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

286 FRERES
FURNITURE
Ragon, in his Tuileur General (p . 51), says
that the four degrees of the French Rite,
which were elaborated to take the place of
the thirty de grees of the Scottish Rite,
have for their basis the four physical proofs
to which the recipiendary submits in the
First Degree. And that the symbolism
further represents the sun in his annual
progress through the four seasons. Thus, the
Elect Degree represents the element of Earth
and the season of Spring; the Scottish Master
represents Air and the Summer ; the Knight
of the East rep resents Water and Autumn ;
and the Rose Croix represents Fire; but he
does not claim that it is consecrated to Winter,
although that would be the natural conclusion.
The original Rose Croix was an eminently
Christian degree, which, being found inconvenient,
was in 1860 substituted b y the
Philosophic Rose Croix which now forms
the summit of the French Rite .
Freres Pontifes. See Bridge Builders of
the Middle Ages .
Frey or Freta. Grimme, in his Deutsche
Mythologie (pp. 191, 279), traces the name
Freia through the ancient Teutonic dialects
and explains it to signify plenty and beauty.
Also, see Thorpe Northern Mythology, (vol . i .,
pp . 197, 198) . The column or pillar set apart
to the goddess Frey in the temple of Upsala
became the pillar of beauty or plenteousness .
Bro . Fort says, in his Antiquities (ch . 27),
the three divinities in the Norse temple at
Upsala, in Denmark, Odin Thor, and Frey,
were typical supports of the universe-Wisdom,
Strength, and Beauty-or the three
of the ten columns in the Hebrew se hiroth,
in the Jewish philosophy, designate as Sapientia,
Pulchritudo, and Fundamentum ;
which, like the three columns existing in a
Lodge of Freemasons, symbolize the moralistic
pillars of the world, represented by
the Lodge itself. An additional significant
fact confronts us at this point : the column
of Beauty or Plenty, originally emblematic
of Frey, is situated in the south of the Lodge .
A Masonic symbol--sheaf of grain-always
suspended above that station, denotes plenteousness
. Freia may also be comparatively
described as the Scandinavian Isis .
Friendly Societies. Societies first established
toward the end of the last century,
in England, for the relief of mechanics,
laborers, and other persons who derived their
support from their daily toil. By the weekly
payment of a stipulated sum, the members
secured support and assistance from the
society when sick, and payment of the expenses
of burial when they died . These
societies gave origin to the Odd Fellows and
other similar associations, but they have no
relation whatever to Freemasonry .
Friend of St. John. The Sixth Degree
of the system practised by the Grand Lodge
of Sweden . It is comprehended in the degree
of Knight of the East and West .
Friend of Truth . The Fifth Degree
of the Rite of African Architects .
Friendship. Leslie, in 1741, delivered
the first descant on Friendship, as peculiarly
a Masonic virtue. He was followed by
Hutchinson, Preston and other writers, and
now in the modern lectures it is adop ted as
one of the precious jewels of a Master Mason .
Of universal friendship, blue is said to be the
symbolic color . "In regular gradation,"
says Munkhouse (Disc ., i ., 17), "and by an
easy descent, brotherly love extends itself
to lesser distinct societies or to particular
individuals, and thus becomes friendship
either of convenience or of personal affection .
Cicero says, "Amicitia nisi inter bonus non
potent," Friendship can exist only among
the good .
Fund of Benevolence. A fund established
in 1727 by the Grand Lodge of England
and solely devoted to charity. The
regulations for its management are as follows :
Its distribution and application is directed
by the Constitutions to be monthly, for which
purpose a Board of Benevolence is holden on
the last Wednesday of every month except
December, when it is on the third Wednesday .
This Lodge consists of all the present and
past Grand Officers, all actual Masters of
Lodges, and twelve Past Masters . The
brother presiding is bound strictly to enforce
all the regulations of the Craft respecting
the distribution of the fund, and must be
satisfied, before any petition is read, that all
the required formalities have been complied
with . To every petition must be added a
recommendation, signed in open Lodge by
the Master, Wardens, and a majority of the
members then present, to which the petitioner
does or did belong, or from some other contributing
Lodge, certifying that they have
known him to have been in reputable or at
least tolerable, circumstances, and that he
has been not less than five years a subscribing
member to a regular Lodge .
Fund, Grand Masters' . A fund over
which the G. Master of the United G . Lodge
of England exercises exclusive control . It
originated with a sum of £2,730 subscribed
by the Craft in 1870, when the Earl of Zetland
retired from the Grand Mastership, and is
known as "The Zetland Fund ."
Funds of the Lodge . The funds of
the Lodge are p laced in the keeping of the
Treasurer, to whom all moneys received by
the Secretary must be immediately paid .
Hence each of these officers is a check on
the other . And hence, too, the "Thirtynine
Regulations" of 1721 say that the
Grand Treasurer should be "a brother of
good worldly substance" (Constitutions, 1723,
p . 62) lest impecuniosity should tempt him
to mate use of the Lodge funds .
Funeral Rites. See Burial.
Furlac . A word in the high degrees,
whose etymology is uncertain but probably
Arabic. It is said to signify the angel of the
earth .
Furniture of a Lodge . The Bible
square, and compasses are technically said
to constitute the furniture of a Lodge . They