Masonic Notes And Queries.

shine as formerly for our own honour and the edification of others . No man ought to attain to any dignity in Masonry who has not at least a competent knowledge in geometry and architecture ; and , if tho sciences were more followed in the lodges , what is unhappily substituted in their places would not prevail as it does . "—A STUDENT .

IS IT ? A celebrated Ereemason writes : — " A Mason ' s lodge is the temple of peace , harmony , and brotherly love . Nothing is allowed to enter which has the remotest tendency to disturb the quietude of its pursuits . A calm inquiry into the beauty of wisdom and

virtue , and the study of moral geometry , may be prosecuted without excitement ; and they constitute the chief employment in the tyled recesses of the lodge . The lessons of virtue which proceed from the East , like rays of brilliant light streaming from the rising sunilluminate the West and South ; andas thd work

, , proceeds , are carefully imbibed by the workmen . Thus , while wisdom contrives the plan and instructs the workmen , Strength lends its able support to the moral fabric , and Beauty adorns it with curious and cunning workmanship . All this is accomplished without the use of either axehammeror any other

, , tool of brass or iron , within the precinct of the temple , to disturb the peaceful sanctity of that holy place . " We all know that the above is what a lodge ought to be—but is it?—Ex . Ex .

THE PENTAdE . Will you oblige me by an answer to the following question , which I am unable to solve for myself ? The figure represented in the subjoined sketch is , I believe , very frequently , and especially in old writings , V ^ called a "pentacle . " But this figure has ob- VT viously six points , and the number 6 predomi- *^ p ^ nates

throughout , whereas the principal signification in the word pentacle is 5 . How is this anomaly to be accounted for ?—ECCL . ESIOEOGIST . —[ The term would seem to be misapplied to such a figure . It is more A appropriately used for the 5-pointed star " fosf formed by a continuous line which is found * s *^ on buildings of all ages . It has been used to symbolize the Trinity and eternity . ]

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed hy Correspondents . CAR A WARDEN INITIATE ? TO THE EDITOR 01 ? THE rflEEHASOXS' 5 IAG . 1 ZIXE AXD MASONIC MIP . KOR . DEAB SIE AND BEOTIIEE , —I have read the whole correspondence that has recently appeared in the

MIEEOE ( a magazine I regret so many Masons and lodges still neglect to support ) with the most careful attention ; but , being only a young Mason , I should not have presumed to be more than a reader ( for a time at least ) had not Bro . " R . E . X . " in his last letter appended the following uncalled-for remarks , which your attentive subscribers must well know were intended for the "W . M . of the Lodge of the Eour

Cardinal Yh-tues ( No . 979 ) , Crewe , and he being ill , I feel called upon to reply . Bro . " R . E . X . " says , " when a "Warden , I did perform all the ceremonies , but never in the presence of the W . M . or P . M . ( which I find has been permitted , very improperly , by a W . M . of a lodge in the

provinces , and to whom our Bro . Blackburn is paying his respectful compliments ) . " In my opinion there is not the " slig htest doubt " that Bro . " R . E . X . " is not awarding us one of our Cardinal Virtues—Justice ; nor exercising another equally important one—viz ., Prudence—in applying

the strong term " very improperly" to our respected W . M . unless he was better acquainted with the circumstances of our young lodge , more especially as " R . E . X . " has not the sli g htest doubt of Wardens being properly and fully empowered to work the three degrees . Yes , but not in the presence of the

W . M . or P . M ., says "R . E . X . " But suppose they are present and incapable of performing the dutythe P . M . is not a P . M . of our lodge—has not been in a lodge for many years—and both are too far advanced in life to work long ceremonies ? This is our position , and I imagine " R . E . X . " and I , therefore , must sail

in the same boat ; and " very improperly" should return to its own source , for the Constitutions say , "Or if the W . M . be incapable of discharging the duties of his office ; " and again , " If no P . M . of the ( not a ) lodge be present , then the S . W . shall rule the lodge . "

This is just what I did , bat not before the P . M . had tried and found himself not the Mason he formerly was as regards working ; and it has always been at his special request and that of the "W . M . that I have ruled the lodge . But I think " very improperly " will applywith

, far greater force , to " R . E . X . " than to me or my W . M . In Bro . Blackburn ' s correspondence against Warden ' s working , the strongest argument , to my mind , that he educed was , " that Wardens had never been obligated to keep inviolate the ancient landmarks , " nor pledged to the " ancient charges . " They

may , therefore , make omissions or innovations to our ceremonies . Possibly " R . E . X . " may have done so , but during mjr working the three degrees and lectures there was a guarantee , in the presence of a P . M . who had taken the O . B . of an installed Master , and , had he allowed me to violate a landmark , would have equally violated his own O . B . "Unless the S . or J . W . work

the ceremonies , our new lodge could not exist , and neither of us were eligible for the chair , not having been Wardens previously . "Wardens have worked the three degrees , frequently , even in old lodges , and our P . M . did so when a Warden twenty years ago ; hut we of the " Eour Virtues " possess the "

Eortitude , " if not the " Prudence , " not only to act " very improperly , " (?) hut give it publicity in your highly useful journal , so that the disputed point may be brought to a final issue . But I know of a far stronger case to which " Bro . Blackburn should pay