Ar00600

The Freemason , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 26 , 1870 .

Ar00605

THE FREEMASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time for the early trains . Thc _ price of THE FREEMASON is Twopence per week ; annual subscription , IOS . ( payable in advance ) . All communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the EDITOR , 2 , 3 , and 4 , Little Britain , E . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to all MSS . entrusted to himhut cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

The Ancient And Accepted Rite.

The ANCIENT and ACCEPTED RITE .

[ SECOND ARTICLE . ] WE resume with pleasure our observations upon the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , commencing with the 15 ° ,

or " Knight of the East and Sword , as we left off with the 14 ° , or the " Perfect and Sublime Master , " and premising that we are largely indebted to Bro . McClenachan ' s

exhaustive work on the subject for much valuable information . It may also be as well to state that the first three degrees are

termed the first series of " Symbolic Masonry , " the remaining eleven up to the 14 "Ineffable , " while the 15 ° and 16 ° are called " Historical . "

The 15 relates to the Babylonish captivity , and is well known in Great Britain and Ireland in a somewhat altered form , as " Knight of the Babylonish Pass " or

" Knight of the Red Cross of Babylon . " The Presiding Officer represents Cyrus , King of Persia , and the candidate personifies Zerubbabel , whose adventures prior to

his return from the captivity are dramatically set forth in the degree . The " Knight of the East " should therefore , chronologically , be given before exaltation to the

"Royal Arch , which relates to the restoration of the kingly power to J udah , under the son of Shealtiel , or Salathicl . Royal Arch companions will readily recognise the

connection between tiie degrees in the command given by Zerubbabel to his followers : " You will work henceforth with the trowel in one hand and the

sword in the other . ' The symbols used in Royal Arch Masonry are also visible in the 15 ° —the banners bear the device of the cherubim , a man , a lion , an ox , and an

eagle ; and other coincidences arc not wanting to complete the links which unite the two degrees . It may be briefly stated that the passage of Zerubbabel and his

people isdisputed by the enemy at a bridge crossing the river Euphrates ; but after a severe contest that valiant Prince overcomes all opposition and arrives at Jerusalem , where he opens a grand Sanhedrim .

The 16 , or "Prince of Jerusalem , '' continues the allegory , placing before us the trials experienced by the Hebrew Masons while attempting to rebuild the Temple .

In this degree we are introduced to King Darius , who ratifies the edict of his famous predecessor , Cyrus , in favour of the Jews , prompted as much by his . sense of justice

as by his ancient friendship for Zerubbabel . The King gives a great feast , to which the chief princes of his dominion are invited , and we are informed that in the American

The Ancient And Accepted Rite.

degree of "Knight of the Red C . J ^ J' a similar ceremony prevails , and that a banquet-table is actually furnished for the benefit of the knights present . In fact ,

the extraordinary resemblance between the 16 ° and the American grade obviously suggests a common origin . However , at this festival Darius propounds a question

which is variously stated as , " Which is the greatest , the strength of wine , of the King , or of women ? " or " What is that which holds the most powerful sway over

mortals ? " The former is the " Red Cross " version , the latter that of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , and this , > we have no hesitation in avowing , we prefer , inasmuch

as the answer to the first query travels out of the record . One of the company declares in favour of wine , another of women , whilst a third says that the king is the strongest ;

but Zerubbabel , divinely inspired , asserts that " Truth is omnipotent—greater than any transitory throne , more endurable titan any frail decaying beauty . " " Truth is the essence of the Great Architect of the

Universe ; it is the tie of all treaties , the motive of every good action , the basis of all laws , the seal of sovereign majesty . " To

this reasoning Darius assents , and confers great rewards on Zerubbabel as the expounder and defender of Truth .

The summary of the first fourteen degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite is simply this : They refer to the construction and demolition of the first temple , and the

two next grades comprise the history of the second temple . We next come to the Philosophical degrees , which relate to the building of a third temple , " one not made with

hands , within the heart and spirit of man . In the 17 wc have really the first indication that Masonry is identified with Christianity , according to the teachings of

the rite . The " Venerable Master represents John the Baptist , and all the brethren are termed " Faithful , " in allusion to the title applied to his disciples who are

supposed to have been Esseneans . The degree is denominated " Knight of the East and West , " and the rites observed are very solemn and imposing . It is , however , but

fair to observe , that the symbols used are capable of a philosophical as well as a theological interpretation . The candidate is thus addressed by the Lecturer : — "Wc are

about to approach those ancient religions which once ruled the minds of men , and whose ruins encumber the plains of the great Past , as the broken columns of Palmyra and

ladmor be bleaching on the sands of the desert . They rise before us , those old , strange , mysterious creeds and faiths , shrouded in the mists of antiquity , and

stalk dimly and undefincdly along the line that divides time from eternity ; and forms of strange , wild , startling beauty mingle in the vast throng of figures , with shapes

monstrous , grotesque , and hideous . '' "At the time when John the Baptist made his appearance in the desert , near the shores of the Red Sea , all the old philosophical and religious systems were approximating to

The Ancient And Accepted Rite.

each other , while the philosophers of Greece , all ( except the disciples of Epicurus ) more or less Platonicians , seized eagerly upon the beliefs and doctrines of the East . The Jews

and Egyptians , before then the most exclusive of all peoples , yielded to . that eclecticism which prevailed among their masters , the Greeks and Romans . " From this

extract it will be readily perceived that the instruction communicated to the neophyte in the 17 ° is not of a very common-place

order . The next degree , the beautiful , the immortal , " Rose Croix " is assuredly the finest of the series . Celebrated under

various names by different nations , it has found acceptance more or less in all . Every spurious imitation of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , such as the " Rite of

Memphis " adopts the Rose Croix degree as an essential element in its system . Every modification , as for instance , the " French or Modern Rite , " retains it as the completion

of the mystic allegory . All degrees beyond this are comparatively supererogatory , however interesting they may be as illustrations of the grand design . The novice seeks the

lost word , it is found , and this ceremony symbolises perfection or the consummation of Masonry . The language used is exceedingly appropriate , the decorations suggestive ,

and , when properly rendered , the whole drama is surpassingly grand . The beauties of faith , hope , and charity arc finely exemplified , and the glory of the new covenant is

forcibly demonstrated . With this , the "culminating point of Masonry , " as it is termed in the ritual , wc conclude our remarks on the Rite for the present , merely explaining

that in furnishing these brief definitions of the "higher degrees " to our readers we do so under the impression that any addition to the general stock of Masonic

information , whenever legally communicable , must be acceptable to every lover of the Order . There is much to learn in connection with those little-studied branches of Masonry ,

and nothing that relates to our legends or traditions can be , to paraphrase the words of the old dramatist , foreign or indifferent

to us as Masons . In a future number wc will continue our explanations oftheremaining degrees of the Rite .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

—« , — KNIGHTS TEMPLAR . From the " Encyclopedia Metropolitana " we learn that these knights were much connected with the -Masons , and are supposed to have been frequently initiated among the Syrian

Fraternity . On the dissolution of the Order in the 14 th century , the Provincial Grand Master of Auvergne , Pierre d'Aumont , with two commanders and live knights , iled , disgusted , as . Masons to one of the Scottish isles , where they found the Grand Commander , Hamptoncourt ,

and other members of the Order , and they resolved to preserve the Institution , if possible , although in secret , and adopted many oC the forms of the Freemasons to conceal their design . They held a chapter on St John ' s Day , 1313 , when d'Aumont was chosen Grand

Master , and in 1361 their seat was removed to Aberdeen , and by degrees the Order spread tinder the veil of Masonry over a great part of Europe , though its rank and power were at an end . C . G . FORSYTH .