THIS degree is more august, sublime and important, than all which precede it. It impresses on our minds a belief of the being and existence of the Supreme Grand High Priest of our salvation, who is without beginning of days or end of years; and forcibly reminds us of the reverence due his Holy Name. In this degree is brought to light many essentials which are of importance to the craft, that were concealed in darkness for the space of four hundred and seventy years; and without a knowledge of which the masonic character cannot be complete. Section First. This section explains the mode of government in this degree; it designates the appellation, number and situation of the several officers, and points out the purpose and duty of their respective stations. The various colors of their banners are designated; and the morals to which they allude are introduced and explained. The following exhortation is read at opening: "Now we command you, brethren, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for naught; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Now the Lord of Peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all." Section Second. This section contains much valuable historical information, and exhibits to our view, in striking colors, that prosperity and happiness are ever the ultimate consequences of virtue and justice; while disgrace and ruin invariably follow the practice of vice and immorality. The following charges and passages of Scripture are here introduced during the ceremony of exaltation : "I will bring the blind by a way they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."-Isaiah xlii, 16. “O thou eternal and omnipotent JEHOVAH, the glorious and everlasting I AM; permit us, thy frail, dependent and needy creatures, in the name of our Most Excellent and Supreme High Priest, to approach thy divine majesty. And do thou, who sittest between the Cherubim, incline thine ear to the voice of our praises, and of our supplication; and vouchsafe to commune with us from off the mercy seat. We humbly adore and worship thy unspeakable perfections, and thy unbounded goodness and benevolence. We bless thee, that when man had sinned and fallen from his innocence and happiness, thou didst still leave unto him the powers of reasoning, and the capacity of improvement and of pleasure. We adore thee, that amidst the pains and calamities of our present state, so many means of refreshment and satisfaction are afforded us, while traveling the rugged path of life. And O, thou who didst aforetime appear unto thy servant Moses in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush, enkindle, we beseech thee, in each of our hearts, a flame of devotion to thee, of love to each other, and of benevolence and charity to all mankind. May the vails of ignorance and blindness be removed from the eyes of our understandings, that we may behold and adore thy mighty and wondrous works. May the rod and staff of thy grace and power continually support us, and defend us "rom the rage of all our enemies, and especially from the subtility and malice of that old serpent, who with cruel vigilance seeketh our ruin. May the leprosy of sin be eradicated from our bosoms; and may Holiness to the Lord be engraven upon all our thoughts, words and actions. May the incense of piety ascend con tinually unto thee, from off the altar of our hearts, and burn day and night as a sweet-smelling savor unto thee. May we daily search the records of truth, that we may be more and more instructed in our duty; and may we share the blessedness of those who hear the sacred word, and keep it. And finally, O merciful Father, when we shall have passed through the outward vails of these earthly courts; when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, may we be admitted into the Holy of Holies above, into the presence of the Grand Council of heaven, where the Supreme High Priest forever presides, forever reigns. Amen. So mote it be." "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold the bush burned with fre, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not barnt. "And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither; |