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

178 CONVERSATION
CORNER-STONE
1464 . Ratisbon, under Grand Lodge of
Strasburg .
1469. Spire, under Grand Lodge of Strasburg.
1535 . Cologne, by Hermann, Bishop of
Cologne.
1563 . Basle, by Grand Lodge of Strasburg .
1717 . London, by the Four Old Lodges .
Organization of Grand Lodge .
1730 . Dublby the Dublin Lodges .
1736 . Edinburgh. Organization and institution
of Grand Lodge.
1756. The Hague, by the Royal Union
Lodge.
1762 . Paris and Berlin, by nine commissioners
nominated by the Sov. G. Council of
P. of Masonry .
1763 . Jena, by the Lodge of Strict Observance
.
1764. Jena, by Johnson or Beeker, denounced
by Baron Hund .
1765. Altenberg, a continuation wherein
Hund was elected G. M . of Rite of Strict Observance.
1772 . Kohl, by Ferdinand of Brunswick
and Baron Hund, without success.
1775 . Brunswick, by Ferdinand, Duke of
Brunswick .
1778 . Lyons, by Lodge of Chevaliers Bienfaisants
.
1778 . Wolfenbiittel, by Duke of Brunswick
.
1782 . Wilhelmsbad, an impotent session for
purification .
1784 . Paris, a medley of Lovers of Truth
and United Friends .
1786 . Berlin, alleged to have been convened
by Frederick II of Prussia .
1822. Washington, a mutual assemblage
of American Lodges .
1843. Baltimore, a mutual assemblage of
American Lodges .
1847. Baltimore, a mutual assemblage of
American Lodges .
1853 . Lexington, Ky ., a mutual assemblage
of American Lodges .
1855 . Paris, by Grand Orient of France .
1859. Chicago . A volunteer assemblage .
1875 . Lausanne . A convention of the Supreme
Councils of the Scottish Rite of the
World, which subsequently led to an eternal
bond of unity both offensive and defensive .
Conversation. Conversation among the
brethren during Lodge hours is forbidden by
the Charges of 1722 in these words : "You are
not to hold private committees or separate
conversation without leave from the Master ."
(Constitutions, 1723, p. 53 .)
Convocation . The meetings of Chapters
of Royal Arch Masons are so called from the
Latin convocatio, a calling together . It seems
very properly to refer to the convoking of the
dispersed Masons at Jerusalem to rebuild the
second Temple, of which every Chapter is a
representation.
Convocation, Grand . The meeting of a
Grand Chapter is so styled .
Cooke's Manuscript. The old document
commonly known among Masonic scholars
as Matthew Cooke's Manuscript, because it
was first given to the public by that distinguished
Brother, was published by him, in
1861, from the original in the British Museum,
which institution purchased it, on the 14th of
October, 1859, from Mrs. Caroline Baker .
It was also published in facsimile by the
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No . 2076, London,
in 1890. Its principal value is derived from the
fact, as Bro . Cooke remarks, that until its
appearance "there was no prose work of such
undoubted antiquity known to be in existence
on the subject ."
Bro . Cooke gives the following account
of the MS . in his preface to its republication :
"By permission of the Trustees of the British
Museum, the following little work has been
allowed to be copied and published in its entire
form . The original is to be found among
the additional manuscripts in that national
collection, and is numbered 23,198 .
"Judging from the character of the handwriting
and the form of contractions employed
by the scribe, it was most probably written
in the latter portion of the fifteenth century,
and may be considered a very clear specimen
of the penmanship of that period .
"By whom or for whom it was originally
penned there is no means of ascertaining ; but
from the style, it may be conjectured to have
belonged to some Master of the Craft, and to
have been used in assemblies of Masons as a
text-book of the traditional history and laws
of the Fraternity ."
Cope-Stone. See Cape-Stone.
Cord, Hindu Sacred . See Zennaar .
Cord, Silver. See Silver Cord.
Cord, Threefold . See Threefold Cord .
Cordon. The Masonic decoration, which
in English is called the collar, is styled by the
French Masons the cordon .
Corinthian Order . This is the lightest
and most ornamental of the pure orders, and
possesses the highest degree of richness and
detail that architecture attained under the
Greeks. Its capital is its great distinction, and
is richly adorned with leaves of acanthus,
olive, etc ., and other ornaments . The column
of Beauty which supports the Lodge is of the
Corinthian order, and its appropriate situation
and symbolic officer are in the South .
Corner, Northeast. See Northeast
Corner.
Corner-Stone, Symbolism of the . The
corner-stone is the stone which lies at the
corner of two walls and forms the corner of
the foundation of an edifice. In Masonic
buildings it is now always placed in the Northeast
; but this rule was not always formerly
observed . As the foundation on which the
entire structure is supposed to rest it is considered
by Operative Masons as the most important
stone in the edifice . It is laid with
impressive ceremonies ; the assistance of
Speculative Masons is often, and ought always
to be, invited to give dignity to the occasion
; and for this purpose Freemasonry has
provided an especial ritual which is to govern
the proper performance of that duty.