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

CHARCOAL
CHARITY 143
mounted by a cross in red ink, as in (4) .
In all cases, it is usual to place the degree
rank in a triangle after the name .
1 2 3 4
Charcoal. See Chalk, Charcoal, and Clay .
Charge. So called from the "Old Charges,"
because like them, it contains an epitome of
duty. i t is the admonition which is given by
the presiding officer, at the close of the ceremon
y of initiation, to the candidate, and
which the latter receives standing, as a token
of respect . There is a charge for each degree,
which is to be found in all the monitors and
manuals from Preston onward .
Charges, Old . The Masons' Constitutions
are old records, containing a history,
very often somewhat apocryphal, of the origin
and progress of Masonry, and regulations for
the government of the Craft . These regulations
are called Charges, and are generally
the same in substance, although they differ in
number, in the different documents . These
charges are divided into " Articles " and
"Points" ; although it would be difficult to
say in what the one section differs in character
from the other, as each details the rules which
should govern a Mason in his conduct toward
his "lord," or employer, and to his
brother workmen. The oldest of these charges
is to be found in the York Constitutions (if
they are authentic), and consists of Fifteen
Articles and Fifteen Points . It was required
by the Constitutions of the time of Edward
III., "that, for the future, at the making or
admission of a brother, the constitutions and
charges should be read ." This regulation is
still preserved in form, in modern Lodges, by
the reading of the charge by the Master to
a candidate at the close of the ceremony of his
reception into a degree . (For a list of the
Old Charges, see Manuscripts, Old .)
Charges of 1722 . The Fraternity had
long been in possession of many records, containing
the ancient regulations of the Order ;
when, in 1722, the Duke of Montague being
Grand Master of England, the Grand Lodge
finding fault with their antiquated arrangement
it was directed that they should be collected'
, and after being properly digested, be
annexed to the Book of Constitutions, then in
course of publication under the superintendence
of Dr . James Anderson. This was accordingly
done, and the document now well
known under the title of The Old Charges of the
Free and Accepted Masons, constitutes, by universal
consent a part of the fundamental law
of our Order . Yhe charges are divided into six
general heads of duty, as follows : 1 . Concerning
God and religion. 2 . Of the civil magistrate
supreme and subordinate . 3 . Of Lodges.
Masters Wardens, Fellows, and Apprentices
. 5 . df the management of the Craft
in working . 6 . Of behavior under different
circumstances and in various conditions .
These charges contain succinct directions for
the proper discharge of a Mason's duties, in
whatever position he may be placed, and are
as modern researches have shown, a collation
of the charges contained in the Old Records
and from them have been abridged, or by them
suggested, all those well-known directions
found in our monitors, which Masters are
accustomed to read to candidates on their
reception . (See Records, Old.)
Charity. "Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as soundin g brass, or a
tinkling cymbal . And though I have the gift
of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge ; and though I have all faith,
so that I could remove mountains, and have
not charity, I am nothing ." (1 Corinth . xiii .
1, 2 .) 'Such was the language of an eminent
apostle of the Christian church, and such is
the sentiment that constitutes the cementing
bond of Freemasonry . The apostle, in comparing
it with faith and hope, calls it the
greatest of the three, and hence in Masonry it
is made the topmost round of its mystic ladder .
We must not fall into the too common error
that charity is only that sentiment of commiseration
which leads us to assist the poor with
pecuniary donations . Its Masonic, as well as its
Christian application is more noble and more
extensive. The word used by the apostle is,
in the original, kyd r l, or love, a word denoting
that kindly state of mind which renders a person
full of good-will and affectionate regard
toward others . John Wesley expressed his
regret that the Greek had not been correctly
translated as love instead of charity, so that the
apostolic triad of virtues would have been,
not "faith hope, and charity," but "faith,
hope and 'ove . 'Then would we have understood
the comparison made by St . Paul, when
he said, "Though I bestow all my goods to
feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me
nothing ." Guided by this sentiment, the true
Mason will "suffer long and be kind." He will
be slow to anger and easy to forgive . He will
stay his falling brother by gentle admonition,
and warn him with kindness of approaching
danger. He will not op en his ear to his slanderers,
and will close his lips against all reproach.
His faults and his follies will be
locked in his breast, and the prayer for mercy
will ascend to Jehovah for his brother's sins .
Nor will these sentiments of benevolence be
confined to those who are bound to him by
ties of kindred or worldly friendship alone ;
but, extending them throughout the globe, he
will love and cherish all who sit beneath the
broad canopy of our universal Lodge . For it
is the boast of our Institution, that a Mason,
destitute and worthy, may find in every clime
a brother, and in every land a home .
Charity, Committee on . See Committee
of Charity .
Charity Fund . Many Lodges and Grand
Lodges have a fund esp ecially appropriated to
charitable purposes, which is not used for thg