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90 BOOK OF THE A. AND A. RITE.
discharge those whose labor is their life because thy
profits are not large ;
but thou shalt be God's almo-
ner, for he hath but lent thee all the wealth thou
hast, and thou art but his trustee for the poor, the
suffering, and the destitute.
INVESTITURE.
The battery of five, the five lights on the altar, the
five steps, the five-pointed star, and the travel five
times about the body of the Lodge, are all emblem-
atical of the first five Chief Architects.
The age is that of a Master Mason (9), multiplied
by that of an Entered Apprentice (3), representing
that the Architects, or Intendants, were thrice pow-
erful as Masters and Chiefs of Architecture ; hence
the number of lights in the Lodge.
My brother, I now with pleasure decorate you with
a crimson cordon or order, to which is suspended by
a green ribbon a triangular plate of gold—the Jewel
of the degree. The crimson is emblematical of that
zeal which should characterize you as an Intendant
of the Building ;
and the green, of the hope that you
will honor and advance the Craft, and supply, so far
as in you lies the power, the place of our late Grand
Master Hiram.
I also decorate you with this triangular apron, ol