The Sprig Of Acacia.

means of illustrating the nature of the claims and of the evidence that may be adduced in favour of an exceedingly high antiquity being conceded to the institution of Masonry . The occasion referred to is not the first on record of the value of such a leafy communication of intelligence required . The arkite dove

will , of course , recur to every Oriental or Christian mind , for " Lo ! in her mouth Avas an olive leaf pluckt off , so ISToah knew that tho waters were abated from the earth . " Again , it requires no very learned or laboured argument to prove the universal significance of a bushas a intelliible signalserving the

, very g , purpose of an advertisement . A broom hoisted irpon the masthead of a ship , the whisp of straw suspended at a temporarily stopped-up thoroughfare , a bush of any kind suspended at the door of a Avine store , the unlettered hind of most countries have learned well to comprehend the purpose of the display . The tree

of knowledge is only an expansion of the same idea , and perhaps the remote original or authority for the use of the symbol in its variety of forms . Pliny was told by the Egyptians , with whom he conversed , that the first writings were upon leaves of the palm , as is still the case in many countries of Asiaand the

asso-, ciation may have suggested a representation of the instrument to express in an hieroglyphic the act done . In profane history may also be found many distortions of such a volume speaking picture of Avhich an apt nstanee is that of the servant of Midas , who , having discovered the ears of an ass under his master ' s

Phrygian bonnet , unable to keep the secret , whispered : it into a hole AA hich he carefully filled up again , but a reed springing up , it is said , communicated the curious fact to the world . The answer to the question " hoAV so ; " can only be resolved satisfactorily by supposing the legend to have arisen from imperfect knowledge , translating an hieroglyphical record into a written

language , and a literal signification of the symbols being rigidly adhered to . Or , what is perhaps more likely , a designedly corrupt account of some historical or moral story , was invented by dishonest priests to satisfy an exoteric curiosity , whilst , as was notoriously the practicethe true meaning was reserved for the

, special enlightenment of the exoteric few . At all events a reed used to express knoAvledge , communicated could only be in virtue of its symbolic character , and which was suggested no doubt by the extensive use of the Papyrus in the manufacture of Egyptian paper .

In theEIoran is a curious legend illustrative of this subject , as it introduces us to Moses contemplating a fossil shell , which no doubt would be described at the present day , as part of a matter-of-fact geological record . Following the divine command , Moses we are told , Avent to the Red Sea , and lifted his rod

over the waters , Avhen instantly they were divided , and in the , midst thereof he beheld a huge black rock . When he came near it , Allah cried to him , " Smite it with thy staff . " Moses accordingly did so , and the rock was cleft in twain , and he saw beneath it , in a sort of cave , a worm Avith a green leaf in its mouth ,

which cried three times , " Praised be Allah , Avho does not forget me in my solitude . Praised be Allah , Avho his nourished and raised me up . " _ The green leaf placed in the mouth of the worm hieroglyphically signified , in the original record , a moral precept , suggested by the curious circumstance of a presumed existence in such a situation , and demonstrating the

power of God in so forcible and striking a manner . Mahomet ' s amplification considerably weakens the effect of the lesson , and at the same time invests the allegory with unneeded absurdity . To return to the Sprig of Acacia —• " Not loved the less ,

For flowering in a wilderness . " Like the olive leaf of Noachean history , which spoke somewhat of the productions and geographical situation of Armenia , Avhere the ark rested , so the Masonic emblem affords some clue to the local circumstances existing Avhen it was selected for the purpose to which

it Avas put . The acacia tree particularly alluded to , my readers are doubtless avrare , is the mimosa nilotica , the characteristic vegetation of the desert countries through Avhich the Nile has its course . Here , in all ages down to the present day , individuals or secluded families of man have always found refuge and a secure

retreat , when flying for crimes committed , or from the persecution of tyrants , or from what may be described as worse still , religious tyranny . 'In fact , whilst , on the one hand , Asiatic and African kingdoms have always , when possible , their borders described by desertswhich form around them a kind of fence from

, hostile invasion ; on the other , these otherwise uninhabited Avastes become the resort of all whom misfortune has driven from their settled homes and friends , exactly as in David's case , when he fled into the wilderness from before Saul , "Every one that Avas in distressand every one that was in debtand every

, , one that was discontented , " sought an asylum in such desolate border countries . And it is a singular piece of circumstantial evidence , corroborative of the original seat of Ereemasonry , that our own term " lodge , " to describe our appointed places of meeting , is , in England , the most general popular name given to sites of

ancient camps , Avhen found situated within the confines of the old border marshes , or forests , that formerly separated the tubal divisions of the island before the arrival of the Romans . The same may be inferred of its German synonime , "hutten , " a persistence of custom to be attributed properly to the fact that residences of a temporary character onl

y were allowed to be erected on the forest land , anything more substantial being strictly prohibited by the jealous policy of the protected state . To this day the Jews , in their feast of tabernacles , properly "booths , " perpetuate the remembrance of a similar condition of life when , escaping from bondage , and borroAving their

neighbours' goods , they sought and found a secure retreat in the Arabian desert to the east of Egypt . Here , accordingly , as in all other corresponding situations , the mind readily comprehends the necessity which existed for some controlling influence to maintainamong a community of outcasts and outlawsa

, , system of customary laws , and administer justice , however rudely , between contending parties . As political refugees , honest in their convictions , would probably constitute the greatest number , and another respectable class of conscientious men , victims to reliious strifeAvould be also very considerablea nucleus

g , , Avould soon form , growing out of a common regard for right , around Avhich to gather a sufficiently strong public opinion , to restrain their criminal and reckless associates , and to defend the peaceably-disposed from insult or personal injury . Assistance and advice from friends and relations left behind would naturally also