THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

within
the walls of the city; and as the Cohens, or priests, were prohibited
from
crossing a grave, it was necessary to place marks thereon, that they
might
avoid them. For this purpose the acacia was used."--DALCHO, _Oration_,
p.
27, note.--I object to the reason assigned by Dalcho; but of the
existence
of the custom there can be no question, notwithstanding the denial or
doubt of Dr. Oliver. Blount (_Travels in the Levant_, p. 197) says,
speaking of the Jewish burial customs, "those who bestow a marble stone
over any [grave] have a hole a yard long and a foot broad, in which
_they
plant an evergreen_, which seems to grow from the body, and is
carefully
watched." Hasselquist (_Travels_, p. 28) confirms his testimony. I
borrow
the citations from Brown (_Antiquities of the Jews_, vol. ii. p. 356),
but
have verified the reference to Hasselquist. The work of Blount I have
not
been enabled to consult.
[184] Antiquities of Greece, p. 569.
[185] Dr. Crucefix, MS., quoted by Oliver, _Landmarks_, ii. 2.
[186] Spirit of Masonry, lect. ix. p. 99.
[187] The Temple of Solomon, ch. ix. p. 233.
[188] It is probable that the quince derived this symbolism, like the
acacia, from its name; for there seems to be some connection between
the
Greek word [Greek: kydo/nios], which means _a quince_, and the
participle
[Greek: kydi/on], which signifies _rejoicing, exulting_. But this must
have been an afterthought, for the name is derived from Cydon, in
Crete,
of which island the quince is a native.
[189] Desprez, speaking of the palm as an emblem of victory, says
(_Comment. in Horat. Od._ I. i. 5), "Palma vero signum victoriae passim
apud omnes statuitur, ex Plutarcho, propterea quod ea est ejus natura
ligni, ut urgentibus opprimentibusque minime cedat. Unde est illud
Alciati
epigramma,--
'Nititur in pondus palma, et consurgit in altum:
Quoque magis premitur, hoc mage tollit onus.'"
It is in the eighth book of his Symposia that Plutarch states this
peculiar property of the palm to resist the oppression of any
superincumbent weight, and to rise up against it, whence it was adopted
as
the symbol of victory. Cowley also alludes to it in his _Davideis_.