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

ATITELSTAN
AUFSEHER 85
principle of salutary fear which should prompt
him to do good and to eschew evil, and his
oath can, of necessity, be no stronger than his
word . Masons, looking to the dangerous
tendency of such a tenet, have wisely discouraged
it, by declaring that no atheist can
be admitted to participate in their Fraternity ;
and the better to carry this law into effect,
every candidate, before passing through an
of the ceremonies of initiation, is required,
publicly and solemnly, to declare his trust in
God .
Athelstan . The grandson of the great
Alfred ascended the throne of England in
924, and died in 940. The Old Constitutions
describe him as a great patron of Masonry .
Thus, one of them, the Roberts MS ., printed
in 1722, and claiming to be five hundred years
old, says : "He began to build many Abbeys,
Monasteries, and other religious houses, as
also castles and divers Fortresses for defence
of his realm. He loved Masons more than
his father; he greatly study'd Geometry, and
sent into many lands for men expert in the
science. He gave them a very large charter
to hold a yearly assembly, and power to correct
offenders in the said science ; and the king
himself caused a General Assembly of all
Masons in his realm, at York, and there made
many Masons, and gave them a deep charge
for observation of all such articles as belonged
unto Masonry, and delivered them the said
Charter to keep ."
Atholl Masons . The "Ancient" Masons
are sometimes called "Atholl" Masons, because
they were presided over by the Third
Duke of Atholl as their Grand Master from
1771 to 1774, and by the Fourth Duke from
1775 to 1781, and also from 1791 to 1813 .
(See Ancient Masons.)
Atossa. The daughter of King Cyrus of
Persia, Queen of Cambyses, and afterward of
Darius Hystaspes, to whom she bore Xerxes .
Referred to in the degree of Prince of Jerusalem,
the Sixteenth of the Scottish Rite .
Attendance . See Absence .
Attouchement. The name given by the
French Masons to what the English call the
1
Attributes. The collar and jewel appropriate
to an officer are called his attributes .
The working tools and implements of Masonry
are also called its attributes . The word in
these senses is much more used by French
than by English Masons.
Atwood, Henry C . At one time of considerable
notoriety in the Masonic history of
NewYork . He was born in Connecticut about
the beginning of the present century, and removed
to the city of New York about 1825,
in which year he organized a Lodge for the
purpose of introducing the system taught by
Jeremy L . Cross, of whom Atwood was a
pupil . This system met with great oppositipn
from some of the most distinguished
Masons of the State, who favored the ancient
ritual, which had existed before the system of
Webb had been invented, from whom Cross
received his lectures . Atwood, by great smart-
ness and untiring energy, succeeded in making
the system which he taught eventually popular.
He took great interest in MasonT and
being intellectually clever, although not
learned, he collected a great number of admirers,
while the tenacity with which he maintained
his opinions, however unpopular they
might be, secured for him as many enemies .
He was greatly instrumental in establishing,
in 1837, the schismatic body known as the
St . John's Grand Lodge, and was its Grand
Master at the time of its union, in 1850, with
the legitimate Grand Lodge of New York .
Atwood edited a small Masonic periodical
called The Sentinel, which was remarkable for
the virulent and unmasonic tone of its articles .
He was also the author of a Masonic Monitor
of some pretensions. He died in 1860 .
Atys. The Mysteries of Atys in Phrygia,
and those of Cybele his mistress, like their
worship, much resembled those of Adonis and
Bacchus, Osiris and Isis . Their Asiatic origin
is universally admitted, and was with great
plausibility claimed by Phrygia, which contested
the palm of antiquity with Egypt .
They, more than any other people, mingled
allegory with their religious worship, and were
great inventors of fables ; and their sacred traditions
as to Cybele and Atys, whom all admit
to be Phrygian gods, were very various . In
all, as we learn from Julius Firmicus, they
represented by allegory the phenomena of
nature, and the succession of physical facts
under the veil of a marvelous history .
Their feasts occurred at the equinoxes,
commencing with lamentation, mourning,
groans, and pitiful cries for the death of Atys,
and ending with rejoicings at his restoration
to life .
" Audi, Vide, Tace ." (Hear, see, and be
silent.) A motto frequently found on Masonic
medals, and often appropriately used in
Masonic documents . It was adopted as its
motto by the United Grand Lodge of England
at the union between the "Ancients"
and the "Moderns " in 1813.
Auditor. An officer in the Supreme Council
of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United
States. His duty is, with the Committee on Finance,
to examine and report on the accounts of
the Inspector and other officers. This duty of
auditing the accounts of the Secretary and
Treasurer is generally entrusted, in Masonic
bodies, to a special committee appointed for
the purpose . In the Grand Lodge of England,
the accounts are audited annually by a
professional auditor, who must be a Master
Mason .
Auditors . The first class of the secret
system adopted by the Christians in their
early days. The second class were Catechumens,
and the third were The Faithful .
Aufseher. The German name for the
Warden of a Lodge. The Senior Warden is
called Erste Aufseher, and the Junior Warden,
Zweite Aufseher. The word literally
means an overseer. Its Masonic application
is technical .