Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To
seals ; The covering of the floor displays a heptagon within a circle , over the angles of which appear certain initials ;_ -in the centre is the figure of a man clothed in a white robe , with a golden girdle around his waist ; his right hand , which is extended , is surmounted by seven stars ; he wears a long white beard ; his head is surrounded with glory , and from his mouth issues a two-edged sword . Seven
candlesticks stand around him bearing the mysterious initials . The seven stars by which his hand is surmounted , are explained to signify the seven qualities which ought todistinguish a Freemason , viz ., friendship , union , submission , discretion , fidelity , prudence , and temperance . But there is a higher meaning attached to the symbol of the seven
stars , derived from passages in the Old Testament ; they represent the seven eyes mentioned by Zechariah , which typify the care of divine providence , ever watchful to promote the welfare of his creatures , and the seveii lamps of the Apocalypse , which symbolize the holy spirit of God , whence are also derived the seven spiritual gifts of a Christian man .
The candidate being in possession of the password of the seventeenth degree , then presents himself for admission to the Kose Croix Chapter . Sovereign Prince of Hose Croioo Herodem , * which is the eighteenth degree , is the most important and most generally diffused of the historical degrees of Masonry . It is found in all the principal rites , and where ( like the Eoyal Arch ) it does not exist by name , its place
is supplied by others whose symbols do not differ materially from it . To those who have not gone beyond the symbolic degrees , the name is perhaps more familiarly known than any other of the higher degrees . Of its origin , nothing satisfactory is known ; one writer supposes it to have been instituted by the Knights Templar in Palestine , in the twelfth century , and asserts that Prince Edward , afterwards King Edward I ., was there admitted into the Order ; he also says that the Order was derived from an Egyptian priest converted to Christianity . Eagon , in his treatise entitled " Orthodoxie Ma ^ nnique , " has most
elaborately investigated the subject , and attributes its origin to a pious monk , named John Valentine Andrea , who flourished in the early part of the seventeenth century . f Andrea wrote , among other works , two treatises , one entitled " Judicorum de Fraternitate E . C .: "
the other "Noces Chemiques de Eozen Crutz . " Eagon says that Andrea , grieved at seeing the principles of Christianity forgotten in idle and vain disputes , and that science was made subservient to the pride of man instead of contributing to his happiness , passed his days in devising what he supposed to be the most appropriate means of restoring each to its legitimate moral and benevolent tendency .
* This word Herodem was erroneously printed Harodim , at line 13 of the first page of our article on this subject in the Magazine of June 16 . There is no connection between the two expressions . Ilarodwiift correctly used afterwards in the same article . + For some account of John Valentine Andrea , the reader is referred to a former article in this volume , at pp , 64 : 2 , et ante . 4 H 2 /
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To
seals ; The covering of the floor displays a heptagon within a circle , over the angles of which appear certain initials ;_ -in the centre is the figure of a man clothed in a white robe , with a golden girdle around his waist ; his right hand , which is extended , is surmounted by seven stars ; he wears a long white beard ; his head is surrounded with glory , and from his mouth issues a two-edged sword . Seven
candlesticks stand around him bearing the mysterious initials . The seven stars by which his hand is surmounted , are explained to signify the seven qualities which ought todistinguish a Freemason , viz ., friendship , union , submission , discretion , fidelity , prudence , and temperance . But there is a higher meaning attached to the symbol of the seven
stars , derived from passages in the Old Testament ; they represent the seven eyes mentioned by Zechariah , which typify the care of divine providence , ever watchful to promote the welfare of his creatures , and the seveii lamps of the Apocalypse , which symbolize the holy spirit of God , whence are also derived the seven spiritual gifts of a Christian man .
The candidate being in possession of the password of the seventeenth degree , then presents himself for admission to the Kose Croix Chapter . Sovereign Prince of Hose Croioo Herodem , * which is the eighteenth degree , is the most important and most generally diffused of the historical degrees of Masonry . It is found in all the principal rites , and where ( like the Eoyal Arch ) it does not exist by name , its place
is supplied by others whose symbols do not differ materially from it . To those who have not gone beyond the symbolic degrees , the name is perhaps more familiarly known than any other of the higher degrees . Of its origin , nothing satisfactory is known ; one writer supposes it to have been instituted by the Knights Templar in Palestine , in the twelfth century , and asserts that Prince Edward , afterwards King Edward I ., was there admitted into the Order ; he also says that the Order was derived from an Egyptian priest converted to Christianity . Eagon , in his treatise entitled " Orthodoxie Ma ^ nnique , " has most
elaborately investigated the subject , and attributes its origin to a pious monk , named John Valentine Andrea , who flourished in the early part of the seventeenth century . f Andrea wrote , among other works , two treatises , one entitled " Judicorum de Fraternitate E . C .: "
the other "Noces Chemiques de Eozen Crutz . " Eagon says that Andrea , grieved at seeing the principles of Christianity forgotten in idle and vain disputes , and that science was made subservient to the pride of man instead of contributing to his happiness , passed his days in devising what he supposed to be the most appropriate means of restoring each to its legitimate moral and benevolent tendency .
* This word Herodem was erroneously printed Harodim , at line 13 of the first page of our article on this subject in the Magazine of June 16 . There is no connection between the two expressions . Ilarodwiift correctly used afterwards in the same article . + For some account of John Valentine Andrea , the reader is referred to a former article in this volume , at pp , 64 : 2 , et ante . 4 H 2 /