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

42 AITCHISON'S
AIX-LA-CHAPELLE
formerly applied to Apprentices is, under our
present organization, made applicable only to
those who have become Master Masons .
2 . The applicant must be worthy . We are
to presume that every Mason is " a good man
and true " until a Lodge has pronounced to
the contrary . Every Mason who is " in good
standing," that is, who is a regularly contributing
member of a Lodge, is to be considered
as " worthy," in the technical sense of the
term . An expelled, a suspended, or a nonaffiliated
Mason does not meet the required
condition of " a regularly contributing member
." Such a Mason is therefore not
" worthy," and is not entitled to Masonic
assistance .
3 . The giver is not expected to exceed his
ability in the amount of relief . The written
law says, " you are not charged to do beyond
your ability " ; the ritual says, that your
relief must be " without material injury to
yourself or family ." The principle is the same
in both .
4 . The widow and orphans of a Master
Mason have the claim of the husband and
father extended to them . The written law
says nothing explicitly on this point, but the
unwritten or ritualistic law expressly declares
that it is our duty "to contribute to the relief
of a worthy, distressed brother, his widow and
orphans ."
5 . And lastly, in granting relief or assistance,
the Mason is to be preferred to the profane
. He must be placed " before any other
poor people in the same circumstances ."
These are the laws which regulate the doctrine
of Masonic aid and assistance . They are
often charged by the enemies of Masonry with
a spirit of exclusiveness . But it has been shown
that they are in accordance with the exhortation
of the Apostle, who would do good " especially
to those who are of the household,"
and they have the warrant of the law of nature
; for everyone will be ready to say, with
that kindest-hearted of men, Charles Lamb,
" I can feel for all indifferently, but I cannot
feel for all alike . I can be a friend to a worthy
man, who, upon another account, cannot be
my mate or fellow . I cannot like all people
alike ." And so as Masons, while we should be
charitable to all persons in need or in distress,
there are only certain ones who can claim the
aid and assistance of the Order, or of its disciples,
under the positive sanction of Masonic
law .
Aitchison's - Haven Lodge (also spelled
Atcheson, Achison ) . This was one of the
oldest Operative Lodges consenting to the formation
of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in
1736 . The age of this Lodge, like many or
most of the oldest Lodges of Scotland, is not
known. Some of its members signed the St .
Clair Charters in 1600-1601 . The place of
its meeting (Aitchison-Haven) is no longer on
the map, but was in the county of Midlothian .
The origin of the town was from a charter of
James V., dated 1526, and probably the Lodge
dated near that period . Aitchison's-Haven
was probably the first meeting-place, but they
seem to have met at Musselburgh at a later
period .
Lyon, in his History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,
speaks of trouble in the Grand Quarterly
communication respecting representatives
from this Lodge when (May, 1737) it was
" agreed that Atcheson's Haven be deleted
out of the books of the Grand Lodge, and no
more called on the rolls of the Clerk's highest
peril." It was restored to the roll in 1814, but
becoming dormant, it was finally cut off in
1866 . The Lodge of Edinburgh has long enjoyed
the distinction of having the oldest preserved
Lodge minute, which dated July, 1599 .
Just recently Bro. R . E . Wallace-James has
brought to light a minute-book bearing this
title : The Buik of the Actis and Ordinans of
the Nobile Maisteris and fellows of Craft of the
Ludg of Aitchison's heavine, and contains a
catalogue of the names of the fellows of Craft
that are presently in the Zeir of God 1598 .
The first page of this rare book bears in a
bold hand the date, " 1598 ."
The minute is as follows :
The IX day of Januerie the Zeir of God
upon ye quhilk day Robert Widderspone was
maid fellow of Craft in ye presens of Wilzam
Aytone Elder, Johne Fender being Warden,
Johne Pedden Thomas Pettencrief John Crafurd
George Aytone Wilzame Aytone younger
Hendrie Petticrief all fellowis of Craft upon
ve quhilk day he chois George Aytone Johne
Pedden to be his intenders and instructouris
and also ye said Robert hes payit his xx sh .
and his gluffis to everie Maister as efferis . See
vol. xxiv ., Trans. Quat. Cor . Lodge .
[E. E . C .]
Aitchison's-Haven Manuscript . One of
the " Old Charges," or records of Masonry
now in the custody of the Grand Lodge of
Scotland, formerly preserved in the archives
of the Aitchison-Haven Lodge, which met at
Musselburgh in Scotland . The MS . is engrossed
in the minute-book of Aitchison-
Haven Lodge . The writer attests to his transcription
in the following manner : " Insert by
me undersub and the 19" of May, 1666, Jo .
Auchinleck, clerk to the Masones of Achisones
Lodge."
It has been reproduced (with 24 lines in facsimile)
by D . Murray Lyon in his History of
the Lodge of Edinburgh .
Aix-la-Chapelle . (In German, Aachen.)
A city of Germany, remarkable in Masonic
history for a persecution which took place in
the eighteenth century, and of which Gadicke
(Freimaur . Lex .) gives the following account :
In the year 1779, Ludwig Grienemann, a
Dominican monk, delivered a course of Lenten
sermons, in which he attempted to prove that
the Jews who crucified Christ were Freemasons,
that Pilate and Herod were Wardens in a
Mason's Lodge, that Judas, previous to his
betrayal of his Master, was initiated into the
Order, and that the thirty pieces of silver,
which he is said to have returned, was only the
fee which he paid for his initiation . Aix-la-
Chapelle being a Roman Catholic city, the
magistrates were induced, by the influence of