Chapter consists of twelve members only. The apron is

white, lined, edged and fringed with black, and the flap is black. In the middle of the apron is painted or em- broidered a flaming heart. The sash is a black ribbon, worn from right to left, and on which, over the breast, ia painted or. embroidered, a flaming heart; and over that the words, Vincere aut Mori. The jewel is a sword, worn suspended to the sash.
SUBLIME PRINCE OF THE ROYAL SECRET. The 32 d degree of the Ancient and Accepted rite, and for many years, or until the institution of the 33d degree, this was the highest degree, or ne plus ultra of Masonry. The body 18 styled a Consistory, and should be held in a building of two stories. The officers are, a Thrice Illustrious Commander, First and Second Lieutenants, a Minister of State, a Grand Chancellor, a Grand Treasurer, a Grand Secretary, ard a Grand Captain of the Guard. In the East is a throne.
364
SUP.
elevated on seven steps, which is the seat of the Thrice Illustrious Commander, who wears a robe of royal purple, and he and the Lieutenants, wear swords. The collar of this degree is black, lined with scarlet, and in the center, at the point, a double-headed eagle, of silver or gold, on a red Teutonic cross. The apron is of white satin, with a border of gold lace, one inch wide, lined with scarlet; on the flap is a double-headed eagle, on each side of which is the flag of the country in which the body is located, the flag of Prussia and the Beauseant of the Kadosh degree; on the apron is the camp of the Crusaders, which is thus explained; it is com- ~osed of an enneagon, within which is inscribed a heptagon, within that a pentagon, and in the center an equilateral triangle, within which is a circle. Between the heptagon and pentagon are placed five standards, in the designs of which are five letters, which form a particular word. The first standard is purple, on which is emblazoned the ark of the covenant, with a palm tree on each side; the ark has the motto Laus Deo. The second is blue, on which is a lion, of gold, couchant, holding in his mouth a golden key, with a collar of the same metal on his neck, and on it is the device, Ad mqjorem Dei gloriam. The third is white, and displays a heart in flames, with two wings; it is surmounted by a crown of laurels. ' The fourth is green, and bears a double-headed black eagle, crowned, holding a sword in his right claw, and a bleeding heart in his left. The fifth bears a black ox, on a field of gold. On the sides of the enneagon are nine tents, with flags, representing the divisions of the Masonic army; on the angles are nine pinions, of the same color as the flag of the tent that precedes it. The hall of the Consistory is hung with black, strewed with tears, of silver. The jewel is a double- headed white and black eagle, rest- ing on a Teutonic cross, of gold, worn attached to the collar or rib- bon. The members are called Sub- lime Princes of the Royal Secret. The moral of the degree teaches opposition to bigotry, superstition, JEWEL.
and all the passions and vices which disgrace human nature.
EXCELLENT MASTER. A degree formerly in councils of Royal and Select Masters. Its
SUPER
conferred
legend is associated with circumstances that occurred at the
destruction of the first temple. Its presiding officer is styled
SWE. 365
Most Excellent King, and represents Zedekiah, the last King of Israel. It is occasionally conferred in a Koyal Arch Chapter as an honorary degree.
SWEDENBORG, BITE OF. This rite was established by Emanuel Swedenborg, the eminent philosopher, who was born at Stockholm,- January 29, 1688, and died at London, March 29, 1772.* His rite was composed of eight degrees, divided into two Temples. The first Temple contained the degrees of Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, Master and Elect. The doctrines of these degrees related to the creation of man, his disobedience and punishment, and the penalties inflicted on the body and soul; all of which is represented in the initiation. The second Temple comprises the degrees of Companion Cohen, Master Cohen, Grand Architect and Knight Commander, and Kadosh. The enlightened Mason
* SWEDENBOBG was well versed in the ancient languages ; philosophy, metaphysics, mineralogy and astronomy were equally familiar to him. He devoted himself to profound researches in regard to the mysteries of Freemasonry, wherein he had been initiated; and in what he wrote respecting it, he established that the doctrines of the institution came from those of the Egyptians, Persians, Jews and Greeks. He endeavored to reform the Roman Catholic religion, and his doctrines were adopted by a great number of persons in Sweden, England, Holland, Kussia, Germany, and lastty, in the United States. His religious system is expounded in the book entitled " The Celestial Jerusalem, or the Spiritual World." If we are to believe him, he wrote it from the dictation of angels, who, for that purpose, appeared to him at fixed periods. Swedenborg divided the Spiritual World, or the Heavenly Jerusalem, into three Heavens; the upper, or third Heaven ; the Spiritual, or second, which is in the middle, and the lower or first, relatively to our world. The dwellers in the third Heaven are the most perfect among- the angels; they receive the chief portion of the divine influences immediately from God, whom they see face to face. God is the sun of the invisible world. From him flow Love and Truth, of which heat and light are but emblems. The angels of the second Heaven enjoy, through the upper Heaven, the divine influence. They see God distinctly, but not in all his splendor; he is to them a star without rays, such as the moon appears to us, which gives more light than heat. The dwellers in the lower Heaven receive the divine influence mediately through the other two Heavens. The attributes of the two latter classes are Love and Intelligence. Each of these celes- tial kingdoms is inhabited by innumerable societies; the angels which compose them are male and female. They contract marriages that are eternal, because it is similarity of inclinations and sympathy that attract thorn to each other. Each pair dwell in a splendid palace, surround, by delicious gardens. Below the celestial regions is the realm of spirit* Thither all mankind go immediately upon their death. The divinb influence, which their material envelope had prevented them from feeling is revealed to them by degrees, and effects their transformation into angels, if they are predestined to that. The remembrance of the world which they have left is insensibly effaced from their memory; their proper instincts are unrestrainedly developed, and prepare them for heaven or hell. So full as heaven is of splendor, love and delight, so full is hell of darkness and misery, despair and hate. Such were the reveries on which Pernetti and (Jabrianca founded their Illuminism.
31
866 SWE— SYM.
will find much of the elements of Freemasonry in tho writings of Swedenborg, who, for forty-eight years of his life, devoted himself to the cultivation of science, and pro- duced a great number of works, in which he broached many novel and ingenious theories in theology, which obtained for him a remarkable celebrity in several parts of the world. The Marquis de Thome, in 1783, taking up the system that had been adopted in the Lodge of Avignon, in 1760, modi- fied it to suit his own views, and instituted what afterward became known as the Rite of Swedenborg.
SWEDISH RITE. This rite was composed in 1767, for
the Grand Lodge at Stockholm, by Count Zinnendorf,
who had created a similar rite for the National Grand
Lodge of Germany, at Berlin; he preserving, however, in
the Swedish rite something of the religious system of the
philosophic Mason, Swedenborg. It is composed of twelve
degrees: 1. Apprentice; 2. Fellow-Craft; 3. Master; 4. Elect
Master, forming, in the system of Zinnendorf, the Scottish
Apprentice and Scottish Fellow-Craft, called also Apprentice
and Fellow-Craft of St. Andrew; 5. Scottish Master, called
also Master of St. Andrew, or Grand Scottish Elect, and
conferring the rank of civil nobility in the kingdom; 6.
Knight of the East, or Novice, called by Zinnendorf, the
Favorite of St. John, and composed of the Knights of the
East, and a part of the Knights of the West, called by Thory,
the Brothers Stuart, and said by him to be composed of the
degrees of Knight of the East and Prince of Jerusalem;
7. Knight of the West, or True Templar, or the Favorite
Brother of Solomon, in the system of Zinnendorf called the
Perfect Elect, and also styled True Capitulate, Templar
Master of the Key; 8. Knight of the South, Commander,
Master Templar, Grand Dignitary, Elect, called also Favorite
Brother of St. John, or of the Blue Cordon ; 9. Favorite Brother
of St. Andrew, or the Violet Cordon, called also Knight of
the Purple Cordon; 10, 11 and 12, Brother of the Red Cross,
divided into three classes, thus: 10. Dignitary Member of
the Chapter; 11. Grand Dignitary of the Chapter, held by the
Prince Royal; 12. The Master Regnant, which can be held by
the King of Sweden only, whose title is "The Stadtholder,"
or Vicar of Solomon. This rite was never, we believe.
practiced out of Sweden.
SYMBOL. Latin, Symbolum. A word derived from the Greek mmfefon, from sumballein, to suspect, divine, compare; a word of various meaning, even with the ancients, who used it to denote a sign, a mark, watchword, signal, token, seal- ring, etc. Its meaning is still more various in modern times.
TAB.
367
Symbol is generally used as synonymous with emblem. It is not confined, however, to visible figures, but embraces every representation of an idea by an image, whether the latter is presented immediately to the senses, or merely brought before the mind by words. Men, in the infancy of society, were incapable of abstract thought, and could convey truths only by means of sensible images. In fact, man, at all times, has a strong propensity to clothe thoughts and feelings in images, to make them more striking and living; and in the early periods of our race, when man lived in intimate com- munion with nature, he readily found, in natural objects, forms and images for the expression of moral truths; and even his conceptions of the Deity were derived directly from natural objects. Freemasonry is a complete system of sym- bolic teaching, and cannot be known, understood or appreci- ated only by those who study its symbolism, and make themselves thoroughly acquainted with its occult meaning. To such, Freemasonry has a grand and sublime significance. Its symbols are moral, philosophical and religious, and all these are pregnant with great thoughts, and reveal to the intelligent Mason the awful mystery of life, and the still more awful mysterv of death.
T.
TABEKNACLE. The Hebrew word properly signifies handsome tent. There were three public tabernacles among the Jews previous to the building of Solomon's
Temple. The first, which Moses erected, was called "the Tabernacle of the Congregation." In this he gave audience,
368 TAL.
heard eauses, and inquired of God. The second was that which Moses built for God, by his express command. The third public tabernacle was that which David erected in Jerusalem for the reception of the ark when he received it from the house of Obed-edom. But it is the second of these, called the Tabernacle, by way of distinction, that we have more particularly to notice. This tabernacle was of an ob- long, rectangular form, 30 cubits long, 10 broad, an 1 10 in height, which is equivalent to 55 feet long, 18 broad, and 18 high. The two sides and the western end were formed of boards of shittim wood, overlaid with thin plates of gold, and fixed in solid sockets or vases of silver. It was so con- trived as to be taken to pieces and put together again at pleasure. It was covered with four different kinds of cur- tains. The first and inner curtain was composed of fine linen, magnificently embroidered with figures of cherubim, in shades of blue, purple and scarlet; this formed the beau- tiful ceiling. The next covering was made of goat's hair; the third of rams' skins died red; and the fourth, and outward covering, was made of other animals' skins, colored red. The east end of the tabernacle was ornamented with five pillars, from which richly-embroidered curtains were sus- pended. The inside was divided, by a richly-embroidered vail of linen, into two parts, the holy place and the holy of holies; in the first of which were placed the altar of incense, the table with the shew-bread, and the seven-branched can- dlestick; in the latter place were the ark, the mercy-seat, and the cherubim. Besides this vail of fine linen which sepa- rated the most holy place, the tabernacle was furnished with other vails of divers colors, viz: of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen, (white,) from which are derived the em- blematic colors of the several degrees of Masonry. Within the chamber of a Royal Arch chapter, a temporary structure, after the plan of the one built by Moses, may be erected, as a representation of the tabernacle constructed by Zerubbabel, near the ruins of the first temple, after the return of the captives from Babylon, while the people were building the second temple.
TALMUD. A word derived from the Hebrew verb lainad, ho has learned. It means doctrine. Among the modern Jews, it signifies an immense collection of traditions, illus- trative of their laws and usages, forming twelve folio volumes It consists of two parts— tke Mishua and the Gemara. The Mishua is a collection of Rabbinical rules and precepts, made in the second century of the Christian era. The whole civil constitution and mode of thinking, as well as language oi the Jews, had gradually undergone a complete revolution,
TAS— TAT. 369
and were entirely different, in the time of our Savior, from what they had been in the early periods of the Hebrew com- monwealth. The Mosaic books contained rules no longer adapted to the situation; and its new political relations, con- nected with the change which had taken place in the religious views of the people, led to many difficult questions, for which no satisfactory solution could be found in their law. The rabbins undertook to supply this defect, partly by commen- taries on the Mosaic precepts, and partly by the composition of new rules, which were looked upon as almost equally binding with the former. These comments and additions were called the oral traditions in contradistinction to the old law or written code. The rabbi Juda — surnamed the Holy — was particularly active in making this collection — 150 B. c. — which received the name of Mishna, or second law. The later rabbins busied themselves in a similar manner in the composition of commentaries and explanations of the Mishna. Among these works that of the rabbi Jachanan (composed about 230 A. D. ) acquired the most celebrity, under the name of G-emara — Chaldaic for completion or doctrine. This Mishna and Gemara, together, formed the Jerusalem Tal- mud, relating chiefly to the Jews of Palestine. But after the Jews had mostly removed to Babylon, and the synagogue of Palestine had almost entirely disappeared, the Babylonian rabbins gradually composed new commentaries on the Mishna, which, about 500 A. D., were completed, and thus formed the Babylonian Talmud. Many Masonic traditions are drawn from the Talmud; and it contains a more comprehensive description of Solomon's Temple than can be found any- where else.
TASTING. One of the five human senses. The sense by which we perceive or distinguish savors; or the perception of outward objects through the instrumentality of the tongue or the organs of taste. This sense is fully explained in the Fellow-Craft's degree.
TATNAI AND SHETHAR-BOZNAI. Words used in a Masonic degree. They are the names of two Persian officeis who bore a peculiar enmity to the Jews, and endeavored to interrupt the building of the second temple, which had been commenced by Zerubbabel. Reports of their interference having been made to Darius, the Persian king, that monarch issued a decree commanding the above-mentioned officers not only to desist from interrupting that labor, but also to render such assistance in the work as he should, from tim* to time, prescribe. Vide Ezra v., 3.
370
TEA.
TEACHINGS, SYMBOLIC, OF THE DEGREES. Freemasonry teaches by symbols and symbolical ceremonies, and hence each degree, through these agencies, illustrates and inculcates some particular virtue, or commemorates some important event. The following is an analytical summary of the ideas, which the several degrees of the Order seek to enforce; thus in Ancient Craft Masonry:
1. Dependence; the weak aud helpless condition of the human family on their entrance into the world; the ignorance and darkness that surround man until the moral r.nd intellectual light of reason and revelation breaks in upon his mind; obedience, secrecy and humility, aud the practice of charity.
2. The struggle for knowledge after the release of the mind from the bondage of darkness and igno- rance; its attainment, and the reward due to industry and perseverance.
3. Progress in the great duties of aiding humanity from the thraldom of vice and error; man's regenera- tion; higher sphere of happiness; integrity; mortality of the body, and the immortality of the soul.
4. Order, regularity, and a proper system of discrimination between the worthy and the unworthy; the just reward to the industrious and faithful.
5. Virtue and talent the only proper distinctions of position. All associations of men must, for the
sake of harmony and order, be governed by well regulated laws.
6. The completion and dedication of the temple; the spiritual edifice which man must erect in his soul — that "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; '" an acknowl- edgement that the labors of man s earthly toil are over, and he is received into the abode of the just and perfect.
7. The revelation of the divine law; an exhibition of the toils and vicissitudes of man's pilgrimage through life; a realization of the sublime truths promised, when the vails which obscure the mental vision are drawn aside, and man, raised and regenerated, shall enjoy the blessings of peace and joy in the heavenly temple.
8. The mysteries revealed; man rewarded according to his work; the Alpha and Omega — the first and the last.
9. Skill and ingenuity appreciated; justice and mercy accorded to the faithful and worthy.
In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish rite, which is now widely diffused throughout the world, the principles and teachings are:
1. Development of Freemasonry; instructions regarding its laws and uses.
2. Labor, wisdom, and virtue, the true means of securing enduring happiness.
3. Homage rendeied to inflexible honor which esteemed duty more than life.
4. Discretion of the wise; watch- fulness of the good workman.
5. Perfection of the mind and heart; knowledge of sublime truths, and the tribute of respect due to the viituous.
6. Necessity of knowing the foun- tain of so many precious discoveries, and the danger of a vain curiosity.
7. Equity, in judging both th* actions of others and our own.
8. A spirit of order and analysis.
9. Zeal and talent; gocd example; generous efforts to advance the cause of truth and destroy error.
10. Extinctic n of wicked passions and perverse inclinations.
11. Reformation of manners, and the dissemination of true and use- ful knowledge.
TEM.
12 Persevering courage.
13. Tribute to the memory of some of the first instructors of men.
14. Adoration of the Grand Archi- tect of the Universe.
15. The honor due to the libera- tors of their country.
16. Joyfulness inspired by the heroism of the Knight-liberators of the East.
17. Advantages promised by Free- masonry.
18. The triumph of light over darkness.
19. Pontificate of the universal and regenerated religion.
20. On the duties of the Masters of Masonic Lodges.
21. The dangers of selfish ambi- tion, and the necessity of sincere repentance therefor.
22. Ancient chivalry propagative of generous sentiments. Devotion to the Order.
23. Oversight of the conservators of Freemasonry.
24. Preservation of the doctrineb of the Order.
25. Emulation \* hich creates use- ful plans.
26. Esteem and rewards due to genius.
27. Superiority and independence given by talents and virtue.
28. Truth harmonized and un- vailed with respect to all things which concern the happiness of man.
29. A degree consecrated to An- cient Scotch Masonry.
30. The purpose and aim of Free- masonry in all its degrees.
31. The exalted justice of the Order.
32. Military government of the Order.
33. Administration of the Supreme rite. ' ' Ne plus uliru. "
TEMPLARISM, SCOTTISH. This is a form of the Knight- Templar system which does not recognize the three sym- bolical degrees as its foundation, and, consequently, does not require its members to be Freemasons. It is constituted in two divisions: 1. Novice and Esquire; 2. Knight Templar. The latter is composed of three degrees: 1. Knights of Priories; 2. Knights Commanders, elected from the Knights; 3. Knights Grand Crosses, nominated by the Grand Master. The Grand Conclave assembles four times a year, and the Grand Officers are elected at the March session. They con- sist of Grand Master, Past Grand Masters, Grand Seneschal, Preceptor and Grand Prior of Scotland, Grand Constable and Mareschal, Grand Admiral, Grand Almoner, Grand Chancellor, Grand Treasurer, Grand Secretary, Grand Pre- late, Grand Provost, Grand Beaucennifer, or Standard Bearer, Grand Bearer of the Vexillum Belli, Grand Chamberlain, Grand Steward, and two Grand Aids-de-Camp. " With the exception of some slight resemblance to our Templar system, it has no Masonic character whatever, and can scarcely be classed as a Masonic society.
TEMPLE. An edifice erected for religious purposes. As the grand symbols of Freemasonry are a temple and its ornaments, and to construct temples was the business of the original Masons, some remarks upon these structures cannot
372 TEM.
but be instructive. The word temple is derived from the Latin Templum, and this word templum seems to have been derived from the old Latin verb, Templari, to contemplate. The ancient augurs undoubtedly applied the name templa to those parts of the heavens which were marked out for obser- vation of the flight of birds. Temples, originally, were all open; and hence most likely came their name. These structures are among the most ancient monuments. They were the first built, and the most noticeable of public edifices. As soon as a nation had acquired any degree of civilization the people consecrated particular spots to the worship of their duties. In the earliest instances they contented them- selves with erecting altars of earth or ashes in the open air, and sometimes resorted, for the purposes of worship, to the depths of solitary woods. At length they acquired the practice of building cells or chapels within the enclosure of which they placed the image of their divinities, and assem- bled to ofl'er up their supplications, thanksgivings, and sacri- fices. These were chiefly formed like their own dwellings. The Troglodytes adored their gods in grottoes; the people who lived in cabins, erected temples like cabins in shape. Clemens, Alexandrinus, and Eusebius refer the origin oi temples to sepulchers; and this notion has been illustrated and confirmed from a variety of testimonies.* At the time when the Greeks suspassed all other people in the arts introduced among them from Phoenicia, Syria, and Egypt, they devoted much time, care and expense to the building of temples. No country has surpassed, or perhaps equaled, them in this respect; the Romans alone successfully rivaled them, and they took the Greek structures for models. Ac- cording to Vitruvius, the situations of the temples were regulated chiefly by the nature and characteristics of the various divinities. Thus the temples of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, who were considered by the inhabitants of many cities as their protecting deities, were erected on spots sufficiently elevated to enable them to overlook the whole town, or, at least the principal part of it. Minerva, the tutelary deity of Athens, had her seat on the Acropolis. In like manner the temple of Solomon was built on Mount Moriah.
TEMPLE BAR. A gate between Fleet street and the Strand, London. This handsome piece of Masonry, demon- strating the architectural skill of the Craft, was erected after the great fire, under the Grand Mastership of Sir Christo- pher Wren. It is composed of Portland stcne, of rustic work below, and of the Corinthian order.
' Vide ' ' Treatise on the Worship of Human Spirits, " by Farmer, p. 373.
TEM. 373
TEMPLE OF HEEOD THE GREAT. This temple far exceeded both of its predecessors in magnificence and per- fection. It was surrounded with four courts, rising above each other like terraces. The lower court was 500 cubits square, on three sides surrounded by a double, and on the fourth by a triple row of columns, and was called the " Court of the Gentiles," because individuals of all nations were ad- mitted into it indiscriminately. A high wall separated the court of the women, 135 cubits square, in which the Jewish females assembled to perform their devotions, from the court of the Gentiles. From the court of the women fifteen steps led to the court of the temple, which was enclosed by a colonnade, and divided by trellis-work, into the court of Jewish men and the court of the priests. In the middle of this enclosure stood the temple, of white marble, richly gilt, 100 cubits long and wide, and 60 cubits high, with a porch 100 cubits wide, and three galleries, like the first temple, which it resembled in the interior, except that the most holy place was empty, and the height of Herod's Temple was double the height of Solomon's. The fame of this magnifi- cent temple, which was destroyed by the Romans, and its religious significance with Jews and Christians, render it more interesting to us than any other building of antiquity. Each of these temples holds an important place in the sym- bolism and instructions of Freemasonry, and furnishes the traditions for a large number of degrees.
TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. When Solomon had matured his design of a temple to bo consecrated to the Most High, he found it impossible to carry that design into execution withoiat foreign assistance. The Hebrew nation, constantly struggling for its material existence, and just rising to the condition of a civilized people, had made little proficiency in science and architecture, and especially the ornamental arts. There were few artificers and no architects in Judea. Solo- mon, consequently, applied to Hiram, King of Tyre, for assist- ance, and that monarch sent him a company of Tyrian archi- tects, under the superintendence of Hiram Abif, by whom the temple was erected. It was an oblong stone building, 150 feet in length, and 105 in width. On three sides were corridors, rising above each other to the height of three stories, and con- taining rooms, in which were preserved the holy utensils aiid treasures. The fourth, or front side, was open, and was ornamented with a portico ten cubits in width, supported by two brazen pillars — Jachin and Boaz. The interior was divided into the most holy place, or oracle, 20 cubits long, which contained the aik of the covenant, and was separated by a curtain, or vail, from the sanctuary or holy plaoo, in
374 TEM— TES.
which were the golden candlestick, the table of the s2iew« bread, and the altar of incense. The" walls of both apart- ments, and the roof and ceiling of the most holy place, were overlaid with wood-work, skilfully carved. None but the High-Priest was permitted to enter the latter, and only the priests, devoted to the temple service, the former. The temple was surrounded by an inner court, which contained the altar of burnt offering, the brazen sea and lavers, and such instruments and utensils as were used in the sacrifices, which, as well as the prayers, were offered here. Colonnades, with brazen gates, separated this court of the priests from the outer court, which was likewise surrounded by a wall. This celebrated temple certainly reflected honor on the builders of that age. It was begun on the 2d day of the month Zif, corresponding with the 21st of April, in the year of the world 2992, or 1012 years before the Christian era, and was completed in little more than seven years, on the 8th day of the month Bui, or the 23d of October, in the year 2999, during which period no sound of axe, hammer, or other metallic tool, was heard, everything having been cut and prepared in the quarries or on Mount Lebanon, and brought, properly carved, marked and numbered, to Jerusalem, where they were fitted in by means of wooden mauls. So of Free- masonry, it has always been the boast that its members per- fect the work of edification by quiet and orderly methods, " without the hammer of contention, the axe of division, or any tool of mischief." The excellency of the Craft in the days of our Grand Master Solomon was so great, that, although the materials were prepared so far off, when they were put together at Jerusalem, each piece fitted with such exactness that it appeared more like the work of the Great Architect of the Universe than of human hands. The temple retained its pristine splendor but thirty-three years, when it was plundered by Shishak, King of Egypt. After this period it underwent sundry profanations and pillages, and was at length utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Baby- lon, A. M. 3416, B. c. 588, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried as captives to Babylon.
TEMPLE OF ZERTJBBABEL. This edifice was built on the site of the first temple, under the direction of Zerub- babel, B. c. 536-15. It was considerably larger than the former one, but very inferior to it in beauty and splendor.
TESSELATED PAVEMENT. The word tesselated is de- rived from the word tessela, diminutive of tessera. The pavement which is thus designated is of rich Mosaic work, made of curious square marbles, bricks or tiles, in shape and
B I
I «
bd —
§ 3
5 *
O H
TET— TEU. 377
disposition resembling dice. Various ancient specimens of these have been, from time to time, exhumed in Italy, and other countries of Europe. The tesselated pavement, in the symbolism of Freemasonry, is significant of the varied experiences and vicissitudes of human life.
TETEACTYS. A Greek word— tetraktus— meaning four. It was a Pythagorean symbol represented by a delta formed by points, so arranged that each of the three sides consisted of four. The one point, or Monad, repre- sented God; the two points, or duad, matter; the i / three, the worlds which were formed by the action of the one, or Monad, upon the duad; and the four points referred to the divine reason and those sciences which are the revelations of it.* On this symbol the initiate into the Pythagorean mysteries was sworn. According to Jam- blichus, the oath was as follows:
"Ou ma ametere genee, paradonta tetraktun,
Pagan aeenaou phuseos rizomd* V echousan." "On the sacred tetraktus, eternal fountain of Nature, I swear to thee."
This word is nearly related to the Hebrew Tetragram- inaton; probably derived from it.
TEUTONIC ORDER. A religious order of knights, founded in 1190, by Frederick, Duke of Suabia, during a crusade in the Holy Land, at the time of the siege of Acre, and intended to be confined to Germans of noble rank; hence its name. The rule of the order was similar to that of the Templars. The original object of the association was to defend the Christian religion against the infidels, and to take care of the sick in the Holy Land. As the order was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the knights called themselves also " Brethren of the German house ox bur Lady of Jerusalem." The dress of the members was black, with a white cloak, upon which was worn a black cross with a silver edging. The Grand Master lived first at Jerusalem, but afterward, when the Holy Laud fell again under the power of the Turks, at Venice, and, from 1297, at Marburg. The order was abol- ished by Napoleon, April 24th, 1809. The Teutonic cross forms a part of the decorations of the 27th degree of the Ancient Scotch rite.
* The sum of all the principles of Pythagoras is this: — "The Monad ia the principle of all things. From the Monad came the indeterminate Duad, as matter subjected to the cause of Monad; from the Monad and the indeterminate Duad, numbers ;from numbers, points; from points, lines; from lines, superficies; from superficies, solids; from these solid bodies, whose elements are four — Fire, Water, Air, and Earth—of all which transmuted, and totally changed, the WORLD consists."
3-2
378 THE.
THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. Faith, Hope and Charity are thus named, and are said to constitute the chief rounds of the Masonic ladder, by the aid of which the good Mason expects at last to ascend to the perfect Lodge above. These virtues are enforced in various parts of the rituals, and en- larged upon in the first lecture of Craft Masonry. The great duties of man to God, his neighbor and himself, are the pre- cepts most strongly enforced; hence the points to direct the steps of the aspirant to higher honors are Faith, Hope and Charity.
THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. Lovers of God and man— from Theos, God; philos, friend; and anthropos, man. This was the title assumed by a religious society formed at Paris during the French He volution. The object of its founders was to revive public religious ceremonies, which had alto- gether ceased during the reign of terror. The temples were appropriately fitted up, and adorned with moral and religious inscriptions, an ancient altar, with a basket containing flowers, as an offering to the Supreme Being; a pulpit, and allegorica! paintings, and banners with inscriptions and emblematic de- vices. The assemblies were held weekly, on Sunday; the exercises consisted of prayer, moral discourses, and singing. The liturgy of the Theophilanthropists was simple and touch- ing. The festivals of nature, love of country, of conjugal fidelity, were scrupulously observed. The society served a very useful purpose in that remarkable period of French history, but soon disappeared on the reestablishment of Christianity.
THEOSOPHISTS. Those who inquire into the science of divine things. Many eminent Freemasons belonged to this class during the last century. The speculations of the The- osophists, however, were generally of a mystical character. Several Masonic systems were theosophical, as, for example, the rites of Swede nborg, St Martin, Zinnendorff, etc.
THEURGY. The name which the ancients gave to that part of magic which we call white magic, or the white art. The word is formed from Theos, God, and ergon, work, as denoting the art of doing divine things, or things which God alone can do. It is the power of working extraordinary things, by invoking the names of God, the saints, angels, etc. Accordingly, those who have written of magic in general divide it into three parts: theurgy, which operates by divine or celestial means; natural magic, performed by the powers of nature; and necromancy, which proceeds by invoking demons. Theurgy, probably, originated with the Chaldeans
THR-— TRA. 379
or Persians, among whom the magi chiefly occupied them- selves with it. The Egyptians also pretended to great profi- ciency in the art. The former considered Zoroaster its author; the latter, Hermes Trismegistus. It occupied largely the attention of the Cabalists, and, in the last century, entered into the speculations of many distinguished Freemasons.
THREE GLOBES, RITE OF THE GRAND LODGE OF. The Lodge of Three Globes was founded at Berlin, September 23d, 1740. On the 24th of June, 1744, it assumed the title of Grand Royal Mother Lodge of the Three Globes; and on the 5th of July, 1772, it took the name of Grand National Mother Lodge of the Prussian States. At first it confined its work to the three symbolical degrees, but afterward added the French, or modern rite. The rite of the Three Globes is practiced by nearly two hundred Lodges.
THRESHING-FLOOR. Oman, the Jebusite, owned a threshing-floor on Mount Moriah, which David purchased for six hundred shekels of gold. He erected there an altar, and consecrated it to the service of God, by sacrifices and prayers. The Temple of Solomon was afterward built upon it.
TILER. An officer of the Lodge, whose duty is to guard and keep the doors of the Lodge. The name is derived from operative Masonry. A Tiler is one who covers the roof of a building with tiles. So the guardian or sentinel of a Lodge is said to tile or cover the Lodge from all inspection or intrusion on the part of the uninitiated.
TRANSIENT BRETHREN. No stranger should be ad- mitted to the Lodge until he has proved himself a Free- mason. When he has done this he should be received with cordiality and fraternal courtesy. A traveling brother, away from his home and friends, naturally longs for companion- ship, and expects to find it around the altars of Freemasonry. Hospitality to strangers is, always and everywhere, a sacred duty, but it is doubly so to Freemasons. The brother from abroad should be greeted with such warmth and brotherly kindness and interest as will make him feel at home, and that he is surrounded with friends, upon whose sympathy he can rely. Lodges are sometimes too remiss in regard to this duty, and many a warm-hearted brother, when visiting a strange Lodge, has been chilled and grieved by the iciness of his reception.
TRAVELING FREEMASONS. As early as the lime of Solomon the Tyrian and Sidonian builders traveled to foreign
380 TEA.
countries, to exercise their calling. They visited Judea and built the temple at Jerusalem. They went to Rome, and furnished the idea and form of the Colleges of Artists and Builders, whose history extended through the whole period of the Roman empire. These Colleges were succeeded by the Building Corporations of the middle ages. All of these societies seem to be identical, possessed the same character- istics, especially the practice of traveling from place to place, to erect public buildings, as their services might be needed. They traveled through all the countries of Europe; the numerous Gothic churches, monasteries, and cathedrals which are there found are the monuments of their skill. Protected by the charters of the clerical and secular powers, and united in one great society for the construction of each great building, as the cathedrals, etc., these societies erected those gigantic monuments — many of them larger than the temple of Solomon — generally termed Gothic, which excite our amazement. We find these traveling societies everywhere. They were composed of members from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, France, England, Scotland, and other countries, and united under very similar constitutions; for instance, at the erection of the convent of Batalha, in Portugal, about A. D. 1400; of the minster of Strasburg, 1015 to 1439; that of Cologne, 950 and 1211 to 1365; of the cathedral of Meissen, in the tenth century; of the cathedral of Milan, the convent of Monte Cassino, and of the most remarkable buildings of the British isles. That these societies of traveling builders at last gave rise to one, not occupied with actual building — that is to say specula! Lve Masonry, is demonstrated beyond a doubt. Among their symbols were the square, the plumb, the compasses, which are among the most important emblems of modern Free- masonry. They held a convention at Ratisbon in 1459, where it was resolved to constitute a Grand Lodge at Stras- burg, of which the architect of that cathedral, for the time being, should be, ex-officio, the Grand Master. We have a copy of the constitutions, charges, rules, etc., of this Frater- nity in Latin, and some of them are almost, verbatim et literatim, the same as many of our own which we designate "the Ancient Charges." An intelligent Freemason who visited Cologne, in 1847, thus writes: "During the interval between 1248 and 1323, there were not only fifty Masters, and three times as many Fellow-Crafts, daily employed, but a large number of Entered Apprentices from all parts of Christendom, who had come to study the operative and speculative branches of the art, and who carried away with them the principles which directed the erection c f almost
^-
TJDELITAS MQRIBIrS UNICA
TRESTLE BOARD OP THE 18TH CENTUKt.
TRE. 3S3
every Gothic monument of the age. After the secession of the Masons from the church, the works were suspended, leaving only the choir, with its side aisle, completed." This structure, commenced by the traveling Masons six centuries ago, has, within a few years, been finished after the original plans. Another writer,* remarking on the same class of builders, says: "The architects of all the sacred edifices of the Latin church, whenever such arose — North, South, East, and West — thus derived their science from the same central school; obeyed in their designs the same hierarchy; were directed in their constructions by the same principles of propriety and taste; kept up with each other, in the most distant parts, to which they might be sent, the most constant correspondence; and rendered every minute improvement the property of the whole body, and a new conquest of the art. The result of this unanimity was that, at each succes- sive period of the monastic dynasty, on whatever point a new monastry or church might be erected, it resembled all those raised at the same period in every other place, however distant from it, as if both had been built in the same place by the same artist.- For instance, we find, at particular epochs, churches as far distant from each other as the north of Scotland and the south of Italy to be minutely similar in all the essential characteristics.''
TRESTLE-BOARD. "As the operative Mason erects his temporal building in accordance with the designs laid down upon the Trestle-Board by the master-workman, so should we, both operative and speculative, endeavor to erect our spiritual building in accordance with the designs laid down by the Supreme Architect." What is here masonically designated the " Trestle- Board" artists, pcets, and philoso- phers denominate the Ideal. All things thai exist, save God, are created by the ideal, or are reflections of it. The visible creation is God's ideal, wrought out in material forms; and all the works of man are copies of ideal types which he dis- covers traced on the Trestle-Board of his soul. Every nation exists according to an ideal which is reflected in its life, its institutions, and manners; and the life of man, as an indi- vidual, is high or low, as his ideals of life are high or low; or, in other words, it is fashioned after the designs that are traced on the moral Trestle-Board. Societies, also, are con- structed from the ideal. If a society have no ideal, it can have no influence, and can exist but for a brief period, because it has no ability to arouse the enthusiasm, or com- mand the respect and allegiance of men. The Masonic
' Hope "History of Architecture," p. 239.
384 TRI.
society has been able to adapt its-elf to various and changing circumstances of mankind, with facility, because its ideals of society, of benevolence and virtue, rose higher, and shone brighter, as the ages rolled away. It is a part of its mission to keep the minds of its adepts fixed intently upon the designs pictured upon the Trestle-Board, or, to speak more correctly, to establish a perpetual communion between man and the world of glorious ideals.
TEIAD. Three- in one. An important symbol in Free- masonry. The number three was thought holy in the earliest antiquity. Numbers, xix. 12, furnishes an instance. This must have its reason in the nature of the number. It repre- sents to us unity and opposition, the principle and its development or opposition, and the connecting unity — syn- thesis. It is the first uneven number in which the first even one is found : herein lie its peculiar signification and perfec- tion. Even in antiquity it could not escape attention, that this number is to be found wherever variety is developed. Hence we have beginning, middle, end, represented in the heavenly rise, point of culmination and setting; morning, noon, evening, and evening, midnight, morning; and in general, in the great divisions of time, the past, the present, and the future. In space, also, this number three occurs, as in above, midst, and below; right midst, and left; and in general, in the dimensions of space, as length, breadth, and thickness, or depth. To the eye, the number is repre- sented in the regular figure of the triangle, which has been applied to numberless symbolical representations; the ear perceives it most perfectly in the harmonic triad. As the triple is also the basis of symmetry, that three-figured form is found in architecture, and in simple utensils, without any particular reference to symbolical or other significations. Of this kind are the triglyphs in architecture, the tripod, trident, the three thunderbolts of Jupiter, the ancient three- stringed-lyre, though the number has in these objects, as well as in the three-headed Cerberus, other more symbolical relations. The Triad, represented by the delta, is a signifi- cant emblem in a large number of Masonic degrees.
TKINOSOPHISTS, LODGE or. A body of Masons once, if not at present, very popular and influential in Paris. It was at one time the most intelligent society of Freemasons clearer and more satisfactory interpretations of the symbols of Freemasonry than are afforded in the symbolical Lodges It practiced five degrees as follows: 1. Apprentice; 2. Fel low-Craft; 3. Master; 4. Rose Croix, reformed — rectifie—
TEL 385
5. Grand Elect Knight K.'. S.'. We have elsewhere given an account of the Rose Croix degree as it is practiced in this Lodge. The following extracts from the preliminary instruc- tions to a candidate for initiation into the third degree will be found interesting, and will serve to illustrate the way in which these Trinosophical Masons explain the ceremonies and symbols of Freemasonry. " Man, cast, as it were, by accident, upon the earth, feeling that he is born free, and yet seeing himself a slave, seeking the good, and yet often finding the bad, and not being able to attribute to the same author both good and evil, imagined that there were two principles — distinct and separate, eternally antagonistic to each other. It is thus that the ancient Persians recognized Orornazdes, the good principle, and Arimanius, the principle of evil; the Jews, Jehovah and the serpent, and the Egyp- tians Osiris and Typhon. Masons who form an elect family in the social order, who study and seek the true and the good, also have their traditions and allegories. They have the history of the death and resurrection of H.'. A.'., the perfect workman, assassinated by three wicked fellows, notwithstand- ing the efforts of the nine good F.' . C's.'. to save him. This legend, it is true, has been mutilated, and made insignificant and often ridiculous by ignorant expounders of the Masonic mysteries; but all enlightened Masters know that this Perfect Master is the genius of beneficence and truth both in the physical and moral order. In the physical order he is the sun, that glorious luminary which gives life to all nature, and which makes his revolution in the regular space of twelve months, which become, so to speak, his eternal and inseparable companions. These twelve months form the spring, the summer, the autumn, and winter. The first nine of these give the flowers, the fruits, warmth and light. They are the nine good F.'. C's.'. who love and wish to preserve their master. The three last are the authors of the rains, the frosts, and darkness. It may be said that they kill nature and the sun himself. They are the three bad F.'. C's.'. In the moral and spiritual order, H.* . M.' . is the Eternal Reason by which all things are weighed, governed, and preserved. He is also Knowledge, Justice, and Truth, by which the Eternal Reason is manifested. The virtues that honor and bless humanity; the wicked F.' . C's*' are the vices which degrade and kill it."
TRIYTUM. The name given, in the middle ages, to the first three of the seven liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The other four, consisting of arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy, were called the quadriuwm.
386 TRO— TRU.
TROWEL AND SWORD. Emblems in the degree of Knights of the East. They are borrowed evidently from a religious and mechanical society, called the Brethren of the Bridge, which was founded at an early period in France, when a state of anarchy existed, and there was little security for travelers, particularly in passing rivers, on which they were subject to the rapacity of banditti. The object of this society was to put a stop to these outrages by forming fraternities for the purpose of building bridges and estab- lishing ferries and caravansaries on their banks. Always prepared for an attack from the marauders, they carried a sword in one hand and a trowel or hammer in the other. Ramsay says that they adopted this custom in imitation of the Jews at the building of the second temple; and he endeavors to establish some connection between them and the Knights of the Temple, and of St. John of Jerusalem.
TROWEL, OBDEB OF. A Berlin periodical of April, 1791, gives the following account of the formation of this society: "Vasari, in his 'Life of the Painters,' makes mention of a society of artists, called the 'Brotherhood of the Trowel,' which arose as follows. In the course of the fifteenth cen- tury several artists were supping one night in a garden at Florence. By accident their table was placed near a heap of lime, in which a trowel was sticking. One of the guests seized the trowel, and threw, sportively, some lime into the mouth of another guest, exclaiming, at the same time : ' The trowel! the trowel!' This circumstance led to the establish- ment of a fraternity which chose a trowel for its emblem, and St. Andrew for its patron Saint." It is possible, as Clavel conjectures, that this society might have borne some relationship to the Traveling Masons.
TRUE MASONS, ORDER OF. Baileau, a Masonic mystic, founded, 1778, a Lodge of Hermetic Masonry at Montpelier, and gave it this name. It practiced six degrees: 1. The True Mason; 2. The True Mason in the Right Way; 3. Knight of the Golden Key; 4. Knight of the Rainbow; 5. Knight oi the Argonauts; 6. Knight of the Golden Fleece.
TRUE PATRIOTS, SOCIETY OF. In the Latin of the Middle Ages, patriota signified a native, in contradistinction to pere- grinus, a foreigner who did not enjoy the rights of citizen- ship. As the native, i. e., citizen, was considered to be attached by his interests to the commonwealth, the word gradually received the meaning of a citizen who loves his country. Here, however, it has a wider sense still — the
TKU— TWE. 387
True Patriots style themselves the friends of mankind. This brotherhood appeared at Frankfort in the year 1787. Its object was to unite all classes of men together, " through the agency of the learned — the society of Freemasons, and other closely-allied fraternities, for the promotion of their mutual interests." The order conferred several degrees, and appears to have had some connection with the Order of Jerusalem, or the Order of Freemasonry, aprioin.
TRUTH. One of the great tenets of a Freemason's pro- fession. It is the foundation of all Masonic virtues; it is one of our grand principles; for to be good men and true is a part of the first lesson we are taught; and at the commencement of our freedom we are exhorted to be fervent and zealous in the pursuit of truth and goodness. It is not sufficient that we walk in the light, unless we do so in the truth also. All hypocrisy and deceit must be banished from among us. Sincerity and plain dealing complete the harmony of a Lodge, and render us acceptable in the sight of him unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid. There is a charm in truth, which draws and attracts the mind continually toward it. The more we discover, the more we desire; and the great reward is wisdom, virtue, and happiness. This is an edifice founded on a rock, which malice cannot shake or time destroy. In the ancient mythology of Rome, Truth was called the mother of Virtue, and was depicted with white and flowing garments. Her looks were cheerful and pleasant, though modest and serene. She was the protectress of honor and honesty, and the light and joy of human society.
TWELVE GRAND POINTS OF MASONRY. "There are in Masonry," say the ancient lectures, " twelve original points which form the basis of the system, and comprehend the whole ceremony of initiation. Without the existence of these points, no man ever was, or can be, legally and essen- tially received into the Order. Every person who is made a Mason must go through all these twelve forms and cere- monies, not only in the first degree, but in every subsequent one." Esteeming these points of the highest importance in the ceremonies of the Order, our ancient brethren exercised great ingenuity in giving them symbolical explanations, and refer the twelve parts of the ceremony of initiation to the twelve tribes of Israel. Notwithstanding the value and im- portance our ancient brethren deemed these points to possess, the Grand Lodge of England thought proper, at the union in 1813, to strike them from its rituals, and substitute three " new " points. Neither of these systems
3»8
TWE.
have ever been practiced in this country; the "four perfect points" constitute an adequate substitute for either. The symbolism embraced in the explanation of the "Twelve Grand Points " may not be uninteresting or unacceptable to the reader:
1. The opening of the Lodge was symbolized by the tribe of Reuben, because Keuben.was the first-born of his father Jacob, who called him "the beginning of his strength," the door, as it were, by which the children of Israel entered the world. He was, therefore, appropriately adopted as the emblem of that ceremony which is essentially the beginning of every initiation.
2. The preparation of the candi- date was symbolized by the tribe of Simeon, because Simeon prepared the instruments for the slaughter of the Shecliemites, which excited the heavy displeasure of his parent; and, therefore, to perpetuate abhor- rence of his cruelty, candidates for initiation were deprived of all weapons, both offensive and defensive.
3. The report of the Senior Deacon referred to the tribe of Levi, in commemoration of the signal or report which Levi was supposed to have given to his brother Simeon when they assailed the men of Shechem at a time when they were incapable of defending themselves, and put them all to the sword, because of the affront which Dimth, their sister, had received from Shechem, the son of Hamor.
4. The entrance of the candidate into the Lodge was symbolized by the tribe of Judah, because they •yere the first to cross the Jordan and enter the promised land, coming from the darkness and servitude, as it were, of the wilderness by many dangerous and wearisome journeys into the light and liberty of Canaan.
5. The prayer was symbolized by Zebulun, because the blessing and
Krayer of Jacob were given tc Zebu- in, in preference to his brother Issachar.
6. The circumambulation referred to the tribe ot Issachar, because, as
a thriftless and indolent tribe, they required a leader to advance them to an equal elevation with the other tribes.
7. The advancing to the altar was symbolized by the tribe of Dan, that the candidate might be taught by contrast to advance in the way of truth and holiness as rapidly as this tribe advanced to idolatry, for it was among the tribe of Dan that the serpent was first set up for adoration.
8. The obligation referred to the tribe of Gad, in allusion to the solemn vow which was made by Jephthah, Judge of Israel, who was of that tribe.
9. The intrusting of the candidate with the mysteries was symbolized by the tribe of Asher, because he was then presented with the rich fruits of Masonic knowledge, as Asher was said to be the inheritor of fatness and royal dainties.
10. The investure of the lambskin, by which the candidate is declared free, referred to the tribe of Naph- tali, which was invested by Moses with a peculiar freedom, when he said, "O, Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the Lord, possess thou the West and the South."
11. The ceremony of the northea&t corner of the Lodge referred to Jo- seph, because as this ceremony reminds us of the most superficial part of Masonry, so the two half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, of which the tribe of Joseph was composed, were accounted to be more superficial than the rest, as they were the descendants of the grandsons only of Jacob.
12. The closing of the Lodge was symbolized by the tribe of Benjamin, who was the youngest of the sons of Jacob, and thus closed his Ikthor's strength.
TTP— UNL 389
TYPHON. In the Egyptian mythology, a deity, the brother of Osiris. He was considered the author of all the evil in the world. He aspired to the sovereignty of Egypt, possessed by his brother Osiris. His designs were, for a long time, frustrated by Isis, the wife of Osiris; but the latter, while on his return from a tour round the world, was killed by Typhon, who cut his body to pieces, and concealed it. The ceremonies in the Egyptian mysteries were symbolical representations of the various events attending the struggles between Typhon — evil, and Osiris — goodness; their alternate victories and defeats ; the destruction of Osiris, and the search for and restoration of his body; the final annihilation of Typhon — evil, and the spread of peace, happiness and virtue over all the world. Typhon is the analogue of the three evil principles personified in the Master's degree. — Vide articles "Isis," and "Osiris."
u.
UNANIMOUSLY. In order to secure and perpetuate the peace and harmony of the Craft, it has long been the settled policy of the Masonic Fraternity to receive no person to membership, only by the consent of all the brethren who may be present at the time the ballot is taken. Among the regulations of the Grand Lodge of England we find the following in regard to this subject: " No man can be entered a brother in any particular Lodge, or admitted a member thereof, without the unanimous consent of all the members of the Lodge then present, when the candidate is proposed, and when their consent is formally asked by the Master. They are to give their consent in -their own prudent way, either virtually or in form, but with unanimity. Nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation ; because the members of a particular Lodge are the best judges of it; and because, if a turbulent member should be imposed upon them, it might spoil their harmony, or hinder the freedom of their communications, or even break up and. disperse the Lodges, which ought to be avoided by all true and faithful brothers."
UNIVERSI TERRARUM ORBIS ARCHITECTONIb AD GLORIAM INGENTIS. The introduction to all the decrees and official documents of the Supreme Council of the 33d degree of the Ancient and Accepted rite. It is the Latin for the Engli sh phrase : " .To the Glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe." 33
390 UPRr— VA1
UPRIGHT. Every Freemason remembers the instructions given him in the Lodge at the time of his reception, in regard to the " upright posture." " God created man to be upright" i. e., to stand erect. This is the peculiar prerogative of man. All the outward forms and features of the sentient world, whether human or brutal, are created by the nature, disposition or spirit of each race and each individual. The nature of beasts and reptiles is earthly. Prone to the earth, they move horizontally, with downward gaze, or crawl in the dust. To them the ideal world is closed. The glory of the heavens, the grandeur of nature, the beauty of flowers, the wonderful harmonies of sight and sound, which so inspire and elevate man, are unknown to them. Their gaze is downward, and their life is extinguished in the dust, Man, on the contrary, stands erect, and his eyes sweep through the immense regions of space which stretch above his head. His mind, endowed with a divine ernergy, reaches to the most distant star, and measures it, in weight and size, as accurately as one measures the apple that is held in the palm of the hand? The "upright posture" also has an important moral significance for the intelligent Mason. As it reminds him of his relationship to the celestial powers, and that he is endowed with some of the attributes of the Divinity, and with a life which will endure forever, he is admonished thereby, that he should live in a manner worthy of so illustrious an origin, and so glorious a destiny.
URIM AND THUMMIM. Hebrew words, signifying light and perfection or truth. They were a kind of ornament placed in the breast-plate of the High-Priest, by means of which he gave oracular answers to the people.* Critics and commentators are not agpeed as to what these attributes of the breast-plate were, or the mode in which the divine Avill was communicated to the High-Priest by means of them-. Some exegetical writers have given positive explanations of them, but they are not satisfactory. The breast-plate was undoubtedly of Egyptian origin.
V.
VAILS. Attributes of the decorations and furniture of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, which is intended to be a copy of the ancient Jewish Tabernacle. The Tabernacle had
* "And thou shalt put in the breast-plate of judgment the Urim and tho Thummim ; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children at Idrael upon his heart before the Lord continually. " — Exodus xxviii. 30.
VAI— VIS. 391
rails of purple, scarlet blue and white — colors adopted by Freemasoiiry; each one having its symbolical signification.
VAILS, MASTERS OF. In a Koyal Arch Chapter there are three officers who bear this title. Their duty is to guard the blue, purple and scarlet vails, and each one is armed with a sword, and carries a banner of a color corresponding to that of the vail before which he is stationed. The Royal Arch Captain acts as Master of the white vail.
VENERABLE. The title of the Master in French Lodges, equivalent to Worshipful in English and American Lodges.
VENERABLE BROTHER. A title given to each officer of the Grand Orient of France.
VERGER. An official in cathedrals and churches in former times. In Freemasonry, Verger is the name of an officer who discharges important duties in a Council of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. His office is analogous to that of the Senior Deacon of a Master's Lodge.
VISITATION. Masonic usage requires that the Grand Master and other officers of the Grand Lodge should peri- odically visit the Subordinate Lodges, to examine their books and work, and make a general inspection of their affairs. This formal visit is called a visitation. When such an event occurs, the Grand Officers, after being received with the usual honors, take charge of the Lodge. According to the English Constitutions, "the Grand Master has full authority to preside in any Lodge, and to order his Grand Officers to attend him; his Deputy is to be placed on his right hand, and the Master of the Lodge on his left hand. His Wardens are also to act as Wardens of that particular Lodge during his presence." " The Deputy Grand Master has full authority, unless the Grand Master or Pro-Grand Master be present, to preside, with the Master of the Lodge on his right hand. The Grand Wardens, if present, are to act as Wardens."
VISIT, RIGHT OF. While the right of a Mason to visit any Lodge, where he may happen to be, is generally conceded, •various regulations, limiting this right, have been made at different times, and in divers jurisdictions, concerning the propriety and necessity of which intelligent Masons enter- tain quite different opinions. By the most ancient charges it is ordered, "That every Mason receive and cherish strange fellowes when they come over the countrie, and sett them ou worke, if they will worke, as the manner is; that is to «.ay.
392 VIS— VOY.
if the Mason have any mould-stone in his place, he shall give him a mould-stone, and sett him on worke; and if he have none, the Mason shall refresh him with money unto the next Lodge." This regulation recognizes the right of a traveling brother as absolute. But, as early as 1GG3, it was ordered by a General Assembly held on the 27th of Decem- ber of that year, "That no person hereafter, who shall be accepted a Freemason, shall be admitted into any Lodge or assembly, until he has brought a certificate of the time and place of his acceptation, from the Lodge that accepted him, unto the Master of that limit or division where such a Lodge is kept." In 1772, the Grand Lodge of England renewed this statute, and some Grand Lodges in this country have adopted it. Of course, no stranger can be admitted to a Lodge without "due trial and examination," or unless he is vouched for by a known brother present. The Grand Lodge of England also has the following regulation, which has been adopted in many other jurisdictions: "A brother who is not a subscribing member to some Lodge shall not be permitted to visit any one Lodge in the town or place where he resides, more than once during his secession from the Craft." The object of the above rule is to exclude all drones from the hive of Masonry. Whoever partakes of the advantages of Freemasonry should contribute something to its support.
VISITOR. A Freemason who presents himself to a Lodge of which he is not a member.
VIVAT. A word of acclamation, used in connection with the battery in the French rite.
VOUCH, VOUCHER, VOUCHING. To vouch is to bear witness, or give testimony, and a voucher accordingly is a witness. When a person applios for admission to the Masonic society, his application should bear the signatures of two brethren, one of whom is called the voucher, because he thus testifies that the petitioner possesses the required qualifications. So a stranger can visit a Lodge without trial or examination, if a brother present knows him to be a Mason and vouches for him.
VOYAGE. A name given, in some countries, to a part of the trials and labors to which the neophyte is subjected. The symbolical pilgrimage was common to all the ancient mysteries, and has, to-day, in Freemasonry, the same signifi- cance as in the old rites. This voyage around the altar, from East to West, has a triple sense — 1. Physical; 2. Social;
WAG. 39*
and. 3. Moral. In the first, it refers to the apparent coarse of the sui- and stars front East to West; in the second, it represents the progress of society through toil and suffering and darkness, from the savage to the civilized state, and still onward, from one degree of perfection to another; and, in the third, the advancement of man, as an individual, and his unceasing progress in virtue and intelligence.
w.
WAGES OF A MASON. The operative Mason, in ancient times, received, as compensation for his labor, corn, wine and oil — the products of the earth — or whatever would contribute to his physical comfort and support. His labor being material, his wages were outward and material. The Free and Accepted Mason, on the other hand, performs a moral work, and hence his reward is interior and spiritual. The enlightened brother finds his reward in the grand and gratifying results of his studies, and in the joyful fruits of his Masonic deeds. He sees the glory of the Divinity permeating all worlds, and all parts of the universe reveal to his soul celestial meanings. All nature overflows with beauty, love, melody and song, and unspeakably rich are the delights he derives from communion with her spirit. If he be a child of fortune, and raised above the necessity of labor, he finds the purest pleasure in the practice of charity and the exercise of benevolence; for charity, like mercy, brings its own recompense.
" It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven,
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes."
If, like our ancient brethren, he is a laborer, his wages are still ample and enduring. Thus, while the ignorant man toils on, drearily, cheered by no bright and living thoughts, his mind destitute of all ideas, and his heart moved by no glad inspiration, the Masonic laborer welcomes his toil with joy, because Freemasonry has taught him that labor is a divine vocation, " Labor are est orare." He goes forth in the morning, and the world on which he looks, swimming in sunbeams, and glittering with dewey diamonds, is less bright and fair than the world that lays in his heart, and which science has illuminated with her everlasting light. The mountains, barren, rocky and storm-blackened, or crowned with sylvan splendors ; the valleys, flower-robed and ribboned with meandering streams; the rivers, hastening to the sea, and making music as they go; the trees, and
394 WAG— WOE.
rocks, and flowers ; all the activities of nature, and the great enterprises of man, speak with eloquence to his soul, and reveal to his enlightened spirit the glad secrets of Nature and of Nature's God. These noble, ample and enduring enjoyments are the wages of the true Mason.
WAGES OF THE WOKKMEN ON THE TEMPLE.
Masonic writers have wasted much time in useless and puerile conjectures in regard to the wages paid to the artists and artisans who were employed in the construction of Solomon's temple. English writers place the sum at about $15,000,000, and Dr. A. G-. Mackey thinks that not far from $4,000,000,000 ! were expended for labor and material. A little reflection will show the unreasonableness of these estimates. A structure like that of the temple could not have cost $4,000,000! All the monarchies of that age, together, could not have raised, by the severest system of taxation, one-tenth part of $4,000,000,000. And how could the Jewish people, a poor and feeble race of shepherds and rude agriculturists, raise such an enormous sum to expend on one public work ? The richest modern nation could not do it; and it may be doubted whether all modern nations, united, could. So far as Freemasonry is concerned this subject is of no consequence whatever.
WARDER. In the middle ages, -a beadle or staff-man, who kept guard at the gate of a tower or palace, to take account of all persons who entered. An officer in a Com- mandery of Knights Templar; his position is in the West, and on the left of the second division, when formed in line, and is guard of the inner door of the asylum.
WOMAN. As Masonry, at its origin, and through many centuries, was occupied solely with physical labors, in which females do not participate, the instructions of ancient Masonry are only suited to the male sex; consequently women would not find themselves interested in our sym- bolical Lodges. But there are Masonic rites which unite the wives, sisters, and daughters of Freemasons, who may desire it, to our venerable Order. The rite practiced by the Grand Orient of France, and the American Adoptive rite, or Order of the Eastern Star, are extremely interesting forms oi Masonic instruction, and adapted to the circumstance of tho female sex. Vide art. "Adoptive Masonry"
WORSHIP OF GOD. The highest duty of a Freemason is expressed by these words. The expression of veneration for the Supren.e Being, of submission to his will, and of thankfulness fcr his goodness, though it may be offered in
YOR— ZER. 395
the secret stillness of the heart, will often be conveyed by exte rnal visible signs, through which the feelings of awe and love endeavor to manifest themselves in the most favorable and lively manner. These acts of homage to a superior power will be characterized by more or less of rudeness or elevation, as the conceptions of the object of worship are more or less gross or spiritual. Prayer or sacrifice, accom- panied with various ceremonies, are the most general external acts by which the feelings of religious veneration are expressed; and while some nations and sects are eager to surround these acts with all the splendor of earthly pomp, others think to render them more worthy of the Being to whom they are addressed, by reducing them to the simplest form. Freemasonry, through all its degrees, and in every part of its ritual, earnestly inculcates this duty of worship.
Y.
YORK RITE. The York rite is the basis of all rites that claim a Masonic character. It derives its name from the city of York, hi the north of England, where the Annual and General Assemblies of Masons were reestablished, A. D. 926, and from which the first Grand Lodge was formed by Prince Edwin, the brother of King Athelstane ; hence the title "Ancient York Mltsons" is applied to those who are descendants of that branch of the Fraternity. At first there were but three degrees; but, as at present practiced in the United States, there are seven: 1. Apprentice; 2. Fellow- Craft; 3. Master; 4. Mark Master; 5. Past Master; 6. Most Excellent Master; 7. Holy Royal Arch. There are three other degrees— appendages to this rite — viz: the Order of High-Priesthood — an honorary degree conferred on the first officer of a Chapter — and the degrees of Royal and Select Master.
z.
ZENITH. An Arabic word, used in astronomy to denote the vertical point of the heavens, or that point directly over the head of the observer. The missives and decrees of the Supreme Council of the 33d degree are dated from the Zenith, as well as from the Orient or East as other Masonic organizations.
ZERUBBABEL, (sown in Babylon,) a Prince of Judah, son of Shealtiel, of the royal house of David, was the leader of the first colony of Jews that returned frc m captivity U»
396 ZIN.
their native land under the permission of Cyras, carrying with them the precious vessels belonging to the temple for the service of (rod. With the aid of Joshua and his body of priests, Zerubbabel proceeded, on his arrival in Jerusalem, to rebuild the fallen city, beginning with the altar of burnt- offerings, in order that the daily services might be restored The Samaritans, however, having been offended at being expressly excluded from a share in the land, threw obstacles in the way to hinder the work, and even procured from the Persian court an order that it should be stopped. Accord- ingly, everything remained suspended until the second year of Darius Hystaspis (B. c. 521), when the restoration was resumed and carried to completion, through the influence of Zerubbabel with the Persian monarch. This subject is beautifully exemplified in the degrees of the East and Sword and the Knight of the Bed Cross.
ZINNENDOBF, BITE OF. This rite was established in the year 1766, by John William Ellenberger, otherwise known as Count Zinnendorf. He was Knight Commander of the Strict Observance, Director of the Lodges in Prussia, mem- ber of the Lodge of the Three Globes, and Prior in the Order of the Templars, with the characteristic of Eques a lapide nigro; was born at Halle, Aug. 10, 1731, and died June 6, 1782. He was a man of fine talents, but unscrupulous in his dealings with the Fraternity. In 1768 he founded the Lodge Minerva, at Potsdam; and the next year the Lodge the Three Golden Keys, at Berlin, over which he presided for many years. In 1770 he had twelve Lodges in operation in various parts of Germany, and on the 24th of June of the same year they erected a Grand Lodge under the title ol Grand Lodge of all the Freemasons of Germany, "according to the precepts of Freemasonry in general, and after the pattern of the Grand Lodge of England." In creating this rite Zinnendorf pretended to have powers, rituals and instructions from the Duke of Slidermania, and the Grand Lodge of Sweden; but the Duke and Grand Lodge repudi- ated him. His rite was based on the reveries of Swedenborg, and in many respects coincided with the Swedish rite. II consisted of seven degrees, in three divisions, viz: Blue Masonry — 1. Apprentice; 2. Fellovv-Craft; 3. Master. Bed Masonry — 4. Scotch Apprentice and Fellow-Craft; 5. Scot- tish Master. Capitular Masonry — 6. Clerk, or Favorite 01 St. John; 7. Brother Elected. Clavel says this is the rite of the National Grand Lodge of Germany, at Berlin.
A DICTIONARY
OP
SYMBOLICAL MASONRT
BY GEOEGE OLIVEE, D.D.,
ADTHOB OT " HT8TOBICAL LANDMARKS," " SIGNS AND SYMBOLS," " HIOTOHY OF IKITIATIOH," " REVELATIONS OF A nQOABE," STC., BTC.
PREFACE TO THE DICTIONARY.
IT will be unnecessary to detain the reader for a single moment, by expatiating on the value of a work like the present. Its utility cannot fail to be universally admitted, and the only wonder is, that amidst the endless variety of dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, and glossaries, with which the present age abounds, Symbolical Masonry, as practiced in this country, should have remained so long without an appropriate book of reference, constructed in the comprehensive and accessible form of a Dictionary.
An idea of tKe" absolute benefit arising from such a publication, appears to have been entertained on the Con- tinent nearly a century ago, when M. FLEURY published his " Dictionnaire de I'Ordre de la Felicite" for the use of the Androgyne Lodges, as they were then denominated, or Lodges which admitted, indiscriminately, candidates and members of either sex.
A few years later, PERNETTI published a "Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique ;" and there the matter rested for the remainder of the century. It is highly probable that the speculation was not remunerative, or it would doubtless have been followed up by similar publications on other branches of the science.
In 1805 the attempt was renewed by CHOMEL, who gave to the world an imperfect " Vocabulaire des Francs-Masons," which was translated into Italian, by VIGNOZZI. This was succeeded by a more compendious work, edited under the superintendence of M. QUANTIN, which he called a " Dictionnaire Magonnique, ou Eecueil de*> Equisaes des toutes les parties, de I' Edifice connu sous le nom de Maqonnerie, etc. ;" and in Germany, about the same period, Bro. Or.
4:00 PREFACE.
published his " Encyclopadie der Freimaurerei." We find also the germ of a dictionary in the " Nomenclature par Ordre A'phab?tique, des Principaux Rites, Coteries, Societies, Secrets el Grades Maqonniques, repandu en France ou dans I'Etranger," by THOEY in the first volume of the "Ada Latomorum."
The two most perfect productions of this class are the " Freimaurer Lexicon," of GADICKE, and the "Lexicon ot Freemasonry," by Dr. ALBEBT G. MACKEY, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, U. S. But although these publications are exceedingly well executed, yet their peculiar characteristics serve to render them only partially interesting to the English Fraternity. They dwell too largely on consistorial, capitular, ineSable, and spurious Freema- sonry, to be adapted to the taste of an Ancient Craft Mason; and it is, therefore, believed 'that a vocabulary of terms, peculiar to Symbolical Masonry, and arranged in alphabetical order, for the convenience of expeditious reference, will prove an acceptable boon to the British Freemason.
It will be apparent at a single glanc- j the plan I have adopted, is to give the best definitions from the best writers, with the name of the author attached to each article. This method has been preferred, as it was thought questionable whether the Fraternity would have considered the explana- tions of an individual brother to possess that undoubted authority, with which every book of reference ought to be invested.
On an attentivfl perusal of the work the reader will find that the definiSxws have been studiously contracted into as brief a space as jDOSsible consistently with perspicuity, in order to increa^ 'the number of words, and make the book more generally-usefuL
My closing advice shall be — he who is ambitious of becoming a good Mason must work, as our ancient brethren worked, with FREEDOM, FERVENCY, and ZEAL.
GEO. OLIVER.
A DICTIONARY
SYMBOLICAL MASONRY.
AARON'S ROD. This symbol was introduced into Royal Arch Masonry because it constituted one of the three holy things which were preserved in the Most Holy place of the Tabernacle. It refers to the rebellion of Korah and his accomplices. Moses directed that twelve rods should be brought in, one for each tribe. The princes brought them in, some of them perhaps fondly expecting that the choice would fall upon them, and all of them thinking it honor enough to be competitors with Aaron, and to stand candidates even for the priesthood; and Moses laid them up before the Lord. On the next day the rods, or staves, were brought out of the Most Holy place, where they were laid up, and publicly produced before the people; and while all the rest of the rods remained as they were, Aaron's rod only, of a dry stick, became a living branch — budded, and blossomed, and yielded fruit. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, in others fruit, at the same time; this was miraculous, and took away all suspicion of a fraud, as if in the night Moses had taken away Aaron's rod, and put a living branch of an almond tree in the room of it ; for no ordinary branch would have had buds, blossoms, and fruits upon it all at once.
ABRAXAS. This word occurs in a Masonic manuscript of the fifteenth century. Abraxas is a Basilidean Intelli- gence, derived from the name of Abraham, and given to Mithras or the Sun, as the representative of the Supreme 34
4:02 ACA.
Deity, or, in other words, the Sun of Righteousness. Basi- lides was a Pythagorean of Alexandria. The word, being composed of seven letters, referred equally to the seven heavens and the same number of subordinate intelligences, as their governors; for the Basilideans considered the seven planets to constitute the entire universe, and conse- quently to be God.
ACACIA. There is some difficulty attending the ex- planation of the sprig of cassia, and in assigning the true reason why it was introduced into the system of Free- masonry. Some say it originated in the Jewish custom of planting a branch of acacia vera (gum arabic plant) on the grave of a departed relative ; others in the custom of mourners bearing a branch of it in their hands at funerals. The cassia is not indigenous to the soil of Palestine, and is only mentioned in Scripture as a fragrant herb or spice, the bark being used in ungents, and sometimes employed for embalming ; and, therefore, if the legend refer to the branch of a real tree, it could be neither the cassia nor acacia ; and this has given rise to an opinion that the branch or sprig is analogous to that alluded to by Virgil, in his description of the mysteries ; and consequently was the olive. Others again doubt whether our acacia has any reference to a tree or shrub at all, but means the texture and color of the Masonic apron which those brethren wore
which were deputed by Solomon to search for , and
simply refers to their innocence. If this conjecture be correct, they add, it corroborates the accuracy of the legend which says — " they took a sprig of cassia in their hands (with them)." I am rather inclined to think that the choice of cassia, which is a kind of laurel, was founded on some mysterious reference which it was supposed to possess, either mythological or symbolical. There are, however, great difficulties to be surmounted before the truth can be ascertained.
ACACIAN. Masons, describing the deplorable estate oi religion under the Jewish law, speak in figures. " Her tomb was in the rubbish and filth cast forth of the temple, and acacia wove its branches over her monument; " aicatcia being the Greek word for innocence ; implying that the sins and corruptions of the old law and devotees of the Jewish altar had hidden religion from those who sought her, and she wag only to be found where innocence survived, and under
ACC— ACH. 403
fhe banner of the divine Lamb, and as to oui selves pro- fessing that we were to be distinguished by our acacy, or as true acacians in our religious faith and tenets. — Hutchinson.
ACCEPTED. According to masonic tradition tint Masons are said to have acquired the name of Accepted at the building of the second Temple ; for the Fraternity were declared Free by King Solomon ; and the brethren, when the first Temple was completed, were furnished with an honorary jewel or gold medal, with the word FREE inscribed upon it. The posterity of some of tht Masons who assisted at the erection of Solomon's Tem- ple having settled on the confines of Judea, were carried into captivity with the Jews, and preserving a knowledge of the sciences of geometry and architecture, even in their fallen fortunes, were liberated by Cyrus, and sub- sequently declared Free and Accepted, exonerated from all imposts, duties, and taxes, and invested with the privi- lege of bearing arms by Darius and Artaxerxes, who commanded the governors of the surrounding provinces that they should require no tax or other imposition from any of the priests, Levites, porters, or any that were con- cerned about the Temple ; and that no man should have authority to impose anything upon them.
ACCOUNTS. All monies received or paid on account of the lodge, ought to be entered in proper books. The fees or dues received on account of, and payable to, the Grand Lodge, or Provincial Grand Lodge, should be kept separate and distinct from the monies belonging to the private fund of the lodge, and be deposited in the hands of the Master instead of the Treasurer of the Lodge, to be transmitted to the Grand Lodge at such times as the laws of the Craft require. The accounts of the lodge are to be audited, at least once in every year, by a com mittee to be appointed by the lodge.
ACHILLES. Perhaps some worthy people may stai when we point out Achilles as a Freemason. What . we hear them exclaim, is it possible that that fierce and ferocious man-slayer, nay, man-eater at heart, for he ex
404 ACK— ACT.
hibited a strong propensity to cannibalism in longing to have devoured the dead body of Hector, — is it possible that he could have been one of our philanthropic society ? Yes, we reply, such is the actual fact ; and Bonaparte was one too, in the highest degree. But if you will not believe Homer or us, believe your own eyes, if indeed you are a Mason. Ecce signum ! Behold Achilles giving rriam THE HAND when the latter is supplicating for the body of his slain son.
•' Thus having spoken, the old man's right hand at the wrist
He grasped, that he might not in any respect be alarmed in mind."
Such is the masonic and literal translation of the text by that illustrious Grecian and brother, Christopher North ; and who will say now that Achilles was not a Mason ?— Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
ACKNOWLEDGED. In the first degree the candidate is said to be entered ; in the second he is passed ; in the third he is raised; in the fourth he is advanced; in the fifth he is inducted; in the sixth or Most Excellent Mas- ter's degree he is said to be " received and acknowledged" Because the possession of the latter degree is a recog- nization of higher attainments and greater knowledge of the science of Masonry.
ACROSTIC.