Part 16 (2/2)
Q. Your answer? (See Templar's Chart of Freemasonry.)
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then addressed me: ”Zerrubbabel, I will punctually fulfil my vow; letters and pa.s.sports shall be immediately issued to my officers throughout the realm, and they shall give you, and those who accompany you, safe conveyance to Jerusalem, and you shall be no longer hindered or impeded in rebuilding your city and temple, until they shall be completed.”
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with a green sash, and thus addressed me, ”This green sash, of which you were deprived by my guards, I now with pleasure restore to you, and will make it one of the insignia of a new Order, calculated to perpetuate the remembrance of the event which caused the renewal of our friends.h.i.+p; its color will remind you that truth is a divine attribute and shall prevail, and shall forever flourish in immortal green. I will now confer on you the highest honor in our power at this time to bestow, and will create you the first Knight of an Order, inst.i.tuted for the express purpose of inculcating the almighty force and importance of truth.
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then directed me to kneel, and said, By virtue of the high power in me vested, as the successor and representative of Darius, King of Persia, I now const.i.tute you a Knight of the ill.u.s.trious Order of the Red Cross (at the same time laying the blade of his sword first upon the right shoulder, then upon the head, and then upon the left shoulder of the candidate).
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then directed me to arise, and presenting me with a sword, thus addressed me: ”This sword, of which you were deprived by my guards, I now restore in your hands, as a true and courteous Knight; it will be endowed with three most excellent properties--its hilt be faith, its blade be hope, its point be charity; it should teach us this important lesson, that when we draw our swords in a just and virtuous cause, having faith in G.o.d, we may reasonably hope for victory, ever remembering to extend the hand of charity to the fallen foe; sheathe it, and sooner may it rust in its scabbard than be drawn in the cause of injustice or oppression.”
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with the Persian countersign.
Q. Give it? A. This countersign is given like the Jewish, excepting this variation, it is given over instead of under the arch of steel.
The words are Tatnai Shethar-boznai, Enavdai.
Q. Who were they? A. They were governors of Persian provinces, and enemies of the Jews.
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with the Red Cross word.
Q. Give it? A. (Each placing his left hand upon the other's right shoulder, at the same time bringing the point of the swords to each other's left side, in which position the word Libertas is given.)
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with the grand sign, grip, and word of Knight of the Red Cross.
Q. Give them. A. The grand sign is given by bringing the thumb and finger of the left hand to the mouth, and carrying it off in an oblique direction; the grip is given by interlacing the fingers of the left hand; the word is Veritas. The sign, grip, and word are given under the arch of steel.
Q. How do you translate the word? A. Truth.
Q. To what does the sign allude? A. To the blowing of the trumpet upon the walls and watch towers of the Council, but more particularly to the obligation, ”that when the last trump shall sound, I shall be forever excluded from the society of all true and faithful Sir Knights.”
Q. What is the motto of our Order? A. ”Magna est veritas et prevalebit.” [Great is truth, and will prevail.]
KNIGHT TEMPLAR, AND KNIGHT OF MALTA.
FIRST SECTION.
Question--Are you a Knight Templar? Answer--That is my t.i.tle.
Q. Where were you created a Knight Templar? A. In a just and lawful Encampment of Knight Templars.
Q. What number composes a just and lawful Encampment of Knight Templars? A. There is an indispensable number and a const.i.tutional number.
Q. What is an indispensable number? A. Three.
Q. Under what circ.u.mstances are they authorized to form and open an Encampment of Knight Templars? A. Three Knight Templars, hailing from three different commanderies, may, under the sanction of a charter or warrant from some regular Grand Encampment, form and open an Encampment for the dispatch of business.
Q. What is a const.i.tutional number? A. Seven, nine, eleven, or more.
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