Correspondence.

tho mystic import of the triangle arose fche importance attached by authors of every age and nation , sacred or profane , to . tho number throe . Rabbi Haydon said there are three lights in Gocl , the ancient light or Kadmon , the pure li ght , and the purified light ; symbolizing tho Patriarchal , Jewishand Christian types or dispensations . I AA'ill here

, enumerate the most prominent of tlie threes , commencing with those mentioned in the Old Testament . First , then , Adam had three sons , Cain , Abel , and Seth . Noah had three sons , Shem , Ham , and Japheth . There were three stories in the ark . The promise was made to three , AbrahamIsaacand Jacob . Three men came to Abraham

, , on ihe plains of Mature . Joseph was three years in prison . Balaam smote the ass three times . Moses was hidden by his parents three months . There were three days of darkness in the plagues of Egypt . Moses , Aaron , and Miriam came to the tabernacle by command of God . Moses smote the rock three times . " Three times a year shall all the males

appear before the Lord . " Exodus xxiii . Hannah took with Samuel three bullocks . Three times did tlie Lord call Samuel . Elijah cast himself three times upon the son of the widow of Zarephath . Nebuchadnezzar cast three worshippers of the true God into the burning fiery furnace . Daniel prayed to God thrice each day . Isaiah walked naked and

barefoot three years for a sign . Holy , holy , holy , occurs in Isaiah and Revelations in reference to the Godhead . The command not to go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven daj's was three times enforced . Leviticus viii ., 33-35 . Jonah was three days and three ni ghts iu the fish ' s belly . God commanded him to go to Nineveh three times . In the New Testament , we observe that at the transfiguration three men were overshadowed by a cloud , the Saviour ,

Moses , and Elias , while three were on earth . Thrice did Peter deny his master . Thrice did the Saviour pray in tlie garden . Thrice did the three A postles sleep on that occasion . Before three persons was onr blessed Lord taken , Caiphas , Herod , and Pilate . Three wore crucified , our Saviour and two thieves . At the third hour—Mark xv ., 25 .

Three hours was there darkness oi'er the -whole land , from the sixth to the ninth hour . Three days was tlie Son of Man in the grave . Innumerable other instances of the remarkable occurrences of the number three could be readily selected by a diligent inquirer from the volume of the Sacred Law ; we willhowevernow notice uninspired authoritiesboth sacred

, , , and profane . There were three sybils , and three of their books were kept . In the Oracles of Zoroaster we find the following expression , " For the mind of the father said that all things be cut into three . " There are three abodes of man , heaven , earth , and hell . The best authors on the Hindoo customs

inform us that when a Hindoo widow burns herself on tlie funeral pile of her dead husband , she encompasses it three times . It was an invariable practice among the ancients when they deified any one to attribute to him three properties , or thi'ee qualities , which they considered essential to the character of a godhead . The Greeks and Romans observed the number three .

veneration , and was never uttered . The Greeks paid it tho same adoration , and called it Telragrammaton , which means "the word of four letters" { rk-pa ypa / x / xn ) . The HebreAV word nW Ye Ho Va H , or "God" is composed of the pa . sttcu . se of the verb "to bo , " Ilorah . and one additional Jod , which , as has been shown , symbolized unity ; and made it perfect , or expressive of all times , past , present , aud to ' come , thus Jehovah literally means " I am , have been , or shall , or ivill be ! " " Pythagoras , " says Oliver , " confided the secrets of his sect only to those SAA triangleand held the oath taleen to be

-orn on a , so most sacred , svrcariug by the number four , which thoy wrote hy ten Jotls or dots in the form of a triangle , so that the three sides of the figure consisted each of four dots . This ivas taken from the nomen- telrae / rammatoit of the ' Grecian Je-. vs , who , having a notion of a Trinity expressed ' ' it by the triangle , this figure is called the Trigonon Mi / , 1- ' ' Ileum . Tho triangle answering to tlie four letters HliT 1 'I ' ' ' ' am , ivas , and ever shall be . '"

especially at funerals . * In the Greek church during their ceremonies , the archbishop holds in his hand three tapers , which are intended to represent the Trinity ; they approach so closely at their extremities , that their flames mingle into one , symbolical of a Trinity in Unity . In Pope ' s translation of Homer wo read—¦

"They drive their horses thrice about the dead , Lamenting . " In Dryden ' s translation of the ei ghth eclogue of Virgil , we find— . "Around his waxen imago first I wind , Three woollen filletsof three colours joined

, , Thrice bind around his thrice devoted head , Which round the sacred altar thrice is led . Unequal numbers please the Gods . " Another passage , " Ter circum accensos , " & c ., is thus translated .-

—' Well armed thrice round the pile they march on foot , Thrice round it rode , and with a dismal shout Surveyed the rolling flames . " Shakspeare also notices this mystic number . In Macbeth he introduces three witches , they dance round the cauldron throe times . The first witch exclaims , "Thrice the brindled cat hath mewed . " The second witch— "Twice and once the

hedge pig whined . " Sufficient has been advanced to prove that the number three was received with mystic signification . When represented by a triangle in the school of Pythagoras , it has been connected with the idea , of rule or government ; and thus wc distinctly trace it in our science of Masonry .

O'Brien states that the first name given to our body was saer , wliich word has three significations—first , free ; secondly , Mason ; thirdly , Son of God . Wo recognize three Grand Lodges ; we have three grand jullars—wisdom , strength , and beauty ; three principal Masonic virtues—faith , hope , and charity ; three grand principles in our orderbrotherly love , relief , and truth . Erom Donon , Champollion , Belzoni , Salt , Dr . Young , and

others , we learn that the unity ofthe Deity was represented in Egyptian hieroglyphics by a rude sort of mallet or hammer , and a plurality of gods by three of the same to represent the triad ; and hence our three hirams symbolical of our rulers and the power they possess . Three colours were ordered to adorn the robe of Aaron ( Exodus xxviii ., 25 ) , blue ,

purple , and scarlet ; these arc the three used in the Royal Arch . Taut or Thoth , among the Egyptians , is emblematized by three crosses united at the feet ; tlie symbol on om- Royal Arch badge is thus formed . The three principal pyramids of Egj'p t form , on every side , an exact triangle : their true Coptic name is Fire-mono , or Sun-beam , they having been

erected as temples to the Sun , or Bucldh , in honour of the generative attribute . Antonio de Solis describes the Mexican shrines to have been of similar figure , each side forming an equilateral triangle . Acostain his history of the Indiesspeaking of the

Ame-, , rican Indians , says they worship a direct trinity in unity , for in Cuquisaco there is a certain oratory where they worship a great idol whom they call ianga-langa , which signifies one in three and three , in one .

Pythagoras , Plato , Numenius , and other Greek philosophers , taught the doctrine of the Trinity , and employed as its symbol an equilateral triangle , which I have now traced through two of the three grand postdiluvian divisions of the world . That portion allotted to the virtuous Shem , in whose seed was the promise , remains for discussion . I shall defer

* At tho on trance of the Elysian Fields , or abodes of the blessed the Greek fables place Cerberus as a guard . He is represented by the figure of a dog having three heads . The three heads denote the three funeral cries over the corpse ; hence the derivation—ceri , an exclamation , and ber the grave ; the grave or vault , cerber ; or Cerberus the cries of the grave . The ceremony of interment ivas ended by thrice sprinkling sand over the aperture o £ the vault , and thrice bidding the deceased adieu ,