Masonic Notes And Queries.

They originally formed a part of the great Assyrian monarchy , but their early history having no connection with Eoyal Arch Masonry , may be passed over without further discussion . About six hundred and thirty years before the Christian era , Babylon , the chief cityWas conquered b [ Nebuchadnezzarthe

, y , King of the Chaldeans , a nomadic race , who descending from their homes in the mountains of Taurus and Caucasus , between the Euxine and the Caspian seas , overwhelmed the countries of Southeim Asia , and became masters of the Syrian and Babylonian

empires . [ Nebuchadnezzar was a warlike monarch , and during his reign was engaged in many contests for the increase of his power and the extension of his dominions . Among other nations who fell beneath his victorious arms , was Judea , whose King Jehoahaz , or as he was afterwards named Jehoiakimwas compelled to

pur-, chase peace by paying an annual tribute to his conquerors . Jehoiakim was subsequently slain by [ Nebuchadnezzar , and his son Jehoiachin ascended the throne of Israel . The oppressions of the Babylonians still continued , and after a reign of three months , Jehoiachin , was deposed by the King of the

Chaldees , and his kingdom given to his uncle Zedekiah , a monai'ch who is characterised by Josephus as " a despiser of justice and his duty . " It was in the reign of this ungodly sovereign that the incidents took place which are commemorated in the first part of the Eoyal Arch degree . Having repeatedly rebelled against the authority of the Babylonian king , to whose appointment he was indebted for his throne , [ Nebuchadnezzar repaired with an army

to Judea , and laying siege to Jerusalem , after a severe struggle of eighteen months' duration , reduced it . He then caused the city to be levelled with the ground , the royal palace to be burned , the temple to be pillaged , and the inhabitants to be carried captive to Babylon . These events are symbolicalldetailed in tlie Eoyal

y Arch , and in allusion to them , the passage of the Book of Chronicles which records them , is appropriately read during the ceremonies of this part of the degree . " Zedekiah was one-and-twenty years old when he began to reignand reigned eleven years in Jerusalem .

, And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God , and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord . And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar , and stiffened his neck , and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel .

Moreover , all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathens ; and polluted the house of the Lord , which he had hallowed in Jerusalem . And the Lord God of

their fathers sent to them by his messengers , because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place . But they mocked the messengers of God , and despised his words , and misused his prophets , until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people , till there was no remedy . " This preparatory clause announces the moral causes

which led to the destruction of Jerusalem—the evil councils and courses of Zedekiah—his hardness of heart—his wilful deafness to the denunciations of the Lord ' s prophet—and his violation of all his promises

of obedience to [ Nebuchadnezzar . But not to the king alone was confined this sinfulness of life . The whole of the people , even the priests , the very servants of the house of the Lord , were infected with the moral plague . They had abandoned the precepts and observances of their fathers , which were to have made them a peculiar peopleand falling into the idolatries

, of their heathen neighbours , had desecrated the altars of Jehovah with the impure fire of strange gods . Message after message had been sent to them from that God who had properly designated himself as " long suffering , and abundant in goodness "—but all was in vain . The threats and warnings of the

prophets were heard with contempt , and the messengers of God were treated with contumely , and hence the fatal result which is detailed in the succeeding passages of Scripture read before the candidate . " Therefore he brought upon them the King of the Chaldeeswho slew their young men with the sword ,

, in the house of their sanctuary , and had no compassion upon young man or maiden , old man or him that stooped for age ; be gave them all into his hand . And all the vessels of the house of the Lord , and the treasures of the king and of his princes ; all these he brought to Babylon . "

But the King of the Chaldees was not content with the rich spoils of war that he had gained . It was not sufficient that the sacred vessels of the temple , made by order of King Solomon , and under the supervision of that " curious and cunning Avorkinan , " who had " adorned and beautified the edifice" erected for the worship of Jehovah , should become the prey of an idolatrous monarch . The dark sins of the people

and the king required a heavier penalty . The very house of the Lord—that sacred building which had been erected on the " threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite , " ancl which constituted the third Grand offering of Masonry on the same sacred place , was to be burned to its foundations ; the city which was consecrated bits presence was to be levelled to the

y ground ; and its inhabitants were to be led into a long and painful captivity . Hence the tale of devastation proceeds as follows : — "And they burnt the house of God , and brake down the wall of Jerusalem , and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire ; and destroyed all the goodly vessels

thereof . And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away captive to Babylon ; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Pei'sis . " These events took place in the year 588 before Christ . But we must not suppose this to have been

the beginning of the " seventy years cajitivity" foretold by the prophet Jeremiah . They actually commenced eighteen years before in the reign of Jehoiakim , when Daniel was among the captives . Counting from the destruction of Jerusalem under Zedekiah , which is the event recorded in the Eoyal Arch , to the

termination of the captivity under Cyrus , we shall have but fifty-two years , so that we may readily understand how there should be among the aged men assembled to see the foundations laid of the second temple , many who had beheld the splendour and magnificence of the first . But though the city was destroyed , and the temple burnt , the deep foundations of the latter were not destroved . The ark of the covenant with ihe book