D
The fourth letter of the Phoenician, the
Hebrew, the Greek, the Roman, and of nearly all alphabets. In
Hebrew it is Daleth, signifying the door of life, a representation
of which was probably its original hieroglyph, as in the illustration.
Here
1 shows the approximation to the Hebrew Daleth
2 the Greek Delta, resembling the opening of a tent
The numerical value of Daleth is four; as a Roman numeral it stands for 500.
*
DA COSTA, HIPPOLYTO JOSEPH
A native of Colonia-do-Sacramento, on the river La Plata. He was made a Freemason in Philadelphia in the United States and afterward settled in Lisbon. He was subsequently persecuted by the Inquisition, and was rescued only in time to save his life by the aid of English Brethren who got him under the protection of the British flag. He then passed over into England, where he lived for several years, becoming a zealous Freemason and devoting himself to Masonic literature. In 1811, he published in London a Narrative of his persecution in Lisbon, by the Inquisition, for the pretended crime of Freemasonry, in two volumes. He wrote also a History of the Dionysian Artificers, in which he attempts to connect Freemasonry with the Dionysian and other mysteries of the ancients. He begins with the Eleusinian mysteries, assuming that Dionysus, Bacchus, Adonis, Thammuz, and Apollo were ail various names for the Sun, Whose apparent movements are represented by the death and resurrection referred to in the ceremonies. But as the sun is typified as being dead or hidden for three months under the horizon, he thinks that the mysteries must have originated in a cold climate as far north as latitude 66, or among a people living near the polar circle. He therefore attributes the invention of these mysteries to the ancient Scythians or Massagetae, of whom he confesses that we know nothing. He afterward gives the history of the Dionysiac or Orphic mysteries of El eusis, and draws a successful parallel between the initiation into these and the Masonic initiation. His disquisition's are marked by much learning, although his reasoning may not always carry conviction.
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DACTYLI
Priests of Cybele, in Phrygia, of whom there were five, which number could not be exceeded, and alluded to the salutation and blessing by the five fingers of the hand. The word is from the Greek daktylos, meaning a finger.
*
DADUCHOS
A torch-bearer. The title given to an officer in the Eleusinian
mysteries, who bore a torch in commemoration of the torch lit
by Ceres at the fire of Mount Etna, and carried by her through
the wood in her search for her daughter.
*
DAEDALUS
A famous artist and mechanician, whose genealogy is traced in the Greek myths as having sprung from the old Athenian race of kings, the Erechtheidae. He is said to have executed the Cretan Labyrinth, the reservoir near Megaris in Sicily, the Temple of Apollo at Capua, and the celebrated altar sculptured with lions on the Libyan coast. He is said to be the inventor of a number of the working Tools used in the various degrees of Freemasonry, the plumb-line and the ax, most of the tools used in carpentry, and of glue. Of him is told the fable of his flying safely over the Aegean by means of wings made by himself. His nephew, Perdix, is the reputed inventor of the third Great Light in Freemasonry, the Compasses, which are dedicated to the Craft. Through envy Daedalus is said to have hurled his nephew, Perdix, from the Temple Athena.
*
DAGGER
In the advanced Degrees a symbol of Masonic vengeance, or the punishment of crime (see Vengeance).
*
DAGRAIN, LOUIS
A miter in the Amsterdam Journal of November 3, 1735, of an article on the subject of Freemasonry, which caused an edict from the States General forbidding Masonic gatherings throughout the country (see Thory, Acta Latomorum 11, 306).
*
DAGRAN, LOUIS
President of a General Assembly of thirty Lodges, held on Saint John's Day, 1756, at the Hague, for the formation of the Grand Lodge of Holland. It was at this December meeting that Baron Van Aerssen Beyeren Van Hogerheide was appointed Grand Master (see Thory, Acta Latomorum 1, 72).
*
DAIS
From the French word dais, meaning a canopy. The raised floor at, the head of a banqueting room, or any ceremonial chamber or hall, designed for guests of distinction ; so called because it used to be decorated with a canopy. In Masonic language, the dais is the elevated portion of the eastern part of the lodge-room, which is occupied by Past Masters and the dignitaries of the Order. This should be elevated three steps above the floor. This station of the Junior Warden is raised one step, and that. of the Senior two.
*
DAKOTA
Saint .John's Lodge was the first Lodge in Dakota. It received a Dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Iowa, December 5, 1862, and a Charter on June 3, 1863. Representatives of this Lodge and of Incense. Elk Point, Minnehaha, and Silver Star Lodges held a Convention on June 21, 1875, to consider the formation of a Grand Lodge.
Members of Mount Zion Lodge, U. D., were present but, owing to the fact that they had no Charter, did not take part, in the proceedings. A Constitution was adopted and Grand Officers; who were installed at another meeting on July 21, were elected. When in 1999 the territory of Dakota was divided by Act of Congress into North Dakota and South Dakota the Grand Lodge of Dakota became the Grand Lodge of South Dakota and certain Lodges in North Dakota were permitted to organize a Grand Lodge of North Dakota.
The General Grand Chapter of the United States chartered eight Chapters in Dakota, the first of which was Yankton, No. 1, at. Yankton, chartered on August 24, 1885. On February. 25, 1885, the Grand Chapter was organized by the following Chapters: Yankton, No. 1; Sioux Falls, No. 2; Dakota, No. 3; Siroc, No. 4; Casselton, No. 7; Cheyenne, No. 9, U. D. Huron, No. 10, U. D.; Keystone, No. 11, U. D.; Watertown, No. 12, U. D.; Jamestown, No, 13, U. D.; Aberdeen, No. 14, U. D. The first Annual Convocation was held June 8, 1885. When the division of the Territory took place the Grand Chapter of Dakota gave permission to the Lodges located in South Dakota to organize a Grand Chapter of South Dakota, under the Constitution of the General Grand Chapter. This was done on January 6, 1890. The Grand Chapter of North Dakota was organized three days later.
The first Council in Dakota, Fargo, No.1, was chartered by the General Grand Council on November 19, 1889. This Council was located in North Dakota and, therefore, after 1889, was considered the first. Council of that State. There was no Grand Council in Dakota until after the division of the Territory.
The Grand Commandery was organized at Sioux Falls on May 14, 1884, by representant of the four Commanderies. Dakota. No1; Cyrene, No. 2; De Molay; No. 3, and Fargo, No. 5. On June 16, 1890 the representatives of Tancered. No 4: Fargo, No. 5; Grand Forks, No. 8, and Wi-ha-ha, No . 12, organized the Grand Commandery of North Dakota. The Grand Commandery of North Dakota. The Grand Commandery of Dakota then changed its name to that of Grand Commandery of South Dakota.
A Consistory of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was chartered at Fargo, on May 26, 1886, as Dakota, No. 1; a Council of Kadosh, Fargo, No. 1, on December 8, 1883; a Chapter of Rosy Croix, Mackey, No.1, on February 27, 1882, and a Lodge of Perfection, Alpha, No. 1, on February 8, 1882.
*
DALCHO, FREDERICK
One of the founders of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. He was born in the City of London in the year 1770, of Prussian parents. His father had been a distinguished officer under Frederick the Great and, having been severely wounded, was permitted to retire to England for his health. He was a very earnest Freemason, and transmitted his sentiments to his son. At his death, this son was sent for by een uncle, who had a few years before emigrated to Baltimore. Here he obtained a good classical education, after which he devoted himself successfully to the study of medicine, including a more extensive course of botany than has been common in medical course. Having received his degree of Doctor of Medicine, he took a commission in the medical department of the American army. With his division of the army he came to South Carolina, and was stationed at Fort Johnson, in Charleston harbor. Here some diviculty arose between Doctor Dalcho and his brother officers, in consequence of which he resigned his place in the army in 1799. He then removed to Charleston, where he formed a partnership in the practice of physic with Isaac Auld, and he became a member of the Medical Society, and a trustee of the Botanic Garden, established through its influence, On the 12th of June, 1818, Doctor Dalcho was admitted to the priesthood of the Protestant Èpiscopal Church. On the 23d of February, he was elected assistant minister of Saint Michael's Church, in Charleston. He died on the 24d of November, 1836, in the sixty- seventh year of his age, and the seventeenth of his ministry in Saint Michael's Church. The principal published work of Doctor Dalcho is "An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina. He also published a work entitled " The Evidence from Prophecy for the Truth of Christianity and the Divining of Christ besides several sermons and essays, some of which were the result of considerable labor and research. He was also the projector, and for a long time the principal conductor, of the Gospel Messenger, then the leading organ of the Episcopal Church in South Caroline.
The Masonic career of Doctor Dalcho closely connects him with a York Freemasonry in South Carolina, and the Scottish Rite throughout. the United States.
He was initiated in a York or Athol Lodge at the time when the Jurisdiction of South Carolina was divided by the existence and the dissension's of two Grand Lodges, the one deriving its authority from the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, and the other from the rival Atholl Grand Lodge.
His constant desire appears, however, to have been to unit these discordant elements, and to uproot the evil spirit of Masonic rivalry and contention which at that time prevailed -a wish which was happily gratified, at length, by the union of the two Grand Lodges of South Carolina in 1817, a consummation to which he himself greatly contributed.
In 1801 Doctor Dalcho received the Thirty.-third and ultimate Degree of Sovereign Grand Inspector of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ; and May 31, 1801 he became instrumental in the establishment at Charleston of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, of which Body he was appointed Grand Secretary, and afterward Grand commander; which latter position he occupied until 1823, when he resigned. September 23, 1801, he delivered an oration before the Sublime Grand Body in Charleston. This and another delivered March 21, 1803, before the same Body, accompanied by a learned historical appendix, were published in the latter year under the general name of Dalcho's Orations. The work was soon after republished in Dublin by the Grand Council of Heredom or Prince Masons of that city; and McCosh says that there were other editions issued in Europe, which, however, Brother Mackey had never seen.
The oration of 1803 and the appendix furnish the best information that up to that day, and for many years afterward. was accessible to the Craft in relation to the history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in this country.
In 1807. at the request of the Grand Lodge of York Masons of South Carolina, he published an Ahiman Rezon, which was adopted as the code for the government of the Lodges under the jurisdiction of that Body. This work, as was to be expected from the character of the Grand Lodge which it represented, was based on the previous book of Laurence Dermott.
In 1808 he was elected Corresponding Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, and from that time directed the influences of his high position to the reconciliation of the Masonic difficulties in South Carolina.
In 1817 the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and that of Ancient York Masons of South Carolina became united under the name of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of South Carolina. Doctor Dalcho took a very active part in this reunion, and at the first annual communication he was elected Grand Chaplain. The duties of this office he faithfully performed. and for many years delivered a public address or sermon on the Festival of Saint John the Evangelist.
In 1822 he prepared a second edition of the Ahiman Rezon which was published the following year, enriched with many notes. Some of these notes he would have hardly written, with the enlarged experience of the present day; but on the whole the second edition was an improvement on the first. Although retaining the peculiar title which had been introduced by Dermott it ceased in a great measure to follow the principles of the "'Ancient Masons."' In 1822 Dalcho became involved in an unpleasant controversy with some of his Masonic associates, in consequence of difficulties and dissension's which at that time existed in the Scottish Rite; and his feelings were so wounded by the un-masonic spirit which seemed to actuate his antagonists and former friends, that he resigned the office of Grand Chaplain, and retired for the remainder of his life from all participation in the active duties of Freemasonry.
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DALMATIC
A robe worn by deacons in some Christian Churches. Originally made of linen, as shown by early Christian paintings on the walls of the catacombs at Rome, but now generally made of heavy woolen or silk material, as the planate or outer vestment worn by the priest. This article of dress has become quite common in many of the Degrees of various Rites.
*
DAMASCUS
An ancient and important city of Syria, situated on the road between Babylon and Jerusalem, and said in Masonic tradition to have been one of the resting-places of the Freemasons who, under the proclamation of Cyrus, returned from the former to the latter city to rebuild the Temple. An attempt was made in 1868 to introduce Freemasonry into Damascus, and a petition, signed by fifteen applicants, for a Charter for a Lodge was sent to the Grand Lodge of England; but the petition was rejected on the ground that all the petitioners were members of Bodies under other Grand Lodge Jurisdictions.
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DAMBOOL
The vast rock temple of the Buddhists in Ceylon, containing a profusion of carvings, figures of Buddha of extraordinary magnitude. Monuments of this deity are, in the common Singhalese term, called Dagoba, but the more general name is Stupa or Tope (see Topes).
*
DAME
In the York Roll No.4 and some of the other old manuscripts, we find the direction to the Apprentice that he shall not so act as to bring harm or shame, during his apprenticeship, "either to his Master or Dame." It is absurd to suppose that this gives any color to the theory that in the ancient Masonic gilds women were admitted. The word was used in the same sense as it still is in the public schools of England, where the old lady who keeps the house at which the pupils board and lodge, is called the dame. The Companions de la Tour in France called her la mére, or the mother. it must, however, be acknowledged, that women, under the title of sisters were admitted as members. and given the freedom of the company, in the old Livery Companies of London -a custom which Herbert ( History of the Livery Companies i, 83) thinks was borrowed, on the reconstitution of the companies by Edward III, from the religious gilds (see this subject discussed under the tittle Sisters of the Gild).
*
DAMES OF MOUNT TABOR
An androgynous, both sexes, Masonic Society, established about the year 1818, under the auspices of the Grand Orient of France. Its design was to give charitable relief to destitute females.
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DAMES OF THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN
Religious ladies who, from its first institution, had been admitted into the Fraternity of Knights Hospitalers of Saint John of Jerusalem. The rules for their reception were similar to those for the Knights, and the proofs of noble descent which were required of them were sometimes more rigid. They had many conventual establishments or asylums in France, Italy, and Spain.
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DAMES PLEIADES
See Feuillants
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DAMOISEL
A name sometimes given in the times of chivalry to a page or candidate for knighthood, but also used mean a young woman.
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DAN
One of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose blue banner, charged with an eagle, is borne by the Grand Master of the First Veil in a Royal Arch Chapter.
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DANGER
In all the old Constitutions and Charges, Freemasons are taught to exercise brotherly love, and to deal honestly and truly with each other, whence results the duty incumbent upon every Freemason to warn his Brother of approaching danger. That this duty may never be neglected, it is impressed upon every Master Mason by a significant ceremony.
*
DANIEL
The old countersign with "Darius" formerly used in the Thirty-second Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. A Hebrew prophet, contemporary of Ezekiel, about 600 B.C. Carried captive to Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, but selected for instruction in all the learning of the Chaldeans by order of the Court. His skill in the interpretation of dreams was famed. He became Governor of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and the first ruler of the whole Medo-Persian Empire, inferior only to Darius, then the king. Under Cyrus he was Grand Master of the Palace and Interpreter of Visions, as suggested by the Fifteenth Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
He did not return with his countrymen to Judea when granted their liberty. It is a dispute as to when he died, or where, but the majority favor Sushan, in Persia, when he was ninety years of age. At the present day a tomb is shown in this ancient city bearing his name; in fact, it is the only standing structure there. Daniel was noted and famed for his piety, and as well for his worldly possessions.
*
DANNEBROG
The banner of Denmark containing a white cross is founded upon the tradition, which reminds us of that of Constantine, that Waldemar II, of Denmark, in 1219 saw in the heavens a fiery cross, which betokened his victory over the Esthonians.
Brother Charles Schou, San Carlos, Occidental Negros, Philippine Islands, writes that the Danish flag is a white cross on a red field, the white cross dividing the background or field of the flag into four red squares. He says further that "the origin of this banner, or the legend of its origin as it was taught to me years ago when I went to school. in Denmark is as follows: 'During the Esthonian battle in 1219, the Danish army was being hard pressed and it looked as if it would lose the battle. Bishop Absolon who was with the Army, asked to be carried up on a hill nearby and there he prayed for victory for the Danes. The Bishop was old, he had just left his sickbed and he soon became exhausted and it was necessary for the monks to hold up his arms while praying. Suddenly the heavens opened up and a large red banner with a white cross was seen floating towards earth. It was immediately caught and carried to the front of the Danish Army. The sight of the cross inspired the Army with new courage and soon the Esthonians were fleeing for their lives.'
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DANTZIC
In the year 1768, on the 3d of October, the burgomaster and magistrates of the city of Dantzic commenced a persecution against Freemasonry, which Institution they charged with seeking to undermine the foundations of Christianity; and to establish in its place the religion of nature. Hence, they issued a decree forbidding every citizen, inhabitant, and even stranger sojourning in the city, from any attempt to reestablish the society of Freemasons, which was thenceforth to be regarded "as forever abolished," under penalties of fine and imprisonment.
*
DAO
The Zen name for light, from Daer, meaning to shine.
*
DARAKIEL
A responsive word in the Twenty-third Degree of the Scottish Rite. sometimes pronounced dar-kee-ale. The Latin expression is Directio Dei, meaning By direction of God.
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DARIUS
The successor of Cyrus on the throne of Persia, Babylon, and Medea. He pursued the friendly policy of his predecessor in reference to the Jews, and confirmed the decrees of that monarch by a new edict. In the second year of his reign, Haggai and Zechariah, encouraged by this edict, induced their countrymen to resume the work of restoring the Temple, which was finished four years afterward.
Darius is referred to in the Degrees of Princes of Jerusalem, the Sixteenth of the Scottish Rite, and Companion of the Red Cross in the American Rite.
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DARKNESS
Darkness has, in all the systems of initiation, been deemed a symbol of ignorance, and so opposed to light, which is the symbol of knowledge.
Hence the rule, that the eye should not see until the heart has conceived the true nature of those beauties which constitute the mysteries of the Order. In the Ancient Mysteries, the aspirant was always shrouded in darkness as a preparatory step to the reception of the full light of knowledge. The time of this confinement in darkness and solitude varied in the different mysteries. Among the Druids of Britain the period was nine days and nights; in the Grecian Mysteries it was three times nine days, while among the Persians, according to Porphyry, it was extended to the almost incredible period of fifth, days of darkness, solitude, and fasting. Because, according to all the cosmogonies, accounts of the universe, darkness existed before light was created, darkness was originally worshiped as the firstborn, as the progenitor of day and the state of existence before creation. The apostrophe of Young to Night embodies the feelings which gave origin to this debasing worship of darkness:
O majestic night!
Nature's great ancestor! Day's elder born!
And fated to survive the transient sun!
By morals and immortals seen with awe!
Freemasonry has restored darkness to its proper place as a state of preparation; the symbol of that antemundane chaos from whence light issued at the Divine command; of the state of nonentity before birth, and of ignorance before the reception of knowledge. Hence, in the Ancient Mysteries, the release of the aspirant from solitude and darkness was called the act of regeneration, and he was said to be born again, or to be raised from the dead. And in Freemasonry, the darkness which envelops the mind of the uninitiated being removed by the bright effulgence of Masonic light, Freemasons are appropriately called the sons of light. In Doctor Oliver's Signs and Symbols there is a lecture "On the Mysterious Darkness of the Third Degree.'' This refers to the ceremony of enveloping the room in darkness when that Degree is conferred-a ceremony once always observed, but now, in this country at least, frequently but improperly omitted. The darkness here is a symbol of death, the lesson taught in the Degree, while the subsequent renewal of light refers to that other and subsequent lesson of eternal life.
*
DARMSTADT, GRAND LODGE OF
The Grand Lodge of Darmstadt, in Germany, under the distinctive appellation of the Grand Lodge zur Eintracht (meaning of Concord), was established on the 22d of March, 1846, by three Lodges, in consequence of a dissension between them and the Eclectic Union. The latter body had declared that the religion of Freemasonry was universal, and that Jews could be admitted into the Order. Against this liberal declaration a Lodge at Frankfort had protested, and had been erased from the roll for contumacy. Two other Lodges, at Mainz and at Darmstadt, espoused its cause, and united with it in forming a new Grand Lodge for Southern Germany, founded on the dogma "that Christian principles formed the basis on which they worked." It was, in fact, a dispute between tolerance and intolerance. Nevertheless, the Body had the Grand Duke of Hesse as patron, and was recognized by most of the Grand Lodges of Germany.
DASSIGNY, FIFIELD
A Freemason and physician of Dublin, Ireland, who published, in 1744, at that city, A Serious and Impartial Inquiry into the Cause of the present Decay of Freemasonry in the Kingdom of Ireland. It contained an abstract of the history of Freemasonry, and an allusion to the Royal Arch Degree, on account of which it has been cited by Dermott in his Ahiman Rezon. The work is important on account of its reference to Royal Arch Masonry, but is very scarce, only three copies of it being known to exist, of which one belongs to the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and one to the West Yorkshire Masonic Library, of which a facsimile was published in 1893, while a third copy was discovered in 1896.
The writer's name is spelled D'Assigny or Dassigny, but is given in the latter form on the title-page of the Serious Enquiry. Dr. W. J. Chetwode Crawley has investigated the history of the D'Assigny family (see Caelnentaria Hibernica. FascieulusII).
Both the spelling and the pronunciation of this name have been matters of some inquiry. The name is Dassigny on the title page of his famous Enquiry.
The Ahiman Rezon of Brother Laurence Dermott, 1764 (page 47), gives the name as D'Assigny. Kenning's Cyclopedia of Freemasonry spells the name Assigny and says of this spelling " generally so spelt, but his real name seems to have been Dassigny," though Brother Woodford (page 148) spells it D'Assigny, a choice of three ways. As for the sounds in the name the following is suggested as representative of common usage: Das, as in pass or class; sig, as in see or key, and ny, as in penny or many. Doctor E. B. de Sauzé prefers the following from a French point of view: Da, as the first a in lateral; ssi, as ci in city; gn, as in signor with the Spanish ñ, and y, as the French i. He also feels certain that the original spelling of the name was D'Assigny.
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DATES, MASONIC
See Calendar
*
DATHAN
A Reubenite who, with Korah and Abiram, revolted against Moses and unlawfully sought the priesthood. In the first chapter of the Book of Numbers, where the whole account is given, it is said that as a punishment the earth opened and swallowed them up. The incident is referred to in the Order of High Priesthood, an honorary Degree of the American Rite, which is conferred upon the installed High Priests of Royal Arch Chapters.
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DAUGHTER, MASON'S
See Mason's Wife and Daughter
*
DAUGHTER OF A FREEMASON
The daughter of a Freemason is entitled to certain peculiar privileges and claims upon the Fraternity arising from her relationship to a member of the Craft. There has been some difference of opinion as to the time and manner in which the privileges cease. Masonic jurists, however, very generally incline to the opinion that they are terminated by marriage. If a Freemason's daughter marries a profane, she absolves her connection with the Fraternity. If she marries a Freemason, she exchanges her relation of a Freemason's daughter for that of a Freemason's wife.
*
DAVID
David has no place in Masonic history, except that which arises from the fact that he was the father of King Solomon, and his predecessor on the throne of Israel. To him, however, were the Jews indebted for the design of a Temple in Jerusalem, the building of which was a favorite object with him. For this purpose he purchased Mount Moriah, which had been the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite; but David had been engaged in so many wars, that it did not seem good to the Lord that he should be permitted to construct so sacred an edifice. This duty, therefore, he left to his son, whom, before dying, he furnished with plans and with means to accomplish the task. Though David is a favorite subject among the Cabalistic and the Mohammedans, who relate many curious traditions concerning him, he is not alluded to in the legends or symbolism of Freemasonry except incidentally as the father of Solomon.
*
DAVID I, KING OF SCOTLAND
1124--53; known as Protector of Freemasons and Patron of the building art (see Alexander lll).
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DAVID, SHIELD OF
See Shield of David
*
DAZARD, MICHEL FRANÇOIS
Born at Chateaudun, in France, May 2, 1781. He was a devoted student of Freemasonry, and much occupied in the investigation of the advanced Degrees of ail the Rites.
He was an opponent of the Supreme Council, against which body he wrote, in 1812, a brochure in French of forty-eight pages entitled Eztrait des colonnes gravées du Père de Famille, vallée d'Angers ( meaning Extract from the Graven Columns of the Father of the Family, Valley of Angers). Kloss calls it an important and exhaustive polemic document. It attempts to expose, supported by documents, what the author and his party called the illegal pretensions of the Supreme Council, and the arrogance of its claim to exclusive Jurisdiction in France. Dazard was the author of several other interesting discourses on Masonic subjects.
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DEACON
In every Symbolic Lodge, there are two officers who are called the Senior and Junior Deacons. In America the former has been appointed by the Master and the latter by the Senior Warden, both have been elected according to the respective Codes of the Jurisdictions, Pennsylvania, for example, has the Deacons appointed, Ohio has them elected; in England both are appointed by the Master. It is to the Deacons that the introduction of visitors should be properly entrusted. Their duties comprehend, also, a general surveillance over the security of the Lodge, and they are the proxies of the officers by whom they are appointed Hence their jewel, in allusion to the necessity of circumspection and justice is a square and compasses. In the center, the Senior Deacon wears a sun, and the Junior Deacon a moon, which serve to distinguish their respective ranks. In the English system, the jewel of the Deacons is a dove, in allusion to the dove sent forth by Noah. In the Rite of Mizraim the Deacons are called acolytes.
The office off Deacons in Freemasonry appears to have been derived from the usage's of the primitive church. In the Greek church, the Deacons were always the wvxwpoí, the pylori or doorkeepers, and in the Apostolica Constitutions the Deacon was ordered to stand at the men's door, and the Subdeacon at the women's, to see that none came in or went out during the oblation In the earliest rituals of the eighteenth century, there is no mention of' Deacons, and the duties of those officers were discharged partly by the Junior Warden and partly by the Senior and Junior Entered Apprentices, and they were not generally adopted in England until the Union of 1813. Brother W,J. Chetwode Crawley has some comments upon the subject in Caementaria Hibernica (Fasciculus i, pages 9-10). He advises that:
"We must carefully distinguish between the Deacon of the early Scottish Minute Books, and the Deacon of Irish ritual. The former occupied almost, if not altogether, the highest post among his Brethren, and having precedence over the Warden and presiding over the meeting when occasion required. The latter corresponded to the Dean-that is Deacon-of Faculty ; the latter to the lost order of the Ministry, the Deacon in Ecclesiastical parlance. The similarity does not go beyond the name.
The appointing of Deacons served in latter days, as a distinction between Irish and English work, for the Lodges under the Constitution of the Ancient naturally followed the Irish use. It must be observed that the office of Deacon was confined to supporting Lodges. During the first one hundred and twenty years of its existence, the Grand Lodge of Ireland never elected Grand Deacons . when their services were required they were selected for the occasion from the Masters then present. Their first appearance as prominent Grand Officers is in the addition of the Irish Constitutions, promulgated in 1850, though thirty-seven years previously the United Grand Lodge of England had adopted the office, in deference to the usage of the Ancient. (See also references under Titles.)
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DEACON'S ROD
See Rod, Deacon's
*
DEAF AND DUMB
Deaf mutes, as imperfect men, come under the provisions of the Old Constitutions, and are disqualified for initiation. At one time, however, a Lodge in Paris, captivated by the eclat of the proceeding, and unmindful of the ancient landmark, initiated a deaf mute, who was an intelligent professor in the Deal and Dumb Asylum. All the instructions were given through the medium of the language of the deaf mutes. lt. scarcely need be said that this cannot be recognized as a precedent.
*
DEATH
The Scandinavians, in their Edda, describing the residence of Death in Hell, where she was east by her father, Loke, say that she there possesses large apartments, strongly built, and fenced with gates of iron. Her hall is Grief; her table, Famine Hunger, her knife; Delay, her servant; Faintness, her porch; Sickness and Pain, her bed; and her tent, Cursing and Howling. But. the Masonic idea of death, like the Christian's, is accompanied with no gloom, because it is represented only as a sleep, from whence we awaken into another life. Among the ancients, sleep and death were fabled as twins. Old Gorgias, when dying, said, "Sleep is about to deliver me up to his brother''; but the death sleep of the heathen was a sleep from which there was no awaking. The popular belief was annihilation, and the poets and philosophers fostered the people's ignorance, by describing death as the total and irremediable extinction of live. Thus Seneca says-and he was too philosophic not to have known better-''that after death there comes nothing,'' while Vergil, who doubtless had been initiated into the Mysteries of Eleusis, nevertheless calls death "an iron sleep, an eternal night," yet the Ancient Mysteries were based upon the dogma of eternal live, and their initiations were intended to represent a resurrection. Freemasonry, deriving its system of symbolic teachings from these ancient religious associations, presents death to its neophytes as the gate or entrance to eternal existence. To teach the doctrine of immortality is the great object of the Third Degree. In its ceremonies we learn that live here is the time of labor, and that, working at the construction of a spiritual temple, we are worshiping the Grand Architect for whom we build that temple. 'But we learn also that, when that live is ended, it closes only to open upon a newer and higher one, where in a second temple and a purer Lodge, the Freemason will find eternal truth. Death, therefore, in Masonic philosophy, is the symbol of initiation completed, perfected, and consummated.
*
DEATH IN THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES
Each of the ancient religious Mysteries, those quasi-Masonic associations of the heathen world, was accompanied by a legend, which was always of a funereal character representing the death, by violence, of the deity to whom it was dedicated, and his subsequent resurrection or restoration to life. Hence, the first part of the ceremonies of initiation was solemn and lugubrious in character, while the latter part was cheerful and joyous. These ceremonies and this legend were altogether symbolical, and the great truths of the unity of God and the immortality, of the soul were by them intended to be dramatically explained.
This representation of death, which finds its analogue in the Third Degree of Freemasonry, has been technically called the Death of the Mysteries. It is sometimes more precisely defined, in reference to any special one of the Mysteries, as the Cabiric death or the Bacchic death, as indicating the death represented in the Mysteries of the Cabiri or of Dionysus.
*
DEBATE
Debates in a Masonic Lodge must be conducted according to the fraternal principles of the Institution. Masonic debate or discussion should not become wrangling disputes nor quarrelsome contention in the language of Doctor Oliver, ''the strictest courtesy should be observed during a debate, in a Mason's Lodge, on questions which elicit a. difference of opinion; and any gross violation of decorum and good order is sure to be met by an admonition from the chair." It must be always remembered that the object of a Masonic: discussion is to elicit truth, and not simply to secure ,victory. When, in a debate, a Brother desires to speak, he rises and addresses the chair. The presiding officer calls him by' his name, and thus recognizes his right to the floor. while he is speaking, he is not to be interrupted by any other member, except on a point of order. If called to order by any member, the speaker is immediately to take his seat until the point is stated, when the Master will make his decision without debate. The speaker will then rise and resume his discourse, if not ruled out by the Master. During the time that he is speaking, no motion is permissible. Every member is permitted to speak once on the subject under discussion ; nor can he speak a second time, except by permission of the Master, unless there is a more liberal provision in the by-laws of the Lodge. There are to this rule two exceptions, namely, when a member rises to explain.
and when the mover of the resolution closes the debate by a second speech to which he is entitled by parliamentary law.
*
DECALOGUE
The ten commandments of the Masonic law, as delivered from Mount Sinai and recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, are so called. They are not obligatory upon a Freemason as a Freemason, because the Institution is tolerant and cosmopolite, and cannot require its members to give their adhesion to any, religious dogmas or precepts, excepting those which express a belief in the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul. No partial law prescribed for a particular religion can be properly selected for the government of an Institution whose great characteristic is its universality (see Moral Law).
*
DECANUS
An officer in the Knights Templar system of Baron Hund, who, in the absence of the Grand Master and his Prior, possessed the right to preside in the Chapter.
*
DECATUR, STEPHEN
There Were two of this name, father and son. 0ne, born at Newport, Rhode Island, exact date unknown, died in 1808, at Philadelphia. Captain in the United States Navy from its birth, Brother Decatur was in charge of the Delaware, sloop of war, and later on commanded the Philadelphia, until the close of the differences with France. He moved from Philadelphia to Sinnepuxent, Maryland, and there, January 5, 1779, his son, Stephen Decatur II, was born. In August, 1777, Brother Decatur, the father, was initiated in Lodge No. 16, at Baltimore, and later in the same year received the Second and Third Degrees. Baltimore Lodge No. 16 was chartered by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1770. In 1781 its Charter was forfeited but was restored in 1785 as Saint, Johns Lodge No. 20, Fells Point, Baltimore, and which later went out of existence. Grand Secretary John A. Perry, Pennsylvania, writes to us that on "revering to the Minute Book of Lodge No. 3, I find the signature of Stephen Decatur of the outside leaf. The minutes show:
Stated Lodge opened in due form April 18, 1780.
Brother Decatur of Lodge No. 16 in Maryland petitioned to become a member of this Lodge, was balloted or and unanimously approved of.
Lodge closed and a Master's Lodge opened.
Brothers Jackway and Decatur were raised
to the sublime degree of Master Mason, returned and gave thanks.
Brother Decatur paid his fees $100.00 in the hands of the Treasurer.
" He no doubt previously received the Entered Apprentice Degree in Lodge No. 16, Baltimore, Maryland, whose Warrant was granted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, September 21, 1779, but was not in existence very long." The claim is made but not fully proven that the younger Stephen Decatur was initiated in Saint Johns Lodge, either of Maryland or Rhode Island, October 12, 1799. He became a naval commander of prominence and met with great success in various enterprises (see History of Freemasonry in Maryland , E.T. Schultz volume 1, pages 60, 102; also Builder, George W. Baird, May, 1920).
*
DECIUS
The nom de plume, meaning in French the pen name, of C. L. Reinhold, a distinguished Masonic writer ( (see Reinhold).
*
DECLARATION OF CANDIDATES
Every candidate for initiation is required to make. "upon honor," the following declaration before an appropriate officer or committee.
That unbiased by the improper solicitation of friends, and uninfluenced by mercenary motives, he freely and voluntary offers himself as a candidate for the Mysteries Freemasonry: that he is prompted to solicit the privileges of Freemasonry by a favorable option conceived of the constitution and a desire of knowledge; and that he will cheerfully conform to all the ancient usage's and established customs of the Fraternity.
This form is very old. It is to be found in precisely the same words in the earliest edition of Preston. It is required by the English Constitution, that the candidate should subscribe his name to this declaration, But in America the declaration is made oral;, and usually before the Senior Deacon or the Stewards.
*
DECLARATION OF THE MASTER
Every Master of a Lodge, after his election and before his installation, is required to give, in the presence of the Brethren, his assent to the following fifteen charges and regulations:
1. Do you promise to be a good man and true,
and strictly to obey the moral law?
2. Do you promise to be a peaceable citizen, and cheerfully to
conform to the laws of the country in which you reside?
3. Do you promise not to be concerned in plots and conspiracies
against the government of the country in which you live, but patiently
to submit to the decisions of the law and the constituted authorities?
4. Do you promise to pay proper respect to the civil magistrates,
to work diligently , live creditably, and act honorably by all
men?
5. Do you promise to hold in veneration the original rulers and
patrons of' the Order of Freemasonry, and their regular successors,
supreme and subordinate, according to their station ; and to submit
to the awards and resolutions of your Brethren in Lodge convent
, in every case consistent with the constitutions of the Order?
6. Do you promise, as much as in you lies, to avoid private piques
and quarrels, and to guard against intemperance and excess.
7. Do you promise to be cautions in your behavior, courteous to
your Brethren, and faithful to your Lodge?
8. Do you promise to respect genuine and true Brethren, and to
discountenance impostors and all dissenters from the Ancient Landmarks
and Constitutions of Masonry?
9. Do you promise, according to the best of your abilities to
promote the general good of society, to cultivate the social virtues,
and to propagate the knowledge of the mystic art, according to
our statutes?
10. Do you promise to pay homage to the Grand Master for the time
being, and to his officers when duly installed, and strictly to
conform to every edict of the Grand Lodge or General Assembly
of Masons that is not subversive of the principles and groundwork
of Masonry'?
11. Do you admit that it is not in the power of any man or body
of men, to make innovations in the Body of Masonry?
12. Do you promise a regular attendance on the committees and
communications of the Grand Lodge, on receiving proper notice,
and to pay attention to all the duties of Masonry , on convenient
occasions?
13. Do you admit that no new Lodge can be formed without permission
of the Grand Lodge; and that no countenance ought to be given
to any irregular Lodge, or to any person clandestinely initiated
therein, as being contrary to the ancient churches of the Order?
14. Do you admit that no person can be regularly made a Freemason
in, or admitted a member of, any regular Lodge, without precious
notice, and due inquirer into his characters
l5. Do you agree that no visitors shall be received into your
lodge without due examination and producing proper vouchers of
their having been initiated in a regular Lodge? With very slight
differences, such as might properly be called editorial variations,
these charges and regulations are generally in use.
*
DECLARING OFF
When a brother ceases to visit and pay his monthly subscription, he thereby declares himself off the Lodge" (see the Symbolical Dictionary). In England, the Brother resigns. Various designations rule in the United States, the chief one being dropped from the roll. In some States the Brother is punished by suspension. If, however, in certain States, he is clear of the books, upon application he can receive a certificate to that effect, and be dropped from the roll. In England he gets a clearance certificate. in Scotland a demit is issued by the Daughter Lodge and countersigned by the Grand Secretary.
*
DECORATIONS
A Lodge-room ought, besides its necessary furniture, to be ornamented with decorations which, while they adorn and beautify it, will not be unsuitable to its sacred character. On this subject, Doctor Oliver (in his Book of the Lodge, chapter v, page 70) makes the following judicious remarks: The expert Mason will be convinced that the walls of a Lodge room ought neither to be absolutely naked nor too much decorated. A chaste disposal of symbolical ornaments in the right places, and according to propriety, relieves the dullness and vacuity of a blank space and, though but sparingly used, will produce a striking impression and contribute to the general beauty and solemnity of the scene.
*
DEDICATION OF A LODGE
Among the ancients every temple, altar, statue, or sacred place was dedicated to some divinity. The Romans, during the Republic, confided this duty to their consuls, pretors, censors, or other chief magistrates, and afterward to the emperors. According to the Papirian law, the regulations of a clan or group of Roman families, the dedication must have been authorized by a decree of the senate and the people, and the consent of the college of augurs. The ceremony consisted in surrounding the temple or object of dedication with garlands of flowers, whilst the vestal virgins poured on the exterior of the temple the lustral water. The dedication was completed by a formula of words uttered by the Pontiff, and the immolation of a victim, whose entrails were placed upon an altar of turf. The dedication of a temple was always a festival for the people, and was annually commemorated.
While the Pagans dedicated their temples to different deities—sometimes to the joint worship of several —the monotheistic Jews dedicated their religious edifices to the one supreme Jehovah. Thus, David dedicated with solemn ceremonies the altar which he erected on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, after the cessation of the plague which had afflicted his people; and Calmet conjectures that he composed the thirtieth Psalm on this occasion. The Jews extended this ceremony of dedication even to their private houses, and Clarke tells us, in reference to a passage on this subject in be Book of Deuteronomy, house to God with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving; and this was done in order to secure the divine presence and blessing, for no pious or sensible man could imagine he could dwell safely in a house that was not under the immediate protection of God."
There is a noteworthy reproduction in the Symbolism of the Churches and Church Ornaments, a translation of the first book of the Rationale Divinorum Officorum written by William Durandus in the thirteenth century. Here we have the ritual of an ancient form of dedication. There is also quoted a brief but suggestive passage from Sugerius book on the dedication of the Church of St. Denis:
Right early in the morning, archbishops and bishops archdeacons and abbots, and other venerable persons who had lived of their proper expense, bore themselves right bishop fully and took their places on the platform raised for the consecration of the water, and placed between the sepulchers of the holy martyrs and S (the holy) Saviour's altar. Then might ye have seen and they who stood by saw, and that with great devotion, such a band of so venerable bishops, arrayed in their white robes, sparkling in their pontifical robes and precious orfreys, grasp their pastoral staves, call on God in holy exorcism pace around the consecrated enclosure, and perform the nuptials of the Great King with such care that it seemed as though the ceremony were performed by a chorus of angels not a band of men. The crowd, in overwhelming magnitude, rolled around to the door, and while the aforesaid Episcopal band were sprinkling the walls with hyssop, the king and his nobles drive them back, repress them, guard the portals.
Suger, or Sugerius, as the name is often Latinized, was born about 1081 A.D. and died on January 31, 1151. A Frenchman who has been deemed the foremost historian of his time, he was in his tenth year at school in the Priory of St. Denis near Paris. Later he became secretary to the Abbot of St. Denis, and after a sojourn at Rome succeeded to this office. At his death the Abbey possessed considerable property, including a new church of which he had written much, including the above item of interest in regard to the old ceremony of dedication.
According to the learned Selden, there was a distinction among the Jews between consecration and dedication, for sacred things were both consecrated and dedicated, while profane things, such as private dwelling-houses, were only dedicated. Dedication was, therefore, a less sacred ceremony than consecration. This distinction has also been preserved among Christians, many of whom, and, in the early ages, all, consecrated their churches to the worship of God, but dedicated them to, or placed them under, the especial patronage of some particular saint. A similar practice prevails in the Masonic Institution; and therefore, while we consecrate our Lodges "to the honor of God's glory," we dedicate them to the patrons of our Order.
Tradition informs us that Masonic Lodges were originally dedicated to King Solomon, because he was our first Most Excellent Grand Master. In the sixteenth century Saint John the Baptist seems to have been considered as the peculiar patron of Freemasonry; but subsequently this honor was divided between the two Saints John, the Baptist and the Evangelist; and modern Lodges, in the United States at least, are universally erected or consecrated to God, and dedicated to the Holy Saints John. In the Hemming lectures, adopted in 1813, at the time of the union of the two Grand Lodges of England, the dedication was changed from the Saints John to King Solomon, and this usage now prevails very generally in England where Lodges are dedicated to "God and His Service, also to the memory of the Royal Solomon, under chose auspices many of our Masonic mysteries had weir origin"; but the ancient dedication to the Saints John was never abandoned by American Lodges.
The formula in Webb which dedicates the Lodge to the memory of the Holy Saint John," was, undoubtedly, an inadvertence on the part of that lecturer, since in all his oral teachings Brother Mackey asserts he adhered to the more general system, and described a Lodge in his esoteric work as being "dedicated to the Holy Saints John." This is now the universal practice, and the language used by Webb becomes contradictory and absurd when compared with the fact that the festivals of both saints are equally celebrated by the Order, and that the 27th of December is not less a day of observance in the Order than the 24th of June.
In one old lecture of the eighteenth century, this dedication to the two Saints John is thus explained:
Q. Our Lodges being finished, furnished,
and decorated with ornaments, furniture, and jewels, to whom were
they consecrated? A. To God.
Q. Thank you, Brother; and can you tell me to whom they were first
dedicated?
A. To Noah, who was saved in the Ark.
Q. And by what name were the Masons then known?
A. They were called Noachidæ, Sasses, or Wise Men.
Q. To whom were the Lodges dedicated during the Mosaic Dispensation?
A. To Moses! the chosen of God, and Solomon, the an of David,
king of Israel, who was an eminent patron of the Craft.
Q. And under what name were the Masons known during that period?
A. Under the name of Dionysias, Geometricians, or Masters in Israel.
Q. But as Solomon was a Jest, and died long before the promulgation
of Christianity. to whom were they dedicated under the Christian
Dispensation?
A. From Solomon the patronage of Masonry passed to Saint John
the Baptist.
Q. And under what name were they known after the promulgation
of Christianity?
A. Under the name of Essenes, Archaics, or Freeze masons.
Q. Why were the Lodges dedicated to Saint John the Baptists
A. Because he was the forerunner of our Savior, and, by preaching
repentance and humiliation, drew the first parallel of the Gospel.
Q. Had Saint John the Baptist any equal?
A. He had; Saint John the Evangelist.
Q. Why is he said to be equal to the Baptist?
A. Because he finished by his learning what the other began by
his zeal, and thus drew a second line parallel to the former-
ever since which time Freemasons' Lodges in all Christian countries,
have been dedicated to the one or the other, or both, of these
worthy and worshipful men.
Here is another old lecture, adopted into
the Prestonian system, which still further developed these reasons
for the Johannite dedication, but with bight variations in some
of the details. Brother Mackey quotes it thus:
From the building of the first Temple at Jerusalem to the Babylonish
captivity, Freemasons' Lodges were dedicated to King Solomon;
from thence to the coming of the Messiah, they were dedicated
to Zerubbabel, the builder of the second Temple, and from that
time to the final destruction of the Temple by Titus, in the reign
of Vespasian, they were dedicated to Saint John the Baptist; but
owing to the many massacres and disorders which attended that
memorable event, Freemasonry sunk very much into decay; many Lodges
were entirely broken up, and but few could meet in sufficient
numbers to constitute their legality; and at a general meeting
of the Craft, held in the city of Benjamin, it was observed that
the principal reason for the decline of Masonry was the want of
a Grand Master to patronize it. They therefore deputed seven of
their most eminent members to wait upon St. John the Evangelist,
who was at that time Bishop of Ephesus, requesting him to take
the office of Grand Master. He returned for answer, that though
well stricken in years, being upwards of ninety, yet having been
initiated into Masonry in the early part of his life, he would
take upon himself the office. He thereby completed by his learning
what the other Saint John effected by his zeal, and thus drew
what Freemasons term a sine parallels ever since which time Freemasons
Lodges in all Christian countries have been dedicated both to
Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist.
So runs the tradition, but, as it lacks every claim to authenticity, a more philosophical reason may be assigned for this dedication to the two Saints John.
One of the earliest deviations from the pure religion of the Noachidae was distinguished by the introduction of sun worship. The sun, in the Egyptian mysteries, was symbolized by Osiris, the principal object of their rites, whose name, according to Plutarch and Macrobius, signified the prince and leader, the soul of the universe and the governor of the stars. Macrobius (Saturnalia, Book 1, chapter 18) says that the Egyptians worshiped the sun as the only divinity; and they represented him under various forms, according to the several phases, of his infancy at the winter solstice in December, his adolescence at the vernal equinox in March, his manhood at the summer solstice in June, and his old age at the autumnal equinox in September.
Among the Phoenicians, the sun was adored under the name of Adonis, and in Persia, under that of Mithras. In the Grecian mysteries, the orb of day was represented by one of the officers who superintended the ceremony of initiation; and in the Druidical rites his worship was introduced as the visible representative of the invisible, creative, and preservative principle of nature. In short, wherever the spurious Freemasonry existed, the adoration of, or, at least, a high respect for, the solar orb constituted a part of its system.
In Freemasonry, the sun is still retained as an important symbol. This fact must be familiar to every Freemason of any intelligence. It occupies, indeed, its appropriate position, simply as a symbol, but, nevertheless, it constitutes an essential part of the system. "As an emblem of God's power," says Hutchinson (Spirit of Masonry, Lecture IV, page 86), "His goodness, omnipresence, and eternity, the Lodge is adorned with the image of the sun, which he ordained to arise from the east and open the day; thereby calling forth the people of the earth to their worship and exercise in the walks of virtue."
"The government of a Mason's Lodge," says Oliver (Signs and Symbols of Freemasonry, pages 204), "is vested in three superior officers, who are seated in the East, West, and South, to represent the rising, setting, and meridian sun."
The sun, obedient to the all-seeing eye, is an emblem in the ritual of the Third Degree, and the sun displayed within an extended compass constitutes the jewel of the Past Master in the American system, and that of the Grand Master in the English.
But it is a needless task to cite authorities or multiply instances to prove how intimately the sun, as a symbol, is connected with the whole system of freemasonry.
It is then evident that the sun, either as an object of worship, or of symbolization, has always formed an important part of what has been called the two systems of Freemasonry, the Spurious and the Pure.
To the ancient sun worshipers, the movements of the heavenly bodies must have been something more than mere astronomical phenomena; they were the actions of the deities whom they adored, and hence were invested with the solemnity of a religious character. But, above allay the particular periods when the sun reached his greatest northern and southern declination, at the winter and summer solstices, by entering the zodiacal signs of Cancer and Capricorn, marked as they would be by the most evident effects on the seasons, and on the length of the days and nights, could not have passed unobserved. hut, on the contrary, must have occupied an important place in their ritual Now these important days fall respectively on the 21st of June and the 21st of December.
Hence, these solstitial periods were among the principal festivals observed by the Pagan nations. Du Pauw (Dissertations on Egyptians and Chinese in, page 159) remarks of the Egyptians, that "they had a fixed festival at each new moon; one at the summer, and one at the winter solstice, as well as the vernal and autumnal equinoxes "
The Druids always observed the festivals of midsummer and midwinter in June and December The former for a long time was celebrated by the Christian descendants of the Druids "The eve of Saint John the Baptist," says Chambers (information for the recopies Nose 89), "variously called Midsummer Eve, was formerly a time of high observance amongst the English, as it still is in Catholic countries. Bonfires were everywhere lighted, round which the people danced with joyful demonstrations, occasionally leaping through the flame.''
Godfrey Higgins (Celtic Druids, page 165) thus alludes to the celebration of the festival of midwinter he the ancient world:
The festival of the 25th of December was celebrated, by the Druids in Britain and Ireland, with great fires lighted on the tops of the hills. On the 25th of December, at the first moment of the day, throughout all the ancient world, the birthday of the god Sol was celebrated. This was the moment when, after the supposed winter solstice and the lowest point of his degradation below our hemisphere he began to increase and gradually to ascend. At this moment. in all the ancient religions, his birthday was kept; from India to the Ultima Thule. these ceremonies partook of the same character: everywhere the god was feigned to he born, and his festival was celebrated with great rejoicings.
See, also, Dudley Writrht's Druidism, the
Ancient Faith of Britain (page 24).
Our ancestors finding that the Church, according to its usage
of purifying Pagan festivals by Christian application, had appropriated
two days near those solstitial periods to the memory of two eminent
saints, incorporated these festivals by the lapse of a few days
into the Masonic calendar, and adopted these worthies as patrons
of our Order. To this change, the earlier Christian Freemasons
were the more persuaded by the peculiar character of these saints.
Saint John the Baptist, by announcing the approach of Christ,
and by the mystic ablution to which he subjected his proselytes,
and which was afterward adopted in the ceremony of initiation
into Christianity, might well be considered as the Grand Hierophant
of the Church; while the mysterious and emblematic nature of the
Apocalypse assimilated the mode of instruction adopted by Saint
John the Evangelist to that practiced by the Fraternity.
We are thus led to the conclusion that the connection of the Saints John with the Masonic Institution is rather of a symbolic than of a historical character In dedicating our Lodges to them, we do not so much declare our belief that they were eminent members of the Order, as demonstrate our reverence for the great Architect of the Universe in the symbol of His most splendid creation, the great light of day.
In conclusion it may be observed that the ceremony of dedication is merely the enunciation of a form of words, and this having been done, the Lodge is thus, by the consecration and dedication, set apart as something sacred to the cultivation of the principles of Freemasonry, under that peculiar system which acknowledges the two Saints John as its patrons. Royal Arch Chapters are dedicated to Zerubbabel, Prince or Governor of Judah, and Commanderies of Knights Templar to Saint John the Almoner. Mark Lodges should be dedicated to Hiram the Builder; Past Masters to the Saints John, and Most Excellent Masters to King Solomon.
*
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
There are five dedications of the Temple
of Jerusalem which are recorded in Jewish history:
1. The dedication of the Solomonic Temple, 1004 B.C.
2. The dedication in the time of Hezekiah, when it was purified
from the abominations of Ahaz, 726 B.C.
3. The dedication of Zerubbabel's Temple, 513 B.C.
4. The dedication of the Temple when it was purified after Judas
Maccabaeus had driven out the Syrians, 161 B.C.
5. The dedication of Herod's Temple. 22 B.C.
The fourth of these is still celebrated by the Jews in their Feast of the Dedication. The first only is connected with the Masonic ritual, and is commemorated in the Most Excellent Master's Degree of the American Rite as the Celebration of the Capstone. This dedication was made by King Solomon in the blear of the World 3000, and lasted eight days, commencing in the month of Tisri, 15th day, during the Feast of Tabernacles. The dedication of the Temple is called. in the English system of Lectures, the third grand offering which consecrates the floor of a Mason s Lodge. The same Lectures contain a tradition that on that occasion King Solomon assembled the nine Deputy Gland Masters in the holy place, from which all natural light had been carefully excluded, and which only received the artificial light which emanated from the east, west, and south, and there made the necessary arrangements. The legend must be considered as a myth; but the inimitable prayer and in vocation which were offered up by King Solomon on e occasion are recorded in the eighth chapter of the first Book of Kings, which contains the Scriptural fount of the dedication.
*
DEFAMATION
See Back
*
DEFINITION OF FREEMASONRY
"The definitions of Freemasonry," says Oliver, in his historical Landmarks of Freemasonry, "have been numerous; but they all unite in declaring it to be a system of morality, by the practice of which its members may advance their spiritual interest, and mount by the theological ladder from the Lodge on earth to the Lodge in heaven. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that Freemasonry is a system of religion. It is but the handmaiden to religion, although it largely and effectually illustrates one great branch of it, which is practice."
The definition in the English Lectures is often quoted, which says that "Freemasonry is a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated symbols."
But Brother Mackey believed that a more compressive and exact definition is that it is a science which is engaged in the search after Divine Truth, and which employs symbolism as its method of instruction.
Another definition is by Dr. S. Bein, who terms Freemasonry that religious and mystical society - hose aim is moral perfection on the basis of general quality and fraternity (see Vortaro de Esperanto, page 50).
A more elaborate definition is by Brother W. N. Pontone, P.G.M., of Canada, as follows Masonry is something more than a secret Society, though secrecy is an element in esoteric work, more than ritualism, though the ritual, simple in its dignity and quaint and rhythmic in expression, is a factor more than symbolism, though Symbolic teaching is significant and transfigures the commonplace; more than philosophy, though it speculatively teaches how to live wisely and well; more than religion, but not greater than religion, yet discerning the divinity in humanity; more than mere landmarks, though these have their defining, historical, and traditional place; more even than brotherhood, for as in the Pythagorean days, it is educational and intellectual as well as social and fraternal; more than constructive and practical philanthropy, though love crowns all; yet it is all of these together with that something more of which language is inadequate to express the subtle mystery, even to those few choice spirits who seek to penetrate to the heart of its often unconscious power, and the span of life too brief to enable those who endeavor to attain the ideal perfection of that living organism, whose countersign is manhood~ whose inspiration is the God-head—that Masonic edifice of which love and truth form base and spire—Nisi Dominus frustra (see Builder, volume viii, page 55).
The Latin phrase Nisi Dominus frustra may be expressed in English as meaning Except the Masler be cheated. Brother Roscoe Pound has contributed to the Dictionary of Religion and Ethics (Macmillan Company, 1921), the following definition of our Institution:
The art or mystery of the Freemasons or Free and Accepted Masons, a universal religious, moral, charitable and benevolent fraternal organization It is religious in requiring belief in God as a prerequisite of initiation and insisting on such belief as one of its unalterable fundamental points. Beyond this and belief in immortality it has no religious dogmas but expects the brother to adhere to some religion and obligates him upon the sacred oath of the religion he professes For the rest it seeks to promote morals by ceremonies, symbols and lectures, inculcating life measured by reason and performance of duties toward God, one's country, one's neighbor and oneself. It relieves needy Brothers, cares for their dependents, educates orphans, and insists upon duties of charity and benevolence.
.At the laying of a cornerstone with Masonic ceremonies, an old friend, the late Colonel Edward hi. L. Ehlers, Grand Secretary of New York, gave an eloquent oration in which he used with fine effect a magnificent tribute to Freemasonry as our gifted and beloved Brother understood the Masonic Institution. As a definition it may be appropriately inserted here and should be studied with a similar statement found elsewhere (see Charity).
Fraternities of men have existed in some shape or form during every period of the world s history. Doubtless in the primitive ages it became apparent that mutual protection would afford the greatest security against the unbroken forces of nature and the evil nature of man and secure sympathy, support and protection, to those whose bond of union was made a common cause. Hence originated Masonry.
The origin of Masonry, like other historical transactions, lies buried in the gloom of obscurity. Its philosophy may be traced to the remotest ages of the world's history. Its symbols are older than the Temple of Solomon and antedate the Pentateuch of Moses. Its ceremonials were practiced in the ancient mysteries when Egypt stood as the first and the most enlightened power of the then known world. Its tenets were known by the nomadic tribes of the East and transmitted from father to son, generation after generation, so that even today the Bedouin of the desert recognizes the hail of the Craftsman.
The mission of Masonry is to curb intemperate passions and to reconcile conflicting interests; to extend to nations these principles of humanity and benevolence which should actuate individuals, to destroy the pride of conquest and the pomp of war; to annihilate focal prejudices and unreasonable partialities; to banish from the world every Source of enmity and hostility, and to introduce those Social dealings which are better r adulated to preserve peace and good order than penal laws or political regulations.
The advantages which mankind in genera! reap from this master Science are beyond calculation. Its blessings are confined to no country, but are diffused with the Institution throughout the world. Men of all languages, of all religions, of the remotest nations, and of every habit and opinion, are united in a bond of brotherly affection..
A Mason is at home in every country and with his friends in every clime. What Society other than our own could make the proud boast that we know no foreign land On the plane of Masonry we only know God and man We know no royal blood or peasant stock. Men of wealth and simple toil, philosophers and men of low degree. royal heirs and hard-handed peasants, meet hers upon a common ground as brothers and God is Father of them all.
Live on for ever, thou Genius of Masonry ! Bring light and gladness, toleration and rational liberty, to those who dwell in darkness and superstition! reach the millions yet unborn thy Faith, thy Hope, thy Charity!
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DEFORMITY
The Old Constitutions declare that the candidate for Freemasonry must be a "perfect youth, having no maim or defect in his body." The Masonic law of physical qualifications is derived from the Mosaic, which excluded from the priesthood a man having any blemishes or deformities. The regulation in Freemasonry constitutes one of the landmarks, and is illustrative of the symbolism of the Institution. The earliest of the Old Constitutions, that of the Halliwell or Regius Manuscript (lines 153 to 156), has this language on the subject:
To the Craft it were great shame
To make a halt man and a lame,
For an imperfect man of such blood
Should do the Craft but little good.
This question is discussed in Doctor Mackey's Jurisprudence of Freemasonry.
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DEGREES
The word degree, in its primitive meaning, signifies a step. The degrees of Freemasonry are, then, the steps by which the candidate ascends from a lower to a higher condition of knowledge. It is now the opinion of the best scholars, that the division of the Masonic system into Degrees was the work of the revivalists of the beginning of the eighteenth century; that before that period there was but one Degree, or rather one common platform of ritualism; and that the division into Masters, Fellows, and Apprentices was simply a division of ranks, there being but one initiation for all.
In 1717 the whole body of the Fraternity consisted only of Entered Apprentices, who were recognized by the thirty-nine Regulations, compiled in 1720, as among the law-givers of the Craft, no change in those Regulations being allowed unless first submitted "even to the youngest Apprentice."
In the Old Charges, collected by Anderson and approved in 1722, the Degree of Fellow Craft is introduced as being a necessary qualification for Grand Master, although the word degree is not used. "No brother can be a Grand Master unless he has been a Fellow Craft before his election." And in the Manner of constituting a New Lodge of the same date, the Master and Wardens are taken from "among the Fellow Crafts," which Derrnott explains by saying that "they were called Fellow Crafts because the Masons of old times never gave any man the title of Master Mason until he had first passed the chair." In the thirteenth of the Regulations of 1720, approved in 1721, the orders or Degrees of Master and Fellow Craft are recognized in the following words: "Apprentices must be admitted Masters and Fellow Crafts only in the Grand Lodge." Between that period and 1738, the system of Degrees had been perfected; for Anderson, who, in that year, published the second edition of the Book of Constitutions, changed the phraseology of the Old Charges to suit the altered condition of things, and said, "a Prentice, when of age and expert, may become an Entered Prentice or a Free-Mason of the lowest degree, and upon his due improvements a Fellow Craft and a Master-Mason" (see Old Charge Ill, Constitutions, 1738, page 145).
No such words are found in the Charges as printed in 1723; and if at that time the distinction of the three Degrees had been as well defined as in 1738, Anderson would not have failed to insert the same language in his first edition. That he did not, leads to the fair presumption that the ranks of Fellow Craft and Master were not then absolutely recognized as distinctive degrees. The earliest ritual extant, which is contained in the Grand Mystery, published in 1725, makes no reference to any Degrees, but gives only what we may suppose was the common understanding of the initiation in use about that time.
The division of the Masonic system into three Degrees must have grown up between 1717 and 1730, but in 80 gradual and imperceptible a manner that we are unable to fix the precise date of the introduction of each Degree. In 1717 there was evidently but one Degree, or rather one form of initiation, and one catechism. Perhaps about 1721 the three Degrees were introduced, but the second and third were probably not perfected for many years. Even as late as 1735 the Entered Apprentice's Degree contained the most prominent form of initiation, and he who was an Apprentice was, for all practical purposes, a Freemason. It was not until repeated improvements, by the adoption of new ceremonies and new regulations, that the Degree of Master Mason took the place which it now occupies; having been confined at first to those who had passed the chair.
*
DEGREES, ANCIENT CRAFT
See Ancient Craft Masonry
*
DEGREES, ANDROGYNOUS
Degrees that are conferred on females as well as males (see Androgynous Degrees).
*
DEGREES, APOCALYPTIC
See Apocalyptic Degrees
*
DEGREES, HIGH
See High Degrees
*
DEGREES, HONORARY
See Honorary Degrees
*
DEGREES, INEFFABLE
See Ineffable Degrees
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DEGREES OF CHIVALRY
The religious and military orders of knighthood which existed in the Middle Ages, such as the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta, which were incorporated into the Masonic system and conferred as Masonic degrees, have been called Degrees of Chivalry. They are Christian in character, and seek to perpetuate in a symbolic form the idea on which the original Orders were founded. The Companion of the Red Cross, although conferred, in the United States of America, in a Commandery of Knights Templar, and as preliminary to that Degree, is not properly a Degree of chivalry.
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DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE
Fessler was desirous of abolishing all the advanced Degrees, but being unable to obtain the consent of the Royal York Grand Lodge, he composed out of them a new system of five Degrees which he called Degrees of Knowledge, the German being the words Erkenntnis-Stufen, to each of which was annexed a form of initiation. "The Degrees of Knowledge," says Findel (History of Freemasonry, page 496), "consisted of a regular detailed course of instruction in each system of the Lodges, whether extinct or in full activity, and were to end with at complete critical remodelling of the history of Freemasonry, and of the Fraternity of Freemasons from the most ancient period down to our own day" (see Fessler, Rite of).
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DEGREES, PHILOSOPHICAL
See Philosophic Degrees
*
DEGREES, SYMBOLIC
See Symbolic Degrees
*
DIASTOLE
The counterpart of Tuathal. Mackenzie, in the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia, says: Deiseil is used by the Druids as a term for the circumambulation of the sacred cairns. Derived from dead south, and tub a course that is, in a southward direction following the course of the sun. The opposite is Tuathal, in a northward direction, as is observed at the present day in approaching the grave with a corpse.
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DEISM
In an abstract sense, Deism, or Theism, is the belief in God, but the word is generally used to designate those who, believing in God, reject a belief in the Scriptures as a revelation. The sect of Deists which, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, enrolled among its followers many great intellects, such as Toland, Collins, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Fume, Gibbon, and Voltaire—is said by Findel (History of Freemasonry, page 126) to have "necessarily exercised an important influence on the Fraternity of Masons" and, he adds, that "we cannot doubt that it contributed essentially to its final transformation from an Operative to a universal Speculative Society." The refutation of this remarkable assertion is best found in the first of the Charges adopted at the revival in 1717, and which was published in the Constitutions of 1793. A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine," where the words irreligious libertine refer to the Freethinkers or Deists of that period. It is evident, then, that the Deists could have had no influence at that time in molding the Masonic organization.
There is still better evidence to be found in the old records of Freemasonry during several preceding centuries, when the Operative was its dominant character, and when the dogmas of Christianity were fully recognized, which must necessarily have been the case, since Freemasonry during that period was under the patronage of the Church. There is, in fact, no evidence to sustain Findel's theory, that in the transition stage from the Operative to the Speculative, when such men as the deeply religious Ashmole were among its members, the Deists could have infused any If their principles into its organization or exercised any influence in changing its character.
Freemasonry, at that time sectarian, demanded almost a Christian belief—at all events, a Christian allegiance—from its disciples. It is now more tolerant, and Deism presents no disqualification for initiation. An atheist would be rejected, but none would now be refused admission on religious grounds who subscribed to the dogmas of a belief in God and a resurrection to eternal life.
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DEITY
See Great Architect of the Universe
*
DeKALB, BARON
See Kalb Johann
*
DELALANDE, CHARLES FLORENT JACQUES
A French litterateur of the last century, who was the author of many didactic and poetic articles on freemasonry inserted in the Mirror de la Vérité, the Annales Maçonniques, and other collections. He was also the author of the Defense et Apologia de la Franche-Maconnerie, ou Refutation des accusations dirigées contre elle à différentes Epoques et par divers Auteurs, meaning the Defense and Apology of Freemasonry, or Refutation of the Accusations directed against Her at several periods and by various Writers, a prize essay before a Lodge in Leghorn, published in 1814. He founded the archives of the Lodge of the Philosophic Rite at Douay, France.
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DELALANDE, JOSEPH JEROME
One of the most distinguished French astronomers of the eighteenth century. His name was Joseph Jérome Lefrançais but when quite a young man he was received at the Court of King Frederic II he called himself Lefrançais de la Lande, which has often been written as a surname Delalande and Lalande, the latter being used by his biographers Brother Louis Amiable. Delalande was born at Bourg-en-Bresse, France, July 11, 1732, and died at Paris, April 4, 1807. He founded a Lodge of the Sciences for uniting Freemasons especially devoted to scientific study and research. At the suggestion of Helvetius this scope was enlarged to those occupied with literature, science and the fine arts. The Lodge bore the name of the Nine Sisters, referring to the Muses, the Greek goddesses presiding over the arts and sciences. Of this Lodge Benjamin Franklin became Worshipful Masters Delalande was one of the founders of the Grand Orient of France and published. in 17~ n able memoir upon the History of Freemasonry, which was subsequently incorporated in the twentieth volume of the Encyclopedie Méthodique.
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DELAUNAY, FRANÇOIS H. STANISLAUS
A French litterateur and historian, and author of many works on Freemasonry, the principal of which is the Tuileur des trente-trois degrés de l'Ecossisme du Rite Ancien et Accepts meaning Handbook of the Thirty-three Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This is a work of great erudition, and of curious research in reference to the etymology of the words of the Rite. These etymologies, however, are not always correct; and, indeed, some of them are quite absurd, betraying a want of the proper appreciation of the construction of Hebrew, from which language all of the words are derived.
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DELAWARE
There is some uncertainty about the first Lodge established in Delaware. The Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1764 is said to have issued a warrant to Union Lodge, No. 191, at Middletown, for General Marjoribank's Regiment. Failing this, Lodge No. 5, at Cantwell's Bridge, warranted on June 4, 1765, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, was the pioneer Lodge of the State. The Grand Lodge of Delaware was established under rather unusual circumstances. Nine Brethren. said to re represent Lodge No. 31, Grand Lodge of Maryland and Nos. 33, 96, and 14, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania resolved to form a Grand Lodge. On June 7, 1806. Grand Officers were appointed and, without any previous installation, opened the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania refused to recognize it as five Lodges were deemed necessary to form a Grand Lodge and three of the Lodges taking part were indebted to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for fees and dues. Not until 1816, when Lodge No. 5, at Cantwell's Bridge, joined it by permission of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and made up the number of five constituent Lodges, was the new Grand Lodge fully recognized.
The first Chapter in the State was opened on January 24, 1806, by a Convention at which were present Charles Mareighny of New York; John Sellers, Wilmington; George Monroe, Edinburgh, James Jefferis, Belfast; Evan Thomas, Santa Cruz; and Edwin Roche, Virginia. In 1831, this Chapter amalgamated with Hiram, No. 6, as Washington and Lafayette Chapter, No. 1. On June 24, 1817, delegates from the seven Chapters in Delaware, namely Hope, No. 4; Union, No. 7; Temple, No. 3; Washington, No. 1; Hiram, No. 6; Washington, No. 5, and one at Newcastle, held a Convention at Wilmington and established a Grand Holy Royal Arch Chapter. About the year 1856, however, it ceased to meet and, except for an irregular Convocation held in 1859, nothing more was heard of a Grand Chapter of Delaware until January, 1868. A meeting of Royal Arch Masons was then held which finally- proceeded to eject Grand Officers and adopt a Constitution. A Charter was issued by the General Grand High Priest, and at a meeting on January 20, 1869, the Grand Chapter of Delaware was organized and the Officers installed. Delaware is one of the States which make the Order of High Priesthood an essential qualification to the installation of the High Priest elect.
Gunning Bedford Council, No. 1, at Wilmington, was granted a Dispensation on February 10, 1917, and a Charter on September 30, 1918. It has been said that Jeremy L. Cross, while on a lecture tour, conferred the Degrees on some of the Brethren in Wilmington and Newcastle, but of this there is no evidence.
A Commandery was organized in Delaware by the Grand Encampment of the United States at Wilmington. namely, Saint Johns? No. 1, which was chartered on September 18 1868. Delaware Lodge of Perfection, chartered on September 2, 1910; Wilmington Council of Princes of Jerusalem, chartered on September 91, 1911; Wilmington Chapter of Rose Croix. chartered on September 21, 1911, and Delaware Consistory, chartered on October 3, 1912 are all at Wilmington, under the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.
DELEGATES
Past Masters or others, sent, by a Lodge to represent it in the Grand Lodge, in place of the Master and Wardens, if these are absent. have been in some of the American Jurisdictions called delegates. The word is a modern one, and without good authority. Those who represent a Lodge in the Grand Lodge, whether the Master and Wardens or their proxies, are properly representatives.
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DELIBERATION-, COUNCIL OF
See Grand Consistory
*
DELTA
A triangle. The name of a piece of furniture
in a Commandery of Nights Templar, which, being of a triangular
form, derives its name from the Greek letter ~. delta. It is also
the title given, in the French and Scottish Rites, to the luminous
triangle which encloses the Ineffable Name (see
Triangle).
*
DEMETER
The Greek name of Ceres, which see
*
DEBIT
A Freemason is said to DEBIT from his Lodge when he withdraws his membership; and a DEBIT is a document granted by the Lodge which certifies that, that decision has been accepted by the Lodge, and that the demitting Brother is clear of the books and in good standing as a Freemason. To demit, which is the act of the member, is, then to resign; and to grant a demit, which is the act, of the Lodge, is to grant a certificate that the resignation has been accepted. lt. is derived from the French reflective verb se démettre, which. according to the dictionary of the Academy, means to withdraw' from an office, to resign an employment. Thus it gives as an example. Il s`est démis de la charge en faveur d`un tel. meaning that he resigned (demitted) his office in favor of such a one.
The application for a demit is a matter of form, and there is no power in the Lodge to refuse it, if the applicant. has paid all his dues and is free of all charges.. It is true that a regulation of 1722 says that no number of Brethren shall withdraw or separate themselves from the Lodge in which the were made, without, a dispensation; vet it is not plane how the la v can be enforced, for Freemasonry being a voluntary association, there is no power in any Lodge to insist on any Brother continuing a connection with it which he desires to sever (see, on this subject, Doctor Mackey's Jurisprudence of Freemasonry).
The usual object in applying for a DEBIT is to enable the Brother to join some other Lodge, into which he cannot be admitted without some evidence that he was in good standing in his former Lodge. This is in accordance with an old law found in the Regulations of 1663 in the following; words: "No person hereafter who shall be accepted a Freemason, shall be admitted into any Lodge or Assembly until he has brought a certificate of the time and place of his acceptation from the Lodee that accepted him unto the Master of that limit or division where such Lodge is kept."
Brother Hunt, Grand Secretary of Iowa, wrote to us (March 21, 1923) as follows: The word dimit I believe has never been used in England. and the word DEBIT is seldom used there the words withdrawal or resignation being the most common ones used. In the Regulations of 1723 the only restriction on the right of a Brother to withdraw is found in Section 8 of the General Regulations which provides that they should not withdraw in numbers unless the Lodge becomes too numerous etc. This restriction was later withdrawn, and at the present time the rule is that Freemasonry being quite voluntary a member of a Lodge may server his connection with it any moment he pleases even though his dues are unpaid or he is under charges.
When a Brother leaves a Lodge he is entitled to a certificate stating the circumstances under which he so left. This is provided by Section 213 of the Grand Lodge Constitution. It has been held that if a Brother leaves under a cloud whether this cloud be unpaid dues or charges that the Lodge issuing the certificate should state the circumstances under which he left but Section 212 provides that one who has been excluded or voluntarily withdraws from a Lodge without having complied with its By-laws or the General Regulations of the Craft shall not he eligible to Join any other Lodge until that Lodge shall be made acquainted with his former neglect. If any Lodge receives a petition and accepts him and fails to make due inquiry as to the conditions under which the Brother left his former Lodge they are liable to his former Lodge for any arrearages which he may have owed them at the time of his withdrawal or exclusion.
This practice seems rather strange to us in this country but I believe that in the early days the duty- of a Freemason to become affiliated with some Lodge was not emphasized as it was later or as it is at the present time. A Brother had a right to resign membership, or as it was usually called DEBIT from his Lodge at any time he pleased, and his letter of resignation had much the same effect as a request for a DEBIT does at the present time except that the moment this letter was filed with the Secretary the act became irrevocable and if he repented and desired to withdraw the letter. he could not do so but must petition for membership, the same as another non-affiliate.
In the Grand Lodge of England there is the case of a Brother who wrote to his local Lodge Secretary resigning membership in the Lodge The next day he changed his mind and asked to be allowed to withdraw the resignation. Both letters were received by the Secretary before the next meeting of the Lodge but the letter of resignation was held to be final. The Grand Lodge held that there was no other way in which the fact of the resignation could be undone except as a joining member. This decision also seems strange to us , because we hold that a request for a DEBIT is inoperative until it has been read to the Lode, and there would be nothing to prevent a secretary from returning a request for a dimit to a Brother requesting it provided such request was made before it had been read to the Lodge.
However it all goes to show that Masonically the term DEBIT is the same as a resignation of membership. The verb DEBIT denotes the act of the Brother and not the act of the Lodge the noun DEBIT is a Certificate issued by the Lodge, certifying that the brother's membership has terminated. at his own request. Therefore, there is practically no difference between a DEBIT and a resignation of membership (see dignity).
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DENDERAH
A ruined town of Upper Egypt, of great interest in consequence of its astronomical allusions on the ceiling of the main portico supported on twenty-four columns which is covered with figures and hieroglyphies. This is in the principal temple, which is 220 by 50 feet. The numerous mythological figures are arranged in zodiacal fashion. Recent archeological travelers doubt the reference to astronomy, in Consequence of the absence of the Crab. The temple dates from the period of Cleopatra and the earlier Roman emperors and is one of the finest and best preserved structures or the kind in Egypt. The chief deity was Athor, the goddess of night, corresponding with the Greek Aphrodite (see Zodiac).
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DENMARK
The first Masonic Lodge in Denmark was opened in Copenhagen, by Baron G. O. Munnich. on the 11th of November, 1743, umber a Charter, as he climbed from the Lodge of the Three Globes in Berlin. In the next year a new Lodge named Zerubbabel was formed by three members separating from the former Lodge. Both of these Bodies, Saint Martins received as No. 204, on October 9, 1749 a Warrant from Lord Byron, Grand Master of England. granted a Warrant to the second Lodge as No. 197 on the English Register. The two Lodges united in 1767 under the name of Zerubbabel of the North Star and worked alternately in Danish and in German. When a purely Danish Lodge was instituted in 1778, Zerubbabel Lodge confined itself entirely to the use of the German language. In 1749 Lord Byron granted a Patent to Count Danneskiold Laurvig as Provincial Grand Master of Denmark and Norway. A Lodge had been established at Copenhagen, by the Grand Lodge of Scotland under the name of Le petit Nombre, meaning the little number. and in 1703 its Master was elevated by that body to the rank of a Provincial Grand Master. In 1792 Prince Charles became the sole head of the Danish Lodges, and the Grand Lodge of Denmark may be considered to have been then established. He died in 1836, and the Crown Prince, afterward Christian VIII, became the Protector of the Danish Lodges. and his son and Successor Frederick VII, became Grand Master of the Grand Master. It was decreed on January 6, 1850, bv the Grand Master that the Swedish Rite should he used thenceforward in all Lodges. The Crown in Denmark is well disposed to the Craft, the King being Grand Master (see Norway and Sweden).
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D'EON, CHEVALIER
Born October 5, 1728, at Tonnerre in Burgundy, and christened Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste André Timothée Déon De Beaumont. Led most singular career. After living nearly forty years an active life as a man the Chevalier voluntarily testified in an English Court that he had been masquerading during this entire period and that he was actually a woman. After his death this testimony was found to be untrue. The Chevalier was born of parents who stood high among the nobility. His baptismal certificate asserts that the above names were those given the child in regular and usual form. The family name was Deon but King Louis XV in 1757 addressed a communication to the Chevalier as D'Eon.
D'Elon studied law and literature in Paris
at the College Mazarin. Admitted an advocate after securing the
License in Canon and Civil Law. A brilliant student, he was made
a Censor Royal of works on history and letters. Even at this early
age he published a book on Historical Finance. D'Eon took up fencing
and it was said only five could hold their own against him in
all Europe. The French King honored D`Eon with a commission in
a cavalry regiment about 175 when the Chevalier rode from Vienna
to Paris with important dispatches to the King in thirty-six hours
less time than it took the special Austrian couriers and this
notwithstanding the misfortune to break his leg while on the road.
His Physical endurance proved rugged and masculine. Louis XV,
who sent Chevalier Douglas and his young secretary, D'Eon after
his twenty-sixth year, to Russia as confidential envoys to protect
Louis' interests there as a keen rivalry existed between France
and England for the support of Russia. So ably did D'Eon serve
that he was openly made Secretary to the Embassy and privately
admitted to the inner circle of the Secret Service. This he gave
up in 1760, when he left Russia. Probably he used his effeminate
appearance in secret service work which enabled him to assume
the disguise of a woman. Many stories were told of his experiences
although the Chevalier's personal conduct was not Subject to reproach.
He left Russia in 1760 to join his regiment in the Seven Years
War. D'Eon was wounded in head and thigh at Ultrop and rendered
distinguished Service. The Treaty of 1763 ended the Seven Years
War and was largely negotiated by D' Eon who went to England.
The French ambassador soon returned to France and D'Eon was first
appointed Chargé d'Affaires and later Minister Plenipotentiary.
When he returned to France England entrusted to him its official
ratification to the Court of Versailles. King Louis XV gave him
the Royal and Military order of Saint Louis. and his proper title
became the Chevalier D'Eon. He was superseded in the Embassy by
an enemy, Count de Guerchy. The Chevalier refused to turn over
some secret papers said to include charges of corruption against
the Ministers who had concluded the Treaty and plans for the invasion
of England. D'Eon retained the papers, but the death of Louis
XV, 1774, put an end to the invasion of England and the documents
lost their value. During this period of intrigue the Chevalier
never lost the confidence of Louis XV although from the time the
difficulty commenced in 1763 the question was constantly propagated
as to the true sex of D'Eon. A pamphlet in the interests of De
Guerchy was the first to print scurrilous statements reflecting
upon D'Eon. Eliot Hodgkin, Richmond, Surrey, possessed the original
manuscripts of D'Eon's account of his current expenditures from
day to day. Several items clearly appear indicating his acceptance
into the Masonic Fraternity and his receiving the first Three
Degrees. Although the question of his sex had already begun to
be discussed, he was admitted to the French Lodge, No. 376, on
the Roll of the Grand Lodge of England, known as La loge de l'Immortalité,
formed June 16, and formally constituted September 8, in 1766,
at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand, London. Probably Worshipful
Master M. de Vignoles presided at D'Eon's initiation and the first
entry showing disbursement of funds on Freemasonry is dated May
18, 1768. In January, 1769, an item appears covering four shillings
seven pence paid at time of receiving the Third Degree. Although
this Lodge did not register in the Grand Lodge Books any members
after 1767 and therefore the Chevalier's name does not appear
on the records of the Grand Lodge, Brother Henry Sadler located
in the old archives of Grand Lodge a document which supplies authoritative
evidence that Chevalier D'Eon served as Junior Warden of this
Lodge between 1769 and 1770. The number of the Lodge, originally
376, was about this same time changed to 303, and the records
of the Grand Lodge show it was erased from the books in 1775 due
to "not having contributed," etc. D'Eon, an exile from
France then resided in England and was fortunate to have a sincere
friend in Earl Ferrers, in 1762 to 1763 Grand Master of the Moderns
in England, who offered shelter to the Chevalier which he gratefully
accepted as he was subject to annoyance due to the notoriety given
the question of his sex and the danger of kidnaping by persons
financially interested. Betting on the question of the Chevalier's
sex came to such a stage that a scheme of Insurance on the sex
of M. Le Chevalier, or Mlle. La Chevaliere, D'Eon, resulted in
the policies being taken up to the amount of 120,000 pounds. It
was a practice, in the endeavor to put a legal aspect on certain
forms of gambling, for the speculators to issue a sort of Insurance
Policy covering certain mooted questions. Until 1845 the English
courts held wagers as contracts and the winner of a bet could
enforce payment through a Court of Law. So much money became involved
about D'Eon and 80 many lawsuits were imminent that it was decided
to bring the case to trial. In 1777, therefore, one of the insurance
brokers presented two witnesses, one a doctor named Le Goux, and
the other a journalist, M. de Morande, who swore that of their
own personal knowledge D'Eon was a woman. Had the English Court,
presided over by Lord Mansfield, been familiar with the history
of these two witnesses, it would no doubt have returned a different
verdict. The verdict by the jury was that the unfortunate Chevalier
was a woman and, surprisingly, just at this time D'Eon himself,
who had been negotiating through Beaumarchais for the restoration
of the secret papers, made an official declaration to the French
Ministers that he actually was a woman. He had also been negotiating
with France for a pension and Louis XVI, then King, agreed to
increase the pension and permit the return to France of the Chevalier
only on the condition that "she resume the garments of her
sex" and never appear in any part of the kingdom except in
garments befitting a female. D'Eon, for some reason no one has
been able to explain satisfactorily, accepted the condition without
argument and thenceforward became La Chevaliere D'Eon.
The two contending Grand Lodges in England at that time. known
as the Ancient and the Moderns, made much of this issue. The Ancient
claimed that here was an evidence of modern laxity which permitted
the admittance into the Masonic Order of a person not fulfilling
all the physical requirements of the Old Charges and the controversy
subjected the Fraternity to no little criticism and satire. The
Chevalier, after accepting the condition that he discard male
attire, never again attempted to enter a Masonic Lodge although,
during the period from 1769 to 1774 at which time he spent twelve
to fifteen hours a day at his desk and produced scores of Lettres,
Piecés Justificatives, Memoires pour seruir, Documents
Authentiques, and a thirteen-volume book entitled Les Loisirs
do Chevalier de Beaumont, he also wrote a rough draft of an essay
attempting to compare the merits of the Society of Freemasons
and the Society of Friends. This manuscript is included in the
collection owned by J. Eliot Hodgkin, from which the following
is quoted:
Freemasonry and Quakerism. What I say here about Masonry is not meant to win the Gold or Silver Medal, advertised in the London Courier Français, No........of ....page ....... , but only to win, in my heart, a prize graven on the Masonic Compass and Triangles each point of which, like the Trinity, rests on Truth Virtue, and Benevolence, common foundations of Equality and Justice between Brothers by birth and by Christianity, as between Brethren by Mason, enlightened by the Sun of Truth, inasmuch as this is the Truth held by the primitive Christians of Jerusalem and Antioch. But since the Greek, Latin, Gallican, and Anglican Churches have organized themselves into formidable bodies, they deride, individually and collectively, the sombre Society of good Quakers, who are good only at whining, sniveling, and having no poor among them while the Freemasons have established themselves in Worshipful Lodges, in order to laugh, drink, sing at their ease, and display benevolence towards their Brethren and Fellows dispersed over the Earth, without (infringing) the Laws of Moses or of the Paschal (Covenant). They spread sunshine, God's consolation, and true happiness m the heart of all human beings capable of appreciating simple Virtue. The happiness of man kind and the well-being of the Material World are to be found in Nature, Reason, Truth, Justice, and Simplicity, and not in huge books compiled by Philosophy and Divinity. All the State-craft of Machiavelli is only fit to drag man to . . . to the cells at Bedlam- or to lead him to Montfaucon, to Tyburn, or to the underground Pantheodemonium of the Lower Empire of Pluto. Lord Chancellor Bacon, who, of all England, was the Doctor most stuffed with Greek, Latin and Law, was right when he said "Honesty best Policy." These two words em body all that is good. I hold the religion of the Quakers very beautiful, because it is so simple.
August 6, 1777, D'Eon for the first time in London appeared dressed as a woman and exactly a week later he donned his uniform as Captain of Dragoons for convenience in traveling, the last time he appeared in London in the garb of a man. He went to France immediately, was presented to Marie Antoinette, and took up residence with his mother in Tonnerre. It is said that he retired for a time to the Convent of Les Filles de Ste Marie and actually resided at La Maison des demoiselles de Saint Cyr. However, he tendered his services to the French Fleet when the American Revolution broke out, which offer the French Government hastily declined. He returned to England in November, 1785, to settle come financial affairs and resided there until his death, never discarding his feminine garb. The French Revolution stopped his pension and it is said that he received a small pension in England from George III but he was in straitened circumstances and maintained himself by his skill in fencing, but was compelled to sell his jewels, then his library, and other possessions. He died May 21, 1810, in seclusion and penury. After his death an autopsy was made by a celebrated surgeon, Thomas Copeland, who gave a professional certificate stating without question that the deceased had been of the male sex. This fact was confirmed by Pére Elisée, a surgeon of renown who had belonged to the Fathers of Charity at Grenoble but left France when his confreres emigrated and at the death of the Chevalier attended the Duke of Queensberry. In later years Pére Elisée became King's Surgeon to Louis XVIII. The Earl of Yarborough, Sir Sidney Smith and a number of friends inspected the body, and the question as to the sex of the Chevalier D'Eon was finally settled. Several authors have discussed this remarkable personage, as Andrew Lang, Historical Mysteries, and the encyclopedias devote space to him; but the most satisfactory account for Freemasons is a paper by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, volume xvi, 1903, pages 229-59).
*
DEPOSITE
The deposit of the Substitute Ark is celebrated in the Degree of Select Master, and is supposed to have taken place in the last year of the building of Solomon's Temple, or 1000 B.C. This is therefore adopted as the date in Cryptic Freemasonry. In the legendary history of Freemasonry as preserved in the Cryptic Degrees, two deposits are spoken of; the deposit of the Substitute Ark, and the deposits of the Word, both being referred to the same year and being different parts of one transaction. They have, therefore, sometimes been confounded. The deposit of the Ark was made by the three Grand Masters; that of the Word by Hiram Abif alone.
*
DEPOSITE, YEAR OF
See Anno Depositionu
*
DEPTH OF THE LODGE
This is said to be from the surface to the center, and is the expression of an idea connected with the symbolism of the form of the Lodge as indicating the universality of Freemasonry. The oldest definition was that the depth extended to the center of the earth, which, says Dr. Oliver, is the greatest extent that can be imagined (see Form of the Lodge).
*
DEPUTATION
The authority granted by the Grand Master to a Brother to act as Provincial Grand Master was formerly called a deputation. Thus, in Anderson's Constitutions (second edition, 1738, page 191) it is said, "Lovel, Grand Master, granted a Deputation to Sir Edward Matthews to be Provincial Grand Master of Shropshire." It was also used in the sense in which Dispensation is now employed to denote the Grand Master's authority for opening a Lodge. In German Freemasonry, a deputation is a committee of one Lodge appointed to visit and confer with some other Lodge.
*
DEPUTE GRAND MASTER
Depute is a Scotticism used in the Laws and Regulations of the Grand Lodge of Scotland to designate the officer known in England and America as Deputy Grand Master. The word comes from the Latin deputo, meaning to cut off or select.
*
DEPUTY
In French Freemasonry, the officers who represent a Lodge in the Grand Orient are called its deputies. The word is also wed in another sense. When two Lodges are affiliated, that is, have adopted a compact of union, each appoints a deputy to represent it at the meetings of the other. He is also called garant d'amitie, meaning in French the pledge of friendship, and is entitled to a seat in the East.
*
DEPUTY GRAND CHAPTER
In the Constitution adopted in January, 1798, by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern States of Americans which afterward became the General Grand Chapter, it was provided that Grand Bodies of the system should be established in the several States, which should be known as Deputy Grand Royal Arch Chapters. But in the succeeding year, on the adoption of a new Constitution, the title was changed to State Grand Chapters.
*
DEPUTY GRAND MASTER
The assistant and, in his absence, the representative of the Grand Master. The office originated in the year 1720, when it was agreed that the Grand Master might appoint both his Grand Wardens and a Deputy Grand Master (see Constitutions, 1738, page 111).
The object evidently was to relieve a nobleman, who was Grand Master, from troublesome details of office. The Constitutions give a Deputy Grand Master no other prerogatives than those which he claims in the Grand Master's right. He presides over the Craft in the absence of the Grand Master, and, on the death of that officer, succeeds to his position until a new election. In England, and the custom has been followed in a few States of America, he is appointed by the Grand Master; but the general usage in the United States of America is to elect him.
*
DEPUTY LODGE
In Germany, a Deputations-Loge, or Deputy Lodge, was formed by certain members of a Lodge who lived at a remote distance from it, and who met under the name and by the authority of the mother Lodge, through whom alone it was known to the Grand Lodge, or the other Lodges. Such Bodies are not known in England or America, and have not been so common in Germany as formerly.
*
DEPUTY MASTER
In England, when a Prince of the Blood Royal is Master of a Private Lodge, his functions are performed by an officer appointed by him, and called a Deputy Master, who exercises all the prerogatives and enjoys all the privileges of a regular Master. In Germany, the Master of every Lodge is assisted by a Deputy Master, who is either appointed by the Master, or elected by the members, and who exercises the powers of the Master in the absence of that officer.
*
DERMOTT, LAURENCE
He was at first the Grand Secretary, and afterward the Deputy Grand Master, of that body of Freemasons who in 1751 formed the Grand Lodge of the Ancient, which see, stigmatizing the regular Freemasons as Moderns. In 1756, Dermott published the Book of Constitutions of his Grand Lodge, under the title of Ahiman Rezon; or a help to ad that are or would be Free and Accepted Masons, containing the quintessence of ad that has been published on the subject of Freemasonry. This work passed through several editions, the last of which was edited, in 1813, by Thomas Harper, the Deputy Grand Master of the Ancient Masons, under the title of The Constitutions of Freemasonry or Ahiman Rezon.
Dermott was undoubtedly the moving and sustaining spirit of the great conflict which, from the middle of the eighteenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century, divided the Freemasons of England; and his reputation has not been spared by the adherents of the constitutional Grand Lodge. Lawrie (History of Freemasonry, page 117) says of him: "The unfairness with which he has stated the proceedings of the moderns, the bitterness with which he treats them, and the quackery and vainglory with which he displays his own pretensions to superior knowledge, deserve to be reprobated by every class of Masons who are anxious for the purity of their Order and the preservation of that charity and mildness which ought to characterize all their proceedings."
There is perhaps much truth in this estimate of Dermott's character. As a polemic, he was sarcastic, bitter, uncompromising, and not altogether sincere or veracious. But in intellectual attainments he was inferior to none of his adversaries, and in a philosophical appreciation of the character of the Masonic Institution he was in advance of the spirit of his age. It has often been asserted that he invented the Royal Arch Degree by dismembering the Third Degree, but that this is entirely unfounded is proved by the fact that he was Exalted to the Royal Arch Degree in 1746, while the Degree was being conferred in London before 1744 (see