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

296 GHLMOUL
GILDS
ular Lodge was established at Hamburg, in
1733, under a warrant of Lord Strathmore,
Grand Master of England ; which did not,
however, come into active operation until
four years later . Its progress was at first slow ;
and nowhere is Freemasonry now more popular
or more deserving of popularity . Its
scholars have brought to the study of its antiquities
and its philosophy all the laborious
research that distinguishes the Teutonic
mind, and the most learned works on these
subjects have emanated from the German
press . The detailed history of its progress
would involve the necessity of no ordinary
volume,
Ghemoul Binah Thebounah . (Prudence
in the midst of vicissitude .) The name
of the seventh step of the mystical Kadosh
ladder of the A. A. Scottish Rite .
Ghiblim . The form in which Dr. Anderson
spells Giblim. In the Book of Constitutions
(ed. 1738, page 70) it is stated that in 1350
"John de Spoulee, call'd Master of the Ghiblim,"
rebuilt St. George's chapel .
Gibalim . A Masonic corruption of Giblim,
the Giblites, or men of Gebal . (See Giblim
.)
Gibeah. A Hebrew word signifying a
"hill," and giving name to several towns and
places in ancient Palestine. The only one
requiring special mention is "Gibeah of
Benjamin," a small city about four miles north
of Jerusalem . It was the residence, if not the
birthplace, of King Saul.
In the French Rite it symbolically refers to
the Master, who must be pure in heart, that
the High and Holy One may dwell therein .
The word is also used in the Swedish Rite .
Giblim. Heb ., D~Ma . A significant word
in Masonry. It is the plural of the Gentile
noun Gibli (the g pronounced hard), and
means, according to the idiom of the Hebrew,
Giblites, or inhabitants of the city of Gebal .
The Giblim, or Giblites, are mentioned in
Scripture as assisting Solomon's and Hiram's
builders to prepare the trees and the stones for
building the Temple, and from this passage it
is evident that they were clever artificers .
The passage is in 1 Kings v . 18, and, in our
common version, is as follows : "And Solomon's
builders and Hiram's builders did hew
them and the atone-squarers ; so they prepare
timber and stones to build the house,"
where the word translated in the authorized
version by stone-squarers is, in the original,
Giblim . It is so also in that translation known
as the Bishop's Bible. The Geneva version
has masons. The French version of Martin
has tailleurs de pierres, following the English ;
but Luther, in his German version, retains the
original word Giblim .
It is probable that the English translation
followed the Jewish Targum, which has a word
of similar import in this passage. The error
has, however, assumed importance in the Masonic
ritual, where Giblim is supposed to be
synonymous with a Mason . And Sir Wm .
Drummond confirms this by saying in his
Origins (vol. iii ., b. v ., ch. iv ., p . 129) that
"the Gibalim were Master Masons who put
the finishing hand to King Solomon's Temple."
(See Gebal .)
Gilds . The word gild, guild, or geld, from
the Saxon gildan, to pay, originally meant a
tax or tribute, and hence those fraternities
which, in the early ages contributed sums to a
common stock, were called Gilds . Cowell, the
old English jurist, defines a Gild to be "a fraternity
or commonalty of men gathered together
into one combination, supporting their
common charge by mutual contribution ."
Societies of this kind, but not under the
same name, were known to the ancient Greeks
and Romans, and their artificers and traders
were formed into distinct companies which occupied
particular streets named after them .
But according to Dr . Lujo Brentano, who
published, in 1870, an essay on The History and
Development of Gilds, England is the birthplace
of the Medieval Gilds, from whom he
says that the modern Freemasons emerged .
They existed, however, in every countyy of
Europe, and we identify them in the Compagnons
de la Tour of France, and the Baucorporationen
of Germany. The difference
however, was that while they were patronized
by the municipal authorities in England, they
were discouraged by both the Church and
State on the Continent .
The Gilds in England were of three kinds,
Religious Gilds, Merchant Gilds, and Craft
Gilds, specimens of all of which still exist although
greatly modified in their laws and usages
. The Religious or Ecclesiastical Gilds
are principally found in Roman Catholic
countries, where, under the patronage of the
Church, they often accomplish much good by
the direction of their benevolence to particular
purposes. Merchant Gilds are exemplified in
the twelve great Livery Companies of London .
And the modern Trades Unions are nothing
else but Craft Gilds under another name .
But the most interesting point in the history
of the Craft Gilds is the fact that from them
arose the Brotherhoods of the Freemasons .
Brentano gives the following almost exhaustive
account of the organization and customs
of the Craft Gilds :
"The Craft Gilds themselves first sprang
up amongst the free craftsmen, when they
were excluded from the fraternities which had
taken the place of the family unions, and later
among the bondmen, when they ceased to belong
to the familia of their lord . Like those
Frith Gilds, the object of the early Craft Gilds
was to create relations as if among brothers ;
and above all things, to grant to their members
that assistance which the member of a family
might expect from that family. As men s
wants had become different, this assistance no
longer concerned the protection of life, limbs,
and property, for this was provided for by the
Frith Gilds, now recognized as the legitimate
authority ; but the principal object of the
Craft Gilds was to secure their members in
the independent unimpaired, and regular
earning of their daily bread by means of their
craft .