The Lodge Room.

THE LODGE ROOM .

II . THE PAVEMENT .

[ rOM . Ml'NICATED | . The interior of the lodge , as described in the lecture on the First Degree tracing board , is said to be composed of ornaments .

furniture , and jewels . The first named comprise the Mosaic pavement , the tesselated border and the blazing star , and in the present , article wc propose to consider the . history and use of the Mosaic pavement and its border .

First of all as to its designation . In the arts , a special form of mural decoration is generally called a Mosaic , and many suppose that the lodge pavement , which—if a permanent feature of the chamber—is constructed on a not dissimilar plan is thus called ' owing to the resemblance . But in the first place the

pavement , in many lodges , is represented by a carpet , to which it would be absurd to apply such a term , and , secondly , even when it is an integral part of the structure , it is often painted . The term has proper reference to the holy ground on which the lodge is supposed to be built . In Exodus iii ., 5 , we read that

God said to Moses " Take off thy shoes , for the ground whereon thou standest is holy . " The name of Moses is therefore preserved in our description of the ground floor of the lodge and explains at once a special feature in the preparation of candidates . A well-known writer on Biblical antiquities has succeeded , by a

sort of literary legerdemain , in connecting the term " Mosaic as applied in the arts with the Grand Master of the first or Holy lodge , and it is more than possible that such a connection exists . The pavement ought to be a structural part of the lodge room . It is usually made up of black and white squares ,

arranged diagonally with reference to the principal dimensions . The border , which is described in the lectures as " indented . " that is , it is made up of a series of equal triangles , alternately black and white—sometimes black and red—whose verticespoint outwards . At the four corners of the pavement there is

a representation of a knot or tassel , and the candidate is given to unders-tand that these four tassels represent the cardinal virtues of Temperance , Fortitude , Justice , and Prudence , the brother who is delivering the lecture meanwhile pointing to four tassels , which are sometimes found suspended from the ceiling .

He doubtless means well in so doing , but he is mistaken ; and we shall refer to these tassels later . Under some Constitutions the Mosaic pavement is referred to as " sacred , " and it may not be trespassed upon save by the

candidate , and officers actually engaged in ceremonial duty . Brethren who have to move about should progress along the sides rectangularly , and it might be suggested that the ballot box should not be placed in the centre of the lodge , as it too frequently is , but at the west end of the pavement .

It ( the pavement ) need not be extensive , nine feet by six is the largest size that is necessary , and , in fact , it need be little more than a design . As regards its symbolical meaning , we are told that " the Mosaic pavement , the beautiful flooring o ( the lodge , being variegated and chequered , symbolizes the

diversity of objects of the whole visible world . " With very great diffidence , however , we venture to criticise this explanation . The chief feature of the pavement , is that it js absolutely rectangular , and divided into squares whiJi are absolutely equal to one another and which , as to their colours , represent alternate

li « 'ht and shade . Now , among the organic works of nature , there is no such thing as exactitude . '' here is no such thing as a straight line , nor a right angle , and there is no such thing as equality . We go further and say there is no such thing as an exact ratio . As for the " variegated colours , " those of the [

lavement are only black and white , two colours only attained b y nature when , as it were , in extremis , and hence it is clear there is a want of correspondence between the lecture and the pavement . In American lodges it is described as illustrating the lig hts and shadows of life—mingled virtue and vice , pleasure

and pain , and all the other antagonistic incidents which go to make up what is fitly called a " chequered " existence . This latter explanation has ihe merit of being less unreasonable than the former , but in the writer ' s opinion , it seems superfluous to try to invest every Masonic incident and detail with moral

teaching when such remote inferences are necessitated . With regard to the indented or tesselated border , we are told that it refers " to the planets , and the blazing star or glory in the lentie typifies the sun , " and that " as the Indented border forms the border of the Mosaic pavement , so do the constellations of

the starry host form a grand border round the sun . " It is , ; i <> ain , with n . u . h diffidence , we venture to exclaim against this interpretation . In the first place , Freemasonry has nothing to do with the s-tcllar worlds , and , secondly , if it had , we entirel y fail to see where the analogy conies in . The blazing star gene-

The Lodge Room.

rally takes the form of a gilded device suspended in the intersection of the diagonals of the room , in its exactcentre , in fact , and therefore has nothing to do with the pavement . There is certainly a device often to be found in the centre of the pavement , which has the appearance of the letter Q , and when the

candidate is told that it refers to the G . G . O . T . U ., he naturally thinks it is ; but , as a matter of fact , the device in question is the old Egyptian symbol of eternity , viz ., a serpentwithitstailinitsmouth . In suggesting amorereasonableexplanationoftheindentedborder , we would again refer the reader to thetasselsrcpresentedat the four

corners . The word "tesselated shouldbe "tasselated . " The viewtaken by a writer in the American Tyler some six years ago was that , as the various sections of the floor of King Solomon ' s temple were completed , a space around was protected with ropes , in order to ward off the feet of the profane . These ropes were

knotted at the four corners into Tassels , and somehow or another these Tassels have got themselves transferred to the extremities of the room , where they depend from the ceiling in a very meaningless manner . Another Masonic writer , one

Bro . Tcbb , is quoted in Kenning ' s Cyclopaedia as suggesting that the border represented the fringe of what might be considered as the origin of the Masonic apron—the Talith , or sacred garment of Hebrew investiture .

Any notice of the floor -of the lodge would be incomplete without a reference to the dais , or raised platform surrounding the pedestal of the Worshipful Master . This should always be reached by an odd number of steps , there being a very widespread idea among the inhabitants of Eastern countries that the

same foot which commenced the ascent should also enter the building or be the first to be planted on the summit . This by the way . The dais is rcseived for brethren of distinction . In Grand Lodge it is occupied by Present and Past Officers . In

ordinary lodge meetings that half of it which lies to the left of the Worshipful Master is reserved for Past Masters of the lodge —not worshipful brethren who happen to be members . The Immediate Past Master sits on the Worshipful Master ' s immediate left , and then the other P . Ms , in order of seniority .

The right is generally occupied by visitors of distinctionan ) - Past Master of another lodge who happened to be visiting , would , as a matter of courtesy—not of right—be asked to take the seat of honour . The Provincial Grand Master , or his Deputy

or any brother appointed by him to visit the lodge in his name , would occupy it of right . In such a case the W . M . would hand the symbol of authority to the visitor , and receive it back again , with appropriate compliments , showing how impossible it would be for the gavel to be in worthier hands . Under some foreign

Constitutions , and occasionally in English lodges , the visitor will take the proffered gavel and occupy the chair of King Solomon , whilst he asks three times if any brother has any cause of complaint against the Worshipful Master and Wardens . The chairs on the dais are generally found to be disposed in

a semicircle . Brother fyler , however , should be told this is wrong . Everything in a Craft lodge should be rectilineal or rectangular . What is worse—because it cannot be remediedis when the east end of the Iodge room is semi-circular , and the

Master sits in a kind of apse , from which he onl y emerges when he explains to the candidate that " all straight lines and ri ght angles are true and proper signs whereby to know a Freemason ! "

All motion in a lodge room should follow the sun . The W . M . then , when he has occasion to leave his chair , should do so on the south side , and when he returns it should be on the north , and for the same reason when he leaves the chair for good

and his successor takes it , the same rule should be followed . For the same reason , the candidate , when about to be presented or invested , is placed at the S . W . ' s left , that being the side from which that officer leaves his pedestal .

Gould's "Military Lodges."

GOULD'S "MILITARY LODGES . "

The Editor of the Freemason has written very warmly in praise of Bro , Gould's latest contribution to Masonic literature , and after a careful read of the work , it appears to me that the good words are well deserved . " Military Lodges " is a tastefully got up book , in handy form , and contains considerably over 200 closely printed pages of a very interesting character . It is like no other Masonic work extant , being- original in desiern ,

preparation and text , involving an immense amount of labour as to arrangement , management of numerous details and authentication of almost superabundant material . I anticipate that the quantity of rejected particulars would fu-nish materials for one or more books of the same size ; the difficulty being to cause even the accepted information to fall into line , and , finally , to take the positions assigned for a continuous narrative .

It is but fair to state that I do not know any one else who could have handled the subject with such conspicuous success as Bro . Gould , who out of a heterogenous mass of individual and isolated facts , has woven a compact , ably condensed , and most readable volume on sea and field lodges . To many it will be quite a revelation to be told of the wonderful achieve-