without any previous understanding.  The sprig of acacia is a symbol of the immortality of the soul.  But this we know only because such meaning had been conventionally determined when the symbol was first established.  It is evident, then, that an allegory which is obscure is imperfect.  The enigmatical meaning should be easy of interpretation; and hence Lemiere, a French poet, has said, “L’allegorie habite un palais diaphane”—­Allegory lives in a transparent palace. All the legends of Freemasonry are more or less allegorical, and whatever truth there may be in some of them in an historical point of view, it is only as allegories, or legendary symbols, that they are important.

ALL-SEEING EYE.  A symbol of the third degree, of great antiquity.  See Eye.

ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY.  The first three degrees of Freemasonry; viz., Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason.  They are so called because they alone are supposed to have been practised by the ancient craft.  In the agreement between the two grand lodges of England in 1813, the definition was made to include the Royal Arch degree.  Now if by the “ancient craft” are meant the workmen at the first temple, the definition will be wrong, because the Royal Arch degree could have had no existence until the time of the building of the second temple.  But if by the “ancient craft” is meant the body of workmen who introduced the rites of Masonry into Europe in the early ages of the history of the Order, then it will be correct; because the Royal Arch degree always, from its origin until the middle of the eighteenth century, formed a part of the Master’s.  “Ancient Craft Masonry,” however, in this country, is generally understood to embrace only the first three degrees.

ANDERSON.  James Anderson, D.D., is celebrated as the compiler and editor of “The Constitutions of the Freemasons,” published by order of the Grand Lodge of England, in 1723.  A second edition was published by him in 1738.  Shortly after, Anderson died, and the subsequent editions, of which there are several, have been edited by other persons.  The edition of 1723 has become exceedingly rare, and copies of it bring fancy prices among the collectors of old masonic books.  Its intrinsic value is derived only from the fact that it contains the first printed copy of the “Old Charges,” and also the “General Regulations.”  The history of Masonry which precedes these, and constitutes the body of the work, is fanciful, unreliable, and pretentious to a degree that often leads to absurdity.  The craft are greatly indebted to Anderson for his labors in reorganizing the institution, but doubtless it would have been better if he had contented himself with giving the records of the Grand Lodge from 1717 to 1738 which are contained in his second edition, and with preserving for us the charges and regulations, which without his industry might have been lost.  No masonic writer would now venture to quote Anderson as authority for the history of the Order anterior to the eighteenth century.  It must also be added that in the republication of the old charges in the edition of 1738, he made several important alterations and interpolations, which justly gave some offence to the Grand Lodge, and which render the second edition of no authority in this respect.