Music And The Masonic Ritual.

connection with remote faiths and systems , now be led forward by the sure light of the volume of the sacred law . Want of space must jjlead our excuse for deferring this part of our subject to another number .

The Twin Beech Trees.*

THE TWIN BEECH TREES . *

BY THE M . W . BRO . BOB M 011 BIS , ORAM ) MASTEB OP KEXTUCKr . Ix one of the popular books of floral illustrations , the beech tree ( J ' agus sylvatieits ) stands as the emblem of wedded love , and a tale is introduced to show the propriety of the selection . It tells of a wife who had been married twenty years , who wrote a message to her husband , warm from an affectionate heart , ancl inscribed it upon a large beech tree that stood bhis favourite

y walk . The denouement is affecting . The smooth bark of the beech renders it a very tempting tablet to all that class of beings who yearn to jierpetuate their names , if they cannot any thing else , by engraving them on natural bridges , pyramids , starved rocks , albums , ancl everywhere else . Sober travellers are struck with evidences of this propensity in passing along public roads that lead through clumps of beeches . Frequently you may see

every trunk covered for six feet up with initials , iiil ' l names , and figures . In the grove where I sit writing this article I have amused myself by counting how often a certain person , "D . C . Perry" by name , has inscribed it ; and it is a fact almost incredible , yet true , that I find it upon seventy-four trees . The task must have occupied his leisure hours for months ; but his purpose is effected ; for although the oldest inhabitant cannot tell who "D . C . Perry" was , every tree has a voice to speak his name for centuries to come . Such is human fame .

It is a singular fact that I have never discovered any evidences of this propensity among all the Indian tribes who lately inhabited this country . There is not a mark upon any of the ancient beeches but what may be traced to the hand of a white man . These Indians , degenerate descendants or subduers of a people that built the mounds , and rim the walls , and dug the trenches of circnmvallation , have died and made no sign . This is the more remarkable , as the warriors after

repose , clay day , perfectly idle and listless , while their squaws perform all the labour except that of hunting and fighting . Now the uninstructed reader may possibly suggest that the marks made by these dwellers of the forest are overgrown by the bark , and might still be found under it , but such cannot be . Marks made upon the bark always remain outside of a tree . All surveyors have abundant occasions to know this , and when practicable

, they never permit their markers to go through the bark . In cases where it is removed it will afterwards grow through the scar , if not too large , and conceal it ; but even then it is , / Stsy to discover the place , anil now if the new growth of bark be removed the surveyor's marks will be found duplicated in relieco upon the portion removed , ancl in sunken letters upon the tree . Another interesting fact hereif mark he made tree at certain

; a upon a a height from the ground , it will continue exactly at that height so long as the tree lives , Upon a tree before me are the marks of six boys made twenty-three years ago , and they stand at the height indicated by- the accompanying figures . Alas ! the six

blooming youths , who jostled and -jested with one another while it u-as done , are all scattered and slain until but one survives—the eldest—a consumptive , hopeless man . compiling his last hours away in misery ! ' Much ingenuity is often displayed in these bccch-trce hieroglyphics . Here we are startled by an immense serpent , carved as it winding up the trunk , and so naturally clone that you cut clubin the true

a , spirit of Eve's descendants , to kill it . The large spider styled the tarantula is here copied with accuracy by hunters too illiterate to si gn their own names . Let us take a stroll through this beech grove and make notes . Here , upon this monster with a double trunk , is a full set of Masonic emblems , tiie compass and square , the gauge and gavel , the plumb and level even to the full hernalia of mysticismNot to lie outdone

parap . by this , some fervid mind that has been aroused into action hy riding the goat in tyled recesses , htvs drawn here tbe insignia of Odd Fellowship and arks , bows and arron-s , crooks , & c ., form a strange contrast with the solitude of the place . Schoolboys have been here , for here is a monstrous figure having m one hand an ominous resemblance to a cane , and iifthe otner a book while from its hideous month scroll with

, emen > -es a this pedagogical motto , "Talk hare boys . " Under it is a name that helps to solve the mystery , ' ¦ ' Mister hlake . " It is clear that tlieyoutli tnl artist laboured to perpetuate some of the peculiarities ol the said biakc , for he lias most comically bandied his legs , anil * ( Written lor the Frcimmu' Ma'la - . iiic . )

stuck a pipe stem in his pocket . Doubtless " Mister hlake " will be remembered long after the little fellows who smarted under his castigations shall have grown to manhood and forgotten the whole injury , or only remembered it to wonder that the blows ol his teacher fell so sparsely on his uuwortlu ' ness . Schoolgirls have been here : these buds and flowers , this well drawn bouquet , these little fragile hearts , pierced yet united by that delicate shaft ,

of love , and this motto , pensez a moi—no dull masculine hand had wit or patience to execute these . All the ovals on the tombs of the Pharaohs excite no tender or sentimental thought like that group embroidered by dots from the scissors points of some failhand . The remainder of the group bears the usual variety of initials in every possible combination , and whatever emblematic devices the mind has conceived .

All objects that pervade air , or earth , or water , have their types here ; also , inkstands , watches , books , hats , shoes , guns , bows , mathematical problems , numerals , quills , spectacles , saddlebags , chairs , pitchers , maps , and all things else . And now as we turn homeward—at the very verge of this cluster by the brook , now so full , but usually a mere ravine—let us notice this pair of beeches only a yard apart , so nearly of a size as doubtless to have grown

from the same year ' s nuts , and joined together at the top by that fruitful grapevine . These twin beeches have a history sufficiently pathetic to make melancholy a summer hour and bedew a fair cheek in tears . Will you hear it" ? No rude hieroglyphic is here ; no initials have scarred its white surface , but close by the ground , so closely as to be almost bidden by the clean , green moss , there is a broken sentence , at first view

epiite inexplicable . It is thus inscribed : — " "Weary waiting- ' - — .. sad belating ; These linas mating , unabating . " Do not let us turn away as if in contempt at the jargon , for upon the twin tree opposite we shall find the corresponding words , although the storms of fen seasons have laboured to obliterate it . They read thus : —

" do not tarry , Hither , hither , — 1 will marry : Thine in fondness " Only ten years have passed since a pair of lovers sat between these twin beeches ( ace to face , and plighted their vows . Their acquaintance ivas no affair of yesterday ; for Oliver Saunders ancl

Ellen Littleton had been reared from early childhood by the same kind hands , and it was in the unrestrained intercourse of childhood that they had learned to consider each as destined for the other , lloth were orphans , both dependent upon charity , both shj - and unsocial to all the world , save one another . Thus they grew up together until Oliver arrived at years of manhood , and determined to take his place among the sons of men . What his plans were

he disclosed to no one , not even to the affectionate friend who had reared him , or the confiding g irl whose " smiles had cheered his daily labours ancl studies for so many years . " In reply to their anxious looks , however , he said that his mind was fixed upon trying his fortune in a distant part of the Union ; ancl then the two , who of all the world alone felt any interest in his movements , expressed their acquiescence ivith his views , and lent their best aid to facilitate his departure . No formal declaration of love

had ever passed between the orphans , but fond eyes had longago told the tale , and it needed no other language . But now that every preparation ivas made for Ins departure , upon the very last day of his stay , as the sun was sinking below the tree tops , the youthful pair sat between the beeches , which are now shedding their tenth suit of leaves since that hour . The thrilling words as yet unspoken—those words that linger on the ear long after all

other music of life is forgotten—were now uttered and answered in love ' s own response . The Omniscient above heard the vow whicli bound them together and for ever in holy troth , ancl the registry was made in heaven . Then said Oliver— "I go , ° dearest , to win ' of this world ' s goods a competency for our support , and for the declining-years of a beloved aunt . If Gocl spare my life I" will return upon this

day twelvemonth . Here at this hour let us again meet as ' now . Should fortune crown my efforts , I will then claim you in marriage ; if not , I will depart for further trial ; but punctually upon each anniversary I will return , no other person recognizing me , and join you at this trysting place . "thavc read in the Greek poets , that when friends parted in ancient clays , expecting to meet again , they consecrated a tessera sacred to memory , divided it into two parts , and each carefully concealed a fragment , weaving it next to the heart .