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Article THE HISTORICAL DEGREES; ← Page 5 of 15 →
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The Historical Degrees;
when the fidelity of the latter was rewarded by Solomon with advancement to this rank . The candidate is invested in open LodgCj and thus ¦ addressed by his superior , '" My brother , I receive you as an Intimate Secretary , on vour promise to be faithful to the order into which , . vou have iust
been admitted , and I trust that your fidelity . will be proof against every temptation . I ? pfesent you with a sword as a weapon of defence against the attacks of those who may try to extort from you the secrets which I am now about to communicate . "
There is a tracing-board which is thus explained : —" The window in the clouds represents the vault of the temple , and the letter 'J' which you see inscribed therein , indicates the Tetragrammaton , or sacred name of Grod . The door represents the principal entrance from the palace ; the tears symbolize the repentance of Joabert in Solomon ' s chamber of audience , and are also emblematical of the lamentations of the king in the apartment hung with black , where he used to retire to lament the unhappy fate of Hiram Abif ; and here - _ « ' ' m ' - » . "¦ » " ¦ . — .- _» m ' rm ¦ m ~ - * -m to a
it was he received the King ot Tyre . Provost and Jitdge is the seventh degree . Traditional history relates its foundation by King Solomon for the purpose of strengthening his means of preserving order among the vast number of craftsmen engaged in the construction of the temple . The presiding officer of the Lodge represents Tito , who was the first of the three hundred overseers called Harodim , a Hebrew word which signifies , " princes " or iC provosts" / See 1 . Kings , v . 16 . ) In this degree there are six lights
which are so placed as to form a double triangle . The badge is white lined with red and has a pocket ; the collar is red , to it is suspended the jewel , a golden key , on the wards of which is engraved the letter "A . " This degree appears out of place , as it has reference solely to the very first preparations for building the Temple ; whereas those preceding it are connected with its construction and completion . Connected as these four' degrees are with the historical
traditions of the third degree , with the exception of the anachronism to which we are about to refer , they are unobjectionable and somewhat instructive . Are these traditions to be found in Preston's four sections of the third degree ? Whence is derived the cognomen Tito ?—it is clearly Latin or Italian . Provost comes from the Latin propositus , which denotes the chief of any society or community ; the "Frfinn . Ti word -mv > V !/ eomes nearest to the form of thft word , rmd the ^ V W w w , _ ~~ -- ,- ..
-. W * -. ^*^ .. - ^ J £ , . „ , , English expression " provost marshal , " an officer attached to the army whose duty it is to seize and punish offenders against military discipline , has been adopted from the Erench prevot cles vnarechaitx , an officer who has similar functions . It has been suggested as probable that this degree was instituted among the Masonic crusaders , as it has more especial connection with military government . The word " provost" is in England rarely used , we believe the only instances are those of the heads of certain colleges , & c . ; in Scotland , it designates the chief magistrate in corporate cities a $ the Lord Provost of Edinburgh ; Glasgow , & c .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Historical Degrees;
when the fidelity of the latter was rewarded by Solomon with advancement to this rank . The candidate is invested in open LodgCj and thus ¦ addressed by his superior , '" My brother , I receive you as an Intimate Secretary , on vour promise to be faithful to the order into which , . vou have iust
been admitted , and I trust that your fidelity . will be proof against every temptation . I ? pfesent you with a sword as a weapon of defence against the attacks of those who may try to extort from you the secrets which I am now about to communicate . "
There is a tracing-board which is thus explained : —" The window in the clouds represents the vault of the temple , and the letter 'J' which you see inscribed therein , indicates the Tetragrammaton , or sacred name of Grod . The door represents the principal entrance from the palace ; the tears symbolize the repentance of Joabert in Solomon ' s chamber of audience , and are also emblematical of the lamentations of the king in the apartment hung with black , where he used to retire to lament the unhappy fate of Hiram Abif ; and here - _ « ' ' m ' - » . "¦ » " ¦ . — .- _» m ' rm ¦ m ~ - * -m to a
it was he received the King ot Tyre . Provost and Jitdge is the seventh degree . Traditional history relates its foundation by King Solomon for the purpose of strengthening his means of preserving order among the vast number of craftsmen engaged in the construction of the temple . The presiding officer of the Lodge represents Tito , who was the first of the three hundred overseers called Harodim , a Hebrew word which signifies , " princes " or iC provosts" / See 1 . Kings , v . 16 . ) In this degree there are six lights
which are so placed as to form a double triangle . The badge is white lined with red and has a pocket ; the collar is red , to it is suspended the jewel , a golden key , on the wards of which is engraved the letter "A . " This degree appears out of place , as it has reference solely to the very first preparations for building the Temple ; whereas those preceding it are connected with its construction and completion . Connected as these four' degrees are with the historical
traditions of the third degree , with the exception of the anachronism to which we are about to refer , they are unobjectionable and somewhat instructive . Are these traditions to be found in Preston's four sections of the third degree ? Whence is derived the cognomen Tito ?—it is clearly Latin or Italian . Provost comes from the Latin propositus , which denotes the chief of any society or community ; the "Frfinn . Ti word -mv > V !/ eomes nearest to the form of thft word , rmd the ^ V W w w , _ ~~ -- ,- ..
-. W * -. ^*^ .. - ^ J £ , . „ , , English expression " provost marshal , " an officer attached to the army whose duty it is to seize and punish offenders against military discipline , has been adopted from the Erench prevot cles vnarechaitx , an officer who has similar functions . It has been suggested as probable that this degree was instituted among the Masonic crusaders , as it has more especial connection with military government . The word " provost" is in England rarely used , we believe the only instances are those of the heads of certain colleges , & c . ; in Scotland , it designates the chief magistrate in corporate cities a $ the Lord Provost of Edinburgh ; Glasgow , & c .