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The Ancient And Accepted Rite.

The ANCIENT and ACCEPTED RITE .

[ THIRD ARTICLE . ] AT the request of several readers , we resume our synopsis of the higher degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite . Having left

off at the Rose Croix , or 18 , we have now to consider the " Historical and Philosophical " degrees—the first of which is called the " Grand Pontiff , " and ranks as 19 ° in

the series . By many these grades are considered the most important of the Rite , although , to our judgment , nothing can surpass the beauty and solemnity of the

Rose Croix , when properly rendered and with all the requisite surroundings complete . However , in the 19 the candidate still advances in the holy work of constructing

the Third Temple , " as taught in the preceding degree , and with the hope and endeavour to make the world a Temple fit for the dwelling-place of the G . A . O . T . U . " The

degree itself is founded upon certain apocalyptic mysteries appertaining to the New Jerusalem ; it rests upon the three characteristic virtues taught in the Eighteenth

degree , and proclaims theAlphaand Omega , There is more than a tinge of Rosicrucianism in the language of this degree , and

a mediaeval odour pervades its entire ceremonial . For instance , upon investing the candidate , the Thrice Potent or Presiding

The Ancient And Accepted Rite.

Officer thus addresses him : " This robe of white linen with which I now invest you is emblematical of that equity and purity which should characterize one who is

consecrated to the service of Truth ; and reminds us also of the vesture of the one hundred forty and four thousand who refused to wear the mark of the beast on

their foreheads ; for it is so written , ' They shall walk with me in white , for they are worthy ; he that overcometb . the same shall

be clothed in white raiment , and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life , but I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels . '"

From the Pontifical dignity we pass to the 20 , which is known by the high-sounding designation of " Grand Master of all Symbolic Lodges , or Master ad vitam . "

The power confided to a member of this degree is , however , purely imaginary , as our readers may well suppose , it not being claimed or exercised even in countries

where the Rite prevails . In this degree there is a fine explanation of the figurative sense in which these lofty titles are to be understood , and we therefore place it before

our readers : " The Knight with us , is he who devotes his hand , his heart , his brain to the science of Masonry , and professes himself the sworn servant of Truth . The

Prince is he who aims to be chief ( princeps ) —first or leader—among his equals , in virtue and good deeds . The Sovereign is

he who , one of an order whose members are all sovereigns , is supreme only because the law and constitutions are so which

he administers , and by which he , like every brother , is governed . The titles , Puissant , Potent , Wise , and Venerable , indicate that power of virtue , intelligence ,

and wisdom , which those ought to strive to attain who are placed in high office by the suffrages of their brethren ; and all our

other titles and designations have an esoteric meaning , consistent with modesty and equality , and which those who receive them should fully understand . "

The next degree is called the " Noachite or Prussian Knight , " the legend of which is exceedingly curious and instructive . It narrates the history of Peleg , or Phaleg ,

the architect of the Tower of Babel , who , after the confusion of tongues which scattered the workmen , is said to have betaken himself to the vast solitudes of Northern

Germany , in what is now called the Kingdom of Prussia , where he built a temple in the form of a Delta , led a life of great austerity , and at last obtained pardon

for his sins of vain glory and pride . The tradition also gives us an account of the organization of the Prussian Knights after the Crusades , when they became known as

the Holy Vehme—that mysterious and terrible order before whose edicts even monarchs trembled . They assumed the

name of " Noachites , ' " because they strove to imitate the primeval justice and purity of the beloved Patriarch . " Meetings of this grade are held only on

The Ancient And Accepted Rite.

the nights of the full moon—no other light being allowed at receptions , a custom said to be derived from the mysteries of Ceres , and the old worship of Isis .

The next step presents to our view the " Knight of the Royal Axe , or Prince of Libanus , " the twenty-second degree , and the principal doctrine or axiom laid down

appears to be that " labour is honourable . ' The 23 ° , or " Chief of the Tabernacle , " is a kind of introduction to the 24 ° , which is styled "Prince of the Tabernacle . " It

represents the lodge in the wilderness , and is extremely interesting . Moses , Aaron , and his sons—Aholiab , Bezaleel , Caleb , and Joshua—are conspicuous figures in the

ceremonies of these two degrees , which "illustrate the rite of the priests in the ancient Temple , and explain the esoteric meaning of their many avocations in

equiping the Temple , and sustaining their various sacerdotal employments . " The especial duties of a Prince of the

Tabernacle are to labour incessantly for the glory of God , the honour of his country , and the happiness of his brethren .

Our attention is next attracted by the degree called " Knight of the Brazen Serpent , " the 25 . It teaches the importance and absolute necessity of faith , of which

the brazen cross and serpent are the symbols and signs . The philosophic teaching of this degree is of a very high order , as maybe judged from the followingextract : —¦

" The Great First Cause has ever revealed itself by the Cross—the cross , that one composed of two , each of the two divided so that they constitute four ; the cross , that

key of the mysteries of India and Egypt , the tau of the patriarchs , the divine symbol of Osiris , the stauros of the Gnostic , the keystone of the Temple , the symbol of

occult Masonry ; the Cross , that central point of junction of the right angles of four infinite triangles ; the four in one of the Divine tetragram . "

When Domitian was Emperor of Rome , in the night of persecution when danger and death hung on their footsteps , the Christian Masons met in the

catacombsan assemblage of whom is represented in the next degree , the " Princes of Mercy , " or " Scottish Trinitarians . " In this grade we find by quotations from ancient

religious theories , that the ternary or threefold character of the Deity is alluded to in all . Thus the Hindoo speaks of the " three forms and aspects of the first , the supreme

single , invisible God , cause of all phenomena , and soul of the world . " The Persians refer to the coming in the fourth age of Sosiosch , the Saviour , who shall prepare the human

race for the general resurrection . The Sabcan mysteries taught that Mithras was three in one ; the ancient Egyptians worshipped Amun-Re as the Supreme

Triadfather , mother , and son . The Hebrew Kabbalists say that the Supreme has "three heads contained in one head "—

Chochmah , wisdom ; Binah , the mother of understanding ; and Daeth , intellectual cognition . Maimonides , the great Rabbi ,