As we pass the vale of death,
Round us throw the arm of love:
When we yield this fleeting breath,
Bear us to thy Lodge above-
In the "house not made with hands,"
Compassed round with angel bands.

In the resurrection morn,

Raise us with thine own right hand: Freed from envy and from scorn, Bring us to the better landWhere from labor brethren cease, Share refreshment, dwell in peace.

FIFTH SERIES.

THE

HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL DEGREES

OF

GRAND PONTIFF, G.. MASTER OF SYMBOLIC LODGES, NOACHITE OR PRUSSIAN KNIGHT, KNIGHT OF THE ROYAL AXE, CHIEF OF THE TABERNACLE, PRINCE OF THE TABERNACLE, KNIGHT OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT, PRINCE OF MERCY, COMMANDER OF THE TEMPLE, KNIGHT OF THE SUN, AND KNIGHT OF ST. ANDREW OR PATRIARCH OF THE CRUSADES, ARE CONFERRED IN AN AREOPAGUS OF KNIGHTS KADOSCH, OR BY THE IMMEDIATE SANCTION OF A CONSISTORY.

"Go forth to battle, and employ your substance and your persons for the advancement of God's religion. Verily, God loveth those who fight for his religion in battle array, as though they were a well compacted building.”—Koran.

"THE exterior world, like a great book, gives us intelligible and truthful readings of Nature's laws, leading us to look through Nature up to Nature's God.

"The Lodge is a symbol of the world extending from East to West, from North to South, from the depth of the Earth to the Celestial heavens. In the East the rising Sun, the grand source of light and heat, shines in the Lodge as the unwearied ruler and guide of our working-hours, the symbol of his Creator's power and watchful care; while the Moon, the resplendent orb of night, with her attendant stars, reflects the greater glories of divine munificence, diffusing light and harmony in our pathway to Truth, Liberty, and Fraternity.

"The Union Cord with Love Knots, which runs around the Lodge upon the architrave, is indicative of the Mystic-tie which unites us in the bonds of a happy Fraternity, telling of full, generous love to 'Fellow-man.'"

Fel.. Craft Deg.. A.. A.... S:. R..

PREFATORY.

The Eleven degrees of the Areopagus, conferred under the authority of the Chapter of Knights Kadosch, and which form the fifth series of the A... A.. Scottish Rite, most beautifully unfold the errors and frailties of humanity, and most thoroughly instruct us how to overcome them and advance toward that perfect state hoped for by mortality. We still proceed in the construction of the Third Temple as initiated in the degrees of the Rose-Croix, and with the hope and endeavor to make the world a Temple fit for the dwelling-place of the G.. A.. of the Universe.

The laws governing the Consistory rule and control in the Areopagus.

No Rose-Croix Knight should attempt to enter upon this series, unless he has fully made up his mind to calmly, thoroughly, and with the best of his intellect, study to fully comprehend its teachings and follow its revelations, deductions, and analogies to a complete issue, for otherwise he is treading upon dangerous ground.

With the Areopagus ends all instruction in the A.. A. Scottish Rite; what follows is practical, and is intended as the summing up of all Masonry.

Let the Historical and Philosophical degrees of the Areopagus be well heeded.

The novitiate, before embarking in them, should be warned to take due heed of these culminating degrees. of Universal Religion.