The Badge Of Innocence."

mecir * was , The whole garment , thus formed , was called " talith , " and was worn as a cloak . t It is shown open in fig . 1 , and folded as ivorn , half showing in front , and half behind , in figure 2 . In after times when , to be recognised as

Jeivs by the nations amongst whom they ivere scattered , meant being marked for scorn and persecution , and even , at times for death itself , the chosen people reduced the size of the robe , and wore it as an under-garment , secure from

observation , and in this form it has been , and still is , worn by every orthodox Jew . J The tasselecl robe , having been once put on , was always worn , whether in the synagogue or naarket-place , § or on the journey , ^ or ( which is more important ) at work ; for ive read , in the Tcdmudf * that

the father of E . Joseph b . Eabba , tore one of the threads whilst descending a ladder . Now a garment like the talith with its pendant tassels would be terribly in the way of a man ivho Avas engaged in continuous work , and Ave could Avell imagine that he would confine it by a girdle ; J it miht then

g , especially by such workmen as might not be JCAVS , come to be worn simply as a badge , when thc front half only might be retained ; the top part would then fall over the girdle to which it was attached and thus form the flap of the apron , and

at the same time , the suspensoiy cords would be shortened , and the tassels drawn up so as not to hang below the bottom of the apron and be out of the way . § § Years rolled on , but still the apron was regarded ( as it seems ever to have been , by all nations and in every age ^ T IT , ) as not only

a useful , but also a symbolical vesture ; consequently the Mason , whether Jew or Gentile , would feel it right to add to the Craftsman ' s garb these soul-inspiring adornments of border and tassels ; and thus whilst giving to it a new feature of beauty , invest that which was a working garment

with a fresh symbolical meaning . Here , then , is our Badge , complete with its border and tassels ;* and whether the talith merged into the apron , or whether the adjuncts of the former were added to the latter , we can clearly see that the operative

Mason's garb , had , or acquired , a distinctly speculative character . t Next let us picture to ourselves a Lodge of Instruction working , as was wont , in the open air with plan outspread in the centre ; Avhat so natural as that the

demonstrator , or lecturer , to preserve his scroll from danger of dirt or damp , should first spread upon the ground his talith , and then lay upon it the parchment plan . Look attentively at this as shown in

figure G . There lies the scroll , Avith all theimportant portions—borders , fringes , tassels , complete—of the talith showing beneath . Imagine it conventionalized somewhat , as in fig . 7 , and then say what we behold , if not a perfect representation of our first Tracing-Boardwith its

in-, dented and lesselaied ( or , perhaps , more properly , iasseled )'\ . border . This vicAv acquires no little strength from the similar teaching that Ave ascribe to the Tassels of our Tracing-Hoard to that of the Tassels of thc Mosaic Injunction .

When the Great Architect appointed the tassels , they were to remind His people to keep His Commandments . The teaching of our Grand Master the Eoyal Solomon , is , that this keeping God ' s Commandments , or " fearing Him , " is true wisdom ; § that

wisdom does a mighty wwk indeed , that " She is the viorker of all things , and is kind to man ; "If and , yet again , that " Her labours are virtues ; for She teacheth Tempera / nce and Prudence , Justice and