Masonic Notes And Queries.

held at Palermo , with Garibaldi as president , will not take place , unless an understanding , which appears little probable , should meanwhile be realised . —HIGH GrBADE UNION . WEAPON'S OP WAR . —INSTANCE OE ONE BEINC 4- WORN IN ion ere .

A brother inquires respecting a statement made by me . It furnishes , he says , on instance of a Aveapon of war being worn in lodge . The statement to Avhich he alludes consisted of some notes which , at the request of a ride volunteer , abrother , Ave sometime ago communicated to the EREEMASONS' MAGAZINE . See

vol . vii ., p . 211 , 13 th September , 1862 . The rifle volunteer had , as I have since learnt , on some occasion refused compliance with the desire expressed that he should lay aside his arms before entering his lodge . My statement was probably regarded by him as affording some justification . Prince Askher Khan

seems to have Avorn the scimitar , when he presented it to the lodge ( St . Alexander of Scotland , Orient of Paris ) . E . emark is purposely forborne , lest more should be put into writing than accords with Masonic prudence . My correspondent is mistaken in supposing the matter to be one upon which I was called to give an opinion whilst Grand Master for Kent . — CHARLES PURTON COOPER .

THE COMPASS . There has been much said and written iu regard to the Avords compass and compasses , by Ereemasons and Masonic writers ; some affirming that it is comp asses , others that compass is the proper word to be used in the Masonic vocabulary . " Compass —( or a pair of compassesso named from its legs ; but pair is

, superfluous , or improper , and the singular number , compass , is the preferable name)—An instrument for describing circles , measuring figures , & c . "—Webster " The carpenter stretches out his rule , he fitteth it with plans , and he marketh it out Avith a compass , and maketh it after the figure of a mau ; that it may remain in the house . "—Isaiah cxliv ., 13 .

" Time is come round , And where I did begin , there shall I end ; My life has run its compass . "—Shahspeare . " They fetched a compass of seven days' journey . — 2 Kings iii ., 2 Samuel v ., A . cts xxviii . ¥ e are to compass our desires and aspirations within the precepts of the Great Lig ht which has descended from God to man , for the rule and guide of all his transactions in life , and therebyfitted for that building made without hands , and eternal in the heavens . —Jos . COVELL .

A MASONIC OATH lEGAL . Many good men are deterred from entering Ereemasonry because they are told an oath is required and the Scriptures say " swear not at all" —they look upon it as illegal . Is it so ?—E . C . B . —[ It is legal ; both scripturally and by the laAV of [ the land . As an honourable and gratifying testimon } ' to the pure

principles of the Order , it may be mentioned , that when the Act for the suppression of seditious and treasonable societies was passed , in 1797 , containing a clause in which it was declared illegal for any body of men to require from their members an oath , or test , not authorised by law , an express exemption was introduced in favour of the lodges of Ereemasons . ]

FREEMASONRY ANB THE INSPIRATION OE THE SCRIPTURES . At a time Avhen the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is being regularly assailed , on . all sides , the following reasons why Ave , as Ereemasons , should strenuousl y up hold them are offered to the Craft : —

1 . Because , without Scripture , Masonic traditions have no basis ; Masonic morals no sanction . 2 . Our profession of trust in God is scriptural . 3 . Our means of recognition are scriptural . 4 . Our prayers are scrip tural . 5 . Our chief lig ht is the Scriptures . 6 . The centre of our gatherings and of our circuits

is the Scrip tures . 7 . The most honoured object in our public displays is the Scriptures . S . Our Master is bound to make the Scriptures the chief source of his instruction . Other reasons may be given , but surely these are enough from—A BIBLE-STUDENT .

TO THOSE AVHOM IT MAT CONCERN . A traveller says : — " I was in Nashville during two or three sessions of the Grand Lodge recently . "While there some member brought a sweeping resolution to kill off all side degrees . He declared that printed documents or rituals were floating over our country , to the detriment of Masonry ; and , to put a

stop to it , he wanted ib declared un-Masonic to receive or confer a side degree . But his proposal was tabled almost by declaration . Would not such action by a Grand Lodge be without a parallel on record ? Can anything be un-Masonic that it is not immoral ? Is not anything that elevates the moral coudition of the human family praiseworthy , and , as such , becoming a man and a Mason ?"—Ex . Ex .

HIRAM S TOMB . A book called Sinai and Palestine mentions the tomb in these words : —The p lains of Phenicia are streAvn with distinct fragments of antiquity . One of these is called the tomb of Hiram , an engraving of Avhichis the frontispiece of Allen's Avork , The Bed Sea . The tomb ' mtauds inland , among wild rocky hills ,

about three miles from Tyre . It is a single gray sarcophagus , hollowed out so as just to admit a body . A large obloug stofie is placed over it so as completely to cover it , the only entrance being au aperture knocked through at its eastern extremity . The Avhole rests on a rude pedestal of upright hewn stones . The Arabs say it is the tomb of King Hiram , buried at the eastern gate of Old Tyre , which at his time reached down the hill towards the sea .

BEHC OP BURNS IN CONNECTICUT . Having met Avith the under-mentioned amongst my old scraps , I would respectfully ask if Bro . D . Murray Lyon would give us his opinion on its genuineness ? " HereAvith I forward for the acceptance of the Connecticut Masonic Historical Society a section of the hawthorn underneath Avhich Burns was in the habit of meeting his Highland Mary , aud where

' The golden hours , on angel wings , View o ' er him and his dearie . ' It Avas presented to me in 1855 , by Bro . Davidson Richie , who , at that time , occupied the ' Auld Clay Biggin' where the immortal bard first drew breath . One part of the tree had died , and the proprietor , after removing it , presented it to Bro . Eiehie . It was on my second visit to Scotland that he gave me this relic in return for a beautiful copy of Whittier ' s poem to Burns , and another of Halleck's , on the