Words and Obligations
by H. L. Haywood
According to all the knowledge thus far obtained
the old root lig, which has been in continuous use for more
than 2,000 years, has always and throughout the many
European languages in which it has had a place denoted a
tie, a band, a bond, to tie together with a cord or rope. This
has never been a one-way tie, as when a man ties his horse
to a post, but a two-way one, as when two men are tied to
each other. Lig has been preserved in our English speech in
such words as ligature, ligament, ligate. The whole family of
such words has the general meaning of "to tie together," "to
bind together."
Was the word "religion" formed from the root dig? Some
etymologists believe that it was, others that it was not; the
probabilities are that no man will ever discover the origin of
that great term, but if one did, and if it chanced to be one of
the words formed from lig, then the central idea would be
that far back in time men broke the tie which bound them to
God, and religion is the means by which the tie can be
restored.
About our own word "obligation" there can be no such doubt.
"Obligate" and "obligation," as they stand, are pure Latin
words, almost unchanged, and each of them is formed by
combining the root Iig, with the prefix ob, which meant "to
move toward," "to act toward," therefore "to obligate" has
always meant "to act so as to tie two things together." It will
from this be seen that in Freemasonry the word is used with
historical and literal accuracy, because the obligation is not a
one-way tie by which the candidate binds himself to the
lodge, but a two-way tie by means of which the candidate
and the lodge bind themselves to each other, and do so with
a three-fold tie that cannot be easily broken. (The "three" is
here used in a very old symbolic sense, in which it means
"infinite" - that is to say, there will always be in it as many
strands as may be needed.)
The word "swear" has been spoiled during the past century
by a perverted habit of using it in the sense of "to use
profane language," "to utter cursing." It is a pity, because the
word has a noble and dignified history, and in its original
meaning was something very beautiful. The Latins had
sermo, which meant "a conversation," and it is the same
word, it so happens, that we have in our "sermon," which
originally meant a discourse or conversation about religious
subjects. But since in a conversation there is much of one
answering another, sermo, in the form which it took in
modern languages came to have the general meaning of "to
give answer," "to answer to," and our word "swear" is the
form taken by it in the languages which originated in
northern Europe. "To swear" therefore means, and means
only, "I shall stand ready to answer for my own acts"; a man
pledges himself always to be responsible for what he does,
and not to try to evade responsibility, or to try to shift it to
another. (This evasion is vividly preserved in the old
sentence, "They all began to make excuse," "excuse"
meaning that each tried to blame another for what he himself
had done.)
The word "oath," like "swear," has been spoiled by using it to
denote some word or expletive which an angry man uses in
an act of profane language, but it ought never to be used in
that sense. It originated among the Teutonic languages of
northern Europe, and came into English through Anglo-
Saxon, and in those languages it always had a two-fold
meaning: first, in taking an oath a man made a solemn
promise, he asseverated his determination to do, or not to
do, certain things; second, he made that promise "in the
name of" God, or else of something sacred, something of the
highest authority. Thus, and to illustrate, there is evidence to
show that in one period of Craft history candidates took the
oath on a copy of the Old Charges, because they were the
Book of Constitutions, embodying the laws of highest
authority. When a man takes an oath in the name of God he
is not doing something light, or flippant, still less is he
sacrilegious; he is making it clear that in giving his pledge, or
solemn promise, he does so in the full consciousness that he
is answerable to the highest of all authorities.
The Latin plevire meant that a man undertook something, or
engaged himself, or took an obligation to perform a certain
act, but by the time it was adopted into modern European
languages in the form of "pledge," it had a more special
meaning. If a man makes a promise to perform an act, how
can the man to whom he makes the promise be sure of his
carrying it out? He needs a surety, therefore there arose the
custom by which a promiser deposited something of value
which he would forfeit if he failed; in consequence of this
custom "pledge" came to have two meanings, one to denote
the promise made, the other to denote the token, or security,
or thing of value thus placed ready for forfeit. This old usage
lights up vividly the promises or pledges which a candidate
makes. He is destitute, he does not have in his possession
anything of value at all, therefore how can he give his
pledge? The answer is that he puts himself in bond, pledges
himself, and that is the true meaning of taking an obligation
on his "honor as a man."
If a man "solemnly" promises or pledges something, what
does it mean? It does not mean, except in a species of
slang, to have a long, sour, unsmiling face, because a man
can be cheerful and solemn at the same time. The word
"solemn" has one of the most curious histories among all the
words in our language, and not only curious, but involved, so
that to give a complete account of it would call for whole
pages of print.
The Latins had "sollus," which meant "whole, entire"; with
that they combined annus, which meant "year"; this gave
them the word sollemnis, which later became sollenis, both
of which meant something which took place regularly, each
year; and this in turn came to be used almost exclusively of
religious observances; and since this usually meant public
and important observances, conducted by the state, and
participated in by everybody, the word came in time to mean
something of great importance, something sacred to every-
body, and something which had in it a great dignity. To give
a promise or pledge solemnly is to give it in that spirit.
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