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

254 EULOGY
EVEILLES
power to rule them after the manner that the
science ought to be ruled .' And that the King
and all his counsell granted to him anone, and
sealed their commission . And then this worthy
Doctor tooke to him these lords' sons, and
taught them the scyence of Geometrie in practice,
for to work in stones all manner of worthy
worke that belongeth to buildinge churches,
temples, castells, towres, and mannors, and all
other manner of buildings ; and he gave them
a charge on this manner :"
Here follow the usual "charges" of a Freemason
as given in all the old Constitutions ;
and then the legend concludes with these
words :
"And thus was the science grounded there ;
and that worthy Mr . Ewclyde gave it the
name of Geometric . And now it is called
through all this land Masonrye." (Hughan's
Old Charges, ed . 1872, p . 26 .)
This legend, considered historically, is
certainly very absurd, and the anachronism
which makes Euclid the contemporary of Abraham
adds, if possible, to the absurdity. But
interpreted as all Masonic legends should be
interpreted, as merely intended to convey a
Masonic truth in symbolic language, it loses
its absurdity, and becomes invested with an
importance that we should not otherwise attach
to it .
Euclid is here very appropriately used as a
type of geometry, that science of which he
was so eminent a teacher ; and the myth or
legend then symbolizes the fact that there was
in Egypt a close connection between that science
and the great moral and religious system
which was among the Egyptians, as well
as other ancient nations, what Freemasonry
is at the present day-a secret institution,
established for the inculcation of the same principles,
and inculcating them in the same symbolic
manner. So interpreted, this legend corresponds
to all the developments of Egyptian
history, which teach us how close a connection
existed in that country between the religious
and scientific systems . Thus Kenrick (Anc.
Eg ., i ., 383) tells us that "when we read of
foreigners [in Egypt] being obliged to submit
to painful and tedious ceremonies of initiation,
it was not that they might learn the secret
meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis but that
they might partake of the knowledge of astronomy,
physic, geometry, . and theology ."
The legend of Euclid belongs to that class
of narration which, in another work, Dr .
Mackey calls "The Mythical Symbols of
Freemasonry ."
Eulogy. Masonry delights to do honor to
the memory of departed brethren by the delivery
of eulogies of their worth and merit, which
are either delivered at the time of their burial,
or at some future period . The eulogy forms
the most important part of the ceremonies of
a Sorrow Lodge . But the language of the eulogist
should be restrained within certain limits
; while the veil of charity should be thrown
over the frailties of the deceased, the praise of
his virtues should not be expressed with esaggerated
adulation .
Eumolpus . A king of Eleusis, who
founded, about the year 1374 B. c ., the Mysteries
of Eleusis . His descendants, the Eumoipidae,
presided for twelve hundred years over
these Mysteries as Hierophants .
Eunuch . It is usual, in the most correct
rituals of the third degree, especially to name
eunuchs as being incapable of initiation . In
none of the old Constitutions and Charges is
this class of persons alluded to by name, although
of course they are comprehended in
the general prohibition against making persons
who have any blemish or maim . However,
in the Charges which were published by Dr .
Anderson, in his second edition (Constitur
tions, 1738, p . 144), they are included in the
list of prohibited candidates. It is probable
from this that at that time it was usual to
name them in the point of OB . referred to ;
and this presumption derives strength from
the fact that Dermott, in copying his Charges
from those of Anderson's second edition,
added a note complaining of the "moderns";
for having disregarded this ancient law, in at
least one instance . (Ahiman Rezon, ed. 1778.)
The question is, however, not worth discussion,
except as a matter of ritual history
since the legal principle is already determined
that eunuchs cannot be initiated because
they are not perfect men, "having no maim or
defect in their bodies."
Euphrates . One of the largest and most
celebrated rivers of Asia . Rising in the mountains
of Armenia and flowing into the Persian
gulf, it necessarily lies between Jerusalem and
Babylon. In the ritual of the higher degrees
it is referred to as the stream over which the
Knights of the East won a passage by their
arms in returning from Babylon to Jerusalem .
Euresis. From the Greek, euperis, a
discovery . That part of the initiation in the
Ancient Mysteries which represented the
finding of the body of the god or hero whose
death and resurrection was the subject of the
initiation . The curesis has been adopted in
Freemasonry, and forms an essential portion
of the ritual of the Third Degree .
Europe. An appellation at times given to
the west end of the Lodge.
Eva . The acclamation used in the French
Rite of Adoption .
Evangellcon. The gospel belonging to the
so-called "Ordre du Temple" at Paris, and
professedly a relic of the real Templars . Some
believe in its antiquity ; but others, from external
and internal evidence, fix its date subsequent
to the fifteenth century . It is
apparently a garbled version of St . John's Gospel.
It is sometimes confounded with the
"Leviticon" ; but, though bound up in the
same printed volume, it is entirely distinct .
Evangelist. (See St. John the Evangelist.)
Evates . The second degree in the Druidical
system . Of the three degrees the first
was the Bards, the second Evates or Prophets,
and the third Druids or Sanctified Authorities.
Eveilles, Secte des . (Sect of the Enlightened
.) According to Thory (ActaLat., i., 312),