DECORATIONS OF THE GRAND COUNCIL.

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council chamber of the Order would have a most gorgeous appearance. It must be hung with red, spangled with golden stars in the east, under a canopy, is placed a throne elevated on seven steps, supported by the figures of four lions and four eagles, between which is placed an angel with six wings. On one side of the throne is displayed a transparency of the meridian sun, on the other, of the lustrous orb of night. In the east also are two vases, one containing water and the other perfume. On the south and north sides are canopies for the Ancients; while in the west are two seats with canopies, raised five steps, for the Venerable Wardens, who in conjunction with the Most Puissant act as the Grand Council. Twenty-four Knights are necessary to form a full council. On a pedestal in the east is placed a large Bible, from which are suspended seven seals. The covering of the floor displays a heptagon within a circle, over the angles of which appear certain initials; in the centre is the figure of a man clothed in a white robe, with a golden girdle around his waist; his right hand, which is extended, is surmounted by seven stars; he wears a long white beard; his head is surrounded with glory, and from his mouth issues a two-edged sword. Seven candlesticks stand around him, bearing the mysterious initials. The seven stars by which his hand is surmounted, are explained to signify the seven qualities which ought to distinguish a Freemason, viz., friendship, union, submission, discretion, fidelity, prudence and temperance. But there is a higher meaning attached to the symbol of the seven stars, derived from passages in the Old Testament; they represent the seven eyes mentioned by Zechariah, which typify the care of Divine Providence, ever watchful to promote the welfare of his creatures; and the seven lamps of the Apocalypse, which symbolize the Holy Spirit of God, whence are also derived the seven spiritual gifts of a Christian man.

The candidate being in possession of the password of the Seventeenth Degree, then presents himself for admission to the Rose-Croix Chapter.

272 UNIVERSAL RECOGNITION OF THE ROSE CROIX.

SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF ROSE-CROIX HEREDOM,

the Eighteenth Degree, is the most ancient and most generally practised of the historical degrees of Masonry. It is found in all the principal rites, and where (like the Royal Arch) it does not exist by name, its place is supplied by others whose symbols do not differ materially from it. To those who have not gone beyond the symbolic degrees, the name is perhaps more familiarly known than any other of the higher degrees. Of its origin, nothing satisfactory is known; one writer supposes it to have been instituted by the Knights Templar in Palestine, in the twelfth century, and asserts that Prince Edward, afterwards King Edward I., was there admitted into the Order; he also says that the Order was derived from an Egyptian priest converted to Christianity. Ragon, in his treatise entitled Orthodoxie Maçonnique,' has most elaborately investigated the subject, and attributes its origin to a pious monk, named John Valentine Andreä, who flourished in the early part of the seventeenth century, and wrote, among other works, two treatises, one entitled 'Judicorum de Fraternitate R. C. ;' the other, Noces Chimiques de Rozen Crutz.' Ragon says that Andreä, grieved at seeing the principles of Christianity forgotten in idle and vain disputes, and that science was made subservient to the pride of man instead of contributing to his happiness, passed his days in devising what he supposed to be the most appropriate means of restoring each to its legitimate moral and benevolent tendency. Clavel absurdly affirms that the degree was founded by the Jesuits, for the purpose of counteracting the insidious attacks of freethinkers upon the Romish faith, but offers no evidence in support of his assertion: when in fact they were the great enemies of Masonry, and so far from supporting it, wrote treatises against the Order. Many of the Rosicrucians were amongst the reformers of the age, and hence the hostility of the Romish Church. The almost universal recognition of this degree in all countries would favour the theory of its being of long standing.

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF THE ROSE-CROIX.

275

Hurd, in his Treatise on Religions,' speaks of the Brethren of the Rose, or Ne plus Ultra. They were to declare openly that the Pope was Antichrist, and that the time would come when they should pull down his triple crown. They rejected and condemned the doc. trines of the Papacy and of Mahomet, calling the one and the other the blasphemies of the East and the West. They called their association the Fraternity of the Holy Ghost. They claimed a right of naming their successors, and bequeathing to them all their privileges; to keep the devil in a state of subjection; and that their confraternity could not be destroyed, because God always opposed an impenetrable cloud to screen them from their enemies.

Rosetti, in his work on the Antipapal Spirit of Italy,' asserts similar statements with regard to this and other societies connected with Freemasonry. I knew Rosetti when he resided in England, and although I do not know whether he belonged to our Order, he was accustomed to speak (as well as write) of his certainty that the Templars were Masons, and that the Rose-Croix originated with them. This was from information he derived from Italian works unknown in this country. He says, speaking of the higher degrees, The rites which, hastily considered, may seem absurdities, will, when maturely judged, be found otherwise.'

The ceremonies of the degree are of the most imposing and impressive character, and it is eminently a Christian degree. Its ritual is remarkable for elegance of diction, while the symbolic teaching is not only pleasing, but consistent with the Christian faith, figuratively expressing the passage of man through the valley of the shadow of death, accompanied and sustained by the Masonic virtues-faith, hope and charity—and his final reception into the abode of light, life, and immortality.

The officers of a Rose-Croix Chapter are, the Most Wise Sovereign, a High Prelate, the First General, the Second General, who may be assimilated to Wardens; a Grand Marshal, who presents the candidates for ad