the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee; that thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth towards this place.

Hearken, therefore, unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make towards this place; hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and, when thou hearest, forgive.]

[If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house, Then hear thou from heaven, and do and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the

:

good way wherein they should walk and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locusts or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men ;) that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways so long as they live, in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

Moreover, concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand and thy stretched-out arm; if they come and pray in this house, Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel; and may know that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.

If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; Then hear

thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

If they sin against thee (for there is no man which sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; if they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name; Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Now, therefore, arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength; let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed; remember the mercies of David thy servant.]

2 CHRON. vii. 1, 4.

[Now, when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the

burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground, upon the pavement, and worshiped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.]

Charge to be delivered to a Brother, who is accepted and acknowledged as a Most Excellent Master.

* BROTHER,

"Your admittance to this degree of masonry is a proof of the good opinion the brethren of this lodge entertain of your masonic abilities. Let this consideration induce you to be careful of forfeiting, by misconduct and inattention to our rules, that esteem which has raised you to the rank you now possess.

"It is one of your great duties, as a most excellent master, to dispense light and truth to the uninformed mason; and I need not remind you of the impossibility of complying with this obligation without possessing an accurate acquaintance with the lectures of each degree.

"If you are not already completely conversant in all the degrees heretofore conferred on you, remember that an indulgence, prompted by a belief that you will apply yourself with double diligence to make yourself so, has induced the brethren to accept you.

"Let it therefore be your unremitting study to acquire such a degree of knowledge and information as

shall enable you to discharge with propriety the various duties incumbent on you, and to preserve unsullied the title now conferred upon you of a Most Excellent Master."

CHAPTER XIV.

Observations on the Seventh, or Degree of Royal Aréh Mason.

THIS degree is indescribably more august, sublime, and important, than all which precede it; and is the summit and perfection of ancient masonry. It impresses on our minds a belief of the being and existence of a Supreme Deity, without beginning of days or end of years; and reminds us of the reverence due to his holy

name..

This degree brings to light many essentials of the craft, which were for the space of four hundred and seventy years buried in darkness; and without a knowledge of which the masonic character cannot be complete.

The following passage of scripture is read at opening:

LESSON I.

2 Thessalonians iii. 6, 17.-" Now we command you, brethren, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye received of us. 'know how ye ought to follow us, for selves not disorderly among you.

For yourselves we behaved ourNeither did we