AHOLIAB.
A skilful artificer of the tribe of Dan, who was appointed, together with Bezaleel, to construct the tabernacle in the wilderness and the ark of the covenant (Exodus xxxi, 6). He is referred to in the Royal Arch Degree of the English and American systems.
AHRIMAN.
See Ormuzd and Ahriman, also Zoroaster.
AID AND ASSISTANCE.
The duty of aiding and assisting, not only all worthy distressed Master Masons, but their widows and orphans also, "wheresoever dispersed over the face of the globe, " is one of the most important obligations that is imposed upon every Brother of the mystic tie by the whole scope and tenor of the Masonic Institution.
The regulations for the excercise of this duty are few, but rational. In the first place, a Master Mason who is in distress has a greater claim, under equal circumstances, to the aid and assistance of his brother, than one who, being in the Order, has not attained that Degree, or who,is altogether a profane. This is strictly in accordance with the natural instincts of the human heart, which will always prefer a friend to a stranger, or, as it is rather energetically expressed in the language of Long Tom Coffin "a messmate before a shipmate, a shipmate before a stranger, and a stanger before a dog''; and it is also strictly in accordance with the teaching of the Apostle to the Gentiles, who has said: "As we have therefore opportunity, Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (see Galatians vi, 10).
But this exclusiveness is only to be practised under circumstances which make a selection imperatively necessary. Where the granting of relief to the profane would incapacitate us from granting similar relief to our Brother, then must the preference be given to him who is "of the household." But the earliest symbolic lessons of the ritual teach the Freemason not to restrict his benevolence within the narrow1imits of the Fraternity, but to acknowledge the claims of all men who need it, to assistance. Inwood has beautifully said: "The humble condition both of property and dress, of penury and want, in which you were received into the Lodge, should make you at all times sensible of the distresses of poverty, and all you can spare from the call of nature and the due care of your families, should only remain in your possesions as a ready sacrifice to the necessities of an unfortunate, distressed brother. Let the distressed cottage feel the warmth of your Masonic zeal, and, if possible, exceed even the unabating ardour of Christian charity. At your approach let the orphan cease to weep, and in the sound of your voice let the widow forget her sorrow" (Sermons, page 18).
Another restriction laid upon this duty of aid and assistance by the obligations of Freemasonry is, that the giver shall not be lavish beyond his means in the disposition of his benevolence. What he bestows must be such as he can give "without material injury to himself or family." No man should wrong his wife or children that he may do a benefit to a stranger, or even to a Brother. The obligations laid on a Freemason to grant aid and assistance to the needy and distressed seem to be in the following gradations : first to his family; next, to his Brethren ; and, lastly, to the world at large.
So far this subject has been viewed in a general reference to that spirit of kindness which should actuate all men, and which it is the object of Masonic teaching to impress on the mind of every Freemason as a common duty of humanity, and whose disposition Freemasonry only seeks to direct and guide. But there is another aspect in which this subject may be considered, namely, in that peculiar and technical one of Masonic aid and assistance due from one Freemason to another. Here there is a duty declared, and a correlative right inferred ; for if it is the duty of one Freemason to assist another, it follows that every Freemason has the right to claim that assistance from his Brother. It is this duty that the obligations of Freemasonry are especially intended to enforce; it is this right that they are intended to sustain.
The symbolic ritual of Freemasonry which refers, as, for instance, in the First Degree, to the virtue of benevolence, refers to it in the general sense of a virtue which all men should practise. But when the Freemason reaches the Third Degree, he discovers new obligations which restrict and define the exercise of this duty of aid and assistance. So far as his obligations control him, the Freemason, as a Freemason, is not legally bound to extend his aid beyond the just claimants in his own Fratemity. To do good to all men is, of course, inculcated and recommended; to do good to the household of faith is enforced and made compulsory by legal enactment aud santion.
Now, as there is here, on one side, a duty, and on the other side a right, it is proper to inquire what are the regulations or laws by which this duty is controlled and this right maintained.
The duty to grant and the right to claim relief Masonically is recognized in the following passages of the Old Charges of l722:
"But if you discover him to be a true and genuine Brother, you are to respect him accordingly; and if he is in want, you must relieve him if you can, or else direct him how he may be relieved. You must employ him some days, or else recommend him to be employed. But you are not charged to do beyond your ability; only to prefer a poor brother, that is a good man and true, before any other poor people in the same circumstances.''
This written law agrees in its conditions and directions, so far as it goes, with the unwritten law of the Order, and from the two we may deduce the following principles:
1. The applicant must be a Master Mason. In 1722, the charitable benefits of Freemasonry were extended, it is true, to Entered Apprentices, and an Apprentice was recognized, in the language of the law, as "a true and genuine brother." But this was because at that time only the First Degree was conferred in subordinate Lodges, Fellow Crafts and Master Masons being made in the Grand Lodge.
Hence the great mass of the Fraternity consisted of Apprentices, and many Freemasons never proceeded any further. But the Second and Third Degrees are now always conferred in subordinate Lodges, and very few initiates voluntarily stop short of the Master's Degree. Hence the mass of the Fraternity now consists of Master Masons, and the law which formerly applied to Apprentices is, under our present organization, made applicable only to those who have become Master Masons.
2. The applicant must be worthy. We are to presume that every Freemason is "a good man and true'' until a Lodge has pronounced to the contrary. Every Freemason who is "in good standing," that is, who is a regularly contributing member of a Lodge, is to be considered as worthy, in the technical sense of the term. An expelled, a suspended, or a nonaffiliated Freemason does not meet the required condition of ''a regularly contributing member.'' Such a Freemason is therefore not worthy, and is not entitled to Masonic assistance.
3. The giver is not expected to exceed his ability in the amount of relief. The written law says, "you are not charged to do beyond your ability"; the Unwritten law requires that your relief must be "without material injury to yourself or family." The principle is the same in both.
4. The widow and orphans of a Master Mason have the claim of the husband and father extended to them. The written law says nothing explicitly on this point, but the unwritten or ritualistic law expressly declares that it is our duty "to contribute to the relief of a worthy, distressed brother, his widow and orphans."
5. And lastly, in granting relief or assistance, the Freemason is to be preferred to the profane. He must be placed "before any other poor people in the same circumstances."
These are the laws which regulate the doctrine of Masonic aid and assistance.
They are often charged by the enemies of Freemasonry with showing a spirit of exclusiveness. But it has been shown that they are in accordance with the exhortation of the Apostle, who would do good "especially to those who are of the household of faith," and they have the warrant of the law of nature; for everyone will be ready to say, with that kindest-hearted of men, Charles Lamb, "I can feel for all indiflerently, but I cannot feel for all alike. I can be a friend to a worthy man, who, upon another account, cannot be my mate or fellow.
I cannot like all people alike.'' So also as Freemasons, while we should be charitable to all persons in need or in distress, there are only certain ones who can claim the aid and assistance of the Order, or of its disciples, under the positive sanction of Masonic law.
AITCHISON'S-HAVEN LODGE.
Also spelled ATCHESON, ACHISON. This was one of the oldest Operative Lodges consenting to the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736. The age of this Lodge, like many or most of the oldest Lodges of Scotland, is not known. Some of its members signed the Saint Clair Charters in 1600 and 1601. The place of its meeting, Aitchison-Haven, is no longer on the map, but was in the County of Midlothian. The origin of the town was from a charter of James V,
dated 1526, and probably the Lodge dated near that period. Aitchison's-Haven was probably the first meeting-place, but they seem to have met at Musselburgh at a later period.
Lyon, in his History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, speaks of trouble in the Grand Quarterly Communication respecting representatives from this Lodge when in May, 1737, it was "agreed that Atcheson's Haven be deleted out of the books of the Grand Lodge, and no more called on the rolls of the Clerk's highest peril."
The Lodge was restored to the roll in 1814, but becoming dormant, it was finally cut off in 1866.
The Lodge of Edinburgh has long enjoyed the distinction of having the oldest preserved Lodge Minute, which is dated July, 1599.
Just recently Brother R. E. Wallace-James has brought to light a Minute Book bearing this title: The Buik of the Actis and Ordinans of the Nobile Maisteris and fellows of Craft of the Ludg of Aitchison's heavine, and contains a catalogue of the names of the fellows of Craft that are presently in the Zeir of God 1598.
The first page of this rare book bears in a bold hand the date 1598.
The Minute to which we have already referred is as follows :
"The IX day of Januerie the Zeir of God upon ye quhilk day Robert Widderspone was maid fellow of Craft in ye presens of Wilzam Aytone Elder, Johne Fender being Warden, Johne Pedden Thomas Pettencrief John Crafurd George Aytone Wilzame Aytone younger Hendric Petticrief all fellowis of Craft upon ye quhilk day he chois George Aytone Johne Pedded to be his intenders and instructouris and also ye said Robert hes payit his xx sh. and his gluffis to everie Maister as efferis" (see 'volume xxiv, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum).
AITCHISON'S-HAVEN MANUSCRIPT.
One of the Old Charges, or records of Freemasonry now in the custody of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, was formerly preserved in the archives of the Aitchison-Haven Lodge, which met later on at Musselburgh in Scotland. The manuscript. is engrossed in the Minute Book of Aitchison-Haven Lodge. The writer attests to his transcription in the following manner:
"Insert by me undersub and the 19" of May, 1666, Jo. Auchinleck, clerk to the Masones of Achisones Lodge."
This manuseript. has been reproduced, with 24 lines in faesimile, by D. Murray Lyon in his History of the Lodge of Edinburgh.
AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.
The French name of what is called in German, Aachen. A city of Germany, remarkable in Masonic history for a persecution which took place in the eighteenth century, and of which Gadicke, in his Freimaurer Lexicon, 1818 and 183l, gives the following account:
In the year 1779, Ludwig Grienemann, a Dominican monk, a follower of Dominic de Guzman, who founded an Order whose violent zeal led to the atrocities of the Inquisition in Spain and elsewhere, delivered a course of Lenten sermons, in which he attempted to prove that the Jews who crucified Christ were Freemasons, that Pilate and Herod were Wardens in a Freemason's Lodge, that Judas, previous to his betrayal of his Master, was initiated into the Order, and that the thirty, pieces of silver, which he is said to have returned, was only the fee which he paid for his initiation. Aix-1a-Chapelle being a Roman Catholic city, the magistrates were induced, by the influence of Grienemann, to issue a decree, in which they declared that anyone who should permit a meeting of the Freemasons in his house should, for the first offense, be fined 100 florins, for the second 200, and for the third, be banished from the city. The mob became highly incensed against the Freemasons, and insulted all whom they suspected to be members of the Order.
At length Peter Schuff, a Capuchin, so called from the capuche, or pointed hood, worn by the monks of this Order, jealous of the influence which the Dominican Grienemann was exerting, began also, with augmented fervor, to preach against Freemasonry, and still more to excite the popular commotion.
In this state of affairs, the Lodge at Aix-la-Chapelle applied to the princes and Masonic Lodges in the neighboring territories for assistance and protection, which were immediately rendered. A letter in French was received by both priests, in which the Writer, who stated that he was one of the former dignitaries of the Order, strongly, reminded them of their duties, and, among other things, said that "Many priests, a pope, several cardinals, bishops, and even Dominican and Capuchin monks, had been, and still were, members of the Order." Although this remonstrance had some effect, peace was not altogether restored until the neighboring free imperial states threatened that they would prohibit the monks from collecting alms in their territories unless they ceased to exeite the popular commotion against the Freemasons.
AKIROP.
The name given, in the ritual of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, to oce of the ruffians celebrated in the legend of the Third Degree. The word is said in the ritual to signify, an assassin. It might probably be derived from ..., KaRaB. to assault or join battle; but is just as probably a word so corrupted by long oral transmission that its etymology can no longer be traced (see Abiram).
ALABAMA.
Before the institution of the Grand Lodge of Alabama several Lodges there were organized by other Grand Jurisdictions. The first of these was Madison, No. l, at. Huntsville, established by, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, under Dispensation dated August 29, 1811. A Charter was issued tu this Lodge on August 28, 1812. On June 11, 1821, a Convention was held at Cahaba in the Hall of Halo Lodge for the purpose of constituting a Grand Lodge, Nine Lodges were represented;
namely, Halo Lodge, No.21; Madison Lodge, No. 21; Saint Stephens Lodge; Rising Virtue Lodge, No. 30; Alabama Lodge, No.51; Farrar Lodge, No. 41; Alabama Lodge, No. 21;Moulton Lodge, No. 34; Russellville Lodge, No. 36. Brother J. W. Farrar who presided over the meeting was the first Grand Master. Charters were issued to nine Lodges on June 15, l821, and to three others at the Annual Cummunication of December 11, 1821.
In l826 the Anti-Masonic agitation in the United States caused the Grand Lodge of Alabama, like very many others, to fade out of existence. A meeting was held at Tuscaloosa on December 6, l836, when, as there was not a quorum present, the Grand Lodge was declared extinct. At this meeting were present twelve brethren who declared the meeting a Convention in order to form a new Constitution and create a new Grand Lodge. They appointed William Leigh, Chairman, and John H. Vincent, Secretary. Grand Lodge officers were elected and John C. Hicks was installed the first Most Worshipful Grand Master under the new Constitution. The Grand Lodge was then opened in Ample Form.
Prior to May, 1823, there were four Chapters in Alabama, all chartered by the General Grand Chapter. In May and June, 1823, delegates of these met and decided to form a Grand Chapter of Alabama.
The General Grand Chapter, however, did not sanction it because one year had not elapsed since the establishment of the Junior Chapter of the four. On June 2, 1827, the Grand Chapter was reorganized, and met annually, until l830. On December 8, l837, the delegates from the several Chapters of the State met and recognized the Grand Chapter.
By authority of John Barker, a member of the Southern Supreme Council, several Councils were established and on December 13, 1838, 27 Royal and Select Masters assembled and formed the Grand Council of Alabama.
The first Commandery to be established in Alabama was Washington, Nu. l, at Marion, which was chartered in l844. This Commandery with four others, Mobile, No. 2; Montgomery, No. 4; Selma, Nu. 5 ; Tuscumbia, No. 3, agreed to meet ou December 1, 1860, and they organized the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar for the State of Alabama. At the actual meeting the representative of Washington, No, l, was absent.
A Consistory of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Alabama, No. 1, at Birmingham, was chartered on December 27, 1900, and a Council of Kadosh was established at Birmingham, No. 1, on September 21, 1599. Hermes, No. 1, at Montgomery, was constituted a Chapter of Rose Croix by Letters Temporary and a Charter was given to Alabama, No. 1, as a Lodge of Perfection on April 13, 1574.
ALAPA.
A Latin word signifying a blow on the cheek with the open hand. Such a blow was given by the master to his manumitted slave as a symbol of manumission, and as a reminder that it was the last unrequited indignity which he was to receive. In fact, the very word manumit is derived from two Latin words meaning to send by hand. Hence, in medieval times, the same word was applied to the blow inflicted on the cheek of the newly created knight by the sovereign who created him, with the same symbolic signification. This was sometimes represented by the blow on the shoulder with the flat of a sword, which has erroneously been called the accolade (see Knighthood).
ALARM.
The verb to alarm signifies, in Freemasonry, to give notice of the approach of some one desirinq admission. Thus, to alarm the Lodge is to inform the Lodge that there is some one without who is seeking entrance.
As a noun, the word alarm has two significatious :
1.An alarm is a warning given by the Tiler, or other appropriate officer, by which he seeks to communicate with the interior of the Lodge or Chapter.
In this sense the expression so often used, "an alarm at the door," simply signifies that the officer outside has given notice of his desire to communicate with the Lodge.
2. An alarm is also the peculiar mode in which this notice is to be given. In modern Masonic works, the number of knocks given in an alarm is generally expressed by musical notes. Thus, three distinct knocks would be designated thus, . . .; two rapid and two slow ones thus,. . . - - and three knocks , three times repeated thus, . . ./. . . /. . . , etc. The word comes from the French alarme, which in return comes from the Italian all'arme, literally a cry to arms, uttered by sentinels surprised by the enemy. The legal meaning of to alarm is not to frighten, but to make one aware of the necessity of defense or protection.
This is precisely the Masonic signification of the world. |
