Masonic Notes And Queries.

triotie plan for the purchase of Mount Vernon , knowing as Ave do , that the Order , from wliich it emanates , are ever ready for good deeds , and never look back Avhen they put their hands to the plough . Let every true Mason feel that the tomb of Washington can only be preserved from decay by his efforts , and but a feiv short months will roll by ore it Avill be the property of that

State which gave him birth , and to whose keeping alone his ashes should be intrusted . " Knights Templar Circular . The following copy of a " Circular" was issued by tbe Grand Master of Knights Templar of the United States of America , before the war commenced : — " Office of the Grand Master of Knights Templar of tbe

United States of America . " Benjamin Broivn French , Grand Master of Knights Templar of the United States of America . " To all true and patriotic Templars , brotherly Love , Peace , Honour . " An awful fratricidal conflict seems to be impending . He alone who rules the destinies of nations can prevent

it . He works through human instruments . I implore every Templar Knight on the Continent of America , after humbly seeking strength and aid from on Hi gh , to exert all the means at his command to avert the dread calamity , which , to human vision , seems inevitable . " Let each Templar to whom this may come remember bow often we have stood at each other ' s sidear . d raised

, our voices in praj'er for the prosperity of a common country and a common cause . Let all call to mind hoiv the Knights of Virginia , mingling in fraternal brotherhood with those of Massachusetts , pledged themselves to each other , on Bunker Hill , only a feiv years ago ; and when another year had passed aivay , the same noble bands stood together in the city of Eichmond , in the

State of Virginia , the birthplace of Washington , " and with mutual VOAVS bound their souls in an everlasting covenant ! Let them remember these things , and with hearts on fire with love for each other , and for their

countrymen , go forth among those countrymen and implore the arbitrament of peace , instead of that of the sword . "I ask no one to surrender a principle that has become dear to his heart ; but I ask every one to labour and to pray that such counsels may take place between the contending parties , who have for so many years acted Avith

a common impulse , as to restore harmony and kind feeling , aud avoid tho curse of having fraternal blood crying to Heaven from the ground , and bringing down its maledictions on our children ' s children through all future time ! Labour and pray that hostilities may be suspended until the mild counsels of peace can be appealed to , and that the appeal may not be in vain .

"Casting aside every political feeling , every political aspiration , and asking every Templar to do the same , let us , as one man , unite in one grand effort to prevent the shedding of fraternal blood , and to inaugurate here that blessed result ivhieh otlr Lord and Master initiated , ' Peace on earth , and good will to men . ' " Templars ! you countin this landby tens of

thou-, , sands . Each one has bis influence in tbe circle about bim . _ Never , no never was there an opportunity to exert that influence in a more holy cause , or to a more sublime purpose . Forward , then , to tho rescue of your country from fratricidal war . '

" But if _ war must come—which dread calamity may God , in His infinite mercy , avert—then I call on every Knight Templar to perform that sacred duty , which so well becomes our Order , of binding up the wounds of the afflicted and comforting those who mourn . " Dated at tho City of Washington , on this ei ghteenth day of April , in the year of our Lord , 1861 , and in the year of our Order , 733 . " B . B . FRENCH , " Grand Master . "

Clashing of Interests . In the conflicts of public and business life , we often , find ourselves apparently opposed to those Avhose interest Ave are bound by the most solemn obligations to protect and serve . In such cases , but one rule should influence our actions . We should never attempt to receive benefits

for ourselves at the expense , directly or indirectly , of injury to our brother . Practical applications of this beneficent Masonic precept oftentimes furnish severe trials to our virtue and ' rectitude as men and Masons , and bring into operation all the great cardinal doctrines of our Order . The companion whose heart and mind has been :

thoroughly imbued with the principles and precepts of Masonry , on all such occasions ivill promptly call them ; to his aid , and with these on his side , virtue and truth , have an easy victory over falsehood and vice . Thus guided , he is ever ready to hold his hands from the just rights of his brother , and never prone to grasp after

what may not justly be bis OAVH , He is ever ready to diffuse knowledge , " light , and information , to those Avhose benighted condition may need the same . He extends to an erring brother that charity taught him by Masonic precepts , and endeared to him by Masonic examples ; and he seeks tho safest and readiest means of personal happiness and aggrandisement , by practising with the fullest

faith the divine assurance , that it is he who humbletb himself that shall be exalted . Masonry thus planted in the heart , governing tbe affections and guiding the life of its possessor , forms the most beautiful spectacle of the influence of charity , benevolence , and wisdom , applied to human conduct . The standard is lofty and pure , set up for our guidance , as

we are taught , by the Avisest of men . Let us endeavour to attain it , that we may leave a pure aud unsullied reputation , which shall live long in the hearts of those who shall folloAv after ive shall have been removed from thescene of our earthly labour . Money looked upon as Dangerous .

The income of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for six months , ending with the 1 st July of the present year ; ivas 23 , 189 dollars . A Grand Lodge with such an income can scarcely be called Masonically prosperous . The management of so large a fund is apt to divert it from the management of Masonry . It is a dangerous experiment for a Masonic body to become a financial one .

A Chunk of Rock well Trimmed . Our well-knoAvn gravity ivas once put most grievously to tbe test at Avitnessing the slivering process performed ' on a man " AVIIO wanted to become a Mason . " Tbe individual had occupied high office iu one of the modern societies ; had worn scarlet and gold ; bad swelled and panted in the rearivard of a grand processionand , as a

, natural consequence , bad imbibed the impression that haivas emphaticalty S . P . or a P . B . Having thus , Daniel Lambert-like , filled all the chairs , and got as near to heaven by that route as possible , he suddenly conceived the desire of becoming a Mason-He petitioned , was elected , initiated , passed , and raised , and speedily entered himself an aspirant for office . This

was in 1849 . Every December 27 th since he has been in nomination , and the result is , that in December lasthe attained the honourable post of—ivhat do you think ? —Assistant Secretary of his lodge . This was a chunk of rock well trimmed . Every Entered Apprentice in the lodge bad taken a peck at him ; the Fellow-Crafts had chiselled bim ; and by the time the Master Masons gob

their eyes on him , and pondered ivhat part of the walls he was fit for , there was scarcely a crevice so small that he could fill it up . Masonic Statistics . The Grand Lodge of Illinois records having made by