BADEN.
In 1778 the Lodge Karl of Unity was established in Mannheim, which at that time belonged to Bavaria. In 1785 an electoral decree was issued prohibiting all secret meetings in the Bavarian Palatinate and the Lodge was closed. In 1803 Mannheim was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Baden, and in 1805 the Lodge was reopened, and in the following year accepted a warrant from the Grand Orient of France and took the name of Karl of Concord. Then it converted itself into the Grand Orient of Baden and was acknowledged as such by the Grand Orient of France in 1807.
Lodges were established at Bruchsal, Heidelberg, and Mannheim, and the Grand Orient of Baden ruled over them until 1813, when all secret societies were again prohibited, and it was not until 1846 that Masonic activity recommenced in Baden, when the Lodge Karl of Concord was awakened.
The Grand Orient of Baden went out of existence, but the Lodges in the Duchy, of which several have been established, came under the Grand National Mother-Lodge Zu den drei Weldkugeln, meaning Of the three Globes, in Berlin.
BADGE.
LENNHOFF
A mark, sign, token, or thing, says Webster, by which a person is distinguished in a particular place or employment, and designating his relation to a person or to a particular occupation. It is in heraldry the same thing as a cognizance, a distinctive mark or badge. Thus, the followers and retainers of the house of Percy wore a silver crescent as a badge of their conqection with that family; a representation of the white lion borne on the left arm was the badge of the house of Howard, Earl of Surrey ; the red rose that of the House of Lancaster ; and the white rose, of York.
So the apron, formed of white lambskin, is worn by the Freemason as a badge of his profession and a token of his connection with the Fraternity (see A pron).
BADGE OF A FREEMASON.
The lambskin apron is so called (see Apron).
BADGE, ROYAL ARCH.
The Royal Arch badge is the triple tau, which see.
BAFOMET.
See Baphomet.
BAG.
In the early days of the Grand Lodge of England the secretary used to carry a bag in processions; thus in the procession round the tables at the Grand Feast of 1724 we find "Secretary Cowper with the Bag" (see the Constitutions, edition of 1738, page 117).
In 1729 .Lord Kingston, the Grand Master, provided at his own cost "a fine Velvet Bag for the Secretary,," besides his badge of "Two golden Pens a-cross on his Breast" (see the above Constitutions, page 124). In the Procession of March from St. James' Square to Merchant Taylor's Hall on january' 29, 1730, there came "The Secretary alone with his Badge and Bag, clothed, in.a Chariot" (see the above Constitutions, page 125).
This practise continued throughout the Eighteenth century, for at the dedication of Freemasons' Hall in London in 1776 we find in the proeession "Grand Secretary with the bag" (see the Constitutions of 1784, page 318). But at the union of the two rival Grand Lodges in 1813 the custom was changed, for in the order of procession at public ceremonies laid down in the Constitutions of 1815, we find "Grand Secretary with Book of Constitutions on a cushion" and "Grand Registrar with his bag" ; and the Grand Registrar of England still carries on ceremonial occasions a bag with the arms of the Grand Lodge embroidered on it.
American Union Lodge, operating during the War of the American Revolution in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey', and first erected at Roxbury, has in its records the accounts of processions of the Brethren. One of these is typical of the others and refers to the Festival of St. John the Baptist held on June 24, 1779, at Nelson's Point, New York.
Here they met at eight in the morning and elected their officers for the half year ensuing. Then they proceeded to West Point and, being joined by other Brethren, a procession was formed in the following order: "Brother Whitney' to clear the way; the band of music with drums and fifes; the Wardens; the youngest brother with the bag ; brethren by juniority ; the Reverend Doctors Smith, Avery, and Hitchcock ; the Master of the Lodge, with the Treasurer on his right supporting the sword of justice, and the Secretary on his left, supporting the Bible, square and compasses ; Brother Binns to close, with Brothers Lorrain and Disborough on the flanks opposite the center."
From this description we note the care with which the old customs were preserved in all their details.
BAGULKAL.
A siguificant word in the high degrees. Lenning says it is a corruption of the Hebrew Begoa1-kol, meaning all is revealed, to which Mackenzie demurs. Pike says, Bagulkol, with a similar reference to a revelation. Rockwell gives in his manuscript, Bekalkel, without any meaning. The old rituals interpret it as signifying the faithful guardian of the sacred ark, a derivation clearly fanciful.
BAHAMA ISLANDS.
A group of islands forming a division of the British West Indies. Governor John Tinkler was appointed Provincial Grand Master in 1752 and Brother James Bradford in 1759. Brother Tinkler had been made a Freemason in 1730. These few facts are all that can be found with reference to the introduction by the ''Moderns'' of Freemasonry to the Bahamas. Possibly uo further steps were taken.
A warrant was granted by the Antients in 1785 for Lodge No. 228 but it was found to have ceased work when the registers were revised at the Union of 1814.
Another Lodge, No. 242, chartered at Nasau, New Providence existed longer but had disappeared when the lists were again revised in 1832.
The Masonie Province of the Bahamas originally comprised three Lodges chartered by the United Grand Lodge of England, Royal Victoria No. 649, Forth No. 930, and Britannia No. 1277. Brother J. F. Cooke was appointed the first Provincial Grand Master on November 7,1842, Of the Provincial Grand Lodge then formed.
BAHRDT, KARL FRIEDERICH.
A German Doctor of Theology, who was born, in 1741, at Bischofswerda, and died in 1792. He is deseribed by one of his biographers as being "notorious alike for his bold infidelity and for his evil life." We know noĻ why Thory and Lenning have given his name a place in their vocabularies, as his literary labors bore no relation to Freemasonry, except inasmuch as that he was a Freemason, and that in 1787, with several other Freemasons, he founded at Halle a secret society called the German Union, or the Two and Twenty, in reference to the original number of its members.
The object of this society was mid to be the enlightenment of mankind. It was dissolved in 1790, by the imprisonment of its founder for having written a libel against the Prussian Minister Woellner.
It is incorrect to call this system of degrees a Masonic Rite (see German Union).
BAIRD.
Baird of Newbyth, the Substitute Grand Master of Scotland in 1841.
BAKER, FOTHERLY.
Deputy' Grand Master of England in 1744 under Lord Cranstoun and also under Lord Byron until 1752.
BALANCE.
See Seales, Pair of.
BALDACHIN.
In architecture, a canopy supported by pillars over an insulated altar. In Freemasonry, it has been applied by Some writers to the canopy over the Master's chair. The German Freemasons give this name to the covering of the Lodge, and reckon it therefore among the symbols.
BALDER or BALDUR.
The ancient Scandinavian or older German divinity. The hero of one of the most beautiful aud interesting of the myths of the Edda; the second son of Odin and Frigga, and the husband of the maiden Nanna. In brief, the myth recites that Balder dreamed that his life was threatened, which being told to the gods, a council was held by them to secure his safety.
The mother proceeded to demand and receive assurances from everything, iron and all metals, fire and water, stones, earth, plants, beasts, birds, reptiles, poisons, and diseases, that they would not injure Balder.
Balder then became the subject of sport with the gods, who wrestled, cast darts, and in innumerable ways playfully tested his invulnerability. This finally displeased the mischievous, cunning Loki, the Spirit of Evil, who, in the form of an old woman, sought out the mother, Frigga, and ascertained from her that there had been excepted or omitted from the oath the little shrub Mistletoe. in haste Loki carried some of this shrub to the assembly of the gods, and gave to the blind Hoder, the god of war, selected slips, and directing his aim, Balder fell pierced to the heart.
Sorrow among the gods was unutterable, and Frigga inquired who, to win her favor, would journey to Hades and obtain from the goddess Hel the release of Balder. The heroic Helmod or Hermoder, son of Odin, offered to undertake the journey. Hel consented to permit the return if all things animate and inanimate should weep for Balder.
All living beings and all things wept, save the witeh or giantess Thock, the stepdaughter of Loki, who refused to sympathize in the general mourning.
Balder was therefore obliged to linger in the kingdom of Hel until the end of the world.
BALDRICK.
A portion of military dress, being a scarf passing from the shoulder over the breast to the hip. In the dress regulatious of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States, adopted in 1862, it is called a scarf, and is thus described: "Five inches wide in the whole, of white bordered with black, one inch on either side, a strip of navy lace one-fourth of an inch wide at the inner edge of the black. On the front centre of the scarf, a metal star of nine points, in allusion to the nine founders of the Temple Order, inclosing the Passion Cross, surrounded by the Latin motto, In hoc signo vinces; the star to be three and three-quarter inches in diameter. The scarf to be worn from the right shoulder to the left hip, with the ends extending six inches below the point of intersection."
BALDWYN II.
The successor of Godfrey of Bouillon as King of Jerusalem. In his reign the Order of Knights Templar was instituted, to whorn he granted a place of habitation within the sacred enclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah. He bestowed on the Order other marks of favor, and, as its patron, his name has been retained in grateful remembrance, and often adopted as a name of Commanderies of Masonic Templars.
BALDWYN ENCAMPMENT.
There is at Bristol in England a famous Preceptory of Knights Templar, called the Baldwyn, which claims to have existed from time immemorial. This, together with the Chapter of Knights Rosae Crucis, is the continuation of the old Baldwyn Encampment, the name being derived from the Crusader, King of Jerusalem.
The earliest record preserved by this Preceptory is an authentic and important document dated December 20, 1780, and reads as follows :
"In the name of the Grand Architect of the Uuiverse.
"The Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment of the Order of Knights Templars of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitallers and Knights of Malta, etc, etc.
"Whereas by Charter of Compact our Encampment is constituted the Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment of this Noble Order with full Power when Assembled to issue, publish and make known to all our loving Knights Companions whatever may contribute to their knowledge not inconsistent with its general Laws. Also to constitute and appoint any Officer. or Officers to make and ordain such laws as from time to time may appear necessary to promote the Honor of our Noble 0rder in general and the more perfect government of our Supreme degree in particular.
We therefore the M0ST EMINENT GRAND MASTER The Grand Master of the 0rder, the Grand Master Assistant General, and two Grand Standard Bearers and Knights Companions for that purpose in full Encampment Assembled do make known."
Then follow twenty Statutes or Regulations for the government of the Order, and the document ends with "Done at our Castle in Bristol 20th day of December 1780."
It is not clear who were the parties to this "Compact," but it is thought probable that it was the result of an agreement between the Bristol Encampment and another ancient body at Bath, the Camp of Antiquity, to establish a supreme direction of the Order. However that may be, it is clear that the Bristol Encampment was erected into a Supreme Grand Encampment in 1780,
An early reference to the Knights Templar occurs in a Bristol newspaper of January 25, 1772, so it may fairly be assumed that the Baldwyn Preceptory had been in existence before the date of the Charter of Compact.
In 1791 the well-known Brother Thomas Dunckerley, who was Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of the Royal Arch Masons at Bristol, was requested by the Knights Templar of that city to be their Grand Master. He at once introduced great activity into the Order throughout England, and established the Grand Conclave in London-the foreruner of the Great Priory.
The seven Degrees of the Camp of Baldwyn at that time probably consisted of the three of the Craft and that of the Royal Arch, which were necessary qualifications of all candidates as set forth in the Charter of Compact, then that of the Knights Templar of St. John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, that of the Knights Rose Croix of Heredom, the seventh being the Grand Elected Knights Kadosh.
About the year 1813 the three Degrees of Nine Elect, Kilwinning, and East, Sword and Eagle were adopted by the Encampment. The Kadosh having afterward discontinued, the five Royal Orders of Masonic Knighthood, of which the Encampment consisted, were: Nine Elect;
Kilwinning; East, Sword and Eagle ; Knight Templar, and the Rose Croix.
For many years the Grand Conclave in London was in abeyance, but when H.R.H, the Duke of Sussex, who had been Grand Master since 1813, died in 1843, it was revived, and attempts were made to induce the Camp of Baldwyn to submit to its authority. These efforts were without avail, and in 1857 Baldwyn reasserted its position as a Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment, and shortly afterward issued Charters to six subordinate Encampments. The chief cause of difference with the London Grand Conclave was the question of giving up the old custom of working the Rose Croix Degree within the Camp.
At last, in 1862, the Baldwyn was enrolled by virtue of a Charter of Compact "under the Banner of the Grand Conclave of Masonic Knights Templar of England and Wales." lt was arranged that the Baldwyn Preceptory, as it was then called, should take precedence, with five others "of time immemorial," of the other Preceptories; that it should be constituted a Provineial Grand Commandery or Priory of itself; and should be entitled to confer the degree of Knights of Malta.
In 1881 a Treaty of Union was made with the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree, whereby the Baldwyn Rose Croix Chapter retained its time immemorial position and was placed at the head of the list of Chapters. It also became a District under the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third Degree and is therefore placed under an Inspector General of its own.
BALKIS.
The name given by the Orientalists to the Queen of Sheba, who visited King Solomon, and of whom they relate a number of fables (see Sheba, Queen of).
BALLOT.
In the election of candidates, Lodges have recourse to a ballot of white and black balls.
Some Grand Lodges permit the use of white balls with black cubes. However, the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for 1890 (page 144) show that that body decided for itself that "Black balls and not black cubes must be used in balloting in a Lodge," a decision emphasizing the old practise.
Unanimity of choice, in this case, was originally required; one black ball only being enough to reject a candidate, because as the Old Regulations say:
"The members of a particular Lodge are the best judges of it; and because, if a turbulent member should be imposed on them, it might spoil their harmony or hinder the, freedom of their communication, or even break up and disperse the Lodge, which ought to be avoided by all true and faithful" (see the Constitutions, 1738 edition, page 155).
"But it was found inconvenient to insist upon unanimity in several cases : and therefore the Grand Masters have allowed the Lodges to admit a member, if not above three Ballots are against him; though some Lodges desire no such allowance" (see above Constitutions).
This is still the rule under the English Constitution (see Rule 190).
In balloting for a candidate for initiation, every member is expected to vote. No one can be excused from sharing the responsibility of admission or rejection, except by the unanimous consent of the Lodge.
Where a member has himself no personal or acquired knowledge of the qualifications of the candidate, he is bound to give faith to the recommendation of his Brethren of the investigating committee, who, he is to presume, would not make a favorable report on the petition of an unworthy applicant.
Brother Mackey was of opinion that the most correct method in balloting for candidates is as follows :
The committee of investigation having reported, the Master of the Lodge directs the Senior Deacon to prepare the ballot-box. The mode in which this is accomplished is as follows: The Senior Deacon takes the ballot-box, and, opening it, places all the white and black balls indiscriminately in one compartment, leaving the other entirely empty. He then proceeds with the box to the Junior and Senior Wardens, who satisfy themselves by an inspection that no ball has been left in the compartment in which the votes are to be deposited.
The box in this and in the other instance to be referred to hereafter, is presented to the inferior officer first, and then to his superior, that the examination and decision of the former may be substantiated and confirmed by the higher authority of the latter. Let it, indeed, be remembered, that in all such cases the usage of Masonic circumambulation is to be observed, and that, therefore, we must first pass the Junior's station before we can get to that of the Senior Warden.
These officers having thus satisfied themselves that the box is in a proper condition for the reception of the ballots, it is then placed upon the altar by the Senior Deacon, who retires to his seat. The Master then directs the Secretary to call the roll, which is done by commencing with the Worshipful Master, and proceeding through all the officers down to the youngest member.
As a matter of convenience, the Secretary generally votes the last of those in the room, and then, if the Tiler is a member of the Lodge, he is called in, while the Junior Deacon tiles for him, and the name of the applicant having been told him, he is directed to deposit his ballot, which he does and then retires.
As the name of each officer and member is called, that brother approaches the altar, and having made the proper Masonic salutation to the Chair, he deposits his ballot and retires to his seat. The roll should be called slowly, so that at no time should there be more than one person present at the box, for the great object of the ballot being secrecy, no brother should be permitted so near the member voting as to distinguish the color of the ball he deposits.
The box is placed on the altar, and the ballot is deposited with the solemnity of a Masonic salutation that the voters may be duly impressed with the sacred and responsible nature of the duty they are called on to discharge.
The system of voting thus described is advocated by Brother Mackey as far better on this account than that sometimes adopted in Lodges, of handing round the box for the members to deposit their ballots from their seats.
There is also the practise of omitting the reading of the names of the officers and members, the Brethren in such cases forming a line and the one at the head advancing separately from the rest to deposit his ballot when the preceding brother leaves the box.
The Master having inquired of the Wardens if all have voted, then orders the Senior Deacon to "take charge of the ballot-box." That officer accordingly repairs to the altar, and takes possession of the box Should the Senior Deaeon be already in possession of the box, as in other methods of balloting we have mentioned, then the announcement by the Master may be "I therefore declare the ballot closed." In either case the Senior Deacon carries it, as before, to the Junior Warden, who examines the ballot, and reports, if all the balls are white, that "the box is clear in the South," or, if there is one or more black balls, that "the box is foul in the South."
The Deacon then carries it to the Senior Warden, and afterwards to the Master, who, of course, make the same report, according to the circumstance, with the necessary verbal variatious of ''West'' and ''East.'' If the box is clear-that is, if all the ballots are white---the Master then announces that the applicant has been duly elected, and the secretary makes a record of the fact. But if the box is font, the Master inspects the number of black balls; if he finds only one, he so states the fact to the Lodge, and orders the Senior Deacon again to prepare the ballot-box.
Here the same ceremonies are passed through that have already been deseribed. The balls are removed into one compartment, the box is submitted to the inspection of the Wardens, it is placed upou the altar, the roll is called, the members advance and deposit their votes, the box is scrutinized, and the result declared by the Wardens and Master. If again one black ball be found, or if two or more appeared on the first ballot, the Master announces that the petition of the applicant has been rejected, and directs the usual record to be made by the Secretary and the notification to be given to the Grand Lodge.
The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1877 (see also the Constitution of 1918, page 88), provides that the "Master may allow three ballotings, at his discretion, but when the balloting has been commenced it must be concluded, and the candidate declared accepted or rejected, without the intervention of any business whatever."
Balloting for membership or affiliation is subject to the same rules. in both cases ''previous notice, one month before," must be given to the Lodge, "due inquiry into the reputation and capacity of the candidate" must be made, and "the unanimous consent of all the members then present" must be obtained.
Nor can this unanimity be dispensed with in one case any more than it can in the other. It is the inherent privilege of every Lodge to judge of the qualifications of its own members, "nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation."
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