Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

CANADA
CANOPY 131
and died October 22, 1818 . He was the author
of many works on philosophy and education,
and was a learned and zealous Mason, as is
shown in his correspondence with Leasing .
Canada. Upon the advent of Confederation,
July 1, 1867, local control in each Province
for the government of the Masonic Fraternity
of the Dominion took a strong hold as
a predominant idea, and prevailed . Each
Province has now a Grand Lodge, and in order
of their organization are as follows : Canada,
having jurisdiction only in Ontario, 1855 ;
Nova Scotia, 1866 ; New Brunswick, 1867 ;
Quebec, 1869 ; British Columbia, 1871 ; Manitoba,
1875 ; Prince Edward Island, 1875 ;
Alberta, 1905 ; Saskatchewan, 1906 . The
first marks of the Ancient Craftsman have
been found in Nova Scotia . A mineralogical
survey in 1827 found on the shore of Goat
Island in the Annapolis Basin, partly covered
with sand, a slab of rock 23 X 2 feet, bearing
on it those well-known Masonic emblems,
"the Square and Compasses," and the date
1606 . Who were the Craftsmen and how
the stone came there, must be left to conjecture
. [Will H . Whyte, P . G . M . . . K . T .
of Canada .]
Cancellarlus. An office of high rank and
responsibility among the Knights Templar
of the Middle Ages, performing the duties of,
or similar to, the Chancellor .
Candidate. An applicant for admission
into Masonry is called a candidate . The Latin
candidates means clothed in white, candidis
vestibus indutus. In ancient Rome, he who
sought office from the people wore a white
shining robe of a peculiar construction, flowing
open in front, so as to exhibit the wounds
he had received in his breast . From the color
of his robe or toga candida, he was called candidatus,
whence the word candidate . The derivation
will serve to remind the Mason of the
purity of conduct and character which should
distinguish all those who are candidates for
admission into the Order . The qualifications
of a candidate in Masonry are somewhat
peculiar . He must be free-born (under the
English Constitution it is enough that he is a
freeman), under no bondage, of at least twentyone-
years of age, in the possession of sound
senses, free from any physical defect or dismemberment,
and of irreproachable manners,
or, as it is technically termed, "under the
tongue of good report ." No Atheist, eunuch,
or woman can be admitted . The requisites as
to age, sex, and soundness of body have reference
to the operative character of the Institution
. We can only expect able workmen
in able-bodied men . The mental and religious
qualifications refer to the duties and obligations
which a Freemason contracts. An
idiot could not understand them, and an Atheist
would not respect them. Even those who
possess all these necessary qualifications can
be admitted only under certain regulations
which differ under different Masonic Constitutions.
Candidates, Advancement of . See
Advancement, Hurried .
Candlestick, Golden . The golden candlestick
of seven branches, which is a part of
the furniture of a Royal Arch Chapter, is derived
from "the holy candlestick " which
Moses was instructed to construct of beaten
gold for the use of the tabernacle . Smith (Diet.
of the Bible) thus abbreviates Lightfoot's explanation
of the description given in Exodus :
"The foot of it was gold, from which went up
a shaft straight, which was the middle light .
Near the foot was a golden dish wrought
almondwise ; and a little above that a golden
knop, and above that a golden flower . Then
two branches one on each side bowed,-and
coming up as high as the middle shaft . On
each of them were three golden cups placed
almondwise, in sharp, scallop-ahell fashion ;
above which was a golden knop, a golden
flower, and the socket . Above the branches
on the middle shaft was a golden boss, above
which rose two shafts more ; above the coming
out of these was another boss and two more
shafts, and then on the shaft upwards were
three golden scallop-cups, a knop and a
flower ; so that the heads of the branches stood
an equal height ." In the tabernacle, the candlestick
was placed opposite the table of shewbread,
which it was intended to illumine in an
oblique position, so that the lamps looted to
the east and south. What became of the
candlestick between the time of Moses and
that of Solomon is unknown ; but it does not
appear to have been present in the first Temple,
which was lighted by ten golden candlesticks
similarly embossed, which were connected
by golden chains and formed a sort of
railing before the veil .
These ten candlesticks became the spoil of
the Chaldean conqueror at the time of the
destruction of the Temple, and could not have
been among the articles afterward restored
by Cyrus ; for in the second Temple, built by
Zerubbabel, we find only a single candlestick
of seven branches, like that of the tabernacle .
Its form has been perpetuated on the Arch of
Titus, on which it was sculptured with other
articles taken by that monarch, and carried
to Rome as spolia opima, after he had destroyed
the Herodian Temple. This is the
candlestick which is represented as a decoration
in a Royal Arch Chapter .
In Jewish symbolism, the seven branches
were supposed by some to refer to the seven
planets and by others to the seventh day or
Sabbath . The primitive Christians made it
allusive to Christ as the "light of the world"
and in this sense it is a favorite symbol in
early Christian art . In Masonry it seems to
have no symbolic meaning, unless it be the
general one of light ; but is used in a Royal
Arch Chapter simply to indicate that the room
is a representation of the tabernacle erected
near the ruins of the first Temple, for the purpose
of temporary worship during the building
of the second, and in which tabernacle this
candlestick is supposed to have been present .
Canopy. Oliver says that in the Masonic
processions of the Continent the Grand Master
walks under a gorgeous canopy of blue,