Candidates For The Degrees.

Fraternity by the laxity of a single lodge or brother in accepting or recommending for acceptance a person who , in character , temper , or other respects , is likely to prove an undesirable member . Bro . PARKER pointed out that , though the attention of lodges has been again and again called to this question ,

many " undesirable additions were not seldom made to the Craft , " and the advice he gave to his audience may well be repeated here . " It was obvious , " he said , " that no one should be admitted who was not in a position to maintain himself and family in comfort , or likely to be not

only a credit , but a source of strength to the Craft . The character and position of every candidate should , therefore , be thoroughly inquired into by the lodge before the ballot was taken , and undesirable persons rigorously excluded . Above all , it was desirable to exclude persons who were addicted to vices , which

were sure to bring discredit and distress on themselves and on all concerned with them . " In thus framing his advice , Bro . PARKER entered somewhat more into detail than others who have drawn attention to the same question , but though differently expressed , it is precisely the same advice which the late Bro .

J HERVEY , Grand Secretary , was in the habit of giving on the occasion of his consecrating a new lodge . It is the same advice which Bro . Col . SHADWELL H . CLERKE , the . present G . Secretary , considers it is necessary he should give on the same occasions ; and it is tendered everywhere in the provinces by a

Prov . G . Master or his representative , under similar circumstances . Yet , in spite of the injunctions of these distinguished brethren , it has recently been most conspicuously in evidence that many men have been received into Freemasonry who would be a disgrace to any society . Thus , at the Boys' School Festival , on the 3 rd

instant , Bro . GEORGE PLUCKNETT , P . G . D ., the much respected Treasurer of the Institution , considered it his duty in replying for the toast of Prosperity of that Charity , and expressing his thanks to the ladies who had honoured the meeting with their presence , to apologise to the latter " for

the noise that had disgraced the gathering . " On that occasion language was used and conduct adopted in the presence of ladies which we venture to think , if they had been used at a meeting of costermongers , would have resulted in the unceremonious eviction of the offenders . We know also ,

unfortunately too well , what happened at the meeting of the General Committee on the 6 th June , and also at sundry meetings of the Boys' School Court and Committee last year ; and therefore , in expressing our gratitude to the Dist . G . Master of the Punjab for his outspokenness in censuring those lodges and

brethren who neglect to exercise due caution in admitting candidates into Freemasonry , we are in fact addressing his censure to those lodges at home which it is clear from the scenes at the Alexandra

Palace on the 3 rd inst ., and in the Boys' School Courts and Committees , both this and last year , have been negligent in their exercise of the necessary caution . The other point to which Bro . PARKER referred was the examination of candidates for

advancement to a higher Degree , which in the majority of cases he considered a mere sham . There is certainly a considerable amount of laxity in this matter in many lodges , and we quite agree with him that all such candidates should be carefully prepared before they are allowed to make that further progress in

Freemasonry which we are taught to believe is ascribable to merit alone . It is not a very difficult ordeal for a brother to pass through , and if a candidate cannot take the small amount of trouble that is required to pass it , he should not be advanced . Bro . PARKER deserves thanks for the outspoken manner in which he has dealt with these points .

Brief Essays On Curious Subjects.

BRIEF ESSAYS ON CURIOUS SUBJECTS .

4 . TRIANGLES . Continuing our remarks on Triangles , we now approach the PENTALPHA , sometimes styled "Pentaculum Salomonis , " which we must not , however , confound with the Hexal pha , or sixpointed star . The meaning of the Greek terms often employed must be sufficiently apparent : Pentalpha implies 5 A ' s , and

Hexalpha refers to the 6 capital A ' s which the angles of these symbols present to the observer . The disciples and followers of Pythagoras paid very special respect to the emblem now under consideration . In the outer angles they placed the letters that make up their word for health or Hygeia , though latterly the Latin Salus was occasionally used . This school of philosophers looked upon Two , or the Duad , as imperfect and incomplete , and herein agreed with the Kabbalists who required one point for each end of the balance , and a third to denote equilibrium : but when the first even was added to the first

odd number—Unity being on a higher plane , and not entering into the calculation—the product , 5 , became of great importance . A ready way to represent this emblem is to stand with separated feet and arms extended horizontally , when

Brief Essays On Curious Subjects.

the head and extremities yield what the mystical students desio-. nate as the microcosm ( man ) , or the smaller creation . It was formerly employed as a preservation against the malevolence of witches and evil spirits—and it entered largely into the

ceremonial necromancy of even the mediaeval times . Faust and other professors used Pentacles , of which copies may still be seen by such as are curious in these matters . We must be careful to observe that Pentacle has a different meaning , for it alludes to the God of Nature , and is a much more exhaustive phrase .

The Pentalpha has been discovered on remains all over the world , and is frequently found on ancient coins . We know that it was quite common amongst Druids , Hindus , and Egyptians ; indeed , the strangeness would be if it were not so met with

when we recollect that all these religions , amongst others , spranofrom one common origin , and must , necessarily , have adopted even , if with modified interpretations , the symbology of the parent cult .

Pursuing their custom of incorporating archaic symbols , to which they imputed new renderings , the early Christians saw in this shape the five wounds of our Lord depicted , and , now , some of our would-be instructors wish us to believe that the star emblazoned in lodge is typical of that light which guided the Magi to the cradle at Bethlehem .

There are various alleged powers derived from the different internal , external , acute and obtuse angles of the Pentacle , but the explanations are beside our present purpose ; we would , however , desire our readers to thoughtfully consider the importance it assumes at a certain part of the " raising" of a Master Mason .

The Pentalpha is occasionall y spoken of as the Triple Triangle , but in such a connection the expression is confusing and misleading . The jewel worn by our Grand Principals , whether interlaced or open , is the Triple form , so is the

ninepointed star formed of three triangles super-imposed—another example being the Indian method of picturing the Trimurti by a trio of concentric triangles , inside of which they write their ineffable word A . U . M ., not O . M ., as is often stated .

The members of the celebrated "Pilgrim" Lodge ( London ) , which works in German , wear a Trowel as a portion of their distinctive badge , and our American Brethren explain this working tool , which , shaped as a Pyramid , played an important part in the Nilotic mysteries ; but it has not been adopted , under our Constitution , as a requisite article of lodge furniture .

In many respects classical scholars have an advantage over their less favoured fellows , and particularly so in the ease with which they should grasp the evident analogies constantly occurring ; for instance , the reverence the Greeks entertained for the sacred triangle , or Delta , the myth of the three gates , and so on .

The Pentalpha , equilateral and certain forms of the triple triangles , can be drawn in single lines without lifting the pencil . Reflection on the nine-pointed star does not enter into the present scheme as it is beyond the ordinary teaching in the Blue

Degrees , and instruction thereon may , or should , be procurable in the Rosicrucian College of London , as under the wing of the Southern Jurisdiction of the A . & A . Rite in the United States , whose venerable head , General Albert Pike , is by far the most philosophic Mason of the age .

The right-angled is yet another form of the Triangle , but it has been relegated to Masonic limbo . It exists amongst us , now , only in the distinguishing jewel of the Past Master , and may possibly remind some of us , thus adorned , of a day , long before we were brought to light , when we sat uneasily on account

of insufficient knowledge of this same 47 th Problem of Euclid . To Pythagoras , with questionable veracity , is ascribed the solution of this question , and it is frequently named after him . Formerly this Triangle surmounted the cubical altar . An ordinary explanation of this figure is that the upright represents

Osiris , the base Isis , while the hypothenuse , or connecting line , is Horus ( the product ) ; but it is as hard to understand how the square of the child is equal to the combined squares of both Father and Mother , as to believe that the alleged inventor of this demonstration sacrificed a hecatomb of oxen to celebrate so

auspicious an event . There must surely be some deeper reason than the writer has yet met with . Many of our trusted leaders have told us that Masonic Ritual is saturated with the tenets of Pythagoras—hence the reason of the frequent recurrence of his name in these notes . We must , however , keep steadily in view that this sage spen very many years learning at the fountain head from Egypt | an hierophants , Arabian mystics , Kabbalistic Rabbins , Iranian Magi , and Hindu yogis , the secret wisdom which was m t 1 watchful keeping of these Illuminati . For this reason , as w ' as other considerations , we conclude that the system , which bea his imprint , is , in reality , a digest of what he acquired fron 1 * various instructors , and moulded into a code harmonising w the bent of his own mind . ' ., C . A . M .