Israel And England.

Israel , to do it for them . ' ( Ezek . xxxvi . 37 . ) It is to our Supreme Grand Master that we are to go . Before He gives an ansAver to our prayers , He will fully try us and prove us , to show whether Ave are Masons

or cowans . I take the case of a candidate , who , as you knoAV , must first be chdy prepared in that particular chamber that should be familiar to every Mason , and next in that convenient apartment , & c . Does not

everything connected Avith this preliminary ceremony suggest every requirement that must be complied Avith before our eyes are opened to behold the light ? Is not the cable of Tow suggestive of a deeper meaning than that usually given to the

candidate ; say , like the Calais prisoners [ temp . Richard I . ) , who came out ready prepared for execution ? [ s not everything else equally suggestive , now that the key is supplied ? Every Mason can apply the test . To return to the review , in which you say , " AVe can neither accept his premises nor his conclusions . " Oh ! For shame

My dear sir and Brother . You should really be cautious , as a Mason , in what you say . Never admit that you cannot do a thing . May I ask Avhether you have ever tried to come at the truth of this question in the way I have pointed out ? That , after allis the main question . The

, method of my expression , although I try to do my best , is of small moment in comparison with the great object I have in view . I agree with you , nevertheless , that there is much in the book which may appear to come under the head of fablefor it is this

, very fable that one desires to clear up . Is all that has been commonly classed under that head deserving such a classification ? Was there no truth at all events in the

origin of these " myths ?" The "Abridged Pedigree , " quoted in your review , I did not set forth as other than an abridgement . AVhat else could I furnish in so small a book ? I give the general outline , from which I do not think I have left out anytMng of importance . I

may tell you in confidence , as a Brother and a Ma ~ on , that it Avas our old friendor enemy , as the case may he—L . S . D ., who prevented a long list of Irish kings being added as an appendix to the book .

I was advisecN ^ tolft j ^ mild add the expense , and that no one would read it , aud as the expense Avould therefore have been useless , it was not incun-ed . The first two kings in this list , Heber and Heremon , ruled jointlin A . M . 2737 . The list ends

y with Roderick , A , D . 68 . This is , however , only apart of the subject , and Avill of course require examination . I am but trying to gather materials from Avhich the truth may be sifted . I now come to the " Princess of the

House of Judah . " Was she the granddaughter of Jeremiah of Libnah ? " Could a Levite marry out of the Tribe of Levi ?" I refer to II . Kings xxiii . 31 , and xxiv . 17 , IS .

" Jehoahaz was twenty-and-three years old Avhen he began to reign , and he reigned three months in Jerusalem , and his mother ' s nameAvas Hamutalthe daughter of , Jeremiah of Libnah . " " And the King of Babylon made

Mattaniah his father ' s brother King in his stead , and changed his name to Zedekiah . " Zedekiah Avas twenty-and-one years old Avhen he began to reign , and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem . And his mother ' s name was Hamutal , the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . "

Here Avas evidently a union betAveen Judah and Levi , for Hamutal , the mother of the two preceding Kings , Avas Jeremiah ' s daughter , and Jehoahaz and Zedekiah Avere brothers , and the grandsons of Jeremiah . " Then Ishmael carried aAvay captive all the residue of the people that were in

Mizpah , even the King ' s daughters , and all the people that remained in Mizpah , Avhom Nebuzar-adan , the captain of the guard , had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam . "

( Jeremiah , xli ., 10 . ) The question arises , Avho Avere these princesses , and Avhose daughters Avere they ? lftheyAvere the daughters of Zedekiah , or of Jehoahaz , they were Jeremiah ' s yreatgrand-daughters . If Zedekiah was their father they would most probably have been

Avith him , in which case they Avould scarcely have escaped captivity in Babylon ; but if they Avere the daughters of Jehoahaz and the nieces of Zedekiah , Avhat Avas more natural than to find them under the care

and guardianship of their grandfather Jeremiah , and thus escaping captivity ? Perhaps these princesses may have been