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Article COREESBO^bENGE. ← Page 7 of 8 →
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Coreesbo^Benge.
perseverance they have displayed in furtherance of the otgects of the committees viz . —the increase M the furuls of ^ e Girls W ^
the consequent extensionof lam , dear Sir and Prpther , Ifours truly and ^ i ^ Jofe Chairnu ^ Qf ty ^ c ^ hMk
THE ROIAL AKCIL ? 0 TPE TOTOR Of THE ^ R ^ MLASipNS ' MA . UA 2 IN ? J AKU MASONIC MIRROR . J ) bar j § m ak © Brother , —~ Lrx the Freemasons' Magazine | br the gl § t July there appeared a letter sighed u A First Principal ^ nd JKm ^ ht Teinplar , " expressing a desire for some h ^ rm the altera ^
tions which have be & made ^ m which have occasione *! what he considers 'Van ^ ought to he removed * " As none of your correspondents have yet volunteered- to enlighten ^ a Jew remarks for his instruction .
Prior to the union in 1818 , the ritual pf this degree Offered very mu fr ^ bm that in use at the present time ; amongst other discrepancies wc aire assured there was no installation of Principals . The three Principals were at that time styled Grand ( Dhiefs ,, the first being the High Priest ; the second the Kingj and the third the Scribe or ISTehemiah . Ezra , the Scribe , performed the duties pf Secretary , as at present . As to costume , we find that the collars of the chiefs were of erinisori velvet , with triple bancfs of gold
lacq , at the extremities of which was embroidered the double triangle in gold ; the jewel represented the compasses . The subordinate officers wore the same collars , with double bands of lace , and a . single triangle . The robes of the Principals were similar to those now in use ; but , in addition , the High Priest wore the mitre and head-piece , with breast-plate , as described in the account of the twenty-fourth degree of the Ancient and Accepted Bite , which has appeared in your pages . The jewel worn by the three Sojourners was a square .
I have never heard any reason given for the alteration m the titles of the three Principals . I would , however , suggest , th ^ t it may have been adopted with a view to establish uniformity , as the practice of the degree varied considerably ; and also to correct a seeming inconsistency in the sovereign prince being made subordinate to another officer . Zerubbabel is narned first in order by the prophet Haggai , in the command of the Mqst High to
commence the great work for which he had been selected . I have seen manuscript rituals of the old ceremony , and am decidedly of opinion that our present rite is in every respect an improvement upon the old one ; indeed , when carefully performed , it must be acknowledged to be a most sublime ceremonial ; no part of Masonic ceremonial can equal the installations of the Principals .
The anomaly of introducing Ezra and Nehemiah in the ceremony with Zerubbabel and Haggai , is not so objectionable as some suppose . The second temple > vas dedicated , p .. q . 511 , and Ezra was sent by Artaxerxes to Jerusalem , b , c . 468 , though Calmet says that there are authorities to show that he accompanied Zerubbabel on that prince ' s departure , B . C . 515 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Coreesbo^Benge.
perseverance they have displayed in furtherance of the otgects of the committees viz . —the increase M the furuls of ^ e Girls W ^
the consequent extensionof lam , dear Sir and Prpther , Ifours truly and ^ i ^ Jofe Chairnu ^ Qf ty ^ c ^ hMk
THE ROIAL AKCIL ? 0 TPE TOTOR Of THE ^ R ^ MLASipNS ' MA . UA 2 IN ? J AKU MASONIC MIRROR . J ) bar j § m ak © Brother , —~ Lrx the Freemasons' Magazine | br the gl § t July there appeared a letter sighed u A First Principal ^ nd JKm ^ ht Teinplar , " expressing a desire for some h ^ rm the altera ^
tions which have be & made ^ m which have occasione *! what he considers 'Van ^ ought to he removed * " As none of your correspondents have yet volunteered- to enlighten ^ a Jew remarks for his instruction .
Prior to the union in 1818 , the ritual pf this degree Offered very mu fr ^ bm that in use at the present time ; amongst other discrepancies wc aire assured there was no installation of Principals . The three Principals were at that time styled Grand ( Dhiefs ,, the first being the High Priest ; the second the Kingj and the third the Scribe or ISTehemiah . Ezra , the Scribe , performed the duties pf Secretary , as at present . As to costume , we find that the collars of the chiefs were of erinisori velvet , with triple bancfs of gold
lacq , at the extremities of which was embroidered the double triangle in gold ; the jewel represented the compasses . The subordinate officers wore the same collars , with double bands of lace , and a . single triangle . The robes of the Principals were similar to those now in use ; but , in addition , the High Priest wore the mitre and head-piece , with breast-plate , as described in the account of the twenty-fourth degree of the Ancient and Accepted Bite , which has appeared in your pages . The jewel worn by the three Sojourners was a square .
I have never heard any reason given for the alteration m the titles of the three Principals . I would , however , suggest , th ^ t it may have been adopted with a view to establish uniformity , as the practice of the degree varied considerably ; and also to correct a seeming inconsistency in the sovereign prince being made subordinate to another officer . Zerubbabel is narned first in order by the prophet Haggai , in the command of the Mqst High to
commence the great work for which he had been selected . I have seen manuscript rituals of the old ceremony , and am decidedly of opinion that our present rite is in every respect an improvement upon the old one ; indeed , when carefully performed , it must be acknowledged to be a most sublime ceremonial ; no part of Masonic ceremonial can equal the installations of the Principals .
The anomaly of introducing Ezra and Nehemiah in the ceremony with Zerubbabel and Haggai , is not so objectionable as some suppose . The second temple > vas dedicated , p .. q . 511 , and Ezra was sent by Artaxerxes to Jerusalem , b , c . 468 , though Calmet says that there are authorities to show that he accompanied Zerubbabel on that prince ' s departure , B . C . 515 .