application, those words that once broke upon the astonished ears of the
old patriarch, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground."




XIX.

The Rite of Investiture.



Another ritualistic symbolism, of still more importance and interest, is
the _rite of investiture_.

The rite of investiture, called, in the colloquially technical language of
the order, the _ceremony of clothing_, brings us at once to the
consideration of that well-known symbol of Freemasonry, the LAMB-SKIN
APRON.

This rite of investiture, or the placing upon the aspirant some garment,
as an indication of his appropriate preparation for the ceremonies in
which he was about to engage, prevailed in all the ancient initiations. A
few of them only it will be requisite to consider.

Thus in the Levitical economy of the Israelites the priests always wore
the abnet, or linen apron, or girdle, as a part of the investiture of the
priesthood. This, with the other garments, was to be worn, as the text
expresses it, "for glory and for beauty," or, as it has been explained by