BEAUTY AND BANDS

The names of the two rods spoken of by the prophet Zechariah ( xi, 7, 10, 14), as symbolic of his pastoral office. This expression was in use in portions of the old Masonic ritual in England; but in the system of Doctor Hemming, which was adopted at the union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813, this symbol, with all reference to it, was ex-punged. As Doctor Oliver says in his Dictionary of symbolic Masonry, “it is nearly forgotten, except by a few old Masons, who may perhaps recollect the illustration as an incidental subject of remark among the Fraternity of that period.”