Masonic Notes And Queries.

of the uneducated , the words pothecary and prentice , for apothecary and apprentice , will we also find cassia used for acacia . Oliver ' s idea ( "Landmarks , " ii . 149 ) , that cassia has , since the year 1730 , been corrupted , into acacia , is contrary to all etymotogioal experience . Words are corrupted , not by lengthening , but by abbreviating them . The uneducated and the careless are

always prone to cut off a syllable , not to add a new one . Unfortunately , however , this corruption of acacia into cassia has not always been confined to the illiterate ; but the long employment of the corrupted form has at length introduced it , in some instances , among , a few of our Avriters . Even the venerable Oliver , although well acquainted ivith the symbolism of the acacia , and

having written most learnedly upon it , has , at times , alloAved himself to use the objectionable corruption , unwittingly influenced , in all probability , by the too frequent adoption of the latter word in the lodges . The cassia of the ancients , Avas , in fact , an ignoble plant , having no mystic meaning and no sacred character , and was never elevated to a hiher function than that of

g being united , as Virgil informs us , with other odorous herbs in the formation of a garland—. . . . " Violets pale , The poppy ' s flush , and dill which scents the gale , Cassia and Hyacinth , and daffodil , With yellow marigold the chaplet fill . " —Virgil , "Eclog . " ii . 49 .

Alston says , that the " Cassia lignea of the ancients was the larger branches of the cinnamon tree , cut off with their bark and sent together to the druggists ; their cassia fistula , or syrinx , was the same cinnamon in the bark only ; " but Euaaus says that it also sometimes denoted the lavender , and sometimes the rosemary . In Scripture the cassia is only three times mentioned ( Exod . xxx . 24 , Ezek . xxvii . 9 , and Ps . xlv . 8 ); twice as the translation of the Hebrew Avord kiddah , and once as the rendering of ketzioth , but always as referring to an

aromatic plant which formed a constituent portion of some perfume . There is , indeed , strong reason for believing that the cassia is only another name for a coarser preparation of cinnamon , and it is also to bo remarked that it did not grow in Palestine , but ivas imported from the East . The acacia , on the contrary , was esteemed a sacred

tree . ^ It is the acacia vera of Toiirnefort , and the mimosa uilotica of Linnaeus . It grew abundantly in the vicinity of Jerusalem , Avhere it is still to be found , aud is familiar to us all , in its modern uses at least , as the tree from which the gum arable of commerce is obtained , Oliver , it is true , says , that " there is not the smallest trace of any tree of the kind growing so far north as Jerusalem "

( " Landmarks" ii . 149 ); but this statement is refuted by the authority of Lieutenant Lynch , who saw it growing in great abundance at Jericho and still farther north ( "Exped . to Dead Sea , " p . 262 ) . The Babbi Joseph Schwarz , who is an excellent authority , says " The acacia ( shittim ) tree , al sunt , is found in Palestine of different varieties ; it looks like the mulberry tree , attains a great hei

ght , and has a hard wood . The gum Avhich is obtained from it is the gum arabic" ( "Descriptive Geography and Historical Sketch of Falestine , " p . 308 ) . Schwarz Avas for sixteen years a resident of Palestine , and Avrote from personal observation . The testimony of Lynch and Schivarz should , therefore , for ever settle the question of the existence of the acacia in Palestine .

The acacia , which in Scripture is always called shittah ( Calmet , Parkhurst , Gesenius , Clarke , Shaw , and all the best authorities concur in saying that the ofczi shittim . or shittim wood of Exodus , Avas the common acacia or mimosa nilotiea of Linnaus ) , and in the plural shittim , was esteemed a sacred wood among the Hebrews . Of it Moses was ordered to make the tabernacle , the ark of the covenant , the table for the shewbread , and the rest of the sacred furniture . Isaiah , in recounting the promises of God ' s mercy to the Israelites on their return

from the captivity , tells them , that among other things , He will plant in the wildnerness for their relief and refreshment , the cedar , the acacia ( or as it is rendered iu our common version , the shittah ) , the fir , aud other trees . The first thing , then , that we notice in this symbol of tho acacia , is that it had always been consecrated from among the other trees of the forest by the sacred purposes to

which it was devoted . By the Jew , the tree from whose wood the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the holy ark had been constructed , ivould ever be viewed as more sacred than ordinary trees . The early Freemasons , therefore , very naturally appropriated this hallowed plant to the equally sacred purpose of a symbol , which was to teach au important Divine truth in all ages to

come . Having thus briefly disposed of the natural history of this plant , we now proceed to examine it in its symbolic relations . First . The acacia , in the mythic system of Freemasonry , is pre-eminently the symbol of the immortality of the soul—that important doctrine—Avhich . it is the

great design of the institution to teach . As the evanescent nature of the flower which " cometh forth and is cut down , " reminds us of the transitory nature of human life , so the perpetual renovation of the evergreen plant , Avhich uninterruptedly presents the appearance of youth and vigour , is aptly compared to that spiritual life in which the soul , freed from the corruptible

companionship of the body , shall enjoy an eternal spring and au immortal youth . Hence , in the impressive funeral service of our Order , it is said that this evergreen is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul . By this we are reminded that we have an immortal part within us , which shall survive the grave , and which shall never die . And , again , in the closing sentence of the lecture of the third degree , the same sentiment is repeated ; aud Ave are told that by the evergreen and ever-living sprig , the Mason is strengthened with

confidence and composure to look forward to a blessed immortality . Such an interpretation of the symbol is an easy and a natural one ; it suggests itself at once to the least reflective mind ; and , consequently , iu some one form or another , is to be found existing in all ages and nations . It Avas an ancient custom , which is not , even iioiv , altogether disused , for mourners to carry in

their hands at funerals a sprig of some evergreen , generally the cedar or tho cypress , and to deposit it in the grave of the deceased . According to Daleho , the Hebrews always planted a sprig of aeacia at the head of tho grave of a departed friend . " This custom among the Hebrews arose from this circumstance . Agreeably to their laws , no dead bodies Avere allowed tobe interred within the

walls of the city ; and as the cohens or priests were prohibited from crossing a grave , it Avas necessary to place marks thereon , that they might avoid them . For this purpose the acacia was used . " ( " Daleho Oration , " p . 27 ISTote ) . Of the existence of the custom , there can he no doubt , notAvithstanding the denial or doubt of Dr . Oliver . Blount ( " Travels in the Levant" . 197 )

, p says , speaking of the Jewish burial customs , "thoseAvho bestow a marble stone over any [ grave ] have a hole a yard long and a foot wide , in Avhich they plant an evergreen Avhich seems to grow from the body aud is carefully watched . " Hasselquist ( " Travels , " p . 28 ) , confirms his testimony . Potter tells us ( " Antiquities of Greece , " p . 569 ) , that the ancient Greeks " had a custom of bedecking

tombs with herbs and flowers . " All sorts of purple and Avhite flowers were acceptable to the dead , but principally the amaranth and the myrtle . The very name of the former of these plants , which signifies " never fading , " Avould seem to indicate the true symbolic meaning of the usage , although archa ? ologists have generally supposed it to be simply an exhibition of love on the part of the survivors . Bagon says , that the ancients substituted the acacia for all other plants , because they believed it to be incorruptible , and not liable to injury from the