LAVER, BRAZEN. Moses was directed to make, among other articles of furniture for the services of the tabernacle, a laver of brass. It was held as a vessel of great sacredness, in which water was kept for the ablutions of the priests before entering upon the actual discharge of their sacred duties of offering sacrifices before the Lord. In the ancient mysteries the laver with its pure water was used to cleanse the neophyte of the impurities of the outer world, and to free him from the imperfections of his past or sinful life. It is a necessary article in many of the higher degrees, for the ablution of the candidate in his progress to a higher and purer system of knowledge.

JEWISH PRIEST AND LAVER

LAY BROTHERS. An order bearing this name, and appearing to have some connection with the corporations of builders and stone masons, was founded in the 11th century. It became a numerous body, the members of which were divided into two classes. They were skilled in all the arts, especially those connected with architecture. also an order of Lay Brothers in the Strict Observance.

There was

LAZARUS, ORDER OF. 1. A Sardinian Order of Knighthood. 2. The memory of a monk of this name belonging to the 9th century is celebrated, February 21, by the Roman church, because neither the threats nor violence of Theophilus, Emperor of Constantinople, could prevent him from painting images of the Saints. This monk afterward became the patron of the sick, particularly of lepers, and in Palestine was instituted the "United Order of St. Lazarus and of our beloved Lady of Mt. Carmel"-the members of which were called Knights Hospitallers of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. The founder of this Order is unknown. Its object was the care of the sick and of poor pilgrims. Lewis VII. of France introduced it into Europe, where it established numerous hospitals for the same class of diseased persons. 3. This is also the name of a Masonic degree, the members of which wear an emerald cross upon the breast.

LEVITICON. Name of the Ritual-book of the Parisian New Templars, in which the secret instructions of the Order, and the ceremonial forms for the reception of members, in the several degrees, are preserved.

LEWIS, OR LOUVETEAU. The words Lewis and Louvetean, which, in their original meanings, import two very different

things, have in Masonry an equivalent signification-the former being used in English, and the latter in French, to designate the son of a Mason. The English word lewis is a term belonging to operative Masonry, and signifies an iron cramp, which is inserted in a cavity prepared for the purpose in any large stone, so as to give attachment to a pulley and hook, whereby the stone may be conveniently raised to any hight, and deposited in its proper position. In this country the lewis has not been adopted as a symbol of Freemasonry, but in the English ritual it is found among the emblems placed upon the tracing-board of the Entered-Apprentice, and is used in that degree as a symbol of strength, because by its assistance the operative Mason is enabled to lift the heaviest stones with a comparatively trifling exertion of physical power. Extending the symbolic allusion still further, the son of a Mason is in England called a lewis, because it is his duty to support the sinking powers and aid the failing strength of his father, or, as Oliver has expressed it, "to bear the burden and heat of the day, that his parents may rest in their old age, thus rendering the evening of their lives peaceful and happy." By the constitutions of England, a lewis may be initiated at the age of eighteen, while it is required of all other candidates that they shall have arrived at the maturer age of twenty-one. The Book of Constitutions had prescribed that no Lodge should make "any man under the age of twenty-one years, unless by a dispensation from the Grand Master or his Deputy." The Grand Lodge of England, in its modern regulations, has availed itself of the license allowed by this dispensing power, to confer the right of an earlier initiation on the sons of Masons. The word louveteau signifies in French a young wolf. The application of the term to the son of a Mason is derived from a peculiarity in some of the initiations into the ancient mysteries. In the mysteries of Isis, which were practiced in Egypt, the candidate was made to wear the mask of a wolf's head. Hence, a wolf and a candidate in these mysteries were often used as synonymous terms. Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, says, in reference to this custom, that the ancients perceived a relationship between the sun, the great symbol in these mysteries, and a wolf, which the candidate represented at his initiation. For, he remarks, as the flocks of sheep and cattle fly and disperse at the sight of the wolf, so the flocks of stars disappear at the approach of the sun's light. The learned reader will also recollect that in the Greek language lukos signifies both the sun and a wolf. Hence, as the candidate in the Isiac mysteries was called a wolf, the son of a Freemason in the French lodges is called a young wolf or a louveteau. The louveteau in France, like the lewis in England, is invested with peculiar privileges. He also is permitted

to unite himself with the order at the early age of eighteen years. The baptism of a louveteau is sometimes performed by the Lodge of which his father is a member, with impressive ceremonies. The infant, soon after birth, is taken to the lodge-room, where he receives a Masonic name, differing from that which he bears in the world; he is formally adopted by the Lodge as one of its children, and should he become an orphan, requiring assistance, he is supported and educated by the Fraternity, and finally established in life. In this country, these rights of a lewis or a louveteau are not recognized, and the very names were, until lately, scarcely known, except to a few Masonic scholars.-MACKEY.

LIBATION. Latin libatio, from libare, to pour out. Properly a drink offering. Libations were frequent at meals among the ancient Greeks and Romans, and consisted generally of wine, though libations to the dead consisted sometimes of blood or milk. In sacrifices, the priest was first obliged to taste the wine, with which he sprinkled the victims, and caused those to do the same who offered the sacrifice. They consisted in offerings of bread, wine, and salt. Libations are in use in several of the high degrees of Freemasonry, particularly in the Templar system.

LIBERTAS. The name of the Goddess of Liberty among the ancient Romans. According to Hyginus, she was the daughter of Jupiter and Juno. Crowned with a diadem and covered with a vail, she personifies liberty in general. The modern Libertas, or Goddess of Liberty, is a female figure, the head covered with a cap. The cap has always been a symbol of liberty, and in the Masonic brotherhood it is also a sign of equality, and hence, in former times, the figure of Libertas was often found among the decorations of the Lodge, and Masons wore their hats while engaged in the labors of the Craft.

LIBERTINE. By this name is designated a person who is governed by no principle, and restrained by no laws of morality and virtue, who selfishly and basely seeks his own gratification and advancement, at whatever cost to others. Such a man is, of course, in every sense unfit to be a Mason. In the Ancient Charges it is laid down as a fundamental rule that " a Freemason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine." Here the word implies a person who rejects all religious truths, i. e., an infidel.

LILY OF THE VALLEY. A side degree in the Templar system of France.

LINGAM. The symbol of the creating and producing power, sacred in the Egyptian, Grecian, and Indian myste ries. [See PHALLUS.]

LOWEN. It is difficult to ascertain the exact etymology of this term. The word occurs in the Ancient Charges of the Lodge of Antiquity, London, as follows: "Twelvethly: That a Master or Fellow make not a mould stone, square, nor rule to no lowen, nor let no lowen work within their lodge, nor without to mould stone." It is evident the word is employed to designate an ignorant, reckless, wild fellow, wholly unsuited to be the companion of Masons. It may be the old Saxon word löwen, lion, sometimes used as a general term for wild beasts. Hence, metaphorically, it may properly be applied to an ignorant, stupid, brutish person.

LUSTRATION. A purification, or ceremony of expiation, and also, in the Mysteries, of preparation. The word is derived from lustrare, to expiate. A solemn purification or consecration of the Roman people, by means of a sacrificium lustrale, was performed after every census. It consisted of a bull, a sow, a sheep or ram-suoveta urilia. The ram was dedicated to Jupiter, the swine to Ceres, and the bull to Mars. This solemn act was called lustrum condere. Masonry the word means a purification, and is of a moral character, although in some degrees an actual lustration by water is performed.

In

LUX. Latin for Light. It is applied to Freemasonry because Masonry is a fountain of intelligence and wisdom. It has been a favorite word in the symbolism of all mystic orders.

LUX E TENEBRIS. Light out of Darkness. This device teaches that when man is enlightened by reason he is able to penetrate the darkness and obscurity which ignorance and superstition spread abroad.

L. V. C. LABOR VIRIS CONVENIT. "Labor is useful to men." A device in the Templar system of Baron Hunde, which was engraved on the inside of the rings worn by the Knights, and also upon their seals and escutcheons. It is also the device of the "Scottish Lodge of Nine Sisters," in Brunswick.

LYONS, THE SYSTEM OF. The name applied to the reformed ritual and regulations adopted by the "Chevaliers bienfaisants de la Sainte Cite," benevolent Knights of the Holy City, at the convention of Lyons, A. D. 1778.

M.

MACBENAC. A word well known to Masons. It is derived from the Hebrew, and signifies "He lives in the SON."

MAGIANS. The name of the members of the priestly order among the ancient Medes and Persians. The word is of Indian origin, being derived from mag, which, in the Pehlvi language, signifies priest. In the last half of tho seventh century before Christ, Zoroaster reformed and reorganized the order, and divided the members into three classes or degrees: 1. Herbeds, or Apprentices; 2. Mobeds, or Teacher and Master; 3. Destur Mobeds, or Perfect Master. The Magians claimed to have the gift of prophecy, a supernatural wisdom, and power to control the secret forces of nature. They were held in the highest reverence among the people, and no transaction of importance took place without or against their advice. Hence their almost unbounded influence in private as well as in public life; and, quite apart from the education of the young princes being in their hands, they also formed the constant companions of the ruling monarchs. Their mode of life was of the simplest and severest, befitting their station. The food, especially of the lower classes, consisted almost entirely of flour and vegetables; they wore white garments, slept on the ground, and were altogether subjected to the most rigorous discipline. The initiation consisted of the most imposing and mysterious ceremonies. Purifications of several months duration, and fastings of the severest test, had to precede it; and it was long before the candidate could be led into the realms of the dead, where all is darkness and misery, thence to the higher stages of glory and perpetual life. Gradually, however, their influence, which once had been powerful enough to raise them to the throne itself, began to wane, and in the course of time, its members dwindled down to the number of seven, and finally to extinction. In the seventeenth century an order of Magians was established in Florence, and still later a sub-division of the order of Rosicrucians bore this name. We find, also, the appellation Magus applied to the 8th degree, or the 1st degree of the Grand Mysteries of the Illuminati, to the 9th and last degree of the German, Gold and Rose-Cross, and to the 7th grade of the Clerical system of the Strict Observance. Thory also mentions a Sovereign Magus of the 5th degree of the Clerical-Cabalistic system.

MAGNA CHARTA. The great charter, so called, obtained by the English barons from King John, June 5, 1215, and confirmed by his successor, Henry III. It has been viewed