Freemasonry In The United States.

sissippi , Tennessee , Florida , Arkansas , and Missouri . " This is as it should be , and it is gratifying to learn , that the same fraternal relief is extended by southern Masons and lodges , to our brothers ,

whom the chances of Avar have thi-OAvn into the hands of the Confederate forces . Never perhaps has an occasion existed , in which the unselfish character of our Fraternit y has had a more ample field for its cultivation and display than ab the

present time . War , one of God's great messengers of wrath—civil war , the most fearful form of that terrible scourge , desolates our once happy country , and yet no sound of political rancour has polluted our Halls , or marred the peacefulness of

our deliberations , nor has it so far as I knoAV in any individual instance , throughout our jurisdiction , caused any Mason to ignore his duty to a brother in distress , no matter under whom and under whatsoever circumstances he mi ght be placed . " ( To he Continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

LA BIBLE DES JTRANOHACONS . * " La Bible des Franemaeons , " a manuscript , respecting which a brother ivho writes from a college at Oxford , inquires , was lost on the removal of my collections to Lincoln ' s Inn library , not long after the completion of the New Building . It Avas a thin quarto bookthe handwriting

, very large and fair . It contained an epitome of Princi ples Theological and Ethical . According to a memorandum in the fly-leaf , the Theological Principles Avere derived from Rousseau ' s "Profession de Foi d ' un Vicaire Savoyard , " aud the Ethical Princi ples from Volney ' s "Loi Naturelle" first published in 1793

, , under the title of " Catechisme d ' un Oitoyen Francois . " The manuscript Avas bought by me in 1824 of a " bouquiniste" at Paris . An E pitome of the sort suggested by my brother is , in my judgment , not possible , regard being had to the condition of Ereemasonry , not indeed in the British Isles , but in some

other parts of the world . —CHAEIES PUETON COOPEB . TIIE CIIEISTIAN AND I'm * EEEEMASON . In ansAver to" some remarks which have been forwarded to me upon certain communications to the FEEEAIASONS MAGAZINE , I say , that Christianity is necessary for the perfection of the Freemason ; and

although Ereemasonry is not necessary for the perfection of the Christian , yet it greatly increases his power of improving the religious and moral condition of his fellow-creatures . Man , civilised , half-civilised , or wholly unch'ilised , is so perverse that he , not unseldom , hearkens to the Freemason Avho reads from the Book of Nature , but h deaf to the Christian who reads from the Bible : and yet Ave know that both records are divine : both proclaim the existence of

Masonic Notes And Queries.

the One Supreme Being , Great Architect of the Universe , the personal . , the living God . —CIIAELES Vvnios COOPEE . EQUAIITT — HOW UNDEESTOOD 351 X 1 IE ENGLISH rnEEMASON . ' A correspondent asks how Equality is understood

by the English Freemason . The ensuing passage selected from many to the like effect in the Works o' ' John Adams , Washington's friend and successor , furnishes an appropriate ansAver to the question . " That all men are born to equal rights is true . Every being lias a right to his OAVU as clear , as moral , as sacred ,

as any other being has . This is as indubitable as a moral government in the universe . But to teach that all men are bom with equal powers ancl faculties , to equal influence in society , to equal advantages ancl property through lifeis as a fraudas glaring an imposition on

, gross , the credulity of the people , as ever was practised by monks , hy Druids , by Brahmans , hy priests of the immortal Lama , or by ' the self-styled philosophers of the Erench Revolution . "—OnAM . ES PITETON COOPEE .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed hy Correspondents . PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SHIPWRECK , alias MASONIO LIFEBOATS . TO THE JEBIIOIt OE TJIE EBEEMASOXs' MAGAZINE AN'D MASOXIC MIBBOB . DEAE SIE AND BEOXIIEE , —I beg to refer your

correspondent "The Three Legs of Man , " in your impression of last Saturday , to No . 337 , page 486 , December 16 th , 1865 , where I suggested what he now proposes , and further offered my semces as honorary secretary to carry out so desirable an object , at the same time entrusting you Avith my

name and address . Only one reply was vouchsafed ( which you Avere kind enough to forward to me ) , and that was a suggestion that I should put myself in communication Avith the Secretary of the National Lifeboat Institution . My desire Avas to collect the money , and send it to that gentleman Avithout his

interference , deceiving myself that the object ivas so truly Masonic that I should be inundated Avith small contributions . How different the result ! . When the G . V . Brooke Lifeboat was mooted in your MAGAZINE , soon after the loss of the London , the credit of the suggestion Avas awarded to another

brother , although my suggestion Avas in your paper Aveeks before . . I am , dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , A . B . October 22 nd , 1 SG 6 .

Lost Votes.

LOST VOTES .

TO TTIJE JF . DITOB OP THE EREEMJASOXS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRP . OB . DEAE SIE AND BEOTHEE , —What an absurd idea it is for men when they find themselves addressed in plain English , and plain truth , to attempt their vindication by sarcasm ! it certainly SIIOAVS a very Aveak point on their part and the truth of that Shakesperian quotation that "thrice armed is he that hath his

quarrel just ; " requiring no such coarse language as " Bully-ragged" to support it . the precise meaning of Avhich , not being in possession of a slang dictionary , I am unable to arrive at . Your correspondent threw