that portion of the M. W. G. M.'s address was referred, not to grant any dispensations for the future, without the consent of the three nearest Lodges, and in the city of Charleston, the consent of the four nearest Lodges.'

"A committee on the subject of visiting brethren, reported a system of examination, which was adopted.

"Bro. Mackey was elected Historian,' to prepare the History of Masonry in South Carolina, and which is to be presented to the Grand Lodge at its next Annual Communication. We have no doubt but this will be the best and most interesting History of Masonry yet published. It gives us much pleasure to see that this Grand Lodge has commenced to publish the returns of the members of the Lodges in its jurisdiction. Every Grand Lodge ought to do so. Freemasonry in South Carolina is successfully performing its mission, in elevating the standard of morals of its membership, and consequently exercising a salutary influence without the pale of its organization.

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM A YOUNG MASON.-We have just received the following:

"BRO. WESTON :-Enclosed please find $2 due you for ASHLAR of 1859 and 1860, (for 1 year.) Hope you will excuse the neglect on my part, and let the mantle of charity cover my neglect of duty. I am a novice, just stepped upon the threshold of the edifice, but I highly prize your independent course, and efforts to prevent a diversion of Masonry into the sectarian and bigoted channels, and its prostitution to purposes which, even to my poor vision, appear wide of its divine

mission.

With much respect, yours,

TRESTLEBOARD.-A trestleboard, from the French tresteau, is a board placed on a wooden frame of three legs. Masonically, it means the board on which the master workman lays his designs to direct the Craft in their labors. In speculative Freemasonry, it is symbolical of the books of nature and revelation, in which the Supreme Architect of the Universe has developed his will, for the guidance and direction of his creatures, in the great labor of their lives, the erection of a temple of holiness in the heart.-Lexicon.

EXPELLED.

Lyons, Mich., Feb. 10, 1860.

EDITOR ASHLAR-Dear Sir and Brother:-At a regular communication of Lyons Lodge No. 37, of F. and A. M., held at their hall, on Monday Eve, Feb. 6, A. L. 5860, WILLIAM W. EDMISTER was expelled from all the rights and benefits of Masonry, for unmasonic conduct; and the same ordered published in THE ASHLAR, and Voice of Masonry. Fraternally yours, H. V. STALEY,

[SEAL OF LODGE.]

Sec'y Lyons Lodge No. 37.

OBITUARY.

De Soto, Ill., Feb. 15, 1860.

At a special communication of De Soto Lodge No. 287, A. F. and A. M., the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: Whereas, it has pleased in his infinite wisdom, the All-wise Disposer of human events, to call from his labor on earth, our Brother, THOMAS HUNTER, in the 26th year of his age, therefore

Resolved, That in this hour of trial and sorrow, we bow with humble submission to the will and pleasure of our Grand Master who rules above, hoping that our great loss is our Brother's unspeakable gain.

Resolved, That we will draw the broad mantle of a Mason's charity around the foibles of our deceased Brother, nor will we withdraw from his memory the consideration that his virtues claim at our hands.

Resolved, That we will endeavor so to live and labor on earth, that we shall, through the Redeemer, be enabled to work our entrance into the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides there, we trust, we shall enjoy a reunion with the soul of our deceased Brother, and partake of refreshments with him in the Paradise of our God.

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the afflicted friends of our Brother, in this their sore bereavement and unmitigated sorrow.

Resolved, That we, as members of this Lodge, will wear the usual. badge of mourning for thirty days.

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread on our books, and published in the Masonic Review of Cincinnati, and THE ASHLAR of Chicago, and that four of the printed copies be procured by the Lodge, -one to remain in the Lodge-the other three to be distributed to the friends of the deceased.

Resolved, That this Lodge tender a vote of thanks to Bro. W. S. Post, of Shekina Lodge No. 241, for the able manner in which he conducted the funeral services of Bro. Hunter.

ISAAC SAYRE, Sec.

THE PRESENT NUMBER gives evidence of the editor's absence from home. He was detained longer than he expected, and the preparation of a great portion of the matter was hastily made by another. The next number will be issued punctually on the first of May.

CHANGE OF PROprietorship.—We have to announce that "THE Ashlar” has passed into the hands of Bro. GEO. A. FITCH, a good and reliable Mason, who has had many years' experience in publishing and editing newspapers. With the issue of the May number, the connection of the present proprietors with the work will cease.

DIGEST OF MASONIC DECISIONS.-We have received from Bro. Chase, of Haverhill, Mass., a digest of the decisions of the various Grand Lodges by the leading Masons in the United States. It is an excellent work, and should meet with a liberal patronage.

We regret to learn that Bro. R. C. Rayhouser, of the Indiana Freemason, has lost all the material of his office by a destructive fire, which recently occurred in Fort Wayne. We trust that the Craft will remember Bro. R. in his hour of need, and offer him what relief he may require.

Just as this form is going to press, we have received the Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Michigan for 1860. The document is a decided improvement on former ones, and is arranged with appropriate titles and a table of contents. It bears the marks of that able and intelligent Mason, Comp. J. Eastman Johnson, Grand Secretary.

We have received from Bro. Hyneman, of the Mirror and Keystone, a copy of the "Universal Masonic Record and Directory." Various opinions have been expressed respecting it. We have not had time to examine it.

We have received a communication from Bro. Geo. Hill, too late for attention in this number. Bro. H., who resides in Ionia, Mich., is an old and tried Mason, who has devoted a great deal of time to the history and laws of the Institution. His intelligence and zeal are only eclipsed by the good qualities of his heart. We wish him many years of prosperity and happiness.

In accepting the position of principal Editor of this Masonic Magazine, until the Proprietor may make arrangements likely to be more generally acceptable to the Brotherhood, a few words of introduction may not be deemed inappropriate.

Within the period measured by the memory of Masons scarcely yet arrived at the meridian of life, Masonry has emerged from the temporary gloom and disaster into which it had been cast by the machinations of political demagogues, aud now again has become a great and growing moral power. The leaders of the fierce assault upon its time-honored altars have been whelmed in the maelstrom of popular contempt. In the United States alone not less than Two Hundred Thousand Brothers acknowledge the sound of the gavel, and bow to the authority of the landmarks of the Order. And this day is the high twelve of enlightened Christendom. Numbering in its ranks, with few and rare exceptions, the representative men of the age-the time has gone by for saying that the soul has departed from the Masonic organization, jurisprudence and ritual. Masonry, whilst it has grown in numbers, and planted itself upon new territories, has with equal step, increased in moral influence, and infixed its cardinal tenets with more potent grasp upon the hearts of its affiliants.

And this is the era of the Pen and the Printing Press-that of the Sword and the Cannon has passed away, save here and there where their shadows are projected over from the darkness of former times. Nothing can escape the stern inquiry of the Spirit of the Times: "Whence and what are you?" And Masonry is not exempt from this inquisition 28-VOL. V. NO. X.

-hence it responds in books and newspapers and magazines. Upon each recurring festival of the Fraternity, a hundred orators proclaim, with freedom, fervency and zeal, the principles which animate them, and the glowing thoughts by which they are inspired.

These various means of acquiring and imparting light have thus become indispensable to the intelligent Mason, and we are warranted in assuming, that he who neglects and despises them is unworthy the reeognition, much less the honor of the Craft. The arcana of the Order, of course, may neither be written nor printed, but these are not all of Masonry, any more than the sanctum sanctorum was the whole of the Temple. The great mysteries of science and nature, who shall understand them, before he has conned the alphabet and studied the volume of knowledge? The esoteric will ever remain unintelligible in fact, until the exoteric is fully known. That Brother who is most familiar with the history, philosophy and literature of Masonry, will prize it most, and will ever be found faithful even among the faithless.

Some people, even now, seem to think that forms are everything in Masonry; that, in the significant phrase of the day, its mission has been accomplished. To the present Editor this is an egregious error. He believes that its Damascus is scarcely past-beyond it, still extends a world of discovery, of effort, of triumph. The present Editor believes in the dissemination of Masonic light—not in the feeble rays of a single farthing candle-but in that concentration which may create a true Orient of illumination.

The great States of the North-West are abundantly competent to generously sustain an organ, which shall reflect their views, and mirror their prosperity. This magazine we believe may be made the true reflex of the ideas which rule, of the minds which lead this great branch of the Brotherhood.

The present Editor has no more pecuniary or other interest in this magazine than has any reader of its pages; his only effort is and shall be to advance the true interests of the Ancient and Honorable Order of F. and A. Masons.

We call upon you, Brothers, to rally for the support of your own organ. We have no favorite views to propagate beyond those recog nized by the whole Fraternity. The Editor, bound by no obligations, save those of Masonry which enfold all Brothers, will comment upon current events, and express his own opinions freely and unreservedly, and at the same time will extend to every Brother whose time and inclination permit, the privilege of conveying his own thoughts to the world.