Ta Eithta.

TA EITHTA .

A Lecture on , the Royal Arch Tracing Boards , Signs and Symbols of the Royal Arch , and Banners of the Twelve Tribes ( with illustrations ) , delivered by FRANCIS BURNAND DAVIDSON , EX . Past J . 320 , E . 390 , B . C ., before the Zetland Chapter of Australia , No . 890 , E . G ., being the Senior and Holy Chapter of Royal Arch Masons , Sydney , N . S . W .

MOST EXCELLENT , EXCELLENT COMPANIONS , AND COMPANIONS , I commence this evening by handing round a large octavo sketoh book containing three water coloured drawings , or illustrations ; two partly taken from English designs , and one , like the first of the

series , symbolical , but wholly original . All have " mottoes , " or " texts" ( illustrative quotations ) which I have carefully seleoted ; and these being in Greek , Latin , Hebrew , Arabic , and other languages , are designed to mystify tho beholder , and duly impress on his mind my egotism , learning , and so forth ; but I intend to translate them as I go on for your edification .

Without any further preface , therefore , tho Latin on tho first Picture or Illustration—the ono commencing * "Ecce mysterium vobis dico ; in momento , in ictu oculi "—simply means : — " Behold I show you a mystery , "— " In a moment "— " In the twinkling of an eye . " The drawing roughly , but aptly , illustrates or represents the ruins of an ancient temple , or of some such magnificent building , in a

great city;—you may perceive the broken columns , and the fallen capitals of a series of beautiful pillars . Nearly in tho centre is an open cavity , from which three key or cope-stones—which are lying beside the opening—appear to havo boon drawn . Yon will porceivo also a life lino , and the working tools of a Royal Arch Mason lying near . The three keystones—tho Law and the Prophets , and T . S . W .

The working tools and life-line aro lively images to recall to your minds how that S . W . is said to have been recovered . In the lower half of the picture is a section showing , beneath the surface of the earth , as you may observe , the semblance of a groined cavern geometrically constructed ; a Royal Arch—a hollowed vaulted recess , built in the solid rock . This is clearly shown in the right and left

foreground of the drawings . The flooring is evidently formed of mystic squares of black and white marble . la the centre of a double circle , containing the twelve signs of the Zodiac;—with a double equilateral triangle ; aud in front of a scroll ( not shown ) stands an altar of incense—a double cube—closely veiled with a blue covoring . All these I will illustrate in detail hereafter , if time will permit of

it . It is only essential I should now observe that the rays from Heaven fall with their benign influence through the aperture , shedding Divine light on the surface of the altar and the Sacred Scroll . The height of tho sun on that memorable day—supposed to be bore figuratively or emblematically recorded—is said to have been 58 ° in the heavens , which formed an angle of the samo dimensions with the

horizon of that latitude , and by this representation in our chapters we aro enabled to convey a more lasting impression to the minds of our candidates of certain discoveries we have made in this , our R . A . With such emblems around us it seoms impossible to forget the moral lessons they are intended to convey . Do they not complete the lesson taught at our first introduction into Masonry ; veneration for

the Deity , kindness , respect , and assistance to tho brethren ; and regard to the four cardinal virtues in our own persons ? Practising these duties with fidelity we shall be blessed ; be truly R . A . M ., heirs to an immortal heritage into possession of which tho great I AM , THAT I AM , will bid us enter ; as into a colestial mansion veiled from mortal eyes ; where peace , and order , and harmony ,

eternally preside . Most Excellent aud Companions , —Let me solicit your kind forbearance , patience , and lenient judgment . Turn over to the next illustration . . The Four Hebrew letters on the top are : M . C . B . I . —Mi , Camoka , Baelim , Jelwva ?— " Who among the gods is like unto theo , 0 Jehovah ? "—the Initial Letters of which celebrated sentence aro

said to have been engraven on the Standard of the " Machabees "from which they derived their glorious name . Below the Four Hebrew letters by which the brave Asmoueau Princes so proclaimed the unapproachable Majesty of God , are the Letters Alpha and Omega —tho first and last letters of the Greek alphabet—expressing figuratively the measureless Eternity of tho Supreme Being .

Between the Alpha and Omega , and on either side below those Mystical Letters , runs a Text in the Latin Language—descriptive of the Four Leading or Principal Standards of Israel ( shown in the sketch beneath ) , each one under a Special Heavenly Protection around the Throne of God , as repeatedly referred to in the Sacred Books : "And the First Animal was like a Lion ( Judali ) , and the Second Animal was like a Young Bullock ( Ephraim ) , and the Third Animal

had the Face of a Man ( Reuben ) , f and the Fourth Animal was like a Plying Eagle ( Dan ) . " % Between the Four Leading Standards is the Banner of the Supreme , of White and Gold ; having thereon the Triple Tau in the Triangle enclosed in a Circle—surmounted by a celestial Crown , and rising out of a Crown over that Tabernacle in which we and our Fathers have worked and worshipped . In the upper corners of the Illustration aro two opposite Texts : one ( to the

Ta Eithta.

left ) in Greek , and one ( to the right ) in Latin . The Greek Text is as follows : "This is a very great mystery , but as we delivered it to you , so we received it from onr Fathers , and wo know that their testimony is true . " The Latin Text , is as follows : "I know thy works . Lo , I have set before thee an open door , which no m n can shut .

Beoause thou hast a little virtue , and hast kept My Word , and hast not deuied My Name . But I have somewhat against thee . " In the frame ( as it were ) of the sketoh is ( also in Latin ) this sig . nifioant injunction , and most seasonable warning : — " Arise and measure the Temple of God , and the Altar , and those that worship thereat ; but of the Conrt-yard which is outside of the Temple rm , ke

no special reckoning , for it is given up to the Gentiles "—to those outsiders whom it is not for us to judge . And along the arch of tho Picture is yet another text , in the Latin Tongue : " The Lioii of Judah , the Root of David Conquers ; open the Book , and Let them go free ! " At the base of the whole of this pic . ture—in the central portion of which the sacred mysteries of the

Royal Arch are symbolically portrayed—are these words , in tho Greek language : — " Ginoskeia anaginoskeis f " " Dost thou understand what thou readest ? " This , it will be remembered , was tho punning , epigrammatioal question put by Philip to the Ethiopian , when Iw , found him reading the Book of the Prophet Isaiah . Those mysteries are so profound and exalted , that they can be comprehended

only by those who are enlightened . I shall not therefore attempt to speak of what is most admirable in them ; remembering that a perfect knowledge of this degree can only be obtained by passing through the chairs of J ., H ., and Z . ; the secrets of which are kept separate and distinct , but accessible to every worthy Companion who has ever been Master of a Lodge—the laudable object of ambition of

every worthy Mason . The symbols aud ornaments which are dis . played are as nearly as possible a bird ' s-eye view of this august Sanhedrim—now sitting—with this exception , that the Companions are not represented therein , otherwise than by the banners . This is done the better to show the arrangement and form of the H . R . Arch . These symbols and ornaments , together with our present forms and

ceremonies , trace their origin as far back as tho Building of the Second Temple . The Grand Lodge of Scotland assert that the H . R . A . ( this degree ) is not part of Ancient Freemasonry . But the English book of Constitutions [ edit . 1873 , page 16 , and former eds . ] still expressly recognizes it as part of the third degree , " which includes the Royal Arch , " and as did the Lodge of Reconciliation in 1813 ; and

certainly as early as 1744 it was in existence , but conferred only on Masters of Lodges . The Chapter is it seems approached by seven steps , apparently the 7 steps of a M . M . Tho form of a R . A . C . is oblong , eastern end curved to represent an arch ( a catenarian arch * in this degree ) iu which the thrones of the 3 principals represent the cope or key-stones to preserve a memory of the vaulted shrine in which

K . S . deposited the S . W . The H . R . A . is intended to impress on our minds the providential means by which a knowledge of the truth ( without fresh revelations ) was restored by a series of important discoveries , after all traces of V . S . L . had been swept away by Nebuchadnezzar , at the destruction of Jerusalem , six hundred years before the Christian era . The knowledge of the law and worship of I AM

having been retained by tradition only among the remnant of God ' s ancient people—exiles and captives—in the midst of an idolatrous nation , practising a splendid superstition ( with all the adjuncts which despotism could devise to render it impressing and attractive ) and in the ceremonials of which God ' s chosen race were compelled to join . But under all these distressing , depressing circumstances ( a sect

among a few ) Masonry retained the memory of the True and Living God Most High and orally transmitted the substituted secrets of a M . M . to their children ' s children till time and circumstances ( in manner now revealed ) restored the genuine one 3 . The flooring of a R . A . C . is variegated or chequered black and white . Black , the colour of affliction , in allasion to their annihilation as a nation—their

captivity and their slavery ; and White , the colour of innocence , the symbol of absolute truth , denoting their purity , inspiring hope and joy . This flooring is surrounded by a tessalated border , and further symbolizes the antagonism of life and death in the spiritual and material states . The next thing that attracts our attention is V . S . L . open on a crimson cushion wiih gold tassels . Without a full

acknowledgment of the truths contained in that Holy and S . V . no one can penetrate the veil within the sanctuary . On the left hand , or N . side , yon will observe the square and compasses . The uses of the Bible , Square and Compasses are sufficiently explained in the previous degrees , and at onr instruction meetings . On tbe right , S . side , you will observe the sword and the trowel in Saltier in form of letter X . A Saltier in heraldry is a cross with two feet ( as if in the act of

leaping ) . The energy of the application of the term is very expressive ; the sword and trowel having been adopted by R . A . M . to commemorate tho valour of those worthy brethren who carried on the building of the Second Temple A . L . 3469 , with a trowel in their hand and a sword by their side , that they might be ever ready to defend the holy sanctuary against any attacks of its enemies : —whence we derive this moral—( hat , next to a cheerful obedience to all lawfully constituted