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RECORDER,
In some of the advanced Degrees, as in a Council of Select Masters and a Commandery of Knights Templar, the title of Recorder is given to the Secretary. The recording officer of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States, of State Grand Commanderies, and of Grand Couneils of Royal and Select Masters, is styled a strand Recorder.
RECORDS. OLD.
The early history of Freemasonry, as written by Anderson, Preston, Smith, Calcott, and writers of that generation, was little more than a collection of fables, so absurd as to excite the smile of every reader, or bare statements of incidents, without any authority to substantiate their genuineness. The recent writers on the same subject have treated it in a very different manner, and one that gives to the investigation of the early annals of Freemasonry a respectable position in the circle of historic studies.
Much of the increased value that is given in the present day to Masonic history is derivable from the fact that, ceasing to repeat the gratuitous statements of the older writers, sotne of whom have not hesitated to make Adam a Grand Master, and Eden the site of a Lodge, our students of this day are drawing their conclusions from, and establishing their theories on, the old records, which Masonic archeology is in this generation bringing to light. Hence, one of these students, Brother Woodford, of England, has said that, when we begin to investigate the real facts of Masonic history, "not only have we to discard at once much that we have held tenaciously and taught habitually, simply resting on the reiterated assertions of others, but we shall also find that we have to get rid of what, I fear, we must call 'accumulated rubbish,' before we can see clearly how the great edifice of Masonic history, raised at last on sure and good foundations, stands out clearer to the sight, and even more honorable to the builders, from those needful, if preparatory, labors."

Anderson tells us that in the year 1719, at some of the private Lodges, "several very valuable mamlscripts concerning the Fraternity, their Lodges, Regulations, Charges, Secrets, and Usages, were too hastily burnt by some scrupulous Brothers, that those papers might not fall into strange hands" (Constitutions, 1738, page 111).
In the last century the archeologists of F reemasonry have labored very diligently and successfully to disinter from the old Lodges, libraries, and museums many of these ancient manuscripts, and much light has thus been thrown upon the early history of Freemasonrys The following is a list of the most important of these old records which the industry of Masonic antiquaries has brought to light. They are generally called Manuscript, because their originals for the most part, exist in manuscript rolls, or there is competent evidence that the original manuscripts, although now lost, once existed. There are, however a few instances in which this evidence is wanting, and the authenticity of the manuscript rests only on probability. Each of them is noted in this w—ork under its respective title. The following are of espeeiai interest: 1. Halliwell or Regius Manuscript.
2. Book of the Fraternity of Stone Masons.
3. Paris Regulations.
4. Strasburg Constitutions.
5. Cooke s Manuscript.
6. Lansdowne Mannuscript.
7. Schaw Manuscript.
8. Saint Clair Charters.
9. Eglinton Manuscript
10 York Manuscripts (six in number).
11. Grand Lodge Manuscript.
12. Sloane Manuscripts (two in number).
13. Aitcheson-Haven Manuscript.
14. Kilwinning Manuscript.
15. Harleian Manuscript.
16. Hope Manuscript.
17. Alnwick Manuscript
18. Papworth Manuscript.
19. Roberts' Manuscript.
20. Edward III Manuscript.
21. Saint Albans' Regulations.
22. Anderson Manuscript.
23. Stone Manuscripts.
24. Constitutions of Strasburg.
25. Constitutions of Torgan.
26. Dowland Manuscript.
27. Wilson Manuscript.
28. Spencer Manuscript.
29. Cole Manuscript.
30. Plot Manuscript.
3l. Inigo Jones Manuscript.
32. Rawlinson Manuscript.
33. Woodford Manuscript.
34. Krause Manuscript.
35. Antiquity Manuscript.
36. Leland or Locke Manuseript.
37. Charter of Cologne.

There may be some other manuscript records, especially in France and Germany, not here noticed, but the list above contains the most important of those now known to the Fraternity. Some of them have never yet been published, and the collection fortns a mass of material absolutely necessary for the proper investigation of Masonic history. Every Freemasoll who desires to know the true condition of the Fraternity during the last three or four centuries, and who would learn the connection between the Stone Masons of the Middle Ages and the Free and Accepted Masons of the present day, so as perfectly to understand the process by which the Institution became changed from an operative art to a speculative science, should attentively read and thoroughly digest these ancient records of the Brotherhood (see also Manuscripts, Old).
RECTIFICATION.
The German Freemasons use this word to designate that process of removing an irregularity of initiation which, in American Freemasonry, is called healing, which see.
RECTIFIED RITE.
In French, the title is Rite Rectifié. See Martinism.
RECTIFIED ROSE `CROIX, RITE OF.
See Rose Croiz, Rectified.
RECUSANT.
A term applied in English history to one who refused to acknowledge the supremacy of the King as head of the Church. In Masonic law, the word is sometimes used to designate a Lodge or a Freemason that refuses to obey an Edict of the Grand Lodge. The arrest of the Charter, or the suspension or expulsion of the offender, would be the necessary punishment of such an offense.
RED.-.
RED
RED APRON LODGES.
RED BROTHER.
RED CROSS KNIGHT.
RED CROSS LEGEND.
RED CROSS OF BABYLON.
RED CROSS OF CONSTANTINE.
RED CROSS OF ROME AND CONSTANTINE
RED CROSS SWORD OF BABYLON.
RED LETTERS.
RED MEN, IMPROVED ORDER OF,
RED SEA

RED
Red, scarlet, or crimson, for it is indifferently called by each of these names, is the appropriate color of the Royal Arch Degree, and is said symbolically to represent the ardor and zeal which should actuate all who are in possession of that sublime portion of Freemasonry. Portal (Symbolic Colors, page 116) refers the color red to fire, which was the symbol of the regeneration and purification of souls. Hence there seems to be a congruity in adopting it as the color of the Royal Arch, which refers historically to the regeneration or rebuilding of the Temple, and symbolically to the regeneration of life.

In the religious services of the Hebrews, red, or scarlet, was used as one of the colors of the veils of the tabernacle, in which, according to Josephus, it was an emblem of the element of fire; it was also used in the ephod of the high priest, in the girdle, and in the breastplate. Red was, among the Jews, a color of dignity, appropriated to the most opulent or honorable, and hence the Prophet Jeremiah, in describing the rich men of his country, speaks of them as those who "were brought up in scarlet."
In the Middle Ages, those knights who engaged in the wars of the Crusades, and especially the Templars, wore a red cross, as a symbol of their willingness to undergo martyrdom for the sake of religion; and the priests of the Roman Church still wear red vestments when they officiate on the festivals of those saints who were martyred.
Red is in the higher Degrees of Freemasonry as predominating a color as blue is in the lower. Its symbolic significations differ, but they may generally be considered as alluding either to the virtue of fervency when the symbolism is moral, or to the shedding of blood when it is historical. Thus in the Degree of Provost and Judge, it is historically emblematie of the violent death of one of the founders of the Institution; while in the Degree of Perfection it is said to be a moral symbol of zeal for the glory of God, and for our own advancement toward perfection in Freemasonry and virtue. In the Degree of Rose Croix, red is the predominating color, and symbolizes the ardent. zeal whieh should inspire all who are in search of that which is lost.

Where red is not used historically, and adopted as a memento of certain tragical circumstances in the history of Freemasonry, it is always, under some modification, a symbol of zeal and fervency. These three colors, blue, purple, and red, were called in the former English lectures the old colors of Freemasonry, and were said to have been selected "because they are royal, and such as the ancient kings and princes used to wear; and sacred history informs us that the veil of the Temple was composed of these colors."
RED APRON LODGES.
Under the English Constitution nineteen Lodges are privileged to recommend one of their subscribing members each year to serve as Grand Steward. These are known as Red Apron Lodges because the English Grand Stewards' aprons are lined and edged with crimson and the collars are of the same color. The Lodge numbers and names are as follows: l. Grand Master's Lodge.
2. Lodge of Antiquity.
4. Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge.
5. Saint George's and Corner Stone Lodge.
6. Lodge of Friendship.
8. British Lodge.
14. Tuscan Lodge.
21. Lodge of Emulation
23. Globe Lodge.
26. Castle Lodge of Harmony.
28. Old King's Arms Lodge.
29. Saint Alban's Lodge.
46. Old Union Lodge.
58. Lodge of Felieity.
60. Lodge of Peace and Harmony.
9l. Lodge of Regularity
99. Shakespeare Lodge.
197. Jerusalem Lodge.
259. Prince of Wales Lodge.

The first mention in the English records of any particular method of selecting the Grand Stewards is in 1775 when a statement is made that the twelve Stewards, that being then the number, came from eight Lodges. In 1813 there were nine Red Apron Lodges. The Grand Master in 1815 nominated eighteen Lodges to return one Grand Steward each. In 1904 the Old King's Arms Lodge, which had lost its privilege in 1852 and whose place had been taken by the Old Union Lodge, was restored to the list, from which time the number has been nineteen.
RED BROTHER.
The Sixth and last Degree of the Swedenborgian system.
RED CROSS KNIGHT.
When, in the tenth eentury, Pope Urban II, won by the enthusiasm of Peter the Hermit, adressed the people who had assembled at the City of Clermont during the sitting of the Council, and exhorted them to join in the expedition to conquer the Holy Land, he said, in reply to their cry that God wills it, Dieu le. volt, "it is indeed the will of God; let this memorable word, the inspiration, surely, of our Holy Spirit, be forever adopted as your cry of battle, to animate the devotion and courage of the champions of Christ.
His cross is the symbol of your salvation; wear it, a red, a bloody cross, as an external mark on your breasts or shoulders, as a pledge of your sacred and irrevocable engagement." The proposal was eagerly accepted, and the Bishop of Puy was the first who solicited the Pope to affix the cross in red cloth on his shoulder. The example was at once followed and thenceforth the red cross on the breast was recognized as the sign of him who was engaged in the Holy Wars, and Crusader and Red Cross Knight became convertible terms. Spenser, in the Faerie Queene (canto i), thus describes one of these knights:

And on his breast a bloody eross he bore
The dear remembrance of his dying Lord,
For whose sweet sake that glorious badge he wore,
And dead, as living, ever Him ador'd:
Upon his shield the like was also scor'd.

The application of this title, as is sometimes done in the ritual of the Degree, to a Masonic Degree of Knight of the Red Cross, is altogether wrong, and it is now called Companion of the Pced Cross. A Red Cross Knight and a Knight of the Red Cross have two entirely different meanings.
RED CROSS LEGEND.
The Embassy of Zerubbabel to the court of Darius constitutes what hand been called the Legend of the Red Cross Degree (see Embassy, and C01npanion ok the Red Cross).
RED CROSS OF BABYLON.
See Babylonish Pass.
RED CROSS OF CONSTANTINE.
A Degree founded on the circumstance of the vision of a cross, with the inscription in Greek, or in Latin in hoc signo vinces, meaning By this sign, conquer, which appeared in the heavens to the Emperor Constantine. It formed originally a part of the Rosaic Rite, and is now practiced in England, Ireland, Scotland, and some of the English Colonies, as a distinct Order, the meetings being called Conclaves, and the presiding officer of the Grand Imperial Council of the whole Order, Grand Sovereign. Its existence in England as a Masonic Degree has been traced, according to Brother R. W. Little (Freemasons Magazine) to the year 1780, when it was given by Brother Charles Shirreff. It was reorganized in 1804 by Walter Rodwell Wright, who supplied its present ritual. The lectures of the Order contains the following legend:

After the memorable battle fought at Sasa Rubra, on the 28th October, 312 A.D., the Emperor sent for the chiefs of the Christian Legion, and—we now quote the words of an old ritual—'in presence of his other officers constituted them into an Order of Knighthood, and appointed them to wear the form of the Cross he had seen in the heavens upon their shields, with the motto In hoc signo vinces round it, surrounded with clouds; and peace being soon after made, he became the Sovereign Patron of the Christian Order of the Red Cross.' It is also said that this Cross, together with a device called the Labarum was ordered to be embroidered upon all the imperial standards. The Christian warriors were selected to compose the body-guard of Constantine, and the command of these privileged soldiers was confided to Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia, who was thus considered the second officer of the Order.

Let us add this further information to the above by Doctor Mackey. Before the close of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth centuries there really seems nothing authentic concerning the Order. There are traces of organization judged to be of a Constantinian origin and these appear under various names and find some mention in the chronicles of the times. About 1699 Andrew Angelus Flavius Comnenus, a Macedonian prince, claimed to be Grand Master for some years and it is further said that he transferred the Order to one Francis Farnese, Duke of Parma, and that this was approved by Pope Innocent XII and formally confirmed by him on October 29, 1699. The same year an Edict was issued, August 5, by Leopold I, Emperor of Germany, also ratifying the transfer. The succession devolved in 1735 on Elizabeth Farnese, sole heiress of the family, who married Don Carlos, oldest son of Philippe V of Spain. This prinee became King of Naples and he declared the Order of Saint Constantine to be a royal Order and attached it to the crown of Naples forever. This account so far is given in the Historic Orders of Knighthood, Joachim & Brydges (volume i, page 108).

There is another account in Robson's System of Knighthood (page 30), which says that the Order of the Golden Eagle, or Saint George in Italy, instituted by Constantine in 312 A.D., was afterwards conferred by the Imperial House of Comnenus, of which it is said that thirty-four were successively Grand Masters of the Order. Then it fell into disuse but was revived by Charles V, who declared himself Grand Master and appointed his natural son, Don John of Austria, his Deputy. After the treaty of Paris in 1814 the Duchies of Parma and Placentia were given to the Archduchess of Austria, Maria Louisa, formerly the Empress of France, whereupon this princess, in 1816, deelared herself Grand Mistress of the Order, founding her claim on the fact that it had belonged to the Duchy of Parma.
Brother George W. Warvelle cites these several references to show how extensively the Order was hawked about and how little authority was required for this purpose, but, as this occurred after the institution of the Masonic Branch, it need not be considered in the list of possible sources.
There is a tradition to the effect that before the time when Andrew Comnenus is said to have assigned the Grand Mastership of the Order to Francis Farnese, Duke of Parma, there was living at London an officer of the Venetian Embassy, known as Abbé Giuistiniani, who apparently was a Grand Cross of the Order. Among the ancient privileges of Grand Crosses was the right to admit candidates to the lesser or Novitiate Red Cross. This prerogative was exercised by the Abbé and thus it has been surmised the English branch of the Order may have come down to us. This account is given by R. W. Little in his sketch of 1868.

Another source is mentioned in the case of Major Charles Shirreff, Whitechurch, Salop, England, who in 1788 seems to have admitted to the Order a number of prominent Freemasons. The presumption is that the Major received the Degrees himself from some person on the Continent. Evidently an Order of Chivalry was established in London during the latter part of the eighteenth century and continued to exist with recurring periods of depression until 1865, when it was revived on a more thoroughly established foundation by some Knight Companions in London and by them transmitted to us under the name of Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine.
In 1870 the Order had been but recently revived and some question regarding its true history and Grand Mastership were discussed in a book published that year by a Macedonian prince, a naturalized British subject living in London, Demetrius Rhodocanakis. This work, entitled the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George, a Review of Modern Impostures and a Sketch of I ts True History, denies any pretension in the Masonic Red Cross Order to be derived from the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and also denies the sale of the Grand Mastership to the Duke of Parma, and the author claims to be himself the Grand Master because of his descent from the ancient Dynasty of Byzantium. The claims thus made had the effect of evoking an announcement by the officers of the Grand Imperial Council of England disclaiming any interference in the organization of Prince Rhodocanakis and, on May S9, 1871, issued the following proclamation:

To all members of the Masonic Order, known as the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, and to all others whom it rnay concern.
Whereas, The Masonic Order, now known as the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, hereafter concisely called the Red Cross Order, haz been recently revived in England, and occupies a prominent position as a chivalrie branch of the great fraternity of Freemasons; and, Whereas, Discussions have arisen whether the Red Cross Order has or has not any alliance with the ancient Chivalric Order known as the Constantine Order of Saint George, and as it is expedient that such discussions shall be terminated by a declaration of the claims of the Red Cross Order:
Now, Therefore, I, Thomas Taylour, commonly called Karl of Bective (Lord Kenlis), the Grand Sovereign of the Red Cross Order, do hereby, for myself and on behalf of the Couneil of the said Order, signify and declare as follows :
That the Order of the Red Cross does not claim or propose to have, any connection with the ancient public Order of Knighthood known as the Imperial Constantinian Order of St. George.
That the Red Cross Order claims to be a revived branch of the Masonie Brotherhood which formed part of the system of the baron Hullde in or about the year l750 and which had sinee been working in England under various auspices until the establishment of a Grand Council of the Order in or about the year 1796.
That the Order as now conferred is, faith certain modifications, the same as that over which the late Duke of Sussex presided from 1813 to 1843.

That the Red Cross Order claims to be a Chivalrie Institution of Freemasonry for reception into which the degree of a Master Mason is a necessary qualification..
That the above articles were approved at a meeting of the (council of the Order holden at Freemasons Tavern, London, on Friday, the 19th May, 1871.

However, a change was made in the official title of the Order, which had been in England, as it has been in the United States, the Imperial Ecclesiastical and Military Order of the Red Cross. This was discarded in England and for it was substituted Military and Masonic. The reference made in the Proclamation to the connection of Baron Hunde is still generally accepted but in the series of Degrees connected with this Brother's name the title Red Cross does not appear, though in 1767 a new branch was introduced by a Brother Stark, who seems to have lived for a time in England.
The branch established by him had seven Degrees, the sixth being called the Provincial Capitular of the Red Cross (see Findel's History of Freemasonny, page 280). Brother Stark was active for many years in Continental Freemasonry and died in 1810;. The general term Red Cross has been used in various Orders and it is difficult to show a connecting link between the English Order of that name and the ceremonies of either Hunde or Stark.

The sketch of the history and records published in 1868 shows that the earliest Minute Book preserved begins at May 4, 1808, and reads like a revival of the Order. Meetings were then held at the Freemasons Tavern in London and the membership, while restrieted in numbers, was yet of men of the highest standing in the Ancient Craft. On the date above mentioned the "Constitution and laws were read and confirmed," and seven Knight Companions were elected members of the High Council. The names of the officers are interesting and among these elected were a Grand Master, a Grand Chancellor and a Grand Marshal, who were installed for the next three years.
The Grand Master then nominated two Brethren as Grand Heralds. At this meeting we also find that a Brother, having been created a Knight Novitiate Or the Order two years previously, was elected and installed a Sovereign or Knight of the Grand Cross. At the same meeting also, provision was made that Novitiates should receive a certificate under the hand and seal of the Knight who so made them and that a report should be made of the ceremony to the Grand Chapter through the Grand Registrar or his Deputy. On March 13, 1809, a Brother was elected and installed a Knight of the Grand Cross. This Brother, William Henry White, was then Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of England and Brother Little states that his father became a member of the Order in 1788.

There were then evidently two ranks in the Order, the Novitiates and the Knights, the former being created by the Grand Crosses. Sir Joseph White, a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, was admitted to the Order at a meeting in June, 1810, and at a later meeting the presiding officer is styled Grand Commander. It was unanimously agreed on December 15, 1810, that the first Friday in every month should be considered as a day of general Masonic instruction to the Order, the meeting to begin at seven in the evening and to close at ten precisely.
At the following meeting the title of the Order is given as Grand Chapter of the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross. July 13, 1813, the Grand Master reported that he had conferred the Novitiate Cross upon the Duke of Sussex and this distinguished Brother wets then introduced and admitted to the Grand Cross and made his offering according to the ancient custom, being also ejected Grand Master of the Order during his natural life.
There is in the possession of the Supreme Couneil of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite at Washington, District of Columbia, a certificate issued to Mordecai Myers in 1797. This certificate reads as follows: BY THE GLORY OF THE GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE
And now, companions, behold what Glory, and see the people that come from the East, we, the Sovreighne etc., do hereby certify and attest that our true and wellbeloved Brother, Mordecai Myers was by us initiated in the high and honorable degree of Sir Knights of the Red Cross, having given us sufficient proofs of his courage and skill to obtain this instrument as a proof of his fidelity to the Order. As Such we recommend him to all Sir Knights on the face of the Globe. Given under our hand and seal at New York the twentieth day of February, A. L. 5797.
Asher Hartz Soln.

Brother George W. Warvelle says that there are certain features in this certificate suggestive of the Order of the Red Cross of Constantine. Thus the responsible officer who signs the certificate is called .Sorreiahne and again Soon. The Degree is called simply the Red Cross but this was the official title of the Order at that time. The addition of the name of Constantine is a very late development and is not found in the old records of the early part of the nineteenth century.
Brother Edward R. Van Rensselaer wrote a little biography of his father, Killian H. Van Rensselaer, which was printed in the Masonic Review, beginning at page 124, March, 1881, and in writing of the period from 1824 up to the time of the Morgan affair, he says this: Brother Yates and Allen also obtained powers to establish and organize the Knights of Constantine and several other Orders, which they did in Amber, Skaneateles, and several other places in Nest York.
Brother Yates is of course the well-known Giles Honda Yates, who was active in the early progress of Scottish Title. brother James M. Allen was the other who in 1823 instructed Van Rensselaer and Brethren at Amber in the Scottish Rite Degrees. Just how Brother Yates and Allen were ineted in the Ritual of the Knights of Constantine , quite clear to us, though we think it fair to asthey may have received this instruction froln ther Holbrook of the Southern Jurisdiction. How" there is nothing certain about this presumption we only mention it to show the fact of the early ularity of the Knights of Constantine in Northern York State.

Brother George W. Warvelle, to whom we sent this nation, comments on the above (Proceedings, Grand Imperial Council):

hat period was prolific in the exploitation of Degrees, Orders and Rites. For the most part, however, this work was performed by the Sneaked Lecturers who, with little or no authority, peddled Degrees and sold dignities to the credulus and ambitious. About this time also the Order of the Red Cross was much in public notice, om the fact of its recognition as one of the Chivalriv Orders of Freemasonry by the United Grand Lodge of England, but there is no authentic evidence that the Grand Imperial Council of England ever authorized any person in this country to confer the same.
It is an established fact, however, that during the first half of the nineteenth century there was an Order called Knights of Constantine which, for a time, was recognized and cofered in some of the Eastern cities and particularly in the cities of New York State. But how, or from what source, the authority for its promulgation was derived, no one seems able to say.

From a historical sketch, by Brother Charles A. Delaney of New York, printed in the Proceedings, Sovereign Grand Council, 1893, we note (pages 66-8) that Brother Alfred Creigh of Pennsylvania was appointed a Divisional Inspector-General for his State by Col W. J. B. McLeod Moore, Chief Inspector General of Canada. This commission, January 1, 1871, was extended to all the States of the Union. Intendent-Generals were appointed by Brother Creigh, February 3, 1872, Calvin I. Stowell, Pennsylia; J. J. French, Illinois; Albert J. Goodhall, New York; D. Burnham Tracy, Michigan, and Nathaniel Tucker, Massachusetts. According to Brother Stowell, a Convention of the several Grand Councils met June 1, 1875, New York City, to organize a Sovereign Grand Council of the United States of America. But this action was not then acceptable to the parent Body until 1879 when a treaty was arranged. Forty-seven Conclaves are recorded as being chartered in the United States by English authority 1870-5. The Grand Council of Pennsylvania was organized, Jule 14, 1872; Illinois, August 30, 1872; New York, February 5, 1873; Massachusetts and Rode Island, December 22, 1873; Michigan, April 10 1874; Kentucky, March 17, 1875; Indiana, April 21, 1875; Verrnont, May 1, 1875; Maine, May 5, 1875; and New Jersey, May 29, 1875. A Grand Council of the Dominion of Canada was organized, August 10, 1875.

Grand Imperial Council of the State of Illinois was organized at Chicago on August 30, 1872, by five Conclaves, chartered by the Grand Imperial Council of England, and a Grand Imperial Council of the Western Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States was organized at Jacksonvillc, Illinois, October 13, l899, by all of the Conclaves in the Obedience of the Grand Council of Illinois. All of the Conclaves in the Obedience of the Grand Council of the Western Masonic Jurisdiction met and organized at Duluth, Minnesota, on August 14, 1907, a Grand Imperial Council for the United States of America.
Contributions to the fund of information on this subject appear in several instructive items in the several Proceedings, Grand Imperial Council, and in other pamphlets, by Grand Recorder George W. Warvelle, Chicago; essays by Grand Recorder A. A. Arbuthnot Murray, Edinburgh, Scotland; a reprint with additional notes by Brother A. V. Lane, Dallas Texas, 1917, of the sketch of the early history by Brother Robert Wentworth Little that was published serially, 1866-8, Freemasons Magazine and Masonic Mirror, London, and in the Proccedings, Sovereign Grand Council, 1880, 1891, 1892, 1893, and Doctor Mackey's revised History of Freemasonry.
RED CROSS SWORD OF BABYLON.
A Degree worked in the Royal Arch Chapters of Scotland and also in some parts of England. It is very similar to the Knight of the Red Cross conferred in the United States, which is now called the Companion of tite Red Cross.
RED LETTERS.
In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Edicts, Summonses or other documents, written or printed in red letters, are suppoesd to be of more binding obligation, and to require more implicit obediences than any others. Hence, in the same Rite, to publish the name of one who has been expelled in red letters is considered an especial mark of disgrace. It is derived from the custom of the Middle Ages, when, as Muratori shows (Italien Medieval Antiquities) red letters were used to give greater weight to documents; and he quotes an old Charter of 1020, which is said to be confirmed per literas rubeas, or by red letters.
REFLECTION, CHAMBER OF.
See Chamber of Reflection.
REFORMED HELVETIC RITE.
The Reformed Rite of Wilhelmsbad was introduced into Poland, in 1784, by Brother Glayre, of Lausanne, the minister of King Stanislaus, and who was also the Provincial Grand Master of this Rite in the French part of Switzerland. But, in introducing it into Poland, he subjected it to several modifications, and called it the Refortned Helvetic Rite. The system was adopted by the Grand Orient of Poland.

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