Who Is A Freemason?

WHO IS A FREEMASON ?

There is a significance in the title " Freemason /' which merits the most thoughtful study . If it be true that the familiar words and phrases used in ordinary conversation are connected by imperceptible ties Avith the reasonings , discoveries , and

histories of former men and distant times , and will well repay the study of their origin and growth , how much truer is it that the generic name of the most ancient and only true brotherhood among men , is worthy of patient , painstaking

regard . Some one has aptly called language " fossil poetry "—meaning , that as the natural fossil embalms the strange and beautiful shapes of animal and vegetable life of ages ago , so Avords embody the thoughts , feelings , springs of action , and history of the past , in a manner that is

altogether wonderful . Were every historic monument swept from the face of the earth ; Avere every volume of history taken to build one vast funeral pyre ; so long as language is preserved , there will be a means of arriving at a considerable knowledge

of what transpired centuries ago . Men die , but their language lives ; the curse seems to have but partially sown it with the seeds of decay ; for Avhen men call it " dead " even , they mean only that they are dead Avho once spoke it , not that the

language itself has ceased to exist . Let us briefly examine , then , some of the names of the Craft . It may be that to some they are a part of tbe " mysteries " of Masonry which they have never sought to penetrate , and to all they may be made , by thoughtful study , a source of deep interest as well as true knowledge .

Let us seek to arrive at the meaning of the word " Mason . " To do this , Ave must go far back to tbe period when Egypt Avas at the zenith of her gloiy , and study the hieroglyphics that are inscribed on her monuments . M . Champollion ,

the learned Egyptian scholar , tells us that the Coptic word Mai signifies "to love , " and that Son signifies " brother . " This Coptic combination , Maison , signifies literally " loving brother , " and is frequently found expressed both hieroglyphically

and also in the very word itself , on the ancient monuments of Egypt . And then when he tells us further that the Sun was one of the leading gods of the Egyptians , and was adopted into their Pantheon as JPhre , the god of Light , we have the full name " Phrcmaison , Freemason , most beautifully signifying " Sons of Liqld , " the title imme-

Who Is A Freemason?

morially assigned to our fraternity . The longflight of centuries , though it has witnessed the rise and fall of many nations , has not allowed to be buried in oblivion the name of our Craft . Asearnest Craftsmen , let us cherish this name , thus

wonderously handed down to us , for it contains within itself the seed-principles of our Order , inteaching us that Ave are at once Loving Brothers ,, and Sons of Light . We would notice here several other

moremodern interpretations of the term Mason , whichhave been endorsed by respectable authorities , butwhich are not entitled to the same ? vedit as- thef

ancient Egyptian one to Avhich we havs- just referred . Lessing says that Masa in tbe Anglo-Saxon signifies " a table , " and that Masonry consequently means " a , society of the table . " Those among us who are peculiarly fond of " good

cheer , " and are supremely happy only when sitting at a Table Lodge , doubtless will jump at this explanation as an endorsement of their practice ; but Ave regret to inform them that there is no other philologist Avho endorses Lessing , aud his theory

must be regarded as fanciful . The Rev . Mr . Morrison , of Dublin , gives the best modern explanation of our name . He says Mason is derived frcm the secrecy and exclusiveness observed iii our lodges . Every lodge is guarded by a Tyler ..

Formerly his protective weapon Avas a club . The old Latin Avord for this Avas maca , signifying club ,, or mace . This Avord is used in Spain to this day .. Therefore , because bodies of architects preserved

their secrets by deliberating Avithin a tyled Lodge —a lodge guarded by the maca—every brother was designated a Mason . Then , last of all , there is , what to the plain English scholar is the most obvious derivation , the

plain signification of Mason—a worker in stone ., which indicates the origin of the Order from a society of practical artificers . Whichever of these " fossil histories " we adopt as true , every one of them has a remarkable

application to Masonry in its aims and ends . Whether Champollion be right or not in finding our name on the monuments of Egypt , we are " loving brothers" of the mystic tie , AVIIO have existed as a brotherhood for immemorial ages ; whose

principles have never changed , and have ever been for the spread of " peace on earth , and good will towards men . " We are equally the "Sons of Light " —true Masonic Light . The " Greater Light" has