L.
In Hebrew, Samaritan, 4. The shape of the twelfth English letter is borrowed from that of the Oriental lomad, coinciding with the Samaritan. The numerical value in Hebrew is thirty. The Roman numeral L is fifty. Hebrew name of Deity, as an equivalent, is µh, dimmed, or Doctus. This letter also signifies a stimulus, generally feminine.
LABARUM.
The monogram of the name of Christ, formed by the first two letters of that word, XPI2TOZ, in Greek. It is the celebrated sign which the legend says appeared in the sky at noonday to the Emperor Constantine, and which was afterward placed by him upon his standard. Hence it is sometimes called f the Cross of Constantine. It was adopted as a symbol by the early Christians, and frequent instances of it are to be found in b the catacombs. According to Eusebius, the Labarum was surrounded by the motto EN TOTTQ NIGH, or Conquer oy this, which has been Latinized to In hoc signo Minces, the motto assumed by the Masonic Knights Templar (see In hoc signo Minces). In his Life of Constantine (i, page 31), Eusebius describes the arrangement of the Labarum as on a long gilded spear having a crosspiece supporting a square purple cloth jewelled richly, at end of spear a gold wreath enclosing monogram. The derivation of the word Labansm is uncertain. The Greek word Labaron means a flag.
LABOR.
It is one of the most beautiful features of the Masonic Institution, that it teaches not only the necessity, but the nobility of labor. From the time of opening to that of closing, a Lodge is said to be at labor. This is but one of the numerous instances in which the terms of Operative Masonry are symbolically applied to Speculative; for, as the Operative Masons were engaged in the building of material edifices, so Free and Accepted Masons are supposed to be employed in the erection of a superstructure of virtue and morality upon the foundation of the Masonic principles which they were taught at their admission into the Order.
When the Lodge is engaged in reading petitions, hearing reports, debating financial matters, etc., it is said to be occupied in busyness; but when it is engaged in the form and ceremony of initiation into any of the Degrees, it is said to be at work. Initiation is Masonic labor. This phraseology at once suggests the connection of our Speculative System with an Operative Art that preceded it, and upon which it has been founded. Gadicke says:
Labor is an important word in Freemasonry- indeed, we might say the most important. For this, and this alone, does a man become a Freemason.
Every other object is secondary or incidental. Labor is the aeoustomed design of every Lodge meeting. But do such meetings always furnish evidence of industry? The labor of an Operative Mason will be visible, and he will receive his reward for it, even though the building he has constructed may, in the next hour, be overthrown by a tempest. He knows that he has done his labor. And so must the Freemason labor. His labor must be visible to himself and to his Brethren, or, at least, it must eonduce to his own internal satisfaction. As we build neither a visible Solomonie Temple nor an Egyptian pyramid, our industry must become visible in works that are imperishable, so that when we vanish from the eyes of mortals it may be said of us that our labor was well done.
As Freemasons, we labor in our Lodge to make ourselves a perfect building, without blemish, working hopefully for the consummation, when the house of our earthly tabernacle shall be finished, when the Lost Word of Divine Truth shall at last be discovered, and when we shall be found by our own efforts at perfection to have done God service.
LABORERS, STATUTES OF.
Toward the middle of the fourteenth century, a plague of excessive virulence, known in history as the Black Death, invaded Europe, and swept off fully one-half of the inhabitants. The death of 80 many workmen had the effect of advancing the price of all kinds of labor to double the former rate. In England, the Parliament, in 1350, enacted a Statute, which was soon followed by others, the object of which was to regulate the rate of wages and the price of the necessaries of life. Against these enactments, which were called the Statutes of Laborers, the artisans of all kinds rebelled; but the most active opposition was found among the Masons, whose organization, Doctor Mackey asserts, being better regulated, was more effective (see Freemason). In 1360, Statutes were passed forbidding their "Congregations, Chapters, Regulations, and Oaths," which were from time to time repeated, until the third year of the reign of Henry VI, 1425 A.D., when the celebrated Statute entitled "Masons shall not confederate themselves in Chapters and Congregations," was enacted in the following words:
Whereas, by yearly Congregations and Confederacies made by the Masons in their General Assemblies, the good course and effect of the Statutes for Laborers be openly violated and broken, in subversion of the law, and to the great damage of all the Commons, our said sovereign lord and King, willing in this case to provide a remedy, by the advice and assent aforesaid, and at the speei31 rev quest of the Commons, hath ordained and established that such chapters and congregations shall not be hereafter holden; and if any such be made, they that cause such Chapters and Congregations to be assembled and holden, if they thereof be convicted, shall be judged for felons. and that the other Masons that come to such Chapters and Congregations be punished by imprisonment of their bodies and make fine and ransom at the king's will.
All the Statutes of Laborers were repealed in the fifth year of Elizabeth; and Lord Coke gave the opinion that this act of Henry VI became, in consequence, "of no force or effect"; a decision which led Anderson, very absurdly, says Brother Mackey, to suppose that "this most learned judge really belonged to the ancient Lodge, and was a faithful Brother" (Constitutions, 1723, page 57); as if it required a judge to be a Freemason tougive a just judgment concerning the interests of Freemasonry.
LACEPEDE;, B. G. E. DE LA VILLE.
,
A French savant and naturalist, born in 175d, died 1825. President of the Legislative Assernbly in 1791. Master of the Lodge de Saint Napoléon in 1805. An account of his installation is recorded by Kloss.
LACORNE.
,
The Count of Clermont, who was Grand Master of Francis having abandoned all care of the French Lodges, left them to the direction of his Deputies. In 1761, he appointed one Lacorne, a dancing-master, his Deputy; but the Grand Lodge, indignant at the appointment, refused to sanction it or to recognize Lacorne as a presiding officer. He accordingly constituted another Grand Lodge, and was supported by adherents of his own character, who were designated by the more respectable Freemasons as the Lacorne Faction. In 1762, the Count of Clermont, influenced by the representations that were made to him, revoked the commission of Lacorne, and appointed Monsieur Chaillou de Joinville his Substitute General. In consequence of this, the two rival Grand Lodges became reconciled, and a union was effected on the 24th of June, 1769. But the reconciliation did not prove altogether satisfactory.
In 1765, at the annual election, neither Lacorne nor any of his associates were chosen to office. They became disgusted, and, retiring from the Grand Lodge, issued a scandalous protest, for which they were expelled; and subsequently they organized a spurious Grand Lodge and chartered several Lodges. But from this time Lacorne ceased to have a place in regular Freemasonry, although the dissensions first begun by him ultimately gave rise to the Grand Orient as the successor of the Grand Lodge.
LADDER.-.
LADDER, BRAHMANICAL.
LADDER, CABALISTIC.
LADDER, JACOB'S.
LADDER, MITHRAITIC.
LADDER OF IZADOSH.
LADDER, ROSICRUCIAN.
LADDER, SCANDINAVIAN.
LADDER, THEOLOGICAL.
A symbol of progressive advancement from a lower to a higher sphere, which is common to Freemasonry and to many, if not all of the Ancient Mysteries. In each, generally, as in Freemasonry, the number of steps was seven (see Jacob's Ladder).
LADDER, BRAHMANICAL.
The symbolic ladder used in the Mysteries of Brahma. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven worlds of the Indian universe. The lowest was the Earth; the second, the World of Coexistence; the third, Heaven; the fourth, the Middle World, or intermediate rexion between the lower and the upper worlds; the fifth, the World of Births, in which souls are born again; the sixth, the Mansion of the Blessed; and the seventh, or topmost round, the Sphere of Truth, the abode of Brahma, who was himself a symbol of the sun.
LADDER, CABALISTIC.
The ladder of the Cabalists consisted of the ten Sephiroths or Emanations of Deity. The steps were in an ascending series the Kingdom, Foundation, Splendor, Firmness, Beauty, Justice, Mercy, Intelligence, Wisdom, and the Crown. This ladder formed the exception to the usual number of seven steps or rounds.
LADDER, JACOB'S.
See Jacob's Ladder.
LADDER, MITHRAITIC.
,
The symbolic ladder used in the Persian Mysteries of Mithras. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven planets and the seven metals. Thus, beginning at the bottom, we have Saturn represented by lead, Venus by tin, Jupiter by brass, Mercury by iron, Mars by a mixed metal, the Moon by silver, and the Sun by gold; the whole being a symbol of the sidereal progress of the sun through the universe.
LADDER OF IZADOSH.
,
This ladder, belonging to the advanced Degrees of Freemasonry, consists of the seven following steps, beginning at the bottom Justice, Equity, Kindliness, Good Faith, Labor, patience, and Intelligence or Wisdom. Its supports are love of God and love of our neighbor, and their totality constitute a symbolism of the devoir or duty of Knighthood and Freemasonry, the fulfilment of which is necessary to make a Perfect Knight and Perfect Freemason.
LADDER, ROSICRUCIAN.
,
Among the symbols of the Rosicrucians is a ladder of seven steps standing on a globe of the earth, with an open Bible, Square, and Compasses resting on the top. Between each of the steps is one of the following letters, beginning from the bottom: I. N. R. I. F. S. C., being the initials of Iesus, Nazarenus, Rex, Iudaeorum, Fides, Spes Caritas. These words suggesting Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews; Faith, Hopc, Charity. But a more recondite or hidden meaning is sometimes given to the first four letters.
LADDER, SCANDINAVIAN.
,
The symbolic ladder used in the Gothic Mysteries. Doctor Oliver refers it to the Yggrasil, or sacred ashtree. But the symbolism is either very abstruse or very doubtful. It retains, however, the idea of an ascent from a lower to a higher sphere, which was common to all the mystical ladder systems. At its root lies the dragon of death; at its top are the eagle and hawk, the symbols of life.
LADDER, THEOLOGICAL.
,
The symbolic ladder of the Masonic Mysteries. It refers to the ladder seen by Jacob in his vision, and consists, like all symbolical ladders, of seven rounds, alluding to the four cardinal and the three theological virtues (see Jacob's Ladder).
LADRIAN.
,
In the Sloane Manuscript 3848 and probably meant for Edwin.
LADY.
,
In the androgynous, both sexes, Lodges of Adoption, where the male members are called Knights, the female members are called Ladies, as, the Knights and Ladies of the Rose. The French use the word Dame.
LAKAK DEROR PESSAH.
,
The Hebrew words, NDD nn: npi. The initials of these three words are found on the symbol of the Bridge in the Fifteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite, signifying Liberty of Passage and Liberty of Thoughd (see Bridge, also Liber) .
LALANDE.
,
See De la Lande.
LAMAISM.
,
The name of the religion prevalent in Tibet and Mongolia. The Tibetian word, Llama, is pronounced lama, a chief or high priest. The faith is Buddhism, corrugated by Sivaism, an adoration of saints. At the summit of its hierarchy are txvo Lama Popes, having equal rank and authority in spiritual and temporal affairs.
LAMA SABACHTHANI.
,
An expression used in the Masonic French Rite of Adoption. The words are from Matthew (xxvu, 46), "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
LAMB.
In Ancient Craft Masonry the Lamb is the symbol of innocence; thus in the instructions of the First Degree: "In all ages the Lamb has been deemed an emblem of innocence." Hence it is required that a Freemason's Apron should be made of lambskin. In the advanced Degrees, and in the Degrees of chivalry, as in Christian iconography, or stration, the lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ.
The introduction of this Christian symbolism of the lamb comes from the expression of Saint John the Baptist, who exclaimed, on seeing Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God"; which was undoubtedly derived from the prophetic writers, who compare the Messiah suffering on the eross to a lamb under the knife of a butcher. In the vision of Saint John, in the Apocalypse, Christ is seen, under the form of a lamb, wounded in the throat, and opening the book with the seven seals. Hence, in one of the Degrees of the Scottish Rite, the Seventeenth, or Knight of the East and West, the larnb lying on the book with the seven seals is a part of the jewel.
LAMBALLE, THE PRINCESS OF.
Marie Thérese Louise, born at Turin, 1749, devoted companion of Marie Antoinette, who appointed her Superintendent of the Royal Household. Imprisoned with the Queen at the Revolution, she refused to take the oath against the royalty and was on September 3, 1799, delivered to the populace for execution, her head on a spear being carried before the windows of the Queen's apartment. The Grand Mistress of the so-called Mother Lodge of La Masonnerie d'Adoption.
LAMB OF GOD.
See Lamb, Paschal.
LAMB, PASCHAL.
The Paschal Lamb, sometimes called the Holy Lamb, was the lamb offered up by the Jews at the paschal feast, the Passover. This has been transferred to Christian symbolism, to Easter, and naturally to Chivalric Freemasonry; and hence we find it among the symbols of modern Templarism. The paschal lamb, as a Christian and Masonic symbol, called also the Agnw Dez, or Lamb of God, first appeared in Christian art after the sixth century.
This is depicted as a lamb standing on the ground, holding by the left forefoot a banner, on which a cross is inscribed. This paschal lamb, or Lamb of God, has been adopted as a symbol by the Knights Templar, being borne in one of the banners of the Order, and constituting, with the square which it surmounts, the jewel of the Generalissimo of a Commandery. The lamb is a symbol of Christ; the cross, of His passion; and the banner, of His victory over death and hell. Barrington states (Archaeologia ix, page 134) that in a Deed of the English Knights Templar, granting lands in Cambridgeshire. the seal is a Holy Land, and the arms of the Master of the Temple at London were argent, a cross gules, and on the nombril point thereof a Holy Lamb, that is, a Paschal or Holy Lamb on the center of a red cross in a white field.
LAMBSKIN APRON.
See A pron.
LAMP, KNIGHT OF THE INEXTINGUISHABLE.
A Degree quoted in the nomenclature of Fustier (see Thory, Greta Latomorum i, page 320).
LANCE.
A weapon for thrusting at an enemy, usually adorned with a small flag, made of tough ash, weighted at one end to balance it in use, and pointed at the other.
LANE, JOHN.
Born in England, in 1843, he died suddenly on December 30, 1899. Statistician of the Masonic Fraternity, as he was so termed by Brother W. J. Hughan. Initiated on September 10, 1878, in the Jordan Lodge, No. 1402, at Torquay, he scarcely ever missed one of its meetings. He became Worshipful Master in 1882.
Brother Lane published his Masonic Records, 1717 -1886, in 1886, a second edition appearing in 1895. The Board of General Purposes, Grand Lodge of England, warmly praised the colossal volume and remarked most truly "that many years of patient labor and careful research were spent by the compiler in its preparation, and it is perhaps the most useful Masonic work ever published." In 1889 he published A Handy Book to the study of the engraved, printed, and manuscript Lists of Lodges of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of England Moderns and Antients 1723-1814; and in 1891, Centenary Warrants and Jewels, comprising an account of all the Lodges under the Grand Lodge of England to which Centenary Warrants had been granted, together with illustrations of all the special Jewels.
He contributed several papers to Freemasonry during his affiliation with the Inner Circle of Quatuor Coronati Lodge which Brother Lane joined in 1887, and of which he was a very active and devoted member. A representative list of these articles is given here: "Another New List of Lodges, A.D. 1732," 1898; "Early Lodges of Freemasons, Their Constitution and Warrants, 1717-1760;" "Masters Lodges," 1888 and 1895; "Date of Origin of the Grand Lodge of the Antients 1751," 1892, appeared in the Transac tions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge; "motes on the Minute Book of an Early Athol Lodge," 1887; "Old Warrants, Lodge of Unanimity, No. 89, Dukinfield," 1891: "Notes on the FPrlv Minute Book of Premier
Grand Lodge of England, 1887, appeared in the Freemason, and an article entitled "Lodges in America under the English Constitution, 1733-1889, " was printed in the History of Freemasonry and Concordant Orders.
An important Lecture of Brother Lane's led to considerable discussion, but could not be reproduced in print. It bore the suggestive title "Some Aspects of Early English freemasonry Esoteric, with Special Reference to the Signs, Tokens, Words and Obligations."
For biographical references to Brother Lane see Freemason, No. 34, 1895 (pages 33G5), and Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge (volume XLU, page 41, 1900).
LANGES, SAVALEITE DE.
The Master of Les Amis Réunis, meaning Reunited Friends, who aided in founding the system of Philalethes in in 1775.
LANGLEY, BATTY.
An English architect who died March 31, 1751. His Ancient Masonry published in 1736 is dedicated to Francis, Duke of Lorraine and "to all others the Right Hon. and Right Worship ful Masters of Masonry, by their humble servant and affectionate Brother, Batty Langley." There is art interesting introduction to Geometry in the fourth edition of the Builders Complete Assistant. The Build ers Jewel or the Youth's Instructor and Workman's Remembrance, written by Batty and Thomas Langley and published at London in 1751, has a remarkable frontispiece full of Masonic symbols.
LANGUAGE, UNIVERSAL.
The invention of a universal language, which men of all nations could understand and through which they could communicate their thoughts, has always been one of the dreams of certain philologists. In the seventeenth century, Dalgarno had written his Ars Signorum to prove the possibility of a universal character and a philosophical language. About the same time Bishop Wilkins published his Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language; and even the mathematical Leibnitz entertained the project of a universal language for all the world. It is not, therefore, surprising, that when the so-called Leland Manuscript stated that the Freemasons concealed a "Universelle Longage," John Locke, or whoever was the commentator on that document, should have been attraeted by the statement. He says:
A universal language has been much desired by the learned of many ages. It is a thing rather to be vwished than hoped for. But it seems the Masons pretend to have such a thing among them. If it be true, I guess it must be something like the language of the Pantomimes among the ancient Romans, who are said to be able, by signs only, to express and deliver any oration Intelligibly to men of all nations and languages.
The guess of the commentator was near the truth. A universal language founded on words is utterly impracticable. Even if once inaugurated by common consent, a thing itself impossible, the lapse of but a few years, and the continual innovation of new phrases would soon destroy its universality. But there are signs and symbols which, by tacit consent, have always been recognized as the exponents of certain ideas, and these are everywhere understood. It is well known that such a system exists over the vast territory occupied by the North American savages, and that the Indians of two tribes, which totally differ in language, meeting on the prairie or in the forest, are enabled, by conventual signs of universal agreement, to hold long and intelligible intercourse.
On such a basis the Universal Language of Freemasonry is founded. It is not universal to the world, but it is to the Craft; and a Freemason of one country and language meeting a Freemason of another can make himself understood for all practical purposes of the Craft, simply because the system of signs and symbols has been so perfected that in every language they convey the same meaning and make the same impression. This, and this only, is the extent to which the universal language of Freemasonrv reaches. It would be an error to suppose that it meets the expectations of Dalgarno or Wilkins, or any other dreamer, and that it is so perfect as to supersede the necessity of any other method of intercommunication.
Thus far Brother Mackey whose comments on Masonic universality are as applicable today as when his words were written, though his criticisms of the possibilities in universal languages are less successful in view of the work accomplished in that direction since his day and generation. However, we must admit that the same prejudice exists and is likely to persist and long continue. Part of this objection is due to misunderstanding, a belief that the projected language is intended to take the place of some national tongue. But this is an error; at best the attempts have been directed at an easily acquired auxiliary means of spoken and written communication, an agency especially promising of purpose in a world that is so readily misled by lack of correct knowledge concerning the peoples of the earth. Surely this is a task of importance to all Brethren of the Craft.
As to the earlier attempts to which Brother Mackey alludes, they were failures, it is true. Dalgamo's Ars Szgnorum of 1661 and Wilkins' Real Character of 1668 failed because of insufficient foundation, the preliminary scientific labor had not then been done. But what was attempted was deserving of admiration and Wilkins in particular made a contribution to phonetics that is valuable among experts of modern times while his classification of ideas was the acknowledged forerunner of later efforts by Roget and Linnaeus. More recently we have had Volapuk of 1880, Esperanto, 1887, and Idiom Neutral, 1902. Of these the second is admittedly the most reasonable and practical artificial language.
Born as it was among the feuds of four races using different languages, its inventor, Dr. L. Zamenhof, believed that the evil could be remedied by a neutral speech. A Masonic Lodge using Esperanto was established at Paris, one has been planned for London, and an international group of Freemasons using Esperanto has also functioned (see Universals Framasona Ligo).
|
