Still Running Off at the Keyboard

"NOACHIDE" IN ROBERT MACOY'S _A DICTIONARY OF FREEMASONRY_

NOACHITE or PRUSSIAN KNIGHT, sometimes called The Very Ancient Order of Noachites. The 21st degree of the Ancient and Accepted rite. The traditional history of the degree is carried back to an early period; for it commemorates the destruction of the Tower of Babel. It is founded upon the immutable principles of Justice. The meeting is called Grand Chapter, and must be held in a retired place, on the night of the full moon, in each month. The place is lighted by a large window or opening, so arranged as to admit the light of themoon, the only light allowed. The presiding officer sits facing the moonlight; he is styled Lieutenant Commander; the other officers are Warden, Knight of Eloquence, Knight of the Chancery, Knight of the Finances, Master of Ceremonies, Warder, and Standard-Bearer. The sash, worn from right to left, is a broad black ribbon; the jewel is a golden triangle traversed by an arrow, point downward; on the jewel is an arm upraised, holding a naked sword, and around it the motto "Fiat Justitia, Ruat Coelum."

NOAH, PRECEPTS OF. Certain commandments transmitted to the present time, in documents of the ancient stonemasons, bear this name. They require: 1. The renunciation of all idols; 2. The worship of the true God; 3. The commission of no murder; 4. Freedom from the crime of incest; 5. The avoidance of theft; 6. The practice of justice; 7. The abstaining from flesh with blood in it.*

*The Rabbins affirm that God gave Noah and his sons certain precepts, which contain the natural duty common to all men; the observance of which, alone, will be sufficient to save them. The Hebrews would not suffer any stranger to dwell in their country unless he would conform to them. Maimonides says that the first six of these precepts were given by Adam; the seventh was added by Noah. What inclines us to doubt of their antiquity is that no mention is made of these precepts in Scripture, in Onkelos, in Josephus, or in Philo; nor in any ancient father. -Calmet. (p. 268)

The book contains a second dictionary called _A DICTIONARY OF SYMBOLICAL MASONRY_. In that section is this entry:

NOACHIDAE. Sons of Noah; the first name of Freemasons; whence we may observe that believing the world was framed by one supreme God, and is governed by him; and loving and worshipping him; and honouring our parents; and loving our neighbour as ourselves; and being merciful even to brute beasts, is the oldest of all religions. (p. 600)