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

454 LUCHET
LUX
nothing more evident than that Freemasonry
is a loyal institution, and that it inculcates, in
all its public instructions, obedience to government
. Thus, in the Prestonian charge given
in the last century to the Entered Apprentice,
and continued to this day in the same words
in English Lodges, we find the following
words :
"In the State, you are to be a quiet and
peaceable subject, true to your sovereign, and
just to your country ; you are not to countenance
disloyalty or rebellion, but patiently
submit to legal authority, and conform with
cheerfulness to the government under which
you live, yielding obedience to the laws which
afford you protection, but never forgetting
the attachment you owe to the place of your
nativity, or the allegiance due to the sovereign
or protectors of that spot ."
The charge given in American Lodges is of
the same import, and varies but slightly in its
language .
"In the State, you are to be a quiet and
peaceful subject, true to your government,
and just to your country ; you are not to
countenance disloyalty or rebellion, but patiently
submit to legal authority, and conform
with cheerfulness to the government of the
country in which you live ."
The charge given in French Lodges, though
somewhat differing in form from both of these,
is couched in the same spirit and teaches the
same lesson . It is to this effect :
"Obedience to the laws and submission to
the authorities are among the most imperious
duties of the Mason, and he is forbidden at all
times from engaging in plots and conspiracies."
Hence it is evident that the true Mason
must be a true patriot .
Luchet, Jean Pierre Louis, Marquis de.
A French historical writer, who was born at
Saintes in 1740, and died in 1791 . He was the
writer of many works of but little reputation,
but is principally distinguished in Masonic
literature as the author of an attack upon Illuminism
under the title of Essai sur la Secte
des Illumines . It first appeared anonymously
in 1789. Four editions of it were published .
The third and fourth with augmentations and
revisions, which were attributed to Mirabeau,
were printed with the outer title of Histoire
secret de la Cour de Berlin (par Mirabeau) .
This work was published, it is known, without
his consent, and was burned by the common
executioner in consequence of its libelous
character. Luchet's essay has become very
scarce, and is now valued rather on account of
its rarity than for its intrinsic excellence .
Ludewig, H. E. An energetic Mason,
born in 1810, in Germany ; died in 1856, in
America. By "powers from home" this
ardent brother attempted to set up an independent
authority to the existing Grand Lodge
system in the United States ; but, like many
such attempts, it flashed brilliantly for a season,
but proved of ephemeral nature.
Lufton. One of the French terms for Louveteau,
or Lewis, which see .
Lully, Raymond . A celebrated chemist
and philosopher, the seneschal of Majorca,
surnamed le docteur illumine. His discoveries
are most noted, such as the mode of rectifying
s pirits, the refining of silver, etc . He was born
about 1234 . In 1276 he founded a college of
Franciscans at Palma, for instruction in Eastern
lore, and especially the study of the Arabic
language, for which purpose he instituted
several colleges between the years 1293 and
1311 . He died in 1314 . He is known as an
eminent Rosicrucian, and many fables as to
his longevity are related of him .
Lumiere, La Grande . (The Grand Light .)
A grade in the collection of Brother Viany .
Lumiere, La Vrale. (The True Light, or
Perfect Mason .) A degree in the Chapter of
the Grand Lodge of Royal York of Berlin .
(Thory, Acta Lat ., i ., 321 .)
Luminaries . The first five officers in a
French Lodge, namely, the Master, two
Wardens, Orator, and Secretary, are called
luminaires or luminaries, because it is by them
that light is dispensed to the Lodge .
Lunus. An Egyptian deity, known as
Khons Lunus, and represented as hawkheaded,
surmounted by the crescent and disk .
When appearing with the head of an ibis, he
is called Thoth-Lunus . His worship was
very extensive through ancient Egypt, where
he was known as Aah, who presides over rejuvenation
and resurrection . Champollion
mentions in his Pantheon a Lunus bifrons .
Lustration . A religious rite practised by
the ancients, and performed before any act
of devotion . It consisted in washing the
hands, and sometimes the whole body, in lustral
or consecrated water . It was intended
as a symbol of the internal purification of the
heart . It was a ceremony preparatory to
initiation in all the Ancient Mysteries . The
ceremony is practised with the same symbolic
import in some of the high degrees of
Masonry . So strong was the idea of a connection
between lustration and initiation,
that in the low Latin of the Middle Ages
lustrare meant to initiate . Thus Du Cange
(Glossarium) cites the expression "lustrare
religione Christianorum" as signifying "to
initiate into the Christian religion ."
Lux . Latin for light, which see . Freemasonry
anciently received, among other
names, that of "Lux," because it is that sublime
doctrine of truth by which the pathway
of him who has attained it is to be illumined
in the pilgrimage of life . Among the Rosicrucians,
light was the knowledge of the
philosopher's stone ; and Mosheim says that
in chemical language the cross was an emblem
of light, because it contains within its figure
the forms of the three figures of which LVX,
or light, is composed .
Lux e tenebris . Light out of darkness . A
motto very commonly used in the caption of
Masonic documents as expressive of the object
of Masonry, and of what the true Mason supposes
himself to have attained . It has a
recondite meaning. In the primeval ages and
in the early mythology, darkness preceded