Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then addressed me:
"Zerrubbabel, I will punctually fulfil my vow; letters and passports
shall be immediately issued to my officers throughout the realm, and
they shall give you, and those who accompany you, safe conveyance to
Jerusalem, and you shall be no longer hindered or impeded in
rebuilding your city and temple, until they shall be completed."
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with a
green sash, and thus addressed me, "This green sash, of which you were
deprived by my guards, I now with pleasure restore to you, and will
make it one of the insignia of a new Order, calculated to perpetuate
the remembrance of the event which caused the renewal of our
friendship; its color will remind you that truth is a divine attribute
and shall prevail, and shall forever flourish in immortal green. I
will now confer on you the highest honor in our power at this time to
bestow, and will create you the first Knight of an Order, instituted
for the express purpose of inculcating the almighty force and
importance of truth.
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then directed me to kneel,
and said, By virtue of the high power in me vested, as the successor
and representative of Darius, King of Persia, I now constitute you a
Knight of the illustrious Order of the Red Cross (at the same time
laying the blade of his sword first upon the right shoulder, then upon
the head, and then upon the left shoulder of the candidate).
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then directed me to arise,
and presenting me with a sword, thus addressed me: "This sword, of
which you were deprived by my guards, I now restore in your hands, as
a true and courteous Knight; it will be endowed with three most
excellent properties--its hilt be faith, its blade be hope, its point
be charity; it should teach us this important lesson, that when we
draw our swords in a just and virtuous cause, having faith in God, we
may reasonably hope for victory, ever remembering to extend the hand
of charity to the fallen foe; sheathe it, and sooner may it rust in
its scabbard than be drawn in the cause of injustice or oppression."
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with the
Persian countersign.
Q. Give it? A. This countersign is given like the Jewish, excepting
this variation, it is given over instead of under the arch of steel.
The words are Tatnai Shethar-boznai, Enavdai.
Q. Who were they? A. They were governors of Persian provinces, and
enemies of the Jews.
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with the
Red Cross word.
Q. Give it? A. (Each placing his left hand upon the other's right
shoulder, at the same time bringing the point of the swords to each
other's left side, in which position the word Libertas is given.)
Q. What followed? A. The Sovereign Master then invested me with the
grand sign, grip, and word of Knight of the Red Cross.
Q. Give them. A. The grand sign is given by bringing the thumb and
finger of the left hand to the mouth, and carrying it off in an
oblique direction; the grip is given by interlacing the fingers of the
left hand; the word is Veritas. The sign, grip, and word are given
under the arch of steel.
Q. How do you translate the word? A. Truth.
Q. To what does the sign allude? A. To the blowing of the trumpet upon
the walls and watch towers of the Council, but more particularly to
the obligation, "that when the last trump shall sound, I shall be
forever excluded from the society of all true and faithful Sir
Knights."
Q. What is the motto of our Order? A. "Magna est veritas et
prevalebit." [Great is truth, and will prevail.]
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