is case, you ought to be firm as our
Respectable Father Hiram, who chose rather to be massacred than to
give up what he had obtained.

This will teach you that as soon as truth shall be fixed in your
heart, you ought never to consider the resolution you should take; you
must live and die to sustain the light, by which we acquire the
sovereign good. We must never expose ourselves to the conversation of
cowans, and must be circumspect even with those with whom we are the
most intimate; and not deliver up ourselves to any, excepting those
whose character and behavior have proved them brothers, who are worthy
to come and appear in the sacred sanctuary where holy Truth delivers
her oracles.

You have passed the Secret and Perfect Master; you have been decorated
with an ivory key, a symbol of your distinction; you have received the
pronunciation of the ineffable name of the Great Architect of the
universe, and have been placed at the first balustrade of the
sanctuary; you have had rank among the Levites, after which you knew
the word "Zizon," which signifies "a balustrade of the Levites;" where
all those are placed, as well as yourself, to expect the knowledge of
the most sublime mysteries.

COFFIN AND ROPE.--In the degree of Perfect Master they have shown you
a grave, a coffin, and a "withe rope," to raise and deposit the body
in a sepulchre, made in the form of a pyramid, in the top of which was
a triangle, within which was the sacred name of the Eternal, and on
the pavement were the two columns of Jachin and Boaz laid across.

IVORY KEY.--By the "ivory key" you are to understand that you cannot
open your heart with safety, but at proper times. By the corpse and
grave is represented the state of man, before he had known the
happiness of our order.

ROPE.--The rope to which the coffin is tied, in order to raise it, is
the symbol of raising one, as you have been raised from the grave of
ignorance to the celestial place where truth resides.

PYRAMID.--The pyramid represents the true Mason who raises himself by
degrees, till he reaches heaven, to adore the sacred and unalterable
name of the Eternal Supreme.

INTIMATE SECRETARY.--This new degree leads you near to Solomon and
honor; and after you redoubled your zeal, you gained new honors and
favors, having nearly lost your life by curiosity; which attachment to
Masonry gave you the good qualities of your heart, and which obtained
your pardon and let you to the "Intendan