these Grecian confraternities partook more of the Masonic character, as charitable associations, than of the modern friendly societies, where relief is based on a system of mutual insurance; for the assistance was given only to cases of actual need, and did not depend on any calculation of natural contingencies. | Among the ancient Greeks there were friendly societies, whose object was, like the modern Masonic Lodges, to relieve the distresses of their necessitous members. They were permanently organized, and had a common fund by the voluntary contributions of the members. If a member was reduced to poverty, or was in temporary distress for money, he applied to the eranos, and, if worthy, received the necessary assistance, which was, however, advanced rather as a loan than a gift, and the amount was to be returned when the recipient was in better circumstances. In the days of the Roman Empire these friendly societies were frequent among the Greek cities, and were looked on with suspicion by the emperors, as tending to political combinations. Smith says (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities) that the Anglo-Saxon gilds, or fraternities for mutual aid, resembled the eranoi of the Greeks. In their spirit, these Grecian confraternities partook more of the Masonic character, as charitable associations, than of the modern friendly societies, where relief is based on a system of mutual insurance; for the assistance was given only to cases of actual need, and did not depend on any calculation of natural contingencies. | ||
| − | * | + | *ERECTING LODGES |
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| − | ERECTING LODGES | ||
To erect a Lodge is the authorized and time-honored formula to denote the foundation of a new Lodge of Freemasons. It is so employed in the earliest Lodge Charters, or Warrants, as they are styled nowadays, ever issued by any Grand Lodge. The very first of them opens as follows: whereas our Trusted and Well-Beloved Brothers have besought us that we would be pleased to Erect a Lodge off tree Masons, etc., etc. | To erect a Lodge is the authorized and time-honored formula to denote the foundation of a new Lodge of Freemasons. It is so employed in the earliest Lodge Charters, or Warrants, as they are styled nowadays, ever issued by any Grand Lodge. The very first of them opens as follows: whereas our Trusted and Well-Beloved Brothers have besought us that we would be pleased to Erect a Lodge off tree Masons, etc., etc. | ||
| Zeile 1.580: | Zeile 1.578: | ||
These comments were made by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley, 1901 (Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, volume xiv, page 15). | These comments were made by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley, 1901 (Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, volume xiv, page 15). | ||
| − | * | + | *ERI, ROYAL ORDER OF |
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| − | ERI, ROYAL ORDER OF | ||
The legendary founder in 1695 B.C. of this organization comprising Freemasons only, was Eremon, King of Ulster, Ireland, and the Order is reputed to have ceased its military activities sometime about 1649 to 1659 A.D. | The legendary founder in 1695 B.C. of this organization comprising Freemasons only, was Eremon, King of Ulster, Ireland, and the Order is reputed to have ceased its military activities sometime about 1649 to 1659 A.D. | ||
| Zeile 1.590: | Zeile 1.586: | ||
This ancient Order comprised knights and teachers, the Ollamhs, Brehons or judges, Crimtears or priest-astronomers, and Bards, poets and musicians. The modern ceremonies include the grades in order of Man-at-Arms, Esquire, and Knight, Knights Commanders, who are chosen by the Knights Grand Cross, and the latter selected by the Senior Grand Cross who represents the Sovereign, for whom an empty chair is placed at every Assembly. The latter is called the Faslairt, or Camp, and represents a green field. The General Assembly is termed the Foleith. | This ancient Order comprised knights and teachers, the Ollamhs, Brehons or judges, Crimtears or priest-astronomers, and Bards, poets and musicians. The modern ceremonies include the grades in order of Man-at-Arms, Esquire, and Knight, Knights Commanders, who are chosen by the Knights Grand Cross, and the latter selected by the Senior Grand Cross who represents the Sovereign, for whom an empty chair is placed at every Assembly. The latter is called the Faslairt, or Camp, and represents a green field. The General Assembly is termed the Foleith. | ||
| − | * | + | *ERICA |
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| − | ERICA | ||
The Egyptians selected the erica as a sacred plant. | The Egyptians selected the erica as a sacred plant. | ||
The origin of the consecration of this plant will be peculiarly interesting to the Masonic student | The origin of the consecration of this plant will be peculiarly interesting to the Masonic student | ||
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| − | Isis found the body of Osiris in the neighborhood of Biblos, and near a tall plant called the Erica. | + | There was a legend in the mysteries of Osiris, which related that Isis, when in search of the body of her murdered husband, discovered it interred at the brow of a hill near which an erica grew; and hence, after the recovery of the body and the resurrection of the god, when she established the mysteries to commemorate her loss and her recovery, she adopted the erica as a sacred plant, in memory of its having pointed out the spot where the mangled remains of Osiris were concealed. |
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| − | + | Ragon (Cours des Initiations, page 151) thus alludes to this mystical event: | |
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| + | :Isis found the body of Osiris in the neighborhood of Biblos, and near a tall plant called the Erica. | ||
| + | :Oppressed with grief, she seated herself on the margin of a fountain whose waters issued from a rock. | ||
| + | :This rock is the small hit! familiar to Freemasons; the Ertca has been replaced by the Acacza. and the grief of Isis has been changed for that of the Fellow Craits. | ||
The lexicographers define ApeA77 as the heath or heather; but it is really, as Plutarch asserts, the tamarisk tree; and Schwenk tDie Mythologie der Semiten, The Semitic Mythology, relating to the Assyrians, Arameans, Hebraeo-Phenicians, Arabs and Abyssinians, page 248) says that Phyloe, so renowned among the ancients as one of the burial places of Osiris, and among the moderns for its wealth of architectural remains, contains monuments in which the grave of Osiris is overshadowed by the tamarisk. | The lexicographers define ApeA77 as the heath or heather; but it is really, as Plutarch asserts, the tamarisk tree; and Schwenk tDie Mythologie der Semiten, The Semitic Mythology, relating to the Assyrians, Arameans, Hebraeo-Phenicians, Arabs and Abyssinians, page 248) says that Phyloe, so renowned among the ancients as one of the burial places of Osiris, and among the moderns for its wealth of architectural remains, contains monuments in which the grave of Osiris is overshadowed by the tamarisk. | ||
| − | * | + | *ERITREA |
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| − | ERITREA | ||
This country is on the western shores of the Red Sea, and on the northeastern coast of Africa, between Egypt and Abyssinia. The Grand Orient off Italy instituted one Lodge in this country at Asmara. | This country is on the western shores of the Red Sea, and on the northeastern coast of Africa, between Egypt and Abyssinia. The Grand Orient off Italy instituted one Lodge in this country at Asmara. | ||
| − | * | + | *ERLKING |
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| − | ERLKING | ||
A name found in one of the sacred sagas of the Scandinavian mythology, entitled Sir Olaf and the Erlking's Daughter, and applied to the mischievous goblin haunting the black forest of Thuringia. | A name found in one of the sacred sagas of the Scandinavian mythology, entitled Sir Olaf and the Erlking's Daughter, and applied to the mischievous goblin haunting the black forest of Thuringia. | ||
| − | * | + | *ERNEST AND FALK |
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| − | ERNEST AND FALK | ||
More fully in German, Ernst und Falk, Gesprache .fur Frei1naurer, meaning "Ernest and Falk. Conversations for Freemasons," is the title of a work written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and first published in 1778. Ernest is an inquirer, and Falk a Freemason, who gives to his interlocutor a very philosophical idea of the character, aims, and objects of the Institution. The work has been faithfully translated by Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, F.S.A., in the London Freemasons Quarterly Magazine, in 1854, and continued and finished, so far as the author had completed it, in the London Freemason in 1872. Findel says ( History of Freemasonry, page 373) of this work, that it "is one of the best things that has ever been written upon Freemasonry." A translation of it also appeared in the Builder (1915, volume i, pages 20 and 59), by Brother Louis Block, P. G. M. of Iowa. | More fully in German, Ernst und Falk, Gesprache .fur Frei1naurer, meaning "Ernest and Falk. Conversations for Freemasons," is the title of a work written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and first published in 1778. Ernest is an inquirer, and Falk a Freemason, who gives to his interlocutor a very philosophical idea of the character, aims, and objects of the Institution. The work has been faithfully translated by Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, F.S.A., in the London Freemasons Quarterly Magazine, in 1854, and continued and finished, so far as the author had completed it, in the London Freemason in 1872. Findel says ( History of Freemasonry, page 373) of this work, that it "is one of the best things that has ever been written upon Freemasonry." A translation of it also appeared in the Builder (1915, volume i, pages 20 and 59), by Brother Louis Block, P. G. M. of Iowa. | ||
| − | * | + | *ERWIN VON STEINBACH |
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| − | ERWIN VON STEINBACH | ||
A distinguished German, who was born, as his name imports, at Steinbach, near Buhl, about the middle of the thirteenth century. He was the master of the works at the Cathedral of Strasburg, the tower of which he commenced in 1275. He finished the tower and doorway before his death, which was in 1318. He was at the head of the German Fraternity of Stonemasons, who were the precursors of the modern Freemasons (see Strasburg). | A distinguished German, who was born, as his name imports, at Steinbach, near Buhl, about the middle of the thirteenth century. He was the master of the works at the Cathedral of Strasburg, the tower of which he commenced in 1275. He finished the tower and doorway before his death, which was in 1318. He was at the head of the German Fraternity of Stonemasons, who were the precursors of the modern Freemasons (see Strasburg). | ||
| − | * | + | *ESOTERIC MASONRY |
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| − | ESOTERIC MASONRY | ||
That secret portion of Freemasonry which is known only to the initiates as distinguished from Esoteric Freemasonry, or monitorial, which is accessible to all who choose to read the manuals and published works of the Order. | That secret portion of Freemasonry which is known only to the initiates as distinguished from Esoteric Freemasonry, or monitorial, which is accessible to all who choose to read the manuals and published works of the Order. | ||
| Zeile 1.640: | Zeile 1.626: | ||
And the mystical nature of this concealed doctrine was expressed in their symbolic language by the images of sphinxes placed at the entrance of their temples. Two centuries later, Aristotle adopted the system of Pythagoras, and, in the Lyceum at Athens, delivered in the morning to his select disciples his subtle and concealed doctrines concerning God, Nature, and Life, and in the evening lectures on more elementary subjects to a promiscuous audience. These different lectures he called his Morning and his Evening Walk. | And the mystical nature of this concealed doctrine was expressed in their symbolic language by the images of sphinxes placed at the entrance of their temples. Two centuries later, Aristotle adopted the system of Pythagoras, and, in the Lyceum at Athens, delivered in the morning to his select disciples his subtle and concealed doctrines concerning God, Nature, and Life, and in the evening lectures on more elementary subjects to a promiscuous audience. These different lectures he called his Morning and his Evening Walk. | ||
| − | * | + | *ESPERANCE |
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| − | ESPERANCE | ||
Under the name of Cheualiers et Dames de l'Esperance, a French expression meaning Knights and Lazifes of Hope, was founded first in France, and subsequently and androgynous, both sexes, order in Germany. It is said to have been instituted by Louis XV, at the request of the Marquis de Chatelet, and was active about 1750. The Lodge Irene, at Hamburg, was founded in 1757. | Under the name of Cheualiers et Dames de l'Esperance, a French expression meaning Knights and Lazifes of Hope, was founded first in France, and subsequently and androgynous, both sexes, order in Germany. It is said to have been instituted by Louis XV, at the request of the Marquis de Chatelet, and was active about 1750. The Lodge Irene, at Hamburg, was founded in 1757. | ||
| − | * | + | *ESSENES |
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| − | ESSENES | ||
Lawrie, in his History of Freemasonry, in replying to the objection, that if the Fraternity of Freemasons had flourished during the reign of Solomon, it would have existed in Judea in after ages, attempts to meet the argument by showing that there did exist, after the building of the Temple, an association of men resembling Freemasons in the nature, ceremonies, and object of their institution (see his page 33). The association to which he here alludes is that of the Essenes, whom he subsequently describes as an ancient Fraternity originating from an association of architects who were connected with the building of Solomon's Temple. | Lawrie, in his History of Freemasonry, in replying to the objection, that if the Fraternity of Freemasons had flourished during the reign of Solomon, it would have existed in Judea in after ages, attempts to meet the argument by showing that there did exist, after the building of the Temple, an association of men resembling Freemasons in the nature, ceremonies, and object of their institution (see his page 33). The association to which he here alludes is that of the Essenes, whom he subsequently describes as an ancient Fraternity originating from an association of architects who were connected with the building of Solomon's Temple. | ||
| Zeile 1.681: | Zeile 1.663: | ||
They avoid taking an oath, and regard it as worse than perjury; for they say that he who is not believed without calling on God to witness, is already condemned of perjury. Josephus also states that they studied with great assiduity the writings of the ancients on distempers and their remedies, alluding, as it is supposed, to the magical works imputed by the Talmudists to Solomon. | They avoid taking an oath, and regard it as worse than perjury; for they say that he who is not believed without calling on God to witness, is already condemned of perjury. Josephus also states that they studied with great assiduity the writings of the ancients on distempers and their remedies, alluding, as it is supposed, to the magical works imputed by the Talmudists to Solomon. | ||
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| + | It has already been observed that, in consequence of the celibacy of the Essenes, it was found necessary to recruit their ranks by the introduction of converts, who were admitted by a solemn of initiation. The candidate, or aspirant, was required to pass through a novitiate of two stages, which extended over three years, before he was admitted to a full participation in the privileges of the Order. Upon entering the first stage, which lasted for twelve months, the novice cast all his possessions into the common treasury. He then received a copy of the regulations of the brotherhood, and was presented with a spade, and apron, and a white robe. The spade was employed to bury excrement, the apron was used at the daily illustrations, and the white robe was worn as a symbol of purity. | ||
During all this period the aspirant was considered as being outside the Order, and, although required to observe some of the ascetic rules of the society, he was not admitted to the common meal. At the end of the probationary year, the aspirant, if approved, was advanced to the second stage, which lasted two years, and was then called an Approacher. During this period he was permitted to unite with the Brethren in their illustrations, but was not admitted to the common meal, nor to hold any office. Should this second stage of probation be passed with approval, the approacher became an Associate, and was admitted into full membership, and at length allowed to partake of the common meal. | During all this period the aspirant was considered as being outside the Order, and, although required to observe some of the ascetic rules of the society, he was not admitted to the common meal. At the end of the probationary year, the aspirant, if approved, was advanced to the second stage, which lasted two years, and was then called an Approacher. During this period he was permitted to unite with the Brethren in their illustrations, but was not admitted to the common meal, nor to hold any office. Should this second stage of probation be passed with approval, the approacher became an Associate, and was admitted into full membership, and at length allowed to partake of the common meal. | ||
| Zeile 1.701: | Zeile 1.684: | ||
The truth appears to be that the Essenes, the School of Pythagoras, and the Freemasons, derive their similarity from the spirit of brotherhood which has prevailed in all ages of the civilized world, the inherent principles of which, as the results of any fraternity all the members of which are engaged in the same pursuit and assenting to the same religious creed are brotherly love, charity, and that secrecy which gives them their exclusiveness. And hence, between all fraternities, ancient and modern, these remarkable coincidences will be found. The intricate and most interesting aspect of the Essences as a monastic sort of order within the pale of Judaism is examined in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible. Brother Dudley Wright considers this difficult angle of the subject in his book Was Jesus an Esserze? | The truth appears to be that the Essenes, the School of Pythagoras, and the Freemasons, derive their similarity from the spirit of brotherhood which has prevailed in all ages of the civilized world, the inherent principles of which, as the results of any fraternity all the members of which are engaged in the same pursuit and assenting to the same religious creed are brotherly love, charity, and that secrecy which gives them their exclusiveness. And hence, between all fraternities, ancient and modern, these remarkable coincidences will be found. The intricate and most interesting aspect of the Essences as a monastic sort of order within the pale of Judaism is examined in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible. Brother Dudley Wright considers this difficult angle of the subject in his book Was Jesus an Esserze? | ||
| − | * | + | *ES SELAMU ALEIKUM |
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| − | ES SELAMU ALEIKUM | ||
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| − | + | See SeZamu Aleikum, Es: also Salaam | |
| − | ESTHER | + | *ESTHER |
The Third Degree of the American Adoptive Rite of the Eastern Star. It is also called the Wife's Degree, and in its ceremonies comprises the history of Esther the wife and queen of Ahasuerus, fling of Persia, as related in the Book of Esther. | The Third Degree of the American Adoptive Rite of the Eastern Star. It is also called the Wife's Degree, and in its ceremonies comprises the history of Esther the wife and queen of Ahasuerus, fling of Persia, as related in the Book of Esther. | ||
| − | * | + | *ETERNAL LIFE |
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| − | ETERNAL LIFE | ||
The doctrine of eternal life is taught in the Master's Degree, as it was in the Ancient Mysteries of all nations (see Immortality of the Soul). | The doctrine of eternal life is taught in the Master's Degree, as it was in the Ancient Mysteries of all nations (see Immortality of the Soul). | ||
| − | * | + | *ETERNITY |
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| − | ETERNITY | ||
The ancient symbol of eternity was a serpent in the form of a circle, the tail being placed in the mouth. The simple circle, the figure which has neither beginning nor end, but returns continually into itself, was also a symbol of eternity. | The ancient symbol of eternity was a serpent in the form of a circle, the tail being placed in the mouth. The simple circle, the figure which has neither beginning nor end, but returns continually into itself, was also a symbol of eternity. | ||
| − | * | + | *ETHANIM OR TISHRI |
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| − | ETHANIM OR TISHRI | ||
The seventh sacred month, or the first month of the Hebrew civil year, commencing with the new moon in September. | The seventh sacred month, or the first month of the Hebrew civil year, commencing with the new moon in September. | ||
| − | * | + | *ETHICS OF FREEMASONRY |
| − | |||
| − | ETHICS OF FREEMASONRY | ||
There is a Greek word, Sos, ethos, which signifies custom, from which Aristotle derives another word Pros, ethos, which means ethics; because, as he says, from the custom of doing good acts arises the habit of moral virtue. Ethics, then, is the science of morals teaching the theory and practice of all that is good in relation to God and to man, to the state and the individual; it is, in short, to use the emphatic expression of a German writer, "the science of the good." Ethics being thus engaged in the inculcation of moral duties, there must be a standard of these duties, an authoritative ground-principle on which they depend, a doctrine that requires their performance, making certain acts just those that ought to be done, and which, therefore, are duties, and that forbid the performance of others which are therefore, offenses. | There is a Greek word, Sos, ethos, which signifies custom, from which Aristotle derives another word Pros, ethos, which means ethics; because, as he says, from the custom of doing good acts arises the habit of moral virtue. Ethics, then, is the science of morals teaching the theory and practice of all that is good in relation to God and to man, to the state and the individual; it is, in short, to use the emphatic expression of a German writer, "the science of the good." Ethics being thus engaged in the inculcation of moral duties, there must be a standard of these duties, an authoritative ground-principle on which they depend, a doctrine that requires their performance, making certain acts just those that ought to be done, and which, therefore, are duties, and that forbid the performance of others which are therefore, offenses. | ||
| Zeile 1.752: | Zeile 1.724: | ||
And so we find that the ethics of Freemasonry is really founded on the two great ideas of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. | And so we find that the ethics of Freemasonry is really founded on the two great ideas of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. | ||
| − | * | + | *ETHIOPIA |
| − | |||
| − | ETHIOPIA | ||
A tract of country to the south of Egypt, and watered by the upper Nile. The reference to Ethiopia, familiar to Freemasons, as a place of attempted escape for certain criminals, is not to be found in the English or French accounts, and Brother Mackey was inclined to think that this addition to the Hiramic legend is an American interpolation. The selection of Ethiopia, by the old authorities, as a place of refuge, seems to be rather inappropriate when we consider what must have been the character of that country in the age of Solomon. | A tract of country to the south of Egypt, and watered by the upper Nile. The reference to Ethiopia, familiar to Freemasons, as a place of attempted escape for certain criminals, is not to be found in the English or French accounts, and Brother Mackey was inclined to think that this addition to the Hiramic legend is an American interpolation. The selection of Ethiopia, by the old authorities, as a place of refuge, seems to be rather inappropriate when we consider what must have been the character of that country in the age of Solomon. | ||
| − | * | + | *ETYMOLOGY |
| − | |||
| − | ETYMOLOGY | ||
For the etymology of the word Masons see MaOcon, Derivation of the Word. | For the etymology of the word Masons see MaOcon, Derivation of the Word. | ||
| − | * | + | *EUCLID |
| − | |||
| − | EUCLID | ||
In the Year of the World, 3650, Anno Mundi, which was 646 years after the building of King Solomon's Temple, Euclid, the celebrated geometrician, was born. His name has been always associated with the history of Freemasonry, and in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, the Order is said to have greatly flourished in Egypt, under his auspices. The well-known forty-seventh problem of his first book, although not discovered by him, but long credited to Pythagoras, has been adopted as a symbol in Masonic instruction. | In the Year of the World, 3650, Anno Mundi, which was 646 years after the building of King Solomon's Temple, Euclid, the celebrated geometrician, was born. His name has been always associated with the history of Freemasonry, and in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, the Order is said to have greatly flourished in Egypt, under his auspices. The well-known forty-seventh problem of his first book, although not discovered by him, but long credited to Pythagoras, has been adopted as a symbol in Masonic instruction. | ||
| − | * | + | *EUCLID, LEGEND OF |
| − | |||
| − | EUCLID, LEGEND OF | ||
All the old manuscript Constitutions contain the well known legend of Euclid, whose name is presented to us as the Worthy Clerk Euclid in every conceivable variety of corrupted form. The legend as given in the Dowland Manuscript is in the following words: | All the old manuscript Constitutions contain the well known legend of Euclid, whose name is presented to us as the Worthy Clerk Euclid in every conceivable variety of corrupted form. The legend as given in the Dowland Manuscript is in the following words: | ||
| Zeile 1.786: | Zeile 1.750: | ||
Euclid is here very appropriately used as a type of geometry, that science of which he was so eminent a teacher; and the myth or legend then symbolizes the fact that there was in Egypt a close connection between that science and the great moral and religious system which was among the Egyptians, as well as other ancient nations, what Freemasonry is at the present day—a secret institution, established for the inculcation of the same principles, and inculcating them in the same symbolic manner. So interpreted this legend corresponds to all the developments of Egyptian history, which teach us how close a connection existed in that country between the religious and scientific systems. Thus Kenrick (Ancient egypt i, 383) tells us that "when we read of foreigners in Egypt being obliged to submit to painful and tedious ceremonies of initiation, it was not that they might learn the secret meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis but that they might partake of the knowledge of astronomy, physic, geometry, and theology." The legend of Euclid belongs to that class of narrations which, in another work, Doctor Mackey calls The Mythical Symbols of Freemasonry. | Euclid is here very appropriately used as a type of geometry, that science of which he was so eminent a teacher; and the myth or legend then symbolizes the fact that there was in Egypt a close connection between that science and the great moral and religious system which was among the Egyptians, as well as other ancient nations, what Freemasonry is at the present day—a secret institution, established for the inculcation of the same principles, and inculcating them in the same symbolic manner. So interpreted this legend corresponds to all the developments of Egyptian history, which teach us how close a connection existed in that country between the religious and scientific systems. Thus Kenrick (Ancient egypt i, 383) tells us that "when we read of foreigners in Egypt being obliged to submit to painful and tedious ceremonies of initiation, it was not that they might learn the secret meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis but that they might partake of the knowledge of astronomy, physic, geometry, and theology." The legend of Euclid belongs to that class of narrations which, in another work, Doctor Mackey calls The Mythical Symbols of Freemasonry. | ||
| − | * | + | *EULOGY |
| − | |||
| − | EULOGY | ||
Spoken or written praise of a person's life or character. Freemasonry delights to do honor to the memory of departed Brethren by the delivery of eulogies of their worth and merit, which are either delivered at the time of their burial, or at some future period. The eulogy forms the most important part of the ceremonies of a Sorrow Lodge. But the language of the eulogist should be restrained within certain limits; while the veil of charity should be thrown over the frailties of the deceased, the praise of his virtues should not be expressed with exaggerated adulation, slavish flattery Eulogy, just and affectionate is one thing; panegyric, suggesting hypocritical compliment, is something else. | Spoken or written praise of a person's life or character. Freemasonry delights to do honor to the memory of departed Brethren by the delivery of eulogies of their worth and merit, which are either delivered at the time of their burial, or at some future period. The eulogy forms the most important part of the ceremonies of a Sorrow Lodge. But the language of the eulogist should be restrained within certain limits; while the veil of charity should be thrown over the frailties of the deceased, the praise of his virtues should not be expressed with exaggerated adulation, slavish flattery Eulogy, just and affectionate is one thing; panegyric, suggesting hypocritical compliment, is something else. | ||
| − | * | + | *EUMOLPUS |
| − | |||
| − | EUMOLPUS | ||
A king of Eleusis, who founded, about the year 1374 B.C., the Mysteries of Eleusis. His descendants, the Eumoipidae, presided for twelve hundred years over these Mysteries as Hierophants. | A king of Eleusis, who founded, about the year 1374 B.C., the Mysteries of Eleusis. His descendants, the Eumoipidae, presided for twelve hundred years over these Mysteries as Hierophants. | ||
| − | * | + | *EUNUCH |
| − | |||
| − | EUNUCH | ||
It is usual, in the most correct Masonic instruction, especially to name eunuchs as being incapable of initiation. In none of the old Constitutions and Charges is this class of persons alluded to by name, although of course they are comprehended in the general prohibition against making Freemasons of persons who have any blemish or maim. However, in the Charges which were published by Doctor Anderson, in his second edition (see Constitution, 1738, page 144) they are included in the list of prohibited candidates. It is probable from this evidence that at the time it was usual to name them in the point of obligation above referred to; and this presumption derives strength from the fact that Dermott, in copying his Charges from those of Anderson's second edition, added a note complaining of the Moderns for having disregarded this ancient law, in at least one instance (see Brother Lawrence Dermott's Ahiman Rezon, edition of 1778). The question is, however, not worth discussion, except as a matter of interest in the history of our ceremonies, since the legal principle is already determined that eunuchs cannot be initiated because they are not perfect men, "having no maim ox defect in their bodies." | It is usual, in the most correct Masonic instruction, especially to name eunuchs as being incapable of initiation. In none of the old Constitutions and Charges is this class of persons alluded to by name, although of course they are comprehended in the general prohibition against making Freemasons of persons who have any blemish or maim. However, in the Charges which were published by Doctor Anderson, in his second edition (see Constitution, 1738, page 144) they are included in the list of prohibited candidates. It is probable from this evidence that at the time it was usual to name them in the point of obligation above referred to; and this presumption derives strength from the fact that Dermott, in copying his Charges from those of Anderson's second edition, added a note complaining of the Moderns for having disregarded this ancient law, in at least one instance (see Brother Lawrence Dermott's Ahiman Rezon, edition of 1778). The question is, however, not worth discussion, except as a matter of interest in the history of our ceremonies, since the legal principle is already determined that eunuchs cannot be initiated because they are not perfect men, "having no maim ox defect in their bodies." | ||
| − | * | + | *EUPHRATES |
| − | |||
| − | EUPHRATES | ||
One of the largest and most celebrated rivers of Asia. Rising in the mountains of Armenia and flowing into the Persian gulf, it necessarily lies between Jerusalem and Babylon. In the advanced degrees it is referred to as the stream over which the Knights of the East won a passage by their arms in returning from Babylon to Jerusalem. | One of the largest and most celebrated rivers of Asia. Rising in the mountains of Armenia and flowing into the Persian gulf, it necessarily lies between Jerusalem and Babylon. In the advanced degrees it is referred to as the stream over which the Knights of the East won a passage by their arms in returning from Babylon to Jerusalem. | ||
| − | * | + | *EURESIS |
| − | |||
| − | EURESIS | ||
From the Greeli, xxpfatS, meaning a discovery. That part of the initiation in the Ancient Masteries which represented the finding of the body of the god or hero whose death and resurrection was the subject of the initiation. The Euresis has been adopted in Freemasonry, and forms an essential incident of Craft instruction. | From the Greeli, xxpfatS, meaning a discovery. That part of the initiation in the Ancient Masteries which represented the finding of the body of the god or hero whose death and resurrection was the subject of the initiation. The Euresis has been adopted in Freemasonry, and forms an essential incident of Craft instruction. | ||
| − | * | + | *EUROPE |
| − | |||
| − | EUROPE | ||
An appellation or name at times given to the west end of the Lodge. | An appellation or name at times given to the west end of the Lodge. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVA |
| − | |||
| − | EVA | ||
The acclamation or cry used in the French Rite of Adoption. | The acclamation or cry used in the French Rite of Adoption. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVANGELICON |
| − | |||
| − | EVANGELICON | ||
The gospel belonging to the so-called Ordre du Temple at Paris, and professedly a relic of the real Templars. Some believe in its antiquity; but others, from external and internal evidence, fix its date subsequent to the fifteenth century. It is apparently a garbled version of Saint John's Gospel. It is sometimes confounded with the Leviticon but, though bound up in the same printed volume, it is entirely distinct. | The gospel belonging to the so-called Ordre du Temple at Paris, and professedly a relic of the real Templars. Some believe in its antiquity; but others, from external and internal evidence, fix its date subsequent to the fifteenth century. It is apparently a garbled version of Saint John's Gospel. It is sometimes confounded with the Leviticon but, though bound up in the same printed volume, it is entirely distinct. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVANGELIST |
| − | |||
| − | EVANGELIST | ||
See Saint John the Evangelist. | See Saint John the Evangelist. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVATES |
| − | |||
| − | EVATES | ||
The second Degree in the Druidical system. Of the three Degrees the first was the Bards, the second Evates or Prophets, and the third Druids or Sanctified Authorities. | The second Degree in the Druidical system. Of the three Degrees the first was the Bards, the second Evates or Prophets, and the third Druids or Sanctified Authorities. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVEILLES, SECTE DES |
| − | |||
| − | EVEILLES, SECTE DES | ||
Meaning in French, Sect of the Enlightened. According to Thory (Acta Latomorum i, 31?) a society presumed to be a branch of Weishaupt's Illumines that existed in Italy. | Meaning in French, Sect of the Enlightened. According to Thory (Acta Latomorum i, 31?) a society presumed to be a branch of Weishaupt's Illumines that existed in Italy. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVERGETEN, BUND DER |
| − | |||
| − | EVERGETEN, BUND DER | ||
A German expression meaning League of Doers of Good, a term taken from the Greek word fVfpefmS, a benefactor. A secret order after the manner of the Illuminati. It was founded in Silesia about 1792, by a certain Zerboni of Glogau, Lieut. von Leipzinger, the merchant Contessa, Herr von Reibnitz, and five others; that Fessler worked in it- that it used Masonic forms. Some of the members were imprisoned at Breslau in 1796, and about 1801 the society became defunct. | A German expression meaning League of Doers of Good, a term taken from the Greek word fVfpefmS, a benefactor. A secret order after the manner of the Illuminati. It was founded in Silesia about 1792, by a certain Zerboni of Glogau, Lieut. von Leipzinger, the merchant Contessa, Herr von Reibnitz, and five others; that Fessler worked in it- that it used Masonic forms. Some of the members were imprisoned at Breslau in 1796, and about 1801 the society became defunct. | ||
| − | * | + | *EVERGREEN |
| − | |||
| − | EVERGREEN | ||
An evergreen plant is a symbol of the immortality of the soul. The ancients, therefore, as well as the moderns, planted evergreens at the heads of graves. Freemasons wear evergreens at the funerals of their Brethren, and cast them into the graves. The acacia is the plant which should be used on these occasions, but w here it cannot be obtained, some other evergreen plant, especially the cedar, or box, is used as a substitute (see Acacia). | An evergreen plant is a symbol of the immortality of the soul. The ancients, therefore, as well as the moderns, planted evergreens at the heads of graves. Freemasons wear evergreens at the funerals of their Brethren, and cast them into the graves. The acacia is the plant which should be used on these occasions, but w here it cannot be obtained, some other evergreen plant, especially the cedar, or box, is used as a substitute (see Acacia). | ||
| − | * | + | *EVORA, KNIGHTS OF |
| − | |||
| − | EVORA, KNIGHTS OF | ||
There is a very ancient city in Portugal, of 1200 population, bearing the name of Evora. Quintus Sertorius took it 80 B.C. The Roman antiquities are unrivaled. The aqueduct erected by Sertorius has at one end a marvelous architectural tower rising high above the city, perfect in its condition as when built, 70 B.C. In 1147, King Alfonso I, of Portugal, instituted the Order of the New Militia in consequence of the prowess exhibited by the troops in the siege of Lisbon against the Moors. When they conquered Evora in 1166, the king by decree changed their name to Knights of Evora. | There is a very ancient city in Portugal, of 1200 population, bearing the name of Evora. Quintus Sertorius took it 80 B.C. The Roman antiquities are unrivaled. The aqueduct erected by Sertorius has at one end a marvelous architectural tower rising high above the city, perfect in its condition as when built, 70 B.C. In 1147, King Alfonso I, of Portugal, instituted the Order of the New Militia in consequence of the prowess exhibited by the troops in the siege of Lisbon against the Moors. When they conquered Evora in 1166, the king by decree changed their name to Knights of Evora. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXALTED |
| − | |||
| − | EXALTED | ||
A candidate is said to be exalted, when he receives the Degree of Holy Royal Arch, the seventh in American Freemasonry. Exalted means elevated or lifted up, and is applicable both to a peculiar ceremony of the Degree, and to the fact that this Degree, in the Rite in which it is practiced, constitutes the summit of ancient Freemasonry. | A candidate is said to be exalted, when he receives the Degree of Holy Royal Arch, the seventh in American Freemasonry. Exalted means elevated or lifted up, and is applicable both to a peculiar ceremony of the Degree, and to the fact that this Degree, in the Rite in which it is practiced, constitutes the summit of ancient Freemasonry. | ||
| Zeile 1.878: | Zeile 1.812: | ||
The rising of the sun of spring from his wintry sleep into the glory of the vernal equinox was called by the old sun-worshipers his exaltation; and the Fathers of the Church afterward applied the same term to the resurrection of Christ. Saint Athanasius says that by the expression, "God hath exalted him," Saint Paul meant the resurrection. Exaltation, therefore, technically means a rising from a lower to a higher sphere, and in Royal Arch Masonry may be supposed to refer to the being lifted up out of the first temple of this life into the second temple of the future life. The candidate is raised in the Master's Degree, he is e:rmalted in the Royal Arch. In both the sit embolic idea is the same. | The rising of the sun of spring from his wintry sleep into the glory of the vernal equinox was called by the old sun-worshipers his exaltation; and the Fathers of the Church afterward applied the same term to the resurrection of Christ. Saint Athanasius says that by the expression, "God hath exalted him," Saint Paul meant the resurrection. Exaltation, therefore, technically means a rising from a lower to a higher sphere, and in Royal Arch Masonry may be supposed to refer to the being lifted up out of the first temple of this life into the second temple of the future life. The candidate is raised in the Master's Degree, he is e:rmalted in the Royal Arch. In both the sit embolic idea is the same. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES |
| − | |||
| − | EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES | ||
It is an almost universal rule of the modern Constitutions of Freemasonry, that an examination upon the subjects which had been taught in the preceding Degree shall be required of every Brother who is desirous of receiving a further Degree; and it is directed that this examination shall take place in an open Lodge of the Degree upon which the examination is made, that all the members present may have an opportunity of judging from actual inspection of the proficiency and fitness of the candidate for the advancement to which he aspires. | It is an almost universal rule of the modern Constitutions of Freemasonry, that an examination upon the subjects which had been taught in the preceding Degree shall be required of every Brother who is desirous of receiving a further Degree; and it is directed that this examination shall take place in an open Lodge of the Degree upon which the examination is made, that all the members present may have an opportunity of judging from actual inspection of the proficiency and fitness of the candidate for the advancement to which he aspires. | ||
| Zeile 1.886: | Zeile 1.818: | ||
The necessity of an adequate comprehension of the mysteries of one Degree, before any attempt is made to acquire a further one, seems to have been duly appreciated from the earliest times; and hence the 13th Article of the Regius Manuscript requires that if a Master has an Apprentice he shall teach him fully, that he may know his Craft ably wherever he may go. (see lines 239 to 244). But there is no evidence that the system of examining candidates as to their proficiency, before their advancement, is other than a modern improvement, and first adopted not very early in the last century. | The necessity of an adequate comprehension of the mysteries of one Degree, before any attempt is made to acquire a further one, seems to have been duly appreciated from the earliest times; and hence the 13th Article of the Regius Manuscript requires that if a Master has an Apprentice he shall teach him fully, that he may know his Craft ably wherever he may go. (see lines 239 to 244). But there is no evidence that the system of examining candidates as to their proficiency, before their advancement, is other than a modern improvement, and first adopted not very early in the last century. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXAMINATION OF THE BALLOT BOX |
| − | |||
| − | EXAMINATION OF THE BALLOT BOX | ||
This is sometimes done after the ballot for a candidate, by presenting the box first to the Junior Warden, then to the Senior, and lastly to the Master, each of whom proclaims the result as dear or foul. This order is adopted so that the declaration of the inferior officer, as to the state of the ballots, may be confirmed and substantiated by his superior. | This is sometimes done after the ballot for a candidate, by presenting the box first to the Junior Warden, then to the Senior, and lastly to the Master, each of whom proclaims the result as dear or foul. This order is adopted so that the declaration of the inferior officer, as to the state of the ballots, may be confirmed and substantiated by his superior. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXAMINATION OF VISITORS |
| − | + | The due examination of strangers who claim the right to visit, should be entrusted only to the most skillful and prudent Brethren of the Lodge. And the examining committee should never forget, that no man applying for admission is to be considered as a Freemason, however strong may be his recommendations, until by undeniable evidence he has proved himself to be such. All the necessary forms and antecedent cautions should be observed. Inquiries should be made as to the time and place of initiation, as a preliminary step the Tiler's pledge, of course, never being omitted. | |
| − | + | Then remember the good old rule of "commencing at the beginning." Let everything proceed in regular course, not varying in the slightest degree from the order in which it is to be supposed that the information sought was originally received. Whatever be the suspicions of imposture, let no expression of those suspicions be made until the final decree for rejection is uttered. And let that decree be uttered in general terms, such as, "I am not satisfied," or "I do not recognize you," and not in more specific language, such as, "You did not answer this inquiry," or thou are ignorant on that point," The candidate for examination is only entitled to know that he has not complied generally with the requisitions of his examiner. To descend to particulars is always improper and often dangerous. | |
| − | |||
Above all, never ask what the lawyers call leading questions, which include in themselves the answers, nor in any manner aid the memory or prompt the forgetfulness of the party examined, by the slightest hints. If he has it in him it will come out without assistance, and if he has it not, he is clearly entitled to no aid. The Freemason who is so unmindful of his obligations as to have forgotten the instructions he has received, must pay the penalty of his carelessness, and be deprived of his contemplated visit to that society whose secret modes of recognition he has so little valued as not to have treasured them in his memory. | Above all, never ask what the lawyers call leading questions, which include in themselves the answers, nor in any manner aid the memory or prompt the forgetfulness of the party examined, by the slightest hints. If he has it in him it will come out without assistance, and if he has it not, he is clearly entitled to no aid. The Freemason who is so unmindful of his obligations as to have forgotten the instructions he has received, must pay the penalty of his carelessness, and be deprived of his contemplated visit to that society whose secret modes of recognition he has so little valued as not to have treasured them in his memory. | ||
| Zeile 1.903: | Zeile 1.832: | ||
And, lastly, never should an unjustifiable delicacy weaken the rigor of these rules. Remember, that for the wisest and most evident reasons, the merciful maxim of the law, which says that it is better that ninety-nine guilty men should escape than that one innocent man should be punished, is with us reversed, and that in Freemasonry it is better that ninety anal nine true men should be turned away from the door of a Lodge than that one cowan should be admitted. | And, lastly, never should an unjustifiable delicacy weaken the rigor of these rules. Remember, that for the wisest and most evident reasons, the merciful maxim of the law, which says that it is better that ninety-nine guilty men should escape than that one innocent man should be punished, is with us reversed, and that in Freemasonry it is better that ninety anal nine true men should be turned away from the door of a Lodge than that one cowan should be admitted. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCALIBAR |
| − | |||
| − | EXCALIBAR | ||
King Arthur's famous sword, which he withdrew from a miraculous stone after the unavailing efforts of 200 of his most puissant barons. Hence, Arthur was proclaimed King. When dying, Arthur commanded a servant to throw the sword into a neighboring lake, but the servant twice eluded this command. When he finally complied, a hand and arm arose from the water, seized the sword by the hilt, waved it thrice, then sinking into the lake, was seen no more. | King Arthur's famous sword, which he withdrew from a miraculous stone after the unavailing efforts of 200 of his most puissant barons. Hence, Arthur was proclaimed King. When dying, Arthur commanded a servant to throw the sword into a neighboring lake, but the servant twice eluded this command. When he finally complied, a hand and arm arose from the water, seized the sword by the hilt, waved it thrice, then sinking into the lake, was seen no more. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCAVATIONS |
| − | |||
| − | EXCAVATIONS | ||
Excavations beneath Jerusalem have for years past been in progress, under the direction of the English society, which controls the "Palestine Exploration Fund," and many important discoveries, especially interesting to Freemasons, have been made. | Excavations beneath Jerusalem have for years past been in progress, under the direction of the English society, which controls the "Palestine Exploration Fund," and many important discoveries, especially interesting to Freemasons, have been made. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCELLENT |
| − | |||
| − | EXCELLENT | ||
A title conferred on the Grand Captain of the Host, and Grand Principal Sojourner of a Grand Chapter, and on the King and Scribe of a subordinate Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in America. | A title conferred on the Grand Captain of the Host, and Grand Principal Sojourner of a Grand Chapter, and on the King and Scribe of a subordinate Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in America. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCELLENT MASONS |
| − | |||
| − | EXCELLENT MASONS | ||
Doctor Oliver ( Historical Landmarks I, 420-8) gives a tradition that at the building of Solomon's Temple there were several Lodges of Excellent Masons, having nine members in each, which were distributed as follows: six Lodges, or fifty-four Excellent Masons in the quarries; three Lodges, or twenty-seven Excellent Masons in the forest of Lebanon; eight Lodges, or seventy-two Excellent Masons engaged in preparing the materials; and nine Lodges, or eighty-one Excellent Masons subsequently employed in building the Temple. Of this tradition there is not the lightest support in authentic history, and it must have been invented altogether for 3 symbolic purpose, in reference perhaps to the musical numbers which it details. | Doctor Oliver ( Historical Landmarks I, 420-8) gives a tradition that at the building of Solomon's Temple there were several Lodges of Excellent Masons, having nine members in each, which were distributed as follows: six Lodges, or fifty-four Excellent Masons in the quarries; three Lodges, or twenty-seven Excellent Masons in the forest of Lebanon; eight Lodges, or seventy-two Excellent Masons engaged in preparing the materials; and nine Lodges, or eighty-one Excellent Masons subsequently employed in building the Temple. Of this tradition there is not the lightest support in authentic history, and it must have been invented altogether for 3 symbolic purpose, in reference perhaps to the musical numbers which it details. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCELLENT MASTER |
| − | |||
| − | EXCELLENT MASTER | ||
A Degree which, with that of Super-Excellent blaster, was at one time given as preparatory to the Royal Arch. The latter Degree nova forms part of what is known as Cryptic Masonry. Crypt is a word from the Latin language as well as the Greek, meaning hidden, and frequently applied to a vault or secret chamber. | A Degree which, with that of Super-Excellent blaster, was at one time given as preparatory to the Royal Arch. The latter Degree nova forms part of what is known as Cryptic Masonry. Crypt is a word from the Latin language as well as the Greek, meaning hidden, and frequently applied to a vault or secret chamber. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCELLENT, MOST |
| − | |||
| − | EXCELLENT, MOST | ||
See Most Excellent | See Most Excellent | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCELLENT, RIGH |
| − | + | See Right Excellent | |
| − | |||
| − | * | + | *EXCELLENT, SUPER |
| − | |||
| − | EXCELLENT, SUPER | ||
See Super-Excellent Masons | See Super-Excellent Masons | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCLUSION |
| − | |||
| − | EXCLUSION | ||
In England the Grand Lodge alone can expel from the rights and privileges of Freemasonry. But a subordinate Lodge may exclude a member after giving him due notice of the charge preferred against him and of the time appointed for its consideration. | In England the Grand Lodge alone can expel from the rights and privileges of Freemasonry. But a subordinate Lodge may exclude a member after giving him due notice of the charge preferred against him and of the time appointed for its consideration. | ||
| Zeile 1.960: | Zeile 1.872: | ||
In the United States of America the expression used as synonymous with Exclusion is striking from the roll, except that the latter punishment is inflicted for non-payment of Lodge dues. The general practice is to suspend for non-payment of dues, the Brother regaining his standing, if there be no other objection to him, by paying the arrearages that he owed. | In the United States of America the expression used as synonymous with Exclusion is striking from the roll, except that the latter punishment is inflicted for non-payment of Lodge dues. The general practice is to suspend for non-payment of dues, the Brother regaining his standing, if there be no other objection to him, by paying the arrearages that he owed. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCLUSIVENESS OF FREEMASONRY |
| − | |||
| − | EXCLUSIVENESS OF FREEMASONRY | ||
The exclusiveness of Masonic benevolence is a charge that has frequently been made against the Order; and it is said that the charity of which it boasts is always conferred on its own members in preference to strangers. It cannot be denied that Freemasons, simply as Freemasons, have ever been more constant and more profuse in their charities to their own Brethren than to the rest of the world; that in apportioning the alms which God has given them to bestow, they have first looked for the poor in their own home before they sought those who were abroad; and that their hearts have felt more deeply for the destitution of a Brother than a stranger. | The exclusiveness of Masonic benevolence is a charge that has frequently been made against the Order; and it is said that the charity of which it boasts is always conferred on its own members in preference to strangers. It cannot be denied that Freemasons, simply as Freemasons, have ever been more constant and more profuse in their charities to their own Brethren than to the rest of the world; that in apportioning the alms which God has given them to bestow, they have first looked for the poor in their own home before they sought those who were abroad; and that their hearts have felt more deeply for the destitution of a Brother than a stranger. | ||
The principle that governs the Institution of Freemasonry, in the distribution of its charities, and the exercise of all the friendly affections, is that which was laid down by Saint Paul for the government of the infant church at Galatia: "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians vi, 10). | The principle that governs the Institution of Freemasonry, in the distribution of its charities, and the exercise of all the friendly affections, is that which was laid down by Saint Paul for the government of the infant church at Galatia: "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians vi, 10). | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | This sentiment of preference for those of one's own faith, thus sanctioned by apostolic authority, is the dictate of human nature, and the words of Scripture find their echo in every heart. "Blood," says the Spanish proverb, "is thicker than water," and the claims of kindred, of friends and comrades to our affections, must not be weighed in the same scale with those of the stranger, who has no stronger tie to bind him to our sympathies, than that of a common origin from the founder of our race. All associations of men act on this principle. It is acknowledged in the church which follows with strict obedience the injunction of the apostle; and in the relief it affords to the distressed, in the comforts and consolations which it imparts to the afflicted, and in the rights and privileges which it bestows upon its own members, distinguishes between those who have no community with it of religious belief, and those who, by worshiping at the same altar, have established the higher claim of being of the household of faith. | ||
It is recognized by all other societies, which, however they may, from time to time, and under the pressure of peculiar circumstances, extend temporary aid to accidental cases of distress, carefully preserve their own peculiar funds for the relief of those who, by their election as members, by their subscription to a written constitution, and by the regular payment of arrears, have assumed the relationship which Saint Paul defines as being of the household of faith. | It is recognized by all other societies, which, however they may, from time to time, and under the pressure of peculiar circumstances, extend temporary aid to accidental cases of distress, carefully preserve their own peculiar funds for the relief of those who, by their election as members, by their subscription to a written constitution, and by the regular payment of arrears, have assumed the relationship which Saint Paul defines as being of the household of faith. | ||
| Zeile 1.977: | Zeile 1.888: | ||
Guided by this instinct of preservation, man eagerly seeks communion of man, and the weakness of the individual is compensated by the strength of association. It is to this consciousness of mutual dependence, that nations are indebted for their existence, and governments for their durability. And under the impulse of the same instinct of society, brotherhoods and associations are formed, whose members, concentrating their efforts for the attainment of one common object, bind themselves by voluntary ties of love and friendship, more powerful than those which arise from the ordinary feelings of human nature. | Guided by this instinct of preservation, man eagerly seeks communion of man, and the weakness of the individual is compensated by the strength of association. It is to this consciousness of mutual dependence, that nations are indebted for their existence, and governments for their durability. And under the impulse of the same instinct of society, brotherhoods and associations are formed, whose members, concentrating their efforts for the attainment of one common object, bind themselves by voluntary ties of love and friendship, more powerful than those which arise from the ordinary feelings of human nature. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCLUSIVE TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION |
| − | |||
| − | EXCLUSIVE TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION | ||
Grand Lodges in the United States have adhered to State lines as the limits of their activities, but this has not been so strictly the custom elsewhere. Some particulars of the situations arising from the contact of different practices may be seen in the following statement of the action taken by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania against the Grand Orient of France. | Grand Lodges in the United States have adhered to State lines as the limits of their activities, but this has not been so strictly the custom elsewhere. Some particulars of the situations arising from the contact of different practices may be seen in the following statement of the action taken by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania against the Grand Orient of France. | ||
| Zeile 1.995: | Zeile 1.904: | ||
"This spirit, which seeks to impair the honor and subvert the dignity of this Grand Lodge, will, we doubt not, be properly appreciated by our sister Grand Lodges, and in submitting the following resolutions, your committee feel confident that the Grand Lodge will receive from her American sisters the same sympathy and support which they so generously extended to the Grand Lodge of New York, when her jurisdiction was invaded by the Grand Lodge of Hamburg." The resolutions offered with the above report were: | "This spirit, which seeks to impair the honor and subvert the dignity of this Grand Lodge, will, we doubt not, be properly appreciated by our sister Grand Lodges, and in submitting the following resolutions, your committee feel confident that the Grand Lodge will receive from her American sisters the same sympathy and support which they so generously extended to the Grand Lodge of New York, when her jurisdiction was invaded by the Grand Lodge of Hamburg." The resolutions offered with the above report were: | ||
| − | RESOLVED, I That all Masonic correspondence and fraternal relations between the Grand Lodge of Louisiana and the Grand Orient of France cease and be discontinued and no Mason oaring allegiance to that Grand Body be recognized as such in this jurisdiction | + | RESOLVED, I |
| + | |||
| + | That all Masonic correspondence and fraternal relations between the Grand Lodge of Louisiana and the Grand Orient of France cease and be discontinued and no Mason oaring allegiance to that Grand Body be recognized as such in this jurisdiction | ||
RESOLVED, II | RESOLVED, II | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | That a duly authenticated copy of the above report and resolution be transmitted to the Grand Orient of France and to all regularly constituted American and European Gralld Lodges. The report and the resolutions were adopted. | ||
In his address at the Annual Grand Communication of the same Grand Lodge, December 27, 1869, the retiring Right Worshipful Grand Master Brother Richard Vaux, said: | In his address at the Annual Grand Communication of the same Grand Lodge, December 27, 1869, the retiring Right Worshipful Grand Master Brother Richard Vaux, said: | ||
| Zeile 2.031: | Zeile 1.943: | ||
RESOLVED, III | RESOLVED, III | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | That the Grand Secretary forward to each of the Grand Lodges in the United States a copy of this report, calling their attention to the fact that the body which the Grand Orient of France has "taken under its wings is authorized by the Grand Orient of France to create Lodges in every State, excepting Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, Rhode Island and New Jersey, and that its power is to extend to those States if and when the fraternal relations nos existing between the several Grand Lodges of those States and the Grand Orient of France cease. | ||
RESOLVED FURTHER | RESOLVED FURTHER | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | That this Grand Lodge, which has always firmly held and still holds the views expressed by our Right Worshipful Grand Plaster Brother Richard Vaux (set out in the foregoing report) respectfully and confidently asks its sister jurisdictions to adopt those views as fundamental in Freemasonry and requests those Grand Lodges which are in fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France to give their adherence to those views and sever further relations with the said Grand Orient. | ||
The above resolutions presented by Brother Beitler, Chairman of the Committee on Clandestine Lodges in Pennsylvania, were unanimously adopted by the Grand Lodge of that State (see Territorial Jurisdiction). | The above resolutions presented by Brother Beitler, Chairman of the Committee on Clandestine Lodges in Pennsylvania, were unanimously adopted by the Grand Lodge of that State (see Territorial Jurisdiction). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXCUSE |
| − | |||
| − | EXCUSE | ||
Lodges in the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth inflicted fines for nonattendance at Lodge meetings, and of course excuses were then required to avoid the penalty. But this has now grown out of use. Freemasonry being considered a voluntary institution, fines for absence are not inflicted, and excuses are therefore not now required. The infliction of a fine would, it is supposed, detract from the solemnity of the obligation which makes attendance a duty. The old Constitutions, however, required excuses for non-attendance, although no penalty was prescribed for a violation of the rule. Thus, in the Matthew Cooke Manuscript (of the fifteenth century) it is said, "that every master of this art should be warned to come to his congregation that they come duly, but if (unless) they may be excused by some manner of cause" (see lines 7404). And in the Regius Manuscript (lines 107-12) it is written: That every master, that is a Mason; | Lodges in the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth inflicted fines for nonattendance at Lodge meetings, and of course excuses were then required to avoid the penalty. But this has now grown out of use. Freemasonry being considered a voluntary institution, fines for absence are not inflicted, and excuses are therefore not now required. The infliction of a fine would, it is supposed, detract from the solemnity of the obligation which makes attendance a duty. The old Constitutions, however, required excuses for non-attendance, although no penalty was prescribed for a violation of the rule. Thus, in the Matthew Cooke Manuscript (of the fifteenth century) it is said, "that every master of this art should be warned to come to his congregation that they come duly, but if (unless) they may be excused by some manner of cause" (see lines 7404). And in the Regius Manuscript (lines 107-12) it is written: That every master, that is a Mason; | ||
| − | Must ben at the generate congregaeyon | + | :Must ben at the generate congregaeyon |
| − | + | :So that he hyt resonebly y-tolde | |
| − | + | :Where that the semble shall be holde; | |
| − | + | :And to that semble he must nede gon | |
| − | + | :But he have a resenabul skwsacyon. | |
| − | * | + | *EXECUTIVE POWERS OF A GRAND LODGE |
| − | |||
| − | EXECUTIVE POWERS OF A GRAND LODGE | ||
See Grand Lodge | See Grand Lodge | ||
| − | * | + | *EXEGETICAL AND PHILANTHROPICAL SOCIETY |
| − | |||
| − | EXEGETICAL AND PHILANTHROPICAL SOCIETY | ||
According to Thory (Acta Latomorumi i 312) founded at Stockholm in 1787. It united Magnetism to Swedenborgianism, the religious doctrines of the celebrated Swedish philosopher; it was at first secret, but when it became known it was killed by ridicule. | According to Thory (Acta Latomorumi i 312) founded at Stockholm in 1787. It united Magnetism to Swedenborgianism, the religious doctrines of the celebrated Swedish philosopher; it was at first secret, but when it became known it was killed by ridicule. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE WORK |
| − | |||
| − | EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE WORK | ||
This term is of frequent use in American Freemasonry. When a lecturer or teacher performs the ceremonies of a Degree for instruction, using generally one of the Freemasons present as a substitute for the candidate, he is said "to exemplify the work." It is done for instruction, or to enable the members of the Grand or subordinate Lodge to determine on the character of the ritual that is taught by the exemplifies.. | This term is of frequent use in American Freemasonry. When a lecturer or teacher performs the ceremonies of a Degree for instruction, using generally one of the Freemasons present as a substitute for the candidate, he is said "to exemplify the work." It is done for instruction, or to enable the members of the Grand or subordinate Lodge to determine on the character of the ritual that is taught by the exemplifies.. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXODUS |
| − | |||
| − | EXODUS | ||
The date of the Exodus has been determined by the excavations recently made at Tel elMaskhtta. This is the name of large mounds near Tel el-Reber, excavated by M. Naville for the Egyptian Exploration Fund, wherein he found inscriptions showing that they represent the ancient City of Pithom or Succoth, the "treasure-cities" (Exodus i, 11), and that Ramses II, was the founder. This was the Pharaoh of the oppression. The walls of the treasurechambers were about six hundred and fifty feet square and twenty-two feet thick. From Pithom, or Succoth, where the Israelites were at work, they started on their exodus toward Etham (Khetam), then to Pihachiroth (Exodus xiv, 2), and so on north and east. The exodus took place under Meneptah II, who ascended the throne 1325 B.C., and reigned but a short period. It was along the isthmus that the Egyptian army perished pursuing the retreating Israelites as they crossed between Lake Serbonis and the waters of the Mediterranean, amidst the "sea of papyrus reeds," the yam suph, that has often proved disastrous to single or congregated travelers (see S. Birch, LL.D., in Ancient History from the Monuments, Brugsch-Bey's lecture, 17th September, 1874; but more particularly the discoveries above referred to, in Fresh Lights, etc., by A. H. Sayce). | The date of the Exodus has been determined by the excavations recently made at Tel elMaskhtta. This is the name of large mounds near Tel el-Reber, excavated by M. Naville for the Egyptian Exploration Fund, wherein he found inscriptions showing that they represent the ancient City of Pithom or Succoth, the "treasure-cities" (Exodus i, 11), and that Ramses II, was the founder. This was the Pharaoh of the oppression. The walls of the treasurechambers were about six hundred and fifty feet square and twenty-two feet thick. From Pithom, or Succoth, where the Israelites were at work, they started on their exodus toward Etham (Khetam), then to Pihachiroth (Exodus xiv, 2), and so on north and east. The exodus took place under Meneptah II, who ascended the throne 1325 B.C., and reigned but a short period. It was along the isthmus that the Egyptian army perished pursuing the retreating Israelites as they crossed between Lake Serbonis and the waters of the Mediterranean, amidst the "sea of papyrus reeds," the yam suph, that has often proved disastrous to single or congregated travelers (see S. Birch, LL.D., in Ancient History from the Monuments, Brugsch-Bey's lecture, 17th September, 1874; but more particularly the discoveries above referred to, in Fresh Lights, etc., by A. H. Sayce). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXOTERIC |
| − | |||
| − | EXOTERIC | ||
From the Greek combining word, ego, meaning outside. Public, not secret, belonging to the uninitiated (see also Esoteric). | From the Greek combining word, ego, meaning outside. Public, not secret, belonging to the uninitiated (see also Esoteric). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXPERT |
| − | |||
| − | EXPERT | ||
In Lodges of the French Rite, there are two officers called First and Second Experts, whose duty it is to assist the Master of Ceremonies in the initiation of a candidate. In Lodges of Perfection of the Scottish Rite, there are similar officers who are known as the Senior and Junior Expert. | In Lodges of the French Rite, there are two officers called First and Second Experts, whose duty it is to assist the Master of Ceremonies in the initiation of a candidate. In Lodges of Perfection of the Scottish Rite, there are similar officers who are known as the Senior and Junior Expert. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXPERT, PERFECT |
| − | |||
| − | EXPERT, PERFECT | ||
Conferred in three grades, and cited in Fustier's collection (see Thory, Acta Latomorum i, 312). | Conferred in three grades, and cited in Fustier's collection (see Thory, Acta Latomorum i, 312). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXPERT, SUBLIME ENGLISH |
| − | |||
| − | EXPERT, SUBLIME ENGLISH | ||
Mentioned in Fustier's collection (see Thory, Acta Latomorum i, 312). | Mentioned in Fustier's collection (see Thory, Acta Latomorum i, 312). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXPOSITIONS |
| − | |||
| − | EXPOSITIONS | ||
Very early after the revival of Freemasonry, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, pretended expositions of the ritual of Freemasonry began to be published. | Very early after the revival of Freemasonry, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, pretended expositions of the ritual of Freemasonry began to be published. | ||
| Zeile 2.107: | Zeile 2.001: | ||
The expositions which abound in the French, German, and other continental languages, are not attacks upon Freemasonry, but are written often under authority, for the use of the Fraternity. | The expositions which abound in the French, German, and other continental languages, are not attacks upon Freemasonry, but are written often under authority, for the use of the Fraternity. | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | The usages of continental Freemasonry permit a freedom of publication that would scarcely be tolerated by the English or American Craft. | |
| − | EXPULSION | + | *EXPULSION |
Expulsion is, of all Masonic penalties, the most severe that can be inflicted on a member of the Order, and hence it has been often called a Masonic death. It deprives the expelled of all the rights and privileges that he ever enjoyed, not only as a member of the particular Lodge from which he has been ejected, but also of those which were inherent in him as a member of the Fraternity at large. He is at once as completely divested of his Masonic character as though he had never been admitted, so far as regards his rights, while his duties and obligations remain as firm as ever, it being impossible for any human power to cancel them. He can no longer demand the aid of his Brethren nor require from them the performance of any of the duties to which he was formerly entitled, nor visit any Lodge, nor unite in any of the public or private ceremonies of the Order. He is considered as being without the pale, and it would be criminal in any Brother, aware of his expulsion, to hold communication with him on Masonic subjects. | Expulsion is, of all Masonic penalties, the most severe that can be inflicted on a member of the Order, and hence it has been often called a Masonic death. It deprives the expelled of all the rights and privileges that he ever enjoyed, not only as a member of the particular Lodge from which he has been ejected, but also of those which were inherent in him as a member of the Fraternity at large. He is at once as completely divested of his Masonic character as though he had never been admitted, so far as regards his rights, while his duties and obligations remain as firm as ever, it being impossible for any human power to cancel them. He can no longer demand the aid of his Brethren nor require from them the performance of any of the duties to which he was formerly entitled, nor visit any Lodge, nor unite in any of the public or private ceremonies of the Order. He is considered as being without the pale, and it would be criminal in any Brother, aware of his expulsion, to hold communication with him on Masonic subjects. | ||
| Zeile 2.125: | Zeile 2.018: | ||
Besides, by the present organization of Freemasonry, Grand Lodges are the supreme Masonic tribunals. If, therefore, expulsion from a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons involved expulsion from a Blue Lodge, the right of the Grand Lodge to hear and determine causes, and to regulate the internal concerns of the Institution, would be interfered with by another Body beyond its control. But the converse of this proposition does not hold good. Expulsion from a Blue Lodge involves expulsion from all the other Degrees; because, as they are composes of what Brother Mackey here terms Blue Masons, the members could not of right sit and hold communications on Masonic subjects with one who was an expelled Freemason. | Besides, by the present organization of Freemasonry, Grand Lodges are the supreme Masonic tribunals. If, therefore, expulsion from a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons involved expulsion from a Blue Lodge, the right of the Grand Lodge to hear and determine causes, and to regulate the internal concerns of the Institution, would be interfered with by another Body beyond its control. But the converse of this proposition does not hold good. Expulsion from a Blue Lodge involves expulsion from all the other Degrees; because, as they are composes of what Brother Mackey here terms Blue Masons, the members could not of right sit and hold communications on Masonic subjects with one who was an expelled Freemason. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXTENDED WINGS OF THE CHERUBIM |
| − | |||
| − | EXTENDED WINGS OF THE CHERUBIM | ||
An expression used in the ceremonies of Royal Master, a Degree of the American Rite, and intended to teach symbolically that he who comes to ask and to seek Divine Truth symbolized by the True Word, should begin by placing himself under the protection of that Divine Power who alone is Truth, and from whom alone Truth can be obtained. Of Him the cherubim with extended wings in the Holy of Holies were a type. | An expression used in the ceremonies of Royal Master, a Degree of the American Rite, and intended to teach symbolically that he who comes to ask and to seek Divine Truth symbolized by the True Word, should begin by placing himself under the protection of that Divine Power who alone is Truth, and from whom alone Truth can be obtained. Of Him the cherubim with extended wings in the Holy of Holies were a type. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXTENT OF THE LODGE |
| − | |||
| − | EXTENT OF THE LODGE | ||
The extent of a Freemason's Lodge is said to be in height from the earth to the highest heavens; in depth, from the sur,'ace to the center; in length, from east to west; and in breadth, from north to south. The expression is a symbolic one, and is intended to teach the extensive boundaries of Freemasonry and the in terminal extension of Masonic charity (see Form of the Lodge). | The extent of a Freemason's Lodge is said to be in height from the earth to the highest heavens; in depth, from the sur,'ace to the center; in length, from east to west; and in breadth, from north to south. The expression is a symbolic one, and is intended to teach the extensive boundaries of Freemasonry and the in terminal extension of Masonic charity (see Form of the Lodge). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXTERIOR |
| − | |||
| − | EXTERIOR | ||
The name of the First Degree of the Rite d'Orient, or East, according to the nomenclature of M. Fustier (see Thory, Acta Latomarum i, 31 ). | The name of the First Degree of the Rite d'Orient, or East, according to the nomenclature of M. Fustier (see Thory, Acta Latomarum i, 31 ). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXTERNAL QUALIFICATIONS |
| − | |||
| − | EXTERNAL QUALIFICATIONS | ||
The eternal qualifications of candidates for initiation are those which refer to their outward fitness, based upon the exhibited moral and religious character, the established reputation, the frame of body, the constitution of the mind, and social position. Hence they are divided into Moral, Religious, Physical, Mental, and Political for which see Qualifications of Candidates. | The eternal qualifications of candidates for initiation are those which refer to their outward fitness, based upon the exhibited moral and religious character, the established reputation, the frame of body, the constitution of the mind, and social position. Hence they are divided into Moral, Religious, Physical, Mental, and Political for which see Qualifications of Candidates. | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | The expression in the instruction, that "it is the internal and not the external qualifications that recommend a man to be made a Freemason," it is evident, from the context, refers entirely to "worldly wealth and honors," which, of course, are not to be taken into consideration in inquiring into the qualifications of a candidate. | |
| − | EXTINCT LODGE | + | *EXTINCT LODGE |
A Lodge is said to be extinct which has ceased to exist and work, which is no longer on the registry of the Grand Lodge, and whose Charter had been revoked for misuse or forfeited for non-use. | A Lodge is said to be extinct which has ceased to exist and work, which is no longer on the registry of the Grand Lodge, and whose Charter had been revoked for misuse or forfeited for non-use. | ||
| − | * | + | *EXTRA COMMUNICATION |
| − | |||
| − | EXTRA COMMUNICATION | ||
The same as Special Communication (see Communication). | The same as Special Communication (see Communication). | ||
| − | * | + | *EXTRANEOUS |
| − | + | From the Latin and applied to that which is outside, and thus said among the Craft to be not regularly made; clandestine. The word is now obsolete in this signification, but was so used by the Grand Lodge of England in a motion adopted March 31, 1735, and reported by Anderson in his 1738 edition of the Constitutions (page 182). "No extraneous brothers, that is, not regularly made, but clandestinely, ... shall be ever qualified to partake of the Mason's general charity." | |
| − | + | *EXTRUSION | |
| − | |||
| − | * | ||
| − | |||
| − | EXTRUSION | ||
Used in the Constitution of the Royal Order of Scotland for expulsion. "If a brother shall be convicted of crime by any Court of Justice, such brother shall be permanently extruded" (see Section 29). Not in use elsewhere as a Masonic term. | Used in the Constitution of the Royal Order of Scotland for expulsion. "If a brother shall be convicted of crime by any Court of Justice, such brother shall be permanently extruded" (see Section 29). Not in use elsewhere as a Masonic term. | ||
| − | * | + | *EYE |
| − | |||
| − | EYE | ||
See All Seeing Eye | See All Seeing Eye | ||
| − | * | + | *EZEKIEL, TEMPLE OF |
| − | |||
| − | EZEKIEL, TEMPLE OF | ||
See Temple of Ezekiel | See Temple of Ezekiel | ||
| − | * | + | *EZEL |
| − | |||
| − | EZEL | ||
In Hebrew, iRK-U t:R eben hahezel, meaning the stone of departure, namely, a mile-stone. n old testimonial stone in the neighborhood of Saul's residence, the scene of the parting of David and Jonathan, and the mark beyond which the falling of Jonathan's arrow indicated danger (see First Samuel xx, 19). Hence, a word adopted in the honorary Degree that is called the Mason's XVife and Daughter. | In Hebrew, iRK-U t:R eben hahezel, meaning the stone of departure, namely, a mile-stone. n old testimonial stone in the neighborhood of Saul's residence, the scene of the parting of David and Jonathan, and the mark beyond which the falling of Jonathan's arrow indicated danger (see First Samuel xx, 19). Hence, a word adopted in the honorary Degree that is called the Mason's XVife and Daughter. | ||
| − | * | + | *EZRA |
| − | |||
| − | EZRA | ||
There are two persons named Etra who are recorded in Scripture. | There are two persons named Etra who are recorded in Scripture. | ||
1. Etra, a leading priest among the first colonists who came up to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, and who is mentioned by Nehemiah (xii, i); and, 2. Ezra, the celebrated Jewish scribe and restorer of the law, who visited Jerusalem forty-two years after the second temple had been completed. Calmet, however, says that this second Ezra had visited Jerusalem previously in company with Zerubbabel. Some explanation of this kind is necessary to reconcile an otherwise apparent inconsistency in the English system of the Royal Arch, which makes two of its officers represent Ezra and Nehemiah under the title of scribes, while at the same time it makes the time of the ceremony refer to the laying of the foundation of the second Temple, and yet places in the scene, as a prominent actor, the later Ezra, who did not go up to Jerusalem until more than forty years after the completion of the building. It is more probable that the Ezra who is said in the work to have wrought with Joshua, Haggai, and Zerubbabel, was intended by the original framer of the ceremony to refer to the first Ezra, who is recorded by Nehemiah as having been present; and that the change was made in the reference without due consideration, by some succeeding author whose mistake has been carelessly perpetuated by those who followed him. Dr. George Oliver (see Historical Landmarks ii, 428) attempts to reconcile the difficulty, and to remove the anachronism, by saying that Esdras was the scribe under Joshua, Haggai, and Zerubbabel, and that he was succeeded in this important office by Ezra and Nehemiah. But the English ceremonies make no allusion to this change of succession; and if it did, it would not enable us to understand how Ezra and Nehemiah could be present as scribes when the foundations of the second Temple were laid, and the important secrets of the Royal Arch Degree were brought to light, unless the Ezra meant is the one who came to Jerusalem with Nehemiah. Brother Mackey suggested that there is e confusion in all this which should be rectified. | 1. Etra, a leading priest among the first colonists who came up to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, and who is mentioned by Nehemiah (xii, i); and, 2. Ezra, the celebrated Jewish scribe and restorer of the law, who visited Jerusalem forty-two years after the second temple had been completed. Calmet, however, says that this second Ezra had visited Jerusalem previously in company with Zerubbabel. Some explanation of this kind is necessary to reconcile an otherwise apparent inconsistency in the English system of the Royal Arch, which makes two of its officers represent Ezra and Nehemiah under the title of scribes, while at the same time it makes the time of the ceremony refer to the laying of the foundation of the second Temple, and yet places in the scene, as a prominent actor, the later Ezra, who did not go up to Jerusalem until more than forty years after the completion of the building. It is more probable that the Ezra who is said in the work to have wrought with Joshua, Haggai, and Zerubbabel, was intended by the original framer of the ceremony to refer to the first Ezra, who is recorded by Nehemiah as having been present; and that the change was made in the reference without due consideration, by some succeeding author whose mistake has been carelessly perpetuated by those who followed him. Dr. George Oliver (see Historical Landmarks ii, 428) attempts to reconcile the difficulty, and to remove the anachronism, by saying that Esdras was the scribe under Joshua, Haggai, and Zerubbabel, and that he was succeeded in this important office by Ezra and Nehemiah. But the English ceremonies make no allusion to this change of succession; and if it did, it would not enable us to understand how Ezra and Nehemiah could be present as scribes when the foundations of the second Temple were laid, and the important secrets of the Royal Arch Degree were brought to light, unless the Ezra meant is the one who came to Jerusalem with Nehemiah. Brother Mackey suggested that there is e confusion in all this which should be rectified. | ||
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== See also == | == See also == | ||
Aktuelle Version vom 20. Juni 2016, 15:22 Uhr
MACKEY – E
- Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
- EAGLE
The eagle, as a symbol, is of great antiquity. In Egypt, Greece, and Persia, this bird was sacred to the sun. Among the Pagans it was an emblem of Jupiter, and with the Druids it was a symbol of their supreme god. In the Scriptures, a distinguished reference is in many instances made to the eagle; especially do we find Moses (Exodus xix, 4) representing Jehovah as saying, in allusion to the belief that this bird assists its feeble young in their flight by bearing them upon its own pinions, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." Not less elevated was the symbolism of the eagle among the Pagans. Thus, Cicero, speaking of the myth of Ganymede carried up to Jove on an eagle's back, says that it teaches us that the truly wise, irradiated by the shining light of virtue, become more and more like God, until by wisdom they are borne aloft and soar to Him. The heralds explain the eagle as signifying the same thing among birds as the lion does among quadrupeds. It is, they say, the most swift, strong, laborious, generous, and bold of all birds, and for this reason it has been made, both by ancients and moderns, the symbol of majesty. In the jewel of the Rose Croix Degree is found an eagle displayed at the foot of the cross; and it is there very appropriately selected as a symbol of Christ, in His Divine character, bearing the children of His adoption on His wings, teaching them with unequaled love and tenderness to poise their unfledged wings and soar from the dull corruption's of earth to a higher and holier sphere. Thus the eagle in the jewel of that Degree is significantly represented with wings displayed as if in flight.
- KNIGHT OF THE EAGLE AND PELICAN
See Knights of the Eagle and Pelican
- EAGLE, DOUBLE-HEADED
The Eagle Displayed, that is, with extended wings, as if in the act of dying, has always, from the majestic character of the bird, been deemed an emblem of imperial power. Marius, the consul, first consecrated the eagle, about eight years before the Christian era, to be the sole Roman standard at the head of every legion, and hence it became the standard of the Roman Empire ever afterward.
As the single-headed Eagle was thus adopted as the symbol of imperial power, the double-headed Eagle naturally became the representative of a double empire; and on the division of the Roman dominions into the eastern and western empire, which were afterward consolidated by the Carlovingian race into what was ever after called the Holy Roman Empire, the double-headed Eagle was assumed as the emblem of this double empire; one head looking, as it were, to the West, or Rome, and the other to the East, or Byzantium.
Hence the escutcheons of many persons now living, the descendants of the princes and counts of the Holy Roman Empire, are placed upon the breast of a double-headed Eagle Upon the dissolution of that empire, the emperors of Germany, who claimed their empire to be the representative of ancient Rome, assumed the double-headed Eagle as their symbol, and placed it in their arms, which were blazoned thus: or, an Eagle displayed sable, having two heads, each enclosed within an amulet, or beaked and armed Jules, holding in his right claw a sword and scepter or, and in his left the imperial mound. Russia also bears the double-headed eagle, having added, says Brewer, that of Poland to her own, and thus denoting a double empire. It is, however, probable that the double-headed eagle of Russia is to be traced to some assumed representation of the Holy Roman Empire based upon the claim of Russia to Byzantium; for Constantine, the Byzantine emperor, is said to have been the first who assumed this device to intimate the division of the empire into East and West.
Commenting on this suggestion by Doctor Mackey, Brother David E. W. Williamson writes that: There is no historical question whatever as to the time and occasion of the adoption of the double-headed eagle by Russia. It was taken as his device by Ivan III on his marriage with Zoe Palaeologa (Sophia), daughter of Thomas of Morea claimant to the imperial throne of Byzantium, and the date was 1469. It was probably because he claimed to be the successor of the Eastern Emperors. As to the adoption of the device in the West. I have no original authorities, but it is stated that it is first seen in the Holy Roman arms in 1345 and it is a fact that it first appears on the seals of the Holy Roman Empire in 1414. The legend of how it came to be adopted by the Emperors at Constantinople may or may not be true, but it is certainly not correct to say that the Seljuk Turks adopted it from the ruins of Euyuk, for Tatar coins antedating the occupation of the Asia Minor country by the Seljuks have been found. As to the device at Euyuk, it is not the most ancient representation of the double-headed eagle by any means if the figure of a comb, No. 10, plate XXIX, in Petriess Prehistoric Egypt, be, as I think it is, an attempt to carve it.
The statement of Millington (Heraldry in History, Poetry, and Romance, page 290) is doubtful that the doubleheaded eagle of the Austrian and Russian empires was first assumed during the Second Crusade and typified the great alliance formed by the Christian sovereigns of Greece and Germany against the enemy of their common faith, and it is retained by Russia and Austria as representations of those empires." The theory is more probable as well as more generally accepted which connects the symbol with the eastern and western empires of Rome. It is, however, agreed by all that while the single-headed eagle denotes imperial dignity the extension and multiplication of that dignity is symbolized by the two heads.
The double-headed eagle was probably first introduced as a symbol into Freemasonry in the year 1758. In that year the Body calling itself the Council of Emperors of the East and West was established in Paris. The double-headed eagle as likely to have been assumed by this Council in reference to the double Jurisdiction which it claimed, and which is represented so distinctly in its title.
The jewel of the Thirty-third Degree, or Sovereign Grand Inspector-General of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, is a double-headed eagle (which was originally black. but is now generally of silver), a golden crown resting on both heady wings displayed, beak and claws of gold, his talons grasping a wavy sword, the emblem of cherubic fire, the hilt held by one talon, the blade by the other. The banner of the Order is also a double-headed eagle crowned. A captivating account of the curious progress of the double-headed eagle from a remote antiquity was prepared by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley (Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, pages 214, volume xxiv, 1911). This essay in part runs as follows:
The most ornamental, not to say the most ostentatious feature of the insignia of the Supreme Council, 33 , of the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite, is the double-headed eagle, surmounted by an imperial crown. This device seems to have been adopted some time after 175S by the grade known as the Emperors of the East and West; a sufficiently pretentious title. This seems to have been its first appearance in connection with Freemasonry, but history of the high grades has been subjected to such distortion that it is difficult to accept unreservedly any assertion put forward regarding them. From this imperial grade, the double-headed eagle came to the "Sovereign Prince Masons" of the Rite of Perfection. The Rite of Perfection with its twenty-five Degrees was amplified in 1801, at Charleston, United States of America, into the Ancient and Accepted Rite of 33 , with the double-headed eagle for its most distinctive emblem. When this emblem was first adopted by the high grades it had been in use as a symbol of power for 5000 years, or so. No heraldic bearing, no emblematic device anywhere today can boast such antiquity. It was in use a thousand years before the Exodus from Egypt, and more than 2000 years before the building of King Solomon's Temple.
The story of our Eagle has been told by the eminent Assyriologist, M. Thureau Dangin, in the volume of Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie 1904. Among the most important discoveries for which we are indebted to the late M. de Sarzec, were two large terra cotta cylinders covered with many hundred lines of archaic cuneiform characters These cylinders were found in the brick mounds of Tello, which has been identified with certainty as the City of Lagash, the dominant center of Southern Babylonian ere Babylon had imposed its name and rule on the country.
The cylinders are now in the Louvre and have been deciphered by M. Thureau Dangin, who displays to our wondering eyes the emblem of power that was already centuries old when Babylon gave its name to Babylonia. The cylinder in question is a foundation record deposited by one Gudea, Ruler of the City of Lagash, to mark the building of the temple, about the year 3000 B.C., as nearly as the date could be fixed. The foundation record was deposited just as our medals, coins and metallic plates are deposited today, when the corner stone is laid with Masonic honors. It must be born in mind that in this ease, the word cornerstone may be employed only in a conventional sense, for in Babylonia all edifices, temples, palaces, and towers alike, were built of brick. But the custom of laying foundation deposits was general, whatever the building material might be, and we shall presently see what functions are attributed, by another eminent scholar, to the foundation chamber of King Solomon's Temple.
The contents of this inscription are of the utmost value to the oriental scholar, but may be briefly dismissed for our present purpose. Suffice it to say, that the King begins by reciting that a great drought had fallen upon the land. " The waters of the Tigris," he says, " fell low and the store of provender ran short in this my city," saying that he feared it was 3 visitation from the gods, to whom he determined to submit his evil ease and that of his people. The reader familiar with Babylonian methods that pervade the Books of the Captivity, will not be surprised to learn that the King dreamed a dream, in which the will of the gods was revealed by direct personal intervention and interlocution. In the dream there came unto the King " a Divine Man, whose stature reached from earth to heaven, and whose head was crowned with the crown of a god, surmounted by the Storm Bird that extended its wings over Lazash, the land thereof." This Storm Bird, no other than our double-headed eagle, was the totem as ethnologists and anthropologists are fain to call it, of the mighty Sumerian City of Lagash, and stood proudly forth the visible emblem of its power and domination. This double-headed eagle of Lagash is the oldest Royal Crest in the world.
As time rolled on, it passed from the Sumerians to the men of Akhad. From the men of Akhad to the Hittites , from the denizens of Asia Minor to the Seliukian Sultans, from whom it was brought by Crusaders to the Emperors of the East and West, whose successors today are the Hapsburgs and Romanoffs, as well as to the Masonic Emperors of the East and West, whose successors today are the Supreme Council, 33 , that have inherited the insignia of the Site of Perfection.
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE
See Knight of the Eagle
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE AMERICAN
See Knight of the American Eagle
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE BLACK
See Knight of the Black Eagle
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE GOLDEN
See Knight of the Golden Eagle
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE PRUSSIAN
See Knight of the Prussian Eagle
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE RED
See Knight of the Red Eagle
- EAGLE, KNIGHT OF THE WHITE AND BLACK
See Knight of the White and Black Eagle
- EAGLES, KNIGHT OF THE TWO CROWNED
See Knight of the Two Crowned Eagles
- EARLY GRAND MASTER
See E. G. M. in Abbreviations
- EAR OF CORN
This was, among all the ancients , an emblem of plenty. Ceres, who was universally worshiped as the goddess of abundance, and even called by the Greeks Dewneter, a manifest corruption of Gemeter, or Mother Earth, was symbolically represented with a garland on her head composed of ears of corn, a lighted torch in one hand, and a cluster of poppies and ears of corn in the other. In the Hebrew, the most significant of all languages, the two words, which signify an ear of corn, are both derived from roots which give the idea of abundance. For shibboleth, pronounced shib-bo-leth which is applicable both to an ear of corn and a flood of water, has its root in pronounced shib-bole, meaning to increase or to flow abundantly; and the other name of corn, pronounced daw-gawn, is derived from the verb, no, pronounced daogaw, signifying to multiply, or to be increased.
Ear of corn, which is a technical expression in Freemasonry, has been sometimes ignorantly displaced by a sheaf of wheat. This was done under the mistaken supposition that corn refers only to Indian maize, which was unknown to the ancients. But corn is a generic word, and includes wheat and every other kind of grain. This is its legitimate English meaning, and hence an ear of corn, which is an old expression, and the right one, would denote a stalk, but not a sheaf of wheat (see Shibboleth).
- EAR, THE LISTENING
The listening ear is one of the three precious jewels of a Fellow Craft Freemason. In the Hebrew language, the verb YDD, pronounced shaw-mah, signifies not only to hear, but also to understand and to obey. Hence, when Jesus said, after a parable, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear," he meant to denote that he who hears the recital of allegories should endeavor to discover their hidden meaning, and be obedient to their teaching.
This is the true meaning of the symbol of the listening ear which admonishes the Fellow Craft not only that he should receive lessons of instruction from his teacher, but that he should treasure them in his breast, so as to ponder over their meaning and carry out their design
- EARTHEN PAN
In the lectures of the early part of the eighteenth century used as a symbol of zeal, together with chalk and charcoal, which represented freedom and fervency. In the modern lectures clay has been substituted for it. Pan once signified hard earth, a meaning which it now obsolete, though from it we derive the name of a cooking utensil.
- EAST
The East has always been considered peculiarly sacred. This was, without exception, the case in all the Ancient Mysteries. In the Egyptianrites, especially, and those of Adonis, which were among the earliest, and from which the others derived their existence, the sun was the object of adoration, and his revolutions through the various seasons were fictitiously represented. The spot, there fore, where this luminary made his appearance at the commencement of day, and where his worshipers were wont anxiously to look for the first darting of his prolific rays, was esteemed as the figurative birthplace of their god, and honored with an appropriate degree of reverence. Even among those nations where sun-worship gave place to more enlightened doctrines, the respect for the place of sun-rising continued to exist. The camp of Judah was placed by Moses in the East as a mark of distinction; the tabernacle in the wilderness was placed due East and West; and the practise was continued in the erection of Christian churches. Hence, too, the primitive Christians always turned toward the East in their public prayers, which custom Saint Augustine (Serm. Dom. in Monte, chapter 5 accounts for "because the East is the most honorable part of the world, being the region of light whence the glorious sun arises." Hence all Masonic Lodges, like their great prototype the Temple of Jerusalem, are built, or supposed to be built, due East and West; and as the North is esteemed a place of darkness, the East, on the contrary, is considered a place of light.
In the primitive Christian church, according to Saint Ambrose, in the ceremonies that accompanied the baptism of a catechumen, a beginner in religious instruction, "he turned towards the West, the image of darkness, to abjure the world, and towards the East, the emblem of light, to denote his alliance with Jesus Christ." And so, too, in the oldest lectures of the second century ago, the Freemason is said to travel from the West to the East, that is, from dark ness to light. In the Prestonian system, the question is asked, "What induces you to leave the West to travel to the East?" And the answer is: "In search of a Master, and from him to gain instruction." The same idea, if not precisely the same language, is preserved in the modern and existing rituals.
The East, being the place where the Master sits, is considered the most honorable part of the Lodge, and is distinguished from the rest of the room by a dais, or raised platform, which is occupied only by those who have passed the Chair. Bazot (Manuel, page 154) says: "The veneration which Masons have for the East confirms the theory that it is from the East that the Masonic cult proceeded, and that this bears a relation to the primitive religion whose first degeneration was sun-worship."
- EAST AND WEST, KNIGHT OF THE
see Knight of the East and West
- EAST, GRAND
The place where a Grand Lodge holds its Communications, and whence are issued its Edicts, is often called its Grand East. Thus, the Grand East of Boston, according to this usage, would be placed at the head of documents emanating from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Grand Orient has sometimes been used instead of Grand East, but improperly. Orient might be admissible as signifying East, but Grand Orient having been adopted as the name of certain Grand Bodies, such as the Grand Orient of France, which is tantamount to the Grand Lodge of France, the use of the term might lead to confusion. Thus, the Orient of Paris is the seat of the Grand Orient of France. The expression Grand East, however, is almost exclusively confined to America, and even there is not in universal use.
- EAST INDIES
See India
- EAST, KNIGHT OF THE
See Knight of the East
- EASTER
Easter Sunday, being the day celebrated by the Christian church in commemoration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, is appropriately kept as a feast day by Rose Croix Freemasons. The Western churches, or those not identified with the Jewish race, generally keep Easter as the first day of Holy Week following the Friday of the crucifixion, while the Eastern churches as a rule keep Easter as the fourteenth day of April, immediately following the general fast. With the Jews, the Christian thought of Easter bears significant resemblance to the Paschal Lamb. Easter signifies to the entire Western Christian world the resurrection of the Christ, the name being derived from the Latin pascha which, in turn, came from the Chaldee or Aramaean form for the Hebrew word meaning Pass-over (see Exodus, xii, 27).
According to Bede the name is derived from Eostre or Ostara, the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Eostur monath or our month of April was also dedicated to this goddess. The German name for Easter is astern, named after this self-same goddess of Spring, the Teutonic Ostera. The New Testament makes no mention of an observance of Easter. The first Christians did not have special days held more sanctified than the rest. As has been written (Ecclesiastical History, Socrates v, 22), "The apostles had no thought of appointing festival days, but of promoting a life of blamelessness and piety."
For centuries the controversy as to just exactly what day was to be held as Easter went on between the various sects. Easter day is, briefly, the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. This varies in different longitudes and this difficulty presented many problems to the clergy and the astronomers. About the year 325 it was decided by the Council of Nicaea, called by Constantine, that the correct date of Easter was to be reckoned at Alexandria and announced each year to the churches under the jurisdiction of that See by the Bishop him self.
This was to be communicated to the Roman See.
A bitter controversy ensued. Many refused to accept this solution of the difficulty, insisting upon the observance of the fourteenth day. Attempts were made to compute by means of cycles of years the correct time. At first an eight years cycle was adopted, then the eighty-four year cycle of the Jews, and after much reckoning a cycle of nineteen years was accepted.
Offing to the lack of anything definite Saint Augustine tells us that in the year 387 Easter was kept on March 21 by the churches of Gaul, on April 18 in Italy and on April 25 in Egypt. The ancient Celtic and British Churches adhered stubbornly to the finding of the Council of Constantine and received their instructions from the Holy See at Rome. Saint Augustine of Canterbury led the opposing group and this difference of opinion had the effect in England of a Church holding Easter on one day of certain years and the other Church holding Easter on an entirely different Sunday. Bede tells us that between the y ears 645 and 651 Queen Eanfleda fasted and kept Palm Sunday while her husband, Oswy, then King of Northumbria, followed the rule of the British Church and celebrated the Easter festival.
In 669 this difference of opinion was ended in England, due probably to the efforts of Archbishop Theodore In 1752 the Gregorian reformation of the calendar was adopted by Great Britain and Ireland. Easter at present is the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after the 21st of March, and if the full moon happens on a Sunday, Faster day is the Sunday after. By full moon is meant, the fourteenth day of the moon.
The ceremonies of the Easter Sepulcher are discussed in Scenic Representations, which see.
- EASTER MONDAY
On this day, in every third year, Councils of Kadosh in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite hold their elections.
- EASTERN STAR, ORDER OF THE
This is the very popular American Rite of Adoption to which Brother Rob Morris gave many years labor and dedicated numerous poems. There are five beautiful degrees to which Freemasons and their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters are eligible. The ceremonies are entirely different to the old Rites of Adoption practiced on the Continent of Europe (see also Adoptive Masonry and Androgynous Degrees).
Degrees for women, under the title of the Masonry of Adoption, were as long ago as 1765 in vogue on the continent of Europe. These were administered under the patronage of the ruling Masonic body and especially flourished in the palmy days of the Empire in France, the Empress Josephine being at the head of the Order and many women of the highest standing were active members.
The term Adoption, so it is said, was given to the organization because the Freemasons formally adopted the ladies to whom the mysteries of the several degrees were imparted. Albert Pike, who took great interest in this Masonry of Adoption and made a translation of the ritual into English with some elaboration dictated by his profound knowledge of symbolism and philosophy, points out the reason that in his judgment existed for the conferring of degrees upon the women of a Freemasons family. He says in the preface to his ritual of the Masonry of Adoption:
Our mothers. sisters, wives and daughters cannot. it is true, be admitted to share with us the grand mysteries of Freemasonry, but there is no reason why there should not be also a Masonry for them, which may not merely enable them to make themselves known to Masons, and so to obtain assistance and protection; but by means of which, acting in concert through the tie of association and mutual obligation, they may Co-operate in the great labors of Masonry by assisting in and, in some respects, directing their charities, and toiling in the cause of human progress. The object of ' la Maçonnerie des Dames" is, therefore, very inadequately expressed, when it is said to be the improvement and purification of the sentiments.
The Order of the Eastern Star has become just such an organization, strong enough to take an active and powerful co-operative concern in the beneficent labors of Freemasons for the care of the indigent and the afflicted. While entirely different and distinct from the Masonry of Adoption, being indeed of American and not French development, all the expectations so ably expressed by Brother Pike have in no other fraternal association been so admirably fulfilled as in the Order of the Eastern Star.
Some mystery involves the origin of the Order. In this respect the Order of the Eastern Star is closely akin to the various branches of the Masonic brotherhood. To unravel the truth from the entanglement of myth is, with many of these knotty problems, a troublesome and perhaps a never wholly satisfactory task. Evidence having few and incomplete records, dependent rather upon memory than in documents of authority is the usual subject-matter of discussion when laboring at the historic past of human institutions.
First of all let us take the testimony of Brother Rob Morris, than whom no one person has, it is conceded, given more freely of his service in the early development of the Order. None ought to know of the Eastern Star's inception story more than he, the acknowledged pioneer propagandist during its tender infancy and struggling youth.
During the latter part of 1884 Brother Rob Morris gave an account of the origination of the Eastern Star, which is in part as follows:
In the winter of 1850 I was a resident of Jackson, Mississippi. For some time previous I had contemplated, as hinted above, the preparation of a Ritual of Adoptive Masonry, the Degrees then in vogue appearing to me poorly conceived, weakly wrought out, unimpressive and particularly defective in point of motive. I allude especially to those Degrees styled the Mason's Daughter, and the Heroines of Jericho. But I do expressly except from this criticism, the Good Samaritan, which in my judgment possesses dramatic elements and machinery equal to those that are in the Templar's Orders, the High Priesthood, the Cryptic Rite, and other organizations of Thomas Smith Webb. I have always recommended the Good Samaritan, and a thousand times conferred it in various parts of the world.
About the first of February, 1850, I was laid up for two weeks with a sharp attack of rheumatism, and it was this period which I gave to the work in hand. By the aid of my papers and the memory of Mrs. Morris, I recall even the trivial occurrences connected with the work, how I hesitated for a theme, how I dallied over a name, how I wrought face to face with the clock that I might keep my drama within due limits of time, etc.
The name was first settled upon The Eastern Star.
Next the number of points, five, to correspond with the emblem on the Master's carpet. This is the pentagon, "The signet of King Solomon," and eminently proper to Adoptive Masonry. From the Holy Writings I culled four biographical sketches to correspond with my first four points, namely, Jephthah's Daughter (named Adah for want of a better) Ruth, Esther, and Martha. These were illustrations of four great congeries of womanly virtues, and their selection has proved highly popular. The fifth point introduced me to the early history of the Christian Church, where, amidst a noble army of martyrs, I found many whose lives and death overflowed the cup of martyrdom with a glory not surpassed by any of those named in Holy Writ. This gave me Electa, the "Elect Lady, " friend of St. John, the Christian woman whose venerable years were crowned with the utmost splendor of the crucifixion.
The colors, the emblems, the floral wreaths, the esotery proper to these five heroines, were easy of invention. They seemed to fall ready made into my hands. The only piece of mechanism difficult to fit into the construction was the cabalistic motto, but this occurred to me in ample time for use.
The compositions of the lectures was but a recreation. Familiar from childhood as I had been with the Holy Scriptures, I scarcely needed to look up my proof texts, so tamely did they come to my call. A number of odes were also composed at that time, but the greater part of the threescore odes and poems of the Eastern Star that I have written were the work of subsequent years. The first Ode of the series of 1850 was one commencing "Light from the East, 'tis gilded with hope."
The theory of the whole subject is succinctly stated in my Rosary of take Eastern Star, published in 1865: To take from the ancient writings five prominent female characters, illustrating as many Masonic virtues, and to adopt them into the fold of Masonry. The selections were:
- 1. Jephthah's Daughter, as illustrating respect to the binding force of a vow.
- 2. Ruth, as illustrating devotion to religious principles.
- 3. Esther, as illustrating fidelity to kindred and friends.
- 4. Martha, as illustrating undeviating faith in the hour of trial.
- 5. Electa, as illustrating patience and submission under wrong.
These are all Masonic virtues, and they have nowhere in history more brilliant exemplars than in the five characters presented in the lectures of the Eastern Star. It is a fitting comment upon these statements that in all the changes that the Eastern Star has experienced at so many hands for thirty-four, years, no change in the names, histories or essential lessons has been proposed. So my Ritual was complete, and after touching and retouching the manuscript, as professional authors love to do, I invited a neighboring Mason and his wife to join with my own, and to them, in my own parlor, communicated the Degrees. They were the first recipients the first of twice fifty thousand who have seen the signs, heard the words, exchanged the touch, and joined in the music of the Eastern Star. When I take a retrospect of that evening but thirty-four years ago and consider the abounding four hundred Eastern Star Chapters at work today, my heart swells with gratitude to God, who guided my hand during that period of convalescence to prepare a work, of all the work of my life the most successful.
Being at that time, and until a very recent period, an active traveler, visiting all countries where lodges exist —a nervous, wiry, elastic man, unwearying in work caring little for refreshments or sleep, I spread abroad the knowledge of the Eastern Star wherever I went. Equally in border communities, where ladies came in homespun, as in cities, where ladies came in satins, the new Degree was received with ardor, and eulogized in strongest terms, so that every induction led to the call for more. Ladies and gentlemen are yet living who met that immense assemblage at Newark, New Jersey, in 1853 and the still greater one in Spring Street Hall, New York City, a little earlier, where I stood up for two hours or three, before a breathless and gratified audience, and brought to bear all that I could draw from the Holy Scriptures the Talmud, and the writings of Josephus, concerning the five "Heroines of the Eastern Star."
Not that my work met no opposition. Quite the reverse. It was not long until editors, report writers, newspaper critics and my own private correspondents began to see the evil of it. The cry of "Innovation" went up to heaven. Ridicule lent its aid to a grand assault upon my poor little figment. Ingenious changes were rung upon the idea of "petticoat Masonry." More than one writer in Masonic journals (men of an evil class we had them: men who knew the secrets, but have never applied the principles of Masonry), more than one such expressed in language indecent and shocking, his opposition to the Eastern Star and to me. Letters were written me, some signed, some anonymous, warning me that I was periling my own Masonic connections in the advocacy of this scheme. In New York City the opponents of the Eastern Star even started a rival project to break it down. They employed a literary person, a poet of eminence, a gentleman of social merit, to prepare rituals under an ingenious form, and much time and money were spent in the effort to popularize it but it survived only a short year and is already forgotten. But the Eastern Star glittered steadily in the ascendant. In 1855 I arranged the system of Constellations of the Eastern Star, of which the Mosaic Books was the index, and established more than one hundred of these bodies. Looking over that book, one of the most original and brilliant works to which I ever put my hand, I have wondered that the system did not succeed. It must be because the times were not ripe for it. The opposition to " Ladies' Masonry " was too bitter. The advocates of the plan were not sufficiently influential. At any rate it fell through. Four years later I prepared an easier plan, styled Families of the Eastern Star, intended, in its simplicity and the readiness by which it could be worked, to avoid the complexity of the "Constellations." This ran well enough until the war broke out, when all Masonic systems fell together with a crash.
This ended my work in systematizing the Eastern Star, and I should nearer have done more with it, save confer it in an informal manner as at first, but for Brother Robert Macoy of New York, who in 1868, when I had publicly announced my intentions of confining my labors during the remainder of my life to Holy Land investigations, proposed the plan of Eastern Star Chapters now in vogue. He had my full consent and endorsement, and thus became the instigator of a third and more successful System The history of this organization, which is now disseminated in more than four hundred chapters, extending to thirty-three States and Territories, I need not detail. The annual proceedings of Grand Chapters the indefatigable labors of the Rev. Willis D. Engle Grand Secretary of the General Grand Chapter, the liberal manner in which the Masonic journals have opened their columns to the proceeding of the Adoptive Order, the annual festivals, the sociables, concerts, picnics, etc., which keep the name of the Society before the public, make a history of their own better than I can write.
In another statement under date of 1884, Brother Morris further informs us: Some writers have fallen into the error of placing the introduction of the Eastern Star as far back as 1775, and this they gather from my work, Lights and Shadows of freemasonry published in 1852. What I intended to say in that book was that the French officers introduced Adoptive Masonry into the Colonies in 177S, but nothing like the degree called the Eastern Star, which is strictly my own origination.
The statements of Brother Morris are deserving of the utmost consideration and affectionate confidence. His devotion to Masonic service was long and honorable, freely acknowledged by his Brethren with promotions to places of the highest prominence within their gift. We can thus approach his assertions confident of their accuracy so far as the intent of Brother Morris is concerned. Candor, nevertheless, compels the conclusion that our excellent Brother did not in his various and valuable contributions to the history of the Eastern Star, and the related Bodies, always clearly define his positions, and the studious reader is therefore somewhat in doubt whether on all occasions the meaning is unmistakable. For example, the foregoing references are in themselves very clear that Brother Morris was the originator of the Eastern Star. It is substantially shown in detail how the several items of consequence were actually put into practice by him.
Let us now briefly mention what may be set forth on the other side. The Mosaic Book, by Brother Rob Morris, and published in 1857, says in Chapter II, Section 2:
In selecting some Androgynous Degree, extensively known, ancient in date, and ample in scope, for the basis of this Rite, the choice falls without controversy upon the " Eastern Star.- For this is a degree familiar to thousands of the most enlightened York Masons and their female relations—established in this country at least before 1778—and one which popularly bears the palm in point of doctrine and elegance over all others. Its scope, by the addition of a ceremonial and a few links in the chain of recognition, was broad enough to constitute a graceful and consistent system, worthy, it is believed, of the best intellect of either sex.
Brother Willis D. Engle, the first R. W. Grand Secretary of the General Grand Chapter of the Order, says (on page 12 of his History) that:
The fact is that Brother Morris received the Eastern Star degree at the hands of Giles M. Hillyer, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, about 1849.
Puzzling as is this mixture of statements, there is the one possible explanation that in speaking of the Order, Brother Morris had two quite different things in mind and that he may have inadvertently caused some to understand him to be speaking of the one when he referred to the other, or to both, as the case might be. We know that he had received Adoptive Degrees and we are well aware that he had prepared more than one arrangement of Eastern Star Degrees or of allied ceremonies. What more likely that in speaking of the one his thoughts should dwell upon the other; the one, Adoptive Freemasonry, being as we might say the subject in general; the other, the Eastern Star, being the particular topic. He could very properly think of the Degree as an old idea, the Freemasonry of Adoption, and he could also consider it as being of novelty in the form of the Eastern Star; in the one case thinking of it as given him, and b the second instance thinking of it as it left his hands. In any event, the well-known sincerity and high repute of Brother Morris absolve him from any stigma of wilful misrepresentation. Certainly it is due his memory that the various conflicting assertions be given a sympathetic study and as friendly and harmonious a construction as is made at all possible by their terms.
Another curious angle of the situation develops in The Thesauros (a Greek word meaning a place where knowledge is stored) of the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Eastern Star as collected and arranged by the committee, and adopted by the Supreme Council in convocation, assembled May, I793. A copy of this eighteen-page pamphlet is in possession of Brother Alonzo J. Burton, Past Grand Lecturer, New York. This book of monitorial instruction has been reprinted and does afford a most interesting claim for the existence of an Eastern Star organization as early as the eighteenth century.
A Supreme Constellation was organized by Brother Rob Morris in 1855 with the following principal officers: Most Enlightened Grand Luminary, Rob Morris; Right Enlightened Deputy Grand Luminary and Grand Lecturer, Joel M. Spiller, Delphi, Indiana; Very Enlightened Grand Treasurer, Jonathan R. Neill, New York, and Very Enlightened Grand Secretary, John W. Leonard, New York. Deputies were appointed for several States and by the end of 1855 seventy-five charters for subordinate Constellations had been granted. These Constellations were made up of five or more persons of each sex, with a limit of no more than twenty-five of the one sex, and several Constellations might be associated with a single lodge.
There subsequently arose a second governing Body of which James B. Taylor of New York became Grand Secretary. This organization was known as the Supreme Council of the Ancient Rite of Adoptive Masonry for North America. How much of a real existence was lived by this body is now difficult of determination because of the secrecy with which its operations were conducted. Early in the seventies it expired after a discouraging struggle for life.
Brother Morris was not a partner in the above enterprise and had in 1860 begun the organizing of Families of the Eastern Star. To use his own expression, "The two systems of Constellations and Families are identical in spirit, the latter having taken the place of the former." A further statement by Brother Morris was to the effect that the ladies who were introduced to the advantages of Adoptive Freemasonry under the former system retained their privileges under the latter. During the next eight years more than a hundred Families were organized. Brother Robert Macoy of New York had in 1866 prepared a manual of the Eastern Star. In this work he mentions himself as National Grand Secretary. He also maintained the semblance of a Supreme Grand Chapter of the Adoptive Rite. Brother Morris decided in 1868 to devote his life to Masonic exploration in Palestine. His Eastern Star powers were transferred to Brother Macoy, as has been claimed. The latter in later years described himself as Supreme Grand Patron. Still another attempt at the formal organization of a governing Body occurred in 1873 at New York, when the following provisional officers of a Supreme Grand Council of the World, Adoptive Rite, were selected: Supreme Grand Patron, Robert Macoy, of New York; Supreme Grand Matron, Frances E. Johnson, of New York; Associate Supreme Grand Patron, Andres Cassard, of New York; Deputy Supreme Grand Patron, John L. Power, of Mississippi; Deputy Supreme Grand Matron, Laura L. Burton, of Mississippi; Supreme Treasurer, W. A. Prall, of Mix sari; Supreme Recorder, Rob Morris, of Kentucky; Supreme Inspector, P. M. Savery, of Mississippi. But nothing further came of this organization except that when later on measures were taken to make a really effective controlling Body, the old organization had claimants in the field urging its prior rights, though to all intents and purposes its never more than feeble breath of life had then utterly failed.
The various Bodies of the Order under this fugitive guidance became ill-assorted of method. Laws were curiously conflicting. A constitution governing a State Grand Chapter had in one section the requirement that "Every member present must vote" on petitions; which another section of the same constitution forbade Master Freemasons "when admitted to membership" from balloting for candidates or on membership. There was equal or even greater inconsistency between the laws of one State and another. Serious defects had been discovered in the ritual. Some resentment had been aroused over the methods employed in the propaganda of the Order. The time was ripe for a radical change.
Rev. Willis D. Engle, in 1874, publicly proposed a Supreme Grand Chapter of Representatives from the several Grand Chapters and "a revision and general boiling down and finishing up of the ritual which is now defective both in style and language." Not content with saying this was a proper thing to do, Brother Engle vigorously started to work to bring about the conditions he believed to be most desirable. Delegates from the Grand Chapters of California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and New Jersey, met in Indianapolis, November 15-16, 1876, on the invitation of the Grand Chapter of Indiana. Grand Patron James S. Nutt, of Indiana, welcomed the visitors and opened the meeting. Brother John M. Mayhew, of New Jersey, was elected President, and Brother John R Parson, of Missouri, Secretary. A Constitution was adopted, a committee appointed on revision of the ritual, and a General Grand Chapter duly organized.
The second session of the General Grand Chapter was held in Chicago, May 8-10, 1878, and the name of the organization became officially The General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. The Most Worthy Grand Patron was then the executive head, though in later years this was decided to be the proper province of the Most Worthy Grand Matron.
The Grand Chapters with their dates of organization are as follows:
Alabama ........................ March 6 1901 ............... New York ............. November 31, 1870 Alberta ........................... July 20, 1912 ............... New Mexico .......... April 11, 1902 Arizona .......................... November 15, 1900 ...... North Carolina ..... May 20, 1905 Arkansas ........................ October 2, 1876 ........... North Dakota ........ June 14, 1894 British Columbia ........... July 21, 1912 ................ Ohio ..................... July 28, 1889 California ...................... May 8 1873 .................. Oklahoma ............. February 14, 1902 Colorado ....................... June 6, 1892 ................. Ontario ................. April 27,1915 Connecticut ................... August 11, 1874 ........... Oregon .................. October 3, 1889 District of Columbia ...... April 30, 1896 .............. Pennsylvania ......... November 21, 1894 Florida .......................... June 7, 1904 ................. Porto Rico ............. February 17, 1914 Georgia ........................ February 21, 1901 ......... Rhode Island ......... August 22, 1895 Idaho ........................... April 17, 1902 ............... Saskatchewan ........ May 16, 1916 Illinois ......................... November 6, 1875 ......... Scotland ................ August 20, 1904 Indiana ........................ May 6, 1874 .................. South Carolina ..... June 1, 1907 Iowa ............................ July 30, 1878 ................. South Dakota ....... July 10, 1889 Kansas ........................ October 18, 1878 ........... Tennessee .............. October 18, 1900 Kentucky .................... June 10, 1903 ................. Texas .................... May 5, 1884 Louisiana .................... October 4, 1900 ............. Utah ...................... September 20, 1905 Maine ......................... August 24, 1892 .............. Vermont ............... November 12, 1873 Maryland .................... December 23 1898 .......... Virginia ................ June 22, 1904 Massachusetts ............. December 11, 1876 ......... Washington .......... June 12, 1889 Michigan .................... October 31, 1867 ............ West Virginia ........ June 26, 1904 Minnesota .................. October 18, 1878 ............. Wisconsin ............. February 19, 1891 Mississippi ................. May 29, 1906 ................... Wyoming .............. September 14,1898 Montana .................... September 25, 1890 Missouri .................... September 25, 1890 Nebraska ................... June 22, 1875 Nevada ...................... September 19, 1905 New Hampshire ......... May 12, 1891 New Jersey ................ July 18, 1870
Of the above Grand Chapters there are three not constituent members of the General Grand Chapter. These independent bodies are New Jersey, New York, and Scotland. Chapters of the Eastern Star are also to be found in Alaska, the Canal Zone at Panama, the Hawaiian Islands,' the Philippine Islands, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Quebec, Cuba, Delaware, India, Mexico, and in the Yukon.
A Concordat or treaty agreement adopted by the General Chapter on September 20, 1904, and by a convention of Scottish Chapters of the Eastern Star held at Glasgow on August 20, 1904, was to the following effect:
"The Grand Chapter of Scotland shall have supreme and exclusive jurisdiction over Great Britain, Ireland, and the whole British dominions (excepting only those upon the Continent of America), and that a Supreme or General Grand Chapter of the British Empire shall be formed as soon as Chapters are instituted therein and it seems expedient to do so."
According to the terms of this agreement the territory in the East Indies wherein Chapters were already instituted, as at Benares and Calcutta, was ceded to the Grand Chapter of Scotland, which retains control. The other Chapters not so released are still under the jurisdiction of the General Grand Chapter.
The first eighteen Most Worthy Grand Matrons of the General Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star have been the following:
Mrs. Elizabeth Butler, Chicago, Ill 1876 Mrs. Elmira Foley, Hannibal. Mo 1878 Mrs. Lorraine J. Pitkin, Chicago. 111 1880 Mrs. Jennie E. Mathews, Rockford, la 1883 Mrs. Marv A. Flint, San Juan. Calif. .1886 Mrs. Nettie Ransford, Indianapolis Ind.1889 Mrs. Marv C. Snedden, Wichita, Kans.1892 Mrs. Marv E. Partridge, Oakland, Calif . . .1896 Mrs. Hattie E. Ewing, Orange. Mass . . .1898 Mrs. Laura B. Hart, San Antonio, Tex 1901 Mrs. M. B. Conkling, Cheeotah, Okla. 1904 Mrs. Ella S. Washburn. Racine. Wis 1907 Mrs. M. Alice Miller, El Reno, Okla .1910 Mrs. Rata A. Mills, Duke Center. Pa .1913 Mrs. E. C. Ocobock. Hartford. Mich . 19l6, Mrs. E. L. Chapin, Pine Meadow. Conn . 1919 Mrs. C. R. Franz, Jacksonville. Fla 1922 Mrs. Clara Henrick, Newport, Sky. 1920
The first eighteen Most Worthy Grand Patrons of the General Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star have been:
Rev. John D. Vineil, St. Louis, Mo 1876 Thomas M. Lamb, Woreester, Mass 1878 Willis Brown, Seneca, Kans 1880 Rollin C. Gaskill, Oakland, Calif 1883 Jefferson S. Conover, Coldwater, Mieh 1886 Benjamin Lynds, St. Louis, Mo 1889 James R. Donnell, Conway, Ark 1892 H. Harrison Hinds, Stanton, Mich .1895 Nathaniel A. Gearhart, Duluth, Minn 1898 L. Cabel Williarnson, Washington, D. C 1901 Dr. William F. Kuhn, Kansas City, Mo .1904 William H. Norris, Manchester, la .. . .1907 Rev. Willis D. Engle, Indianapolis, Ind ..1910 G. A. Pettigrew, Sioux Falls, so. Dak.1913 George M. Hyland, Portland, Ore . .1916 Dr. A. G. McDaniel, San Antonio, Tex 1919 Dr. Will W. Grov., St. Joseph, Mo . .1922 J. Ernest Teare, Cleveland, Ohio .1925
From 1876 to 1889 Rev. Willis D. Engle of Indianapolis was the Right Worthy Grand Secretary. In 1880 Mrs. Lorraine J. Pitkin, of Chicago, became the Most Worthy Grand Matron, and afterwards the General Grand Secretary, being elected in 1889. She Joined the Order in 1866. Born in 1845, she died in 1922. Mrs. Minnie Evans Keyes, of Lansing, Michigan, was elected Right Worthy Grand Secretary of the Seattle meeting of July, 1919, and the headquarters of the Order established at Washington, District of Columbia.
- EAST PORT
An error in the Lansdowne Manuscript, where the expression "the city of East Port" occurs as a corruption of "the cities of the East."
- EAVESDROPPER
A listener. The punishment which was directed in the old lectures, at the revival of Freemasonry in 1717, to be inflicted on a detected cowan was: "To be placed under the eaves of the house in rainy weather, till the water runs in at his shoulders and out at his heels." The French inflict a similar punishment: "On le met sous une gouttiere, une pompe, ou une fontaine, jusqu'à ce qu'il soit mouillé depuis la tete jusqu'aux pieds," meaning They put him under the rain-spout, a pump, or a fountain, until he is drenched from head to feet. Hence a listener is called an eavesdropper. The word is not, as has by some been supposed, a peculiar Masonic term, but is common to the language. Skinner gives it in his Etymologicon, and approvingly calls it vox sane elegantissima, aptly sound word; and Blackstone (Com, mentaries iv, 13) thus defines it:
Eavesdroppers, or such as listen under walls, or windows, or the eaves of a houses to hearken after discourse and thereupon to frame slanderous and mischievous tales, are a common nuisance and presentable at the court leet or are indictable at the sessions. and punishable by fine and finding sureties for their good behavior.
- EBAL
According to Mackenzie, Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia, the following was introduced into the lectures of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century:
Moses commanded Israel that as soon as they had passed the Jordan, they should go to Sheehem, and divide into two bodies, each composed of six tribes one placed on, that is, adjacent to, Mount Ebal: the other on, or adjacent to, Mount Gerizim.
The six tribes on or at Gerizim were to pronounce blessings on those who should faithfully observe the law; and the six on Mount Ebal were to pronounce curses against those who should violate it.
This Joshua executed. Moses enjoined them to erect an altar of unhewn stones on Mount Ebal, and to plaster them over, that the law might be written on the altar. Shechem is the modern Nabious (see also Deuteronomy xxvii, and Joshua viii, 30-35).
- EBEN BOHAN
The stone which Bohan set up as a witness-stone, and which afterwards served as a boundary-mark on the frontier between Judah and Benjamin (see Joshua xv, 6, and xvii, 17).
- EBEN-EZER
Hebrew, xxx, pronounced, Eh'-ben haw-é-zer, and meaning stone of help. A stone set up by Samuel between Mizpeh and Shen in testimony of the Divine assistance obtained against the Philistines (see First Samuel vii, 12).
- EBLIS
The Arabian name of the prince of the apostate angels, exiled to the infernal regions for refusing to worship Adam at the command of the Supreme, Eblis claiming that he had been formed of ethereal fire, while Adam was created from clay. The Mohammedans assert that at the birth of their prophet the throne of Eblis was precipitated to the bottom of hell. Eblis of the Mohammedans is the Azazel in Hebrew, the desert spirit to whom one of the two goats was sent, laden with the sins of the people (see the Revised Version of the Bible, Leviticus xvi, 8, 10, 26). The word in the King James Version is scapegoat but in the original the word Azazel is a proper name.
- EBONY BOX
A symbol, in the advanced Degrees, of the human heart, which is intended to teach reserve and taciturnity, which should be inviolably maintained in regard to the incommunicable secrets of the Order. When it is said that the ebony box contained the plans of the Temple of Solomon, the symbolic teaching is, that in the human heart are deposited the secret designs and motives of our conduct by which we propose to erect the spiritual temple of our lives.
- ECBATANA
An ancient city of great interest to those who study the history of the rebuilding of the Temple. Its several names were Agbatana, Hagmatana, and Achmeta. Tradition attributes the founding of the city to Solomon, Herodotus to Deioces, 728 B.C., the Book of Judith to Arphaxad. It was the ancient capital of Media. Vast quantities of rubbish now indicate where the palace and citadel stood. The Temple of the Sun crowned a conical hill enclosed by seven concentric walls. According to Celsus, there was thus exhibited a scale composed of seven steps or stages, with an eighth at the upper extremity. The first stage was composed of lead, and indicated Saturn; the second, of tin, denoted Venus; the third, of copper, denoted Jupiter; the fourth, of iron, denoted Mars; the fifth, of divers metals, denoted Mercury; the sixth, of silver, denoted the Moon: the seventh, of gold, denoted the Sun; then the highest, Heaven. As they rose in gradation toward the pinnacle, all the gorgeous battlements represented at once—in Sabean fashion—the seven planetary spheres. The principal buildings were the Citadel, a stronghold of enormous dimensions, where also the archives were kept, in which Darius found the edict of Cyrus the Great concerning the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
- ECHANGES D' ENFANTS, BUREAU MAÇONNIQUE GRATUIT POUR LES
See Children's Exchange Bureau
- ECLECTIC BUND
See Eclectic Union
- ECLECTIC FREEMASONRY
From the Greek, eklektikos, which means selecting. Those philosophers who, in ancient times, selected from the various systems of philosophy such doctrines as appeared most conformable to truth were called Eclectic Philosophers. So the Confederation of Freemasons in Germany, which consisted of Lodges that selected the Degrees which they thought most conformable to ancient Freemasonry, was called the Eclectic Union, and the Freemasonry which it adopted received the name of Eclectic Freemasonry (see Eclectic Union).
- ECLECTIC RITE
The Rite practiced by the Eclectic Union, which see.
- ECLECTIC UNION
The fundamental idea of a union of the German Lodges for the purpose of purifying the Masonic system of the corruptions which had been introduced by the numerous Degrees founded on alchemy, theosophy, and other occult sciences which at that time flooded the continent of Europe, originated, in 1779, with the Baron Von Ditfurth, who had been a prominent member of the Rite of Strict Observance; although Lenning attributes the earlier thought of a circular letter to Von Knigge. But the first practical step toward this purification was taken in 1783 by the Provincial Grand Lodges of Frankfort-on-the-Main and of Wetzlar. These two Bodies addressed an encyclical letter to the Lodges of Germany, in which they invited them to enter into an alliance for the purpose of "re-establishing the Royal Art of Freemasonry." The principal points on which this union or alliance was to be founded were:
1. That the three symbolic Degrees only were to be acknowledged by the united Lodges. 2. That each Lodge was permitted to practice for itself such high Degrees as it might select for itself, but that the recognition of these was not to be made compulsory on the other Lodges. 3. That all the united Lodges were to be equal, none being dependent on any other.
These propositions were accepted by several Lodges, and thence resulted the Eklectischer Bund, or Eclectic Union of Germany, at the head of which was established the Mother Grand Lodge of the Eclectic Union at Frankfort-on-the-Main. The system of Freemasonry practiced by this union is called the Eclectic System, and the Rite recognized by it is the Eclectic Rite, which consists of only the three Degrees of Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason.
- ECOSSAIS
This is a French word, pronounced a-ko-say, which Masonically is generally to be translated as Scottish Master. There are numerous Degrees under the same or a similar name; all of them, however, concurring in one particular, namely, that of detailing the method adopted for the preservation of the true Word. The American Freemason will understand the character of the system of Ecossaism, as it may be called, when he is told that the Select Master of his own Rite is really all Ecossais Degree. It is found, too, in many other Rites. Thus, in the French Rite, it is the Fifth Degree. In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Thirteenth Degree or Knights of the Ninth Arch is properly an Ecossais Degree. The Ancient York Rite is without an Ecossais Degree, but its principles are set forth in the instructions Of the Royal Arch. Some idea of the extent to which these Degrees have been multiplied may be formed from the fact that Oliver has a list of eighty of them; Ragon enumerates eighty-three; and the Baron Tschoudy, first rejecting twenty-seven which he does not consider legitimate, retains a far greater number to whose purity he does not object.
In the Ecossais system there is a legend, a part of which has been adopted in all the Ecossais Degrees, and which has in fact been incorporated into the mythical history of Freemasonry. It is to the effect that the builder of the Temple engraved the word upon a triangle of pure metal, and, fearing that it might be lost, he always bore it about his person, suspended from his neck, with the engraved side next to his breast. In a time of great peril to himself, he cast it into an old dry well, which was in the southeast corner of the Temple, where it was afterward found by three Masters. They were passing near the well at the hour of meridian, and were attracted by its brilliant appearance; whereupon one of them, descending with the assistance of his comrades, obtained it, and carried it to King Solomon. But the more modern form of the legend dispenses with the circumstance of the dry well, and says that the builder deposited it in the place which had been purposely prepared for it, and where centuries afterward it was found. And this amended form of the legend is more in accord with the recognized symbolism of the loss and the recovery of the Word.
The word Ecossais has several related meanings as follows:
- 1. The Fourth Degree of Ramsay's Rite, and the original whence all the Degrees of Ecossaism have sprung.
- 2. The Fifth Degree of the French Rite.
- 3. The Ecossais Degrees constitute the fourth class of the Rite of Mizraim—from the Fourteenth to the Twenty-First Degree.
In the accompanying articles only the principal Ecossais Degrees will be mentioned.
- ECOSSAIS ANGLAIS SUBLIME
Sublime English Scottish, the thirty-eighth grade, fifth series, Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS ARCHITECT, PERFECT
The French expression is Ecossais Architecte Parfait. A Degree in the collection of M. Pyron.
- ECOSSAIS D'ANGERS or ECOSSAIS D'ALCIDONY
Two Degrees mentioned in a work entitled Philosophical Considerations on Freemasonry.
- ECOSSAIS DES LOGES MILITAIRES
French for Scottish (Degree) of Military Lodges, a grade in three sections in M. Pyron's collection.
- ECOSSAIS, ENGLISH
The French expression is Ecossais Anglais. A Degree in the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Rite.
- ECOSSAIS, FAITHFUL
The French expression is Ecossais Fidéle (see Vielle Bru).
- ECOSSAIS, FRENCH
The Thirty-fifth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS, GRAND
The Fourteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite is so called in some of the French books.
- ECOSSAIS, GRAND ARCHITECT
The French expression is Grand Architecte Ecossais. The Forty-fifth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS, GRAND MASTER
Formerly the Sixth Degree of the Capitular system, practised in Holland.
- ECOSSAIS, KNIGHT
A synonym of the Ninth Degree of Illuminism. It is more commonly called Illuminatus Dirigens in Latin.
- ECOSSAIS, MASTER
The Fifth Degree of the Rite of Zinnendorf. It was also formerly among the high Degrees of the German Chapter and those of the Rite of the Clerks of Strict Observance. It is said to have been composed by Baron Hund.
- ECOSSAIS NOVICE
A synonym of the Eighth Degree of Illuminism. It is more commonly called IUuminatus Major in Latin.
- ECOSSAIS OF CLERMONT
The Thirteenth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF ENGLAND
A Degree in the collection of M. Le Rouge.
- ECOSSAIS OF FRANVILLE
The Thirty-first Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF HIRAM
A Degree in the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scotch Rite.
- ECOSSAIS OF MESSINA
A Degree in the nomenclature of M. Fustier.
- ECOSSAIS OF MONTPELLIER
The Thirtysixth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF NAPLES
The Forty-second Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF PERFECTION
The Thirty-ninth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF PRUSSIA
A degree in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.
- ECOSSAIS OF SAINT ANDREW
A not unusual form of Ecossaism, and found in several Rites as follows:
- 1. The Second Degree of the Clerks of Strict Observance.
- 2. The Twenty-first Degree of the Rite of Mizraim
- 3. The Twenty-ninth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is also an Ecossais of Saint Andrew.
- 4. The Sixty-third Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France is an Ecossais of Saint Andrew of Scotland.
- 5. The Seventy-fifth Degree of the same collection is called Ecossaxs of Saint Andrew of the Thistle.
- ECOSSAIS OF SAINT GEORGE
A Degree in the collection of Le Page.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE FORTY
The French expression is Ecossais des Quarante. The Thirty-fourth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE LODGE OF PRINCE EDWARD
A Degree in the collection of Pyron. This was probably a Stuart Degree, and referred to Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE SACRED VAULT OF JAMES VI
The title refers to the following:
- 1. The Thirtv-third Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of Franee, said to have been eomposed bs the Baron Tsehoudy.
- 2. The Twentieth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
- 3. In the French work this name has been given to the Fourteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite.
Chemin Dupontes says that the Degree was a homage paid to the kings of Scotland. Nothing, however, of this can be found in its present form; but it is very probable that the Degree, in its first concept tion, and in some ritual that no longer exists, was an offspring of the house of Stuart, of which James VI was the first English king.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE THREE J. J. J.
This refers to each of the following:
- 1. The Thirty-second Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France
- 2. The Nineteenth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
The three J. J. J. are the mutials of Jourdain, Jaho, Jachin.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE TRIPLE TRIANGLE
The Thirty-seventh Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ECOSSAIS OF TOULOUSE
A Degree in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.
- ECOSSAIS PARFAIT MAITRE ANGLAIS
French for Scottish Perfect English Master, a grade given by Pyron.
- ECOSSAIS, PARISIAN
So Thory has it; but Ragon, and all the other nomenclators, give it as Ecossais Panissiere. The Seventeenth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
- ECOSSAIS, PERFECT
A Degree in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.
- ECOSSISM
A name given by French Masonic writers to the thirty-three Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This, in English, would be equivalent to Scottish Freemasonry, which see.
- ECUADOR
A republic of South America. In l857 the Grand Orient of Peru introduced Freemasonry to Ecuador by establishing Lodges at Quito and Guayaquil.
The Dictator of Ecuador wished at first to join the Brotherhood but when admission to the Craft was refused him he proved a very powerful enemy. . Not until after he was killed in 1875 were conditions at all favorable for the growth of the Craft in this district.
A Grand Lodge is said to have existed at Guayaquil but its history is obscure and nothing is known until the Grand Lodge of Ecuador was established there in 1918. It was formed on the lines of civil governments having executive, legislative and judicial departments, but it was not considered altogether regular by other Grand Lodges.
Lodges Luz de Guaya9, No. 10; Cinco de Junio, No. 29, and Oriente Ecuatoriano, No. 30, all chartered by the Grand Lodge of Peru, sent delegates to an assembly at Guayaquil on March 5, 1921, to consider the establishment of a Grand Lodge. On June 19, 1921, by authority of the Grand Lodge of Peru, the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Republic of Ecuador was constituted.
The Grand Orient of Italy has a Lodge at Guayaquil. There is also in this city the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Ecuador.
- EDDA
An Icelandic word, literally translated great-grandmother, as referred to in Scandinavian poetry. There are in reality two books of this name which were deemed inspired by the ancient Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes, and there grew out so many myths from these canonical writings, that great difficulty is now experienced as to what were apocryphal. The myths springing from the old German theology are full of beauty; they pervade Freemasonry extensively and so intimately that they are believed by many of the best students to be the origin of a large number of its legends and symbols.
The older of the two, called The Edda of Samund the Learned, was written in a language existing in Denmark, Sweden and Norway as early as the eighth century. Samund Sigfusson, an Icelandic priest born in 1056, collected thirty-nine of these poems during the earlier portion of the twelfth century. The most remarkable of these poems is the Oracle of the Prophetess, containing the cosmogony, under the Scandinavian belief, from the creation to the destruction of the world. A well-preserved copy was found in Iceland in 1643.
The younger Edda is a collection of the myths of the gods, and of explanations of meters of Pagan poetry, and is intended for instruction of young scalds or poets. The first copy was found complete in 1628. The prologue is a curious compendium of Jewish, Greek, Christian, Roman, and Icelandic legend. Its authorship is ascribed to Snorro Sturleson, born in 1178; hence called Edda of Snorro.
- EDICT OF CYRUS
Five hundred and thirty six years before the Christian era, Cyrus issued his edict permitting the Jews to return from the captivity at Babylon to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the House of the Lord.
At the same time he restored to them all the sacred vessels and precious ornaments of the first Temple, which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and which were still in existence (see Cyrus). This is commemorated in the Royal Arch Degree of the York and American Rites.
It is also referred to in the Fifteenth Degree, or Knight of the East of the Scottish Rite.
- EDICTS
The decrees of a Grand Master or of a Grand Lodge are called Edicts, and obedience to them is obligatory on all the Craft.
- EDINBURGH
The capital of Scotland. The Lodge of Edinburgh, Mary's Chapel, is No. 1 on the "Roll of Lodges holding under the Grand Lodge of Scotland," and is described therein as instituted "Before 1598." Nothing more precise is known as to the date of its foundation, but it possesses Minutes commencing in July, 1599. It met at one time in a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and from this is derived the second part of its name. Its history has been written by Brother D. M. Lyon, 1873 (see Scotland).
- EDINBURGH, CONGRESS OF
It was convoked, in l736 by William Saint Clair of Roslin, Patron of the Freemasons of Scotland, whose Mother Lodge was Canongate Kilwinning, with the view of abdicating his dignity as hereditary Grand Patron, with all the privileges granted to the family of Saint Clair of Roslin by the Operative Masons of Scotland early in the seventeenth century (see Saint Clair Charters) and afterward to organize freemasonry upon a new basis. The members of thirty-three Lodges uniting for this purpose, constituted the new Grand Lodge of Scotland, and elected Saint Clair as Grand Master on November 30, 1736 (see Saint Clair).
- EDINBURGH-KILWINNING MANUSCRIPT
One of the Old Charges, probably written about 1665. It is in the custody of the I Mother Lodge Kilwinning, No. 0." which heads the Roll of Scotch Lodges. It has been reproduced in Brother Hughan's Masonic Sketches and Reprints, and in Brother D. M. Lyon's History of the Lodge of Edinburgh.
- EDINBURGH, LODGE OF
Often called the Luke of Mary's Chapel.- This old Lodge met at one time in a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, which accounts for the second part of its name. Possesses Minutes commencing in July, 1599, and is No. 1 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. At one time first on the list of Scotch Lodges but Mother Kilwinning Lodge was placed before it in 1807 as No. 0. Color of clothing is light blue. Date of the origin of this Lodge is not known hut believed to exist before 1598. Earliest authentic record of a non-operative being a member of a Masonic Lodge is recorded in the Minutes of this Lodge, July, 1599, and their Minutes also record the first written account of an initiation by a Lodge.
- EDLING, COUNT
Thory lists Edling as Chamberlain of the King of Saxony and that he, with Prince Bernhard of Saxe Weimar, received the Thirty-second degree at Paris, 1813.
- EDOM
See Tabaor
- EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
These are of various kinds to fit particular requirements. The items dealing with Colleges, Public Schools, Sunday Schools, and so on, prove that the tendency of the Masonic Brotherhood to promote proper instruction is and has ever been characteristic. A few instances here will be sufficient to. show what has been undertaken.
- DELAWARE
inaugurated four scholarships in 1922 covering $125 to be awarded each year to students who would otherwise be unable to complete their education. These scholarships are in memory of the First Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Delaware, Gunning Bedford, Jr., and they may be used at any school of college grade, but the Committee having charge of the awards prefer the University of Delaware. If proper progress is made by the student the scholarship continues four years. While these scholarships are under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge, contributions will be made be the subordinate Lodges of the State in proportion to their membership, thus gradually increasing the fund until eventually it will include all children and grandchildren of Freemasons who need educational assistance.
- GEORGIA
At its 1921 Annual Communication the Grand Lodge of Georgia established an educational loan fund, and at its 1900 session made an appropriation therefor. The purpose of the loan is to enable worthy children of Freemasons to secure an education that otherwise would be denied them. Within its limits, loans are made under these conditions: Loans are made only for defraying the expenses of students in Georgia institutions. The applicant must not be under eighteen years of age at the time of entering college after the loan is authorized. The applicant must be unable to pay his own expenses in college. The applicant must be in reasonable good health. The applicant must be recommended by a Worshipful Master of a Masonic Lodge and by two other Master liaisons. The applicant must be recommended as a cantabile and deserving student by proper school authorities. The application must receive unanimous endorsement of the Educational Commission.
- KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
When the Grand Encampment of the United States met at New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-27, 1922, action was taken on an educational movement. Bonds to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars were transferred from the Permanent Fund to the Educational Fund, the income from which was to be used in the administration of the Fund as might be determined. To carry this movement to success each Grand Commandery and each Commandery subordinate to the Grand Encampment, were required to pay to the Grand Recorder of the Grand Encampment a sum equal to one dollar for each member of the Order therein, annually until the next Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment, the first payment to be made on or before the 1st day of July, 1924, and the second payment on or before the 1st day of July, 1925. One-half of the sums received to be transferred to an Endowment Fund, only the income from which may be used. The other half of the sums received is called the Educational Fund and available as a Revolving Loan Fund, for the benefit of students in each jurisdiction in proportion as jurisdictions have contributed to the Fund. It was made the duty of the Committee to be appointed bathe Grand Master, to organize and to prescribe rules for its procedure, and in formulating its plan of action the Committee should delegate to a Committee to be appointed by each Grand Commandery and each Commandery subordinate to the Grand Encampment, the final disposition of the funds apportioned according to the general plan of the Committees bier the Grand Encampment. A Committee was appointed by the Grand Master, composed of Sir Knights Joseph R. Orr of Atlanta, Georgia, as chairman; Alexander B. Andrews of Raleigh, North Carolina; Fred A. Aldrieh of Flint, Michigan; Thomas J. Jones of Cleveland, Ohio and Samuel P. Browning of Maysville, Kentucky. The committee, soon after its appointment, organized by the selection of Alexander B. Andrews as Secretary thereof. General plans of procedure were formulated for the administration, and the use and application of the Funds, and on January 1, 1923, were promulgated by the Grand Master.
- NATIONAL LEAGUE OF MASONIC CLUBS
At the Atlantic City, New Jersey, Convention held in 1929, the National League of Masonic Clubs decided that a worthy enterprise for their promotion would be something of an educational nature, national in scope and patriotic in character. At the Convention of 1925, at Saratoga Springs, New York, the report of a Board of Trustees, appointed to submit a concrete plan, was unanimously adopted. This project was the raising of an endowment fund of not less than $100,000 to provide for an income to maintain in perpetuity a Professorship in the George Washington University at Washington, District of Columbia, and establishing therewith a special course of instruction for students who wish to qualify to serve the United States of America at home or abroad as diplomatic or consular representatives of their country. In the case of representatives abroad of commercial interests in the United States, the plan would provide special training of importance and value. Such a scheme of instruction has existed for Shears at the (Roman) Catholic University, a Jesuit institution at Georgetown, District of Columbia.
- NEW MEXICO
has a Student Loan Fund to aid young men and women to obtain college educations; a number of these have been assisted while studying at various institutions of learning.
- NORTH CAROLINA
has a Masonic Educational Loan Fund amounting, in its fourth year, 1926, to $45,000, actively at work in various institutions of the State. The Several Grand Bodies annually contribute, the Grand Lodge, $3,000; Grand Chapter, 33,000; Grand Commandery, $1,000, and the bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, $3,000.
- SASKATCHEWAN
has a Masonic Scholarship project suggestive of that true charity or brotherly love which Saint Paul mentions with such heartiness in First Corinthians (xiii, 1-8). The basic purpose of the plan is to establish up to fifty scholarships of $300 each, those receiving these sums of money to devote themselves to scholastic work in the various centers of the Province with a view to raising the educational standard and the implanting of sound, patriotic and moral ideals. Selections have been made by representatives of the Grand Lodge in consultation with the Department of Education, the successful candidates being of high academic attainments.
- SCOTTISH RITE
At the annual Meeting at Boston, 1921, of the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, United States of America, the sum of $50,000 was set apart "from the income of the permanent fund for the year 1921, to be expended under the direction of the Sovereign Grand Commander, the Grand Treasurer-General, and the Chairman of the Committee on Finance for such purposes of charity or relief as they may approve." On December 22,1991, the Grand Commander Leon M. Abbott announced the plan of this Committee to establish fifteen scholarships—one for each State in their jurisdiction—providing for a deserving son or daughter of a Master Mason a four years college course of education. Brothers Frederick W. Hamilton, Edgar F. Smith and Frederic B. Stevens were appointed on April 25, 1922, a special Advisory Committee to consider the scholarship plan and their report was submitted to the Annual Meeting at Cleveland, September 19, 1922, and adopted. an Educational Fund being established under the direction of the Committee on Education. In brief (as stated on page 96 of the 1929 Proceedings) the plan is that one scholarship be awarded for each State in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, the recipient to choose his own college or technical school, provided it is approved by the Scholarship Committee. The amount of the scholarship for the first year is the regular college charges, together with the amount estimated by the college authorities as sufficient for a decent living. For the second year only two-thirds of the living allowance will be allowed, and for the third and fourth years only one-half the living allowance. Candidates must be sons or daughters of Master Masons, preferably of the Scottish Rite, in good standing. They must be of good moral character and of good scholarship and unable to obtain such an education without assistance. The scholarships are awarded by the Scholarship Committee, the choice of the beneficiaries being committed to their sound judgment. The bills are to be sent to the Chairman of the Scholarship Committee, to be approved by him before taking the usual course for payment. As a memorial to Washington the Freemason—a farsighted promoter as will later be seen of education for our young people, the Supreme Council Southern Jurisdiction, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite United States of America, at the biennial session of 1927 donated one million dollars to the George Washington University in the District of Columbia. This is the largest gift in the history of all the educational institutions at the City of Washington. Resolutions providing for the appropriation were introduced by Inspector General Perry W. Weidner of Southern California at the 1927 meeting and were unanimously adopted. A committee to carry the project into effect was appointed and consisted of Grand Commander John H. Cowles with Inspector Generals Perry NV. Breidner, Southern California; Edward C. Day, Montana, and Thomas J. Harkins, North Carolina. The generous offer outlined by the resolutions and as elaborated by the committee was accepted by the Trustees of George Washington University and the formal acceptance of the gift duly announced by President C. H. Marvin. This donation establishes and maintains a school of government at George Washington University, a department begun with the fall term of 1928. The will of Brother George Washington contained a stipulation that, read by few, deserves attention from many, and particularly by the Freemasons of the United States. The item in question comes immediately after provision had been made "towards the support of a free school established at and annexed to the said Academy, for the purpose of educating such children. . . as are unable to accomplish it with their own means, and who, in the judgment of the Trustees of the said Seminary, are best entitled to the benefit of this donation," stipulations quite in line, by the ways with what has been undertaken by several Masonic bodies in providing educational benefits of collegiate and university status for those unable otherwise to receive them. Washington's services for the State of Virginia in particular were rewarded not only by formal resolutions of gratitude but by a gift of substantial money value. The latter, as he says in his will, was refused, adding to this refusal, however, an intimation that if it should be the pleasure of the Legislature to permit me to appropriate the said shares to public uses, I would receive them on these terms with due sensibility and this it having consented to in flattering terms as will appear by a subsequent law and sundry resolutions in the most ample and honorable manner, I proceed after this recital for the more correct understanding of the case, to declare: That . . . it has been my ardent wish to see a plan devised on a liberal scale which would have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising Empire, thereby to do away local attachments and state prejudices, as far as the nature of things would or indeed, ought to admit, from our National Councils— looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of so desirable an object as this is (in my estimation), my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan more likely to effect the measure than the establishment of a university in a central part of the United States to which the youth of fortune and talents from all parts thereof might be sent for the completion of their education in all the branches of polite literature—in arts and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in . . . polities and good Government.... Under these impressions so fully dilated: I give and bequeath in perpetuity the 50 shares which I hold in the Potomac Company (under the aforesaid acts of the Legislature of Virginia) towards the endowment of a University to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the General Government. if that government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards it...... But the failure of the funds due to the collapse of the company put an end for the time to the wise plans of Washington. We must not overlook the fact that this is by no means the limit of educational work by Scottish Rite Brethren. Not only do they contribute through the medium of the other branches of the Fraternity in which they hold membership but, as is noted else where in this article, as in North Carolina, for example, they donate independently to State educational enterprise, and further, as in the following characteristic instance, it was decided at the fifty-eighth Annual Meeting in 1927, at Utica. of the New York Council of Deliberation of the Scottish Rite to award scholarships to boys and girls of the Masonic Home there, beginning that fall. Income from a $15,000 fund, known as the Scottish Rite Permanent Fund, was used for this purpose. Selection of those at the Home to receive scholarships was begun forthwith. There is a Masonic club-house at Berkeley, California, an outstanding educational and social factor in the collegiate lives of the students. Similar enterprises are found elsewhere. A Scottish Rite dormitory in Austin, at the University of Texas, provides accommodations for several hundred girls, a benevolent provision that inspires as well as protects. The girls of that dormitory promised $1,500 to the erection of the University of Texas Memorial Stadium and this pledge was paid in full. These scholarships awarded by leading organizations of Freemasons remind us of another instance or two worthy of record. An English Lodge whose Master had been so deserving of praise during his term of office that when he came to leave the chair the Brethren subscribed for a scholarship in the University of London. This was done with the purpose of allowing this good Brother to select some young man or woman to benefit by this opportunity of studying at one of the greatest educational institutions of the world. Probably the Brother was unusually interested in education and we can understand how delighted and honored he felt at this distinction. His experience was not unique, as in 19 5 we heard from Utica, New York, that, as a memorial to three Past District Deputy Grand Masters of the State, Lewis D. Collins, of Batavia, Rev. Pierre Cushing, of LeRoy, and John XT, Sparrow, of Warsaw, the Past Masters' Association of the Geneses Wyoming District voted to raise $5.000, the interest to be used for the education of a boy from the Masonic Home. Doubt appears to have arisen as to the advisability of locating the College twenty miles from Hannibal, in Marion County, Missouri, remote from city or town, and in 1846 a circular letter was authorized to the Lodges, inviting propositions. Four towns responded, Palmyra, Hannibal, Liberty, and Lexington, the latter being chosen. Committees were appointed to select a site of not less than five nor more than twenty acres, to raise funds, start building, and dispose by rent or sale of the old property. The corner-stone of the new College was laid on May 18, 1847. Among other proceedings at the Communication of 1847 a Committee was appointed to ascertain what prominent educators were Freemasons so as to have a handy list of them for selection when the College was completed. In 1848 the Committee on Masonic Hall reported adversely and the Committee on the College at Lexington stated that it had cash to date $8,759. 7, and the cost of the College would be $15,000. Salaries of College President and instructors were fixed by Grand Lodge, the highest $1,500 per year. At an adjourned session of the Grand Lodge, 184S, Brother Wilkens Tannehill of Nashville, Tennessee, was elected President, Brother van Doren, Professor of Mathematics, and a resolution introduced to add a Medical Department to the College. A special agent for the College Endowment Fund was to receive ten per cent on all monies collected. Ninety-five students were reported in 1849. But the succeeding meetings of the Grand Lodge show the College expenses exceeding the income, although the Endowment Fund in 1853 amounted to $53,198. We note that the average age of the college students in 1854 was fifteen and the number admitted was 175. A mortgage of $1,500 was placed by the Grand Lodge on the College property in 1855 and we see in 1857 that only eight beneficiaries mere among the 175 students, the original planning of the College, to educate children of indigent brethren notwithstanding. The Grand Lodge in 1859, after a brave and benevolent purpose, pursued faithfully for years, decided that experience showed the fixed fact that the Masonic College had failed to meet the reasonable and just expectations of the Grand Lodge and of its warmest and most ardent friends, that the Grand Lodge would not put forth any further efforts for its sustenance and whereas the treasuries of the Lodges were constantly drained for its support, thereby in a very great measure cutting off their resources for dispensing their own charities, it was therefore resolved "That at the close of the present Collegiate year the College be closed, sine die (without date) and that no more of the funds of this Grand Lodge be appropriated for its sustenance, further than to meet its present liabilities; that all Scholarships held either by Lodges or individuals, shall at the swish of the parties holding them, be cancelled, and such parties be released from all further obligations under the same." Citizens of Lexington had given $30,000 to sustain the College. The Grand Lodge and the Lodges gave even more. only to fail. During the Civil Bar the Battle of Lexington, September, 1861. was fought there, Union soldiers occupied the buildings, and the College and boarding-house were badly wrecked by cannon fire. At last the Grand Lodge gave the College and grounds to the Marvin Female Institute. The report adopted by the Grand Lodge, in 1872, says, From the 1st of February, 1872, the Marvin Female Institute at Lexington, Missouri, will be known be the name of " Central Female College." and the same obligations entered into between the Grand Lodge and the institute will be carried out by the College, viz.: The Grand Lodge has the right to keep constantly at the College thirty daughters of deceased indigent Master Masons, free of tuition charge, they boarding in the College and paying their own expenses, except tuition. The religious proclivities of these students are not to be interfered with, contrary to such directions as their parents or guardians may dictate. Applications for admission of Masonic beneficiaries must be made through the committee appointed by the Grand Lodge: and the fact of the father having died while in good Masonic standing or the father now living being such, can be certified to by the nearest Lodge, or by some brother known to the committee. The old College building still forms a part of the main structure of what is the justly celebrated Central College for Women under the control of the Methodist Church. When the Grand Lodge of Missouri, on October 2, 1849, purchased the property in Marion County, the membership in that State was only 1139. Dr. William F. Kuhn, discussing with us the ambitions of the Brethren, alluded to the direction of their ideas, saying, "The curriculum embraced four departments, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, Mathematics, Mental and Moral Science, Ancient Languages and Literature, six months tuition was given free, and $25.00 paid for board, room and washing for a whole session. The College in 1844 had forty students. Later, at Lexington, the enthusiasm of its projectors ran high. Hopes were entertained to have it rival Yale and Harvard but it became a burden and was an unfortunate adventure. So that is the story of a Masonic College in Missouri, and ought to be a warning for all such attempts in the future." Because of this very point, possible recurrence anywhere and everywhere of the same sort of project, and recognizing the importance of the advice of Past Grand Master Kuhn, space is freely given to this experiment in Missouri. Similar projects developed elsewhere as we shall note. Probably the visit of Brother Carnegy of Missouri in 1844 to the Grand Lodge of Kentucky had due weight in focusing the attention of his hosts upon the subject of Masonic Colleges. He was not the first to bring the matter of education to their attention. Grand Master Henry Wingate on August 28, 1843, urged the fostering of local and general schools, endowing professorships in colleges, and securing scholarships for indigent Freemasons' children. A proposition in 1844 to establish a Masonic School and Asylum resulted in recommending the appointment of seven as Trustees of Funk Seminary, a new school building at La Grange, Oldham County, Kentucky, with an endowment of $6,000 offered upon condition of maintaining a school and receiving pay scholars. The Committee on Education, or Trustees, were to employ teachers but contract no debt beyond the amount due from the lottery or manager; adopt by-laws, which Grand Lodge might alter, and at each annual communication of the Grand Lodge five Brethren were to be chosen as a Board of Trustees who were to make provision for the education of Masonic orphans in said seminary, but not to incur debt. The Trustees were to solicit contributions and make report. Every Freemason in Kentucky was requested to pay $1 towards the support of this educational charity. A further explanation, in 1845, shows that the LaGrange property included a two-story building, cost $4,580 with the lots, and $6,000, well secured, all conveyed to the Grand Lodge conditional on an efficient school being maintained where sons of citizens of the town and county might attend as pay pupils. James C. Davis took charge of the Primary department for the tuition fees, agreeing gratuitously to educate ten students to be sent by the Grand Lodge. Rev. J. R. Finley was made Principal and agent to solicit funds. Rev. A. A. Morrison was appointed Professor of Languages to find his compensation in the fees of his department. There were 127 pupils. A female school at LaGrange desired to be transferred to the Funk Seminary under control of the Grand Lodge. Six hundred dollars a year was voted to the seminary as long as it remained under Grand Lodge control. Soon the school is mentioned as the Masonic Seminary and Masonic College and in 1847 there were 170 students with beneficiaries from twelve Lodges. Mention is made that the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia recommended the Masonic College of Kentucky to its Lodges and their members, and that Mississippi reported "The Masonic College of Kentucky is one of the wisest and one of the most philanthropic establishments of the present age," and so on, leading up to the Committee on Education of Kentucky advising that the Trustees of the College be authorized to contract with the Grand Lodge of Alabama to educate one hundred students a year for ten successive years, for $1,000 a year in advance. The tide turned. At the Communication of 1848 the reduction in pay students and withdrawal of scholarships by Lodges had "strained the institution in its finances" and in 1849 "four hundred dollars as an increase of appropriation to the College for the year was made." Let it not be understood that this was the sum of what the generous Grand Lodge undertook for educational labors. In 1850, realizing that much had been done for boys to the exclusion of girls, therefore $1,000 a year was set apart for the education of female children of deceased Master Masons, and a Committee was also appointed "to devise the most suitable plan for supporting and educating daughters of poor deceased Master Masons." Grand Secretary H. B. Grant says the Grand Lodge's works of benevolence mounted up to over a million in one hundred years, 1800-1900 (footnote, Centennial History, page 210). The college under critical examination showed conditions not favorable to successful continuance. Brother Grant says (page 217, Centennial history), "No doubt the trouble was the Grand Lodge started with a school on too small a capital to be a seminary, college and university, so that as the school grew, Grand Lodge floundered about under all these names, and more of them." At last the property was leased in 1857 by the Trustees at a nominal rental for five years. Reports now came to the Grand Lodge as landlord concerning building repairs and so forth, incidentally alluding to the educational conditions and prospects, but in 1873 the report showed there had been no school there for years, the Grand Lodge surrendered the property, and with the few later allusions to legal adjustments the College came to an end. Ohio had a like opportunity but escaped. The Grand Lodge at Columbus, 1848, received a proposition from the Trustees of Worthington College for the transfer of that property for use in founding a Masonic College. The offer was made through James Kilbourne, President, and was referred to the Committee on Education. The Brethren submitted an elaborate report to the Grand Lodge, probably too long an essay for easy rapid digestion, as no final action resulted. However, a start was made and some interest aroused. At the following Communication Brother William T. Leacock, D.D., President of the Masonic College of Kentucky, presented and read a letter from the Grand Master of Kentucky to this Grand Lodge, introducing him, and asking fraternal consideration of the object of his visit, which letter was referred to a Committee, which reported, commending Brother Leacock to the subordinate Lodges of the State. The good Brother, two days later, delivered a Masonic address in the Episcopal Church to the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, and Grand Encampment of Ohio. Perhaps his hearers preferred to subscribe to the College outside the State, hut no action seems to have been exerted toward a Masonic College in Ohio. Arkansas experimented with the idea. The Grand Lodge once bought a large amount of property in the east end of Little Rock, which was then merely a town, and on this site they built an institution of learning, Saint John's College. This was a semi-military College. For some time it prospered. But the town was not big enough to support. it and later on the College was abandoned. The Grand Lodge continued to own the property for many years. Finally it was sold in one lump. With the proceeds the Grand Lodge built a Masonic Temple on the corner of Fifth and Main Streets, Little Rock. That building since then has burned down and that property was sold. Brother Charles E. Rosenbaum, Past Grand Master of Arkansas, and Lieutenant Grand Commander, Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, who furnished these notes on Saint John's College, writes further: "Had they (the Grand Lodge) held the original Saint John's College property until within the past five or ten 5 ears, the Grand Lodge would have bad more money to invest than they could reasonably have found a place to put it. That is only one of the events that go along in Masonic as well as other affairs. We now have an Orphans' Home and School in Batesville in this State and it is running in good shape. I have been the President of the Board of Trustees of that ever since the Edict was created to build it." Georgia took over an educational institution at Covington in that State. That was in 1859, the Southern Masonic Female College. This was conducted by the Grand Lodge from 1859 up to 1873.
- EDUCATIONAL LOAN FUNDS
The Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, E. S. A., at its triennial session in New Orleans, Louisiana, April, 1992, in compliance with and pursuant to a recommendation of Grand Master Joseph Style Orr, of Atlanta, Georgia, established a revolving educational loan fund, which was to be available to assist worthy and needy students to secure a loan to aid them in completing the last two years of their course in the normal schools, colleges and universities of their state. The Grand Master-elect, Leonidas P. Newby, was authorized to appoint a Committee, with full power to carry the plan into effect, and did 80. The Grand Encampment also established an educational endowment fund, the income of which only can be used, by levying an assessment of one dollar per annum on each Knight Templar under the jurisdiction of the Grand Encampment, payable July 1 of each year; one-half of which was to form a part of the endowment fund, which was supplemented by a transfer of $100,000 from the fund of the trustees of the Grand Encampment. These loans, in each Jurisdiction were to be made by a Committee of their own Grand Commanderies, appointed as their Grand Commander directed. The loans were made not exceeding two hundred dollars in one year, to suitable students, upon their personal notes, given without any security, with interest at five per cent commencing upon the date of their graduation, and the entire amount to be repaid by annual payments within four years from that date. The Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite has also an educational loan fund of like character to enable deserving applicants to make their way successfully through universities and colleges of approved standing.
- EDWARD, KINGS
The four kings, numerically known as the First, Second, Third, and Fourth, appear as favorers, abettors, and protectors of the Institution of Freemasonry.
- EDWARD, PRINCE
Son of George III, and Duke of Kent, was initiated in 1790, at Geneva, in the Lodge De I' Union des Coeurs, meaning in French Of the Union of Hearts, was Grand Master of the Ancients, and resigned to the Duke of Sussex on the memorable occasion of the Union in England, 1813.
- EDWARD III MANUSCRIPT
A manuscript quoted by Anderson in his second edition (page 71), and also by Preston, as an old record referring to "the glorious reign of King Edward III." The whole of the record is not cited, but the passages that are given are evidently the same as those contained in what is now known as the Cooke Manuscript, the archaic phraseology having been modernized and interpolations inserted by Anderson, as was, unfortunately, his habit in dealing with those old documents. Compare, for instance, the following passages, taking first these lines from the Cooke Manuscript.
When the master and the felawes be forwarned beny come to such congregations if nede be the Schereffe of the counter or the mayer of the Cyte or alderman of the town in wyche the congregations is hold schall be felaw and sociat to the master of the congregation in helpe of hym a yest rebelles and upberying (upbearing) the rygt of the reme (see Lines 901 to 912).
Edward III Manuscript, as quoted bar Anderson:
That when the Master and Wardens preside in a Lodge, the sheriff if need be, or the mayor or the alderman (if a brother) where the Chapter is held, shall be associate to the Master, in help of him against rebels and for upholding the rights of the realm.
The identity of the two documents is apparent. Either the Edward III Manuscript was copied from the Cooke, or both were derived from a common original.
- EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, KING
Said to have been a patron of Freemasonry in England in l041
- EDWARD VII, KING OF ENGLAND
Albert Edward, born November 9, 1841, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. Initiated by the King of Sweden, at Stockholm, 1868. In 1870 the rank of Past Grand Master of England was conferred upon him; installed as Most Worshipful Grand Master by the Earl of Carnarvon, April 98, 1875; served as Worshipful Master in the Apollo University Lodge, Oxford; the Royal Alpha Lodge, London, and from 1574 was Worshipful Master of the famous Prince of Wales Lodge, No. 959, never losing an opportunity to publicly show his attachment to the Masonic Fraternity.
He was enrolled as Patron of the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland and was an honorary member of the Lodge of Edinburgh, No.1; member and Patron of the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree for England and Grand Master of the Convent General of the Knights Templar. In 1901 he ascended the throne, and then assumed the title of Protector of the Craft, his brother, the Duke of Connaught, succeeding him as Grand Master of Freemasons. Edward VII died May 6, 1910.
- EDWIN
The son of Edward, Saxon king of England, who died in 924, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Athelstan. The Masonic tradition is that Athelstan appointed his brother Edwin the Patron of Freemasonry in England, and gave him what the Old Records call a free Charter to hold an Annual Communication or General Assembly, under the authority of which he summoned the Freemasons of England to meet him in a Congregation at York, where they met in 926 and formed the Grand Lodge of England.
The Old Records say that these Freemasons brought with them many old writings and records of the Craft, some in Greek, some in Latin, some in French, and other languages, and from these framed the document now known as the York Constitutions, whose authenticity has been for years so much a subject of controversy among Masonic writers Prince Edwin died two years before his brother, and a report was spread of his being put wrongfully to death by him; "but this," says Preston, "is so improbable in itself, so inconsistent with the character of Athelstan, and, indeed, so slenderly attested, as to be undeserving a place in history." William of Malmesbury, the old chronicler, relates the story, but confesses that it had no better foundation than some old ballads. But now come the later Masonic antiquaries, who assert that Edwin himself is only a myth, and that, in spite of the authority of a few historical writers, Athelstan had no son or brother of the name of Edwin. Woodford (Old Charges of the British Freemasons, page xiv) thinks that the Masonic tradition points to Edwin, King of Northumbria, whose rendezvous was once at Auldby, near York, and who in 627 aided in the building of a stone church at York, after his baptism there, with Roman workmen. "Tradition," he says, "sometimes gets confused after the lapse of time; but I believe the tradition is in itself true which links Freemasonry to the church building at York by the Operative Brotherhood, under Edwin, in 627, and to a gild Charter under Athelstan, in 927."
The legend of Prince Edwin, of course, requires some modification, but we should not be too hasty in rejecting altogether a tradition which has been so long and so universally accepted by the Fraternity, and to which Anderson, Preston, Krause, Oliver, and a host of other writers, have subscribed their assent. The subject will be fully discussed under the head of York Legend, which see.
- EDWIN CHARGES
The charges said to have been given by Prince Edwin, and contained in the Antiquity Manuscript, are sometimes so called (see Antiquity Manuscript).
- EFFINGHAM, CHARLES HOWARD, EARL OF
Said to have been Grand Master of England from 1579 to 1588 (see William Preston's Illustrations of Masonry, section v). The Earl was born in 1536 and was Lord High Admiral, defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588. IIe died in 1624.
- EFFINGHAM, THOMAS HOWARD, EARL OF
The Duke of Cumberland made the Earl his Pro Grand Master in 1782, serving until 1790.
- EGAY, MONEY
Thory lists Egay as Grand Master of Portugal in 1805.
- EGG, MUNDANE
It was a belief of almost all the ancient nations, that the world was hatched from an egg made by the Creator, over which the Spirit of God was represented as hovering in the same manner as a bird broods or flutters over her eggs. Faber (Pagan Idolatry i, 4), who traced everything to the Arkite worship, says that this egg, which was a symbol of the resurrection, was no other than the ark; and as Dionysus was fabled in the Orphic hymns to be born from an egg, he and Noah were the same person; wherefore the birth of Dionysus or Brahma, or any other hero god from an egg, was nothing more than the egress of Noah from the ark.
Be this as it may, the egg has been always deemed a symbol of the resurrection, and hence the Christian use of Easter eggs on the great feast of the resurrection of our Lord. As this is the most universally diffused of all symbols, it is strange that it has found no place in the symbolism of Freemasonry, which deals so much with the doctrine of the resurrection, of which the egg was everywhere the recognized symbol. It was, however, used by the ancient architects, and from them was adopted by the Operative Freemasons of the Middle Ages, one of whose favorite ornaments was the ovolo, or egg-molding.
- EGLINTON MANUSCRIPT
An old document dated December 28, 1599. It is so named from its having been discovered some years ago in the charter chest at Eglinton Castle. It is a Scottish manuscript, and is valuable for its details of early Freemasonry in Scotland. In it, Edinburgh is termed "the first and principal Lodge," and Kilwinning is called "the heid and secund Ludge of Scotland in ad tyme cuming." An exact copy of it was taken by Brother D. Murray Lyon, and published in his History of the Lodge of Edinburgh (page 12). It has also been printed in Brother Hughan's Masonic Sketches and Reprints.
- EGYPT
Moses:..... About this country of famed antiquity along the Valley of the River Nile in Northeast Africa, has clustered many suggestive allusions of interest to the Craft. The old Cooke's Manuscript tells us that from Egypt, Freemasonry "went from land to land and from kingdom to kingdom." In more modern days the claim has been made that a Lodge of the Order of Memphis, was founded by Freemasons of the prominence of Napoleon Bonaparte, General Kleber, and others of the French Army during the Egyptian Campaign of 1798.
The Grand Orient of France founded a Lodge in Egypt, La Bienfaisance, or Benevolence, of 1802, and another in 1806, Les Amis de Napoleon le Grand, Friends of Napoleon the Great, and other Lodges in 1847 and 1863, all at Alexandria; one at Cairo in 1868, and another at Alexandria in 1848, and one at Mansourah in 1882. Lodges at Alexandria were established by the Grand Lodge of France, one in 1871, the other in 1910, also three at Cairo, in 1889, 1910, and 1911, with one at Port Said in 1867.
A German Lodge was set at work in Cairo in 1866, and one at Alexandria in 1908. The first of two Lodges was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1867 and 1884. The Grand Orient of Italy has had six Lodges at Alexandria, three at Cairo, one at Port Said, and another at Suez. The Grand Lodge of England also chartered Lodges at Alexandria in 1862 and 1865; Zetland Lodge in 1867, Alexandria Lodge in 1920, have survived; nine Lodges were chartered at Cairo, Bulwer Lodge, the oldest, 1865; Grecia Lodge, 1866 Star of the East Lodge, 1871, and Lotus Lodge, 1908, continuing; three were erected at Khartoum: Khartoum Lodge, 1901; Saint Reginald Wingate Lodge, 1908; Mahfel-el-Ittihad Lodge, 1908, and one each at Le Caire, Port Said, Suez, and Tantah.
The Order of Memphis is said to have been revived or repeated in Egypt by J. E. Marconis, who constituted a Lodge at Cairo and founded a Supreme Council at Alexandria before 1862. After Marconis resigned his powers to the Grand Orient of France, the Body in Egypt was independent and the son of Mehemet Ali, Prince Halim Pasha, became Grand Master, the Order prospering until his exile in 1868.
The Sanctuary, Patriarchs of Memphis, worked for a time in secrecy but eventually ceased operations. On December 21, 1872, the Rite of Memphis was again set at work and with the approval of the Khedive, a Grand Master, S. A.Zola, was elected over the Sanctuary of Memphis and the Grand Orient of EzvDt: two years later he became Grand Hierophant, ninety-seven Degrees, the Supreme Officer. This position Zolare signed in 1883 to Professor Oddi. An Ancient and Accepted Rite of the Thirty-third Degree instituted by the Grand Orient of Naples in 1864 arranged with the Rite of Memphis of ninety-six Degrees that these two organizations should work other than the three symbolic Degrees which were to be conferred by a Grand Orient. On May 8, 1876, a reorganization resulted in three separate Grand Masonic Bodies, the National Grand Lodge of Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite, and the Sovereign Grand Council of the Memphis Rite. The National Grand Lodge in 1879 was proclaimed "free, sovereign and independent" of the other Bodies.
There is now a Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite instituted in 1907. Some Brethren withdrew from the National Grand Lodge in September of 1922 to form another Grand Lodge of Egypt.
- EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS
The extent of parallelism between the innumerable hieroglyphs or picture-writing on the tombs and monuments of India find Egypt and the symbols and emblems of Freemasonry, taken together with their esoteric interpretation, has caused very many well-thinking Freemasons to believe in an Indian or Egyptian origin of our speculative institution of the present day. So close and numerous are these symbols and their meaning that it becomes difficult for the mind to free itself from a fixed conclusion; and some of the best students feel confident in their judgment to this end, more especially when tracing the Leader, "Moses, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," from that country to Palestine with the twelve tribes of Israel and their successors building that Holy House in Jerusalem, which has become the chief Masonic symbol. Some have abominated this theory on the ground of alleged polytheism existing among the Egyptians; but this existed only at a later day in the life of the nation, as it also existed among the corrupted Jews in its worst form, for which see Second Kings, chapters 17 to 21.
Brother Thomas Pryer presents this evidence of a monotheistic belief, of pristine purity, among the early Egyptians, ages prior to Abraham's day. We give the hieroglyphs and their interpretation in the illustration.
How prophetical were the Books of Hermes.
O Egypt Egypt! a time shall come, when, in lieu of a pure religion, and of a pure belied thou wilt possess naught but ridiculous fables incredible to posterity, and nothing will remain to thee, but words engraven on stone, the only monuments that will attest thy piety.
- EGYPTIAN MASONRY
See Cagliostro
- EGYPTIAN MONTHS
Named Thoth, Paophi, Athyr, Choiak, Tybi, Mechir, Phamenoth, Pharmuthi, Pashons, Payni, Epiphi, and Mesore. The above twelve months, commencing with March 1, were composed of thirty days each, and the five supplementary days were dedicated to Hesiri or Osiris, Hor or Horus Set or Typhon, IIis or Isis, and Nebti or Nephthys. The sacred year commenced July 20; the Alexandrian year, August 29 in the year 25 B.C.
- EGYPTIAN MYSTERIES
Egypt has always been considered as the birthplace of the Mysteries. It was there that the ceremonies of initiation were first established. It was there that truth was first veiled in allegory, and the dogmas of religion were first imparted under symbolic forms. From Egypt "the land of the winged globe" the land of science and philosophy, "peerless for stately tombs and magnificent temples the land whose civilization was old and mature before other nations, since called to empire, had a name" this system of symbols was disseminated through Greece and Rome and other countries of Europe and Asia, giving origin, through many intermediate steps, to that mysterious association which is now represented by the Institution of Freemasonry. To Egypt, therefore, the Freemasons have always looked with peculiar interest as the cradle of that mysterious science of symbolism whose peculiar modes of teaching they alone, of all modern institutions, have preserved to the present day.
The initiation into the Egyptian Mysteries was, of all the systems practiced by the ancients, the most severe and impressive. The Greeks at Eleusis imitated it to some extent, but they never reached the magnitude of its forms nor the austerity of its discipline. The system had been organized for ages, and the Priests, who alone were the hierophants the explainers of the Mysteries, or, as we should call them in Masonic language, the Masters of the Lodges were educated almost from childhood for the business in which they were engaged. That "learning of the Egyptians," in which Moses is said to have been so skilled, was all imparted in these Mysteries. It was confined to the Priests and to the initiates; and the trials of initiation through which the latter had to pass were so difficult to be endured, that none but those who were stimulated by the most ardent thirst for knowledge dared to undertake them or succeeded in submitting to them.
The Priesthood of Egypt constituted a sacred caste, in whom the sacerdotal functions were hereditary. They exercised also an important part in the government of the state, and the Kings of Egypt were but the first subjects of its priests. They had originally organized, and continued to control, the ceremonies of initiation. Their doctrines were of two kinds exoteric or public, which were communicated to the multitude, and esoteric or secret, which were revealed only to a chosen few; and to obtain them it was necessary to pass through an initiation which was characterized by the severest trials of courage and fortitude.
The principal seat of the Mysteries was at Memphis, in the neighborhood of the great Pyramid. They were of two kinds, the greater and the less; the former being the Mysteries of Osiris and Serapis, the latter those of Isis. The Mysteries of Osiris were celebrated at the autumnal equinox, those of Serapis at the summer solstice, and those of Isis at the vernal equinox. The solstice is when the sun is at its greatest declination, usually June 21 and December 22. The equinoxes are twice a year when the days and nights are equal all over the world. The vernal equinox is March 21, the autumnal is September 22. These important astronomical events observed by the ancients were deemed especially suitable occasions for the most ceremonial of their mysterious customs. The candidate was required to exhibit proofs of a blameless life. For some days previous to the commencement of the ceremonies of initiation, he abstained from all unchaste acts, confined himself to an exceedingly light diet, from which animal food was rigorously excluded, and purified himself by repeated ablutions.
Apuleius (Metamorphosis, book xi), who had been initiated in all of them, thus alludes, with cautious reticence, to those of Isis:
The priest, all the profane being removed to a distance taking hold of me by the hand brought me into the inner recesses of the sanctuary itself, clothed in a new linen garment. Perhaps curious reader, you may be eager to know what was then said and done. I would tell you were it lawful for me to tell you; you should know it if it were lawful for you to hear. But both the ears that heard those things and the tongue that told them would reap the evil results of their rashness. Still however kept in suspense as you probably are, with religious longing, I will not torment you with long-protraeted anxiety. Hear. therefore. but believe what is the truth. I approached the confines of death, and, having trod on the threshold of Proserpine, I returned therefrom, being borne through all the elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with its brilliant light; and I approaehed the presence of the gods beneath and the gods above, and stood near and worshiped them. Behold, I have related to you things of which though heard by you, you must necessarily remain ignorant.
The first Degree, as we may term it, of Egyptian initiation was that into the Mysteries of Isis. What was its peculiar import, we are unable to say. Isis, says Knight, was, among the later Egyptians, the personification of universal nature. To Apuleius she says: "I am nature—the parent of all things, the sovereign of the elements, the primary progeny of time." Plutarch tells us that on the front of the Temple of Isis was placed this inscription: "I, Isis, am all that has been, that is, or shall be, and no mortal hath ever unveiled me." Thus we may conjecture that the Isiac Mysteries were descriptive of the alternate decaying and renovating powers of nature.
Godfrey Higgins (Anacalypsis in, 102), it is true, says that during the Mysteries of Isis were celebrated the misfortunes and tragical death of Osiris in a sort of drama; and Apuleius asserts that the initiation into her mysteries is celebrated as bearing a close resemblance to a voluntary death, with a precarious chance of recovery. But Higgins gives no authority for his statement, and that of Apuleius cannot be constrained into any reference to the enforced death of Osiris. It is, therefore, probable that the ceremonies of this initiation were simply preparatory to that of the Osirian, and taught, by instructions in the physical laws of nature, the necessity of moral purification, a theory which is not incompatible with all the mystical allusions of Apuleius when he describes his own initiation.
The Mysteries of Serapis constituted the second Degree of the Egyptian initiation. Of these rites we have but a scanty knowledge. Herodotus is entirely silent concerning them, and Apuleius, calling them "the nocturnal orgies of Serapis, a god of the first rank," only intimates that they followed those of Isis, and were preparatory to the last and greatest initiation. Serapis is said to have been only Osiris while in Hades; and hence the Serapian initiation night have represented the death of Osiris, but leaving the lesson of resurrection tor a subsequent initiation. But this is merely a conjecture.
In the Mysteries of Osiris, which were the consummation of the Egyptian system, the lesson of death and resurrection was symbolically taught; and the legend of the murder of Osiris, the search for the body, its discovery and restoration to life is scenically represented. This legend of initiation was as follows:
Osiris, a wise king of Egypt, left the care of his kingdom to his wife Isis, and traveled for three years to communicate to other nations the arts of civilization.
During his absence, his brother Typhon formed a secret conspiracy to destroy him and to usurp his throne. On his return, Osiris was invited by Typhon to an entertainment in the month of November, at which all the conspirators were present. Typhon produced a chest inlaid with gold, and promised to give it to any person present whose body would most exactly fit it. Osiris was tempted to try the experiment; but he had no sooner laid down in the chest, then the lid was closed and nailed down, and the chest thrown into the river Nile.
The chest containing the body of Osiris was, after being for a long time tossed about by the waves, finally cast up at Byblos in Phenicia, and left at the foot of a tamarisk tree. Isis, overwhelmed with grief for the loss of her husband, set out on a journey, and traversed the earth in search of the body. After many adventures, she at length discovered the spot whence it had been thrown up by the waves and returned with it in triumph to Egypt. It was then proclaimed, with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy, that Osiris was risen from the dead and had become a god. Such, with slight variations of details by different writers arc the general outlines of the Osiris legend which was represented in the drama of initiation. Its resemblance to the Hiramic legend of the Masonic system will be readily seen, and its symbolism will be easily understood. Osiris and Typhon are the representatives of the two antagonistic principles—good and evil, light and darkness, life and death.
There is also an astronomical interpretation of the legend which makes Osiris the sun and Typhon the season of winter, which suspends the fecundating and fertilizing powers of the sun or destroys its life, to be restored only by the return of invigorating spring.
The sufferings and death of Osiris were the great mystery of the Egyptian religion. His being the abstract idea of the Divine goodness, his manifestation upon earth, his death, his resurrection, and his subsequent office as judge of the dead in a future state, look, says Wilkinson, like the early revelation of a future manifestation of the Deity converted into a mythological fable. Into these Mysteries Herodotus, Plutarch, and Pythagoras were initiated, and the former two have given brief accounts of them. But their own knowledge must have been extremely limited, for, as Clement of Alexandria (Stromoteis v, 7) tells us, the more important secrets were not revealed even to all the priests, but to a select number of them only.
- EGYPTIAN PRIESTS, INITIATIONS OF THE
In the year 1770, there was published at Berlin a work entitled Crata Repoa; oder Einweihungen der Egyptischen Priester; meaning in English, Crata Repoa, or Initiations of the Egyptian Priests. This book was subsequently republished in 1778, and translated into French under the revision of Ragon, and published at Paris in 1821, by Bailleul. It professed to give the whole formula of the initiation into the Mysteries practiced by the ancient Egyptian Priests. Lenning cites the-work, and gives an outline of the system as if he thought it an authentic relation; but Gadicke more prudently says of it that he doubts that there are more mysteries described in the book than sere ever practiced by the ancient Egyptian Priests. The French writers have generally accepted it as genuine. Forty years before, the Abbé Terrasson had written a somewhat similar work, in which he pretended to describe the initiation of a Prince of Egypt. Kloss, in his Bibliography, has placed this latter work under the head of Romances of the Order; and a similar place should doubtless be assigned to the Crata Repoa. The curious may, however, be gratified by a brief detail of the system.
According to the Crata Repoa, the Priests of Egypt conferred their initiation at Thebes. The Mysteries were divided into the following seven degrees:
- 1. Pastophoros.
- 2. Neocoros.
- 3. Melanophoros.
- 4. Ristophoros.
- 5. Balahate.
- 6. Astronomos.
- 7. Propheta.
The first degree was devoted to instructions of the physical sciences; the second, to geometry and architecture. In the third degree, the candidate was instructed in the symbolical death of Osiris, and was made acquainted with the hieroglyphical language. In the fourth he was presented with the book of the laws of Egypt and became a judge. The instructions of the fifth degree were dedicated to chemistry, and of the sixth to astronomy and the mathematical sciences. In the seventh and last degree the candidate received a detailed explanation of all the mysteries, his head was shaved, and he was presented with a cross, which he was constantly to carry, a white mantle, and a square head dress. To each degree was attached a word and sign. Anyone who should carefully read the Crata Repoa would be convinced that, so far from being founded on any ancient system of initiation, it was simply a modern invention made up out of the high degrees of continental Freemasonry. It is indeed surprising that Lenning and Ragon should have treated it as if it had the least claims to antiquity.
Brother Hawkins says that it has been suggested that Crata Repoa may be an anagram for Arcta Opera or close finished works. The letters of a word being so transposed as to give a different one, then the one is an anagram for the other.
- EHEYEH ASHER EHEYEH
The pronunciation which means, I am that I am, and is one of the pentateuchal names of God. It is related in the third chapter of Exodus, that when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and directed him to go to Pharaoh and to the children of Israel in Egypt, Moses required that, as preliminary to his mission, he should be instructed in the name of God, so that, when he was asked by the Israelites, he might be able to prove his mission by announcing what that name was; and God said to him, Eheyeh, or I am that I am; and he directed him to say, "I am hath sent you." Eheych asher eheyeh is, therefore, the name of God, in which Moses was instructed at the burning bush.
Maimonides thinks that when the Lord ordered Moses to tell the people that Eheyeh sent him, he did not mean that he should only mention his name; for if they were already acquainted with it, he told them nothing new, and if they were not, it has not likely that they would be satisfied by saying Rich a name sent me, for the proof would still be wanting that this was really the name of God; therefore, he not only told them the name, but also taught them its signification. In those times, Sabaism being the predominant religion, almost all men were idolaters, and occupied themselves in the contemplation of the heavens and the sun and the stars, without any idea of a personal God in the world. Now., the Lord, to deliver his people from such an error, said to Moses, "Go and tell them I am that I am hath sent me unto you," which name Eheyeh, Signifying Being, is derived from, Heyeh, the verb of existence, and which, being repeated so that the second is the predicate of the first, contains the mystery. This is as if He had said, "Explain to them that I am What I am: that is, that My Being is within Myself, independent of every other, different from all other beings, who are so alone by virtue of My distributing it to them, and might not have been, nor could actually be such without it." So that denotes the Divine Being Himself, by which He taught Moses not only the name, but the infallible demonstration of the Fountain of Existence, as the name itself denotes.
The Cabalists say that Eheyeh is the croum or highest of the Sephiroth, and that it is the name that was hidden in the most secret place of the tabernacle.
The Talmudists had many fanciful exercitations on this word rend, and, among others, said that it is equivalent to Ore, meaning the Almighty, and the four letters of which it is formed possess peculiar properties. The letter X is in Hebrew numerically equivalent to 1, and 8 to 10, which is equal to 11; a result also obtained by taking the second and third letters of the holy name, or is and 1, which are 5 and 6, amounting to 11. But the 5 and 6 invariably produce the same number in their multiplication, for 5 times 5 are 25, and 6 times 6 are 36, and this invariable product of is and 1 was said to denote the unchangeableness of the First Cause. Again, I am commences with R or 1, the beginning of numbers, and Jehovah, with 10, the end of numbers , which signified that God was the beginning and end of all things.
The phrase Eheyeh asher eheyeh is of importance in the study of the legend of the Royal Arch system. Years ago, that learned Freemason, William S. Rockwell, while preparing his Ahiman Rezon for the State of Georgia, undertook its use in the veils.
- EIGHT
Among the Pythagoreans the number eight was esteemed as the first cube, being formed by the continued multiplication of 2 by 2 by 2, and signified friendship, prudence, counsel, and justice; and, as the cube or reduplication of the first even number, it was made to refer to the primitive law of nature, which supposes all men to be equal.
Christian numerical symbologists have called it the symbol of the resurrection, because Jesus rose on the 8th day, that is, the day after the 7th, and because the name of Jesus in Greek numerals, corresponding to its Greek letters, is 10, 8, 200, 70, 400, 200, which, being added up, is 888. Hence, too, they call it the Dominical Number. As eight persons were saved in the ark, those who, like Faber, have adopted the theory that the Arkite Rites pervaded all the religions of antiquity, find an important symbolism in this number, and as Noah was the type of the resumetion, they again find in it a reference to that doctrine. It can, however, be scarcely reckoned among the numerical symbols of Freemasonry.
- EIGHTY-ONE
A sacred number in the advanced Degrees, because it is the square of nine, which is again the square of three. The Pythagoreans, however, who considered the nine as a fatal number, and especially dreaded eighty-one, because it was produced by the multiplication of nine by itself.
- EL
Hebrew, be. One of the Hebrew names of God, signifying the Mighty One. El, the first letter with a short sound, is the common pronunciation hut perhaps more correctly should be sounded as if spelled ale. It is the root of many of the other names of Deity, and also, therefore, of many of the sacred words in the high Degrees. Bryant (Ancient Mythology i, 16) says it was the true name of God, but transferred by the Sabians to the sun, whence the Greeks borrowed their helios. Here we may add that the speculations of Bryant are by a later generation deemed less valuable than formerly.
- ELAI BENI ALMANAH
Hebrew, xxw, Huc venite filii vidua. Associated with a Degree, the Third, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
- ELAI BENI EMETH
Hebrew, Huc venite filii veritatis. Sometimes applied to the Twentysixth Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
- ELCHANAN
Hebrew, xxnds. God has graciously given. In the authorized version, it is improperly translated Elhanan. Jerome says that it meant David, because in second Samuel (xxi, 19), it is said that Elchanan slew Goliath. A significant word in the advanced Degrees, which has undergone much corruption and various changes of form. In the old rituals it is Eleharn. Lenning gives Elchanam, and incorrectly translates, mercy of God; Delaunay calls it Eliham, and translates it, God of the people, in which Pike concurs.
- ELDERS
This word is used in some of the old Constitutions to designate those Freemasons who, from their rank and age, were deputed to obligate Apprentices when admitted into the Craft. Thus in the Constitutions of Masonry, preserved in the archives of the York Lodge, No. 236, York Roll No2. If with the date of 1704, we find this expression, Tum unus ex Senioribus Teneat librum, etc., which in another manuscript, dated 1693, preserved in the same archives, York Roll No.4, is thus translated: "Then one of the elders taking the Booke, and that hee or shee that is to bee made Mason shall lay their hands thereon, and the charge shall be given." These old manuscripts have been published by Brother W. J. Hughan in Ancient Masonic Rolls of Constitutions, 1894.
- ELECT
See Elu
- ELECT BROTHER
The Seventh Degree of the Rite of Zinnendorf and the National Grand Lodge of Berlin.
- ELECT COHENS, ORDER OF
See Paschalis, Martinez
- ELECT COMMANDER
The French term is Ells Commandeur. A ceremony mentioned in Fustier's Nomenclature of Degrees
- ELECT, DEPOSITARY
A Degree mentioned in Pyrons collection
- ELECT, GRAND
The French expression is Grand Elu. The Fourteenth Degree of the Chapter of the Emperors of the East and West. The same as the Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason of the Scottish Rite.
- ELECT, GRAND PRINCE OF THE THREE
A Degree mentioned in Pyron's collection.
- ELECT, IRISH
in French the term is Elu Irlandais. The first of the advanced grades of the Chapters of that name.
- ELECT LADY, SUBLIME
The French name is Dame, Elu Sublime. An androgynous Degree contained in the collection of Pyron.
- ELECT, LITTLE ENGLISH
In French this is called the Petit Elu Anglais. The Little English Eled was a Degree of the Ancient Chapter of Clermont. The Degree is now extinct.
- ELECT MASTER
Named in French the Mattre Elu. 1. The Thirteenth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France. 2. The Fifth Degree of the Rite of Zinnendorf.
- ELECT OF FIFTEEN
The French expression is Elu des Quinze. The Tenth Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The place of meeting is called a Chapter; the emblematic color is black, strewed with tears; and the principal officers are a Thri e Illustrious Master and two Inspectors. The history of this Degree develops the continuation and conclusion of the punishment inflicted on three traitors who, just before the conclusion of the Temple, had committed a crime of the most atrocious character. The Degree is now more commonly called Illustrious Elu of the Fifteen. The same Degree is found in the Chapter of Emperors of the East and West, and in the Rite of Mizraim.
- ELECT OF LONDON
Named in French Elus des Londres. The Seventieth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ELECT OF NINE
The French name is Elu des Neuf. The Ninth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. In the old books there were two officers who represented Solomon and Stolkin. But in one leading Jurisdiction, the principal officers are a Master and two Inspectors. The meetings are called Chapters. The Degree details the mode in which certain traitors, who, just before the completion of the Temple, had been engaged in an execrable deed of villainy, received their punishment. The symbolic colors are red, white, and black; the white emblematic of the purity of the knights; the red, of the crime which was committed; and the black, of grief. This is the first of the Elu Degrees, and the one on which the whole Elu system has been founded.
- ELECT OF NINE AND FIFTEEN
The German expression is Auserwahlte der Neun und der Funfzehn. The first and second points of the Fourth Degree of the old system of the Royal York Lodge of Berlin.
- ELECT OF PERIGNAN
In French the name is Elu de Perignan. A Degree illustrative of the punishment inflicted upon certain criminals whose exploits constitute a portion of the legend of Symbolic Freemasonry. The substance of this Degree is to be found in the Elect of Wine and Elect of Fifteen in the Scottish Rite, with both of which it is closely connected. It is the Sixth Degree of the Adonhiramite Rite (see Perignan).
- ELECT OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
Formerly the Eighth and last of the advanced Degrees of the Grand Chapter of Berlin.
- ELECT OF THE TWELVE TRIBES
Called in French the Elu des douze Tribus. The Seventeenth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ELECT OF TRUTH, RITE OF
The French name is Rite des Elus de la Vérité. This Rite was instituted in 1776, by the Lodge of Perfect Union, at Rennes, in France. A few Lodges in the interior of France adopted this system; but notwithstanding its philosophical character, it never became popular, and finally, about the end of the eighteenth century fell into disuse. It consisted of twelve Degrees divided into two classes, as follows.
Knights Adept.
- 1. Apprentice
- 2. Fellow Craft
- 3. Master
- 4. Perfect Master
Elects of Truth
- 5. Elect of Nine
- 6. Elect of Fifteen
- 7. Master Elect
- 8. Architect
- 9. Second Architect
- 10. Grand Architect
- 11. Knight of the East
- 12. Prince of Rose Croix
- ELECT OF TWELVE
See Knight Elect of Twelve
- ELECT, PERFECT
Named in French the Parfait Elu. The Twelfth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France, and also of the Rite of Mizraim.
- ELECT, PERFECT AND SUBLIME MASON
See Perfection, Lodge of
- ELECT PHILOSOPHER
A Degree under this name is found in the instructions of the Philosophic Scottish Rite, and in the collection of Viany.
- ELECT SECRET, SEVERE INSPECTOR.
The French name is Elu Secret, Sésbre Inspedeur. The Fourteenth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ELECT, SOVEREIGN
The name in French is Elu Souverain. The Fifty-ninth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
- ELECT, SUBLIME
Expressed in French as Elu Sublime. The Fifteenth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
- ELECT, SUPREME
Named in French Elu Sue preme. The Seventy-fourth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France. It is also a Degree in the collection of M. Pyron, and, under the name of Tabernacle of Perfect Elect, is contained in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Rite.
- ELECT, SYMBOLICAL
Fifth Degree of the Reformed Rite of Baron Von Tschoudy.
- ELECTA
Fifth Degree in the American Adoptive System of the Order of the Eastern Star. So named from the lady, whose real name is unknown, to whom the Second Epistle of Saint John is addressed! and who, according to tradition, "joyfully rendered up home, husband, children, good name and life. that she might testify to her Christian love by a martyr's death."
- ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The election of the officers of a Lodge is generally held on the meeting which precedes the festival of Saint John the Evangelist and sometimes on that festival itself. Should a Lodge fail to make the election at that time, no election can be subsequently held except by Dispensation; and it is now very generally admitted, that should any one of the officers die or remove from the Jurisdiction during the period for which he was elected, no election can take place to supply the vacancy, but the office must be filled temporarily until the next election. If it be the Master, the Senior Warden succeeds to the office. For the full exposition of the law on this subject, see Vacancies in Office.
- ELECTIVE OFFICERS
In the United States of America, nearly all the offices of a Symbolic Lodge are elected by the members of the Lodge. Such is the general practice though the several Jurisdictions have no uniform custom. In England, the rule is different. There the Master, Treasurer, and Tiler only are elected; the other officers are appointed by the Master.
- ELEHA
See Elchanan
- ELEMENTS
It was the doctrine of the old philosophers, sustained by the authority of Aristotle that there were four principles of matter—fire, air, earth, and water—which they called elements. Modern science has shown the fallacy of the theory. But it was also taught by the Cabalists, and afterward by the Rosicrucians, who, according to the Abbé de Pillars, sometimes known as Le Comte de Gabalis, peopled them with supernatural beings called, in the fire, Salamanders; in the air, Sylphs; in the earth, Gnomes; and in the water, Undines. From the Rosicrucians and the Cabalists, the doctrine passed over into some of the advanced Degrees of Freemasonry, and is especially referred to in the Ecossais or Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew, which has so often been claimed as an invention of the Chevalier Ramsay. In this Degree we find the four angels of the four elements described as Andarel, the angel of fire; Casmaran, of air; Talliad, of water; and Furlac, of earth; and the signs refer to the same elements.
- ELEMENTS, TEST OF THE
A ceremonial in the First and Twenty-fourth Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
- ELEPHANTA
The Cavern of Elephanta, situated on the island of Gharipour, in the Gulf of Bombay, is the most ancient temple in the world, and was the principal place for the celebration of the Mysteries of India. It is one hundred and thirty-five feet square and eighteen feet high, supported by four massive pillars, and its walls covered on all sides with statues and carved decorations. Its adytum at the western extremity, which was accessible only to he initiated, was dedicated to the Phallic Worship. On each side were cells and passages for the purpose of initiation, and a sacred orifice for the mystical representation of these doctrine of regeneration (see Maurice's Indian Antiquities for a full description of this ancient scene of initiation).
- ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES
Of all the Mysteries of the ancient religions, those celebrated at the Village of Eleusis, near the City of Athens, were the most splendid and the most popular. To them men came, says Cicero, from the remotest regions to be initiated They were also the most ancient, if we may believe Epiphanius, who traces them to the reign of Inachus, more than eighteen hundred years before the Christian era. They were dedicated to the goddess Demeter, the Ceres of the Romans, who was worshiped by the Greeks as the symbol of the prolific earth; and in them severe scenically represented the loss and the recovery of Persephone, and the doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul were esoterically taught.
The learned Faber believed that there was an intimate connection between the Arkite Worship and the Mysteries of Eleusis; but Faber's theory was that the Arkite Rites, which he traced to almost all the nations of antiquity, symbolized, in the escape of Noah and the renovation of the earth, the doctrines of the resurrection and the immortal life. Plutarch (De Isis et Osiris) says that the travels of Isis in search of Osiris were not different from those of Demeter in search of Persephone; and this view has been adopted by Saint Croix (Mysteres du Paganisme) and by Creuzer (Symbolik und Arkaologie); and hence we may well suppose that the recovery of the former at Byblos, and of the latter in Hades, were both intended to symbolize the restoration of the soul after death to eternal life. The learned have generally admitted that when Virgil, in the sixth book of his Aeneid, depicted the descent of Aeneas into hell, he intended to give a representation of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The Mysteries were divided into two classes, the lesser and the greater. The lesser Mysteries were celebrated on the banks of the Ilissus, whose waters supplied the means of purification of the aspirants. The greater Mysteries were celebrated in the temple at Eleusis. An interval of six months occurred between them, the former taking place in March and the latter in September; which has led some writers to suppose that there was some mystical reference to the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, March 21 and September 22 when the nights and days are equal all over the world. But, considering the character of Demeter as the goddess of Agriculture, it might be imagined, although this is a mere conjecture, that the reference was to seed-time and harvest. A year, however, was required to elapse before the initiate into the lesser Mysteries was granted admission into the greater.
In conducting the Mysteries, there were four officers, namely:
- 1. The Hierophant, or explainer of the sacred things. As the pontifex maximus in Rome, so he was the chief priest of Attica; he presided over the ceremonies and explained the nature of the Mysteries to the initiated.
- 2. The Dadouchus, or torch-bearer, who appears to have acted as the immediate assistant of the Hierophant.
- 3. The Hieroceryx, or sacred herald, who had the general care of the Temple, guarded it from the profanation of the uninitiated, and took charge of the aspirant during the trials of initiation.
- 4. The Epibomus, or altar-server, who conducted the sacrifices.
The ceremonies of initiation into the lesser Moniteries were altogether purificatory, and intended to prepare the neophyte for his reception into the more sublime rites of the greater Mysteries. This, an ancient poet, quoted by Plutarch, illustrates by saying that sleep is the lesser Mysteries of the death. The candidate who desired to pass through this initiation entered the modest Temple, erected for that purpose on the borders of the Ilissus, and there submitted to the required ablutions, typical of moral purification. The Dadouchus then placed his feet upon the skins of the victims which had been immolated to Jupiter. Hebsychius says that only the left foot was placed on the skins. In this position he was asked if he had eaten bread, and if he was pure; and his replies being satisfactory, he passed through other symbolic ceremonies, the mystical signification of which was given to him, an oath of secrecy having been previously administered. The initiate into the lesser Mysteries was called a mystes, a title which, being derived from a Greek word meaning to shut the eyes, signified that he was yet blind as to the greater truths thereafter to be revealed.
The greater Mysteries lasted for nine days, and were celebrated partly on the Thriasian plain, which surrounded the temple, and partly in the Temple of Eleusis itself. Of this Temple, one of the most magnificent and the largest in Greece, not a vestige is now left. Its antiquity was very great, having been in existence, according to Aristides the rhetorician, when the Dorians marched against Athens. It was burned by the retreating Persians under Xerxes, but immediately rebuilt, and finally destroyed with the city by Alaric, "the Scourge of God," and all that is now left at Eleusis and its spacious Temple is the mere site occupied by the insignificant Greek Village of Lepsina, an evident corruption of the ancient name.
The public processions on the plain and on the sacred way from Athens to Eleusis were made in honor of Demeter and Persephone, and made mystical allusions to events in the life of both, and of the infant Iacchus. These processions were made in the daytime, but the initiation was nocturnal, and was reserved for the nights of the sixth and seventh days.
The herald opened the ceremonies of initiation into the greater Mysteries by the proclamation, xxx, FKaSS Ea7f meaning "Begone, begone, O ye profane. " The old meaning, and of course the Masonic one, of profane is of a person not yet received within the temple, from the words pro meaning before, and fanum, temple. Thus were the sacred precincts tiled.
The aspirant was clothed with the skin of a calf. An oath of secrecy was administered, and he was then asked, "Have you eaten bread?" The reply to which was, "I have fasted; I have drunk the sacred mixture; I have taken it out of the chest; I have spun; I have placed it in the basket, and from the basket laid it in the chest." By this reply, the aspirant showed that he had been duly prepared by initiation into the lesser Mysteries; for Clement of Alexandria says that this formula was a shibboleth, or password, by which the mustae, or initiates, into the lesser Mysteries were known as such, and admitted to the epopteia or greater initiation. The gesture of spinning wool, in imitation of what Demeter did in the time of her affliction, seemed also to be used as a sign of recognition. The aspirant was now clothed in the sacred tunic, and awaited in the vestibule the opening of the doors of the sanctuary.
What subsequently took place must be left in great part to conjecture, although modern writers have availed themselves of all the allusions that are to be found in the ancients. The Temple consisted of three parts: the megaton, or sanctuary, corresponding to the holy place of the Temple of Solomon; the anactoron, or holy of holies, and a subterranean apartment beneath the temple. Each of these was probably occupied at a different portion of the initiation.
The representation of the infernal regions and the punishment of the uninitiated impious was appropriated to the subterranean apartment, and was, as Sylvestre de Sacy says ( Notes to Crozz i, 360) an episode of the drama which represented the adventures of Isis, Osiris, and Typhon, or of Demeter, Persephone, and Pluto. This drama, the same author thinks, represented the carrying away of Persephone, the travels of Demeter in search of her lost daughter her descent into hell; the union of Pluto with Persephone, and was terminated by the return of Demeter into the upper world and the light of day.
The representation of this drama commenced immediately after the profane had been sent from the Temple. And it is easy to understand how the groans and wailings with which the Temple at one time resounded might symbolize the sufferings and the death of man, and the subsequent rejoicings at the return of the goddess might be typical of the joy for the restoration of the soul to eternal life. Others have conjectured that the drama of the Mysteries represented, in the deportation of Persephone to Hades by Pluto, the departure, as it were, of the sun, or the deprivation of its vivific power during the winter months, and her reappearance on earth, the restoration of the prolific sun in summer. Others again tell us that the last act of the Mysteries represented the restoration to life of the murdered Zagreus, or Dionysus, by Demeter. Diodorus says that the members of the Body of Zagreus lacerated by the Titans was represented in the ceremonies of Mysteries, as well as in the Orphic hymns; but he prudently adds that he was not allowed to reveal the details to the uninitiated.
Whatever was the precise method of symbolism, it is evident that the true interpretation was the restoration from death to eternal life, and that the funereal part of the initiation referred to a 1088, and the exultation afterward to a recovery. Hence it was folly to deny the coincidence that exists between this Eleusinian drama and that enacted in the Third Degree of Freemasonry. It is not claimed that the one was the uninterrupted successor of the other, but there must have been a common ideal source for the origin of both. The lesson, the dogma the symbol, and the method of instruction are the same. Waving now, as Pindar says, "descended beneath the hollow earth, and beheld those Mysteries," the initiate ceased to be a mystes, or blind man, and was thenceforth called an epopt, a word signifying he who beholds.
The Eleusinian Mysteries, which, by their splendor, surpassed all contemporary institutions of the kind, were deemed of so much importance as to be taken under the special protection of the state, and to the council of five hundred were entrusted the observance of the ordinances which regulated them. By a law of Solon, the magistrates met every year at the close of the festival, to pass sentence upon any who had violated or transgressed any of the rules which governed the administration of the sacred rites. Any attempt to disclose the esoteric ceremonies of initiation was punished with death. Plutarch tells us (Life of Alctotades) that the votary of pleasure was indicted for sacrilege, because he had imitated the mysteries, and shown them to his companions in the same dress as that worn by the Hierophant; and we get from Livy (xxxi, 14), the following relation:
Two Acarnanian youths, who had not been initiated, accidentally entered the Temple of Demeter during the celebration of the Mysteries. They were soon detected by their absurd questions, and being carried to the managers of the Temple, although it was evident that their intrusion was accidental, they were put to death for so horrible a crime. It is not, therefore, surprising that, in the account of them, we should find such uncertain and even conflicting assertions of the ancient writers, who hesitated to discuss publicly so forbidden a subject. The qualifications for initiation were maturity of age and purity of life. Such was the theory, although in practice these qualifications were not always rigidly recorded. But the early doctrine was that none but the pure, morally and ceremonially, could be admitted to initiation. At first, too, the right of admission was restricted to natives of Greece; but even in the time of Herodotus this law was dispensed with, and the citizens of all countries were considered eligible. So in time these Mysteries were extended beyond the limits of Greece, and in the days of the Empire they were introduced into Rome, where they became exceedingly popular. The scenic representations, the participation in secret signs and words of recognition, the instruction in a peculiar dogma, and the establishment of a hidden bond of fraternity, gave attraction to these Mysteries, which lasted until the very fall of the Roman Empire, and exerted a powerful influence on the mystical associations of the Middle Ages. The bond of union which connects them with the modern initiations of Freemasonry is evident in the common thought which pervades and identifies both, though it is difficult, and perhaps impossible, to trace all the connecting links of the historic chain. We see the beginning and we see the end of one pervading idea.
For a general discussion and study of theory consult Brother Goblet d'Alviella's Eleusinia.
- ELEVEN
In the Prestonian lectures, eleven was a mystical number, and was the final series of steps in the winding stairs of the Fellow Craft, which were said to consist of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. The eleven was referred to the eleven apostles after the defection of Judas, and to the eleven sons of Jacob after Joseph went into Egypt. But when the lectures were revived by Henning, the eleven was struck out. In Templar Freemasonry, however, eleven is still significant as being the constitutional number required to open a Commandery; and here it is evidently allusive of the eleven true disciples.
- ELIGIBILITY FOR INITIATION
See Qualifications of Candidates
- ELIHOREPH
One of Solomon's secretaries (see Ahiah)
- ELIOT, JOHN
Born August 5, 1604, at Widford, near London, England. Some biographies give the place of his birth as Nazing, a few miles from Widford, but John Eliot was eight years of age when his father moved to Nazing. The date of his emigration to New England is not known but it is probable that he arrived in Boston on the ship Lyon, November 12, 1631, and by 1654 he had published a little catechism, supposed to be the first book printed in the Indian language, as well as an Indian grammar, which is now in the Harvard College Library.
Eliot completed his famous Indian Bible in 1663; he had brought out the Book of Genesis in 1655, some of the Psalrns in 1658, and the New Testament in 1661. The entire work on the Bible had to be worked out by him without the assistance of previous knowledge or record and, as stated by Edward Everett, "The history of the Christian Church does not contain an example of untiring successful labor superior to that of translating the entire Scriptures into the language of the native inhabitants of Massachusetts, a dialect as imperfect, as unformed, as unmanageable, as any spoken on earth." He endured great physical hardship in his missionary work, but great was his zeal. In 1645 he established the Roxbury Latin School and inl689 founded the Eliot School. There is no doubt but that his work among the Indians was largely instrumental in frustrating the plans of the Indian leader, King Philip, when he started out with the New York Nations to exterminate the entire Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. The first Indian Church was founded by Eliot in the year 1660 at Natick, Massachusetts. After almost sixty aears labor, during which entire time he was pastor of the church at Roxbury, near Boston, Massachusetts, he died on May 1, 1690, his remains being placed in the Ministers' Tomb in the First Burying Ground. Masonic records during that early period of American colonization were very few and those in existence are fragmentary in the information set do vn. The only reference to John Eliot which has come down to us is one of the earliest we have in America containing suggestions of a Masonic type. A Minute in the Plymouth Colony Records mentions the receipt of a package of goods sent from Coopers' Hall, London, in March 1654, and received by the Colony of New Haven. This parcel was marked in a peculiar manner which identified it from among the other packages contained in the consignment and which marks seem to be intended to represent the square and compasses.
The same marks were attached to a letter of instruction which reads as follows: "Among the goods sent this year we find one, Bale, No. 19, which cost there thirty-four pounds, nine shillings, five pence, and with the advance amounts to forty-five pounds, nineteen shillings, three pence, directed to Mr. Eliote for the use of the Indian work, but why it is severed from the Rest of the psell and consigned to him is not expressed; It seems different from the course yourselves approved, and may prove inconvenient if it be continued; but this psell shall bee delivered according to your desire.... Newhaven, the 15th September, 1655." It is not unreasonable to suppose that both the sender and recipient of this parcel were familiar with the peculiar significance of the emblems marked upon the package, although nothing more definite can be said on this point (see pages 131W2U, Mackey's revised History of Freemasonry).
- ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND
Anderson (Constitutions, 1738, page 80) states that the following circumstance is recorded of this sovereign: Hearing that the Freemasons were in possession of secrets which they would not reveal, and being jealous of all secret assemblies, she sent an armed force to York with intent to break up their annual Grand Lodge.
This design, however, was happily frustrated by the interposition of Sir Thomas Sackville, who took care to initiate some of the chief officers whom she had sent on this duty. They joined in communication with the Freemasons, and made so favorable a report to the queen on their return that she countermanded her orders, and never afterward attempted to disturb the meetings of the Fraternity. What authority, if any, Anderson had for the story is unknown.
- ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL
In May, 1792, this queen, having conceived a suspicion of the Lodges in Madeira, gave an order to the governor to arrest all the Freemasons in the island, and deliver them over to the Inquisition. The rigorous execution of this order occasioned an emigration of many families, ten of whom repaired to New York, and were liberally assisted by the Freemasons of that city.
- ELMES, JAMES
English architect. Wrote life of Sir Christopher Wren (1823).
- ELOHIM
Hebrew, off. A name, pronounced El-o-heem', and applied in Hebrew to any deity, but sometimes also to the true God. According to Lanci, it means the most beware. It is not, however, much used in Freemasonry.
It is an expression used throughout the first chapter of Genesis, as applied to God in the exercise of His creative power, and signifies the Divine Omnipotence, the Source of all power, the Power of ad powers, which was in activity at the Creation. After which the expression used for Deity is Jehovah, which implies the Providence of God, and which could not have been created by Elohim.
- ELOQUENCE OF FREEMASONRY
Lawyers boast of the eloquence of the bar, and point to the arguments of counsel in well-known cases; the clergy have the eloquence of the pulpit exhibited in sermons, many of which have a world-wide reputation; and statesmen vaunt of the eloquence of Congress some of the speeches, however, being indebted, it is said, for their power and beauty, to the talent of the stenographic reporter rather than to the member who is supposed to be the author. Freemasonry, too, has its eloquence, which is sometimes, although not always, of a very high order.
This eloquence is to be found in the address, orations, and discourses which have usually been delivered on the great festivals of the Order, at consecrations of Lodges, dedications of halls, and the laying of foundation-stones. These addresses constitute, in fact, the principal part of the early literature of Freemasonry (see Addresses, Masonic).
- ELU
The Fourth Degree of the French Rite (see Flus)
- ELUL
The sixth month of the ecclesiastical and the twelfth of the civil year of the Jews. The twelfth also, therefore, of the Masonic calendar used in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It begins on the new moon of August or September, and consists of twenty-nine days.
- ELUS
The French word elu means elected; and the Degrees, whose object is to detail the detection and punishment of the actors in the crime traditionally related among the Craft, are called Elus, or the Degrees of the Elected, because they referred to those of the Craft who were chosen or elected to make the discovery, and to inflict the punishment.
They form a particular system of Freemasonry, and are to be found in every Rite, if not in all in name, at least in principle. In the York and American Rites, the Elu is incorporated in the Master's Degree; in the French Rite it constitutes an independent Degree; and in the Scottish Rite it consists of three Degrees, the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh.
Ragon counts the five preceding Degrees among the Elus, but they more properly belong to the Order of Masters. The symbolism of these Elu Degrees has been greatly mistaken and perverted by anti-Masonic writers, who have thus attributed to Freemasonry a spirit of vengeance which is not its characteristic. They must be looked upon as conveying only a symbolic meaning.
Those higher Degrees, in which the object of the election is changed and connected with Templarism, are more properly called Kadoshes. Thory says that all the Elus are derived from the Degree of Kadosh, which preceded them. The reverse, we think, is the truth. The Elu system sprang naturally from the Master's Degree, and was only applied to Templarism when DeMolay was substituted for Hiram the Builder.
- EMANATION
Literally, the word means a flowing forth. The doctrine of emanations was a theory predominant in many of the Oriental religions, such, especially, as Brahmanism and Parseeism, and subsequently adopted by the Cabalists and the Gnostics, and taught by Philo and Plato. It assumed that all things emanated, flowed forth, which is the literal meaning of the word, or were developed and descended by degrees from the Supreme Being.
Thus, in the ancient religion of India, the anima mundi, or soul of the word, the mysterious source of all life, was identified with Brahma, the Supreme God.
The doctrine of Gnosticism was that all things emanated from the Deity; that there was a progressive degeneration of these beings from the highest to the lowest emanation, and a final redemption and return of all to the purity of the Creator. Philo taught that the Supreme Being was the Primitive Light or the Archetype of Light, whose rays illuminate, as from a common source, all souls. The theory of emanations is interesting to the Freemason, because of the reference in many of the advanced Degrees to the doctrines of Philo, the Gnostics, and the Cabalists.
- EMANUEL
A sacred word in some of the advanced Degrees, being one of the names applied in Scripture to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a Greek form from the Hebrew, Immanuel, xxxxx, and signifies God is with us.
- EMBASSY
The Embassy of Zerrubbabel and four other Jewish chiefs to the court of Darius, to obtain the protection of that monarch from the encroachments of the Samaritans, who interrupted a the labors in the reconstruction of the Temple, constitutes the legend of the Sixteenth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and also of the Red Cross Degree of the American Rite, which seems borrowed from the former. The history of this Embassy is found in the eleventh book of the Antiquities of Josephus, whence the Masonic ritualists have undoubtedly taken it. The only authority of Josephus is the apocryphal record of Esdras, and the authenticity of the whole transaction is doubted or denied by modern historians.
- EMBLEM
The emblem is an occult representation of something unknown or concealed by a sign or thing that is known. Thus, a square is in Freemasonry an emblem of morality; a plumb line, of rectitude of conduct; and a level, of equality of human conditions.
Emblem is very generally used as synonymous with symbol, although the two words do not express exactly the same meaning. An emblem is properly a representation of an idea by a visible object, as in the examples quoted above; but a symbol is more extensive in its application, includes every representation of an idea by an image, whether that image is presented immediately to the senses as a visible and tangible substance, or only brought before the mind by words.
Hence an action or event as described, a myth or legend, may be a symbol; and hence, too, it follows that while all emblems are symbols, all symbols are not emblems (see Symbol).
- EMERALD
In Hebrew, caphak. This or the carbuncle was the first stone in the first row of the high priest's breastplate, and was referred to Levi. Adam Clarke says it is the same stone as the smaragdus, and is of a bright green color. Josephus, the Septuagint, and the Jerusalem Targum understood by the Hebrew word the carbuncle, which is red. The modern emerald, as everybody knows, is green (see Breast plate).
- EMERGENCY
The general law of Freemasonry requires a month to elapse between the time of receiving a petition for initiation and that of balloting for the candidate, and also that there shall be an interval of one month between the reception of each of the Degrees of Craft Freemasonry. Cases sometimes occur when a Lodge desires this probationary period to be dispensed with, so that the candidates petition may be received and balloted for at the same Communication, or so that the Degrees may be conferred at much shorter intervals. As some reason must be assigned for the application to the Grand Master for the Dispensation, such reason is generally stated to be that the candidate is about to go on a long journey, or some other equally valid. Cases of this kind are called, in the technical language of Freemasonry, Cases of Emergency. It is evident that the emergency is made for the sake of the candidate, and not for. that of the Lodge or of Freemasonry.
The too frequent occurrence of applications for Dispensations in cases of emergency have been a fruitful source of evil, as thereby unworthy persons, escaping the ordeal of an investigation into character. have been introduced into the Order; and even where the candidates have been worthy, the rapid passing through the Degrees prevents a due impression from being made on the mind, and the candidate fails to justly appreciate the beauties and merits of the Masonic system.
Hence, these cases of emergency have been very unpopular with the most distinguished members of the Fraternity. In the olden time the Master and the Wardens of the Lodge were vested with the prerogative of deciding what was a case of emergency; but modern law and usage, in the United States, at least, make the Grand Master the sole judge of what constitutes a case of emergency. Under the English Constitution (see Rule 185) the emergency must be real in the opinion of the Master of the Lodge concerned.
- EMERGENT LODGE
A Lodge held at an emergent meeting
- EMERGENT MEETING
The meeting of a Lodge called to elect a candidate, and confer the Degrees in a case of emergency, or for any other sudden and unexpected cause, has been called an Emergent Meetings The term is not very common, but it has been used by Brother W. S. Mitchell and a few other writers.
- EMERITUS
Latin; plural, emeriti. The Romans applied this word which comes from the verb emerete, meaning to gain by service to a soldier who had served out his time; hence, in the Supreme Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, an active member, who resigns his seat by reason of age, infirmity, or for other cause deemed good by the Council, may be elected an Emeritus Member, and will possess the privilege of proposing measures and being heard in debate, but not of voting.
- EMETH
Hebrew, not One of the words in the advanced Degrees. It signifies integrity, fidelity, firmness, and constancy in keeping a promise, and especially truth, as opposed to falsehood. In the Scottish Rite, the Sublime Knights Elect of Twelve of the Eleventh Degree are called Princes Emeth, which plainly means men of exalted character who are devoted to truth.
- EMINENT
The title given to the Commander or presiding officer of a Commandery of Knights Templar, and to all officers below the Grand Commander in a Grand Commandery.
The Grand Commander is styled Right Eminent, and the Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of the United States, Most Eminent. The word is from the Latin eminens, meaning standing above, and literally signifies exalted in rank.
Hence, it is a title given to the cardinals in the Roman Church.
- EMOUNAH
Fidelity, Truth. The name of the Fourth Step of the mystic ladder of the Kadosh of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
- EMPEROR OF LEBANON
The French is Empereur du Liban. This Degree, says Thory (Acta Latomorum i, 311), which was a part of the collection of M. Le Rouge, was composed in the isle of Bourbon, in 1778, by the Marquis de Beurnonville, who was then National Grand Master of all the Lodges in India.
- EMPERORS OF THE EAST AND WEST
In 1758 there was established in Paris a Chapter called the Council of Emperors ofvthe East and West. The members assumed the titles of Sovereign Prince Masons Substitutes General of the Royal Art, Grand Superintendents and OMJiDcers of the Grand and Soverefyn Lodye of Saint John of Jerusalem. Their ritual, which was based on the Templar system, consuted of twenty-five Degrees, as follows:
- 1 to 19, the same as the Scottish Rite;
- 20, Grand Patriarch Noachite;
- 21, Key of Masonry;
- 22, Prince of Lebanon;
- 23, Knight of the Sun;
- 24, Kadosh;
- 25, Prince of the Royal Secret.
It granted Warrants for Lodges of the advanced Degrees, appointed Grand Inspectors and Deputies, and established several subordinate Bodies in the interior of France, among which was a Council of Princes of the Royal Secret, at Bordeaux. In 1763, one Princemaille, the Master of the Lodge La Candeur, meaning in French Frankness, at Metz, began to publish an exposition of these Degrees in the serial numbers of a work entitled Conversations Allégoriques sur la Franche-Maçonnerie, or Allegorical Conversation on Freemasonry. In 1764, the Grand Lodge of France offered him three hundred livres to suppress the book. Pincemaille accepted the bribe, but continued the publication, which lasted until 1766. The year of their establishment in France, in 1758, as reported bv Doctor Mackey, the Degrees of this Rite of Heredom, or of Perfection, as it was called, were carried bv Marquis de Bernez to Berlin, and adopted by the Grand Lodge of the Three Globes.
Between the years 1760 and 1765, there was much dissension in the Rite. A new Council, called the Knights of the East, was established at Paris, in 1760, as the rival of the Emperors of the East and West. The controversies of these two Bodies were carried into the Grand Lodge, which, in 1766, was compelled, for the sake of peace, to issue a decree of opposition to the advanced Degrees, excluding the malcontents, and forbidding the symbolical Lodges to recognize the authority of these Chapters. But the excluded Freemasons continued to work clandestinely and to grant Warrants.
From that time until its dissolution, the history of the Council of the Emperors of the East and \Nest is but a history of continued disputes with the Grand Lodge of France. At length, in 1781, it was completely absorbed in the Grand Orient, and has no longer an existence.
The assertion of Thory (Acta Latomorum), and of Ragon (Orthodozie Maçonnique), that the Council of the Emperors of the East and West was the origin of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, although it has been denied, does not seem destitute of truth. It is very certain, if the documentary evidence is authentic, that the Constitutions of 1672 were framed by this Council; and it is equally certain that under these Constitutions a patent was granted to Stephen Morin, through whom the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established in America.
- EMULATION LODGE OF IMPROVEMENT
At the time of the Union of the English Lodges in 1813, a Lodge of Reconciliation was constituted with an equal number of chosen workers from each Constitution for the purpose of arranging a uniformity in the Making, Passing, and Raising of Freemasons in all of England. After this was done, the ritual and ceremonies established, the Lodge was dissolved in 1816, having received the authority and sanction of the United Grand Lodge. For making these known to the Craft generally a system of Lodges of Instruction was set up and Past Masters who were qualified went from Lodge to Lodge as teachers or Preceptors as they were later called. The most eminent and earliest of these was Peter Gilkes (which see). As a continuation of the work of the Lodge of Reconciliation the Emulation Lodge of Improvement for Master Freemasons was formed for instruction in 1823 with government entrusted to a Committee of Lecturers. The Committee is elected annually by the working members of the Lodge, the senior member acting as leader. About 1830 the Lectures began to give place to rehearsal of ceremonies. Minute Books prior to 1859 were destroyed by fire.
Therefore such records as are available are from pages of the Freemasons Quarterly Revieue, the Public Ledger and the Minutes of various Lodges with which Peter Gilkes was associated. The celebration of the Centenary of this School of Masonic ritualism was held in the Grand Temple at Freemasons Hall in Great Queen Street, London, on March 2, 1993, presided over by the Pro Grand Master, the Right Honorable Lord Ampthill. No English Lodge is compelled to conform to Emulation working and there are Lodges working independently, but for over a hundred years the ritual and ceremonies as taught by the Emulation Lodge of Improvement have been the standard recognized method. We are indebted to Brother George Rankin, Senior Member of Committee of Lecturers, London, for the above details (see also Illustrated history of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, Henry Sadler, London, 1904).
- EMUNAH
A Hebrew word, pronounced em-oo-naw. Sometimes spelled Amunah, but not in accordance with the Masonic points. A significant word in the advanced Degrees signifying Alelity, especially in fulfilling one's promises.
- ENCAMPMENT
All the regular assemblies of Knights Templar were formerly called Encampments. They are now styled Commanderies in America, and Grand Encampments of the States are called Grand Commanderies. In other countries they are now known as Preceptories (see Commandery and Commandery, Grand).
- ENCAMPMENT, GENERAL GRAND
The old title, before the adoption of the Constitution in 1856, of the Grand Encampment of the United States.
- ENCAMPMENT, GRAND
The Grand Encampment of the United States was instituted on June 22, 1816, in the city of New York. It consists of a Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, and other Grand Officers who are` similar to those of a Grand Commandery, with Past Grand Officers and the representatives of the various Grand Commanderies, and of the subordinate Commanderies deriving their Warrants immediately from it. It exercises jurisdiction over all the Templars of the United States, and meets triennially.
The term Encampment is borrowed from military usage, and is very properly applied to the temporary congregation at stated periods of the army of Templars, who may be said to be, for the time being, in camp.
- ENCYCLICAL
Circular communication; sent to many places or persons. Encyclical letters, containing information, advice, or admonition, are sometimes issued by Grand Lodges or Grand Masters to the Lodges and Freemasons of a jurisdiction. The word is not in very common use; but in 1848 the Grand Lodge of South Carolina issued "an enevelieal letter of advice, of admonition, and of direction" to the subordinate Lodges under her jurisdiction; and a similar letter was issued in 1865 by the Grand Master of Iowa.
- ENDLESS SERPENT
The serpent with its tail in its mouth was an ancient emblem of eternity and chosen therefore as a pattern for the English centenary jewel.
- EN FAMILLE
French, meaning as a family. In French Lodges, during the reading of the Minutes, and sometimes when the Lodge is engaged in the discussion of delicate matters affecting only itself, the Lodge is said to meet en Camille, at which time visitors are not admitted.
- ENGBUND
Close union. The German Brethren organized in 1797 to restrict the esoteric teaching to the three Symbolic Degrees, eliminating higher grades and returning to the purest and simplest forms. Brothers Mossdorf, Fessler, Schroder, Schneider, Krause, and Bode were interested in the movement. At one time the society was also called Vertrauten Bruder, or Trusty Brethren. See Schroeder, Diedrich Ludwig.
- ENGLAND
The following is a brief review of she history of Freemasonry in England as it has hitherto been written, and is now generally received by the Fraternity. It is but right, however, to say that recent researches have thrown doubts on the authenticity of many of the statements—that the legend of Prince Edwin has been doubted; the establishment of Grand Lodge at York in the beginning of the eighteenth century denied; and the existence of anything but Operative Masonry before 1717 is controverted. These questions are still in dispute; but the labors of Masonic antiquaries, through which many old records and ancient constitutions are being continually exhumed from the British Museum and from Lodge libraries, will eventually enable us to settle upon the truth. According to Anderson and Preston, the first Charter granted in England to the Freemasons, as a Body, was bestowed by King Athelstan, in 926, upon the application of his brother, Prince Edwin. "Accordingly," says Anderson, quoting from the Old Constitutions (see the Constitutions of 1738, page 64), "Prince Edwin summoned all the Free and Accepted Masons in the Realm, to meet him in a Congregation at York, who came and formed the Grand Lodge under him as their Grand Master, 926 A.D.
"They brought with them many old Writings and Records of the Craft, some in Greek, some in Latin, some in French, and other Languages; and from the Contents thereof, they framed the Constitutions of the English Lodges, and made a Law for Themselves, to preserve and observe the same in all Time coming, Ac, &c, &c."
From this assembly at York, the rise of Freemasonry in England is generally dated; from the statutes there enacted are derived the English Masonic Constitutions; and from the place of meeting, the ritual of the English Lodges is designated as the Ancient York Rite. For a long time the York Assembly exercised the Masonic jurisdiction over all England; but in 1567 the Freemasons of the southern part of the island elected Sir Thomas Gresham, the celebrated merchant, their Grand Master, according to Anderson (see Constitutions, 1738, page 81). He was succeeded by the Earl of Effingham, the Earl of Huntington, and by the illustrious architect, Inigo Jones.
In the beginning of the eighteenth century, Freemasonry in the south of England had fallen into decay. The disturbances of the revolution, which placed William III on the throne, and the subsequent warmth of political feelings which agitated the two parties of the state, had given this peaceful society a wound fatal to its success. But in 1716 "the few Lodges at London finding themselves neglected by Sir Christopher Wren, thought fit to cement under a Grand Master as the Center of Union and Harmony," and so four of the London Lodges "met at the AppleTree Tavern; and having put into the chair the oldest Master Mason, now the Master of a Lodge, they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge, pro tempore, Latin for the time being, in due form, and forthwith revived the quarterly communication of the officers of Lodges, called the Grand Lodge, resolved to hold the annual assembly and feast, and then to choose a Grand Master from among themselves, till they should have the honor of a noble brother at their head" (according to Anderson, Constitutions, 1738, page 109).
Accordingly, on John the Baptist's Day, 1717, the annual assembly and feast were held, and Brother Anthony Sayer duly proposed and elected Grand Master. The Grand Lodge adopted, among its regulations, the following: "That the privileges of assembling as Masons, which had hitherto been unlimited, should be vested in certain Lodges or assemblies of Masons convened in certain places; and that every Lodge to be hereafter convened, except the four old Lodges at this time existing, should be legally authorized to act by a warrant from the Grand Master for the time being, granted to certain individuals by petition, with the consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge in communication; and that, without such warrant no Lodge should be hereafter deemed regular or constitutional.
In compliment, however, to the four old Lodges, the privileges which they had always possessed under the old organization were particularly reserved to them; and it was enacted that "no law, rule, or regulation, to be hereafter made or passed in Grand` Lodge, should deprive them of such privilege, or encroach on any landmark which was at that time established as the standard of Masonic government" (as recorded by Preston, Illustrations, edition of 1792, pages 248 and 249).
The Grand Lodges of York and of London kept up a friendly intercourse, and mutual interchange of recognition, until the latter Body, in 1725, granted a Warrant of constitution to some Freemasons who had seceded from the former. This un-Masonic act was severely reprobated by the York Grand Lodge, and produced the first interruption to the harmony that had long subsisted between them. It was, however, followed some years after by another unjustifiable act of interference. In 1735, the Earl of Crawford, Grand Master of England, constituted two Lodges within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of York, and granted, without its consent, Deputations for Lancaster, Durham, and Northumberland. "This circumstance," says Preston (Illustrationa; edition of 1792, page 279), "the Grand Lodge at York highly resented, and ever afterward viewed the proceedings of the Brethren in the south with a jealous eye. All friendly intercourse ceased, and the York Masons, from that moment, considered their interests distinct from the Masons under the Grand Lodge in London."
Three years after, in 1738, several Brethren, dissatisfied with the conduct of the Grand Lodge of England, seceded from it, and held unauthorized meetings for the purpose of initiation. Taking advantage of the breach between the Grand Lodges of York and London. they assumed the character of York Freemasons. On the Grand Lodge's determination to put strictly in execution the laws against such seceders, they still further separated from its jurisdiction, and assumed the appellation of Ancient York Masons. They announced that the ancient landmarks were alone preserved by them; and, declaring that the regular Lodges had adopted new plans, and sanctioned innovations, they branded them with the name of Modern Masons. In 1739, they established a new Grand Lodge in London, under the name of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York: Masons, and, persevering in the measures they had adopted, held communications and appointed annual feasts. They were soon afterward recognized by the Freemasons of Scotland and Ireland, and were encouraged and fostered by many of the nobility. The two Grand Lodges continued to exist, and to act in opposition to each other, extending their schisms into other countries, especially into America, until the year 1813, when, under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex, they were united under the title of the United Grand Lodge of England. Such is the history of Freemasonry in England as uninterruptedly believed by all Freemasons and Masonic writers for nearly a century and a half.
Recent researches have thrown great doubts on its entire accuracy. Until the year 1717, the details are either traditional, or supported only by manuscripts whose authenticity has not yet been satisfactorily proved. Much of the history is uncertain; some of it, especially as referring to York, is deemed apocryphal by Brother Hughan and other industrious writers, and Brother Henry Sadler in his Masonic Facts and Fictions has proved that the Ancients were not really a schismatic body of seceders from the Premier Grand Lodge of England, but were Irish Freemasons settled in London, who, in 1751, established a body which they called the Grand Lodge of England according to the 011 Institutions, maintaining that they alone preserved the ancient tenets and practices of Freemasonry (see Ancient Masons).
- ENGLAND, GRAND LODGES IN
During one period of the eighteenth century there existed four Grand Lodges in England:
- 1. The Grand Lodge of England, located at London.
- 2. The Grand Lodge of all England, located at York.
- 3. The Grand Lodge of England according to the Old Institutions.
- 4. The Grand Lodge of England south of the river Trent.
The last taco organizations had their Grand blast at London.
Here we may appropriately insert the significant information (see the Constitution of 1738, page 109):
And after the Rebellion was over, A.D. 1716, the few lodges at London, finding themselves neglected by Sir Christopher Wren, thought fit to cement under a Grand Master, as the Center of Union and Harmony, viz., the Lodges that met
- At the Goose and Gridiron Ale-house in St. Pauls Churchyards
- At the Crown Ale-house in Parkers Lane near Drury Lane.
- At the Apple Tree Tavern in Charles Street, Covent Garden.
- At the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel Rosy, Westminster.
They and some old Brothers met at the said Apple Tree, and having put into the chair the oldest Master Mason (now the Master of a Lodge), they constituted a Grand Lodge pro tempore in due form, and forthwith revived the Quarterly Communication of the Officers of Lodges (called the Grand Lodge), resolved to hold the annual Assembly and Feast and then to choose a Grand Master from among themselves till they should have the Honor of a noble Brother at their Head.
Accordingly on St. John Baptist day, in the 3rd year of King George the 1st, A.D., 1717, The Assembly and Feast of the Free and Accepted Masons was held at the for said Goose and Gridiron Alehouse. The Four Old Lodges is also the title of a book by Brother Robert F. Gould, London, 1879, treating of the Bodies founding modern Freemasonry, and of their descendants, the progress of the Craft in England and of the career of every regular Lodge down to the Union of 1813. The first Grand Lodge was formed in 1717. The second Grand Lodge bears date 1725, and emanated from the immemorial Masonic Lodge that gave such reverence to the city of York. The third was established in 1751 by some Irish Freemasons settled in London (see Ancient Masons). And the fourth, whose existence lasted from 1779 to 1789, was instituted by the York Grand Lodge in compliance with the request of members of the Lodge of Antiquity, of London; but its existence was ephemeral, in consequence of the removal of the disturbing cause with the regular Grand Lodge. Recently evidence has been found pointing to the existence in London from 1770 to 1775 of a fifth Grand Lodge, formed by Scotch Freemasons, with some four or five Lodges under its control (see ATS Quatuor Coronatorum xviii, pages 69 to 90).
All subordinate Lodges existing at present, which had their being prior to the Union, in December, 1813, were subjects of either the first or third of the above designated four Grand Lodges, and known respectively as the Moderns or the Ancient, these titles, however, having no recognized force as to the relative antiquity of either.
- ENGLAND, THE FIRST RECORD OF GRAND LODGE OF
Brother R. F. Gould (History of Freemasonry ii, page 373) furnishes the valuable information that the Minutes of Grand Lodge commence 24th June, 1723, and those bearing such date are signed by "John Theophilus Desaguliers, Deputy Grand Master." They are entered in a different handwriting, under date of 25th November, 1723, 19th February, 1723/4,28th "April 1724," and are not sinned at foot. On 24th June, 1724, the Earl of Dalkeith presided in Grand Lodge, and the following signatures are appended to the recorded Minutes thus: Dalkeith, G. M., 1724.
J. T Desaguliers, G. M. Fra Sorrell, Senr., G. W. John Senex, Junr.
The Minutes of 21st November, 1724, 17th March, 20th May, 24th June, and 27th November, 1725, are unsigned. But to those of 27th December, 1725, are appended the signatures of Richmond & Lenox, G. M., 1725, M. ffolkes, D. G. M., and two Grand Wardens.
Signatures are again wanting to the proceedings of 28th February and 12th December, 1726, but reappear under date of 27th February 1726," or 1727, namely:Paisley, G. Mr., 1726, and the next three succeeding officers.
The Minutes of the following 10th May, 1727, were signed by "Inchiquin, G. M., 1727," and the three officers next in rank.
The earliest Minutes were not signed on confirmation at the next meeting but were verified by the four Grand Officers, or such of them as took part in the proceedings recorded. In consequence of the re-selection of Doctor Desaguliers as Deputy Grand Master, the Minutes say that "the late Grand Master went away from the Hall without any ceremony."
- ENGLET
A corruption of Euclid, found in the Old Constitutions known as the Matthew Cooke,"wherefore ye forsayde maister Englet ordeynet thei were passing of conying schold be passing honored" (see lines 674 to 677). Perhaps the copyist mistook a badly made old English u for an n, and the original had Euglet, which would be a nearer approximation to Euclid.
- ENGRAVE
In French Lodges, buriner, meaning to engrave, is used instead of écrire, to write. The engraved tablets are the written records.
- ENLIGHTENED
This word, equivalent to the Latin illuminatus, is frequently used to designate a Freemason as one who has been rescued from darkness, and received intellectual light. Webster's definition shows its appositeness: "Illuminated; instructed; informed; furnished with clear views." Many old Latin Diplomas commence with the heading, Omnibus illuminatis, meaning that it is addressed to ad the enlightened.
- ENLIGHTENMENT, SHOCK OF
See Shock of Enlightenment
- ENOCH
Though the Scriptures furnish but a meager account of Enoch, the traditions of Freemasonry closely connect him, by numerous circumstances, with the early history of the Institution. All, indeed, that we learn from the Book of Genesis on the subject of his life is, that he was the seventh of the patriarchs; the son of Jared, and the great-grandfather of Noah; that he was born in the year of the world 622; that his life was one of eminent virtue, so much so, that he is described as "walking with God"; and that in the year 987 his earthly pilgrimage was terminated, as the commentators generally suppose, not by death, but by a bodily translation to heaven. In the very commencement of our inquiries, we shall find circumstances in the life of this great patriarch that shadow forth, as it were, something of that mysticism with which the traditions of Freemasonry have connected him.
His name, in the Hebrew language, Sol, Henoch, signifies to initiate and to instruct, and seems intended to express the fact that he was, as Oliver remarks, the first to give a decisive character to the rite of initiation and to add to the practice of Divine worship the study and application of human science. In confirmation of this view, a writer in the Freemasons Quarterly Review says, on this subject, that "it seems probable that Enoch introduced the speculative principles into the Masonic creed, and that he originated its exclusive character," which theory must be taken, if it is accepted at all, with very considerable reservations.
The years of his life may also be supposed to contain a mystic meaning, for they amounted to three hundred and sixty-five, being exactly equal to a solar revolution. In all the ancient rites this number has occupied a prominent place, because it was the representative of the annual course of that luminary which, as the great fructifier of the earth, was the peculiar object of divine worship.
Of the early history of Enoch, we know nothing. It is, however, probable that, like the other descendants of the pious Seth, he passed his pastoral life in the neighborhood of Mount Moriah. From the other patriarchs he differed only in this, that, enlightened by the Divine knowledge which has been imparted to him, he instructed his contemporaries in the practice of those rites, and in the study of those sciences, with which he had himself become acquainted.
The Oriental writers abound in traditionary evidence of the learning of the venerable patriarch. One tradition states that he received from God the gift of wisdom and knowledge, and that God sent him thirty volumes from heaven, filled with all the secrets of the most mysterious sciences. The Babylonians supposed him to have been intimately acquainted with the nature of the stars; and they attribute to him the invention of astrology. The Rabbis maintain that he was taught by God and Adam how to sacrifice, and how to worship the Deity aright. The Cabalistic book of Raziel says that he received the Divine mysteries from Adam, through the direct line of the preceding patriarchs.
The Greek Christians supposed him to have been identical with the first Egyptian Hermes, who dwelt at Sais. They say he was the first to give instruction on the celestial bodies; that he foretold the deluge that was to overwhelm his descendants; and that he built the Pyramids, engraving thereon figures of artificial instruments and the elements of the sciences, fearing lest the memory of man should perish in that general destruction. Eupolemus, a Grecian writer, makes him the same as Atlas, and attributes to him, as the Pagans did to that deity, the invention of astronomy. Wait (Oriental Antiquities) quotes a passage from Bar Hebraeus, a Jewish writer, which asserts that Enoch was the first who invented books and writing; that he taught men the art of building cities; that he discovered the knowledge of the Zodiac and the course of the planets; and that he inculcated the worship of God by fasting, prayer, alms, votive offering, and tithes. Bar Hebraeus adds, that he also appointed festivals for sacrifices to the sun at the periods when that luminary entered each of the zodiacal signs; but this statement, which would make him the author of idolatry, is entirely inconsistent with all that we know of his character, from both history and tradition, and arose, as Oliver supposes, most probably from a blending of the characters of Enos and Enoch.
In the study of the sciences, in teaching them to his children and his contemporaries, and in instituting the Tites of initiation, Enoch is supposed to have passed the years of his peaceful, his pious, and his useful life, until the crimes of mankind had increased to such a height that, in the expressive words of holy Writ, "every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually." It was then, according to a Masonic tradition, that Enoch, disgusted with the wickedness that surrounded him, and appalled at the thought of its inevitable consequences, fled to the solitude and secrecy of Mount Moriah, and devoted himself to prayer and pious contemplation. It was on that spot then first consecrated by this patriarchal hermitage, and afterward to be made still more holy by the sacrifices of Abraham, of David, and of Solomon—that we are informed that the Shekinah, or sacred presence, appeared to him, and gave him those instructions which were to preserve the wisdom of the antediluvians to their posterity when the world, with the exception of but one family, should have been destroyed by the forthcoming flood. The circumstances which occurred at that time are recorded in a tradition which forms what has been called the great Masonic legend of Enoch, and which runs to this effect: Enoch, being inspired by the Most High, and in commemoration of a wonderful vision, built a temple underground, and dedicated it to God. His son, Methuselah, constructed the building; although he was not acquainted with his father's motives for the erection. This temple consisted of nine brick vaults, situated perpendicularly beneath each other and communicating by apertures left in the arch of each vault.
Enoch then caused a triangular plate of gold to be made, each side of which was a cubit long; he enriched it with the most precious stones, and encrusted the plate upon a stone of agate of the same form. On the grave he engraved, in ineffable characters, the true name of Deity, and, placing it on a cubical pedestal of white marble, he deposited the whole within the deepest arch. When this subterranean building was completed, he made a door of stone, and attaching to it a ring of iron, by which it might be occasionally raised, he placed it over the opening of the uppermost arch, and so covered it over that the aperture could not be discovered. Enoch himself was permitted to enter it but once a year; and on the death of Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, and the destruction of the world by the deluge, all knowledge of this temple, and of the sacred treasure which it contained, was lost until, in after times, it was accidentally discovered by another worthy of Freemasonry, who, like Enoch, leas engaged in the erection of a temple on the same spot.
The legend goes on to inform us that after Enoch had completed the subterranean temple, fearing that the principles of those arts and sciences which he had cultivated with so much assiduity would be lost in that general destruction of which he had received a prophetic vision, he erected two pillars—the one of marble, to withstand the influence of fire, and the other of brass, to resist the action of water. On the pillar of brass he engraved the history of creation, the principles of the arts and sciences, and the doctrines of Speculative Freemasonry as they were practiced in his times; and on the one of marble he inscribed characters in hieroglyphics, importing that near the spot where they stood a precious treasure was deposited in a subterranean vault.
Josephus gives an account of these pillars in the first book of his Antiquities. He ascribes them to the children of Seth, which is by no means a contradiction of the Masonic tradition, since Enoch was one of these children. "That their inventions," says the historian, "might not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire and at another time by the violence and quantity of water, they made two pillars—the one of brick, the other of stone; they inscribed their discoveries on them both, that in case the pillar of brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might remain and exhibit those discoveries to mankind, and also inform them that there was another pillar of brick erected by them. Now this remains in the land of Siriad to this day."
Enoch, having completed these labors, called his descendants around him on Mount Moriah, and having warned them in the most solemn manner of the consequences of their wickedness, exhorted them to forsake their idolatries and return once more to the worship of the true God. Masonic tradition informs us that he then delivered up the government of the Craft to his grandson, Lamech, and disappeared from earth.
Doctor Mackey refers above to the discoveries made at the attempt by Julian the Apostate to rebuild the Temple. These are of especial interest to Brethren of various Degrees and the two leading accounts of these legends may well be included here as a matter of information. First we have the one given by the Greek historian Nicephorus Calistus in the fourteenth century, in his Ecclesiastical Histories. He records the following remarkable details of an occurrence that happened at the attempt to rebuild the Temple:
When the foundations were being laid, as has been said one of the stones attached to the lowest part of the foundation was removed from its place and showed the mouth of a cavern which had been cut out of the rock. But as the cave could not be distinctly seen, those who had charge of the work, wishing to explore it that they might be better acquainted with the place, sent one of the workmen down tied to a long rope.
When he got to the bottom he found water up to his legs. Searching the cavern on every side, he found, by touching with his hands, that it was of a quadrangular form. When he was returning to the mouth, he discovered a certain pillar standing up scarcely above the water. Feeling with his hand. he found a little book placed upon it, and wrapped up in very fine and clean linen. Taking possession of it, he gave the signal with the rope that those who had sent him down, should draw him up. Being received above, as soon as the book was shown, all were struck with astonishment, especially as it appeared untouched and fresh notwithstanding that it had been found in so dismal and dark a place. But when the book was unfolded, not only the Jews but the Greeks were astounded. For even at the beginning it declared in large letters: " In the beginning was the Word with God, and the Word was God." To speak plainly, the writing embraced the whole Gospel which was announced in the divine tongue of the (beloved) disciple and the Virgin. This legend as here quoted is in the Ecclesiasticae Historicae, Nicephori Callisti, tome ii, lib. x, cap. xxxiii, and is also in the Patrologza Graeca, Migne, volume cxlvi, pages 542-3. Another description of the same occurrence is given in the Epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, compiled by Photius in the ninth century and translated by Edward Walford; published by Henry G. Bohn at London, 1855, chapter xiv, page 482, and this reads:
The work of rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem by Julian was checked by many prodigies from Heaven; and especially during the preparation of the foundations, one of the stones which was placed at the lowest part of the base suddenly started from its place and opened the door of a certain cave hollowed out in the rock. Owing to its depth, it was difficult to see what was within this cave; so persons were appointed to investigate the matter, who, being anxious to find out the truth, let down one of their workmen by means of a rope.
On being lowered down he found stagnant water reaching to his knees; and having gone around the place and felt the walls on every side, he found the cave to be a perfect square.
Then, in his return, he stood near about the middle, and struck his foot against a column which stood rising slightly above the water. As soon as he touched this pillar, he found lying upon it a book wrapped up in a very fine and thin linen cloth; and as soon as he had lifted it up just as he had found it, he gave a signal to his companions to draw him up again. As soon as he regained the light, he showed them the book, which struck them all with astonishment, especially because it appeared so new and fresh, considering the place where it had been found.
This book, which appeared such a mighty prodigy in the eyes of both heathens and Jews, as soon as it was opened, showed the following words in large letters. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ' In fact the volume contained that entire Gospel which had been declared by the divine tongue of the (beloved) disciple and the Virgin.
- ENOCH, BROTHER
The French expression is Frére Enoch. Evidently the nom de plume, or pen name, of a French writer and the inventor of a Masonic rite. He published at Liege, in 1773, two works:
- 1. Le Vrai Franc Maçon, meaning The True Freemason, in 276 pages.
- 2. Letteres Mafonniques pour servir de Sup payment au Vrai Franc-Maf on, or Masonic Letters supplementing the True Freemason.
The design of the former of these works was to give an account of the origin and object of Freemasonry, a description of all the Degrees, and an answer to the objections urged against the Institution. The historical theories of Frere Enoch were exceedingly fanciful and wholly untenable. Thus, he asserts that in the year 814, Louis the Fair of France, being flattered by the fidelity and devotion of the Operative Masons, organized them into a society of four Degrees, granting the Masters the privilege of wearing swords in the Lodge a custom still continued in French Lodges— and, having been received into the Order himself, accepted the Grand Mastership on the festival of Saint John the Evangelist in the year 814. Other equally extravagant opinions make his book rather a source of amusement than of instruction. His definition of Freemasonry is, however, good. He says that it is "a holy and religious society of men who are friends, which has for its fourtion, discretion; for its object, the service of God, fidelity to the sovereign, and love of our neighbor; and for its doctrine, the erection of an allegorical building dedicated to the virtues, which it teaches with certain signs of recognition.
- ENOCH, LEGEND OF
This legend is detailed in a preceding article. It never formed any part of the old system of Freemasonry, and was first introduced from Talmudic and Rabbinical sources into the advanced Degrees, where, however, it is really to be viewed rather as symbolical than as historical. Enoch himself is but the symbol of initiation, and his legend is intended symbolically to express the doctrine that the true Word or Divine truth was preserved in the ancient initiations.
- ENOCHIAN ALPHABET
One of the most important alphabets, or ciphers, known to historic Freemasons is the Enochian, in consequence of the revelations made in that character. Tradition says the Christian princes were accompanied in their journey to Palestine by Freemasons, who fought by their side, and who, when at the Holy City, discovered important manuscripts, on which some of the historic Degrees were founded; that some of these manuscripts were in Syriac and others in Enochian characters; and that on their return, when at Venice, it was ascertained that the characters were identical with those in the Syriac column, spoken of by Josephus, and with the oldest copies in which the Book of Enoch was written, and are of great antiquity The Brethren in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite are largely instructed as to matters pertaining hereto in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Degrees.
We present an exact copy of the alphabet, as may be found by comparison with that in the Bodleian Library.
The name He No C H. in Hebrew, signifies taught, or, more properly, dedicated. In the Koran Enoch is called Edris, from darasa, to study, which word, more liberally translated, means, to read or to study With attention (see Enoch).
- ENOCH, RITE OF
A Rite attempted to be established at Liege, in France, about the year 1773. It consisted of four Degrees, namely:
- 1. Manouvre, or Apprentice, whose object was friendship and benevolence.
- 2. Ouvrier, or Fellow Craft, whose object was fidelity to the Sovereign.
- 3. Maître, or master, whose object was submission to the Supreme Being.
- 4. Architecte, whose object was the perfection of all the virtues.
The Rite never made much progress.
- EN SOPH
The pronunciation of the Hebrew DID AH. In the Cabalistic doctrines, the Divine Word, or Supreme Creator, is called the En Soph, or rather the Or En Soph, the Infinite Intellectual Light. The theory is, that all things emanated from this Primeval Light (see Cabala).
- ENTERED APPRENTICE'S SONG
The author was Matthew Birkhead and his effort appeared in print, Read's Weekly Journal, December 1, 1722, and has continued to be popular ever since, being frequently sung in British Lodges (see Birkhead, Matthew). The song is also called The Freemasons Health. Brother Birkhead, a singer and actor, Drury Lane Theater, was Worshipful Master, Lodge V, London. The words and music of the song were printed in the first edition of the Book of Constitutions published by the Freemasons in 1723. Under the reference Tune, Freemasons, in this Encyclopedia we give an account of the various appearances of it in print. While the verses are frequently printed with alteration3 according to the taste of their respective editors, their first appearance was as follows:
- Come let us prepare,
- We Brothers that are
- Met together on merry Occasion;
- Let's drink, laugh and sing,
- Our Wine has a Spring
- 'Tis a Health to an accepted Mason.
- The World is in pain
- Our secret to gain,
- But still let them wonder and gaze on;
- Till they're shown the Light
- They'l ne'er know the Right
- Word or Sign of an accepted Mason.
- 'Tis this, and 'tis that,
- They cannot tell what
- Why so many great Men of the Nation,
- Should Aprons put on,
- To make themselves one,
- With a Free or an accepted Mason.
- Great Kings, Dukes and Lords,
- Have laid by their swords
- This our Mistry to put a good Grace on
- And neter been ashamed
- To hear themselves named
- With a Free or an accepted Mason.
- Antiquity's pride
- We have on our side
- It makes each Man just in his station
- There's nought but what's good
- To be understood,
- By a Free or an accepted Mason.
- Then joyn Hand in Hand,
- T'each other firm stand
- Let's be merry, and put a bright Face on;
- What mortal can boast So noble a Toast
- As a Free or an accepted Mason?
Another verse was added to the original by Brother Springett Penn, who became Deputy Grand Master of Munster, Ireland, and was also a member of a Lodge at London. This addition to the song was made about 1730 and printed by Dr. James Anderson in his edition of 1738. Brother Penn's version runs thus:
- We're true and sincere
- And just to the Fair
- They'll trust us on any Occasion:
- No Mortal can more
- The Ladies adore,
- Than a Free and an Accepted Mason.
So rousing a song did not fail of attack by the enemy and a parody upon it with the venom of the time appeared in the London Journal of 1725 entitled An Answer to the Freemasons Health, as follows:
Good people give ear And the truth shall appear, For we scorn to put any grimace on: We've been bammed long enough With this damn'd silly stuff Of a Free and an Accepted Mason. The dear Brotherhood, As they certainly shou'd, Their follies do put a good face on: But it's only a gin, To draw other fools in, So sly is an Accepted Mason. With their aprons before 'em, For better decorum, Themselves they employ all their praise on: In aprons array'd, Of calves leather made True type of an Accepted Mason. They know this and that, The devil knows what, Of secrets they talk wou'd amaze one But know by the by, That no one can Iye Like a Free and an Accepted Mason. On a house neter so high, If a Brother they spy As his trowel he dext'rousiy lays on: He must leave off his work, And come down with a jerk At the sign of an Accepted Mason. A Brother one time, Being hang'd for some crime His Brethren did stupidly gaze on: They made signs without end, But fast hung their friend Like a Free and an Accepted Mason. They tell us fine things Sow yt lords, dukes, and kings, Their mis'tries have put a good grace on: For their credit be't said Many a skip has been made A Free and an Accepted Mason. From whence I conclude Tho' it seem somewhat rude No credit their tribe we should piace on: Since a cool we may see Of any degree, May commence all Accepted Mason.
- ENTERED
When a candidate receives the First Degree of Freemasonry he is said to be entered. It is used in the sense of admitted, or introduced; a common as well as a Masonic employment of the word, as when we say, "the youth entered college" or, "the soldier entered the service."
- ENTERED APPRENTICE
See Apprentice, Entered
- ENTICK, JOHN
An English clergyman, born about 1703, who took much interest in Freemasonry about the middle of the eighteenth century. He revised the third edition of Anderson's Constitutions by order of the Grand Lodge, which was published in 1756. The next issue of the Book of Constitutions, in 1767, also has his name on the title page as successor to Doctor Anderson, and is often attributed to him, but it is described as "A new edition . . . by a Committee appointed by the Grand Lodge," and it does not appear that he had anything to do with its preparation (see Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, 1908, xxi, paps 80).
Entick was also the author of many Masonic sermons, a few of which were published. Oliver speaks of him as a man of grave and sober habits, a good Master of his Lodge, a fair disciplinarian, and popular with the Craft. But Entick did not confine his literary labors to Freemasonry. He was the author of a History of the War which ended in 1763, in five volumes, and a History of London, in four volumes. As an orthoepist he had considerable reputation and published a Latin and English Dictionary, and an English Spelling Dictionary. He died in 1773.
- ENTOMBMENT
An impressive ceremony in the degree of Perfect Master of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
- ENTRANCE, POINTS OF
See Points of Entrance, Perfect
- ENTRANCE, SHOCKS OF
See Shock of Entrance
- ENTRUSTING
That portion of the ceremony of initiation which consists in communicating to the candidate the modes of recognition.
- ENVY
This meanest of vices has always been discouraged in Freemasonry. The fifth of the Old Charges says: "None shall discover envy at the prosperity of a brother" (see Constitutions, 1723, page 53).
- EONS
In the doctrine of Gnosticism, Divine spirits occupying the intermediate state which was supposed to exist between the Supreme Being and the Jehovah of the Jewish theology, whom the Gnostics called only a secondary deity. These spiritual beings were indeed no more than abstractions, such as Wisdom, Faith, Prudence, etc. They derived their name from the Greek azure, meaning an age, in reference to the long duration of their existence. Valentinius said there were but thirty of them; but Basilides reckons them as three hundred and sixty-five, which certainly has an allusion to the days of the solar year.
In some of the philosophical degrees, references are made to the Eons, whose introduction into them is doubtless to be attributed to the connection of Gnosticism with certain of the advanced degrees.
- EONS, RITE OF THE
Ragon (Juilleur General, a handbook of the Degrees, page 186) describes this rite as one full of beautiful and learned instruction, but scarcely known, and practiced only in Asia, being founded on the religious dogmas of Zoroaster. The existence of it as a genuine rite is doubtful, for Ragon's information is very meager.
- EOSTRE
Easter, the usual word in French is Pâque, a name given to the day when the resurrection of Christ is celebrated by a festival, in the spring of the year. Sometimes called the Paschal Festival but paschal refers to the Jewish Passover as well as the Christian Easter.
- EPHOD
The sacred vestment worn by the high priest of the Jews over the tunic and outer garment. It was without sleeves, and divided below the arm pits into two parts or halves, one falling before and the other behind, and both reaching to the middle of the thighs. They were joined above on the shoulders by buckles and two large precious stones, on which were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes, six on each.
The ephod was a distinctive mark of the priesthood. It was of two kinds, one of plain linen for the priests, and another, richer and embroidered, for the high priest, which was composed of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen. The robe worn by the High Priest or First Principal in a Royal Arch Chapter is intended to be a representation, but hardly can be called an imitation, of the ephod.
- EPHRAIMITES
The descendants of Ephraim. They inhabited the center of Judea between the Mediterranean and the river Jordan. The character given to them in a certain degree of being a stiff necked and rebellious people, coincides with history which describes them as haughty, tenacious to a fault of their rights, and ever ready to resist the pretensions of the other tribes, and more especially that of Judah, of which they were peculiarly jealous. The circumstance in their history which has been appropriated for a symbolic purpose in the ceremonies of the Second Degree of Freemasonry, may be briefly related thus. The Ammonites, who were the descendants of the younger son of Lot, and inhabited a tract of country east of the river Jordan, had been always engaged in hostility against the Israelites. On the occasion referred to, they had commenced a war on the pretext that the Israelites had deprived them of a portion of their territory. Jephthah, having been called by the Israelites to the head of their army, defeated the Ammonites, but had not called upon the Ephraimites to assist in the victory.
Hence, that high-spirited people were incensed, and more especially as they had no share in the rich spoils obtained by Jephthah from the Ammonites.
They accordingly gave him battle, but were defeated with great slaughter by the Gileadites, or countrymen of Jephthah, with whom alone he resisted their attack. As the land of Gilead, the residence of Jephthah, was on the west side of the Jordan, and as the Ephraimites lived on the east side, in making their invasion it was necessary that they should cross the river, and after their defeat, in attempting to effect a retreat to their own country, they were compelled to recross the river. But Jephthah, aware of this, had placed forces at the different fords of the river, who intercepted the Ephraimites, and detected their nationality by a peculiar defect in their pronunciation. For although the Ephraimites did not speak a dialect different from that of the other tribes, they had a different pronunciation of some words and an inability to pronounce the letter r or sh, which they pronounced as if it were D or s. Thus, when called upon to say Shibboleth, they pronounced it Sibboleth, "which trifling defect," as we are told, "proved them to be enemies." The test to a Hebrew was a palpable one, for the two words have an entirely different signification; shibboleth meaning an ear of corn, and sibboleth, a burden. The biblical relation will be found in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Judges (see Shibboleth).
- EPOCH
In chronology, a certain point of time marked by some memorable event at which the calculation of years begins. The various peoples have different epochs or epocha. Thus, the epoch of Christians is the birth of Christ; that of Jews, the creation of the world; and that of Mohammedans, the flight of their prophet from Mecca (see Calendar).
- EPOPT
This was the name given to one who had passed through the Great Mysteries, and been permitted to behold what was concealed from the mystoe, who had only been initiated into the Lesser. It signifies an eye-untness, and is derived from the Greek, esoofax, to look over, to behold. The epopts repeated the oath of secrecy which had been administered to them on their initiation into the Lesser Mysteries, and were then conducted into the lighted interior of the sanctuary and permitted to behold what the Greeks emphatically termed the sight, abrofta. The epopts alone were admitted to the sanctuary, for the mystae were confined to the vestibule of the temple. The epopts were, in fact, the Master Masons of the Mysteries, while the mystae were the Apprentices and Fellow Crafts; these words being used, of course, only in a comparative sense.
- EPREMENIL, JEAN JACQUES DUVAL D'
Surname sometimes spelled Esprémesnil, also Eprémesnil. French magistrate. Born at Pondicherry, India, December 5, 1745; educated at Paris; member of French Parliament, he vigorously defended its rights against royalty and was imprisoned on the Island of Saint Marguerite for four months. Brother Amiable says he was there a year. He returned to Paris a popular hero but on being chosen first deputy by the nobility he defended monarchy and the rising tide of revolution engulfed him.
Publicly attacked by a mob, wounded seriously, rescued by the National Guard, he escaped to his property near Havre. He was arrested there, condemned to death by the revolutionary tribunal at Paris, and was guillotined on April 22, 1794. He was a member of the Lodge of the Nine Sisters at Paris, his name being on the calendar for 1788 where he ranked as the Deputy of the Lodge (see Une Loge Magonnique d' AvanX 1789, Louis Amiable, Paris, 1897, page 268).
- EQUALITY
Among the ancient iconologists, students of likenesses, equality was symbolized by a female figure holding in one hand a pair of scales equipoised and in the other a nest of swallows. The moderns have substituted a level for the scales. And this is the Masonic idea. In Freemasonry, the level is the symbol of that equality which, as Godfrey Higgins (.Anacalypsis i, 790) says, is the very essence of Freemasonry. "All, let their rank in life be what it may, when in the Lodge are brothers—brethren with the Father at their head. No person can read the Evangelists and not see that this is correctly Gospel Christianity."
- EQUERRY
An officer in various royal courts who has the charge of horses. For some now unknown reason the title has been introduced into certain of the advanced degrees.
- EQUES.
A Latin word signifying knight. Every member of the Rite of Strict Observance, on attaining to the seventh or highest degree, received what has been termed a characteristic name, which was formed in Latin by the addition of a noun in the ablative case, governed by the preposition a or ab, to the word Eques, as Eques à Serpente, or Knight of the Serpent, Eques ab Aquila, or Knight of the Eagle, etc., and by this name he was ever afterward known in the Order.
Thus Bode, one of the founders of the Rite, was recognized as Eques à Lilio Convallium, or Knight of the icily of the Valleys, and the Baron Hund, another founder, as Eques ab Ense, or Knight of the Sword. A similar custom prevailed among the Illuminati and in the Royal Order of Scotland. Eques signified among the Romans a knight, but in the Middle Ages the knight was called miles; although the Latin word mites denoted only a soldier, yet, by the usage of chivalry, it received the nobler signification. Indeed, NIuratori says, on the authority of an old inscription, that Eques was inferior in dignity to Miles (see Miles).
- EQUES PROFESSUS
A Latin expression for Professed Rnight. The seventh and last degree of the Rite of Strict Observance. This ceremony was added, it is said, to the original series by Von Hund.
- EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE
See Triangle
- EQUITY
The equipoised balance, an instrument for weighing, is an ancient symbol of equity. On the medals, this virtue is represented by a female holding in the right hand a balance, and in the left a measuring wand, to indicate that she gives to each one his just measure. In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the thirty-first Degree, or Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander, is illustrative of the virtue of equity; and hence the balance is a prominent symbol of that degree, as it is also of the Sixteenth Degree, or Princes of Jerusalem, because according to the old books, the members were Chiefs in Freemasonry, and administered justice to the inferior degrees.
- EQUIVOCATION
Derived from two Latin words meaning equal and voice, and indicating doubtful interpretation, something most questionable. To equivocate is to say something with the intention to deceive. The words of the covenant of Freemasonry require that it should be made without evasion, equivocation or mental reservation. This is exactly in accordance with the law of ethics in relation to promises made.
And it properly applies in this case, because the covenant, as it is called, is simply a promise, or series of promises, made by the candidate to the Fraternity to the Brotherhood into whose association he is about to be admitted. In making a promise, an evasion is the eluding or avoiding the terms of the promise; and this is done, or attempted to be done, by equivocation, which is by giving to the words used a secret signification, different from that which they were intended to convey by him who imposed the promise, so as to mislead, or by a mental reservation, which is a concealment or withholding in the mind of the promiser of certain conditions under which he makes it, which conditions are not known to the one to whom the promise is made.
All of this is in direct violation of the law of veracity. The doctrine of the Jesuits is very different. Suarez, one of their most distinguished casuists, lays it down as good law, that if any one makes a promise or contract, he may secretly understand that he does not sincerely promise, or that he promises without any intention of fulfilling the promise. This is not the rule of Freemasonry, which requires that the words of the covenant be taken in the patent sense which they were intended by the ordinary use of language to convey. It adheres to the true rule of ethics, which is, as Paley says, that a promise is binding in the sense in which the promiser supposed the promisee to receive it (see Mental Reservation).
- ERANOI
Among the ancient Greeks there were friendly societies, whose object was, like the modern Masonic Lodges, to relieve the distresses of their necessitous members. They were permanently organized, and had a common fund by the voluntary contributions of the members. If a member was reduced to poverty, or was in temporary distress for money, he applied to the eranos, and, if worthy, received the necessary assistance, which was, however, advanced rather as a loan than a gift, and the amount was to be returned when the recipient was in better circumstances. In the days of the Roman Empire these friendly societies were frequent among the Greek cities, and were looked on with suspicion by the emperors, as tending to political combinations. Smith says (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities) that the Anglo-Saxon gilds, or fraternities for mutual aid, resembled the eranoi of the Greeks. In their spirit, these Grecian confraternities partook more of the Masonic character, as charitable associations, than of the modern friendly societies, where relief is based on a system of mutual insurance; for the assistance was given only to cases of actual need, and did not depend on any calculation of natural contingencies.
- ERECTING LODGES
To erect a Lodge is the authorized and time-honored formula to denote the foundation of a new Lodge of Freemasons. It is so employed in the earliest Lodge Charters, or Warrants, as they are styled nowadays, ever issued by any Grand Lodge. The very first of them opens as follows: whereas our Trusted and Well-Beloved Brothers have besought us that we would be pleased to Erect a Lodge off tree Masons, etc., etc.
This is in the Warrant of Lodge No. 1, Grand Lodge of Ireland, February 1, 1731-2. Thus sanctioned by authority, and approved by usage, the phrase held the field among English-speaking Freemasons at home and abroad during the half century that preceded the Union of 1813, and still remains a constitutional formula among Grand Lodges that derive their powers from the Grand Lodge of Ireland, or from its step-daughter, the Grand Lodge of the Ancient. In view of such unfamiliarity with the documents that embody the history of our organization, it is well to bear in mind that in 1748 there were no Lodge Charters in existence, save those issued under the seal of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. Several years had to elapse before the Irish practice, now so universal, was followed by the Grand Lodge of England.
These comments were made by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley, 1901 (Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, volume xiv, page 15).
- ERI, ROYAL ORDER OF
The legendary founder in 1695 B.C. of this organization comprising Freemasons only, was Eremon, King of Ulster, Ireland, and the Order is reputed to have ceased its military activities sometime about 1649 to 1659 A.D.
An ancient book Annals of the Four Masters of Ireland, tells of the Knights of the Collar of Eri as instituted by King Eamhuin and his eight princes, the chiefs of the armies of the four provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught. Headquarters were at the city of Armagh, where a palace and royal court existed until destroyed by fire in 332 A.D. The palace of the early kings of Ireland and the Great Hall of the Knights were then located at Tara in the County Meath, with a military hospital, named Bronbheagor or House of the Sorrowful Soldier, and a famous college, a noted seat of Celtic learning.
This ancient Order comprised knights and teachers, the Ollamhs, Brehons or judges, Crimtears or priest-astronomers, and Bards, poets and musicians. The modern ceremonies include the grades in order of Man-at-Arms, Esquire, and Knight, Knights Commanders, who are chosen by the Knights Grand Cross, and the latter selected by the Senior Grand Cross who represents the Sovereign, for whom an empty chair is placed at every Assembly. The latter is called the Faslairt, or Camp, and represents a green field. The General Assembly is termed the Foleith.
- ERICA
The Egyptians selected the erica as a sacred plant.
The origin of the consecration of this plant will be peculiarly interesting to the Masonic student
There was a legend in the mysteries of Osiris, which related that Isis, when in search of the body of her murdered husband, discovered it interred at the brow of a hill near which an erica grew; and hence, after the recovery of the body and the resurrection of the god, when she established the mysteries to commemorate her loss and her recovery, she adopted the erica as a sacred plant, in memory of its having pointed out the spot where the mangled remains of Osiris were concealed.
Ragon (Cours des Initiations, page 151) thus alludes to this mystical event:
- Isis found the body of Osiris in the neighborhood of Biblos, and near a tall plant called the Erica.
- Oppressed with grief, she seated herself on the margin of a fountain whose waters issued from a rock.
- This rock is the small hit! familiar to Freemasons; the Ertca has been replaced by the Acacza. and the grief of Isis has been changed for that of the Fellow Craits.
The lexicographers define ApeA77 as the heath or heather; but it is really, as Plutarch asserts, the tamarisk tree; and Schwenk tDie Mythologie der Semiten, The Semitic Mythology, relating to the Assyrians, Arameans, Hebraeo-Phenicians, Arabs and Abyssinians, page 248) says that Phyloe, so renowned among the ancients as one of the burial places of Osiris, and among the moderns for its wealth of architectural remains, contains monuments in which the grave of Osiris is overshadowed by the tamarisk.
- ERITREA
This country is on the western shores of the Red Sea, and on the northeastern coast of Africa, between Egypt and Abyssinia. The Grand Orient off Italy instituted one Lodge in this country at Asmara.
- ERLKING
A name found in one of the sacred sagas of the Scandinavian mythology, entitled Sir Olaf and the Erlking's Daughter, and applied to the mischievous goblin haunting the black forest of Thuringia.
- ERNEST AND FALK
More fully in German, Ernst und Falk, Gesprache .fur Frei1naurer, meaning "Ernest and Falk. Conversations for Freemasons," is the title of a work written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and first published in 1778. Ernest is an inquirer, and Falk a Freemason, who gives to his interlocutor a very philosophical idea of the character, aims, and objects of the Institution. The work has been faithfully translated by Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, F.S.A., in the London Freemasons Quarterly Magazine, in 1854, and continued and finished, so far as the author had completed it, in the London Freemason in 1872. Findel says ( History of Freemasonry, page 373) of this work, that it "is one of the best things that has ever been written upon Freemasonry." A translation of it also appeared in the Builder (1915, volume i, pages 20 and 59), by Brother Louis Block, P. G. M. of Iowa.
- ERWIN VON STEINBACH
A distinguished German, who was born, as his name imports, at Steinbach, near Buhl, about the middle of the thirteenth century. He was the master of the works at the Cathedral of Strasburg, the tower of which he commenced in 1275. He finished the tower and doorway before his death, which was in 1318. He was at the head of the German Fraternity of Stonemasons, who were the precursors of the modern Freemasons (see Strasburg).
- ESOTERIC MASONRY
That secret portion of Freemasonry which is known only to the initiates as distinguished from Esoteric Freemasonry, or monitorial, which is accessible to all who choose to read the manuals and published works of the Order.
The words are from the Greek, bxreptzAs, internal, and rKeptK85, external, and were first used by Pythagoras, whose philosophy was divided into the exoteric, or that taught to all, and the esoteric, or that taught to a select few; and thus his disciples were divided into two classes, according to the Degree of initiation to which they had attained, as being either fully admitted into the society, and invested with all the knowledge that the Master could communicate, or as merely postulants, enjoying only the public instructions of the school, and awaiting the gradual reception of further knowledge. This double mode of instruction was borrowed by Pythagoras from the Egyptian priests, whose theology was of two kinds—the one exoteric, and addressed to the people in general; the other esoteric, and confined to a select number of the priests and to those who possessed, or were to possess, the regal power.
And the mystical nature of this concealed doctrine was expressed in their symbolic language by the images of sphinxes placed at the entrance of their temples. Two centuries later, Aristotle adopted the system of Pythagoras, and, in the Lyceum at Athens, delivered in the morning to his select disciples his subtle and concealed doctrines concerning God, Nature, and Life, and in the evening lectures on more elementary subjects to a promiscuous audience. These different lectures he called his Morning and his Evening Walk.
- ESPERANCE
Under the name of Cheualiers et Dames de l'Esperance, a French expression meaning Knights and Lazifes of Hope, was founded first in France, and subsequently and androgynous, both sexes, order in Germany. It is said to have been instituted by Louis XV, at the request of the Marquis de Chatelet, and was active about 1750. The Lodge Irene, at Hamburg, was founded in 1757.
- ESSENES
Lawrie, in his History of Freemasonry, in replying to the objection, that if the Fraternity of Freemasons had flourished during the reign of Solomon, it would have existed in Judea in after ages, attempts to meet the argument by showing that there did exist, after the building of the Temple, an association of men resembling Freemasons in the nature, ceremonies, and object of their institution (see his page 33). The association to which he here alludes is that of the Essenes, whom he subsequently describes as an ancient Fraternity originating from an association of architects who were connected with the building of Solomon's Temple.
Lawrie evidently seeks to connect historically the Essenes with the Freemasons, and to impress his readers with the identity of the two Institutions. Brother Mackey was not prepared to go so far; but there is such a similarity between the two, and such remarkable coincidences in many of their usages, as to render this Jewish sect an interesting study to every Freemason, to whom therefore some account of the usages and doctrines of this holy brotherhood will not, perhaps, be unacceptable.
At the time of the advent of Jesus Christ, there were three religious sects in Judea—the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes; and to one of these seets every Jew was compelled to unite himself. The Savior has been supposed by many writers to have been an Essene, because, while repeatedly denouncing the errors of the two other sects, he has nowhere uttered a word of censure against the Essenes; and because, also, many of the precepts of the New Testament are to be found among the laws of this sect.
In ancient authors, such as Josephus, Philo, Porphyry, Eusebius, and Pliny, who have had occasion to refer to the subject, the notices of this singular sect have been so brief and unsatisfactory, that modern writers have found great difficulty in properly understanding the true character of Essenism. And yet our antiquaries, never weary of the task of investigation, have at length, succeeded in eliciting, from the collation of all that has been previously written on the subject, very correct details of the doctrines and practices of the Essenes. Of these writers none have been more successful than the laborious German cities Frankel and Rappaport. Their investigations have been ably and thoroughly condensed by Dr. Christian D. Ginsburg, whose essay on The Essenes, their History and Doctrines, published at London in 1864, has supplied the most material facts contained in the present article.
It is impossible to ascertain the precise date of the development of Essenism as a distinct organization. The old writers are so exaggerated in their statements, that they are worth nothing as historical authorities. Philo says, for instance, that Moses himself instituted the order, and Josephus that it existed ever since the ancient time of the Fathers; while Pliny asserts, with mythical liberality, that it has continued for thousands of ages. Doctor Ginsburg thinks that Essenism was a gradual development of the prevalent religious notions out of Judaism, a theory which Doctor Döllinger repudiates.
But Rappaport, who was a learned Jew, thoroughly conversant with the Talmud and other Hebrew writings, and who is hence called by Ginsburg the Corypheus (meaning Leader or Chief, from the Latin and Greek) of Jewish critics, asserts that the Essenes were not a distinct sect, in the strict sense of the word, but simply an order of Judaism, and that there never was a rupture between them and the rest of the Jewish community. This theory is sustained by Frankel, a scholarly German, who maintains that the Essenes were simply an intensification of the Pharisaic sect, and that they were the same as the Chasidim, whom Lawrie calls the Rasstdeans, and of whom he speaks as the guardians of King Solomon's Temple.
If this view be the correct one, and there is no good reason to doubt it, then there will be another feature of resemblance and coincidence between the Freemasons and the Essenes; for, as the latter was not a religious sect, but merely a development of Judaism, an order of Jews entertaining no heterodox opinions, but simply carrying out the religious dogmas of their faith with an unusual strictness of observance, so are the Freemasons not a religious sect, but simply a development of the religious idea of the age.
The difference, however, in Brother Mackey's opinion, between Freemasonry and Essenism lies in the spirit of universal tolerance prominent in the one and absent in the other. Freemasonry is Christian as to its membership in general, but recognizing and tolerating in its bosom all other religions: Essenism, on the contrary, was exclusively and intensely Jewish in its membership, its usages, and its doctrines. The Essenes are first mentioned by Josephus as existing in the days of Jonathan the Maccabean, one hundred and sixty-six years before Christ. The Jewish historian repeatedly speaks of them at subsequent periods; and there is no doubt that they constituted one of the three sects which divided the Jewish religious world at the advent of our Savior, and of this sect he is supposed, as has been already said, to have been a member.
On this subject, Ginsburg says: "Jesus, who in all things conformed to the Jewish law, and who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, would, therefore, naturally associate himself with that order of Judaism which was most congenial to his holy nature. Moreover, the fact that Christ, with the exception of once, was not heard of in public till his thirtieth year, implying that he lived in seclusion with this Fraternity, and that, though he frequently rebuked the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, he never denounced the Essenes, strongly confirms this decision." But he admits that Christ neither adopted nor preached their extreme doctrines of asceticism. After the establishment of Christianity, the Essenes fade out of notice, and it has been supposed that they were among the earliest converts to the new faith. Indeed, De Quincey rather paradoxically asserts that they were a disguised portion of the early Christians.
The etymology of the word has not been settled. E et, among the contending opinions, the preferable one seems to be that it is derived from the Hebrew Chasid meaning holy out which connects the Essenes with the Chasidim, a sect which preceded them, and of whom Lawrie says, quoting from Scaliger, that they were "an order of the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, who bound themselves to adorn the porches of that magnificent structure, and to preserve it from injury and decay" (see LanTie's History of Freemasonry, page 38).
The Essenes were so strict in the observance of the Mosaic laws of purity, that they were compelled for the purpose of avoiding contamination, to withdraw altogether from the rest of the Jewish nation and to form a separate community, which thus became a brotherhood. The same scruples which led them to withdraw from their less strict Jewish Brethren induced most of them to abstain from marriage, and hence the unavoidable depletion of their membership by death could only be repaired by the initiation of converts.
They had a common treasury, in which was deposited whatever anyone of them possessed, and from this the wants of the whole community were supplied by stewards appointed by the brotherhood, so that they had everything in common. Hence there was no distinction among them of rich and poor, or masters and servants; but the only gradation of rank which they recognized was derived from the Degrees or orders into which the members were divided, and which depended on holiness alone. They lived peaceably with all men, reprobated slavery and war, and would not even manufacture any warlike instruments. They were governed by a president, who was elected by the whole community; and members who had violated their rules were, after due trial, excommunicated or expelled.
As they held no communication outside of their own fraternity, they had to raise their own supplies, and some were engaged in tilling, some in tending flocks, others in making clothing, and others in preparing food They got up before sunrise, and, after singing a hymn of praise for the return of light, which they did with their faces turned to the East, each one repaired to his appropriate task. At the fifth hour, or eleven in the forenoon, the morning labor terminated. The Brethren then again assembled, and after a lustration in cold water, they put on white garments and proceeded to the refectory, where they partook of the common meal, which was always of the most frugal character. A mysterious silence was observed during this meal, which, to Some extent, had the character of a sacrament. The feast being ended, and the priest having returned thanks, the Brethren withdrew and put off their white garments, resumed their working-clothes and their several employments until evening, when they again assembled as before, to partake of a common meal.
They observed the Sabbath with more than Judaic strictness, regarding even the removal of a vessel as a desecration of the holy day. On that day, each took his seat in the synagogue in becoming attire; and, as they had no ordained ministers, any one that liked read out of the Scriptures, and another, experienced in spiritual matters, expounded the passages that had been read. The distinctive ordinances of the brotherhood and the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton and the angelic worlds were the prominent topics of Sabbatical instruction. In particular, did they pay attention to the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton, or the Shem hamphorash, the Expository Name, and the other names of God which plays so important a part in the mystical theosophy of the Jewish Cabalists, a great deal of which has descended to the Freemasonry of our own age.
Josephus describes them as being distinguished for their brotherly love, and for their charity in helping the needy, and showing mercy. He says that they are just dispensers of their anger, curbers of their passions, representatives of fidelity, ministers of peace, and every word with them is of more force than an oath.
They avoid taking an oath, and regard it as worse than perjury; for they say that he who is not believed without calling on God to witness, is already condemned of perjury. Josephus also states that they studied with great assiduity the writings of the ancients on distempers and their remedies, alluding, as it is supposed, to the magical works imputed by the Talmudists to Solomon.
It has already been observed that, in consequence of the celibacy of the Essenes, it was found necessary to recruit their ranks by the introduction of converts, who were admitted by a solemn of initiation. The candidate, or aspirant, was required to pass through a novitiate of two stages, which extended over three years, before he was admitted to a full participation in the privileges of the Order. Upon entering the first stage, which lasted for twelve months, the novice cast all his possessions into the common treasury. He then received a copy of the regulations of the brotherhood, and was presented with a spade, and apron, and a white robe. The spade was employed to bury excrement, the apron was used at the daily illustrations, and the white robe was worn as a symbol of purity.
During all this period the aspirant was considered as being outside the Order, and, although required to observe some of the ascetic rules of the society, he was not admitted to the common meal. At the end of the probationary year, the aspirant, if approved, was advanced to the second stage, which lasted two years, and was then called an Approacher. During this period he was permitted to unite with the Brethren in their illustrations, but was not admitted to the common meal, nor to hold any office. Should this second stage of probation be passed with approval, the approacher became an Associate, and was admitted into full membership, and at length allowed to partake of the common meal.
There was a third rank or Degree called the Disciple or Companion, in which there was a still closer union. Upon admission to this highest grade, the candidate was bound by a solemn oath to love God, to be just to all men, to practice charity, maintain truth, and to conceal the secrets of the society and the mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton and the other names of God. These three sections of Degrees, of Aspirant, Associate and Companion, were subdivided into four orders or ranks, distinguished from each other by different Degrees of holiness; and so marked were these distinctions, that if one belonging to a higher Degree of purity touched one of a lower order, he immediately became impure, and could only regain his purity by a series of illustrations.
The earnestness and determination of these Essenes says Ginsburg, to advance to the highest state of holiness, were seen in their self-denying and godly life; and it may fairly be questioned whether any religious system has ever produced such a community of saints. Their absolute confidence in God and resignation to the dealings of Providence; their uniformly holy and unselfish life; their unbounded love of virtue and utter contempt for worldly fame, riches, and pleasures; their industry, temperance, modesty, and simplicity of life; their contentment of mind and cheerfulness of temper; their love of order, and abhorrence of even the semblance of falsehood; their benevolence and philanthropy; their love for the Brethren, and their following peace with all men; their hatred of slavery and war; their tender regard for children, and reverence and anxious care for the aged; their attendance on the sick, and readiness to relieve the distressed; their humility and magnanirnity; their firmness of character and power to subdue their passions; their heroic endurance under the most agonizing sufferings for righteousness' sake; and their cheerfully looking forward to death, as releasing their immortal souls from the bonds of the body, to be forever in a state of bliss with their Creator,—have hardly found a parallel in the history of mankind.
Lawrie, in his History of Freemasonry, gives (see pages 34 and 35) on the authority of Pictet, of Basnage, and of Philo, the following condensed recapitulation of what has been said in the preceding pages of the usages of the Essences:
When a candidate was proposed for admission the strictest scrutiny nas made into his character. If his life had hitherto been exemplary and if he appeared capable of curbing his passions, arid regulating his conduct. according to the virtuous, though austere maxims of their Order, he was presented at the expiration of his novitiate, with a white garment as an emblem of the regularity of his conduct and the purity of his heart.
A solemn oath was then administered to him, that he would never divulge the mysteries of the Order: that he would make no innovations on the doctrines of the society and that he would continue in that honorable course of piety and virtue which he had begun to pursue. Like Frees masons they instructed the young member in the knowledge which they derived from their ancestors They admitted no women into their order. They had particular signs for recognizing each other, which have a strong resemblance to those of Freemasons. They had colleges or places of retirement, where they resorted to practice their rites and settle the affairs of the society and, after the performance of these duties, they assembled in a large hall, where an entertainment was provided for them by the president, or master of the college who allotted a certain quantity of provisions to every individual. They abolished all distinctions of rank and if preference was ever given, it was given to piety, liberality, and virtue. Treasurers were appointed in every town, to supply the wants of indigent strangers.
Dr. W. Wynn Westcott (page 72, volume xxviu, 1915, Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge) takes exception to Brother Lawrie's claim that the Essences "had particular signs for recognizing each other, which have a strong resemblance to those of Freemasons." Brother Westcott could find no such statement made either by Philo, Josephus, or Pliny.
Lawrie thinks that this remarkable coincidence between the chief features of the Masonic and Essenian fraternities can be accounted for only by referring them to the same origin; and, to sustain this view, he attempts to trace them to the Rasideans, or Assideans, more properly the Chassidim, "an association of architects who were connected with the building of Solomon's Temple " But, aside from the consideration that there is no evidence that the Chassidirn were a Body of architects for they were really a sect of Jewish puritans, who held the Temple in especial honor—we cannot conclude, from a mere coincidence of doctrines and usages, that the origin of the Essenes and the Freemasons is identical. Such a course of reasoning would place the Pythagoreans in the same category: a theory that has been rejected by the best modern critics.`
The truth appears to be that the Essenes, the School of Pythagoras, and the Freemasons, derive their similarity from the spirit of brotherhood which has prevailed in all ages of the civilized world, the inherent principles of which, as the results of any fraternity all the members of which are engaged in the same pursuit and assenting to the same religious creed are brotherly love, charity, and that secrecy which gives them their exclusiveness. And hence, between all fraternities, ancient and modern, these remarkable coincidences will be found. The intricate and most interesting aspect of the Essences as a monastic sort of order within the pale of Judaism is examined in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible. Brother Dudley Wright considers this difficult angle of the subject in his book Was Jesus an Esserze?
- ES SELAMU ALEIKUM
See SeZamu Aleikum, Es: also Salaam
- ESTHER
The Third Degree of the American Adoptive Rite of the Eastern Star. It is also called the Wife's Degree, and in its ceremonies comprises the history of Esther the wife and queen of Ahasuerus, fling of Persia, as related in the Book of Esther.
- ETERNAL LIFE
The doctrine of eternal life is taught in the Master's Degree, as it was in the Ancient Mysteries of all nations (see Immortality of the Soul).
- ETERNITY
The ancient symbol of eternity was a serpent in the form of a circle, the tail being placed in the mouth. The simple circle, the figure which has neither beginning nor end, but returns continually into itself, was also a symbol of eternity.
- ETHANIM OR TISHRI
The seventh sacred month, or the first month of the Hebrew civil year, commencing with the new moon in September.
- ETHICS OF FREEMASONRY
There is a Greek word, Sos, ethos, which signifies custom, from which Aristotle derives another word Pros, ethos, which means ethics; because, as he says, from the custom of doing good acts arises the habit of moral virtue. Ethics, then, is the science of morals teaching the theory and practice of all that is good in relation to God and to man, to the state and the individual; it is, in short, to use the emphatic expression of a German writer, "the science of the good." Ethics being thus engaged in the inculcation of moral duties, there must be a standard of these duties, an authoritative ground-principle on which they depend, a doctrine that requires their performance, making certain acts just those that ought to be done, and which, therefore, are duties, and that forbid the performance of others which are therefore, offenses.
Ethics, therefore, as a science, is divisible into several species, varying in name and character, according to the foundation on which it is built.
Thus we have the Ethics of Theology, which is founded on that science which teaches the nature and attributes of God; and, as this forms a part of all religious systems, every religion whether it be Christianity or Judaism, Brahmanism or Buddhism, or any other form of recognized worship, has within its bosom a science of theological ethics which teaches, according to the lights of that religion, the duties which are incumbent on man from his relations to a Supreme Being. And then we have the Ethics of Christianity, which being founded on the Scriptures, recognized by Christians as the revealed will of God, is nothing other than theological ethics applied to and limited by Christianity.
Then, again, we have the Ethics of Philosophy, which is altogether speculative, and derived from and founded on man's speculations concerning God and himself. There might be a sect of philosophers who denied the existence of a Superintending Providence; but it would still have a science of ethics referring to the relations of man to man, although that system would be without strength, because it would have no Divine sanction for its enforcement.
Lastly, we have the Ethics of Freemasonry, whose character combines those of the three others. The first and second systems in the series above enumerated are founded on religious dogmas; the third on philosophical speculations. Now, as Freemasonry claims to be a religion, in so far as it is founded on a recognition of the relations of man and God, and a philosophy in so far as it is engaged in speculations on the nature of man, as an immortal, social, and responsible being, the ethics of Freemasonry will be both religious and philosophical.
The symbolism of Freemasonry, which is its peculiar mode of instruction, inculcates all the duties which we owe to God as being his children, and to men as being their Brethren. "There is," says Doctor Oliver, "scarcely a point of duty or morality which man has been presumed to owe to God, his neighbor, or himself, under the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, or the Christian dispensation, which, in the construction of our symbolical system, has been left untouched." Hence, he says, that these symbols all unite to form "a code of moral and theological philosophy" the term of which expression would have been better if he had called it a "code of philosophical and theological ethics." At a very early period of his initiation, the Freemason is instructed that he owes a threefold duty to God, his neighbor, and himself—and the inculcation of these duties constitutes the ethics of Freemasonry.
Now, the Tetragrammaton, the letter G. and many other symbols of a like character, impressively inculcate the lesson that there is a God in whom "we live, and move, and have our being," and of whom the apostle, quoting from the Greek poet, tells us that "we are His offspring." To Him, then, as the Universal Father, does the ethics of Freemasonry teach us that we owe the duty of loving and obedient children.
And, then, the vast extent of the Lodge, making the whole world the common home of all Freemasons, and the temple, in which we all labor for the building up of our bodies as a spiritual house, are significant symbols, which teach us that we are not only the children of the Father, but fellow-workers, laboring together in the same task and owing a common servitude to God as the Grand Architect of the universe —the Algabil or Master Builder of the world and all that is therein; and thus these symbols of a joint labor, for a joint purpose, tell us that there is a brotherhood of man: to that brotherhood does the ethics of Freemasonry teach us that we owe the duty of fraternal kindness in all its manifold phases.
And so we find that the ethics of Freemasonry is really founded on the two great ideas of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man.
- ETHIOPIA
A tract of country to the south of Egypt, and watered by the upper Nile. The reference to Ethiopia, familiar to Freemasons, as a place of attempted escape for certain criminals, is not to be found in the English or French accounts, and Brother Mackey was inclined to think that this addition to the Hiramic legend is an American interpolation. The selection of Ethiopia, by the old authorities, as a place of refuge, seems to be rather inappropriate when we consider what must have been the character of that country in the age of Solomon.
- ETYMOLOGY
For the etymology of the word Masons see MaOcon, Derivation of the Word.
- EUCLID
In the Year of the World, 3650, Anno Mundi, which was 646 years after the building of King Solomon's Temple, Euclid, the celebrated geometrician, was born. His name has been always associated with the history of Freemasonry, and in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, the Order is said to have greatly flourished in Egypt, under his auspices. The well-known forty-seventh problem of his first book, although not discovered by him, but long credited to Pythagoras, has been adopted as a symbol in Masonic instruction.
- EUCLID, LEGEND OF
All the old manuscript Constitutions contain the well known legend of Euclid, whose name is presented to us as the Worthy Clerk Euclid in every conceivable variety of corrupted form. The legend as given in the Dowland Manuscript is in the following words:
Moreover, when Abraham and Sara his wife went into Egypt, there he taught the Seven Sciences to the Egiptians and he had a worthy Scoller that height Ewelyde, and he learned right well, and was a master of all the vij Sciences liberal. And in his days it befell that the lord and the estates of the realms had so many sons that they had gotten some by their wives and some by other ladies of the realm, for that land is a hot land and a plenteous of generation. And they had not competent livelode to find with their children; wherefore they made much care. And then the King of the land made a great Counsel and aparllament to witt, how they might find their children honestly as gentlemen; And they could find no manner of good way And then they did cry through all the realms. if their were any man that eould inform them, that he should come to them, and he should be so awarded for his travail that he hold him pleased.
After that this cry was made, then came this worthy Clarke Ewclyde and said to the King and to all his great lords: If yee will, take me your children to govern, and to teach them one of the Seven Scyences wherewith they may live honestly as gentlemen should, under a condicion, that yee will grant me and them a commission that I may have power to rule them after the manner that the science ought to be ruled. And that the King and all his counsel granted to him alone, and sealed their communion. And then this worthy Doctor took to him these lords' sons, and taught them the science of Geometric in practice, for to work in stones all manner of worthy works that belongeth to buildings churches temples, castles, towers, and manors. and all other manner of buildings; and he gave them a charge on this manner.
Here follow the usual "charges" of a Freemason as given in all the old Constitutions; and then the legend concludes with these words: "And thus was the science grounded there; and that worthy Mr. Ewelyde gave it the name of Geo7netrie. And now it is called through all this land Masonry" (see Brother Hughan's Old Charges, edition of 1872, page 26).
This legend, considered historically, is certainly absurd, and the anachronism which makes Euclid the contemporary of Abraham adds, if possible, to the absurdity. But interpreted as all Masonic legends should be interpreted, as merely intended to convey a Masonic truth in symbolic language, it loses its absurdity, and becomes invested with an importance that we should not otherwise attach to it.
Euclid is here very appropriately used as a type of geometry, that science of which he was so eminent a teacher; and the myth or legend then symbolizes the fact that there was in Egypt a close connection between that science and the great moral and religious system which was among the Egyptians, as well as other ancient nations, what Freemasonry is at the present day—a secret institution, established for the inculcation of the same principles, and inculcating them in the same symbolic manner. So interpreted this legend corresponds to all the developments of Egyptian history, which teach us how close a connection existed in that country between the religious and scientific systems. Thus Kenrick (Ancient egypt i, 383) tells us that "when we read of foreigners in Egypt being obliged to submit to painful and tedious ceremonies of initiation, it was not that they might learn the secret meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis but that they might partake of the knowledge of astronomy, physic, geometry, and theology." The legend of Euclid belongs to that class of narrations which, in another work, Doctor Mackey calls The Mythical Symbols of Freemasonry.
- EULOGY
Spoken or written praise of a person's life or character. Freemasonry delights to do honor to the memory of departed Brethren by the delivery of eulogies of their worth and merit, which are either delivered at the time of their burial, or at some future period. The eulogy forms the most important part of the ceremonies of a Sorrow Lodge. But the language of the eulogist should be restrained within certain limits; while the veil of charity should be thrown over the frailties of the deceased, the praise of his virtues should not be expressed with exaggerated adulation, slavish flattery Eulogy, just and affectionate is one thing; panegyric, suggesting hypocritical compliment, is something else.
- EUMOLPUS
A king of Eleusis, who founded, about the year 1374 B.C., the Mysteries of Eleusis. His descendants, the Eumoipidae, presided for twelve hundred years over these Mysteries as Hierophants.
- EUNUCH
It is usual, in the most correct Masonic instruction, especially to name eunuchs as being incapable of initiation. In none of the old Constitutions and Charges is this class of persons alluded to by name, although of course they are comprehended in the general prohibition against making Freemasons of persons who have any blemish or maim. However, in the Charges which were published by Doctor Anderson, in his second edition (see Constitution, 1738, page 144) they are included in the list of prohibited candidates. It is probable from this evidence that at the time it was usual to name them in the point of obligation above referred to; and this presumption derives strength from the fact that Dermott, in copying his Charges from those of Anderson's second edition, added a note complaining of the Moderns for having disregarded this ancient law, in at least one instance (see Brother Lawrence Dermott's Ahiman Rezon, edition of 1778). The question is, however, not worth discussion, except as a matter of interest in the history of our ceremonies, since the legal principle is already determined that eunuchs cannot be initiated because they are not perfect men, "having no maim ox defect in their bodies."
- EUPHRATES
One of the largest and most celebrated rivers of Asia. Rising in the mountains of Armenia and flowing into the Persian gulf, it necessarily lies between Jerusalem and Babylon. In the advanced degrees it is referred to as the stream over which the Knights of the East won a passage by their arms in returning from Babylon to Jerusalem.
- EURESIS
From the Greeli, xxpfatS, meaning a discovery. That part of the initiation in the Ancient Masteries which represented the finding of the body of the god or hero whose death and resurrection was the subject of the initiation. The Euresis has been adopted in Freemasonry, and forms an essential incident of Craft instruction.
- EUROPE
An appellation or name at times given to the west end of the Lodge.
- EVA
The acclamation or cry used in the French Rite of Adoption.
- EVANGELICON
The gospel belonging to the so-called Ordre du Temple at Paris, and professedly a relic of the real Templars. Some believe in its antiquity; but others, from external and internal evidence, fix its date subsequent to the fifteenth century. It is apparently a garbled version of Saint John's Gospel. It is sometimes confounded with the Leviticon but, though bound up in the same printed volume, it is entirely distinct.
- EVANGELIST
See Saint John the Evangelist.
- EVATES
The second Degree in the Druidical system. Of the three Degrees the first was the Bards, the second Evates or Prophets, and the third Druids or Sanctified Authorities.
- EVEILLES, SECTE DES
Meaning in French, Sect of the Enlightened. According to Thory (Acta Latomorum i, 31?) a society presumed to be a branch of Weishaupt's Illumines that existed in Italy.
- EVERGETEN, BUND DER
A German expression meaning League of Doers of Good, a term taken from the Greek word fVfpefmS, a benefactor. A secret order after the manner of the Illuminati. It was founded in Silesia about 1792, by a certain Zerboni of Glogau, Lieut. von Leipzinger, the merchant Contessa, Herr von Reibnitz, and five others; that Fessler worked in it- that it used Masonic forms. Some of the members were imprisoned at Breslau in 1796, and about 1801 the society became defunct.
- EVERGREEN
An evergreen plant is a symbol of the immortality of the soul. The ancients, therefore, as well as the moderns, planted evergreens at the heads of graves. Freemasons wear evergreens at the funerals of their Brethren, and cast them into the graves. The acacia is the plant which should be used on these occasions, but w here it cannot be obtained, some other evergreen plant, especially the cedar, or box, is used as a substitute (see Acacia).
- EVORA, KNIGHTS OF
There is a very ancient city in Portugal, of 1200 population, bearing the name of Evora. Quintus Sertorius took it 80 B.C. The Roman antiquities are unrivaled. The aqueduct erected by Sertorius has at one end a marvelous architectural tower rising high above the city, perfect in its condition as when built, 70 B.C. In 1147, King Alfonso I, of Portugal, instituted the Order of the New Militia in consequence of the prowess exhibited by the troops in the siege of Lisbon against the Moors. When they conquered Evora in 1166, the king by decree changed their name to Knights of Evora.
- EXALTED
A candidate is said to be exalted, when he receives the Degree of Holy Royal Arch, the seventh in American Freemasonry. Exalted means elevated or lifted up, and is applicable both to a peculiar ceremony of the Degree, and to the fact that this Degree, in the Rite in which it is practiced, constitutes the summit of ancient Freemasonry.
The rising of the sun of spring from his wintry sleep into the glory of the vernal equinox was called by the old sun-worshipers his exaltation; and the Fathers of the Church afterward applied the same term to the resurrection of Christ. Saint Athanasius says that by the expression, "God hath exalted him," Saint Paul meant the resurrection. Exaltation, therefore, technically means a rising from a lower to a higher sphere, and in Royal Arch Masonry may be supposed to refer to the being lifted up out of the first temple of this life into the second temple of the future life. The candidate is raised in the Master's Degree, he is e:rmalted in the Royal Arch. In both the sit embolic idea is the same.
- EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES
It is an almost universal rule of the modern Constitutions of Freemasonry, that an examination upon the subjects which had been taught in the preceding Degree shall be required of every Brother who is desirous of receiving a further Degree; and it is directed that this examination shall take place in an open Lodge of the Degree upon which the examination is made, that all the members present may have an opportunity of judging from actual inspection of the proficiency and fitness of the candidate for the advancement to which he aspires.
The necessity of an adequate comprehension of the mysteries of one Degree, before any attempt is made to acquire a further one, seems to have been duly appreciated from the earliest times; and hence the 13th Article of the Regius Manuscript requires that if a Master has an Apprentice he shall teach him fully, that he may know his Craft ably wherever he may go. (see lines 239 to 244). But there is no evidence that the system of examining candidates as to their proficiency, before their advancement, is other than a modern improvement, and first adopted not very early in the last century.
- EXAMINATION OF THE BALLOT BOX
This is sometimes done after the ballot for a candidate, by presenting the box first to the Junior Warden, then to the Senior, and lastly to the Master, each of whom proclaims the result as dear or foul. This order is adopted so that the declaration of the inferior officer, as to the state of the ballots, may be confirmed and substantiated by his superior.
- EXAMINATION OF VISITORS
The due examination of strangers who claim the right to visit, should be entrusted only to the most skillful and prudent Brethren of the Lodge. And the examining committee should never forget, that no man applying for admission is to be considered as a Freemason, however strong may be his recommendations, until by undeniable evidence he has proved himself to be such. All the necessary forms and antecedent cautions should be observed. Inquiries should be made as to the time and place of initiation, as a preliminary step the Tiler's pledge, of course, never being omitted.
Then remember the good old rule of "commencing at the beginning." Let everything proceed in regular course, not varying in the slightest degree from the order in which it is to be supposed that the information sought was originally received. Whatever be the suspicions of imposture, let no expression of those suspicions be made until the final decree for rejection is uttered. And let that decree be uttered in general terms, such as, "I am not satisfied," or "I do not recognize you," and not in more specific language, such as, "You did not answer this inquiry," or thou are ignorant on that point," The candidate for examination is only entitled to know that he has not complied generally with the requisitions of his examiner. To descend to particulars is always improper and often dangerous.
Above all, never ask what the lawyers call leading questions, which include in themselves the answers, nor in any manner aid the memory or prompt the forgetfulness of the party examined, by the slightest hints. If he has it in him it will come out without assistance, and if he has it not, he is clearly entitled to no aid. The Freemason who is so unmindful of his obligations as to have forgotten the instructions he has received, must pay the penalty of his carelessness, and be deprived of his contemplated visit to that society whose secret modes of recognition he has so little valued as not to have treasured them in his memory.
And, lastly, never should an unjustifiable delicacy weaken the rigor of these rules. Remember, that for the wisest and most evident reasons, the merciful maxim of the law, which says that it is better that ninety-nine guilty men should escape than that one innocent man should be punished, is with us reversed, and that in Freemasonry it is better that ninety anal nine true men should be turned away from the door of a Lodge than that one cowan should be admitted.
- EXCALIBAR
King Arthur's famous sword, which he withdrew from a miraculous stone after the unavailing efforts of 200 of his most puissant barons. Hence, Arthur was proclaimed King. When dying, Arthur commanded a servant to throw the sword into a neighboring lake, but the servant twice eluded this command. When he finally complied, a hand and arm arose from the water, seized the sword by the hilt, waved it thrice, then sinking into the lake, was seen no more.
- EXCAVATIONS
Excavations beneath Jerusalem have for years past been in progress, under the direction of the English society, which controls the "Palestine Exploration Fund," and many important discoveries, especially interesting to Freemasons, have been made.
- EXCELLENT
A title conferred on the Grand Captain of the Host, and Grand Principal Sojourner of a Grand Chapter, and on the King and Scribe of a subordinate Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in America.
- EXCELLENT MASONS
Doctor Oliver ( Historical Landmarks I, 420-8) gives a tradition that at the building of Solomon's Temple there were several Lodges of Excellent Masons, having nine members in each, which were distributed as follows: six Lodges, or fifty-four Excellent Masons in the quarries; three Lodges, or twenty-seven Excellent Masons in the forest of Lebanon; eight Lodges, or seventy-two Excellent Masons engaged in preparing the materials; and nine Lodges, or eighty-one Excellent Masons subsequently employed in building the Temple. Of this tradition there is not the lightest support in authentic history, and it must have been invented altogether for 3 symbolic purpose, in reference perhaps to the musical numbers which it details.
- EXCELLENT MASTER
A Degree which, with that of Super-Excellent blaster, was at one time given as preparatory to the Royal Arch. The latter Degree nova forms part of what is known as Cryptic Masonry. Crypt is a word from the Latin language as well as the Greek, meaning hidden, and frequently applied to a vault or secret chamber.
- EXCELLENT, MOST
See Most Excellent
- EXCELLENT, RIGH
See Right Excellent
- EXCELLENT, SUPER
See Super-Excellent Masons
- EXCLUSION
In England the Grand Lodge alone can expel from the rights and privileges of Freemasonry. But a subordinate Lodge may exclude a member after giving him due notice of the charge preferred against him and of the time appointed for its consideration.
The name of any one so excluded, and the cause of his exclusion must be sent to the Grand Secretary and to the Provincial or District Grand Secretary if the Lodge be in a Province or District. No Freemason excluded is eligible to any other Lodge until the Lodge to which he applies has been made acquainted with his exclusion, and the cause, so that the Brethren may exercise their discretion as to his admission (Constitutions, Rules 210 and 212). However, it was enacted by the Grand Lodge of England in 1902 that when a member is three years in arrears he ceases to hold membership in his Lodge and can regain his former standing only by submitting a regular petition and passing the ballot (see Book of Constitutions, Article 175).
In the United States of America the expression used as synonymous with Exclusion is striking from the roll, except that the latter punishment is inflicted for non-payment of Lodge dues. The general practice is to suspend for non-payment of dues, the Brother regaining his standing, if there be no other objection to him, by paying the arrearages that he owed.
- EXCLUSIVENESS OF FREEMASONRY
The exclusiveness of Masonic benevolence is a charge that has frequently been made against the Order; and it is said that the charity of which it boasts is always conferred on its own members in preference to strangers. It cannot be denied that Freemasons, simply as Freemasons, have ever been more constant and more profuse in their charities to their own Brethren than to the rest of the world; that in apportioning the alms which God has given them to bestow, they have first looked for the poor in their own home before they sought those who were abroad; and that their hearts have felt more deeply for the destitution of a Brother than a stranger.
The principle that governs the Institution of Freemasonry, in the distribution of its charities, and the exercise of all the friendly affections, is that which was laid down by Saint Paul for the government of the infant church at Galatia: "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians vi, 10).
This sentiment of preference for those of one's own faith, thus sanctioned by apostolic authority, is the dictate of human nature, and the words of Scripture find their echo in every heart. "Blood," says the Spanish proverb, "is thicker than water," and the claims of kindred, of friends and comrades to our affections, must not be weighed in the same scale with those of the stranger, who has no stronger tie to bind him to our sympathies, than that of a common origin from the founder of our race. All associations of men act on this principle. It is acknowledged in the church which follows with strict obedience the injunction of the apostle; and in the relief it affords to the distressed, in the comforts and consolations which it imparts to the afflicted, and in the rights and privileges which it bestows upon its own members, distinguishes between those who have no community with it of religious belief, and those who, by worshiping at the same altar, have established the higher claim of being of the household of faith.
It is recognized by all other societies, which, however they may, from time to time, and under the pressure of peculiar circumstances, extend temporary aid to accidental cases of distress, carefully preserve their own peculiar funds for the relief of those who, by their election as members, by their subscription to a written constitution, and by the regular payment of arrears, have assumed the relationship which Saint Paul defines as being of the household of faith.
It is recognized by governments, which, however liberally they may frame their laws, so that every burden may bear equally on all, and each may enjoy the same civil and religious rights, never fail, in the privileges which they bestow, to discriminate between the alien and foreigner, whose visit is but temporary or whose allegiance is elsewhere, and their own citizens.
This principle of preference is universally diffused, and it is well that it is so. It is well that those who are nearer should be dearer; and that a similitude of blood, an identity of interest, or a community of purpose, should give additional strength to the ordinary ties that bind man to man. man, in the weakness of his nature, requires this security by his own unaided efforts, he cannot accomplish the objects of his life nor supply the necessary wants of his existence. In this state of utter helplessness, God has wisely and mercifully provided a remedy by implanting in the human breast a love of union and an ardent desire for society.
Guided by this instinct of preservation, man eagerly seeks communion of man, and the weakness of the individual is compensated by the strength of association. It is to this consciousness of mutual dependence, that nations are indebted for their existence, and governments for their durability. And under the impulse of the same instinct of society, brotherhoods and associations are formed, whose members, concentrating their efforts for the attainment of one common object, bind themselves by voluntary ties of love and friendship, more powerful than those which arise from the ordinary feelings of human nature.
- EXCLUSIVE TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION
Grand Lodges in the United States have adhered to State lines as the limits of their activities, but this has not been so strictly the custom elsewhere. Some particulars of the situations arising from the contact of different practices may be seen in the following statement of the action taken by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania against the Grand Orient of France.
At the Annual Grand Communication of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, held at Philadelphia, December 27, 1924, Right Worshipful Past Grand Master Brother Abraham M. Beitler, Chairman of Committee on Clandestine Lodges in Pennsylvania, presented the following report, when, on motion, the resolutions attached thereto were unanimously adopted.
The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana at its fifty-seventh Annual Communication held February, 1869, delivered an address, in the course of which he said:
"It has become my painful duty to bring to your notice the action of the Grand Orient of France, with whom we have for many years been upon the most friendly and brotherly terms of esteem and regard. The Grand Orient of France has aided and assisted this Grand Lodge in times of trouble and anxiety, by her firm adherence to constitutional law and Masonic justice. In the month of December I received from the office of the Grand Orient through the post office an official bulletin containing a decree which certainly surprised me. It has, with a strange perversion, and unaccountable want of consistency, recognized a clandestine body in this city, calling itself the Supreme Council of the Sovereign and Independent State of Louisiana.
"It will become your painful duty to take notice of this action of the Grand Orient of France, and make such decree as in your wisdom may be found expedient and necessary, to sustain the dignity of this Grand Lodge and maintain its authority over Craft Masonry in this Jurisdiction. There can be no divided authority. Upon one principle we are all agreed, and while we have life we will sustain it. The Grand Lodge of Louisiana will never submit to a divided jurisdiction, and in this position she will be sustained by every Grand Lodge in North America, for all are interested alike in sustaining each other. This principle once abandoned, the power of Masonry for good is gone. Discord and confusion will reign supreme, and the sun of Masonry will set in a sea of darkness."
The Committee on Foreign Correspondence submitted a report on the Grand Orient's action, with full translations of the decrees and debates relating to its recognition of the "Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in and for the Sovereign State of Louisiana" and entering into fraternal relations with that clandestine Body. The report concluded with these words:
"This spirit, which seeks to impair the honor and subvert the dignity of this Grand Lodge, will, we doubt not, be properly appreciated by our sister Grand Lodges, and in submitting the following resolutions, your committee feel confident that the Grand Lodge will receive from her American sisters the same sympathy and support which they so generously extended to the Grand Lodge of New York, when her jurisdiction was invaded by the Grand Lodge of Hamburg." The resolutions offered with the above report were:
RESOLVED, I
That all Masonic correspondence and fraternal relations between the Grand Lodge of Louisiana and the Grand Orient of France cease and be discontinued and no Mason oaring allegiance to that Grand Body be recognized as such in this jurisdiction
RESOLVED, II
That a duly authenticated copy of the above report and resolution be transmitted to the Grand Orient of France and to all regularly constituted American and European Gralld Lodges. The report and the resolutions were adopted.
In his address at the Annual Grand Communication of the same Grand Lodge, December 27, 1869, the retiring Right Worshipful Grand Master Brother Richard Vaux, said:
"Within the past year, the action of the Grand Orient of France in recognizing a spurious Grand Lodge within the Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, has been considered by most of the Grand Lodges of the United States. In each case our sister Grand Lodges have denounced this action as un-masonic. New York and Massachusetts have exhaustively discussed the question and acted accordingly. I am most happy to find that the principle the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania has ever proclaimed, that a Grand Lodge must be supreme and sovereign within its jurisdiction, is thus acknowledged. But in the case before us, another principle which this Grand Lodge has maintained is also accepted as Masonic law. We have asserted that one Grand Lodge will not permit any interference, by any other Grand Lodge, with her sovereignty as a Grand Body; that her power within her jurisdiction tolerates no rival; and when an effort is made to that end, it is the solemn duty of all Grand Lodges to protest, and take such other action as the ease demands. The facts are so clear, in this unjustifiable interference in Louisiana, that I deem it proper to state, that all correspondence between the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the Grand Orient of France should cease, till the latter recalls its presumptuous interceding with the affairs of our sister Grand Lodge of Louisiana, and yields assent to that paramount principle of American Free masonry, which lies at the foundation of the supreme sovereignty of Grand Lodges of Freemasons in the United States."
The Grand Master of Louisiana at the fifty-eighth Annual Communication, held February 14, l870, said:
"The Grand Orient of France still maintains the anomalous position which it so unwisely assumed now more than a year ago, and still holds in its embrace a spurious and clandestine body, without any legal title whatever to be called Masonic. From our Brethren in every quarter of the globe come messages of approval of the course taken by our Grand Lodge and in no instance, where the matter of difference has been clearly understood, has Louisiana been condemned for the firm stand she has taken. Even the Supreme Council of England, of the Scottish Rite, has adopted resolutions censuring the Grand Orient of France for having accorded recognition to a spurious body of men, who indeed claim to be Masons, but who have never been elsewhere recognized as such, and who have no legal or proper right to the title, upon so specious and so false a plea as that given by Grand Master Mellinet, and for its improper infringement of the jurisdiction rights of our Grand Lodge." At that Annual Communication the Committee on Foreign Correspondence in its report said: "The action of our Grand Lodge, suspending fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France on account of its recognition of the spurious Supreme Council of Louisiana, which has established Symbolic Lodges in our jurisdiction, has been fully sustained at home and abroad. The principle, that the Grand Lodge of each state has exclusive jurisdiction over the symbolic degrees within its territorial limits, is so well established in the United States, that we confidently relied on our sister Grand Lodges extending to us the same generous sympathy and support which New York received when its jurisdictional rights were invaded by the Grand Lodge of Hamburg.
"Nor have we been disappointed; New York led the van in declaring non-intercourse with the foreign invader. Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin have followed its example; Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ohio have protested in a firm, Eet courteous manner, against the act of the Grand Orient; Vermont and a number of other states have also spoken in terms not to be misunderstood, but we have not yet received official notice of their action. So far as the proceedings received in season for this report give the action of the Grand Lodges or the views of their committees on the subject, we have submitted them without note or comment the able manner in which the question has been discussed from every point of view, precluding any remarks of our own.
"Here, however, we may be permitted to remark that the question is one which appeals to every Grand Lodge, for if the act of the Grand Orient had been permitted to pass unrebuked, the sovereignty of each Grand Lodge would have been endangered, as what is our case today may be theirs tomorrow and in defending our rights they are maintaining their own. yet not the less gratefully do we acknowledge the fraternal spirit which has been displayed in sustaining the action of our Grand Lodge, and, while we regret the occasion ever arose, it is a matter of congratulation that it has shown to the Masonic powers of the world that the Grand Lodges of the United States will submit to no foreign interference with their rights. It has demonstrated that any attempt in that direction will only unite them more closely together in the bonds of Masonic fellowship, and that, while "separate as the billows, they are one as the sea." The following further comments were made by Brother Beitler:
"Your Committee on Clandestine Lodges in Pennsylvania have within the past month learned that a clandestine body in our State calling itself Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Universal Free Masonry' and claiming the right to confer the first three degrees in Freemasonry has been taken under the wind of the Grand Orient of France. The two bodies have entered into formal contract, some of the provisions of which were interesting.
"It provides that the body in our State shall pay annually to the Grand Orient of France the sum of $10, for each active lodge; that it shall buy all diplomas it may require of the Grand Orient at the price of 15 francs each, the diplomas to be on parchment, printed in both English and French. "The body working under the Grand Orient is to have the right to institute new Lodges in the United States wherever it may deem convenient. It shall receive for them warrants issued from the Grand Orient of France, but it is not to be permitted to create Lodges in territories of the United States outside of Pennsylvania with which the Grand Orient of France is in fraternal relations. These territories are stated as being Alabama, Iowa, Minnesota, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
"lt is further provided that should there be at any time in the future a cessation of the relations of the Grand Orient of France with one or more of these states, then the body in Pennsylvania shall have 'plenitude of action.'
"The body in Pennsylvania is given the right to practice the Scottish Rite including the Symbolic Degrees.
"In the official records of the Grand Orient of France for December, 1923, the Grand Secretary submits a report which was adopted. In it he said:
"'The Regional Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was abandoned by the Grand Orient of Spain. They now ask the Grand Orient of France to take it under its wings. You will recall that we entered into relations with the Grand Master of this Grand Lodge through the intermediation of our Brother Beni, Past Master of L'Atlantide.... The correspondence with the Pennsylvania Brethren was through a Brother Gould, Lawyer.'
"We feel that Pennsylvania should with the utmost emphasis denounce this action of the Grand Orient of France. We cannot acknowledge the right of any other Grand Body outside of our Grand Jurisdiction (whether regarded by us as legitimate or not—whether in fraternal relations with us or not) to invade the territory of our Grand Lodge.
"The association which the Grand Secretary of the Grand Orient of France styles the 'Regional Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania' and which we have called the 'Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Universal Freemasonry,' is not lawfully in possession of the rights which the Grand Orient attempted to give.
"We deem it our duty to call the matter to the attention of the Grand Lodge. We ask the adoption of the following:
RESOLVED, III
That the Grand Secretary forward to each of the Grand Lodges in the United States a copy of this report, calling their attention to the fact that the body which the Grand Orient of France has "taken under its wings is authorized by the Grand Orient of France to create Lodges in every State, excepting Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, Rhode Island and New Jersey, and that its power is to extend to those States if and when the fraternal relations nos existing between the several Grand Lodges of those States and the Grand Orient of France cease.
RESOLVED FURTHER
That this Grand Lodge, which has always firmly held and still holds the views expressed by our Right Worshipful Grand Plaster Brother Richard Vaux (set out in the foregoing report) respectfully and confidently asks its sister jurisdictions to adopt those views as fundamental in Freemasonry and requests those Grand Lodges which are in fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France to give their adherence to those views and sever further relations with the said Grand Orient.
The above resolutions presented by Brother Beitler, Chairman of the Committee on Clandestine Lodges in Pennsylvania, were unanimously adopted by the Grand Lodge of that State (see Territorial Jurisdiction).
- EXCUSE
Lodges in the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth inflicted fines for nonattendance at Lodge meetings, and of course excuses were then required to avoid the penalty. But this has now grown out of use. Freemasonry being considered a voluntary institution, fines for absence are not inflicted, and excuses are therefore not now required. The infliction of a fine would, it is supposed, detract from the solemnity of the obligation which makes attendance a duty. The old Constitutions, however, required excuses for non-attendance, although no penalty was prescribed for a violation of the rule. Thus, in the Matthew Cooke Manuscript (of the fifteenth century) it is said, "that every master of this art should be warned to come to his congregation that they come duly, but if (unless) they may be excused by some manner of cause" (see lines 7404). And in the Regius Manuscript (lines 107-12) it is written: That every master, that is a Mason;
- Must ben at the generate congregaeyon
- So that he hyt resonebly y-tolde
- Where that the semble shall be holde;
- And to that semble he must nede gon
- But he have a resenabul skwsacyon.
- EXECUTIVE POWERS OF A GRAND LODGE
See Grand Lodge
- EXEGETICAL AND PHILANTHROPICAL SOCIETY
According to Thory (Acta Latomorumi i 312) founded at Stockholm in 1787. It united Magnetism to Swedenborgianism, the religious doctrines of the celebrated Swedish philosopher; it was at first secret, but when it became known it was killed by ridicule.
- EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE WORK
This term is of frequent use in American Freemasonry. When a lecturer or teacher performs the ceremonies of a Degree for instruction, using generally one of the Freemasons present as a substitute for the candidate, he is said "to exemplify the work." It is done for instruction, or to enable the members of the Grand or subordinate Lodge to determine on the character of the ritual that is taught by the exemplifies..
- EXODUS
The date of the Exodus has been determined by the excavations recently made at Tel elMaskhtta. This is the name of large mounds near Tel el-Reber, excavated by M. Naville for the Egyptian Exploration Fund, wherein he found inscriptions showing that they represent the ancient City of Pithom or Succoth, the "treasure-cities" (Exodus i, 11), and that Ramses II, was the founder. This was the Pharaoh of the oppression. The walls of the treasurechambers were about six hundred and fifty feet square and twenty-two feet thick. From Pithom, or Succoth, where the Israelites were at work, they started on their exodus toward Etham (Khetam), then to Pihachiroth (Exodus xiv, 2), and so on north and east. The exodus took place under Meneptah II, who ascended the throne 1325 B.C., and reigned but a short period. It was along the isthmus that the Egyptian army perished pursuing the retreating Israelites as they crossed between Lake Serbonis and the waters of the Mediterranean, amidst the "sea of papyrus reeds," the yam suph, that has often proved disastrous to single or congregated travelers (see S. Birch, LL.D., in Ancient History from the Monuments, Brugsch-Bey's lecture, 17th September, 1874; but more particularly the discoveries above referred to, in Fresh Lights, etc., by A. H. Sayce).
- EXOTERIC
From the Greek combining word, ego, meaning outside. Public, not secret, belonging to the uninitiated (see also Esoteric).
- EXPERT
In Lodges of the French Rite, there are two officers called First and Second Experts, whose duty it is to assist the Master of Ceremonies in the initiation of a candidate. In Lodges of Perfection of the Scottish Rite, there are similar officers who are known as the Senior and Junior Expert.
- EXPERT, PERFECT
Conferred in three grades, and cited in Fustier's collection (see Thory, Acta Latomorum i, 312).
- EXPERT, SUBLIME ENGLISH
Mentioned in Fustier's collection (see Thory, Acta Latomorum i, 312).
- EXPOSITIONS
Very early after the revival of Freemasonry, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, pretended expositions of the ritual of Freemasonry began to be published.
There have been several American expositions but the compilers have only been servile copyists of Morgan, Bernard, and Allyn. The undertaking has been, and continues to be, simply the pouring out of one vial into another.
The expositions which abound in the French, German, and other continental languages, are not attacks upon Freemasonry, but are written often under authority, for the use of the Fraternity.
The usages of continental Freemasonry permit a freedom of publication that would scarcely be tolerated by the English or American Craft.
- EXPULSION
Expulsion is, of all Masonic penalties, the most severe that can be inflicted on a member of the Order, and hence it has been often called a Masonic death. It deprives the expelled of all the rights and privileges that he ever enjoyed, not only as a member of the particular Lodge from which he has been ejected, but also of those which were inherent in him as a member of the Fraternity at large. He is at once as completely divested of his Masonic character as though he had never been admitted, so far as regards his rights, while his duties and obligations remain as firm as ever, it being impossible for any human power to cancel them. He can no longer demand the aid of his Brethren nor require from them the performance of any of the duties to which he was formerly entitled, nor visit any Lodge, nor unite in any of the public or private ceremonies of the Order. He is considered as being without the pale, and it would be criminal in any Brother, aware of his expulsion, to hold communication with him on Masonic subjects.
The only proper tribunal to impose this heavy punishment is a Grand Lodge. A subordinate Lodge tries its delinquent member, and if guilty declares him expelled. But the sentence is of no force until the Grand Lodge, under whose jurisdiction it is working, has confirmed it. And it is optional with the Grand Lodge to do so. or, as is frequently done, to reverse the decision and reinstate the brother. Some of the Lodges in this country claim the right to expel independently of the action of the Grand Lodge, but the claim in Brother Mackey's opinion is not valid. He held that the very fact that an expulsion is a penalty, affecting the general relations of the punished Brother with the whole Fraternity, proves that its exercise never could with propriety be entrusted to a Body so circumscribed in its authority as a subordinate Lodge. Besides, the general practice of the Fraternity is against it. The English Constitutions vest the powers to expel exclusively in the Grand Lodge. A Private Lodge has only the power to exclude an offending member from its own meetings.
All Freemasons, whether members of Lodges or not, are subject to the infliction of this punishment when found to merit it. Resignation or withdrawal from the Order does not cancel a Freemason's obligations, nor exempt him from that wholesome control which the Order exercises over the moral conduct of its members. The fact that a Freemason, not a member of any particular Lodge, who has been guilty of immoral or un-masonic conduct, can be tried and punished by any Lodge within whose jurisdiction he may be residing, is a point on which there is no doubt.
Immoral conduct, such as would subject a candidate for admission to rejection, should be the only offense visited with expulsion. As the punishment is general, affecting the relation of the one expelled with the whole Fraternity, it should not be lightly imposed for the violation of any Masonic act not general in its character. The commission of a grossly immoral act is a violation of the contract entered into between each Freemason and his Order. If sanctioned by silence or impunity, it would bring discredit on the Institution, and tend to impair its usefulness. A Freemason who is a bad man is to the Fraternity what a mortified limb is to the body, and should be treated with the same mode of cure he should be cut off, lest his example spread, and disease be propagated through the constitution.
Expulsion from one of what is called the higher Degrees of Freemasonry, such as a Chapter or an Encampment, does not affect the relations of the expelled party to Blue Masonry. A Chapter of Royal Arch Masons is not and cannot be recognized as a Masonic Body by a Lodge of Master Masons by any of the modes of recognition known to Freemasonry. The acts, therefore, of a Chapter cannot be recognized by a Master Mason's Lodge any more than the acts of a literary or charitable society wholly unconnected with the Order.
Besides, by the present organization of Freemasonry, Grand Lodges are the supreme Masonic tribunals. If, therefore, expulsion from a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons involved expulsion from a Blue Lodge, the right of the Grand Lodge to hear and determine causes, and to regulate the internal concerns of the Institution, would be interfered with by another Body beyond its control. But the converse of this proposition does not hold good. Expulsion from a Blue Lodge involves expulsion from all the other Degrees; because, as they are composes of what Brother Mackey here terms Blue Masons, the members could not of right sit and hold communications on Masonic subjects with one who was an expelled Freemason.
- EXTENDED WINGS OF THE CHERUBIM
An expression used in the ceremonies of Royal Master, a Degree of the American Rite, and intended to teach symbolically that he who comes to ask and to seek Divine Truth symbolized by the True Word, should begin by placing himself under the protection of that Divine Power who alone is Truth, and from whom alone Truth can be obtained. Of Him the cherubim with extended wings in the Holy of Holies were a type.
- EXTENT OF THE LODGE
The extent of a Freemason's Lodge is said to be in height from the earth to the highest heavens; in depth, from the sur,'ace to the center; in length, from east to west; and in breadth, from north to south. The expression is a symbolic one, and is intended to teach the extensive boundaries of Freemasonry and the in terminal extension of Masonic charity (see Form of the Lodge).
- EXTERIOR
The name of the First Degree of the Rite d'Orient, or East, according to the nomenclature of M. Fustier (see Thory, Acta Latomarum i, 31 ).
- EXTERNAL QUALIFICATIONS
The eternal qualifications of candidates for initiation are those which refer to their outward fitness, based upon the exhibited moral and religious character, the established reputation, the frame of body, the constitution of the mind, and social position. Hence they are divided into Moral, Religious, Physical, Mental, and Political for which see Qualifications of Candidates.
The expression in the instruction, that "it is the internal and not the external qualifications that recommend a man to be made a Freemason," it is evident, from the context, refers entirely to "worldly wealth and honors," which, of course, are not to be taken into consideration in inquiring into the qualifications of a candidate.
- EXTINCT LODGE
A Lodge is said to be extinct which has ceased to exist and work, which is no longer on the registry of the Grand Lodge, and whose Charter had been revoked for misuse or forfeited for non-use.
- EXTRA COMMUNICATION
The same as Special Communication (see Communication).
- EXTRANEOUS
From the Latin and applied to that which is outside, and thus said among the Craft to be not regularly made; clandestine. The word is now obsolete in this signification, but was so used by the Grand Lodge of England in a motion adopted March 31, 1735, and reported by Anderson in his 1738 edition of the Constitutions (page 182). "No extraneous brothers, that is, not regularly made, but clandestinely, ... shall be ever qualified to partake of the Mason's general charity."
- EXTRUSION
Used in the Constitution of the Royal Order of Scotland for expulsion. "If a brother shall be convicted of crime by any Court of Justice, such brother shall be permanently extruded" (see Section 29). Not in use elsewhere as a Masonic term.
- EYE
See All Seeing Eye
- EZEKIEL, TEMPLE OF
See Temple of Ezekiel
- EZEL
In Hebrew, iRK-U t:R eben hahezel, meaning the stone of departure, namely, a mile-stone. n old testimonial stone in the neighborhood of Saul's residence, the scene of the parting of David and Jonathan, and the mark beyond which the falling of Jonathan's arrow indicated danger (see First Samuel xx, 19). Hence, a word adopted in the honorary Degree that is called the Mason's XVife and Daughter.
- EZRA
There are two persons named Etra who are recorded in Scripture.
1. Etra, a leading priest among the first colonists who came up to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, and who is mentioned by Nehemiah (xii, i); and, 2. Ezra, the celebrated Jewish scribe and restorer of the law, who visited Jerusalem forty-two years after the second temple had been completed. Calmet, however, says that this second Ezra had visited Jerusalem previously in company with Zerubbabel. Some explanation of this kind is necessary to reconcile an otherwise apparent inconsistency in the English system of the Royal Arch, which makes two of its officers represent Ezra and Nehemiah under the title of scribes, while at the same time it makes the time of the ceremony refer to the laying of the foundation of the second Temple, and yet places in the scene, as a prominent actor, the later Ezra, who did not go up to Jerusalem until more than forty years after the completion of the building. It is more probable that the Ezra who is said in the work to have wrought with Joshua, Haggai, and Zerubbabel, was intended by the original framer of the ceremony to refer to the first Ezra, who is recorded by Nehemiah as having been present; and that the change was made in the reference without due consideration, by some succeeding author whose mistake has been carelessly perpetuated by those who followed him. Dr. George Oliver (see Historical Landmarks ii, 428) attempts to reconcile the difficulty, and to remove the anachronism, by saying that Esdras was the scribe under Joshua, Haggai, and Zerubbabel, and that he was succeeded in this important office by Ezra and Nehemiah. But the English ceremonies make no allusion to this change of succession; and if it did, it would not enable us to understand how Ezra and Nehemiah could be present as scribes when the foundations of the second Temple were laid, and the important secrets of the Royal Arch Degree were brought to light, unless the Ezra meant is the one who came to Jerusalem with Nehemiah. Brother Mackey suggested that there is e confusion in all this which should be rectified.
See also
- En:Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
- En:Albert Mackey
- Albert Mackey
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Links
- Phoenixmasonry http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/mackeys_encyclopedia/e.htm
