The Three Rabbonis.

plans for the aggrandizement of his kingdom , and following the example of his ancestors , married the Pharaoh's daughter and made her his favourite queen . He thua secured a powerful ally and protector against the

assaults of the Babylonish empire , which had lonothreatened Israel . With Hiram king of Tyre he renewed and made still closer the friendship established by hi << father David .

Peace reigned throughout the kingdom . Commerce with the surrounding nations flourished , riches flowed in upon him and his people . The Jews even in thoso early days were famous money getters , and their native shrewdness enabled them to thrive and grow wealthy ns thoy bargained

with their neighbours . The legend of tho shrewd do \ i <; o by which their ancestor Jacob had improved the opportunity offered him by his Uncle Laban in tho matter of the

parti-coloured lambs , had come down to the days of Solomon throngh all the intervening five hundred years , and the descendents of tbat cunning shepherd were quite as ready as he to profit at a venture .

A slight and even insignificant circumstance sometimes is sufficient to establish a reputation . Two " clamerous women disputing over a new-born babe " afforded Solomon an opportunity to give a judgment which , inhuman as it was , proved his knowledge of human nature and raised

him high upon the pinnacle of wisdom . And so tho son of David and Bathsheba sat upon the throne of Israel as tho Lord had promised , surrounded with all the voluptuous splendour of the East , the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to do his bidding , armies and navies to defend his kingdom ,

queens coming from far-off Ethiopia to pay him homage , while the fame of his wisdom and greatness spread over all the earth , and the nations from the borders of the sea to the great river Euphrates received and acknowledged him as the " Rabboni , " the Most Excellent Master . It was

under such brilliant surroundings that Solomon conin eoced the bnilding of the Temple . Immense treasures of gold and silver had been accumulated by his father David for thafc sacred purpose , and he found in the king of Tyre an efficient assistant , ready and willing to furnish the

men and tho materials to carry out and complete the great work . Not only the men , but the " Man , " to whom above all others was due the matchless perfection of the work , came from Tyre . It is not within our province to speak of the building nor of the builders . It is the completion

aud dedication to which is devoted the Most Excellent Master Mason ' s degree . In modern times , the commencement of a great work , the laying of a corner-stone , is the occasion of the elaborate ceremonies ; with the ancients , tho completion of the work was celebrated , and we cannot

find the mention of any particular ceremonies on the day when Solomon set the Craftsmen to work upon the sacred edifice that was to adorn the heights of Mount Moriah and render his name famous through all coming time . Our reference to the most important events in the life of Saul

David , and Solomon , has led ns to the door of the Sixth degree in Freemasonry . Let us pause a moment at the entrance and contemplate the solemn and impressive scene passing in review before us . It would be superfluous for us to speak to the Most Excellent Master Mason of the

actual work in which he took part when he was received among those worthy to wear the insignia of the Sixth degree . The meaning and purpose of those ceremonies he has already learned : it is * the Ark of the Covenant , the

wondrous prayer of Solomon and thc symbolic meaning of the laying of the copestone , that gives to this part of Freemasonry its weight and importance and renders it worthy of the consideration of the Masonic student .

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT AND THE CITY OF DAVID .

" Then Solomon assembled tbe elders of Israel , and all the heads of the tribes , the chief of fche fathers of the children of Israel , unto king Solomon in Jerusalem , that they might bring up tbe ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David , which is Zion , " ( 1 Kings viii . 1 ) . The Most Excellent Master Masons will remember two

important subjects in connection with what may be called the processional scene of the Sixth degree : First , the Ark of the Covenant ; second , the " city of David which is Zion . " But while they cannot fail to have noticed the

prominence of the first in the ceremonies incident to the conferring of the degree , and perhaps also had their curiosity aroused by tbe citation of the wordc of the Jewish chronicler , " city of David which is Zion , " yet we may

The Three Rabbonis.

assume that not all of the Brethren have made themselves acquainted with the true signification or the Masonic symbolism of the one or the other ; so we will ask your

iittention to some explanations relating more particularly to that curious instrument , the Ark of the Covenant , and why it was of such paramount importance to the children of Israel .

The Ark of the Covenant was held by the Hebrews in such veneration that it was second only to the feeling with which they regarded the Omnipotent . It was believed to bo of sacred origin , its material construction and purpose having been indicated to Moses during fche forty days

lie was upon Mount Sinai in direct communication with God . Its contents wore of such transcendent value that its loss was looked upon as tho most diro calamity that could befall the nation , and its caro and preservation were considered necessary to the existence of Israel . The

Tabernacle first aud afterwards the Temple were constructed for the safe keep-ug of tho Ark as well as for fche worship of God . The divine presence , the Shekinah , rested upon the mercy seat above the Ark ; everything connected with it was holy in tho sight of the Jews , and

as the pronunciation of the Ineffable Name was forbidden , so to lay hands upon the Ark was a crime sure to be followed by condign punishment . Tb « size of the Ark , the material of which it was made and the manner in which ifc was transported , are

particularly described in tho twenty-filth and thirty-seventh chapters of Exodus , written by Moses under divine instructions . Upon tho Ark were placed two unique

figures called " cherubim , " different in form and appearance from any known living thing , and so strange were those s-ingular forms that they have been a subject for discussion from the days of Moses down to the present time .

Ifc was the mysterious cloud between the cherubim and the contents of the Ark that made it to the ancient Hebrews above all things to live or to die for . But while the exterior was of such curious and sacred import , it carried within treasures which to the Hebrew

wore priceless , and from which had sprung the life and glory of his nation . The covenant of the Lord with the children of Israel was the promise God had made to Abraham , when he foretold the manner in which Israel

would be established , and also assured the patriarch that his descendants should become moro numerous than the sands of the sea , the dust of the earth , or the stars of heaven , ( Gen . xxii . 17 ) .

Ifc was upon this prediction that the Jews based the claim of being God's chosen people , the nation that was to be nearest and under the special care of the Omnipotent , to live invincible so long as the divine favour rested with thein . This covenant or promise , renewed to Isaac and to

Jacob , reasserted and emphasized on numerous occasions to the children of Israel , was incorporated with the entire code of laws by which the Jews were to be governed . The directions as to their Feast and Fast days , the night of the Passover , the day of the Atonement , the feast of the

Tabernacles , the year of Jubilee , the ordinance of Circumcision , the punishments and the rewards , everything even to the most minutest details of their domestic relations , was to he found in those sublime records comprised in the five books of Moses , nearly all of which was the direct inspiration of Deity .

This Book of the Testimony , as it has been called , was finished by the great Hebrew leader at the base of Mount Pisgah , from which he was to view the land where the Israelites were to live and flourish and grow in the fulfilment of the divine promise . It was the completion of tho

great work assigned him . He had learned of God that his life was drawing to its close , and with the shadow of death resting upon him , surrounded by the people he had served so faithfully , be called to the Lovites who bore the sacred vessel and bade them " Take this book of the law , and put

it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord yonr God , that it may be there for a witness against thee , " ( Deut . xxxi . 26 ) . In addition to the Book of the Law , there were also the two Tables of Stone upon which were engraved the Ten

Commandments , " written by the finger of God . " It is doubtful whether at any time or with any other people there ever existed a more precious legacy than the Ark of the Covenant and its sacred contents . The Ten Commandments are tho basis of all the law and all the equity of mankind . Law , as known and administered among