Masonic Notes And Queries.

SYMBOLISM OP THE SERPENT . The Serpent is said to he a symbol of what ?—J . H . —[ The Serpent was believed to be generated by the Sun , ¦ and , as such , was an emblem of the initiates in the Egyptian mysteries , they being said to be sons of the Sim , or light . It was also a symbol of wisdom and a title of priesthood . ]

ORIGIN 01 ' THE ROYAL ARCH DEGREE , AND ITS CONNECTION WITII THE CHIVALRIC ORDERS OT KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AND KNIGHTS Oi MALTA . St . Louis established the Royal Arch Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre in 1254 , and granted them the privileges of the Crusaders , which are the same as those of the great officers of . his household ( page 6 , "Ancicns Statuts de lOrdre

' Hospitaller et Militaire du Saint Sepulchre de _ Jerusalem ; eb Statuts et Reglomens do 1 'Archiconfrcrie Royale des Ohcvalieres , Yoyageurs et Confreres do Devotion du Saint Sepulchre de Jerusalem . " Paris , 1776 . —M . H . SHUTTLEWOBTH , G . V . C . MARKS OE OPERATIVE MASONS . The subject of the operative marks would appear to be Tory much misunderstood . Mv own knowledge of them

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is confined to what appeared in your paper some months back , but I feel fully convinced that most of the old marks are readable . Those , for instance , of the old Torkshire churches are neither more or less than letters of the Runic alphabet . There is so much variety in

form of these alphabets , that we have from 15 to 41 shapes for each letter . I send you the Scandinavian alphabet ,-if you think it worth while to engrave it . Eask states that our forefathers kept far into the Christian times the old characters in inscriptions on gravestones

, staves , and calenders , for which they were far more fit than the Roman letters . At tho introduction of Christianity , ancl for some time after , they were in general use over the whole north , in Sweden , Denmark , Norway , and Iceland ; and wo have demonstrablheathen Runic stones

y on which Thor is invoked . That they were sometimes used of old in sorcery is rather a reason for than an objection against their high antiquity . All writers assign with one voice their introduction

into the north to Odin . Ihe Runes have great likeness ¦ to the oldest Greek alphabet , and this coincides completely with the old story of our forefathers having come from the country north of the Black Sea . It is of course ¦ easy to understand that geometricians and Masons might ¦ constitute a knowledge of alphabetical characters into a degree or Order , but what had King Solomon to do

with the Gothic Runes ? AVe are a laughing-stock to non-Masons for our gullibility , and genuine inquiry ought by all means to be everywhere encouraged . Our ¦ ceremonies generally have in lal er times been so much improved (?) in London , that I should consider it a favour if any brother can inform me whether ho recollects 4 i mark degree which did not allude to Solomon ' s Temple ?

If no such degree existed , what becomes of tho claim of "the M . G . S . to represent the Saxon builders ? AVhat is the earliest allusion in tho north to Solomon as a philosopher ?—A . THE rORBONIANS . In No . 603 of Read's Weekly Journal , or British Gazetteerdated SaturdayMarch 27 th 1736 there is a

, , , , paragraph which states : — "We hoar that , on Monday last the Grand , and the rest of the Honorable and Antient Society of Porponions , met at the Fountain Tavern on Snow-bill , and constituted a new lodge . " AVhat kind of lodge was it , and what constituted a Porponiau ?—QUERIST .

MASONIC BROCESSION . In No . 606 of the same paper , for April 13 th , 1736 , we read that on " Thursday , about 2 o ' clock , the Grand Cavalcade of the Most Antient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons , set forward from the Earl of Loudon ' s house in Privy-garden , to Fishmonger ' s Hall in Thames-street . The procession was as follows :

A pair of kettledrums , 2 trumpets , 2 French horns , 4 hautboys , 2 bassoons , the 12 present stewards in 12 chariots , the Master and AVarden of the Stewards Lodge in one coach , the brethren in their respective coaches , the noblemen and gentlemen who have served iu tho Grand Offices , the two Grand AVardens in one coach , the Deputy Grand Master alonethe Secretary and Sword

, Bearer in one coach , the Rt . Hon . the Lord Yiscount Weymouth , the present Grand Master , and the Rt . Hon . the Earl of Loudon , the Grand Master elect , together in the Lord Weymouth ' s coach ; the Earl of Loudon's coach and six horses , empty , closed the procession . The cavalcade proceeded through the Strand , Fleet-street , CheapsideCorn hilland Gracechurch-streetto Fishmonger ' s

, , , Hall , where a very elegant entertainment was provided by tbe Stewards . In the eveningthere was a grand ball for the ladies , and the whole was concluded with the usual magnificence and grandeur . " Do the Fishmonger ' s Company keep any records of such occurrences , or has any brother obtained extracts from them?—QUERIST .

LEGEND 01 ' IIIRAM ABIPI \ I quote the following from the Apocryphal New Testament , as interesting more particularly to Royal Arch Masons . AVhat share has it had in the formation of the H . A . B . legend ? It is cited by Dr . Lightfoot , " Talmud , Hierosol , in Taanith , " fol . 69 , and " Talmud , Babyl . in Sanhedr . " fol . 96— " Rabbi Jochanan said ,

eighty thousand priests were slain for the blood of Zacharias . Rabbi Indas asked Rabbi Achan , where did they kill Zacharias ? Was it in the women ' s court , or iu tho court of Israel ? He answered , neither in the court of Israel , nor in the court of women , but in the court of the priests ; and they did not treat his blood in the same manner as they were wont to treat the blood of

a ram or a young goat . For of these it is written , he shall pour out his blood and cover it with dust . But it is written hero , the blood is in tho midst of her ; she set it upon the top of a rock ; she poured it not upon the ground . But why was this ? That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance . I have let his blood upon the top of a rock , that it should not be covered . They committed seven evils that day ; they murdered a priest , a prophet , and a king ; they shed the blood of the innocent ; they polluted the court ; that dav was the

Sabbath , and the day of expiation . When , therefore , Nebuzcradan came there , he saw his blood bubbling , and said to them , What meaneth this ? They answered , It is the blood of calves , lambs , and rams which we have offered upon the altar . He commanded then that they should bring calves , and they brought and slew them ; but the blood of Zacharias still bubbled , but the blood of

these did not bubble . Then he said , Declare to me the truth of this matter , or else I will comb your flesh with iron combs . Then said they to him , He was a priest , prophet , and judge who prophesied to Israel all these calamities which we have suffered from you ; but we arose against him , and slew him . Then , said ho , I will appease him ; then he took the Rabbins and slew them

upon his ( Zacharias ' s ) blood , and he was not yet appeased . Next he took the young boys from the schools and slew them upon his blood , and yet it bubbled ; then be brought the young priests and slew them in the same place , and yet it still bubbled . So he slew at length ninety-four thousand persons upon his blood , and it did nob as yet cease bubbling ; then he drew near to it and said , 0 Zacharias , 0 Zacharias , thou hast occasioned the death of the chief of thy countrymen , shall I slay them all ? Then the blood ceased , and did bubble no more . " —A .