Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

BOOK
BOOK 113
1756, under the editorship of the Rev . John
Entick . The fourth edition, preared by a
committee, was published in 1767 . In 1'769,
G . Kearsly of London, published an unauthorized
edition of the 1767 issue, with an
appendix to 1769 ; this was also published by
Thomas Wilkinson in Dublin in the same year,
with several curious plates ; both issues are
now very scarce . And an authorized supplement
appeared in 1776 .
In 1784, John Noorthouck_published by
authority the fifth edition . This was well
printed in quarto, with numerous notes, and
is considered the most valuable edition ; it is
the last to contain the Historical Introduction .
After the union of the two rival Grand
Lodges of England (see Ancient Masons) in
1813, the sixth edition was issued in 1815
edited by Bro. William Williams, Prov . Grand
Master for Dorsetshire ; the seventh appeared
in 1819, being the last in- quarto ; and the
eighth in 1827 ; these were called the
"Second Part," and contained only the Ancient
Charges and the General Regulations .
The ninth edition of 1841 contained no reference
to the First or Historical Part, and may
be regarded as the first of the present issue
in octavo with the plates of jewels at the end .
Numerous editions have since been issued .
In the early days of the Grand Lodge of England
in all processions the Book of Constitutions
was carried on a cushion by the Master of
the Senior Lodge (Constitutions 1738, pp 117,
126), but this was altered at the time of the
union and it is provided in the Constitutions
of 1815 and in the subsequent issues that the
Book of Constitutions on a cushion shall be carried
by the Grand Secretary . L. H.)
Book of Constitutions Guarded by the
Tiler's Sword . An emblem painted on the
Master's carpet and intended to admonish
the Mason that lie should be guarded in all his
words and actions preserving unsullied the
Masonic virtues of silence and circumspection
. Such is Webb's definition of the emblem
(Freemasons' Monitor, ed . 1818, p . 69), which is
a very modern one, and I am inclined to think
was introduced by that lecturer . The interpretation
of Webb is a very unsatisfactory one .
The Book of Constitutions is rather the symbol
of constituted law than of silence and circumspection,
and when guarded by the Tiler's
sword it would seem properly to symbolize
regard for and obedience to law, a prominent
Masonic duty .
Book of Gold . In the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite, the book in which the
transactions, statutes, decrees, balusters, and
protocols of the Supreme Council or a Grand
onsistory are contained .
Book of the Law . The Holy Bible, which
is always open in a Lodge as a symbol that its
light should be diffused among the Brethren .
The passages at which it is opened differ in
the different degrees. (See Scriptures, Reading
of the.)
Masonically the Book of the Law is that
sacred book which is believed by the Mason
of any particular religion to contain the re-
vealed will of God ; although, technically,
among the Jews the Torah, or Book of the
Law means only the Pentateuch or five books
of loses. Thus, to the Christian Mason the
Book of the Law is the Old and New Testaments;
to the Jew, the Old Testament ; to the
Mussulman, the Koran ; to the Brahman, the
Vedas ; and to the Parsee, the Zendavesta .
The Book of the Law is an important symbol
in the Royal Arch Degree, concerning
which there was a tradition among the Jews
that the Book of the Law was lost during the
captivity, and that it was among the treasures
discovered during the building of the second
Temple . The same opinion was entertained
by the early Christian fathers, such, for instance,
as Iennus, Tertullian, and Clemens
Alexandrinus ; "for," says Prideaux, "they
(the Christian fathers) hold that all the Scriptures
were lost and destroyed in the Babylonish
captivity, and that Ezra restored them all
again by Divine revelation ." The truth of the
tradition is very generally denied by Biblical
scholars, who attribute its origin to the fact
that Ezra collected together the copies of the
law expurgated them of the errors which
had crept into them during the captivity,
and arranged a new and correct edition. But
the truth or falsity of the legend does not
affect the Masonic symbolism . The Book of
the Law is the will of God, which, lost to us in
our darkness, must be recovered as precedent
to our learning what is TRUTH . As captives
to error truth is lost to us; when freedom is
restored, the first reward will be its discovery .
Book of Mormon . This sacred book of
the Mormons was first published in 1830 by
Joseph Smith, who claimed to have translated
it from gold plates which he had found under
Divine guidance secreted in a stone box . The
number of Mormons is estimated at about
150,000 in the United States, and 50,000 in
other countries . The seat of their church is
at Salt Lake, Utah .
Book of the Dead. By some translated the
Book of the Master, containing the ancient
Egyptian philosophy as to death and the resurrection
. A portion of these sacred writings
was invariably buried with the dead . The
Book in facsimile has been published by Dr .
Lepsius, and translated by Dr . Birch . The
myth of the "Judgment of Amenti " forms a
part of the Book of the Dead, and shadows
forth the verities and judgments of the unseen
world .
The Amenti was the Place of Judgment of
the Dead, situated in the West, where Osiris
was presumed to be buried . There were fortytwo
assessors of the amount of sin committed,
who sat in judgment, and before whom the
adjudged passed in succession .
There seems to be a tie which binds Freemasonry
to the noblest of the cults and mysteries
of antiquity . The most striking exponent
of the doctrines and language of the Egyptian
Mysteries of Osiris is this Book of the
Dead or Ritual of the Underworld, or Egyptian
bible of 165 chapters, the Egyptian title
of which was The Manifestation to Light,