Masonic Notes And Queries.

ascertaining . We are led to believe , from certain passages of Scripture , that the deportation was not complete . * Calmet says that Nebuchadnezzar carried away only the principal inhabitants , the warriors and artizans of every kind ( which would , of course , include tlie masons ) , and that he left the husbandmen , the labourersandin generalthe poorer classes that

, , , constituted the great body of the people . Among the prisoners of distinction , Josephus mentions the high priest , Seraiah , and Zephaniah , the priest that was next him , with the three rulers that guarded the temple , the eunuch who was over the armed men , seven friends of Zedekiah , his scribe ancl sixty other

rulers . Zedekiah , the king , had attempted to escape , previous to the termination of the siege , but being pursued was captured and carried to Eiblah , the headquarters of . Nebuchadnezzar , where , having first been compelled to behold the slaughter of his children , his eyes were then put out , and he was

conducted in chains to Babylon . t A Masonic tradition informs us that the captive Jews were bound by their conquerors with triangular chaius , and that this was done by the Chaldeans as an additional insult , because the Jewish masons were known to esteem the triangle as an emblem of the sacred name of God , ancl must have considered its appropriation to the form of their fetters as a desecration of the Tetragrammaton .

Of the road pursued by the Chaldeans with their prisoners we can judge only from conjecture . It is , however , recorded that they were carried by Nebuzaraclan , the captain of [ Nebuchadnezzar ' s army , direct from Jerusalem to Eiblah , -where [ Nebuchadnezzar had fixed his headquarters . Eiblah w as situated on the northern border of Palestineabout two

, hundred miles north-east of Jerusalem , and was the city through which the Babylonians were accustomed to pass in their eruptions into and departures from Judea .

From Jerusalem to Eiblah , the journey is necessarily through Damascus , and . the route from Eiblah was direct to Palmyra . Hence , we have every reason for supposing that the Chaldean army , with the cap fives , took that route whieh is described by Heeren , J and which would have conducted them from Jerusalem , through Damascus , to Eiblah in a northerly direction . Here [ Nebuchadnezzar commanded Seraiah

the high priest , and the rulers , to the amount of seventy , to be put to death . Thence directing their course to the north-east , they arrived at Thapsacus , an important commercial town on the Euphrates , which river they crossed somewhat lower down , at a place called Oircesium . They then journey eel in a southerly directionthrough the Median wall and

, along the east bank of the Euphrates to Babylon . By this route they avoided making a large circuit to the north , or crossing an extensive dessert which could supply no water . The condition of Jerusalem after the departure of

the captives is worthy of consideration . Previous to the departure from Jerusalem , Nebuzaradan appointed Gedaliali , who was the son of Ahikam , a person of an illustrious family , the governor of the remnant of the Jews who were left behind . Gedaliali is described by the Jewish historian as being of " a gentle and rihteous disposition . " He established his seat

g of government at Mispah , and induced those who had fled during the siege , and who were scattered over the country , to return and cultivate the land , promising them protection and favour if they consented to continue peaceable and pay a small tribute to the king of Babylon .

Among those who had fled on the approach of the-Chaldean army was Ishmael , one of the royal family , a wicked and crafty man , who , during the siege of Jerusalem , had sought protection at the court of the King of the Ammorites . Ishmael was secretly instigated by Bealis , the Ammoritish monarch , to slay

Gedaliali , that , as one of the royal family , he might himself ascend the throne of David . Notwithstanding that Gedaliali was informed of this nefarious design , he refused , in his unsuspecting temper , to believe the report , and consequently fell a victim to the treachery of Ishmael , who slew him while

partaking of his hospitality . Ishmael then attempted to carry the inhabitants of Mispah into captivity , and , fled with them to the King of the Ammorites ; but being overtaken by the friends of Gedaliali , who had armed themselves to avenge his death , the captives were rescued and Ishmael put to flight . The Jews , fearing that if they remained they would be punished by the Babylonians for the murder of Gedaliali ,

retired to Egypt . Five years after , Nebuchadnezzar , having invaded and conquered Egypt , carried all the Jews whom he found there to Babylon . " And such , " says Josephus , " was the end of the nation of the Hebrews . " Jerusalem was now desolate . Its king and its people were removed to Babylon , but it remained unpopulated by foreign coloniesperhapsas

, , Whiston suggests , " as au indication of Providence that the Jews were to re-people it without opposition themselves . " Let us turn now to the more immediate object of tin ' s lecture , ancl examine the condition ofthe captivesduring their sojourn in Babylon .

Notwithstanding the ignominious mode of their conveyance from Jerusalem , and the vindictiveness dis 2 ilayed by their conqueror in the destruction of their city and temple , they do not appear , on their arrival at Babylon , to have been subjected to any of the extreme rigours of slavery . They were distributed

into various parts of the empire ; some remaining bathe city , while others were sent into the provinces . The latter probably devoted themselves to agriculturalpursuits , while the former were engaged in commerceor in the labours of architecture . Anderson says , that Nebuchadnezzar , having applied himself to the

design of finishing his buildings at Babylon , engaged therein all tlie able artistsof Judea and other captives to join his own Chaldean masons . * They werepermittedto retain their personal property , and even to purchase lauds ancl erect houses . Their civil and religious government was not utterly destroyed , for they retained a regular succession of kings and high priests , one of each of whom returned witli them , as will be seen