The Lodge Room.

The term " Tracing Board" is in itself a misnomer . What is referred to as one of the immovable jewels should be the " Trestle Board . " The pictures above referred to , and commonly called Tracing Boards , are but so many devices to save Worshipful Masters trouble . In days gone by when the Worshipful

Master wished to lecture the brethren , lie made the devices necessary to illustrate his lecture , in chalk , on the floor of the lodge or on an oilcloth laid down for the purpose . In course of time it occurred to an ingenious brother to transfer the oilcloth or canvas to an easel , and to make the illustrations permanent .

The result is to crowd the picture with a series of emblems more or less Masonic , without much reference to unity of effect , 'and its principal use now , is to serve as a useful refresher to the lecturer ' s memory ; and the writer has often wished when delivering the First Principal ' s lecture in the chapter that some similar contrivance existed for the same purpose .

The confusion between Tracing and 'I restlc Boards originated with the French Masons , and Dr . Oliver keeps it up ( Landmarks , i , 132 ) . There is a connection between the two , however , in that the actual Trestle Board is depicted on the so-called Tracing Board .

The Master Masons in the middle ages employed a board—¦ mounted on trestles , hence the name—divided , like the pavement of the lodge , into equal squares , each of which was a unit of measure and proportion , equal to a perch of i 6 i square feet in English lodges , and 23 k square feet in Continental lodges .

If we look at the representation on the Tracing Board ( we shall continue to employ this designation of the pictures ) it will be seen that all the vertical lines or those lines which recede from the vision , converge to a vanishing point , or point ol sight ,

" the centre of a circle , " at which , if all lines meet , " a Master Mason cannot err . " Similarly all the horizontal lines diminish in their relative spacing , and the rungs of Jacob ' s ladder are practically a continuation .

These lines , vertical and horizontal , form the axial proportions of scale of building " in cubes , " and the two measuring or distance points are found at the sides of the Tracing Board in circles marked N . and S . Jacob ' s ladder forms a perspective scale of heights for designing the tower , each rung equalling , in

relative perspective the proportionate unit of measurement of each mosaic square . The diagonals of each mosaic square should—if the board be truly depicted—meet when produced at the points marked N . and S ., referred to for that reason , as measuring or distance points .

The indented border formed a scale of measurement for proportioning out the length of the nave , and should be seven mosaics up to the point of sight , this being the ratio generally employed . When a measurement was required , the Master

generally proceeded from the point of sight down one of the vertical converging lines , to the base of the board to find the required unit ol measurement , or—in other words—he left the East and proceeded to the West , — " to find thai which was lost . "

After the Master had traced or lined out his arrangement on the board , the flat drawings , not in perspective , were geometrically set out on the mosaic floor of the lodge by a Craftsman . For example , the Master of a lodge who wished to design a church , would begin by placing the columns of the nave along the intersections formed on one vertical line , and would then

allow two mosaics for the width of the nave , and one for each aisle . The heig ht would be measured in like manner , and the whole of the ground p lan and interior would be developed in a series of cubes in true perspective . The measurements would then all be ascertained by counting the mosaics . The most

remarkable specimen of this kind of designing is Amiens Cathedral , built in 1220 , by Master . Mason Robert de Luzarche . The whole edifice is comprised in an isomrtrical or perspective cube of 216 smaller cubes or mosaics , each measuring 23 J , feet in length , breadth , and height .

The use of the board by Persian and Indian builders forms the subject of a very interesting paper by Bro . Purdon Clarke , I . P . M . of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , which was read at their meeting on May 5 , i < < J 3- The illustrations accompanying the paper are exceptionally valuable .

Let us now consider the lectures which are illustrated by the p ictorial representations generally called Tracing Boards . Several statements in the ; lecture of the i ° , to which the purist might take exception , have been already alluded to in notes on " the pavement and the porchway ante , and do not

need further reference . The allusion to David s " inadvertently numbering the people , heard in some lodges , seems to require correction , as that monarch not only formed the plan but carried it out even against the expressed advice of his

commander-inchief , Joab , who in undertaking a task he thoroughly disliked , contrived to make the census invalid by leaving out an important section of the people . The references lo the Volume of the Sacred Law , and its

The Lodge Room.

position 111 the Craft , will form the subject of a special article later , and , therefore , need not b . e entertained at present . The explanations of the square , level , and plumb-line , are objected to by some on the ground that such explanations belong to a superior degree and cannot , therefore , be fitly made in an

inferior degree . They are quite in order , however , as the explanation given is not that of certain working tools , but of certain jewels appertaining to certain officers . If the objection be a good one , then the jewels themselves should be removed from lodge when working in the i ° . If the jewels are tolerated ,

surely the explanation can be . We have alread y given explanations which serve to throw additional li ght on the references to the circle and the point within it . The consideration of the exact relations of the circle with the parallel lines belongs to the theory of projections and reciprocations ,

The lecture on the Tracing Board in the Fellow Craft Degree , is unfortunatel y not often heard . Notwithstanding its many inaccuracies , it is useful in that it reiterates a considerable portion of the ceremonial working , and thus serves the purpose of impressing upon the candidate ' s memory what he is very likely to forget .

There is no scriptural ground , or any other , for asserting that Entered Apprentices received their wages in corn , wine , and oil , and Fellow Crafts theirs in currency . The picture leaves much to be desired on the score of accuracy . For instance , a porch is referred to in the lecture , but no such appendage is illustrated .

In 1 Kings , vi 5 , 6 , and S , there is reference to the inner chambers , where it is stated that the door for the middle chamber was in the riafit side of the house , whereas the staircase

clearly winds up to the left side , and it certainly did not face the main entrance to the temple visible to all passers by . Moreover , in the Y . S . L ., we are told the chambers were built against Ihe wall . °

The two pillars have been described at length in a former article , and we need only state here that the mention of the celestial and terrestrial globes is an anachronism , as the first terrestrial globe on record was that made by Anaximander of

Miletus , about 5 S 0 B . C ., that is , some four centuries after the building of the temple . Again the floor of the house was overlaid with beaten gold , i Kings , v . 30 , and certainly was not laid out in squares .

I he Tracing Board in the Third Degree may serve as a device for the brethren to moralize upon , but regarded as an historical device both it and the lecture are of little value . The lecture which it illustrates is all embodied in the ceremony , and for that reason acquires an importance which makes it most desirable that its accuracy should be beyond question .

Ihe Holy of Holies possessed neither Porch nor Dormer . None was needed , as the entrance was through the veil , and the Shekinah gave all the light necessary , and moreover it was only entered once a year . The square pavement is an error in this

case as in the former . The circumstances under which the High Priest entered the 1 Ioly of Holies are detailed at length in Leviticus , xvi , and there is not one word about prayer " for peace and tranquillity .

The most inaccurate statement of all is that which sets forth the place of Hiram Abifs interment . Intra-mural interment was forbidden altogether among the Jews , and the compiler of the lecture seems to have imagined the temple was a sort of Westminster Abbey or Valhalla for Ihe reception of the illustrious dead .

The Call To Arms.

THE CALL TO ARMS .

SOUTH AFRICA . From the East and the West , from the North and the South , they come And they come in defence of the land they still call " horns . " The Lion ' s whelps crouch low at the Lion ' s mane , Ready to fight for freedom once again .

Britannia never was served as she is now ; Trouble may come , but loyalty smooths her brow ; Her sons , for the Empire flock to her standards fas ' , i At her absolute unity Europe stands aghast . Calm and steadfast we stand through stress ani strife Never to yield whilst England still ' hath life : Battles are won and lost , but yet , I ween—This our message though oceans roll between .

Brothers , our welcome daily greets your ears , For Queen and country , casting out all fears ; Ours , too , burn as we hear your words of bve ; Faith in our destiny and in God abo / e I And to our cousins in lar Columbia ' s land , What can I say , but—Take us by the hand ; Blood is thicker than water—Tell the world For freedom our banners lotrelliee shall be unfur ' ei !

liMRA HOLMES , Dov . rcourt , Author of " At the Oakenholt , " Valerian Varo , " & c , January , 1900 .