E. C. Do you promise to maintain, and cause to be maintained, the ancient laws, rites, and ceremonies handed down to us by our sainted predecessors, with fidelity, piety, and zeal?

Ans. I do.

E. C. Do you promise to preserve the honour and dignity of the Order, and never to admit any candidate for Installation unless with the full assurance that he or they are worthy of that distinction ?

Ans. I do.

E. C. Are you ready to enter into a solemn engagement to adhere to the promises you have made, and never to divulge the secrets about to be entrusted to you as a Knight Commander, unless it be to him or them who may be lawfully entitled thereto ? Ans. I am.

E. C.-Then let me request you will join us in supplicating the assistance of the Divine power.

(The Reverend Prelate delivers the following Invocation :-)

PRELATE. O God, the King of

Glory, who hast exalted Thine only Son, Jesus Christ, with great triumph, into the kingdom of heaven, we beseech Thee to cast Thy bright beams of light upon this our brother, that he, being enlightened by the doctrine of the blessed apostle and evangelist, St John, may so walk in the light of Thy truth, that he may at length attain to the light of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (After this Invocation, the E. C. proceeds :-)

E. C.-You will now place your right hand on the holy Gospels; grasp that naked sword with your left hand, and say after me :—

(The E. C. Elect, kneeling before the altar, places his right hand on the holy Gospels, his left hand grasping a sword held by a P. E. C., and takes the O. B. :-)

OBLIGATION.

I, A. B., in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, and in the presence of this assembly of Knights of the

Royal Exalted Religious and Military Order of Masonic Knights Templar, do hereby and hereon most solemnly promise and vow, that I will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties of E. Commander of this Encampment; that I will maintain, and cause to be maintained, the laws, rites, and ceremonies of this Christian Order; and that while I hold the command of this Encampment, I will preserve the honour and dignity of the Order, and enforce obedience to the Bye-Laws of this Encampment, so far as lies in my power; that I will not divulge the secrets about to be entrusted to me as a Commander, unless it be to him or them who may be lawfully entitled thereto. To all these points I pledge fidelity on the honour of a Man, a Mason, and a Knight. So help me Christ, and keep me steadfast in this my solemn engagement of a Knight Commander.

E. C.-You will seal that engagement seven times with your lips on the holy Gospels. (Seals seven

E. C.-Arise, Illustrious Knight, my brother and successor.

(The E. C. Elect is now placed on the right of the E. C., and the Knights are requested to withdraw for a short time, -when the E. C. thus addresses the E. C. Elect:-)

E. C.-Illustrious Brother, the secrets restricted to an Eminent Commander of this Order, had their origin at the time of the first Crusade. The difficulties and sufferings to which the small band of Christian warriors had been exposed, had not only diminished their numbers, but produced in the remainder all the horrors of disappointed zeal and enthusiasm. The hopes of reaching the Holy City were nearly lost, and despair had almost taken possession of the little remnant still enrolled under the banner of the Cross; their Commander, however, remained faithful to his Oath, and proceeded onward, and having one morning ascended the hill on which the village of Emmaus was situated, he beheld, by the light of the rising sun, the Holy City. This glorious