Ernest And Falk.

m . an fitted for the art , without distinction of country , of creed , of social position , into their Order . ERNEST . Indeed !

FALK . Of course , this fundamental rule seems to take for granted the pre-existence of men already above these petty divisions , rather than to have for an object to create such ; yet the

nitre must exist in the air , before it clings to wall and chamber in the form of saltpetre . ERNEST . Oh yes . FALK . And why should not the Freemasons

be here permitted to make use of a usual artifice —that of carrying on a portion of their mysteries quite openly—to obviate suspicion , ever willing to suppose something else than it perceives ?

ERNEST . Why not ? FALK . Why should not the magician deal in broken silver , the better to conceal the truth that he can make it himself ?

ERNEST . Why not ? FALK . Ernest ! Do you hear me ? Y ' ou ans wer as in a dream , I think .

ERNEST . No , friend ! but I have enough ; enough for to-night . To-morrow—at earliest dawn—I leave for town .

FALK . SO soon ? and wh y ? ERNEST . YOU know me , and ask ? How long do you remain at the watering-place ' FALK . I came but the day before yesterday .

ERNEST . Then I shall see you again ere you leave . Farewell ! good night ! FALK . Good nieht ; farewell !

The spark had lighted : Ernest went away and became a Freemason . What lie at first found there is the subject of a fourth and fifth conversation , with which—the road divides .

Footsteps Of Freemasonry;

FOOTSTEPS OF FREEMASONRY ;

OR , FREEMASONRY IN RELATION TO AUTHENTIC HISTORY . By W . VISEH BEDOIFE , M . D ., J . AV ., 1329 ., Hon . Secictary Sphynx Lodge of Instiuctiou .

CConltnucd from page 132 J In pursuing our subject I cannot but remark that it is far from my desire to dogmatise , either as to the mode of our connection with ancient times generally , or with that particular branch of

ancient civilisation , whether Egyptian , Greek , or Roman , 'to which our traditions may be due . For my own part I sat down to investigate without preconceived opinions , collected the facts within my reach and arranged them , having little

more to do with the programme I then wrote , than to find the simplest words for the expression of those facts . A student of the French University , a lounger at the Sorbonne , and an habitue of the

College of France , I have certainly listened with delight to the successors of M . Guizot and other great men who have immortalised that spot , and tried to adopt their reasoning , being indebted to my note-book for some facts , and believe that

should a Kenan or Colenso arise in Freemasonry , we should neither lose our own stlf-respect , nor be lessened in the esteem ot the world by the light they would throw upon it . We have already pointed out enough to show ,

that we are really the children of an ancient people , of an old civilisation , where we see our doctrines and usages reflected as in a glass , and which have descended in an unbroken stream from this

source even although for a time , in passing through a dry and barren historical period , they may both in form and substance have partially disappeared from view , or be traced onl y with difficulty , per-

Footsteps Of Freemasonry;

haps with doubt . Still it is now with us in renewed life , and one may soliloquise with Wordsworth in his Duddon sonnets , " I thought of thee , my partner and my guide , As being passed away . Vain sympathy ,

For backward Dudden as I cast mine eyes , I see what was , and is , and will abide . Still glides the stream , and will for ever glide , Its form remains , its function still the same . " We will now resume our fragments .

WARDENS OR TRIBUNES . The former is the modern , the latter the ancient word . Warden signifies according to Blackstone , a guardian or custodian , equivalent to the Roman " custos . " In this sense Cicero hath it , ' ' Custo fani . " guardian of the temple , and

Horace says poetically , " Custos veraj virtutis rigidus que satelles . " " True virtue ' s . ure custodian and guard . " We ourselves derive this word from the French word " gardien . " Of late its conventional meaning has been much extended . If , however , the word

is modern , the Masonic signification is altogethei ancient , technical and specific . As already stated , Ntima , the kingly Roman and our royal founder , ordain .-d that " three should rule a lodge , " Latin " tres , ' dative cast " tribus , " hence the rulers of any collegium were

called Tribunes , although subsequently the numbers were modified . The Tribunes ( one of them being the W . Master ) form the governing body anil from the rani of Tribunes only can a Master be elected . Oui lectures also enforce the same doctrine , when

each Warden , on being questioned as to the emblem lie bears , repli . s , " this instrument refers to the measures I am bound to take in conjunction with your W . M . in ruling and governing thi . lodge . Cicero enforces this doctrine when he says .

"Tribuni ex collegio sententiae pronuntiant . " "The Tribunes ( Wardens ) pronounce the decisions of their coIL-ge or lodge . " FLnce tin functions of our Tribunes or Wardens , including the Master , are precisely analogous to those 01 the ancients , and it mig ht not be wrong to revert to that very ancient and noble word . It is also evident that tribunes were of different

rank , and possibly some members even had point , of precedence , as Horace in his satires alludes ti , something of this kind , when he says , " At Novius Collega gradu post me sedat uno . " " F 01 my ( brother ) or lodge fellow sits below me by one decree" ( Sat . 1 , 6 , 41 , ) and the word is here

used as a legal term , and in a legal sense . But there is a difficulty with even the most well known Roman things . Our lectures say , " Three rule a lodge , " because at the beginning three bore sway ; this is strictly true . " Five to hold a lodge , seven or more to make it p . rfect . " The

latter is not well accounted for by referring to the several liberal arts and sciences , for in the doctrines of Pythagoras , seven was considered a sacred number , and adapted to relig ious purposes , and Aulus Gellius devotes an entire chapter , quoting also Varro , who devoted an entire volume

to the elucidation of its virtues and powers . Therefore of these Masonic numbers , the two on which we place greatest stress are connected with old ideas , with ancient times . Before coming to the office of W . M . we will have a slight digression on minor points , and as far as may with propriety be done , refer to the

signs . TOKENS OF RECOGNITION . Of course in Brotherhoods it is necessary there should betokens of recognition , thus Christians have for ensign the Cross . We have already alluded to the "Hand " as of importance in Masonry , with the Romans it was

a common sign as a plight or pledge of faith . Thus Cictro uses the phrase " manum dare , " to give the hand , meaning to consent to anything . "Aram tenuis , " holding the Altar , is used by him as a legal term , to signify he swears , the hand upon and holding the a I tar , togive the highest solemnity to the oath . We must also bear in mind the Romans avoided

jargon in their legal forms , and used only words in common use . It was however our Royal Founder , King Numa , who liis : instituted , as a law giver , " manual signs , " and ordained ( Pliny . Lib . 1 , chap . 23 , ) that as a sign of faith the right hand

Footsteps Of Freemasonry;

should be offered in a certain manner , " manuque ad digitos involuta , " with the hand rolled back upon the fingers . The Romans also generally looked upon any promise or right conferred by stretching out the

right hand as a solemn sacrament . Cicero in his oration for Rabirius says , " Let me conjure you by that right hand which you stretched out to King Dejoturus in token of mutual hospitality , that right band not more

suecessful in the terrors of war than faithful to the engagements of peace . " " The ' Hand ' was therefore with them , as with modern Freemasons , an important emblem of faith , and certain grips were ordained and

instituted as signs by our kingly founder and which have descended even to our day . ' Scires e sanguine natos , ' says Ovid . ' The children ' s deeds proclaim their sires . '"

Jt may be interesting also to remark that they had lucky and unlucky fingers , and Perseus ( Lib . 2 , ) speaks of the middle finger as " infami digito , " that polluted linger .

To SETTLE DIFFERENCES AMICABLY . It is further a principle amongst us to settle differences amicably . The Romans also endeavoured by the aid of a mutual friend , called " Arbiter linicum , " to do the same : and he who held out

vas looked upon as litig ious and troublesome . ' See Aulus Gellius , Lib . xii . chap . 12 . ) I could with much satisfaction carry this chapter through many points interesting to

Masons , such as for instance , " to wash away pollution , " " capital punishment among the ancients , " Sec , but for obvious reasons they cannot ue discussed in a public journal .

THE MASONIC TEMPLE . In Masonry two distinct temples are clearly illuded to , one evidently taken from some tradi lition of the Temple of Vesta , with its central tire , which is embodied in the first part .

In the latter part of Masonry the description of the temple presented is altogether different , ind is simply copied from the first book of

Kings ; yet even here the Roman idea , ( Rome of the Emperors ) may be recognised , and is in nothing whatever opposed to it . I will run over a few points of resemblance between them .

THE PORCHWAY ENTRANCE . The porchway entrances to the temple were places of great notoriety in ancient times . In Greece the philosophers taught the re , the followers of Zeno have been par excel ence called Sto'cs ,

from Stoa a porch , it was there their , master first taught" that virtue was the only good , " and opposed as deluded , the Peripatetics , who wandering without and around , declared it to be " only the greater good , " of which we may remark then

as now . " Ccelestis animis , tantaene irae . " Oh ! where can the difference be , "Twixt , didle-dum and didle-dee . "

At Rome the porchway of the Temple of Castor formed the City Exchange , and thither resorted the stock-jobbers , and money-changers , who doubtless then as now bonnetted incautious

and curious visitors . The porch of the Temple of Liberty is also spoken of by Cicero when he says , ( Oratio in Milone ) " but the confessions now extorting in

Temple of Liberty go hard against Milo . As it was only slaves who gave evidence under torture , the instrument of their torture must have been kept under its sacred roof . Are the votaries of Liberty ever to remain the most inconsistent of

men . We may further remark that hard by the temple were Halls , and included in their consecrated puilieuswere Courts of Justice ; in others Courts sat , and even the Senate , because it was reckoned

unlawful for them to meet otherwise than in a holy or consecrated p lace . We thus see the orig in of our custom of consecration , evidently handed down by tradition , even as Laiac ' s . The porchway , in fact , of nearly every temple

was devoted to tome public use , one of them being devoted to our iriuids the auctioneers , and another to that useful oukr , public criers , now extinguished for ever by gigantic posters . The private houses of the rich had also their