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ten preceding degrees, and proceeds with the following narration :

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Most excellent. In due time, I appeared before the throne of Cyrus, king of Persia and Babylon, who admitted the propriety f my application for freedom with fervency and zeal: and, as the seventy years of our captivity had expired, he granted liberty, that I should depart. He also armed me with this sword, and honoured me with the appellation of Brother and Knight Companion of the Red Cross Sword. He furthermore gave me this apron and this sash, with this olive branch and these relics of our former temple, which I now present as a proof of the goodness of Cyrus your deliverer,

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Z. Brother architect, the decorations convince us that your integrity and fortitude have been put to the test, and convince us, also, that pomp and grandeur will not triumph over the honours of Masonry. Cyrus, in decorating you with these, was guided by a noble spirit; but not that of equality which inwardly accompaThe distinctions of this prince you have nobly merited, and you have also pursued those of masonry; but before you can be entrusted with the remaining secrets, you must further say, that your bondage has not obliterated from your mind, the sentiments of a freeman, that you are not incapacitated from attaining the mysteries of the order. Therefore, you must first give me the signal which you received from Cyrus.

The signal is given, and some other ceremony previous to the obligation, of which there is no copy among my documents; but we have seen enough to see, that they are all alike, and that the tenor of one is the tenor of all. The obligation taken, Zerubbabel addresses the near candidate, or Noodle, in the following strain :

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It is our intention, in future, to acknowledge those only as members of our order, whom we know to be true and legitimate masons; not merely by their outward form; but by their manners and actions and even they must bring with them as a pledge some part of the remains of the former temple. The intent of our labours is to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. The sword which Cyrus gave you must be used in defending your brethren and companions in arms and to prevent all those who would profane the august edifice that we are now about to raise to the honour of the Supreme Being. It is on these conditions, that we entrust you with our secrets. After your deliverance, Cyrus created you a Knight of the Red Cross Sword. I now present you with this trowel, which will serve as a perpetual memorial of your dignity, and that, in future, you will work with your trowel in your hand, and your sword by your side, during the time that the Temple is rebuilding.

This sash is to be worn in all lodges and chapters: and it will

be the mark, that you have received two degrees of knighthood The chief emblem is the sword and trowel placed across.

End of the degree of the Red Cross Sword of Babylon..

A DESCRIPTION OF THE DEGREE OF KNIGHTS OF THE SWORD OR OF THE EAST.

THERE is another degree, so much like the former, as to be made up of nearly the same words, with some slight variations: it is called; RED CROSS KNIGHTS OF THE SWORD OR OF THE EAST. The ceremony is precisely the same with regard to the dream of Cyrus. The reception and dismissal of Zerubbabel are precisely the same, only the tribute demanded is three lambs, five sheep, and seven rams (as if rams were not sheep, or some sheep rams.) An escort is furnished to Zerubbabel. Without the escort, we found that he travelled safely; with it he gets robbed on the bridge of all the insignia of the order which Cyrus had gave him, but as they could not rob him of the secrets, he, of course, is received at Jerusalem as a good masonic Jew. Upon what pretence could Jews ever be excluded from masonry? The penalty of the obligation is never to reveal the secrets of a Knight of the Sword, without suffering captivity for life. The sign of a masonic Knight of this degree is to place the right hand on the left shoulder; letting it fall diagonally to the right side, as if cutting the body in two. The answer is, to place the right hand upon the left hip and to traverse the body to the right hip. The grip is to place the right hand upon the sword and to draw it, as if to fight. Then, to make a movement with the body as if to repel an enemy; the left hand lifted up and closed. The words are Judea and Babylonia. The pass word Liberty. The chatechism will serve for either degree.

Catechism.

Q. Brother, how came you to the eminent degree of Knight of the sword.

A. By humility, patience and frequent application,

Q. To whom do you address yourself.

A. To one who is greater than a king. (modest!)

Q. What is your name.

A. That you will find upon your records.

Q. Your country.

A. Judea, I am born of noble parents andof the tribe of Judah,

Q. What art do you profess.

A. Masonry,

Q. What edifices do you build.
A. The temples and tabernacles.

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A. For want of ground, we build them in our hearts.
Q. What is the genuine appellation of a Knight Mason.
A. A Free Mason.

Q. Why called a Free Mason.

A. Because the masons who were chosen by Solomon to work. at the temple were declared with their descendants free and exempt from all imposts, duties and taxes. They had also a privilege to bear arms. Since the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, they were carried into captivity with the Jewish People; but the good will of Cyrus gave them permission to erect a second temple, having first given them liberty. It is since this epoch, that we bear the name of Freemasons.

Q. What was the first temple.

A. It was the wander of the world for riches and grandeur. Its porch would contain 200,500 people.

Q. Who were the architects of this grand edifice.

A. The Creator of the world gave the design and Solomon directed the workmen.

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A. To point out the alacrity required in the worship of the Deity.

Q. Why is the No. 81 held in so much veneration among Masons.

A. Because this number explained the triple essence of the divinity, figured by the triple triangle, by the square of nine and the number three.

Q. Why were the chains of the captives triangular.

A. The Assyrians understood that the Triangle was considered as an emblem of the name of the Eternal by their captives. They, therefore, made their chains in that form, to render their situation more mortifying and severe.

Q. Why is it prohibited that masons shall not work but at regular structures.

A. To teach us a duty that irregular lodges are not to be frequented.

Q. What were the injunctions given by Cyrus respecting the second temple.

A. That it should be an hundred cubits long, sixty broad, and sixty high.

Q. Why did Cyrus command them to take the wood from Lebanon and stone from Tyre.

A. That the second temple might in these respects be equal to the first.

Q. Who was the immediate architect.

A. Bebot.

Q. Why were the workmen armed with swords.

A. As they were liable to be interrupted in carrying the materials and even the work itself.

Q. Are you a knight of the sword.

A. Look at me. (draws his sword)

Q. Give me the sign.—(qıven )-Give me the words.
A. Judea and Babylonia

Q. Give me the pass word.

A. Liberty.

Q. Give the grip-(given)-Where have you worked.
A. At the rebuilding of the temple.

Q. The instant of rebuilding

A. Present.

Q. Very excellent, since we are happy enough to have rebuilt the temple in its splendour, let us preserve the memory and remarks of it by our silence.

Now, Brother Williams, I am heartily sick of this abominable trash, and so are most of my old readers, many of whom will not take the trouble to read it. In excuse for filling The Republican with it, I would remind them, that nothing vicious or nonsensical can be exposed without being detailed. And however gross or tedious that detail, the exposure cannot be complete and effectual without it. I would gladly have abridged the matter; but I saw that abridgement would have been hailed by Masons as ignorance of their frivolous ceremonies. Other degrees have existed and do exist which I have not detailed for want of the necessary documents; but we have enough, we have all that a celebrated Mason could collect for years upon the subject, at a very great expense, and we find a general sameness, which must of necessity be the case, in whatever degrees or ramifications it takes, unless some specific political or religious principles be mixed up with it, as has been the case on the continent, and, at times, partially in this Island.

The two degrees last described are parts or beginnings of the Royal Arch Degree, the remainder of which will be inscribed to the Duke of York. Then the Knights Templars and the Rosicrucian degrees will be inscribed to the Duke of Sussex, who is now the grand fool of the system, and to whom, or under whom, you, Mr. Williams, play the part of first fool. We can hardly blame such a man the younger Harper, who left his book shop in Fleet Street,

as

to go and play the part of Joint Grand Secretary to the Grand Lodge, to the tune of 4 or 5 hundred pounds per year. But for such a man as you, to run all over the country playing first fool, or deputy grand fool, is strange indeed, and indicates another phrenological organ, yet unnoticed by Gall and Spurzheim, or an organ of folly. All that we know of mankind through the past assures us that this is a predominant organ, more in some than in others; but it must be very large in those who are fond of speculative masonry; and from what I have read of your singular connection with this sort of Masonry, the conceit arises, that I could distinguish this peculiar bump on your " temple." The grand Architect of the universe, has yet, among mankind, fabricated but little more than folly, and, unless we can furnish our moveable temples, much better than you speculative masons have furnished yours, we shall pay but a sorry compliment to the omniscient and omnipotent and omnipresent of Royal Arch Masonry.

The degrees of Masonry are something like our University degrees, only the former are dearly purchased and the latter bring considerable profits with them as they profess. They must be both removed. Even Christianity was first preached as a revelation of mysteries, and this accounts for its wide and rapid spreading among the more ignorant and credulous part of mankind. The preaching of Jesus Christ was called the revelation of a mystery, and the very revelation was still a mystery to those who did preach! St. Paul could not reveal it, as I have revealed it, and as I have here revealed the mysteries of Freemasonry. With the first

christians, nothing but a revelation of the mysteries was talked about. Curiosity is the child of mystery, and we know that they always keep together, or closely follow each other. When Christianity had its birth, the known associations of mankind were full of all sorts of mysteries, some like this nonsense of Masonry, some more sublime or with more meaning, and others for the gratification of different passions, natural and unnatural. From these mysteries the slaves and other very poor people were excluded, and when the first christian preachers professed to reveal them, their curiosity and eagerness to know them were raised to the highest pitch, as is the case with some silly people at my real revelation of the mysteries of Freemasonry. Thus arose and thus spread abroad that most mischievous of all mysteries, Christianity, in its common acceptation. agree with Mackey, that the book called the Revelation

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