Masonic Notes And Queries.

a temporary place of worship until the second temple could be completed . Accordingly , a few months after their arrival , they met together at Jerusalem and celebrated the Feast of Trumpets , and a few days subsequently the Feast of Tabernacles . It was probably the celebration of this latter observance , as well as the necessity and expediency of the measure

, that led the Grand Council of leaders to the erection of a temporary tabernacle near the ruins of the ancient temple , the existence of which is so familiar to us from the traditions and ceremonies of the Eoyal Arch . Having thus furnished dwellings for the workmen

, and a sacred edifice for the celebration of their religious rites , our Masonic tradition informs us that Joshua , the High Priest , Zerubbahel , the King , and and Haggai the Scribe , daily sat in council , to devise plans for the workmen and to superintend the construction of the new temple , which , like a phoenix ,

was to arise from the ashes of the former one . It is this period of time in the history of the second temple , that is commemorated in the concluding portion of the Eoyal Arch . The ruins of the ancient temple are begun to be removed , and the foundations of the second are laid . JoshuaZerubbabeland

, , Haggai are sitting in daily council within the tabez--nacle ; parties of Jews who had not left Babylon with the main body under Zerubbabel , are continually coming up to Jerusalem to assist in rebuilding the house of the Lord .

During this period of labounous activity a circumstance occurred , which is alluded to in the ritual of the Eoyal Arch . The Samaritans were desirous of assisting the Jews in the construction of the temple , but their propositions were at once rejected by Zerubbabel . To understand the cause of this refusal to receive their co-operationwe must for a moment

, advert to the history of this people . The ten tribes who had revolted from Eehoboam , the son of Solomon , and who had chosen Jeroboam for their king , rapidly fell into idolatry , and having selected the town of Samaria for their metropolis , a complete separation was thus effected between the

kingdoms of Jud . ih and Israel . Subsequently , the Samaritans were conquered by the Assyrians under Shalmanezer , who carried the greater part of the inhabitants into captivity , and introduced colonies in their places from Babylon , Cultah , Ava , Hamath , and Sepharvaim . These colonistswho assumed the name

, of Samaritans , brought with them of course the idolatrous creed aud practices of the region from which they emigrated . The Samaritans , therefore , at the time of the rebuilding of the second temple , were an idolatrous race , * and as such abhorent to the Jews .

Hence , when they asked permission to assist in the pious work of rebuilding the temple , Zerubbabel , with the rest of the leaders , replied , "Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God ; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord . God of Israel , as King Cyrus , the King of Persia has

commanded us . "t Hence it was that , to avoid the possibility of these idolatrous Samaritans polluting the holy work by their co-operation , Zerubbabel found it necessary to demand of every one who offered himself as an assistant in the undertaking that he should give an

accurate account of his lineage , and prove himself to have been a descendant ( ivhich no Samaritan could be ) of those faithful Griblemites who worked at the building of the first temple . It was while the workmen were engaged iu making the excavations for laying the foundation ,

necessary and while numbers continued to arrive at Jerusalem from Babylon , that three worn and weary sojourners , after plodding on foot over the rough and devious roads between the two cities , offered themselves to the

Graud Council as willing participants in the labour of erection . Who these sojourners were , we have no historical means of discovering ; but there is a Masonic tradition ( entitled , perhaps , to but little weight ) that they were Hananiah , Misael , and Azariah , three holy men , who are better know to general readers by

their Chaldaic names of Shadrach , Mesheck , and Abednego , as having been miraculously preserved from the fiery furnace ot Nebuchadnezzar . Their services were accepted , and from their diligent labours resulted that important discovery , the perpetuation and preservation of which

constitutesthe great end and design of the Eoyal Arch degree . This ends the connection of the history of the restoration with that of the Eoyal Arch . The works were soon after suspended , in consequence of difficulties thrown in the way by the Samaritans , and other circumstances occurred to prevent the final completion

of the temple for many years subsequent to the important discovery to ivhich we have just alluded . But these details go beyond the Eoyal Arch , and are tobe found in the higher degrees of Masonry , such asthe Eed Cross Knight and the Prince of Jerusalem .

THE GREAT VYTULMXD . I have latterly been reading The Great Pyramid .-. Why was it Built ? And loho Built it ? By John Taylor , author of " Junius Identified , " " An Essay on Money , " " The Standard and Measure of Value , " & c , and gather from various sources the following : —That various have been the inions expressed blearned

op y men as to the object of those wonderful structures , the Pyramids of Egypt . Some have thought that they were intended for the purpose of granaries , an opinion scarcely deserving of notice , and at once confuted by the smallness of the rooms ; whilst others have supposed that they were erected to serve the

purpose of observatories , a supposition equally untenable with the former , when we consider that the neighbouring rocks were better calculated for such a purpose , and that there could be , if such was their