Masonic Notes And Queries.

WASHINGTON ' S TOMB . The Masonic Eecord remarks : — " We gladly oblige our excellent and loved friend , the authoress of tbe following communication , by inserting it in our pages , and commending the object proposed , as one which should be dear to every American heart . We are

justly proud that Bro . George Washington was a prominent member of our fraternity . Can we not show that we honour his memory ? " ' Appeal lo the Honourable Masonic Fraternity of ilia State of Tennessee . —The Masonic brethren of Tennessee are respectfully and earnestly solicited to unite

their hearts and hands in a noble work about to be engaged in by the Masonic brethren of Wisconsin , who purpose to erect a handsome front to the tomb of George Washington , the great Father of his Country and the brig htest star of Masonry . The present structure , which presents a very mean appearance , continually calls forth the indignant and contemptuous criticisms of the noble-hearted foreigners who almost

daily visit that sacred spot , filled with admiration for the character and love for the memory of the great patriot , and say it is a disgrace to his friends and to America that such a pitiful-looking structure should mark the spot where now repose the ashes of the mihtdead . To the honourable Masonic fraternity

gy peculiarly belongs tbe privilege and the power to consecrate the last resting-place of their departed brother . The writer of this short and simple appeal feels assured , therefore , that the honourable Masonic fraternity of this beautiful State of Tennessee will allow none to excel them in manifesting their love fcr the

memory of their own Washington ; and that they will at once co-operate with the efforts of their Masonic brethren of Wisconsin to build up the fair proportions of a shrine that shall , in beauty , strength , and excellence , exceed every other—one that the nation will be proud of , and that people of every nation on the globe will behold with delight . —MES . MARY MIDDLETON RTJTLEDGE FOGG , one of the Vice-Regents of the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association . ' "

THE UNION OBLIGATION . At times during the last two years there have been communications to the Freemason ' s Magazine , asserting that Freemasonry is not a religion , the meaning of which assertion is conjectured to be , that Freemasonry has no Positive Religion . This assertion is

true as regards one kind of Freemasonry ; but the present series of our periodical abundantly proves that it is not true as regards our English Freemasonry . The authors of the assertion , however , choose to disregard the numerous articles upon the subject , and also to ignore the Union Obligation , which binds our Christian brothers of 1 S 70 , as it bound our Christian brothers of 1813 . —CHAELES PUETON COOPEE .

OLD MASONIC JEWEL . The following appears in a recent number of the Grand Function ( Iowa ) Head Light : — " Will . Mitchell , of this city , has an old Masonic silver jewel 104 years old . His father , the Hon . William Mitchell , late of Peoria 111 ., formerly Grand Secretary of the

, Grand Lodge of that State , procured it in England in 1842 , which country he visited for the purpose of having the 33 rd degree conferred upon him . The jewel is a perfect circle , the front side being surrounded

Masonic Notes And Queries.

with the sentence , ' Amor , honor , et justitia , '' and the reverse , 'Sit lux et luxfuit . Inside all the working tools of a Blue Lodge are found , and the whole is pendant from heavy tesselated silk ribbon . The jewel is a valuable memento , and is sacredly kept by the owner as a record of the Masonic doings of a father .

WAE . A sliort remark suggested hy a recent communication to a Metropolitan periodical . The facts and circumstances of War , with all their horrors , may be well described by an eye-witness , although both ignorant and unskilled . There the

view of reality is tantamount to inspiration , and supplies great deficiencies . But the fearful consequences of War can only be fitly described by the instructed and the practised . A paper by the illiterate and unexercised , intended to raise feelings of commiseration and grief in the breast of the

reader of some serial , commonly raises there no feeling but that of pity , not unaccompanied with raillery , for the simple , but well meaning contributor . —A PAST PEOVINCIAL GEAND MASTEE .

THE SYMBOLISM OE THE SPIEE . The spire or steeple is the silent finger that points heaven ; it is an upward aspiration of the soul—a prayer from the depths of a troubled heart—a suspirium de profimdis—z , hymn of thanksgiving—a pure lifethrowing off the worldlyand approaching the

, , ethereal—a finite mind searching , till lost in vastness of the unknown and unapproachable—a beautiful attempt—a voice of praise sent up from the earth , till , like the soaring lark , it "becomes a sightless song . " Indeed , our unbidden thoughts , that wild ivy of the mind , are trained upward by the spire , till it

it hung round by the tenderest associations and recollection of all that is sweet and softening in our natures . Thus when the painter has represented on his canvas some wild phase of scenery , where the gadding vine , the tangled underwood , the troubled brook , the black , frowning rock , the untamed growth of the forest ,

" Old plash of rains and refuse patched with moss , " impress us with awe and a sad , homeless feeling , as if we were lost children . How eloquent is that last touch of his pencil that shows us a simple spire peeping over the treetops ! How it comforts us ! How it brings us home again , and bestows an air " Of sweet civility on rustics wild . " —Old Faper .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for tie opinion ! expressed by Correspondent ! PSEUDO-MASONIC JEWELS . TO THE XDITOE 01 TUB JBEITIIASOHS' MAGAZINE AJTD MASOJflC SIIBROB . Dear Sir and Brother , —I am glad to see that Bro . GunnellW . M . of the Gold Coast Lodge has raised a

, question as to the leagality of a brother wearing " any Masonic jewel he may choose to purchase—as , for instance , the Square and Compasses or a Five-pointed Star , " for these jewels are manufactured and figured by most makers of Masonic paraphernalia ; andl have seen brethren adorned with them not only in private lodges ,