NOAOHITE, OR PRUSSIAN KNIGHT; THE TWENTY·FIRST GRADE OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE AND TB.E THmJ> CONFERRED IN A G.'. CONSISTORY.
INTRODUCTION. THIS Grade is said to be of very ancient orlgin,-much ante· rior, as is asserted, to any of the Hiramite or Solomon ian grades. It is founded on events which occurred at the building' of the Tower of Babel, long previous to the erection of Solomon's Temple. It is claimed that the Noachites we1-e originally an Order unconnected with Masonry, but that, iu the time of the Cn1sades, the Masons conceived a great friendship and esteem for the Nottchites, and obtained admission among them; and from that time, according t.o the statutes of the Order then adopted, no candidate has been admitted unless he at least possessed the grade of G.·. E.·. P. ·. andoS. ·.Mason ;• and when the .Ancient and Accepted Rite was arranged in its present system, this Order was introduced into it, and made the twenty-first grade of the Rite. The ceremony of initiation is brief. The history embraces many curious traditions relativE\ to ancient Masonic chivalry, With an !J.Ccount of the adventures and fate of Peleg, the chief archit~ct of the Tower of Babel, and some curious details relative to a discovery made in Prussia, in the year 1553. The mo1·al of the grade is, that man's pride and arro~nce is offensive to God, nnd will inevitably meet its just pun1shment. It is usually conferred by communication. DECORATIONS. The Chapte1· is held in a retired place, in a hall disposed in such a manner, that the full moon may shine in at the windows (or, more properly, a single window). This is the only light allowed ; and for this reason the Chapter is held at the full moon. TITLES. The assembly is called n. Chapter. There are seven officers, as follows: 1st. The Knight Lieutenant Commander, representing Frederick the Great of Prussia, who gave the Order or gmde
* An a.ble writer on Masonry (Albert Pike), seeks to identify this Order with the Vehm·Gericht, or Secret Xrlbun.a.l of Juortice, in Geru>any, in the Middle .Age$. (102)