it has ceased to exist in the vernacular, is a striking proof of the antiquity of the order and its ceremonies, in England.*

HAND. See Right Hand.

HARMONY. Harmony is the chief support of every well. regulated institution. Without it, the most extensive empires must decay; with it, the weakest nations may become powerful. The ancient philosophers and poets believed, that the prototype of harmony was to be found in the sublime music of the spheres, and that man, copying nature, has attempted to introduce this divine melody into human life. And thus it proves its celestial origin, by the heavenly influence it exerts on earth. Sallust represents the good king Micipsa as saying, that "by concord small things increase; by discord the greatest fall gradually into ruin."‡ Let every Mason, anxious for the prosperity of his order, feel the truth of the maxim, and remember that for harmony should his lodge be opened-in harmony should it work—and with harmony be closed.

HARODIM. A Hebrew word, signifying princes or rulers. In 1 Kings v. 16, it is said that Solomon had 3300 chief officers who ruled over the people, and in 2 Chronicles ii. 18, we read as follows: " and he set three score and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and four score thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people at work." The difference between the 3600 overseers mentioned in this place, and the 3300 recorded in the book of Kings, arises from the fact that in the former place 300 chief

"In the western parts of England," says Lord King, "at this very day to hele over any thing signifies among the common people to cover it; and he that covereth an house with title or slate is called a helliar."-Critical Hist. of the Apostle's Creed, p. 178.

† See Cicero, Somnium Scipionis.

Concordia parvæ res crescunt, discordia maxume dilabuntur. Bell. Jugurth. 18.

overseers are included that are not alluded to in the latter. These 300 overseers were the Harodim, or Provosts, or Princes.*

HARODIM, GRAND CHAPTER OF. An institution opened in London, in 1787, whose nature is thus defined by Preston, who is said to have been its founder: "The mysteries of this order are peculiar to the institution itself, while the lectures of the chapter include every branch of the masonic system, and represent the art of masonry in a finished and complete form."+ In other words, it was a school of instruction organized upon a peculiar plan. Different classes were established, and particular lectures restricted to each class. The lectures were divided into sections, and the sections into clauses. The presiding officer was called the Chief Harod. He annually distributed the various sections to skilful members, who were called Sectionists, and these divided the different clauses among others who were denominated Clauseholders. When a member became possessed of all the sections, he was denominated a Lecturer. The whole system was admirably adapted to the purposes of masonic instruction. This body, I believe, (though I cannot speak with certainty,) no longer exists. Dr. Oliver, however, writes of it in 1846 as if it were still in operation.

HEAL. A Mason who has received the degrees in a clandestine lodge, or in an irregular manner, is not permitted to enjoy the privileges of masonry, until he has passed through the ceremonies in a legally constituted lodge, or if it be the higher degrees, in a chapter or encampment. After passing through this process, for which the expense is generally reduced, the brother is said to be healed.

These passages are thus ably explained by Brother Kleinschmidt in his "Constitutionensbuch der Freimaurer." v. 1, p. 17. Frankfort, 1784. Illust. of Mason-y, p. 254.

HEARING. One of the five human senses, and highly important to Masons as one of the modes through which the universal language of masonry may be communicated. But the contem plation of this subiect also conveys to us two invaluable lessons First, that we should always listen with humility to the lessons of instruction that come from the lips of those wiser than ourselves; and secondly, that our ears should ever be open to the calls for assistance, which the worthy and destitute may make upon our charity.

HEREDOM, RITE OF. See Perfection, rite of

HERMAPHRODITE. Strictly, this word should have no place in a Masonic Lexicon; but as I have heard many unskilful brethren make use of it, and refer to it, with much gravity in certain parts of the ceremony of initiation, I will avail myself of this opportunity, to announce a fact to them, which has long since been received as indisputable, by the whole medical world. The hermaphrodite is a monster, the belief in which has long been. exploded; no such being ever existed, and every instance of the pretended conformation of both sexes in one animal, has upon inspection proved to be nothing more than a variety in the structure of the female organs.

HERMETIC RITE. This is the name of a spurious system of Freemasonry, established by one Pernetti, in 1770, at Avignon in France. Its object was to teach symbolically the pretended arts of the alchemists, the transmutation of metals, and the composition of the universal panacea, and of the elixir of life. It is now extinct, or exists only in its modification, the "Philosophic Scoth rite," (which see.)

This is an order which 1314, by King Robert

HERODEM, ROYAL ORDER OF. is said to have been founded in the year Bruce. It is almost confined to Scotland, out of which country

it is hardly known. The best account of it that I can find, is the following, given by Dr. Oliver in his "Historical Landmark," vol. ii. p. 12.

"Its history, in brief, relates to the dissolution of the Order of the Temple. Some of these persecuted individuals took refuge in Scotland, and placed themselves under the protection of Robert Bruce, and assisted him at the battle of Bannockburn, which was fought on St. John's day, 1314. After this battle, the Royal Order was founded; and, from the fact of the Templars having contributed to the victory, and the subsequent grants to their order by King Robert, for which they were formally excommunicated by the Church, it has by some persons been identified with that ancient military order. But there are sound reasons for believing that the two systems were unconnected with each other.

"The Royal Order of H. R. D. M.* had formerly its chief seat at Kilwinning, and there is reason to think that it and St. John's masonry were then governed by the same Grand Lodge. But during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, masonry was at a very low ebb in Scotland, and it was with the greatest difficulty that St. John's masonry was preserved. The Grand Chapter of H. R. D. M. resumed its functions about the middle of the last century at Edinburg; and, in order to preserve a marked distinction between the Royal Order and Craft Masonry, which had formed a Grand Lodge there in 1736, the former confined itself solely to the two degrees of H. R. D. M. and R. S. Y. C. S.†

"The first of these degrees may not have been originally masonic. It appears rather to have been connected with the ceremonies of the early Christians. The second degree, which was termed the Grade de la Tour, is honorary; the tradition being that it was an order of knighthood, conferred on the field of Bannockburn, and subsequently in Grand Lodge, opened in the Abbey

That is, Herodem.

†That is, Herodem and Rosy Cross.

of Kilwinning. It is purely Scotch, and given to Scotch Masons only; or to those who become so by affiliation, on being registered in the books of the Grand Chapter. But no one is regarded as a lawful Brother of H. R. D. M. or Knight of R. S. Y.C. S., until he be acknowledged by the Grand Chapter of Scotland."

In a note to his assertion that the Degree of H. R. D. M. "was connected with the ceremonies of the early Christians," Dr. Oliver says that "these ceremonies are believed to have been introduced by the Culdees, in the second or third centuries of the Christian era." Some light may be thrown upon this supposition, by the following extract from a MS. in my possession relating to this degree.

"Q. In what place was this order first established?

"A. First at I-colmb-kill, or I-columb-kill, and afterwards at Kilwinning, where the Kings of Scotland presided in person as Grand Master."

I-colm-kill, it will be recollected, was one of the principal seats of the Culdees.

HERODEN.

"Heroden," says a MS. of the ancient Scotch rite in my possession, "is a mountain situated in the N. W. of Scotland, where the first or metropolitan lodge of Europe was held. Hence the term Sovereign Prince of Rose Croix de Heroden." The French Masons spell it "Hérédom," which, I imagine, is simply a Gallic mode of expressing the Scottish title Heroden.* I refer for further explanation to the preceding article.

Since the 2d edition of this work was issued, Ragon has published a new and elaborate treatise entitled "Orthodoxie Maçonnique," in which he asserts that the word "Heredom," was invented between 1740 and 1745, by the adherents of Charles Stuart the Pretender at the Court of St. Germain, the residence, during that period, of that unfortunate prince, and that it is only a corruption of the medieval Latin word, "hæredum," signifying "an heritage," and alluded to the castle of St. Germain. But as Ragon's favorite notion is that the Scotch rite, for which he has but little friendship, was instituted for the purpose of aiding the Stuarts in a restoration to the throne of their ancestors, his theories and derivations must be taken with some grains of allowance. The suggestion is, how. ever, an ingenious one.