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Article THE ORIGIN OF THE NAMES OF THE MASONIC FRATERNITY. ← Page 3 of 3 Article MASONIC GLEANINGS. Page 1 of 2 →
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The Origin Of The Names Of The Masonic Fraternity.
are derived from the marvellous architectural productions of the Middle Ages . It is irrelevant to my purpose to inquire whether the construction of these architectural marvels is due to Masonic ability , but the construction , the edification , to Avhich our
name , if well understood , relates , has nothing to clo Avith great monuments of stone , nor with the earthly building of the tabernacle , but Avith the Temple of God , Avith "the House that is not made by hands , and is eternal in the Heavens . "
It was natural that upon the transfer of the Order from Egypt to Judea , those AVIIO had charge of its ritual made a paraphrase of its primitive title in their own language . The translation of the term "Sons of Light" into Hebrew is nttA : ^? . The Hebrew phrase ; ' , BEN , Son , is derived from
" constructing , " because a son builds or constructs the house of the family ; thus it means the descendants , and is used to designate a tribe or nation , e . g ., the " Sons of Israel" i . e . the Israelites . No grammatical objection exists ,
therefore , to the application of this term to the whole Order , in accordance with the Hebrew analogy , and consequent combination of the idea of building Avith the primitive symbolical title by which the Fraternity Avas originally designated . It
is only in the course of time when indolence and apathy declared themselves satisfied Avith a literal instead of a symbolical ritual , that the great era of the magnificence and glory of the JOAVS , the erection of their temple consecrated to the one God of Truth , was considered as the origin of an Institution whose name seems to connect it with that
remarkable epoch . Our traditions also , though labouring under some confusion aud obscurity , if understood literally , will acquire a clear , lucid , ancl specific meaning , by seeking after the parabolical value Avhich is involved in the symbolical Ritual ancl the intrinsic nature of the Order .
Masonic Gleanings.
MASONIC GLEANINGS .
By Bro . the Rev . J . KINGSTON . ( Continued from page 409 . ) To Bro . Matthew Cooke , Mr . Irving replies thus : " I cannot fancy on what grounds Mr . Cooke should suppose I asserted that
Professor Aytoun , from whose SAVord I received the accolade , had anything to clo with the French Order . My statement Avas surely sufficiently clear , ' I may state , in regard to the Knights Templar in Scotland , that a most capital account of their
history Avas Avritten by the late lamented Professor Aytoun . ' _ Indeed , Aytoun frequently expressed to me his great doubts of the validity of the French Order . Mr . Cooke ' s information " as to its Russian origin makes doubt a certainty . " " It is a remarkable fact that the- Czar should
assert himself to be the head of the Orders ofthe Temple and St . John , Avhich , it is well known , originated in the Latin part of Europe long after the great separation betAveen the Churches of the East and West ; but Russian Orders are most singular in many respects .
" Mr . Cooke is quite correct in stating that the Scotch Templars Avere at one time a Masonic body ; but he is ignorant of the fact that the Conclave , some twenty years ago , decreed that the connection should cease . The reason Avas simply this , that the original Knights were all Jacobites ;
and that the jealousy of the government induced them to ally themselves Avith the Masonic bodies , of which the Hanoverian family have always been great supporters . The necessity for such connection having entirely ceased , the Conclave at the time I refer to formally declared that thereafter the Order should have nothing to do with Masonry .
" A new code of rules Avere { sic ) issued ; and deputations of tAvo Knight Commanders were instructed to inspect the Preceptories in their respective districts . " It fell to my lot to visit that of Douglas , —a town endeared to every Scotchman from its
historical associations . The astonishment of rny brother inspector and myself may be conceived , but cannot be described . We found waiting for us a guard of honour with Masonic scarfs and armed with wooden swords , who conducted us to a room where the other members Avere assembled .
Before proceeding to business , we were requested to accept a collation , which consisted of whisky toddy . Toasts were proposed ; for the purpose of doing honour to Avhich each Avas furnished with one of the Avooden SAVords . With these we found Ave Avere to keep up a theatrical one-twothree combat with each of our neighbours in
succession . "We were told that our proper attitude in drinking a toast Avas to cross our legs , —like the statues on monuments , which have been so long erroneously supposed to indicate that the person Avho sleeps below had been in the Holy Land ;
while it really indicates that he held the office of sheriff , or something analogous . " It is almost needless to add that the Preceptory of Douglas disappeared from the roll of the Conclave . " GEOKGE VEEE IEVING . "
"P . S . —I Avas wrong in stating that Sir David Milne bought the collar in Paris . He obtained it at the sale of the Duke of Sussex's effects . It Avas H . R . H . who bought it in Paris . " We certainly think that in this discussion Bro .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Origin Of The Names Of The Masonic Fraternity.
are derived from the marvellous architectural productions of the Middle Ages . It is irrelevant to my purpose to inquire whether the construction of these architectural marvels is due to Masonic ability , but the construction , the edification , to Avhich our
name , if well understood , relates , has nothing to clo Avith great monuments of stone , nor with the earthly building of the tabernacle , but Avith the Temple of God , Avith "the House that is not made by hands , and is eternal in the Heavens . "
It was natural that upon the transfer of the Order from Egypt to Judea , those AVIIO had charge of its ritual made a paraphrase of its primitive title in their own language . The translation of the term "Sons of Light" into Hebrew is nttA : ^? . The Hebrew phrase ; ' , BEN , Son , is derived from
" constructing , " because a son builds or constructs the house of the family ; thus it means the descendants , and is used to designate a tribe or nation , e . g ., the " Sons of Israel" i . e . the Israelites . No grammatical objection exists ,
therefore , to the application of this term to the whole Order , in accordance with the Hebrew analogy , and consequent combination of the idea of building Avith the primitive symbolical title by which the Fraternity Avas originally designated . It
is only in the course of time when indolence and apathy declared themselves satisfied Avith a literal instead of a symbolical ritual , that the great era of the magnificence and glory of the JOAVS , the erection of their temple consecrated to the one God of Truth , was considered as the origin of an Institution whose name seems to connect it with that
remarkable epoch . Our traditions also , though labouring under some confusion aud obscurity , if understood literally , will acquire a clear , lucid , ancl specific meaning , by seeking after the parabolical value Avhich is involved in the symbolical Ritual ancl the intrinsic nature of the Order .
Masonic Gleanings.
MASONIC GLEANINGS .
By Bro . the Rev . J . KINGSTON . ( Continued from page 409 . ) To Bro . Matthew Cooke , Mr . Irving replies thus : " I cannot fancy on what grounds Mr . Cooke should suppose I asserted that
Professor Aytoun , from whose SAVord I received the accolade , had anything to clo with the French Order . My statement Avas surely sufficiently clear , ' I may state , in regard to the Knights Templar in Scotland , that a most capital account of their
history Avas Avritten by the late lamented Professor Aytoun . ' _ Indeed , Aytoun frequently expressed to me his great doubts of the validity of the French Order . Mr . Cooke ' s information " as to its Russian origin makes doubt a certainty . " " It is a remarkable fact that the- Czar should
assert himself to be the head of the Orders ofthe Temple and St . John , Avhich , it is well known , originated in the Latin part of Europe long after the great separation betAveen the Churches of the East and West ; but Russian Orders are most singular in many respects .
" Mr . Cooke is quite correct in stating that the Scotch Templars Avere at one time a Masonic body ; but he is ignorant of the fact that the Conclave , some twenty years ago , decreed that the connection should cease . The reason Avas simply this , that the original Knights were all Jacobites ;
and that the jealousy of the government induced them to ally themselves Avith the Masonic bodies , of which the Hanoverian family have always been great supporters . The necessity for such connection having entirely ceased , the Conclave at the time I refer to formally declared that thereafter the Order should have nothing to do with Masonry .
" A new code of rules Avere { sic ) issued ; and deputations of tAvo Knight Commanders were instructed to inspect the Preceptories in their respective districts . " It fell to my lot to visit that of Douglas , —a town endeared to every Scotchman from its
historical associations . The astonishment of rny brother inspector and myself may be conceived , but cannot be described . We found waiting for us a guard of honour with Masonic scarfs and armed with wooden swords , who conducted us to a room where the other members Avere assembled .
Before proceeding to business , we were requested to accept a collation , which consisted of whisky toddy . Toasts were proposed ; for the purpose of doing honour to Avhich each Avas furnished with one of the Avooden SAVords . With these we found Ave Avere to keep up a theatrical one-twothree combat with each of our neighbours in
succession . "We were told that our proper attitude in drinking a toast Avas to cross our legs , —like the statues on monuments , which have been so long erroneously supposed to indicate that the person Avho sleeps below had been in the Holy Land ;
while it really indicates that he held the office of sheriff , or something analogous . " It is almost needless to add that the Preceptory of Douglas disappeared from the roll of the Conclave . " GEOKGE VEEE IEVING . "
"P . S . —I Avas wrong in stating that Sir David Milne bought the collar in Paris . He obtained it at the sale of the Duke of Sussex's effects . It Avas H . R . H . who bought it in Paris . " We certainly think that in this discussion Bro .