Oriental Traditions.—I

declaration and touch the chain , he handed his cane to him who claimed the jewel . The chain , as before , made no demonstration

adverse to his statement that he had , in fact , received . the jewel , but also that he had given it back into the possession of its owner . In this manner the celebrated

"Chain of Justice' lost its prestige amongst the people of Israel , and soon afterwards disappeared for ever from amongst them . This , tradition , probably , serves to point out

a case , wherein even the great wisdom of David , or his son Solomon , proved ineffectual to define truth from falsehood , honesty from dishonesty , and of the fallability of

man . Many examples of the wonderful wisdom of King David are handed down in oriental tradition , in addition to those mentioned in the Old Testament ¦ and it also narrates

that he lost it and the Divine favour by his thirst after riches , and his weakness for female beauty . In his earlier career , his only aspiration was for wisdom , but in later days he seemed to have entertained the idea , too

often indulged in by weak humanity , that tlie Almighty should recompense him in this life rather than only in the other , for his good deeds . It is related , and the hearing of the allegory is readily seen , that in answer to such art

aspiration God sent an apparition before him , m the form of a figure composed of the most precious of metals and jewels . He grasped at this , and it receded before him ¦ tlie more he pursued it the further it fled , until having lit upon the terrace

of an edifice , he followed it even there . This sinful pursuit after wealth even led this ever great and wise king to the commission of still another act of human weakness . From this terrace lie beheld Uriah ' s wife , and was captivated by her

beauty . The spectacleof so great feminine attractions destroyed all his better disposition , and having ascertained that she was the wife of one his chief military commanders he longed to possess her . Although the beautiful woman's

back was turned to King David , she saw his figure reflected in the water in which she was performing her ablutions , and hastened to cover her person with her hair . David returned to th : place in which he was

accustomed to pray , but his thoughts continuously reverted to the beautiful female to whom lie hail been led by his sinful pursuit after worldly riches . Tradition relates that her husband , Uriah , was with the nephew of the king , serving in the army

before Belka , ancl employed m beseiging a strong place . David sent orders to this nephew , named Sherab , that he should direct Uriah to go with the Shckiuah in front of the forces , and assault the fortress . This he did with success , and it

was only on attacking a third time , that he was killed . It is otherwise stated that the attacks made by Uriah were without the king ' s knowledge , and only in conformance with the orders ot Sheiab ; it being supposed that prophets such

as David were incapable of so heinous a crime as conspiracy against the life of an innocent man , and that lie only had it at his heart to marry his wife in case of his death . Some even go so far as to declare that Uriah divorced his wife to

favour the king , and then willingly fell a martyr in battle . When David asked the widow to become his wife she consented on the condition that , in case she bore him a son , he should be the heir of his throne .

Some time after the preceding occurrence , which oriental writers regard as a " Divine temptation , " King David , was as usual seated in his oratory , protected by a large force of armed men . He had given orders that no one should

be permitted to disturb his devotions . Notwithstanding these commands , two individuals arrived f . t the door , and insisted on being admitted to tlie * ; yal presence for thc purpose of laying liefore . 1 eking a suit for his decision . On cn . crin .,

one of them stated that the other was his own Lroher , that the latter possessed 999 sheep whi' . st he had lost one , and that lie had been compelled to give him this one by forcible means . These two men were none other than two angels

Oriental Traditions.—I

disguised , and David not only recognised them as such , but was conscience stricken by the nature of the case and its application to himself . Long days and nights of prayer and supplication to God for pardon was thc result , and many were

the tears of repentance shed by the self condemned king . By Divine command he visited the grave of the man he had so grievously injured , and implored his forgiveness . It is said that the spirit of the deceased rose up from the

grave to learn the object of the king ' s visit , and on hearing the avowal that he had been placed in the front ofthe battle , so that he might meet death , and so enable the king to satisfy his desire for his beautiful wife , he was silent . This

occurrenceseemedgreatly toadd to thegriefandremorse of David , and although God mercifully pardoned his crime , the rest of his days were spent in sadness and sorrow , and many of his sublimest psalms , tradition says , were composed hy him during this period . T . P . 13 .

Letter From A Brother In England To A Brother In Scotland.

LETTER from a BROTHER in ENGLAND to a BROTHER in SCOTLAND .

INITIATES IX SCOTLAND . Not the least dangerous feature in the present system of Freemasonry is the lax and irresponsible mode of election of candidates for

our mysteries . Laws , undoubtedly , are on record dealing concisely and firmly with the question , but there they end . They die in their birth , they are but words , and they never produce effects . Tlie laws of Freemasonry ancl of

the Grand Lodge , although very fine and formal upon paper , are not unlike the dummies in a barber ' s shop or a tailor ' s emporium . You can hang anything upon them , but what they themselves are fitted to use . The laws of

Freemasonry are made for a certain class only , and thus we find their spirit given effect to , and then their text , and again neither spirit nor text , as the wire-pullers please . Ancl more especially is this displayed in the laws affecting the internal economy of a lodge : a lord can be hurried

through thirty-three degrees in a week , while a poor and unknown brother never can hope to attain higher than the Royal Arch . The boast of equality is destroyed whenever we come to deal with any degree above the third , or with any one above the rank of the lower class .

All societies which pretend to a rule of conduct beyond the worldly or politic require so to guide their actions , in the face of carpers and cavillers , that no loophole may be afforded for invidious comparison or damning

contradiction . 1 litis 1 ' reemasonry should be most careful alike to preserve the integrity of the landmarks in spirit and in deed ; to act up , so far as it i . s permissible for finite beings to do so , to the strict letter of its law , and to discountenance and denounce anything which may tend to set that

law at defiance or bring it into ridicule . But this is not at all considered by Freemasons , who have other objects in view than the plain and pure tenets of the Order ; objects at variance with the principles and motive powers of the Order , and who view the societv more as a

means ol improving then * earthly welfare than as one which , without being a religion in itself , is a helpmate to religion , and consequently one which will tend , if it does not really lead , to a spiritual . The roughest block that ever entered the quarry of a lodge must be convinced of this truth .

1 'reemasonry demands some-hiiif more than body and soul , money and respectability , in its candidates . It requires brains as well as thews , education as well as gold . A man in joining is told that external advantages are of little profit

to him in the Craft , but this is the merest verbiage ; but talk , rank , and money always have their weight , in the very church and in the veriest tap-house . One of our most distinguished countrymen , at au early age , joined

Freemasonry , lie was then unknown and a nobody . He worked zealously in the cause of the Craftworked with his whole heart and soul—looking forward to the time when his labours would be crowned with tlie honour desired by every in-

Letter From A Brother In England To A Brother In Scotland.

telligent and true-hearted Craftsman—the chair . When the time for election came , he was passed over ; a young brother , who had a high territorial position , was appointed ; and that particular lodge ancl Freemasonry lost the aid and cooperation of one of the best men who ever sat in

lodge , for he threw up all connection with the Order in disgust , ancl never again took part in its proceedings . Years flew past , the rejected brother in time stood before the world as one of its foremost minds ; the Freemasons _ would then have given him any situation which he

could desire , but he would have nothing to say to them . If , when he was poor , unknown , but a . zealous craftsman , they would not reward his arduous labours , now that he was rich , known , but a poor craftsman , he would not assume honours for which he had not worked . And so

it is , year by year , that men after men of great abilities leave the Order—where they cannot find common honesty of dealing , or any principle of justice—to the loss and deterioration of Freemasonry . By this it is not to be supposed that we are to take every brother at his own price , upon

his own showing , that he is a future Brougham or Admirable Crichton . What we do maintain is , that every hard-working and intelligent brother , who does his duty by his lodge and brethren , is entitled to the honours of Freemasonry when his turn to wear them comes . The freedom of

Freemasonry may be summed up in the pithy South American planter ' s article of faith , " Every man is free and equal , and every man has a right to larrup his own nigger . " There are no end of niggers in Freemasonry—more is the shame ! No one will say that the general run of

candidates for Freemasonry are highly or even decently educated , or that they have ever been , or else some glaring chronological and historical errors would not now be in the ritual . Some have been admitted who cannot read or write , some have barely received a schooling at all , while the generality are as fitted to solve the

forty-seventh problem of Euclid as they are to expatiate upon the liberal arts and sciences . The only liberality which they are familiar with being the whisky bottle at another ' s expense . And yet to understand Freemasonry as it purports to be , one would require to have the wisdom of Solomon , with the insatiable literary appetite of Person . Yet how absurd it is to hear some

illiterate but well-meaning companion speak learnedly of the Coptic , Syriac , and Chaldaic , who would be apt to call a cuniform character a German , because it was in an un-English type . There is no reasonable wonder in this . A mass of useless persiflage has been grafted upon the

original stock of ritual , and one would need his whole lifetime to be able to comply with the requirements of the first degree , leaving out of the question entirely the question of the numberless orders now , like barnacles , sticking to the good ship Freemasonry ' s bottom .

While Freemasonry should be stripped of many of her gaudy and alien plumes , in which she looks like a daw in borrowed feathers , the candidate for Freemasonry should also display some qualifications in the shape of an educational excellence . Furthermore , no candidate

should be proposed and received the same night . His name should be before the brethren for some time , so that enquiries might be made about him , and any disqualifying properties become known . Much after disagrceableness would be avoided by this course , and the

candidate would be impressed with the importance of the new tic which he was about to form . A considerable time should also elapse betwixt the conferring ofthe degrees , and no advance should be made until the candidate has shown his perfect knowledge of what has been already

entrusted to him . Thc examinations should take place in open lodge , and every brother present be entitled to ask such questions as to him may seem fit and proper . What do we find to be the present svstem

pursued with regard to candidates ? They are brought to a lodge , proposed , balloted for , nassed anil raised , nil in one evening . A favourite excu . se for this * i . s that the candidate is going abroad . Why did he not seek admission before ? and why now ? Likely because for-