THIS degree is more august, sublime, and im portant, than all which precede it. It impresses of our minds a belief of the being and existence of the Supreme Grand High Priest of our Salvation; who is without beginning of days or end of years; and for sibly reminds us of the reverence due to his Holy Name.

In this degree is brought to light many essentials which are of importance to the craft, that were concealed in darkness for the space of four hundred and seventy years; and without a knowledge of which the masonic character cannot be complete.

SECTION FIRST.

This section explains the mode of government in this degree; it designates the appellation, number and situation of the several officers, and points out the purpose and duty of their respective stations. The various colours of their banners are designated; and the morals to which they allude are introduced and explained.

The following passage of scripture is read at opening:

2 THESS. iii. 6-18.

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye received of us. For your

selves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you; not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort, by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

SECTION SECOND.

This section contains much valuable historical information, and exhibits to our view, in striking colours, that prosperity and happiness are ever the ultimate consequences of virtue and justice; while disgrace and ruin invariably follow the practices of vice and immorality.

The following charges and passages of scripture are introduced during the ceremony of Exaltation

"I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and erooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and will not forsake them."

Prayer used at the Exaltation of a Royal Arch Mason.

O thou eternal and omnipotent JEHOVAH, the glorious and everlasting I AM, permit us, thy frail, dependent and needy creatures, in the name of our Most Excellent and Supreme High Priest, to approach thy divine majesty. And do thou, who sittest between the Cherubim, incline thine ear to the voice of our praises, and of our supplication; and vouchsafe to commune with us from off the mercy seat. We humbly adore and worship thy unspeakable perfections, and thy unbounded goodness and benevolence. We bless thee, that when man had sinned, and fallen from his innocence and happiness, thou didst still leave unto him the powers of reasoning, and the capacity of improvement and of pleasure. We adore thee, that amidst the pains and calamities of our present state, so many means of refreshment and satisfaction are afforded us, while travelling the rugged path of life, And O, thou who didst aforetime appear unto thy servant Moses in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush, enkindle, we beseech thee, in each of our hearts a flame of devotion to thee, of love to each other, and of benevolence and charity to all mankind. May the veils of ignorance and blindness be removed from the

eyes of our understandings, that we may behold and adore thy mighty and wondrous works. May the rod and staff of thy grace and power continually support us, and defend us from the rage of all our enemies, and especially from the subtilty and malice of that old serpent, who with cruel vigilance seeketh our ruin. May the leprosy of sin be eradicated from our bosoms; and may Holiness to the Lord be engraven upon all our thoughts, words and actions. May the incense of piety ascend continually unto thee, from off the altar of our hearts, and burn day and night, as a sweetsmelling savour unto thee. May we daily search the records of truth, that we may be more and more instructed in our duty; and may we share the blessedness of those who hear the sacred word, and keep it. And finally, O merciful Father, when we shall have passed through the outward veils of these earthly courts, when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, may we be admitted into the Holy of Holies above, into the presence of the Grand Council of heaven, where the Supreme High Priest for ever presides, for ever reigns. Amen. So mote it be.

EXODUS iii. 1--6.

"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-inlaw, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the mid-t of a bush; and he looked, and behold the bush bu ned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

"And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face: for he was

afraid to look

upon

God."

2 CHRON. XXXvi. 11-20.

Zedekiah was one and twenty years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, and stiffened his neck, and hardened his hearts from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much, after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord, which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling placeBut they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his word, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword, in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion