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Article THE FREEMASONS' LEXICON. ← Page 7 of 8 →
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The Freemasons' Lexicon.
inquisition , father of the province of Mexico , and general historian of the Order of St . Francis . He complained to that terrible tribunal , the Inquisition , and through its means procured a royal decree , dated July . 2 , 1751 , whereby Freemasonry was banished from Spain . In Madrid there were two English lodges , and in the whole country about ninetyseven .
Sphinx . —An hieroglyphical symbol of the ancient Egyptians , which had the head and breast of a young woman , and the body of a lion , and which was also furnished with wings . One of these figures , of an immense size , was found among the pyramids . As an Egyptian hieroglyphic it was meant to represent the fertilizing overflowing of the Nile . The Grecian mythology represents the sphinx as a living monster , placed by Juno upon Mount Citharon to punish the Thebans . This creature put an enigma to all travellers , destroying those who could not answer it
satisfactorily . This enigma was , " What animal goes upon four feet in the morning , two at noon , and three at night ? " CEdipus , who , according to the fable , was a King of Thebes , gave the solution : man—who as a child creeps upon his hands and feet , as a man goes upon two legs , and in old age takes a staff' to help him . We therefore understand by an CEdip , or Adept , a man who can easily solve difficult problems ; and this fable is very probably the cause why the figure of a sphinx has been adopted as a symbol of secrecy , of enigmatical enquiries , and of secret societies .
Spitzhammer . Pointed Hammer . —With this the pointed and superfluous corners of the stone are knocked off . Sprache-eine Altgemeine . An universal language . —Masonic hieroglyphics , symbols , ancl signs , are so called because they are understood by all Freemasons of every nation and every language . The tokens are known by night as well as by day , by the blind as well as the deaf . Starke . Strength . —It is not necessary that the strength of a Warden should consist of the physical or bodil it should be of the spiritual .
y ; A pillar has strength to bear . He who assiduously goes through the difficult path of this life—courageously bears up against all its disappointments—manfully and unflinchingly speaks the truth , even before the thrones of kings and princes , —he possesses true strength . * Stark , Johann August von . —John Augustus von Stark was horn at Schwerin , the 29 th of October , 1741 , and died in Darmstadt , Sth March , 1816 ; he was a doctor in theologychief court chaplainand kniht of
, , g the Hessian order of merit . This brother ' s labours in Freemasonry were extraordinarily great ; where and when he was initiated , ancl of which lodge he was a member , is unknown to us . In 1776 he was professor of theology in Koenigsberg , then professor of philosophy in the gymnasium at Milan , and in 1781 he accepted that office in Darmstadt . At the time the Strict Observance was first originated he commenced his writingsand was at this timeas he himself informs usengaged
, , , upon Crypto-Catholicism , the foundation of the clericatical system , but which he was not enabled to complete . In the above-named work , published in 178 C , he observes with respect to his connection with Freemasonry , " It is true that in my youthful days I was a Freemason ; it is also true that when the so-called Strict Observance was introduced into Freemasonry I belonged to it ; ancl was , like others , Equites , Socii , Armigeri , Commendatores , Prcefecti , and Sub Priores ; and , having
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Lexicon.
inquisition , father of the province of Mexico , and general historian of the Order of St . Francis . He complained to that terrible tribunal , the Inquisition , and through its means procured a royal decree , dated July . 2 , 1751 , whereby Freemasonry was banished from Spain . In Madrid there were two English lodges , and in the whole country about ninetyseven .
Sphinx . —An hieroglyphical symbol of the ancient Egyptians , which had the head and breast of a young woman , and the body of a lion , and which was also furnished with wings . One of these figures , of an immense size , was found among the pyramids . As an Egyptian hieroglyphic it was meant to represent the fertilizing overflowing of the Nile . The Grecian mythology represents the sphinx as a living monster , placed by Juno upon Mount Citharon to punish the Thebans . This creature put an enigma to all travellers , destroying those who could not answer it
satisfactorily . This enigma was , " What animal goes upon four feet in the morning , two at noon , and three at night ? " CEdipus , who , according to the fable , was a King of Thebes , gave the solution : man—who as a child creeps upon his hands and feet , as a man goes upon two legs , and in old age takes a staff' to help him . We therefore understand by an CEdip , or Adept , a man who can easily solve difficult problems ; and this fable is very probably the cause why the figure of a sphinx has been adopted as a symbol of secrecy , of enigmatical enquiries , and of secret societies .
Spitzhammer . Pointed Hammer . —With this the pointed and superfluous corners of the stone are knocked off . Sprache-eine Altgemeine . An universal language . —Masonic hieroglyphics , symbols , ancl signs , are so called because they are understood by all Freemasons of every nation and every language . The tokens are known by night as well as by day , by the blind as well as the deaf . Starke . Strength . —It is not necessary that the strength of a Warden should consist of the physical or bodil it should be of the spiritual .
y ; A pillar has strength to bear . He who assiduously goes through the difficult path of this life—courageously bears up against all its disappointments—manfully and unflinchingly speaks the truth , even before the thrones of kings and princes , —he possesses true strength . * Stark , Johann August von . —John Augustus von Stark was horn at Schwerin , the 29 th of October , 1741 , and died in Darmstadt , Sth March , 1816 ; he was a doctor in theologychief court chaplainand kniht of
, , g the Hessian order of merit . This brother ' s labours in Freemasonry were extraordinarily great ; where and when he was initiated , ancl of which lodge he was a member , is unknown to us . In 1776 he was professor of theology in Koenigsberg , then professor of philosophy in the gymnasium at Milan , and in 1781 he accepted that office in Darmstadt . At the time the Strict Observance was first originated he commenced his writingsand was at this timeas he himself informs usengaged
, , , upon Crypto-Catholicism , the foundation of the clericatical system , but which he was not enabled to complete . In the above-named work , published in 178 C , he observes with respect to his connection with Freemasonry , " It is true that in my youthful days I was a Freemason ; it is also true that when the so-called Strict Observance was introduced into Freemasonry I belonged to it ; ancl was , like others , Equites , Socii , Armigeri , Commendatores , Prcefecti , and Sub Priores ; and , having