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

LITIGATION
LODGE 449
ious philosophy ; with its history and archeology,
as springing up out of the past times ;
with its biography as the field in which men of
intellect have delighted to labor ; and with its
bibliography as the record of the results of
that labor . It is connected, too, incidentally,
with many other arts and sciences. Mythology
affords an ample field for discussion in
the effort to collate the analogies of classic
myths and symbols with its own . Philology
submits its laws for application to the origin
of its mystic words, all of which are connected
with its history . It has, in fine, its
science and its philosophy, its poetry and
romance . No one who has not studied the
literature of Masonry can even dream of its
beauty and extent ; no one who has studied it
can have failed to receive the reward that it
bestows .
Litigation . See Lawsuits .
Livery . The word livery is supposed to be
derived from the clothing delivered by masters
to their servants . The trading companies or
gilds of England began about the time of Edward
I . to wear a suit of clothing of a form,
color, and material peculiar to each company,
which was called its livery, and also its clothing
. To be admitted into the membership
and privileges of the company was called "to
have the clothing." The Grocers' Company,
for instance, were ordered "to be clothed once
a year in a suit of livery " ; and there is an
order in the reign of Henry V . to purchase
cloth "for the clothing of the brethren of the
brewers' craft ." There can be no doubt that
the usage of speaking of a Mason's clothing, or
of his being clothed, is derived from the custom
of the gilds. A Mason's clothing, "black
dress and white gloves and apron," is, in fact,
his livery . (See Clothed .)
Livre d'Architecture . The French designation
of the book of minutes .
Livre d'Eloquence . A French expression
for a collection of minutes of addresses
made in a Lodge.
Livre d'Or . French. The Book of Gold,
which see .
Local Laws . See Laws of Masonry.
Locke's Letter . The letter of John Locke
which is said to have accompanied the Leland
MS ., and which contains his comments
on it . (See Leland Manuscript .)
Lodge . There are three definitions which,
in the technical language of Masonry, apply
to the word Lodge .
1 . It is a place in which Freemasons meet .
In this sense the words more generally used
are Lodge Room, which see .
2 . It is the assembly or organized body of
Freemasons duly congregated for labor or
for business . These two distinctions are
precisely the same as those to be found in the
word "church," which is expressive both of
the building in which a congregation meets
to worship and the congregation of worshipers
themselves . This second definition is
what distinguishes a meeting of Symbolic
Masons, who constitute a Lodge, from one of
Royal Arch Masons, whose meeting would
be called a Chapter, or of Cryptic Masons,
whose assembly would be a Council .
The word appears in French as loge ; German,
loge ; Spanish, logic ; Portuguese, loja;
and Italian, loggia. This is irrefragible evidence
that the word was, with the Institution,
derived by the Continent of Europe from
England.
The derivation of the word is, I think, plain .
Ragon says that it comes from the Sanskrit
loga, signifying the world . There would, at
first sight, seem to be a connection between
this etymology and the symbolic meaning of a
Lodge, which represents the world ; but yet it
is evidently far-fetched, since we have a much
simpler root immediately at hand . Mr . Hope
says, speaking of the Freemasons of the
Middle Ages (and Wren had previously said
the same thing), that wherever they were engaged
to work, they "set themselves to building
temporary huts, for their habitation,
around the spot where the work was to be carried
on." These huts the German Masons
called hutten ; the English, lodges, which is
from the Anglo-Saxon, logian, to dwell.
Lodge, therefore, meant the dwelling-place or
lodging of the Masons ; and this is undoubtedly
the origin of the modern use of the word .
To corroborate this, we find Du Cange (Gloss .)
defining the Medieval Latin, logic or logium,
as "a house or habitation ." He refers to the
Italian, loggia, and quotes Lambertus Ardensis
as saying that "logic is a place next to
the house, where persons were accustomed
to hold pleasant conversation ." Hence
Lambertus thinks that it comes from the
Greek, logos, a discourse . Du Cange asserts
that there is no doubt that in the Middle Ages
logic or logium was commonly used for an
apartment or dwelling connected with the
main building. Thus, the smallest apartments
occupied by the cardinals when meeting
in conclave were called logice or Lodges . All
of which sustains the idea that the Lodges of
the old Operative Masons were small dwellings
attached, or at least contiguous, to the main
edifice on which they were at work .
In the Old Charges, the word is not generally
met with. The meeting of the Craft is
there usually called the Assembly . But there
are instances of its employment in those documents.
Thus in the Lodge of Antiquity MS .
whose date is 1686, the word occurs several
times . There is also abundant documentary
evidence to show that the word Lodge was
long before the eighteenth century, applied
to their meeting by the Freemasons of England
and Scotland .
Before the restoration of the Grand Lodge
of England in 1717, Preston tells us that
any number of brethren might assemble at
any place for the performance of work, and,
when so assembled, were authorized to receive
into the Order brothers and fellows, and to
practise the rites of Masonry . The ancient
charges were the only standard for the regulation
of their conduct . The Master of the
Lodge was elected pro tempore, and his authority
terminated with the dissolution of the