jewels of our three ancient grand masters. Lord! Holiness to the The king and scribe in turn do the same. The high priest inquires again if they are willing to penetrate this secret vault still further? The principal sojourner replies as before, that they are, even to the risk of their lives. H. P. Go, and may the God of your fathers be with you; and remember your labor shall not go unrewarded. They repair to the secret vault, letting down one of the companions, who raises the second trap-door, and is let down about eight or ten feet further, where he finds the ark, [See plate 14,] gives the signal, and is drawn up. They take the ark and carry it up to the grand council, who, after due inquiry into the business as before, direct the workmen from the secret vault to come forward and give an account of their labors. P. S. Most excellent, in pursuance of your orders, we repaired to the secret vault, and let down one of our companions as before. The sun at this time was at its meridian height, the rays of which enabled him to discover a small box, or chest, standing on a pedestal, curiously wrought, and overlaid with gold: he involuntarily found his hand raised in this position, [See plate 13, fig. 1,] to guard his eyes from the intense light and heat reflected from it. The air becoming exceedingly of fensive, he gave the signal of ascending, and was immediately drawn out. We have brought the ark up, for the examination of the grand council. H. P. [Looking at the ark apparently much surprised.] Companion king, this is the ark of the covenant of God! [The king and scribe declare the same.*] H. P. [Taking the ark,] We will open this ark, and see what valuable treasure it contains, [opens it and takes out a book,] Companion king, here is a very ancient looking book; what can it be? Let us read from the first page. [Reads.] Genesis i. 1-3. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light and there was light.' : Deut. xxxi. 24-26. And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this * Probably they go on the principle, that, ‘a lie well stuck to, is as good as the truth.' book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.' Exodus xx. 21. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above, upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.' H. P. This is a book of the law, long lost, but now found; holiness to the Lord! A book of the law, long lost, but now found; holiness to the Lord!! A book of the law, long lost, but now found; holiness to the Lord!!!* [The king or scribe each does the same once.] H. P. (To candidates.) You now see that the world is indebted to Masonry for the preservation of this sacred volume. Had it not been for the wisdom and precaution of our ancient brethren, this, the only remaining copy of the law, would have been destroyed, at the destruction of Jerusalem. (Takes a lit tle pot out of the ark.) Companion king, what can this be? A pot of manna. We will read in the book of the law, and see what that says. Reads from Ahiman Rezon, page 248. Hebrews ix. 2-5. 'For there was a tabernacle made: the first wherein was the candlesticks, and the table, and the shew-bread, which is called the sanctuary: and after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all: which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold; wherein was the golden pot that had manna; and Aaron's rod, that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.' A pot of manna; holiness to the Lord. [King and scribe as before.] Companions, we read in the book of the law, that' He that overcometh, will I give to eat of the hidden manna.' Come forward, companions, you are entitled to it. [Each one receives a small lump of sugar.] But how it came deposited here, we cannot now particularly speak. You must go higher in Masonry before you can know. The high priest finds Aaron's rod in the ark, and also a key to the ineffable characters of this degree; [See plate 13, fig. 7,] takes the key, and explains the characters on the four sides of the ark, thus: H. P. Deposited in the year three thousand.' 'By Solomon, king of Israel.' Hiram, king of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff.' * Each time, as the high priest repeats A book of the law,' &c. he gives the sign of the penalty of this degree. [See plate 13, fig. 1.] 'For the good of Masonry generally, but the Jewish nation in particular.' . H. P. [Addresses candidates.] Companions, here are three mysterious words in a triangular form, upon the ark, which, when first found, was covered with three squares, the jewels of our three ancient grand masters; and from this circumstance, we supposed it to be the Long lost master Mason's word;' and on applying the key to it, it proved our suspicions to be correct. It is the name of Deity in three languages, viz.; Chaldeac, Hebrew, and Syriac, which is the long lost master Mason's word, and has now become the grand omnific royal arch word. The word is given to the candidates as before described.* [See plate 13, fig. 6.] The high priest then gives the candidates a history of the degree, as before herein given, and the chapter is closed in the same manner as it is opened; except the high priest declares the chapter closed. The key to the ineffable characters or royal arch cipher alluded to in the oath, and delineated in plate 13, fig. 7, consists of right angles, in various attitudes, with the addition of a dot. Being dissected, it forms 26 distinct characters, corresponding with the 26 letters in the English alphabet. There are two ways, at least, of combining and using these characters for secret correspondence.† One method is to call the first sign, a; the second, b; and so on, reading from left to right, thus: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v * In closing the chapter, the words are not given; they only raise the arch, and put their heads under, without giving the word. + This is said to be the cipher used by the notorious Aaron Burr, in confidential communications to his companions royal arch accomplices, secretly to execute his treasonable plots against the government of the United States. It fully illustrates the danger of secret combinations. Had these letters fallen into the hands of any but royal arch Masons, they could not have read them, without the key, as in plate 13, fig. 7. And had they fallen into the hands of royal arch Masons, who disapproved of the trea son, they would have felt (conscientiously) bound to conceal; having taken an oath, under the penalty of death, to conceal the secrets of a companior royal arch Mason, murder and treason not excepted.' 6 |