ARMS OF FREEMASONRY. "The Masons," says Bailey, "were incorporated about the years 1419, having been called the Freemasons. Their armorial ensigns are, azure on a cheveron between three castles argent; a pair of compasses somewhat extended, of the first. Crest a castle of the second."

The arms of the Grand Lodge, according to Dermot, are the same as those now adopted by Royal Arch Masonry in this country, which may be blazoned as follows:

Party per cross vert voided or; in the first quarter, azure, a lion rampant, or, for the tribe of Judah; in the second, or, an ox passant, sable for Ephraim; in the third, or, a man erect, proper, for Reuben; in the fourth, azure, a spread eagle, or, for Dan. Crest an ark of the covenant; and supporters, two cherubim, all proper. Motto, "Holiness to the Lord."

The impossibility of blazoning a coat, except in the terms of heraldry, will, I trust, be my excuse for the technical nature of this description, which, I know, must be unintelligible to all who are unacquainted with the principles of heraldry. The plate of this coat of arms may, however, be seen in Cross's Chart.

These arms are derived from the "tetrarchical" (as Sir Thos. Browne calls them) or general banners of the four principal tribes for it is said that the twelve tribes, during their passage through the wilderness, were encamped in a hollow square, three on each side, as follows: Judah, Zebulon, and Issachar, in the east, under the general banner of Judah; Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, in the north, under the banner of Dan; Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, in the west, under the banner of Ephraim; and Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, in the south, under Reuben. See Banners.

ARTS, LIBERAL. The seven liberal arts and sciences are illustrated in the Fellow Craft's degree. They are Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy. Grammar is the science which teaches us to express our ideas in appropriate words, which we may afterward beautify and adorn

by means of Rhetoric, while Logic instructs us how to think and reason with propriety, and to make language subordinate to thought. Arithmetic, which is the science of computing by numbers, is absolutely essential, not only to a thorough knowledge of all mathematical science, but also to a proper pursuit of our daily avocations. Geometry, or the application of Arithmetic to sensible quantities, is of all sciences the most important, since by it we are enabled to measure and survey the globe that we inhabit. Its principles extend to other sphères; and, occupied in the contemplation and measurement of the sun, moon, and heavenly bodies, constitute the science of Astronomy; and lastly, when our minds are filled, and our thoughts enlarged, by the contemplation of all the wonders which these sciences open to our view, Music comes forward, to soften our hearts and cultivate our affections by its soothing influences.

The preservation of these arts as a part of the ritual of the Fellow Craft's degree, is another evidence of the antiquity of Freemasonry. These "seven liberal arts," as they were then for the first time called, constituted in the eighth century the whole circle of the sciences. The first three were distinguished by the title of trivium, and the last four by that of quadrivium, and to their acquisition the labours and studies of scholars were directed, while beyond them they never attempted to soar.

Mosheim, speaking of the state of literature in the eleventh century, uses the following language: "The seven liberal arts, as they were now styled, were taught in the greatest part of the schools, that were erected in this century for the education of youth. The first stage of these sciences was grammar, which was followed successively by rhetoric and logic. When the disciple, having learned these branches, which were generally known by the name of trivium, extended his ambition further, and was desirous of new improvement in the sciences, he was conducted slowly through the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy), to the very summit of literary fame."*

Hist. Ecclesiast., Cent. xi., p. ii., c. 1, 2 5.

ASHLAR.

"Free stone as it comes out of the quarry."Bailey. In speculative masonry we adopt the Ashlar in two dif ferent states, as symbols in the Apprentice's degree. The Rough Ashlar, or stone in its rude and unpolished condition, is emblematic of man in his natural state-ignorant, uncultivated, and vicious. But when education has exerted its wholesome influence in expanding his intellect, restraining his passions, and purifying his life, he then is represented by the Perfect Ashlar, which, under the skilful hands of the workmen, has been smoothed, and squared, and fitted for its place in the building.

Oliver says that the Perfect Ashlar should be "a stone of a true die square, which can only be tried by the square and compasses. But he admits that some brethren do not consider this form as essential. In American lodges it certainly is not.

ASSEMBLY. The annual meetings of the craft, previous to the organization of Grand Lodges in their present form, were called "General Assemblies." Thus, under the Grand Mastership of the Earl of St. Albans, we read of the "Regulations made in General Assembly, Dec. 27, 1663."

Anderson says, that it is written in the Old Constitutions, that “Prince Edwin purchased a free charter of King Athelstane, his brother, for the Freemasons to have among themselves a correction, or a power and freedom to regulate themselves, to amend what might happen to be amiss, and to hold a yearly communication in a General Assembly." This charter was granted A. D. 926, and in that year the first General Assembly in England was held at the city of York, where due regulations for the government of the craft were adopted. These regulations of the Assembly at York have ever since remained unaltered, and it is from our submitting to their authority that we derive the name we bear of "Ancient York Masons."

* Landmarks, vol. i., p. 146.

Constitutions, p. 84.

ASTRONOMY. The science which instructs us in the laws that govern the heavenly bodies. Its origin is lost in the abyss of antiquity; for the earliest inhabitants of the earth must have been attracted by the splendour of the glorious firmament above them, and would have sought in the motions of its luminaries for the readiest and most certain method of measuring time. With Astronomy the system of Freemasonry is intimately connected. From that science many of our most significant emblems are borrowed. The lodge itself is a representation of the world; it is adorned with the images of the sun and moon, whose regularity and precision furnish a lesson of wisdom and prudence; its pilars of strength and establishment have been compared to the two columns which the ancients placed at the equinoctial points as supporters of the arch of heaven; the blazing star which was among the Egyptians a symbol of Anubis or the dog-star, whose rising foretold the overflowing of the Nile, shines in the east; while the clouded canopy is decorated with the beautiful Pleiades. The connection between our order and astronomy is still more manifest in the spurious Freemasonry of antiquity, where, the pure principles of our system being lost, the symbolic instruction of the heavenly bodies gave place to the corrupt Sabean worship of the sun, and moon, and stars-a worship whose influences are seen in all the mysteries of Paganism.

ASYLUM. During the session of an Encampment of Knights Templars, a part of the room is called the asylum; the word has hence been adopted, by the figure synecdoche, to signify the place of meeting of an Encampment.

ATELIER. (French.) A lodge.

ATHEIST. One who does not believe in the existence of God. Such a creed can only arise from the ignorance of stupidity or a corruption of principle, since the whole universe is filled with the moral and physical proofs of a Creator. He who does

not look to a superior and superintending power as his maker and his judge, is without that coercive principle of salutary fear which should prompt him to do good and to eschew evil, and his oath can, of necessity, be no stronger than his word. Masons, looking to the dangerous tendency of such a tenet, have wisely discouraged it, by declaring that no atheist can be admitted to participate in their fraternity; and the better to carry this law into effect, every candidate, before passing through any of the ceremonies of initiation, is required, publicly and solemnly, to declare his trust in God.

ATHOL MASONS. The Masons who, in 1739, seceded from the authority of the Grand Lodge of England, and established themselves as an irregular body under the name of "Ancient Masons," having succeeded in obtaining the countenance of the Duke of Athol, elected that nobleman, in 1776, their Grand Master, an office which he uninterruptedly held until 1813, when the union of the two Grand Lodges took place. In consequence of this long administration of thirty-seven years, the "Ancient Masons" are sometimes called "Athol Masons."

ATTOUCHEMENT. (French.) A grip.

AUGUST. A title bestowed upon the Royal Arch degree, in consequence of the imposing nature of its ceremonies, and the important mysteries it contains.

AUM, AUN, OR ON. The Hindoo and Egyptian chief deity. See more on this subject in Jehovah.

AXE. See Knight of the Royal Axe.