judice against Masonry, and from a violent opposer, she is one of the most zealous advocates of our beloved. Institution.

Since our return to our native State, if she hears a word spoken against Masonry, or its members, she is sure to make use of the member which God has given the female sex, to defend the cause that they believe to be right. Even her father has not escaped a volley from her, which he will not soon forget, and will be very cau tious how he broaches the subject of his anti-masonic theories in her presence. It matters not, be it male or female, who in her presence says aught against our Order, they have to listen to such a castigation as Mrs. Partington's lectures are no comparison with.

CORRESPONDENCE.

St. Louis, Mo. January 18, 1862.

MY DEAR BRO. MOORE,- * * You have noticed the death of two of our Past Grand Masters, namely, Bros. GROVER and SHARPE. When I removed from Virginia in 1838 to Madison, Indiana, about the first Masonic work done in that year, (the Lodge having done nothing for a year,) was the initiation of B. W. Grover. I aided in conferring on him the three degrees. In St. Louis in 1843, I aided in con. ferring on him the Chapter degreees; and I was afterwards associated with him in the Grand Lodge of this State. So, you perceive I knew him well and long. He died in this city. I need not say that he was well cared for previous to his death. At his funeral there was a very large attendance of Brothers, and a large escort of military. He lost his life in the defence of Lexington,

Br. Sharpe had raised a company in defence of his country. At the time he was brutally murdered, he was conveying a wounded man in his buggy to his (Sharpe's) home for medical treatment, when five men approached his carriage and shot him and afterwards dragged him out of his buggy and then, when nearly dead, hung him! To have known Sharp was to love him. Thus these two beloved Brothers have been sacrificed on the altar of their country! Would that I could say, all the Masons in this State are as true to their obligations "not to be engaged in plots and conspiracies against the government," and in obeying lawful authority, If Masons can set aside and ignore the simple language of our ritual in their mad efforts to overthrow the best government that ever existed, then I have learned Masonry in vain, and do not understand its teachings. After having assiduously labor. ed in it for over a quarter of a century—having frequently repeated to the neophite that his duty is "to be true to his government," it is now no argument to me that certain men, who may have stood, what has been considered high in the Order, are now engaged in this unholy warfare. More shame for them. Lucifer is said to have been one of the highest of the angels. Ambition has caused many would-be gods to fall! To my mind, such sophistry, and such mystifying of the plainest teachings of Masonry, if admitted, would upset all its practical lessons, and destroy much of its value. The too great love of office I conceive to be the main cause of the unfortunate condition of our beloved country, and I am afraid will also prove disastrous to our beloved institution.

That you may be long spared to conduct your valuable periodical, is the sincere prayer of

Yours, truly and fraternally,

C.

BRO. C. W. MOORE

Dear Sir-By request I herewith transmit to you a copy of resolutions adopted by Cleveland Lodge, No 311, F. and A. M, upon the departure of Bro. REUBEN CLEVELAND for the seat of war, for publication, to wit:

Whereas, it is imperative upon every Mason to obey the laws of the country in which he lives, and not to be engaged in plots or conspiracies for its destructionand

Whereas, at the present time there exists an organized effort to blot from the record of nations our fair name as a people-and

Whereas, Bro. Reuben Cleveland, first Past Master of this Lodge, which bears his name, has volunteered in the defence of the Constitution and the laws against armed and powerful conspirators, and is now going forth in the discharge of his duties as a soldier, a man and a Mason, therefore

Resolved, That recognizing the overruling hand of the Supreme Architect of the Universe, we commend our Brother to His care.

Resolved, That as the founder of this Lodge, and for a series of years its head and support-as both prominent and eminent in the ranks of the Fraternity-as distinguished alike for his urbanity and generous nature, we deeply regret his departure from our midst.

Resolved, That the marked prosperity of this Lodge is mainly indebted to the indefatigable labors of Brother Cleveland, who has ever been alive to its welfare, thus attaching to himself a host of Brethren who will cherish with unalloyed pleasure the kindest wishes for his success as a soldier, and an ardent desire for his safe return to our fold.

Resolved, That to any of our Order with whom Brother Cleveland may meet, we commend him to their esteem and consideration.

Resolved, That these resolutions be placed upon the records of this Lodge, and a copy thereof, over the signatures of our W. M. and Secretary, be forwarded to Bro. Cleveland. IRA GODDARD, Secretary.

Chicago, 19th Dec., 1861.

Obituary.

WE are deeply pained to be called upon to record the death of the estimable wife of our friend and beloved Brother JOSEPH D. EVANS, Esq., Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York. She died at Bloomfield, N. Jersey, on the 17th of November last, after a most painful and protracted illness, which she bore with the utmost Christian patience and resignation. She was the daughter of the late Rev. Wm. H. Hart, formally Rector of St. John's Church, Richmond, Va., which was the native place of the deceased. And one of the papers of that city notices her death in the following warm and affectionate terms:

"Her dust sleeps in the Cemetery of Greenwood, New York, the immortal soul is with its God. Gentle, pious, guileless-trained in the Christian faith, a communicant in the church militant, she now lives in perpetual communion with the church triumphant. A Christian woman and wife and mother, her duties in all these relations were nobly fulfilled; and though memory must drop its tear, and affection sigh over the ruins of the desolated hearthstone, she still speaks to the living loved ones, in the example and precepts of the past time, and points by these to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away' in that rest,

"Where love has put off in the land of its birth,
The stains it had gathered in this;

And hope, the sweet singer that gladdened on earth,
Lies asleep on the bosom of bliss.""

MASONIC CHIT CHAT.

How many disputes arise out of trifles! And how greatly would they be diminished if every one would deliberately ask himself this question-whether is it better to sacrifice a point which is of no value, or to loose a friend more precious than rubies?

To detect and expose impertinent curiosity is the duty of every honest man, as well as the genuine Mason.

THE MEANS AND MEASURES OF ITS INFLUENCE AND OPERATION.

ALTHOUGH, Some years ago, when a wicked and most malicious persecution was excited against Masonry by certain political intriguers and ignorant fanatics, for their own unworthy ends, we were at some pains to explain the fundamental principles of our ORDER, and the sphere of its operation many recent circumstances have tended to convince us, that there is a necessity for reverting to these topics at the present time, as much for the information of our younger Brethren, as for the purpose of preserving the public mind against a re-entrance of those erroneous ideas, which our enemies are always very ready to circulate. Our ORDER, as we have recently shown, has gained immensely in strength, influence and numbers, within the last few years, and now, by means of its Lodges in the Army, is likely to exercise a most beneficial and ameliorating influence amid the sufferings of the dire Civil War, whose end is, we trust, now rapidly approaching. These facts render it all the more important, that all our Brethren should have a very clear and distinct idea of the exact limits and extent of Masonic duty and power, and that opponents should be deprived of all ground for misrepresenting these, or for attributing to MASONRY designs and deeds, which are quite foreign to its fundamental principles. Though the spirit of malice and persecution, that once assailed us, has been quelled and abashed into silence, it is still by no means uncommon to hear insinuations of ulterior designs, made by the captious and the ill natured, when the prosperity and growth of our Order are alluded to; and, on the other hand, among our younger and more enthusias

tic Brethren, there are often exhibited an ardor and eagerness to "be doing something," shown in such expressions as these-" Why cannot we all combine in some great and effective measure ?""Of what use are our power and wealth and influence, if we cannot do something at such a crisis as this?" Now, we must be forgiven for saying, that these utterances of an impatient ardor, however stimulated by the best and noblest of motives, are quite as baseless and unreasonable as the ill-natured insinuations of adversaries. They both equally start from a wrong idea of the very nature of Masonry: and the fostering of such erroneous notions would tend to encourage the very errors and excesses committed by the Carbonari of Italy in 1819, by which-though most unjustly-much reproach. was for a long time reflected upon our ORDER, simply because the desire of freedom for their Fatherland, and hatred of the Austrian tyranny, induced several of our Italian Brethren to join the ranks of the Carbonari. That Society was in fact purely a political one, organized for the purpose indicated, of freeing Italy from Austrian domination, but the Papal Power, always, since the medieval ages, adverse to Freemasonry, exerted itself in no ordinary degree to cast the odium of the one Body upon another, to whose dearest principles all such political interferences, and indeed all insubordination to the Constituded Authorities, is directly opposed. When, in fact, either friends or foes speak of Masonry as a "Power," they use a misnomer. Masonry is not a "Power," in the ordinary acceptation of the word, but what, for want of a better term, we must call an "Influence." This definition may not be so clear or accurate, as we could desire, but we trust to make our meaning sufficiently intelligible to all candid minds. We have already referred to the Carbonari of Italy, whose organization directly aimed at the overthrowing of one political power, and as a consequence, the substitution of another in its stead. Such an organization involved, as a primal principle, the possession and exercise of Powera power too, whether originating in just and honorable motives or not, in direct hostility to the existing or constituted Power; in other words, a political and revolutionary power. With all due reserve and reverence we would take an illustration-if we may be permitted to compare small things with great-from a higher and holier source. Christianity, whether we regard it in its original purity and simplicity, as given to the world by OUR SAVIOUR and his Apostles, or as it exists now in all Protestant Communities, must be regarded as an "influence" rather than a "power." It did not, and does not, claim to control and coërce men by the application of law and force, by any "bills of pains and penalties," but solely and simply to convince the mind by reason, and to win the heart by the practical proofs of its charity and benevolence. Such was the nature of