MASONIC BLANKS.-We have a large number of Masonic blanks of all descriptions and can supply Lodges.

LODGES IN OHIO.-There are in the State of Ohio about two hundred and seventy-five Lodges, with twelve thousand five hundred members.

AN IMPOSTER.-Beware of one Finney Faulkner. He has pretended to hail from Eureka Lodge, No. 28, Missouri; is about five feet ten inches high, and has black hair.

We are constantly receiving information which causes us to believe Our new that the Craft in Michigan is in a highly prosperous condition. Grand Master, M. W. Levi Cook, is actively engaged in the discharge of his duties, the performance of which will redound greatly to the benefit of the Fraternity.

AMERICAN MASONIC AGENCY.-We desire to call attention to the advertisement of Bro. Wm. H. Milnor, M. D., proprietor of the American Masonic Agency, New York. Bro. Milnor is Past Grand Master of New York, and by his ability and perseverance will no doubt obtain from the Craft a large patronWe trust His character is too well known to need endorsement from us. age. his labors may be appropriately rewarded.

"The first object which deserves attention, is the Masonic floor on which we tread; it is intended to convey to our minds the vicissitudes of human affairs, chequered with a strange contrariety of events. To-day, elated with the smiles of prosperity, to-morrow, depressed by the frowns of misfortune. The precariousness of our situation in this world should teach us humility, to walk uprightly and firmly upon the broad basis of virtue and religion, and to give assistance to our unfortunate fellow-creatures who are in distress; lest on some capricious turn of fortune's wheel, we may become dependants on those who, before, looked up to us as their benefactors."

HONESTY.-The following anecdote of an Indian teaches a good lesson to some people more enlightened:

An Indian, being among his white neighbors, asked for a little tobacco to smoke; and one of them, having some loose in his pocket, gave him a handful. The day following, the Indian came back, inquiring for the donor, saying he had found a quarter of a dollar among the tobacco. Being told that, as it was given to him, he might as well keep it, he answered, pointing to his breast, "I got a good man and a bad man here, and the good man say, 'It is not mine-I must return it to the owner.' The bad man say, Why he The good man say, 'That's not right; he gave it you, and it is your own now.' the tobacco is yours, not the money.' The bad man say, 'Never mind, you got it; go buy some dram.' The good man say, 'No, no, you must not do so.' So I don't know what to do, and think to go to sleep; but the good and the bad man keep talking all night, and trouble me; and now I bring the money back, I feel good."

There are two Encampments in the State of Iowa. One has recently been organized in Iowa City.

"Honors and great employments are great burthens, and must require an Atlas to support them. He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself."

"True courtesy, genuine politeness, is the offspring of good nature and a kind heart. It is as far removed from the artificial stateliness of fops and coxcombs, as the sun is from swagger and bluster; as far removed from arrogance and overbearing authority, as is the centre of the globe from its circumference, A true gentlemen is a true man, no matter who his father was."

"Men," says CHARLES LAMB, in one of his miscellaneous contributions to the periodicals, not included in his published works; "men marry for fortune, and sometimes to please their fancy; but, much oftener than is suspected, they consider what the world will say of it; how such a woman, in their friend's eyes, will look at the head of a table. Hence, we see so many insipid beauties made wives of, that could not have struck the particular fancy of any man that had any fancy at all. These I call furniture wives; as men buy furniture, pictures, because they suit this or that niche in their dining parlors."

"To the Disciples of Freemasonry," says an eminent and distinguished Brother, "our fellow-countrymen are indebted for most of those splendid and majestic structures which, even at the present day, point their aspiring domes toward the heaven of heavens, and beneath which man breathes his prayers of peace and gladness; and to their predecessors in the Craft, mankind are indebted for those stupendous monuments of human skill-the pyramids of Egypt, which, though many thousand years have passed away, still exist-the temples of Memphis, Heliapolis and Thebes, whose colossal ruins are to this day the wonder and admiration of the traveller-Persepolis with its splendid palatial edifices of cedar-Babylon, and her hanging gardens-Nineveh with her mighty walls-Balbec and Palmyra still majestic even in their ruins-the labyrinths of Egypt, Crete and Lemnos, and the marble glories of Greece"Whose beauties a bright shadow cast,

And shed a halo round the mighty past."

The following sentiment is beautifully expressed by Irving:

"I have often had occason to remark the fortitude with which women sustain the most overwhelming reverses of fortune. Those disasters which break down the spirit of a man, and postrate him to the dust, seem to call forth all the energies of the softer sex, and give such intrepidity and elevation to their character, that at times it approaches to sublimity. Nothing can be more touching than to behold a soft and tender female, who has been all weakness and dependence, and alive to every ternial roughness, while treading the prosperous path of life, suddenly rising in mental force to be the comforter and supporter of her husband under misfortune, and abiding, with unshrinking firmness, the bitterest blasts of adversity."

The varying scenes of the present age admonish us to reflect seriously on our duties, as Masons. The people of the nineteenth century are restless-they seek change. Especially is our own country subject to this active spirit. Every day, our people show less respect for what is hallowed by time, and rendered venerable by age. "Young America," as the cant phrase is, seeks to pull down the old and build up anew-seeks to leave the paths trodden by his fathers, and find other ways easier and more pleasant. He peoples Territories in a day-grumbles because he cannot travel more than thirty miles an hour-corresponds by lightning and piles invention on invention with a rapidity which confounds the general government and astonishes the world. While Americans cannot view without surprise the speedy advancement of their country in the march of civilization, and its unexampled prosperity, 36-VOL. II. NO. IX.

the rest of mankind look on with wonder, having but a faint idea of our national progress.

Amid the excitement which is everywhere around us, how is Freemasonry to fare? Upon her, the hand of innovation has been laid, and not lightly. Is she to suffer thereby, or will she stand the attack, as she has stood all previous assaults, firm and undaunted, and come out of the trial unharmed? We have too much faith in her inherent virtue and vitality to believe that she could be uprooted or crushed by enemies, internal or external, or by the action of misguided or ignorant friends. Live she must, and live she will; but her power for good must always depend, in a great measure, upon the conduct of those who have solemnly pledged themselves to sustain her principles and her honor. If they are true to their faith voluntarily professed, and their obligations voluntarily assumed, at all times will the glad shout go up throughout the length of the republic, "All is well!" causing the lovers of our ancient Institution, wherever dispersed, to rejoice in a prosperity which is beneficial to the whole human race. Is it not fitting, then, that we should ponder carefully and constantly over our responsibilities and duties, as members of the Order, lest our feet go astray, our judgments err, and our conduct belie our professions? It is impossible to thoroughly consider this matter in the brief space of a few pages, but we may with profit refer to some of the prominent qualifications which every good Mason possesses.

Each member of our Society has an individuality which tends to affect the reputation of the Order for good or for evil. Each one has a responsibility resting on him which he cannot throw off. He should be the guardian of the character of Masonry, and a defender of her fair fame. He should fight her battles more by his acts than his words. The worst men, gifted with intellect and qualified by study, training and literary accomplishments, can write learned disquisitions, and deliver eloquent addresses in vindication of the virtues and exalted worth of Masonry, but all such efforts grow insignificant in comparison with the pure and well spent life of one good man, be he ever so humble, whose heart responds to the calls of the distressed, whose hand dispenses liberally, yet unostentatiously, the earthly means which he possesses, for the benefit of the indigent and needy. The Brother, therefore, who desires to devote his best energies in aid of our Institution, and promote its prosperity, should strive above all things to make

THE ASHLAR.

his "every-day" life conform to the teachings of the Lodge. "A Mason," say the Ancient Charges, "is obliged by his tenure, to obey the moral law, and if he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist, nor an irreligious libertine." The first charge which a Brother receives impresses on his mind the following important truths: "There are three great duties which as a Mason, you are charged to inculcate to God, your neighbor and yourself. To God, in never mentioning his name but with that reverential awe which is due from a creature to his Creator; to implore His aid in all your laudable undertakings, and to esteem Him as your chief good;-to your neighbor, in acting upon the square, and doing unto him as you wish he should do unto you;— aud to yourself, in avoiding all irregularity and intemperance, which may impair your faculties, or debase the dignity of your profession." These injunctions contain the whole moral code of Masonry, and he who is faithful to them, cannot fail to display all admonish us space the virtues known to mankind. But time and that we must confine our attention to a more limited field.

The principles of Masonry have long been known by the world. They are freely published, in the present age, in Masonic books and periodicals. The means by which those principles are carried into practical effect, by which they are rendered efficacious for good, are known only to the initiated. These means are all important and highly valuable, on account of the good which they produce; through them and by them, does Masonry derive all its worth. To prevent the profane discovering the method of applying and carrying out our principles should be the first and constant care of every Brother. In other words, one of his chief virtues should be secresy. He is taught this truth in the strongest terms on his initiation when he is told that "Prudence should be the peculiar characteistic of every Mason, not only for the government of his conduct while in the Lodge, but also when abroad in the world. It should be particularly attended in all strange or mixed companies, never to let fall the least sign, token or word, whereby the secrets of Masonry might be unlawfully obtained."*

* Many outside the Order suppose that some terrible punishment of a barbarous nature is inflicted by Masons upon those who are false to the trusts reposed in them. This impression has been strengthened and confirmed by the conjectures respecting Morgan, on account of his pretended revelations, and by the absurd statements of anti-Masonic writers. One of this class gives the following as a quotation from a French author: "A candidate for reception into one of the highest Orders, after having heard many threatenings