Masonic Gleanings.

whole life illustrated and displayed our other principles with constancy and power , so did it also this—Masonic reverence for the Divine revelation , and maintenance of the precepts and obligations of religion . From the commencement of his military careera youth of twenty-one years

, old , he constantly maintained the services of eligious worship in his camp . He remonstrated against the neglect' of Virginia in providing chaplains for his army , and insisted with success upon their appointment . Among the first orders of that early compaign was his solemn prohibition

of all profanity in the army . The same order he frequently repeated in the subsequent campaigns of the revolution . His habitual regard for the Sabbath and the public worship of God , and his own private personal worship , were amongst the most prominent facts of his character . When the

burgesses of Virginia appointed a day for fasting and jorayer , in May , ' 74 , to implore the Divine interposition in their heavy calamity , Washington records in his diary—little imagining that , fourscore years after , this diary would remain a striking evidence of his religious spirit—that he

went to church , and fasted all day . ' " The same member of his family from whom I have already quoted says of him : —

"' He never omitted attending church m the morning , unless detained by indisposition . The afternoon was spent in his own room at home , but visiting and visitors were prohibited for that day . No one in church attended to the services with more reverential aspect . '

" How valuable the example to all rulers of the nation who have come after him ! Ordering attention to the services of the appropriate chaplains , he says to his army : — " ' The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary , but especially so in times of public distress and danger . The General hopes aud trusts that every officer and man will endeavour to live and act as becomes a Christian

soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country . ' " Again : — ' That the troops may have an opportunity of attending public worship , the General in future excuses them from fatigue duty on Sundays . The General is sorry to be informed

that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing—a vice heretofore little known in an American army—is growing into fashion . He hopes that the officers will , by example as well as influence , endeavour to check it , and that both they and the men will reflect

that we can have little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our . arms if we insult it by our impiety and folly . '—pp . 27 , 28 . " Dr . Tyng says he could multiply these examples , and quotes from one of his letters : —• "' The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this , that he must be more than an infidel that lacks faith , and more than wicked that

Masonic Gleanings.

has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obliigations . ' " Further on Dr . Tyng adds : — "' Well does Mr . Sparks say of him , "If a man who spoke , wrote , and acted as a Christian through a long life , who gave numerous proofs

of his believing himself to be such , and who was never known to say , write , or do anything contrary to his profession—if such a man is not to be ranked among the believers in Christianity , it would be impossible to establish the point by any train of reasoning . He was educated in the

Episcopal Church , to which he always adhered ; and my conviction is that he believed in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity according to his understanding of them , but without a particle of intolerance or disrespect for the faith and modes of worship adopted by Christians of

other denominations . Earely was there ever a more perfect illustration of the great Masonic principle upon this subject , a principle which may well be summed up in the two great commandments of the Divine Author of Christianity : ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and mind , and strength , and thy neighbour as thyself . '

"I have transcribed the above literally and without a single alteration , and am led to hope the majority of readers of ' Notes and Queries ' will agree with me that , because a great and good man did not glibly rattle off such a profession of faith as would satisfy the sensational readers of

deathbed scenes—such as used to appear in the so-called 'Evangelical Magazine '—he , who passed through a long life as a Christian gentleman and a soldier , ought not to be stigmatised as an infidel ; for , finite creatures as we are , it is rather too much to expect that the only test of a Christian life is to

depend , not on the favour , mercy , and love of a most gracious Saviour , but on the utterances of a man in his last moments . " ( To be continued ) .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

TOLERATION IN FEEEHASONBY . In answer to the letter from Potsdam , I say that in true Freemasonry there can be no toleration of opinions inconsistent in any material degree with its great and essential doctrines concerning God , man's duty , and a future state . —CHAELES PCBTO-N COOPEB .

" DEIVIKG OF PILES" AND " SHOCKS . " The now obsolete ceremony of pile driving was introduced into Ayrshire by Irish Masons early in the present century , but , being looked upon with diafavour , was only adopted by lodges in which Hibernian influence predominated . There seems to have been a

want of uniformity in this as in other so-called customs of the Craft , for while , according to the mode noticed by Bro . J . F . Spurr , driving of piles was don 8 standing ( aud that previous to calling off from labour