MAJORITY.
Elections in Masonic Bodies are as a general rule decided by a majority of the votes cast A plurality vote is not admissible unless it has been provided for by a special by-law.
MAKE.
"To make Masons" is a very ancient term; used in the oldest Charges extant as synonymous with the verb to initiate or receive into the Fraternity. It is found in the Larzsdowree Manuscript, whose date is the latter half of the sixteenth century. "These be all the charges . . . read at the making of a Mason."
MALACH.
Hebrew word, meaning an angel. A significant word in the advanced Degrees. Lenning gives it as Melek or Melech.
MALACHI or MALACHIAS.
The last of the prophets. A significant word in the Thirty-second Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
MALAY PENINSULA.
The most southern part of continental Asia. The Grand Lodges of England and Scotland have each chartered several Lodges in this district, and Freemasonry flourishes in Singapore, Selangor, Penang, Ipoh, Malacca, Seremban, Taiping Perak, and Teluk Anson. The first Lodge ever estabiished here was the Neptune Lodge at Penang, warranted September 6, 1809, but, after becoming dormant and then reviving, it finally became extinct in 1862.
MALCOLM CANMORE CHARTER.
See Manuscripts, Aprocriphal.
MALCOLM III.
King of Scotland. Reported to have chartered the Lodge of Salnt John of Glasgow in the year 1051.
MALLET.
One of the Working-Tools of a Mark Master, having the same emblematic meaning as the Common Gavel in the Entered Apprentice's Degree.
It teaches us to correct the irregularities of temper, and, like enlightened reason, to curb the aspirations of unbridled ambition, to depress the malignity of envy, and to moderate the ebullition of anger. It removes from the mind all the excrescences of nce, and fits it, as a well-wrought stone, for that exalted station in the great temple of nature to which, as an emanation of the Deity, it is entitled.
The Mallet or Setting Maul is also an emblem of the Third Degree, and is said to have been the implement by which the stones were set up at the Temple. It is often improperly confounded with the Common Gavel.
The French Freemasons, to whom the word Gavel is unknown, uniformly use maillet, or mallet, in its stead, and confound its sym bolic use, as the implelnent of the presiding officer, with the mallet of the English and American Mark Master.
MALTA.
MALTA, CROSS OF.
MALTESE CROSS.
Anciently known as Melita (see Acts xxviii, 1). A small island in the Mediterranean Sea, which, although occupying only about 91 square miles, possessed for several centuries a greater degree of celebrity than was attached to any other territory of so little extent. It is now a possession of the British Government, but was occupied from 1530 to 1798 by the Knights Hospitalers, then called Knights of Malta, upon whom it was conferred in the former year by Charles V.
The Saint John's Lodge of Secrecy and Harmony is claimed to "have assembled as a Lodge since 30 June 1788" (see Lane's Masonic Record, page 220).
On July 2, 1788, Secrecy and Harmony Lodge was reopened and on March 30 the following year it was warranted as No. 539 by the Grand Lodge of England. In 1815 Brother Waller R. Wright was appointed Provincial Grand Master.
Gibraltar was at one time part of the Malta Masonic territory and in 1914 there were five English Lodges located there.
Tunis became part of the Malta District in 1869.
MALTA, CROSS OF.
See Cross, Maltese.
MALTA, KNIGHT OF.
See Knight of Malta.
MALTESE CROSS.
See Cross, Maltese.
MAN.
Among the several significances of word are the following:
1. Man has been called the Microcosm, or little world, in contradistinction to the Macrocosm, or great world, by some fanciful writers on metaphysics, by reason of a supposed correspondence between the different parts and qualities of his nature and those of the universe. But in Masonic symbolism the idea is borrowed from Christ and the Apostles, who repeatedly refer to man as a symbol of the Temple.
2. A man was inscribed on the standard of the Tribe of Reuben, and is borne on the Royal Arch banners as appropriate to the Grand Master of the Second Veil. It was also the charge in the third quarter of the arms of the Atholl Grand Lodge.
3. Der Mann, or the 7nan, is the Second Degree of the German Union.
4. To be "a man, not a woman," is one of the qualifications for Magonic initiation. It is the first, and therefore the most important, qualification mentioned in the ritual.
MAN or PERFECTED CREATION.
The symbol representing perfected creation, which is very common on ancient Hindu monuments in China," embraces so many of the Masonic emblems, and so directly refers to several of the elementary principles taught in philosophic Freemasonry, that it is here introduced with its explanations. Forlong, in his Faiths of Man, gives this arrangement:
A—is the Earth, or foundation on which all build.
Wa—Water, as in an egg, or as condensed fire and ether.
Ra—Flie, or the elements in motion.
Ka—Air, or wind—Juno. or Io ni; a condensed element.
Cha—Ether, or Heaven, the eosmical Fermer.
The accompanying illustration sholvs a design that is frequently found in India.
As these symbols are readily interpretable by those conversant with Masonic hieroglyph it may be seen that the elements, in their ascending scale, show the perfected creation. Forlong remarks that:
As it was difficult to show the All-pervadirg Ether Egypt for this purpose. surrounded her figures with a powder of stars instead of flame, which on Indra's garments were Yonis. This figure gradually developed, becoming in time a very concrete man, standing on two legs instead of a square base—the horns of the crescent Air, being outstretched. formed the arms, and the refulgent Flame. the head, which, with the Greeks and Romans, represented the Sun, or Fire, and gives Light to all. To this being, it was claimed, there were given seven senses; and thus, perfect and erect, stood Man, rising above the animal state.
A discussion of the subject is to be found in Chinese Thought, by Brother Paul Carus, a treatise of decided interest.
The seven senses were seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, smelling, understanding, and speech (see Ecclesiasticus, in the Apocrypha xvii, 1-5):
"The Lord created man," and "They received the use of the five operations of the Lord; and in the sixth place he imparted (to) them understanding, and in the seventh speech, an interpreter of the cogitations thereof."
The words "seven senses" also occur in the poem of Taliesin, called Y Bid Mavrr, or the Macrocosm (British Magazine, volume xxi, page 30). See further the Mysterium Magnum of Jacob Boehmen, which teaches "how the soul of man, or his inward holy body," was compoundedsof the seven properties under the influence of the seven planets:
- I will adore my Father,
- My God, my Supporter,
- Who placed, throughout my head,
- The soul of my reason,
- And made for my perception
- My seren faculties
- Of Fire, and Earth, and Water, and Air
- And mist, and flowers, And the southerly wind,
- As it were seven senses of reason
- For my Father to impel me:
- With the first I shall be animated
- With the second I shall touch,
- With the third I shall cry out,
- With the fourth I shall taste
- With the fifth I shall see,
- With the sixth I shall hear,
- With the seventh I shall smell.
MANDATE.
From the Latin, meaning That which is commanded. The Benedictine editors of Du Cange define mandatum as "Breve aut Edictum Regium," that is, a Royval Brief or Edict, and mandamentum as "literae quibus magistratus aliquid mandat," meaning, letters in which a magistrate commands anything. Hence the orders and decrees of a Grand Master or a Grand Lodge are called Mandates, and implicit obedience to them is a Masonic obligation. There is an appeal, yet not a suspensive one, from the Mandate of a Grand Master to the Grand Lodge, but there is none from the latter.
MANGO.
The branches of this tree are a prominent feature in all Eastern religious ceremonies. The mango is the apple-tree of India, with which man, in Indian tale, tempted Eve.
MANGOURIT, MICHELANGE BERNARD DE.
A distinguished member of the Grand Orient of France. He founded in 1776, at Rennes, the Rite of Sublimes Elus de la Vérité, or Sublime Elects of Truth, and at Paris the androgynous, both sexes, society of Dames of Mount Thabor. He also created the Masonic Literary Society of Free Thinkers, which existed for three years. He delivered lectures which were subsequently published under the title of Cours de Philosophic Maçonnique, in 500 pages, quarto. He also delivered a great many lectures and discourses before various Lodges, several of which were published. He died, after a long and severe illness, February 17, 1829.
MANICHAEANS.
Also termed Gnostics. A sect taking its rise in the middle of the third century, whose belief was in two eternal principles of good and evil. They derived their name from Manes, a philosopher of Persian birth, sometimes called Manichaeus. Of the two principles, Ormudz was the author of the good, while Ahriman was the master spirit of evil. The two classes of neophytes were, the true, siddi kun; the listeners, Samma un.
MANICHEENS, LES FRERES.
A secret Italian Society, founded, according to Thory (Acta Latomorum i, 325), and Clavel (Histoire Pittoresque, page 407) in the eighteenth century, at which the doctrines of Manes were set forth in several grades.
MANITOBA.
Northern Light Lodge was granted a Dispensation in 1864 by Brother A. T. Pierson, then Grand Master in Minnesota. The new Lodge was organized at Fort Garry (Winnipeg) with Brother Dr. John Schultz as Worshipful Master but it ceased to exist after a few years' work. When Red River Settlement, as it was then called, became the Province of Manitoba the Grand Lodge of Canada assumed Jurisdiction and chartered Prince Rupert's Lodge, Winnipeg, in December, 1870. Prince Rupert, Lisgar, and Ancient Landmark Lodges held a Convention on May 12, 1875, and formed the Grand Lodge of Manitoba with the Rev. Dr. XV. C. Clarke as Grand Master. Until the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were established and created Grand Lodges of their own the Grand Lodge of Manitoba controlled the Craft in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory as well as in Manitoba
MANN, DER.
German, meaning the Man, the second grade of the Deutsche Union.
MANNA, POT OF.
Among the articles laid up in the Ark of the Covenant by Aaron was a Pot of Manna. In the Substitute Ark, commemorated in the Royal Arch Degree, there was, of course, a representation of it. Manna has been considered as a symbol of life; not the transitory, but the enduring one of a future world. Hence the Pot of Manna, Aaron's Rod that budded anew, and the Book of the Law, which teaches Divine Truth, all found together, are appropriately considered as the symbols of that eternal life which it is the design of the Royal Arch Degree to teach.
MANNINGHAM, THOMAS.
Dr. Thomas Manningham was a physician, of London, of much repute in the eighteenth century. He took an active interest in the concerns of Freemasonry, being Deputy Grand Master of England, 1752-6. According to Oliver ( Revelations of a Square, page 86), he was the author of the prayer now so well known to the Fraternity, which was presented by him to the Grand Lodge, and adopted as a form of prayer to be used at the initiation of a candidate. Before that period, no prayer was used on such occasions, and the one composed by Manningham, Oliver says with the assistance of Anderson, which is doubtful, as Anderson died in 1739, is here given as a document of the time. It will be seen that in our day it has been somewhat modified, Preston making the first change; and that, originally used as one prayer, it has since been divided, in this country at least, into two, the first part being used as a prayer at the opening of a Lodge, and the latter at the initiation of a candidate.
Most Holy and Glorious Lord God, thou Architect of Heaven and Earth, who art the Giver of all good Gifts and Graces- and hath promised that where two or three are gathered together in thy Name, thou wilt be in the Midst of them- in thy Name we assemble and meet together, most humbly beseeching thee to bless us in all our Undertakings: to give us thy Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds with Wisdom and Understanding- that we may know and serve thee aright, that all our Doinhs may tend to thy Glory and the Salvation of our Souls. And we beseech thee, O Lord God, to bless this our present Undertaking, and to grant that this our Brother may dedicate his Life to thy Service, and be a true and faithful Brother amongst us. undue him with Divine Wisdom, that he may, with the secrets of Masonry, be able to unfold the Mysteries of Godliness and Christianity This we humbly beg, in the Name and for the Sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Doctor Manningham rendered other important services to Freemasonry by his advocacy of healthy reforms and his determined opposition to the schist matic efforts of the Antient Freemasons. He died February 3, 1794. The third edition of the Boot; of Constitutions (1756, page 258) speaks of him in exalted terms as "a diligent and active officer." Two interesting letters written by Doctor Manningham are given at length in Gould's Concise History of Freemasonry ( pages 328-34); one dated December 3, 1756, and addressed to what was then the Provineial Grand Lodge of Holland, refusing leave for the holdinrr of Scotch Lodges and pointing out that Freemasonrv is the same in all parts of the world; and another dated July 1°, 17a7, also dealing with the socalled Scotch Freemasonry, and explaining that its orders of Knighthood were unknown in England, where the only Orders known are those of Masters, Fellow Crafts, and Apprentices.
We may add to the above article, written by Brother Hawkins, retarding the prayer, a further comment upon its age NVith the addition of the word new preceding Brother it is found in the edition of the Constitutions printed at Dublin, 1730, and reprinted by Brother Richard Spencer, 1870. This seems to antedate the activity of Doctor Manningham.
MANTLE.
A dress placed over all the others. It is of very ancient date, being a part of the costume of the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. Among the Anglo-Saxons it was the decisive mark of military rank, being confined to the cavalry. In the medieval ages, and on the institution of chivalry, the long, trailing mantle was especially reserved as one of the insignia of knighthood, and was worn by the knight as the most August and noble decoration that he could have, when he was not dressed in his armor.
The general color of the mantle, in imitation of that of the Roman soldiers, was scarlet, which was lined with ermine or other precious furs. But some of the Orders wore mantles of other colors. Thus the Knights Templar were clothed with a white mantle having a red cross on the breast, and the Knights Hospitaler a black mantle with a white cross. The mantle is still worn in England and other countries of Europe as a mark of rank on state occasions by peers, and by some magistrates as a token of official rank.
MANTLE OF HONOR.
The mantle vorn by a knight was called the Mantle of donor. This mantle was presented to a knight whenever he was made by the king.
MANU.
By reference to the Book of the Dead, it will be found that this word covers an ideal space corresponding to the word West, in whose bosom is received the setting sun (see Truth).
MANUAL.
Relating to the hand, from the Latin manus, a hand. see the Masonic use of the word in the next two articles.
MANUAL POINT OF ENTRANCE.
Freemasons are, in a peculiar manner, reminded, by the hand, of the necessity of a prudent and careful observance of all their pledges and duties, and henee this organ suggests certain symbolic instructions in relation to the virtue of prudence.
MANUAL SIGN.
In the early English lectures this term is applied to what is now called the Manual Point of Entrance.
MANUSCRIPTS.
Anderson tells us, in the second edition of his Constitutions, that in the year 1717 Grand Master Payne "desired any Brethren to bring to the Grand Lodge any old writings and records concerning Masons and Masonry, in order to show the usages of ancient times, and several old copies of the Gothic Constitutions were produced and collated" (constitutions 1738, page 110); but in consequence of a jealous supposition that it would be wrong to commit anything to print which related to Freemasonrv, an act of Masonic vandalism was perpetrated.
For Anderson further informs us (page 111D, that in 1720, "at some private Lodges, several very valuable manuscripts, for they had nothing yet in print, concerning the Fraternity, their Lodges, Regulations, Charges, Secrets, and Usa yes, particularly one written by Mr. Nicholas Stone, the Warden of Inigo Jones, were too hastily burnt by some scrupulous Brothers, that those papers might not fall into strange hands." The recent labors of Masonic scholars in England, among whom the late William James Hughan deserves especial notice, have succeeded in rescuing many of the old Masonic manuscripts from oblivion, and we are now actually in possession of more of these heretofore unpublished treasures of the Craft than were probably accessible to Anderson and his contemporaries (see Records, Old, and Manuscripts, Old).
MANUSCRIPTS, APOCRYPHAL.
There are certain documents that at various times have been accepted as genuine, but which are now rejected, and considered to be fabrications, by most, if not by all, critical Masonic writers. The question of their authenticity has been thoroughly gone into by Brother R. F. Gould ( /Iistory of Freemesonry, chapter xi) and he places them all "within the category of Apocryphal Manuscripts."
The first is the Leland-Locke Manuscript (see Leland Manuscript) .
The second is the Steinmetz Catechism, given by Krause as one of the three oldest documents belonging to the Craft, but of which Gould says, "there appears to me nothing in the preceding 'examination' (or catechism) that is capable of sustaining the claims to antiquity which have been advanced on its behalf."
The third is the Malcolm Canmore Charter, which came to light in 1806, consequent upon the "claim of the Glasgow Freemen Operatinc Saint John's Lodge to take precedence of the other Lodges in the Masonic procession, at the Saving of the foundation-stone of Nelson's Monument on Glasgow Green, although at that time it was an independent organization ' According to the Charter, the Glasgow Saint John's Lodge was given priority over all the other Lodges in Scotland by Malcolm III, King of Scots, in 1051. The controversy as to the document was lively, but finally it was pronounced to be a manufactured parchment, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland declined to recognize it of value.
The fourth is that of Krause, known as Prince Edwin's Constitution of 926. Upon this unquestioned reliance had for decades been placed, then it came to be doubted, and is now little credited by inquiring Freemasons. Brother Gould closes with the remark:
The original document, as commonly happens in forgeries of this description, is missing; and how, under all the circumstances of the case Krause could have constituted himself the champion of its authenticity, it is difficult to conjecture. Possibly, however, the explanation may be, that in impostures of this character, credulity, on the one part, is a strong temptation to deceit on the other, especially to deceit of which no personal injury is the eonsequenee. and which flatters the student of old documents with his own ingenuity.
These remarks, says Brother Hawkins, who prepared this article, are specially quoted as relating to almost all apocryphal documents.
The fifth is the Charter of Cologne, a document in cipher. bearing the date June 24, 1535, as to which see Cologne, Charter of.
The sixth is the Larmenius Charter, or The Charter of Transmission, upon which rests the claims of the French Order of the Temple to being the lineal successors of the historic Knights Templar, for which see Temple, Order of the.
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