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

EXCUSE
EXPOSITIONS 257
written constitution, and by the regular payment
of arrears, have assumed the relationship
which St . Paul defines as being of the household
of faith .
It is recognized by governments, which,
however liberally they may frame their laws,
so that every burden may bear equally on all,
and each may enjoy the same civil and religious
rights, never fail, in the privileges which they
bestow, to discriminate between the alien and
foreigner, whosevisit is but temporary orwhose
allegiance is elsewhere, and their own citizens .
This principle of preference is universally
diffused, and it is
it is so . It is well
that those who are nearer should be dearer
and that a similitude of blood, an identity ot;
interest, or a community of purpose, should
give additional strength to the ordinary ties
that bind man to man. Man, in the weakness
of his nature, requires this security . By his
own unaided efforts, he cannot accomplish
the objects of his life nor supply the necessary
wants of his existence. In this state of utter
helplessness, God "has wisely and mercifully
provided a remedy by implanting in the
human breast a love of union and an ardent
desire for society. Guided by this instinct of
preservation, man eagerly seeks the communion
of man, and the weakness of the individual
is compensated by the strength of association .
It is to this consciousness of mutual dependence,
that nations are indebted for their
existence, and governments for their durability
. And under the impulse of the same
instinct of society, brotherhoods and associations
are formed, whose members, concentrating
their efforts for the attainment of one common
object, bind themselves by voluntary
ties of love and friendship, more powerful
than those which arise from the ordinary sentiments
and feelings of human nature .
Excuse . Many Lodges in the last century
and in the beginning of this inflicted pecuniary
fines for non-attendance at Lodge meetings,
and of course excuses were then required
to avoid the penalty . But this has now grown
out of use. Masonry being considered a voluntary
institution, fines for absence are not
inflicted, and excuses are therefore not now required.
The infliction of a fine would, it is
supPosed, detract from the solemnity of the
obligation which makes attendance a duty .
The old Constitutions, however, required
excuses for non-attendance, although no penalty
was prescribed for a violation of the rule .
Thus, in the Matthew Cooke MS . (fifteenth
century), it is said, "that every master of
this art should be warned to come to his congregation
that they come duly, but if (unless)
they may be excused by some manner of
cause. (lines 740-4.) And in the Regius MS .
it is written :
"That every mayster, that is a Mason,
Must ben at the generals congregacyon,
so that he hyt resonebly y-tolde
Where that the semble shall be holde ;
And to that semble he must nede gon,
But he have a resenabul skwsacyon."
vv. 107-112 .
Executive Powers of a Grand Lodge.
(See Grand Lodge .)
Exegetical and Philanthropical Society .
According to Thory (Acts Lat., i., 312),
founded at Stockholm in 1787 . It united
Magnetism to Swedenborgianism ; it was at
first secret, but when it became known it was
killed by ridicule .
Exemplification of the Work . This term
is of frequent use in American Masonry.
When a lecturer or teacher performs the ceremonies
of a degree for instruction, using generally
one of the Masons present as a substitute
for the candidate, he is said "to exemplify
the work." It is done for instruction, or to
enable the members of the Grand or subordinate
Lodge to determine on the character of
the ritual that is taught by the exemplifier .
Exoteric . Public, not secret. (See Esoteric.)
Exodus . The date of the Exodus has been
determined by the excavations recently made
at Tel el-Maskhi ta. This is the name of large
mounds near Tel el-Keber excavated by M .
Naville for the Egyptian 'Exploration Fund,
wherein he found inscriptions showing that
they represent the ancient city of Pithom, or
Succoth, the "treasure-cities" (Ex . i. 11), and
that Ramses II . was the founder . This was
the Pharaoh of the oppression. The walls of
the treasure-chambers were about six hundred
and fifty feet square and twenty-two feet
thick. From Pithom, or Succoth, where the
Israelites were at work, they started on their
Exodus toward Etham (Khetam), then to Pihachiroth
(Ex. xiv . 2), and so on north and
east . The Exodus took place under Meneptah
II ., who ascended the throne B.c . 1325,
and reigned but a short period . It was along
the isthmus that the Egyptian army perished
pursuing the retreating Israelites as they
crossed between Lake Serbonis and the waters
of the Mediterranean, amidst the "sea of
papyrus reeds," the ydm stlph, that has often
proved disastrous to single or congregated
travelers. (See S. Birch, LL.D ., in Ancient
History from the Monuments, Brugsch-Bey's
lecture 17th September, 1874 ; but more particularfy
the late discoveries above referred
to, in Fresh Lights, etc ., by A . H . Sayce.
Expert . In Lodges of the French Rite
there are two officers called First and Second
Experts, whose duty it is to assist the Master
of Ceremonies in the initiation of a candidate .
In Lodges of Perfection of the Scottish Rite,
there are similar officers who are known as the
Senior and Junior Expert.
Expert, Perfect . Conferred in three
grades, and cited in Fustier's collection .
(Thory, Acta Let . i., 312 .)
Expert, Sublime English . Mentioned in
Fustier's collection. (Thory, ActaLat., i ., 312 .)
Expositions. Very early after the revival
of Masonry, in the beginning of the eighteenth
century, pretended expositions of the ritual of
Masonry began to be published . The following
catalogue comprises the most notorious of
these pseudo-revelations . The leading titles
only are given .