The Crusades.

deathful slumbers into a new morning of life and energy . With the close of the crusades , the middle ages were passed , ancl modern history commenced . —From the Churchman ' s Guide , a new Illustrated Paper of considerable merit .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE HISTORY 03 ? THE BOTAI . ABCH . ( Continued from ' page 201 ) . "We have now arrived at that portion of the history of the Babylonish captivity which is allegorised in the concluding ceremonies of the Eoyal Arch degree . And here we may incidentally observe , that

the same analogy which exists in the Master's degree to the ancient mysteries , is also to be found in the Eoyal Arch . The Masonic scholar , who is familiar with the construction of those mysteries of the pagan priests and philosophers , is well aware that they inculcate hy symbolic ancl allegoric instruction the

great lessons of the resurrection of the body and the immortality ofthe soul . Hence they were all funereal in their character . They commenced in sorrow , they terminated in joy . The death or destruction of some eminent personage , most generally a god , was depicted in the beginning ofthe ceremonies of initiation , while

the close was occupied in illustrating , in the same manner , the discovery of his grave , the recovery of the body , and the restoration to life eternal . The same religious instruction is taught in the Master's degree . The evidence of this fact , it is unnecessary for us here to demonstrate . It will be at once apparent to every Mason who is sufficiently acquainted with the ritual of his order .

But is it not equally apparent that the same system , though under a thicker veil , is preserved in the ceremonies of the Eoyal Arch ? There is a resurrection of that which has been buried—a discovery of that which had been lost—an exchange of that which , like the body , the earthly tenement , was temporary ,

for that which , like the soul , is intended to be permanent . The life which we pass on earth is but a ¦ substitute for that glorious one which we are to spend in eternity . And it is in the grave , in the depths of the earth , thattheeorruptibleputs oniucorruption , that the mortal puts on immortality * and that the

substi-, tute of this temporal life is exchanged for the blessed reality of life eternal . The interval to which we alluded in the last lecture , and which is occupied by the captivity of the Jews at Babylon , is now over , and the allegory of the Eoyal Arch is resumed ivith the restoration of the

captives to their home . Five hundred and thirty-six years before the Christian era , Cyrus issued his decree for the return of the Jews . A t the same time he restored to them

all the sacred vessels and precious ornaments of the first temple , which had been carried aivay by Nebuchadnezzar , ancl ivhich were still in existence . Forty-two thousand three hundred ancl sixty of the Jews repaired , in the same year , from Babylon and the neighbouring cities to Jerusalem . The leaders of these were Zerubbabel , Joshua , and Haggai , of whom , as they perform an important part in the

history of this event as recorded in the Eoyal Arch , it is incumbent on us to speak more particularly . * Zerubbabel was , at the time of the restoration , the possessor of the regal authority among the Jews , as the prince of the captivity and a descendant of the house of David , and as such he assumed at Jerusalem

the office of king . He was the son of Shealtiel , who was the son of Jechoniah , the monarch who had been deposed by Nebuchadnezzar and carried away to Babylon . He was the intimate friend of Cyrus , and , indeed , it is supposed that it was principally through his influence that the Persian monarch was induced

to decree the liberation of the captives . Joshua , the High Priest , was , like Zerubbabel , entitled tohisoffice by the indisputable claim of direct descent from the ancient hierarchy . He was the son of Josedech , and the grandson of Seraiah , who had been the High Priest when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar .

Of Haggai , the Scribe , but little is known that can be relied on . We know nothing of the place or the time of his birth , but is it supposed that he was born at Babylon during the captivity . He was the first of the three prophets who flourished after the captivity , and his writings , though few ( so few , indeed ,

that some theologians have supposed that the larger portion of them has perished ) , all relate to the building of the second temple . The office of scribe , which is the one assigned to him in the Eoyal Arch degree , was one of great importance in the Jewish economy . Tho sopliers or scribes constitutedsays Dr . Beardf

, , a learned , organised , much esteemed , and highly influential body of men , recognised and supported hy the state . They were learned in the laws , and it was their duty to expound them to the people . HorneJ says , that the scribe seems to have been the king's secretary of stateancl as such to have registered

, , all acts and degrees . It is , perhaps , in this capacity that we are to suppose that Haggai claims a place in the Grand Council of the Eoyal Arch . Zerubbabel , assisted by these advisers , proceeded

to arrange his followers in such a form as would enable them most safely and expeditiously to traverse the long and dangerous road from Babylon to Jerusa-, lem , which latter place they reached after a journey of four months , on the 22 nd of June , 535 years before the birth of Christ .

The first object of the Jewish leader was , we may well suppose , to provide the means of shelter for the people who accompanied him . We are irresistibly led to the conclusion that for this purpose it was found necessary to erect tents for their temporary dwelling . Extensive and populous as was Jerusalem at the

commencement of the captivity , after the ruthless devastation of its unsparing conqueror it could hardly have retained sufficient means for the covenient accommodation of the fifty thousand souls who were thus suddenly and unexpectedly brought within its walls . Tentsthereforeaflbrded rude and

tem-, , porary dwellings until , in the course of time , more substantial buildings could be erected . The next thing was to restore the ancient sacrifices and religious services , and for this purpose to provide