accomplished Major Andre, the pride of the Royal Army, and has stated that he was the handsomest man that he ever saw. He had the honor to hail the great Washington, when on sentry on the banks of the Hudson, and order him to give the countersign, at the bayonet's point. He was soon selected to join the Light Infantry commanded by the darling child of France, the magnanimous La Fayette; and during their toilsome marches through the Carolinas and Virginia, when they were pressed by the British Army under Lord Cornwallis, LaFayette would address his soldiers in language like this: "O! my brave Light Infantry! I must Adjutant you a little tonight." He was at the taking of Lord Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown, and was stationed near the American flag when a grape-shot from the British cannon, cut the staff and it fell on to him and Capt. Hart, of Lynn, then a brother sergeant with him in the army. One says to the other, "Who has got it ?" "Both," was the answer. They placed it on the breast-work, and the terrible “pas de charge" was heard from the right to the left wing of the American army. They penetrated through the British lines and carried them at the point of the bay

onet.

It is meet for us, as Masons and patriots, to remember the deeds of such men. The last man who belonged to the flower of Washington's Army, in this section of the State of Massachusetts, has gone. God, and Washington, were on his lips while his senses remained.

"How sleep the brave who sink to rest
With all their country's honors blest!"

Yours, fraternally,

LUTHER S. BANCROFT.

New Bedford, 12th mo., 29th, 1847.

BRO. MOORE:-Our late Brother and Companion, JOHN FREEMAN, departed this life on the evening of the 20th inst, aged 54 years. His body was interred by the Brethren on the 24th, with the usual funeral rites of our Order, in accordance with his request. By recording this event in the Magazine, distant Brethren will be informed that they have lost a valuable co-operator of rare merit, tried and approved, whose excellence as a workman but few surpassed; whose zeal, exercised with knowledge among us, has diffused an influence that cannot be forgotten or lost. His name is now stricken from the roll of our subordinate Lodge, and we entertain a good hope that he will be enabled to gain admission into the Grand Lodge above, where the Great Architect of the Universe presides.

[Communicated by the Brethren of Star-in-the-East Lodge, N. Bedford.]

EXPULSION.

Ar a meeting of Mansfield Lodge, at Mansfield, Ohio, held Dec. 29th, 1847, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That Pierre B. Cornwall, for dishonesty, and other unmasonic conduct, be and is hereby expelled from all the privileges, rights and benefits of Freemasonry. By order of the Lodge.

WM. D. TIDBALL, Sec. pro tem.

MASONIC CHIT CHAT.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.-" AMELIA" shall receive attention next month. Her communication was received in season, and put into the hands of the compositor, for the present number, but a pressure of other matter has compelled us to delay its publication until

our next.

We have also a very acceptable article from Br. Mackey, on the "two pillars," which shall receive attention next month.

The account of the celebration of the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist, at Kingston, Canada, furnished by a correspondent, shall likewise appear in our March number.

Several letters, proposing inquiries for discussion, which have been some time on hand, shall be attended to in due season.

The proceedings of several Masonic bodies, and a variety of other matters, are lying upon our table, all of which shall be taken up in turn.

Why, in the name of propriety, did not our esteemed and talented correspondent at Demopolis, discuss, himself, the subject he proposes to us? We can't refuse him, though we have half a mind to do so. We shall hold him, however, for a good article on some other subject.

OBITUARY.-We deeply regret the duty which a sudden visitation of an all-wise Providence has imposed upon us, of mourning the loss of an esteemed friend and excellent Mason, by the death of W. Bro. RUEL BAKER. He died at his residence in this city, on Monday afternoon, Jan. 17th, of pleurisy and lung fever, after an illness of one week.

At the time of his death, Br. Baker was the G. M. of the Grand Encampment of Mass. and Rhode Island, and D. G. H. P. of the Grand Chapter of this State. He was also one of the Stewards of the Grand Lodge, and Treasurer of the Boston Encampment, and of Columbian Lodge. His funeral took place on the 20th, at the Hollis street church, where public ceremonies were performed, in the presence of a large assemblage of Brethren and friends. The body was then taken to Mount Auburn.

The deceased was a warm-hearted and zealous Brother, and his loss will be severely felt by the Fraternity in this city, by whom his funeral was generally attended. We regret that our room does not, this month, admit of a more extended notice.

ABIFF. Our correspondent at Eatonton, Geo., will excuse our not replying to him by private note. Our time has been much taken up of late. The word Abiff, in respect to which he makes his inquiry, is taken from the Hebrew word Abbi, the possessive of Abba, and signifies father, or, figuratively, Superior. The name, with its affix, may, therefore, be rendered Hiram, my father; or, it may be rendered, and, we think, in view of the sense in which it is used, with greater propriety, Hiram, my (or the) Superior; that is, the Master, or Director and Superintendent of the works.

On mature consideration, we are convinced that the publication of the communication sent us by our correspondent at Huntsville, Mo., is not expedient. It evidently has a personal application, and though the party may, by his presumptuous folly, have made himself ridiculous and offensive, we think the correction had better be left to time and the good sense of his Brethren. Let him remain a private member for a few years, and his ambition will probably be moderated to an endurable degree.

In reply to the inquiry of our correspondent at Montgomery, Ala., we can only say, that the office of Grand Puissant of the Grand Council of Kentucky, corresponds to that of T. I. G. Master of the Grand Council of Alabama. We are not accustomed to the use of the former title in Councils of R. and S. Masters.

Our correspondent at Manchester is informed that the fee for a Charter was not reduced by the Gen. Grand Chapter at its late session.

Our correspondent at Danville, is informed that the bills of the specie paying banks in Kentucky, are received in payment for the Magazine, though we prefer N. or S. Carolina paper.

Br. M. P. Kellogg, of Kidron, Ga., is our authorized agent for the Magazine and Trestle-Board, for that place and vicinity.

Br. Edward M. Gantt, of Selma, Ala., is our authorized agent for the Magazine and Trestle-Board, for Dallas County, Ala.

The officers of Worcester R. A. Chapter and of Morning Star Lodge, were publicly installed on the 18th ult.

The Brethren in New-Orleans celebrated St. John the Evangelist's Day, by a grand procession, address, &c.

An intelligent correspondent in Ohio, proposes the following inquiry, and requests an answer :—

"Is it correct for a Past High Priest, he not having received the degree of High Priesthood, to install the officers of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons ?" The precise point raised by our correspondent will more correctly appear, if we state this question in another form, namely-" Is a High Priest of a Chapter, who has not received the Order of High Priesthood, properly qualified to install his successor in office ?" This, as we understand the matter, is the only point in controversy; for, if the first officer of a Chapter may lawfully install his successor, he may, without question, install all the subordinate officers. But the reverse of this may not be true; that is, a High Priest, who has not received the degree of High Priesthood, may be qualified to install all the officers of a Chapter subordinate to the first, (as the Warden of a Lodge is qualified to install his corresponding officer,) and yet not be qualified, nor lawfully authorized, to install his successor in office. We suppose we need not argue the first of these propositions.

The degree of High Priesthood holds very nearly the same relation to the Chapters that the degree of Past Master holds to the Lodges. It is merely a nominal or official degree, and can be conferred only on High Priests of Chapters, -as the Past Master's degree can be properly conferred only on Masters of Lodges. Both are degrees of station,-if, indeed, they are entitled to the rank of degrees. We are rather disposed to regard them as official qualifications, merely. They are so generally regarded by our Brethren on the other side of the Atlantic; by whom, however, they are not held in so high consideration as by ourselves. But

this is not material to the present inquiry. In discussing questions of this restricted character, we are at liberty to refer to the foreign practice, as authority, only in cases where specific local regulations do not exist. Where these are found, they constitute the " rule of proceeding," irrespective of the usage in similar cases elsewhere, and under a different organization.

The only written regulation on the subject, with which we are familiar, is to be found in the fourth article of the Constitution of the General Grand Chapter of the United States. It is included in the ceremonies for the constituting of new Chapters and the installation of their officers. The proceedings in the latter case are given in detail, and with much precision. After the High Priest has been formally introduced, and has answered the usual questions, and the prayer has been offered, the directions are as follows :—

"All the Companions, except the High Priests and Past High Priests, are desired to withdraw, while the new High Priest is solemnly bound to the performance of his duties; and after the PERFORMANCE of other NECESSARY CEREMONIES, not proper to be written, they are permitted to return."

This, then, is the rule; or, if that be too strong a term, it is the direction, that which is required to be done, in such cases, by the Constitution of the General Grand Chapter. What is required to be done? We

answer

1st. The new High Priest is to be "solemnly bound to the performance of his duty." But this may be, and it frequently is, with entire propriety, done in public. There is no pressing necessity for its ever being done in private, nor in the absence of the members generally of the Chapter, except when it is connected with

2dly: "The performance of other NECESSARY ceremonies." Here the inquiry naturally arises-What are these other "necessary ceremonies?" And we may be permitted to ask, if any High Priest of a Chapter, not conversant with the Order of High Priesthood, can answer this inquiry? If he cannot do this, then it seems to us that he is not qualified to install his successor, in the manner prescribed by the General Grand Constitution. Our answer to the inquiry is, that they are the ceremonics of the Order of High Priesthood, which the installing officer, by a literal construction of the directions, is required to "perform," when he inducts the High Priest of a Chapter into office,-if they have not been previously performed. They constitute a part of the ceremonies of installation, which the Constitution declares to be " 'necessary;" that is, needful and essential.

This is the conclusion to which we arrive in reasoning from the premises. And if the Constitution is to be received as the rule and authority, we do not see how a different result is to be attained.