mies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul; for I am thy servant." Exodus iv. 1-10. "And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent: and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand; that they may believe, that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom,and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand unto his bosom again, and plucked it out of his bosom; and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land, ar.d the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land." Haggai ii. 1—9. “In the seventh month, in the one-and-twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judea, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is left among you, that saw this house in her first glory, and how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes,

in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work; for I am with you saith the LORD of hosts. According to the word that I covenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts, the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts, and, in this place, will I give peace, saith the LORD of Hosts." Haggai ii. 23. "In that day, saith the LORD of Hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet, for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts." Zechariah iv. 6-11. "Then he answered, and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power; but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know, that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth." John i. 16. "In the beginning was

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the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him, was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." Deutronomy xxxi. 24-27 "And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee." Exodus XXV. 21.

"And thou shalt put the mercy-seat

above upon the ark; and in the ark, thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee." Exodus xxvi. 31-36. "And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work; with cherubims shall it be made. And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony; and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and thou shalt put the table on the north side." Exodus vi. 2, 3. "And God spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD. And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unte Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them." Numbers xvii. 10 66 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before.

the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me." Hebrews ix. 2—5. “For there was a tabernacle made; the first wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shew-bread, which is called the Sanctuary. And after the second vail, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all; which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's, that budded, and the tables of the covenant." Amos ix. 11. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen, and close the breaches thereof; and I will raise up ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old."

The field

From what has been observed in the preceding part of this chapter, it may appear obvious, that the institution of Royal Arch Masonry is founded on a basis, immoveable as a rock; and that it is of sufficient consequence to excite our most active powers, to the contemplation of a science which, without an hyperbole, may be said to be replete with hidden treasure. is extensive beyond conception, and the superstructure far transcends the comprehension of the most intelligent of the sons of men; but those who dive into the arcana of this higher branch of the masonic order, will find delight in the knowledge which they may obtain respecting its fundamental or leading principles, and brethren, who have been thus exalted, can bear us out in the assertion, that it is one of the most sublime and august systems of morality and yirtue, which, next to the Christian system, can possibly engross the attention of mortals. And as it comprises in itself, a number of important mysteries, as well as principles, to which the master mason and those under that degree are entire strangers, and without which, to use the energetic words

of a noted member of the fraternity, "the masonic character cannot be complete." This one consideration ought certainly to meet with the most serious attention of every brother who does not wish to lag behind. On the whole, we would observe, that he who has worthily attained the sublime degree of Master Mason has done well; but here he ought not to stop. He has, indeed, been initiated into certain mysteries and ceremonies, concerning which, as the great bulk of mankind are entirely ignorant, he has supposed that he was elevated far above them; but his attainments are by no means so great as he expected. All the knowledge which he has acquired, may have afforded him a very considerable degree of gratification; but they are to him in a great measure, sealed up, as it were, in a book, to which it is impossible for him to have any access. He has not got the key; nor can be get it, till he has ascended the pinnacle of the masonic fabric, the ROYAL ARCH. When Divine Providence shall have conducted him thus far, that which had heretofore been dark and unfathomable will appear as bright as the Sun in the clearest day.

Before we conclude this part of the chapter, it may prove interesting to brethren of the Royal Arch degree. to peruse the following particulars respecting Solomon's temple. With respect to this stupendous building, we have already given a brief description, in a previous part of the work; but we have something now to communicate, which we trust will be more acceptable to those, for whose use it is more immediately intended.

This stately edifice, which, in respect to its extent and grandeur, has never been equalled, was erected near the place where God had directed his faithful servant Abraham to offer up his only son Isaac, Genesis xxii. and where David appeased the angel, who had been commissioned to hurl destruction against the Israelites, because