30:1 This is the first admission of a candidate before initiation. He avows airs belief and trust in God: and it is on that avowal alone that his admission among us is based. If he refused to acknowledge the being of a God would he at once rejected; but on the receipt of a solemn declaration that he puts his trust in God, the chief officer of the Lodge expresses his satisfaction, and tells him that where the name of God is invoked no danger can possibly ensue.--Historical
Landmarks, vol. i. p. 45. 31:1 NOTE.--If more than one candidate is being initiated at once, they p. 32 are required to take hold of each other's arms. Five are about as many as can be initiated at once; the same number "passed" to Second Degree; but only one at a time can be raised to the Master's Degree. Small Lodges cannot manage but one at a time conveniently. 34:1 Neither Adam, nor Nimrod, nor Moses, nor Joshua, nor David, not Solomon, nor Hiram, nor St. John the Evangelist, nor St. John the Baptist belonged to the Masonic Order. It is unwise to assert more than we can prove, and to argue against probability. There is no record, sacred or profane, to induce us to believe that these holy and distinguished men were Freemasons, and our traditions do not go back to their days.--Dr Dalcho, G. M. of South Carolina. Historical
Landmarks, vol. i, p. 59. 34:2 "HAIL," or "HALE."--This word is used among Masons with two very different significations: (1) When addressed as an inquiry to a visiting brother, it has the same import as that in which it is used, under like circumstances, by mariners. Thus, "Whence do you hail?" that is, "of what Lodge are you a member?" Used in this sense, it comes from the Saxon term of salutation "Hael," and should be spelled "hail." (2.) Its second use is confined to what Masons understand by the "tye," and in this sense signifies to conceal, being derived from the Saxon word "helan," to hide.--Lexicon.