-
Articles/Ads
Article THE HISTORICAL DEGREES; ← Page 9 of 12 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Historical Degrees;
grace . In common discourse , we usually say the Old and New lestanients ; the covenant between God and' the posterity of Abraham , and that which he has made with believers by Jesus Christ ; because these two covenants contain eminently all the rest . The most solemn and perfect of the covenants of God with men , is that made through the mediation of our Redeemer , which must subsist to the end of time . The Son of God is the guarantee of it , it is confirmed with
His blood ; the end and object of it is eternal life , and its constitution and laws are infinitely more exalted than those of the former covenant .
The twenty-seventh degree is Grand Commander of the Temple . The assemblage has a new designation , it is called a " court , " and altogether 'the degree has a character dissimilar to every other that precedes it ; every thing about . it is of the chivalric and military class . The presiding officer is styled Most Illustrious and Most Valiant , the Wardens are Most Sovereign Grand Commanders , and even the Knights are designated Sovereign Commanders ; The badge is flesh-coloured ,
lined and edged with black ; with a Teutonic cross encircled by a wreath of laurel , and a key beneath , all embroidered in black , upon the flap . The scarf is red , bordered with black , hanging from the right shoulder to the left hip , and bears on it a Teutonic cross in gold . The jewel is a golden triangle , on which is engraved the ineffable name in Hebrew ; it is suspended from a white collar bound with red , and embroidered with four Teutonic crosses . The accounts we have
from the French writers , all concur in connecting this degree with the Knights Templar , and it certainly has much of the character of that order . It is generally considered to have been intended to supply the Templar degree under this rite , but as we shall enter fully into the subject under its proper head , as a distinct rite , we do not deem it necessary to say more in this place , more especially as there is nothing whatever to connect it with Freemasonry * Knight of the Sun , is the designation of the twenty-eighth decree .
It is highly philosophical , and bears other names , being sometimes called Prince of the Sun , Prince Adept , and Key of Masonry , or Chaos Disentangled . Ragon , who in his " Cours Philosophique , " speaks disparagingly of the high degrees , says this is not a modern invention , but is of the highest antiquity , and Avas , in fact , the last degree of perfect initiation , teaching , as it did , the doctrines of natural religion , which formed an essential part of the ancient mysteries . The ceremonies and lecture , which are of great length , furnish a history of all the preceding degrees , and explain in the fullest manner the various Masonic emblems . Tlie great object of this degree is the inculcation of truth , and as this virtue is one of the throe great tenets of Masonry , we need scarcely say it deserves commendation . To be true and trusty is one of the first lessons in which the aspirant is instructed' —it is the prime essential of the Master . All mortal affairs
are transitory , but truth alone is immutable and eternal ; it is the . attribute of Him in . whom there is no variableness nor shadow o . l changing . This might with propriety be called the degree of Pcrfcc-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Historical Degrees;
grace . In common discourse , we usually say the Old and New lestanients ; the covenant between God and' the posterity of Abraham , and that which he has made with believers by Jesus Christ ; because these two covenants contain eminently all the rest . The most solemn and perfect of the covenants of God with men , is that made through the mediation of our Redeemer , which must subsist to the end of time . The Son of God is the guarantee of it , it is confirmed with
His blood ; the end and object of it is eternal life , and its constitution and laws are infinitely more exalted than those of the former covenant .
The twenty-seventh degree is Grand Commander of the Temple . The assemblage has a new designation , it is called a " court , " and altogether 'the degree has a character dissimilar to every other that precedes it ; every thing about . it is of the chivalric and military class . The presiding officer is styled Most Illustrious and Most Valiant , the Wardens are Most Sovereign Grand Commanders , and even the Knights are designated Sovereign Commanders ; The badge is flesh-coloured ,
lined and edged with black ; with a Teutonic cross encircled by a wreath of laurel , and a key beneath , all embroidered in black , upon the flap . The scarf is red , bordered with black , hanging from the right shoulder to the left hip , and bears on it a Teutonic cross in gold . The jewel is a golden triangle , on which is engraved the ineffable name in Hebrew ; it is suspended from a white collar bound with red , and embroidered with four Teutonic crosses . The accounts we have
from the French writers , all concur in connecting this degree with the Knights Templar , and it certainly has much of the character of that order . It is generally considered to have been intended to supply the Templar degree under this rite , but as we shall enter fully into the subject under its proper head , as a distinct rite , we do not deem it necessary to say more in this place , more especially as there is nothing whatever to connect it with Freemasonry * Knight of the Sun , is the designation of the twenty-eighth decree .
It is highly philosophical , and bears other names , being sometimes called Prince of the Sun , Prince Adept , and Key of Masonry , or Chaos Disentangled . Ragon , who in his " Cours Philosophique , " speaks disparagingly of the high degrees , says this is not a modern invention , but is of the highest antiquity , and Avas , in fact , the last degree of perfect initiation , teaching , as it did , the doctrines of natural religion , which formed an essential part of the ancient mysteries . The ceremonies and lecture , which are of great length , furnish a history of all the preceding degrees , and explain in the fullest manner the various Masonic emblems . Tlie great object of this degree is the inculcation of truth , and as this virtue is one of the throe great tenets of Masonry , we need scarcely say it deserves commendation . To be true and trusty is one of the first lessons in which the aspirant is instructed' —it is the prime essential of the Master . All mortal affairs
are transitory , but truth alone is immutable and eternal ; it is the . attribute of Him in . whom there is no variableness nor shadow o . l changing . This might with propriety be called the degree of Pcrfcc-