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Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 2 of 3 Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Page 2 of 3 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.
Sussex , Moira , Frederick , Zetland , and Robert Burns and in this country , with Washington , La Fayette , Clinton , Franklin , and Clay . Care must , however , be taken that no name be selected except of one who is both a Mason and has distinguished himself either by services to his country , to the world , or to the Order . Oliver says that "the most appropriate titles are those which are assumed from the names of some ancient benefactor
or ineritorius individual who was a native of the place where the lodge is held ; as , in a city , the builder of the cathedral church . " In this country we are , it is true , precluded from a selection from such a source ; but there are to be found some of those old benefactors of Freemasonry , who , like Shakespeare and Milton , or Homer ancl Virgil , have ceased to belong to any particular country , and have now become the common property of
the whole world-wide Craft . There are , for instance , Carausius , tbe first royal patron of Masonry iu England , ancl St . Alban , the first Grand . Master , and Athelstane ancl Prince Edwin , both active encouragers of the art , in the same kingdom ; there are Wykeham , Gundulph , G-ift ' ard , Langham , Yevele ( called in the old records the king ' s Freemason ) , and Chicheley , Jermyn , ancl Wren , all illustrious Grand Masters of England , each of whom would be well entitled to the honour of giving a name to a
lodge , and any one of whom would bo better , more euphonious and more spirit-stirring than the unmeaning ancl often-times crabbed sound of some obscure village or post-office , from which too many of our lodges derive their titles . " And then , again , among the great benefactors to Masonic literature and labourers in Masonic science , there are such names as Anderson , Dunckerley , Preston , Hutchinson , and hosts of others , who , though dead , still live by their writings iu our
memories . " The virtues and tenets , the inculcation and practice of which constitute an important part of the Masonic system , form very excellent and appropriate names for lodges , and have always been exceedingly popular among correct Masonic nonienclators Thus we everywhere find such names of lodges as Charity Concord , Equality , Faith , Fellowship , Friendship , Harmony , Hope , Humility , Mystic Tie , Relief , Truth , Union and Virtue . Frequently by tlie transposition of the word ' Lodge' ancl the destructive appellation , with the interposition of the preposition
' of , ' a moro sonorous ancl emphatic namo is given by our English and European brethren , although the custom is bufc rarely followed in this country . I would that it were oftener done . Thus we have by this method the Loclge of Regularity , the Lodge of Fidelity , the Lodge of Industry , and the Loclge of Prudent Brethren , in England ¦ ancl in France , the Lodge of Benevolent Friends , the Lodge of Perfect Union of Perseverance , and the Lodge of the Friends of Peace . In this country
, I recollect at present but- two lodges named according to this method , and those are the Lodge of Strict Observance ancl the Lodge of True Brotherhood , both situated in South Carolina . There may be mora , but as I have already said , the custom has not been generally pursued by American Masons . "As the names of illustrious men will sometimes stimulate the members of the lodges which bear them to an emulation of
their characters , so the names of the Masonic virtues may serve to incite the brethren to their practice , lest the inconsistency of their name and their conduct should excite the ridicule of the world ; for it has been well observed that , ' if the members of a loclge dedicated to Friendship or Harmony be notoriously at variance with each other ; if the brethren of a Lodge of Fidelity , he , in practice , unfaithful to every trust ; if a Lodge called
Social Union be distinguished by bickerings and disputes ; or of Good Faith by defrauding or swindling their neighbours what can be expected to result from such anomalies but disorder amongthemselves and unpopularity in the world ; their own character will be compromised , the lodge disgraced , and Freemasonry , which ought to be the vehicle of perfect friendship , will become a bye-word and a reproach in the estimation of all good and
worthy men . "Another fertile aud appropriate source of names for lodges is to be found in the symbols ancl implements of tho Order . Hence we frequently meet with such titles as Level , Trowel , Rising Star , Rising Sun , Olive Branch , Evergreen , Doric , Ionic , Corinthian , Delta , and in London , Corner Stone Lodges . Acacia is one of the most common and at the same time the most
beautiful of these symbolic names ; but unfortunately , through gross ignorance , it is often corrupted into Cassia , an insignificant plant which has no Masonic or symbolic meaning . "An important rule in the nomenclature of lodges , and one which must at once recommend itself to every person of taste , is
Masonic Notes And Queries.
that the name should be euphonious . This principle of euphony has been too little attended to in the selection of even geographical names in this country , where names of impracticable sound or with ludicrous associations are often affixed to our toUms ancl rivers . Speaking of a certain island with the incommunicable name of 'Scio , ' Lieber says , ' if Homer himself were born on such an islandit could not become immortalfor the
, , best disposed scholar would be unable to remember the name / ancl he thinks that it was no trifling obstacle to the fame of many Polish heroes in the revolution of that country , that they had names ivhich left upon the mind of foreigners no effect but that of utter confusion . An error like this must always be avoided in bestowing a name upon a lodge . The word selected should be soft , vocal—not too long nor too short—and above all ,
be accompanied in its sound or meaning by no low , indecorous , or ludicrous association . For this reason I should reject such names of lodges as Sheboygan and Oconomowoe from the registry of Wisconsin , because of the uncouthness of the sound ; and Rough and Ready and Indian Diggings from that of California , on account of the ludicrous associations which these names convey . AgainPythagoras Lodge is preferable to Pthagorean
, y ancl Archimedes is better than Archimedean , because the noun is more euphonious and more easily pronounced than the adjective . But this rule it is difficult to illustrate or enforce , for after all , euphony is a mere matter of taste , - and we all know the adage , ' de qustibm . '
"Afew negative rules , ivhich are , however , easily deduced from the affirmative ones already given , will complete the topic . No name of a lodge should be adopted which is not in some way connected with Masonry . Every body will acknowledge that Morgan Loclge ivould be an anomaly , and that Cowan Lodge would , if possible , be worse . But there are some names ivhich , although not quite as had as these , are on principle equally objectionable . Why should any of our lodges , for
instance , assume , as many of them have , the names of Madison , Jelferson , or Taylor , since none of these distinguished men were Masons , or patrons of the Craft ? " The indiscriminate use of the names of Saints , unconnected with Masonry , is for a similar reason objectionable . Besides our patrons , St . John the Baptist ancl St . John the Evangelist , I remember but two other saints who can lay any claim to Masonic honour , and these are St . Alban , who introduced or is said to
have introduced the Order into England , ancl has heen liberally complimented in the nomenclature of lodges ; ancl St . Swithin , who was at the head of the Craft in the reign of Ethelwolf , but after whom I do nofc think a single lodge was ever named . But St . Mark , St . Luke , or St . Andrew , all of whom have given names to lodges in numerous lists before me , can have no pretensions to assist as sponsors in these Masonic ^ bap tisms , since they were not afc all connected with the Graft , ancl the use of their names has rather a tendency tojgive a sectarian character hi the institution .
" To the Indian names of lodges there is a radical objection . It is true that these names are often very euphonious and always significant , for the Indians are tasteful and ingenious hi their selection of names , much more so indeed than the whites who borrow from them ; but their significance has nothing to do with Masonry . * The Father of the Waters' is a profoundly poetic name in the original Indian tongue , now represented by the word Mississippiancl beautifully expresses tho name of
, that majestic river which pursues its long course of three thousand miles from beyond the lakes to the gulf , receiving in its stately progress , all its mighty children to its bosom ; but the same name has no significance whatever when applied to a loclge . Mississippi , as the name of a river , has a meaning and an appropriate one , too ; as the name of a loclge it has none , or a wholly inappropriate one . Such namethereforeas Chnlahoma
, , , Tehopeka , Tuscarawas , or Keosauqua , mellifluous as some of them are in sound , I ivould reject , because , if they have an appropriate meaning , scarcely any one knows what it is , and ifc it is much more probable that they have no appropriate meaning at all . The Indian names of rivers , mountains , and towns , I ivould preserve because they are the memorials of the original owners of the soilbut the Indians have no such claims upon
, Masonry . " There is , in the jurisdiction of New York , a Manhattan Lodge ; now I have been told that in the aboriginal language Manhattan means " the place where wo all got drunk , " and the island was so called because it was there that the savages first met the white men ancl tasted to excess their "fire water . " Ifc is nofc difficult , 1 think , to decide whether a name with such
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
Sussex , Moira , Frederick , Zetland , and Robert Burns and in this country , with Washington , La Fayette , Clinton , Franklin , and Clay . Care must , however , be taken that no name be selected except of one who is both a Mason and has distinguished himself either by services to his country , to the world , or to the Order . Oliver says that "the most appropriate titles are those which are assumed from the names of some ancient benefactor
or ineritorius individual who was a native of the place where the lodge is held ; as , in a city , the builder of the cathedral church . " In this country we are , it is true , precluded from a selection from such a source ; but there are to be found some of those old benefactors of Freemasonry , who , like Shakespeare and Milton , or Homer ancl Virgil , have ceased to belong to any particular country , and have now become the common property of
the whole world-wide Craft . There are , for instance , Carausius , tbe first royal patron of Masonry iu England , ancl St . Alban , the first Grand . Master , and Athelstane ancl Prince Edwin , both active encouragers of the art , in the same kingdom ; there are Wykeham , Gundulph , G-ift ' ard , Langham , Yevele ( called in the old records the king ' s Freemason ) , and Chicheley , Jermyn , ancl Wren , all illustrious Grand Masters of England , each of whom would be well entitled to the honour of giving a name to a
lodge , and any one of whom would bo better , more euphonious and more spirit-stirring than the unmeaning ancl often-times crabbed sound of some obscure village or post-office , from which too many of our lodges derive their titles . " And then , again , among the great benefactors to Masonic literature and labourers in Masonic science , there are such names as Anderson , Dunckerley , Preston , Hutchinson , and hosts of others , who , though dead , still live by their writings iu our
memories . " The virtues and tenets , the inculcation and practice of which constitute an important part of the Masonic system , form very excellent and appropriate names for lodges , and have always been exceedingly popular among correct Masonic nonienclators Thus we everywhere find such names of lodges as Charity Concord , Equality , Faith , Fellowship , Friendship , Harmony , Hope , Humility , Mystic Tie , Relief , Truth , Union and Virtue . Frequently by tlie transposition of the word ' Lodge' ancl the destructive appellation , with the interposition of the preposition
' of , ' a moro sonorous ancl emphatic namo is given by our English and European brethren , although the custom is bufc rarely followed in this country . I would that it were oftener done . Thus we have by this method the Loclge of Regularity , the Lodge of Fidelity , the Lodge of Industry , and the Loclge of Prudent Brethren , in England ¦ ancl in France , the Lodge of Benevolent Friends , the Lodge of Perfect Union of Perseverance , and the Lodge of the Friends of Peace . In this country
, I recollect at present but- two lodges named according to this method , and those are the Lodge of Strict Observance ancl the Lodge of True Brotherhood , both situated in South Carolina . There may be mora , but as I have already said , the custom has not been generally pursued by American Masons . "As the names of illustrious men will sometimes stimulate the members of the lodges which bear them to an emulation of
their characters , so the names of the Masonic virtues may serve to incite the brethren to their practice , lest the inconsistency of their name and their conduct should excite the ridicule of the world ; for it has been well observed that , ' if the members of a loclge dedicated to Friendship or Harmony be notoriously at variance with each other ; if the brethren of a Lodge of Fidelity , he , in practice , unfaithful to every trust ; if a Lodge called
Social Union be distinguished by bickerings and disputes ; or of Good Faith by defrauding or swindling their neighbours what can be expected to result from such anomalies but disorder amongthemselves and unpopularity in the world ; their own character will be compromised , the lodge disgraced , and Freemasonry , which ought to be the vehicle of perfect friendship , will become a bye-word and a reproach in the estimation of all good and
worthy men . "Another fertile aud appropriate source of names for lodges is to be found in the symbols ancl implements of tho Order . Hence we frequently meet with such titles as Level , Trowel , Rising Star , Rising Sun , Olive Branch , Evergreen , Doric , Ionic , Corinthian , Delta , and in London , Corner Stone Lodges . Acacia is one of the most common and at the same time the most
beautiful of these symbolic names ; but unfortunately , through gross ignorance , it is often corrupted into Cassia , an insignificant plant which has no Masonic or symbolic meaning . "An important rule in the nomenclature of lodges , and one which must at once recommend itself to every person of taste , is
Masonic Notes And Queries.
that the name should be euphonious . This principle of euphony has been too little attended to in the selection of even geographical names in this country , where names of impracticable sound or with ludicrous associations are often affixed to our toUms ancl rivers . Speaking of a certain island with the incommunicable name of 'Scio , ' Lieber says , ' if Homer himself were born on such an islandit could not become immortalfor the
, , best disposed scholar would be unable to remember the name / ancl he thinks that it was no trifling obstacle to the fame of many Polish heroes in the revolution of that country , that they had names ivhich left upon the mind of foreigners no effect but that of utter confusion . An error like this must always be avoided in bestowing a name upon a lodge . The word selected should be soft , vocal—not too long nor too short—and above all ,
be accompanied in its sound or meaning by no low , indecorous , or ludicrous association . For this reason I should reject such names of lodges as Sheboygan and Oconomowoe from the registry of Wisconsin , because of the uncouthness of the sound ; and Rough and Ready and Indian Diggings from that of California , on account of the ludicrous associations which these names convey . AgainPythagoras Lodge is preferable to Pthagorean
, y ancl Archimedes is better than Archimedean , because the noun is more euphonious and more easily pronounced than the adjective . But this rule it is difficult to illustrate or enforce , for after all , euphony is a mere matter of taste , - and we all know the adage , ' de qustibm . '
"Afew negative rules , ivhich are , however , easily deduced from the affirmative ones already given , will complete the topic . No name of a lodge should be adopted which is not in some way connected with Masonry . Every body will acknowledge that Morgan Loclge ivould be an anomaly , and that Cowan Lodge would , if possible , be worse . But there are some names ivhich , although not quite as had as these , are on principle equally objectionable . Why should any of our lodges , for
instance , assume , as many of them have , the names of Madison , Jelferson , or Taylor , since none of these distinguished men were Masons , or patrons of the Craft ? " The indiscriminate use of the names of Saints , unconnected with Masonry , is for a similar reason objectionable . Besides our patrons , St . John the Baptist ancl St . John the Evangelist , I remember but two other saints who can lay any claim to Masonic honour , and these are St . Alban , who introduced or is said to
have introduced the Order into England , ancl has heen liberally complimented in the nomenclature of lodges ; ancl St . Swithin , who was at the head of the Craft in the reign of Ethelwolf , but after whom I do nofc think a single lodge was ever named . But St . Mark , St . Luke , or St . Andrew , all of whom have given names to lodges in numerous lists before me , can have no pretensions to assist as sponsors in these Masonic ^ bap tisms , since they were not afc all connected with the Graft , ancl the use of their names has rather a tendency tojgive a sectarian character hi the institution .
" To the Indian names of lodges there is a radical objection . It is true that these names are often very euphonious and always significant , for the Indians are tasteful and ingenious hi their selection of names , much more so indeed than the whites who borrow from them ; but their significance has nothing to do with Masonry . * The Father of the Waters' is a profoundly poetic name in the original Indian tongue , now represented by the word Mississippiancl beautifully expresses tho name of
, that majestic river which pursues its long course of three thousand miles from beyond the lakes to the gulf , receiving in its stately progress , all its mighty children to its bosom ; but the same name has no significance whatever when applied to a loclge . Mississippi , as the name of a river , has a meaning and an appropriate one , too ; as the name of a loclge it has none , or a wholly inappropriate one . Such namethereforeas Chnlahoma
, , , Tehopeka , Tuscarawas , or Keosauqua , mellifluous as some of them are in sound , I ivould reject , because , if they have an appropriate meaning , scarcely any one knows what it is , and ifc it is much more probable that they have no appropriate meaning at all . The Indian names of rivers , mountains , and towns , I ivould preserve because they are the memorials of the original owners of the soilbut the Indians have no such claims upon
, Masonry . " There is , in the jurisdiction of New York , a Manhattan Lodge ; now I have been told that in the aboriginal language Manhattan means " the place where wo all got drunk , " and the island was so called because it was there that the savages first met the white men ancl tasted to excess their "fire water . " Ifc is nofc difficult , 1 think , to decide whether a name with such