Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated - The Masonic Trowel

404 SUBLIME PRINCE OF THE ROYAL SECRET.
TI[E FIFTEENTH DEGREE :—Teaches hope and faith
iii the new Era which dawns upon mankind, when men
will be emancipated from dead forms and ceremonies,
and when the whole power of man’s intellect will be exerted
to obtain~a perfect knowledge of truth, and of the
laws that flow from it.
Commander in Chief—Sublime Prince Grand Master
of Ceremonies, conduct the candidate to the next tent.
(Order is obeyed.)
Master of Ceremonies—Illustrious Commander Malachi,
be pleased to communicate to our brother the
esoteric meaning of the tent No. 1.
Malachi—The tent which you have now reached is
the first, the letter of which is 5.’. Its flag and pennon
are white, sprinkled lightly with crimson. Here are
supposed to be encamped the Princes of Jerusalem, the
Knights of the East and West, and the Knights Rose
Croix de Herodem, or the Masons of the 16th, l7fh and
18th degrees. The commanding officer represents Malachi.
THE SIXTEENTH DEGREE :—Teaches that every religion,
of mere forms and ceremonies and external practices,
must eventually crumble to pieces, for it is a
dead body without 4 soul, and that the Masonry of the
Ancient snd Accepted Rite, founded on the simple and
pure doctrine of love, toleration and reason, must be
eternal, because it is true and a reality, and being positively
that which the Master from Nazareth taught, and
every true child of our Heavenly Father may well adopt
and profess it.
THE SEVENTEENTH DEGREE :—Teaches that every good
and intelligent Mason must look upon himself as a
pioneer, preparing the way for greater and better men
to come after him, and that he must be content to work
INITIATION. 405
and do his duty, whether the results of his labor are
manifest and visible during his life, or not; to sow
no matter who reaps. Soldier of truth, he must always
march straight onward, following the route which she
indicates, to every loyal man. Death alone must make
him pause.
Age gives no discharge from her service, and every
true Mason may be certain, that if he manfully toils and
fights in her cause, he will, whether the effect of his
labors be seen by his mental eyes or not, leave to others
who come after him, a noble heritage, ever to increase,
as Mason follows Mason, in uninterrupted succession until
men shall succeed each other in this world no longer.
THE EIGHTEENTH DEGREE:—Illustrates, by example,
the truth of this doctrine of accumulation of intellectual
wealth by inheritance, for in it are exhibited all the
subl.me truths, the axioms of ethics and philosophy, discovered
and uttered by all former intellects, ~~hose
names, shining in the past, are so many resplendent
proofs of the perfectibility of mankind, gathered and
combined, in the sublime teachings of the Master from
Nazareth, who was the possibility of the race made real.
He passed away in doing good, and we are rich with
the splendid inheritance he left us. His death teaches
us civil and religious toleration, and that, short as is cur
mental vision, and limited as our knowledge of the
great mysteries of God and nature musi ever be, we
must never persecute, or ever become a stranger, to our
brethren, because the opinions which they enunciate,
conflict with those that we entertain, or are accustomed
to hear. For in this degree the new law of love is
taught, and the chief pillar among Ihe three, with which
are here replaced the ancient pillars of the temple, is
charity, which not only relieves the wants, but is tolerant