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

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EZRA 259
Immoral conduct, such as would subject a
candidate for admission to rejection, should
be the only offense visited with expulsion. As
the punishment is general, affecting the relation
of the one expelled with the whole Fraternity,
it should not be lightly imposed for the
violation of any Masonic act not general in its
character. The commission of a grossly immoral
act is a violation of the contract entered
into between each Mason and his Order . If
sanctioned by silence or impunity, it would
bring discredit on the Institution, and tend
to impair its usefulness . A Mason who is a
bad man is to the Fraternity what a mortified
limb is to the body, and should be treated
with the same mode of cure, he should be cut
off, lest his example spread, and disease be
propagated through the constitution .
Expulsion from one of what is called the
higher degrees of Masonry, such as a Chapter
or an Encampment, does not affect the relations
of the expelled party to Blue Masonry .
A Chapter of Royal Arch Masons is not and
cannot be recognized as a Masonic body by a
Lodge of Master Masons by any of the modes
of recognition known to Masonry . The acts,
therefore, of a Chapter cannot be recognized
by a Master Mason's Lodge any more than the
acts of a literary or charitable society wholly
unconnected with the Order . Besides, by the
present organization of Freemasonry, Grand
Lodges are the supreme Masonic tribunals .
If, therefore, expulsion from a Chapter of
Royal Arch Masons involved expulsion from
a Blue Lodge, the right of the Grand Lodge to
hear and determine causes, and to regulate the
internal concerns of the Institution, would be
interfered with by another body beyond its
control . But the converse of this proposition
does not hold good . Expulsion from a Blue
Lodge involves expulsion from all the higher
degrees ; because, as they are composed of
Blue Masons, the members could not of right
sit and hold communications on Masonic
sub'ects with one who was an expelled Mason .
Mended Wings of the Cherubim . An
expression used in the ceremonies of Royal
Master, the Tenth Degree of the American
Rite, and intended to teach symbolically that
he who comes to ask and to seek Divine Truth
symbolized by the True Word, should begin
by placing himself under the protection of
that Divine Power who alone is Truth, and
from whom alone Truth can be obtained . Of
him the cherubim with extended wings in the
Holy of Holies were a type .
Extent of the Lodge. The extent of a
Mason's Lodge is said to be in height from
the earth to the highest heavens ; in depth,
from the surface to the center ; in length,
from east to west ; and in breadth, from north
to south . The expression is a symbolic one,
and is intended to teach the extensive boundaries
of Masonry and the coterminal extension
of Masonic charity . (See Form of the Lodge .)
Exterior. The name of the First Degree
of the "Rite d'Orient," according to the
nomenclature of M . Fustier. (Thory, Ada
Lat., i., 312.)
External Qualifications . The external
qualifications of candidates for initiation are
those which refer to their outward fitness,
based upon moral and religious character, the
frame of body, the constitution of the mind,
and social position . Hence they are divided
into Moral, Religious, Physical, Mental, and
Political, for which see Qualifications of Candidates
. The expression in the ritual, that "it
is the internal and not the external qualifications
that recommend a man to be made a
Mason," it is evident, from the context, refers
entirely to "worldly wealth and honors,"
which, of course, are not to be taken "into
consideration in inquiring into the qualifications
of a candidate ."
Extinct Lodge. A Lodge is said to be
extinct which has ceased to exist and work,
which is no longer on the registry of the Grand
Lodge, and whose Charter had been revoked
for misuse or forfeited for nonuse .
Extra Communication . The same as
Special Communication . (See Communication
.)
Extraneous . Not regularly made ; clandestine.
The word is now obsolete in this signification,
but was so used by the Grand
Lodge of England in a motion adopted March
31, 1735, and reported by Anderson in his 1738
edition of the Constitutions, p . 182 . "No extraneous
brothers, that is, not regularly made,
but clandestinely, shall be ever qualified
to partake of the Mason's general charity
."
Extrusion. Used in the Constitution of
the Royal Order of Scotland for expulsion .
"If a brother shall be convicted of crime by
any Court of Justice, such brother shall be
permanently extruded ." (Sect . 29 .) Not in
use elsewhere as a Masonic term .
Eye . (See All-Seeing Eye .)
Ezekiel, Temple of. (See Temple of
Ezekiel .)
Ezel . In Hebrew, ' 7N 1 4, eben hahezel,
the stone of the departure, viz ., a mile-stone .
An old testimonial stone in the neighborhood
of Saul's residence, the scene of the parting of
David and Jonathan, and the mark beyond
which the falling of Jonathan's arrow indicated
danger. (1 Sam . xx. 19 .) Hence, a word
adopted in the honorary deFee called the
"Mason's wife and daughter .'
Ezra . There are two persons named Ezra
who are recorded in Scripture. 1 . Ezra, a
leading priest among the first colonists who
came up to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, and
who is mentioned by Nehemiah (xii . i) ; and,
2, Ezra, the celebrated Jewish scribe and restorer
of the law, who visited Jerusalem fortytwo
years after the second Temple had been
completed . Calmet, however, says that this
second Ezra had visited Jerusalem previously
in company with Zerubbabel . Some explanation
of this kind is necessary to reconcile an
otherwise apparent inconsistency in the English
system of the Royal Arch, which- makes
two of its officers represent Ezra and Nehe
miah under the title of scribes, while at the
same time it mares the time of the ritual refer