CHICAGO, CONGRESS OF.
A convention of distinguished Freemasons of the United States, held at the city of Chicago in September, 1859, during the session of the Grand Encampment and General Grand Chapter, for the purpose of establishing a General Grand Lodge, or a Permanent Masonic Congress. Its results were not of a succesful character; and the death of its moving spirit, Cyril Pearl, which occurred soon after, put an end to all attempts to carry into effect any of its preliminary proceedings.
CHICHELY, HENRY.
Archbishop of Canterbury under King Henry V of England in 1413. About 1425, under King Henry, VI, an Act was passed prohibiting the assembling of the chapters and conventions of the Freemasons but this Act was not put into effect and they continued to flourish under Archbishop Chichely. William Preston in his lllustrations of Masonry (12th edition, page 163) says, "The Latin Register of William Molart, prior of Canterbury, in manuseript, page 88, entitled, Liberatio generalis Domini Gulielmi 'Prioris Ecclesiac Christi Cantuariensis, erga .
Festum Natalis Domini 1429'informs us that, in the year 1429, during the minority of this prince, a respectable Lodge was held at Canterbury, under the patronage of Henry' Chichely, the archbishop; at which were present Thomas Stapylton, the Master ; John Morris, Warden of the Lodge of Masons; with fifteen Fellow-Crafts, and three Entered Apprentices, all of whom are particularly named." Among the Tanner Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford, is the Register of Christ Church, Canterbury. It, gives no mention of a Lodge being held under Chichely, but, according to Brother A. F. A. Woodford, it states that the Lathomi received Livery-Murray Cloth for Livery annually, and in 1429 it gives the names of the Magister of the Custos de la Loygye Lathamorum, of sixteen Lalhami and three Apprenticii ibidem:-At the head of the Clericorum stands Domino Archiepiscopo, volume iii, by which is understood that he received three panni or cloaks.
Brother Woodford says that Preston has built too much upon this as all it proves is that a Loygye Lathamorum was at Canterbury in 1429 consisting of a Master, a Custos, sixteen Lathami, and three Apprentices, all of whom received Livery or clothing annually from the monastery. Henry Chichely is said to have been Grand Master of English Masons until 1443.
CHIEF OF THE TABERNACLE.
The Twentythird Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It. commemorates the institution of the Order of the Priesthood in Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar. Its principal officers are three, a Sovereign Sacrificer and two High Priests, now called by the Supreme Councils of America the Most Excellent High Priest and Excellent Priests, and the members of the Hierarchy or Court, as the Lodge is now styled, are called Levites. The apron is white, lined with deep scarlet and bordered with red, blue, and purple ribbon. A golden chandelier of seven branches is painted or embroidered on the center of the apron. The jewel, which is a thurible, is worn from a broad yellow, purple, blue, and scarlet sash from the left shoulder to the right hip.
CHIEF OF THE TWELVE TRIBES.
In French the expression is Chef des douze Tribus. The Eleventh Degree of the Chapter of Emperors of the East and West. It is also called Illustrious Elect.
CHIEFS OF MASONRY.
A title formerly given in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite to Princes of Jerusalem. It seems now to be more appropriate to Inspectors-General of the Thirty-third Degree.
CHILDREN OF LIGHT.
Some Masonic writers, as Hutchinson, use this name for Freemasons.
CHILDREN OF THE WIDOW.
A common Masonic expression for our Brethren of Hiram. The French phrase is Enfants de la Veuve and the German is Kinder der Witwe.
CHILDREN'S EXCHANGE BUREAU.
Under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of the Sun, Zur Sonne, Bayreuth, Germany, there was established a Kinderaustauschstelle or Children's Exchange Department, the purpose being to transfer temporarily between the families of the Freemasons those of the ages from eleven to twenty years, these exehanges to be preferably during the summer or autumn, though efforts will be applied on request for any other selection of a season of the year. Participation was particularly favored among all Lodges recognized by the adjacent Masonic Powers of Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France. With a view to the most helpful results, the placing of the children was to be done by aiming at a holiday spent by healthy youngsters in hygienie surroundings and Masonic atmosphere, the choice of a healthy family being also considered in the light of choosing a tempomry home of the same social station as that of the child's parents. All this was planned to be done for the interested parties free of cost as to the making of all arrangements by the Bureau, which was in charge of Brother Dr. Fritz Rackhorst, Lennep, Rhineland, Germany.
A French Lodge established a similar undertaking for the interchange without fees of children for educational purposes. This work of the Lodge, La Fraternité Vosgienne, was put in charge of Brother A. Gonnaud, Epinal, France.
These benevolent enterprises were interrupted by the World War, but the exehange of children between families of Freemasons intemationally has, particularly in Europe, some promise, as by that first-hand acquaintance there would be a friendly understanding built up that furnishes another agency for harmony.
Such an object is meritorious in purpose however, much it may falter or even fail in practise (see Orphans and Masonic Homes).
CHILE.
A republic extending along the west coast of South America. It has been thought that Freemasonry began in Chile as early as 1840 but there is little evidence to support this view.
The Grand Orient of France instituted Lodge L'Etoile du Pacifique, Star of the Pacific, on September 12, 1851. When Marshal Magnan was appointed Grand Master of the Grand Orient in April, 1862, two French Lodges, L'Union Fraternelle and Fraternidad, returned their Charters. Failing, however, to persuade Lodge L'Etoile du Pacifique to join them, they proceeded to form a third Lodge Progresso without obtaining the neccessary authority.
On April 20, 1862, the three Lodges met in Convention, and, with delegates from Lodge Orden y Libertad which has also been refused recognition, they formed the Grand Lodge of Chile. In 1923 it had grown to include 55 Lodges. There are also many Lodges in this district which pay no allegianee to the Grand Lodge of Chile but are controlled by the Grand Lodges of England, Hamburg, Massachusetts, etc.
There is a District Grand Lodge of Chile under the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts with Bethesda Lodge at Valparaiso chartered in 1853; Huelin Lodge at Santiago,1876, and Saint John's Lodge at Concepcion,1884.
The Grand Lodge of Hamburg has a Lodge at each of the following places: Concepcion, Santiago, Valparaiso, and Talca.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland has two Lodges at Antofagasta, and one each at Coquimbo, Iquique, Taltal, and Valparaiso.
A Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was founded in 1899.
CHINA.
A dominion of Eastern Asia. In 1767 Amity Lodge, No. 407, was instituted by English authority in Canton and in l788 a Swedish Lodge, Elizabeth, was opened.
Neither lasted many years beyond the end of the eighteenth century.
The next Masonic Body to be formed was Royal Sussex Lodge, No. 735, at Canton, warranted in 1844 by the United Grand Lodge of England. In 1847 Samuel Rawson was appointed Provincial Grand Master for China and in 1877 Comelius Thome became District Grand Master for Northern China.
There is also a District Grand Lodge of China under authority from Massachusetts, with several Lodges at Shanghai, one at Peking, the capital, and another at Dairen in Manchuria.
The Grand Lodge of England has established Lodges in Southern China at Amoy, Canton, Foochow, Swatow, and five at Hongkong; and in Northern China at Chefoo, Chinkiang, Hankow, Newchang, Tongshan, Wei-Hai-Wei, two at Tientain, and three at Shanghai. The Grand Lodge of Scotland has a Lodge at Chefoo, three at Shanghai, and three at Hongkong.
There is a Lodge, Germania, working in that language at Shanghai, and another, Freimaurer-Vereinigung, United Freemasons, at Tsingtau. The Grand Orient of Italy has a Lodge, Italia, at Shanghai, and in 1909 the Grand Orient of Portugal erected a Lodge, Luis de Camoes, at Macau, or Macao, a Portuguese settlement on the Coast near the Canton River.
The Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America, chartered Yangste Lodge of Perfection, Shanghai Chapter of Rose Croix, Cathay Council of Kadosh and Orient Consistory, all at Shanghai, and all on September 19, 1901; and Ming Te Lodge of Perfection, Tung Te Chapter of Rose Croix, Hou Te Council of Kadosh and Chung Te Consistory were all chartered on October 20, 1917, and all are at Shanghai.
A secret society, described by Doctor Mackey as akin to Freemasonry and indigenous to China, is the Most Ancient Order of Suastica, or the Brotherhood of the Mystic Cross, said to have been founded 1027 B.c. by Fohi, and introduced into China 975 B.c. It contains three degrees: Apprentice Brothers, Tao Sze or Doctors of Reason, and Grand Master. The Apprentice wears the Jaina Cross (see Fylfot, and Jaina Cross), worked on a blue silk ribbon; the Tao sze wears a cross of silver; and the Grand Master one in gold. The meetings are called Tents.
CHINESE CLASSICS AND MASONIC SYMBOLISM.
Giles, well versed in matters pertaining to Chinese literature, customs, and archeology, is the authority for stating that in the written language of the Chinese many curious expressions were in use seven hundred years before the Christian era, or only about two hundred years after the death of King Solomon, bearing close proximity to those used prominently in Freemasonry. The following quotation from the works of Mencius, the great disciple of Confucius, is given in illustration: "A Master Mason, in teaching his apprentices, makes use of the compasses and the square. Ye who are engaged in the pursuit of wisdom must also make use of the compasses and the square. " These two words, compasses and square, in the Chinese language represent order, regularity, and propriety. Giles points out that in the oldest of the Chinese classics, "which embraces a period from the twenty-fourth to the seventh century before Christ, there are distinct allusions to this particular Symbolism."
CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES.
In China, as in all other countries, secret societies have existed, such as the Tien-tee-whee, or Association of Heaven and Earth, and the Tien-lee, or Society of Celestial Reason. But the attempt to trace any close analogy other than some similarity without identity between them and Freemasonry is a mistaken one.
These societies have in general been of a political character, with revolutionary tendencies, and as such, have been prohibited by the government, sometimes under the penalty of the death or banishment of their members.
Their similarity to Freemasonry consists only in these points: that they have privat‚ forms of initiation, an esoteric instruction, and secret modes of recognition.
Beyond these all further resemblance fails.
CHISEL.
In the American Rite the chisel is one of the working tools of a Mark Master, and symbolizes the effects of education on the human mind. For as the artist, by the aid of this instrument, gives form and regularity to the shapeless mass of stone, so education, by cultivating the ideas and by polishing the rude thoughts, transforms the ignorant savage into the civilized being.
In the English ceremonies, the chisel is one of the working tools of the Entered Apprentice and has the same reference to the advantages of education.
Preston (Illustrations of Masonry, 1812, page 86) thus elaborates its symbolism as one of the implements of Freemasonry : ''The chisel demonstrates the advantages of discipline and education. The mind, like the diamond in its original state, is unpolished; but as the effects of the chisel on the external coat soon present to view the latent beauties of the diamond, so education discovers the latent virtues of the mind and draws them forth to range the large field of matter and space, in order to display the summit of human knowledge, our duty to God and to man." But the idea is not original with Preston. It is found in Hutchinson, who, however, does not claim it as his own. It formed, most probably, a portion of the lectures of the period. In the French system, the chisel is placed on the tracing board of the Fellow Craft as an implement with which to work upon and polish the Rough Ashlar. It has, therefore, there the same symbolic signification.
CHIVALRY.
The origin of chivalry is involved in very great obscurity. Almost every author who has written on this subject has adopted an hypothesi of his own. Some derive the institution from the equestrian order of ancient Rome, while others trace it to the tribes who, under the name of Northmen, about the ninth century, invaded the southern parts of Europe. Warburton ascribes the origin of chivalry to the Arabians; Pinkerton, Mallet, and Perey, to the Scandinavians. Clavel derives it from the secret societies of the Persians, which were the remains of the mysteries of Mithras.
In Christendom, it gave rise to the orders of knighthood, some of which have been incorporated into the Masonic System (see Knighthood).
CHRIST, ORDER OF.
After the overthrow of the Order of Knights Templar throughout Europe, Dennis I, King of Portugal, in 1317 solicited of Pope John XXII permission to re-establish the Order of the Temple in his dominions under the name of the Order of Christ, and to restore to it the possessions which had been wrested from the Templars. The Pope consented, approved the statutes which had been submitted to him, and, in 1319, confirmed the institution, reserving to himself and to his successors the right of creating knights, which has given rise to the pontifical branch of the Order which exists at Rome. The knights follow the rule of Saint Benedict, and conform in all points to the statutes of the Order of the Temple.
The Grand Mastership is vested in the King of Portugal, and the Order having been secularized in 1789, the members were divided into the three classes of six Grand Crosses, four hundred and fifty Commanders, and an unlimited number of knights. It was designated the Most Noble Order, and none but those nobly descended, of unsulled character, could be admitted. That the grandfather had been a mechanic was an impediment to the exaltation even of knights of the third class. The Grand Crosses and Commanders had generaliy valuable grants and great privileges; the latter were also enjoyed by the knights, having pensions with reversion to their wives.
CHRISTIANIZATION OF FREEMASONRY.
The interpretation of the symbols of Freemasonry from a Christian point of view is a theory adopted by some of the most distinguished Masonic writers of England and this country, but one which Brother Mackey believed does not belong to the ancient system. Hutchinson, and after him, Oliver-profoundly philosophical as are the Masonic speculations of both-have, Brother Mackey was constrained to believe, fallen into a great error in calling the Master Mason's Degree a Christian institution. It is true that it embraces within its scheme the great truths of Christianity upon the subject of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body ; but this was to be presumed, because Freemasonry is truth, and all truth must be identical. But the origin of each is different ; their histories are dissimilar. The principles of Freemasonry preceded the advent of Christianity.
Its symbols and its legends are derived from the Solomonic Temple and from the people even anterior to that. Its religion comes from the ancient priesthood ; its faith was that primitive one of Noah and his immediate descendants. If Freemasonry were simply a Christian institution, the Jew and the Moslem, the Brahman and the Buddhist, could not conscientiously partake of its illumination.
But its universality is its boast, in its language citizens of every nation may converse; at its altar men of all religions may kneel; to its creed disciples of every faith may subscribe.
Yet Brother Mackey thought, it cannot be denied that since the advent of Christianity a Christian element has been almost imperceptibly infused into the Masonic system, at least among Christian Freemasons. This has been a necessity; for it is the tendency of every predominant religion to pervade with its influence all that surrounds it or is about it, whether religious, political, or social.
This arises from a need of the human heart. To the man deeply imbued with the spirit of his religion, there is an almost unconscious desire to accommodate and adapt all the business and the amusements of life---the labors and the employments of his everyday existence---to the indwelling faith of his soul.
The Christian Freemason, therefore, while acknowledging and appreciating the great doctrines taught in Freemasonry, and also while grateful that these doctrines were preserved in the bosom of his ancient Order at a time when they were unknown to the multitudes of the surrounding nations, is still anxious to give to them a Christian character ; to invest them, in some measure, with the peculiarities of his own creed, and to bring the interpretation of their symbolism more nearly home to his own religious sentiments.
The feeling is an instinctive one, belonging to the noblest aspirations of our human nature ; and hence we find Christian Masonic writers indulging in it to an almost unwarrantable excess, and, by the extent of their sectarian interpretations, materially affecting the cosmopolitan character of the Institution.
This tendency to Christianization has, in some instances, been so universal, and has prevailed for so long a period, that certain symbols and myths have been, in this way, so deeply and thoroughly imbued with the Christian element as to leave those who have not penetrated into the cause of this peculiarity, in doubt whether they should attribute to the symbol an ancient or a modern and Christian origin.
The foregoing is by Doctor Mackey and to it may be added that the Swedish Rite is essentially Christian, and that the intimate connection of the Hiramic Legend with the history of Christ is a most interesting and suggestive study.
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