Always One Vacant Chair.

ALWAYS ONE VACANT CHAIR .

From the " PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRAND LODGE IOWA " There is no fireside , howso ' er defended , Bnt has one vacant chair . * # # * # " The air is full of farewells to the dying And mournings for the dead . # # # # #

"If thon dost bid thy friend farewell , Bnt for one night thongh that farewell may be , Press thou his hand in thine . How canst thon tell how far from thee Pate or caprice may lead his steps Ere that to-morrow comes ?"

The angel of death has repeated his visits oftentimes among ns during the past Masonio year , calling hence no less than six Fast Grand Officers of this jurisdiction—one of them at the head of the Koyal Craft in the great republic , and the " first among his equals " in all good words and kindly deeds ; and another aged pilgrim whose

trials began during the long , dark crnsade inaugurated in the Morgan times , which tried men ' s souls in that day of sore trial ; beside many of lesser note , as nsefnl and deserving in their humbler spheres of life .

The nation , too , and the world , has been called to weep , with our sister jurisdictions , the loss of their " illustrious dead , " " falling at their post of duty . " It is seldom we are called upon to pen so sad a page as this must be in our records of the year .

" The year Has gone . * * * # # # "in its swift course ,

It waved its sceptre o ' er the beautiful , And they are not . It laid its pallid hand Upon the strong man , and the noble form Is fallen . "

Yet in all this the wise may read a lesson , as in an open book ever in sight , for our instruction . Let the living profit by the noble examples set us in the lives of the departed . They were Christian men , followers of Him who " spake as never man spake , " and heeded

His words . With them Masonry was a living reality , and they com . prehended its mission to make men better in this life , bind them more closely together in the Brotherhood of man , and afford them the means and opportunities for greater usefulness among men . Now that they have

" Gone across the dark river , And into the land of shadows , " May we so treasure the memory of their good deeds that they may not have lived in vain .

Of those of our own jurisdiction , all save one , the patriarch Gilhs , were our associate Officers in the past , going in and out with us before the brethren whom we served . All were onr friends , and we prized and valued the friendship of such men ; bnt

" One there was above all others , Well deserved to be our friend . " The brethren of this jurisdiction , and of all jurisdictions , have long known the friendship which existed between Brother Bower and ourself , and the love that bound us together as brothers . That we may

not be thought to mould onr words in the form of over-wrought friendship , we quote the language of another , who says : " Brother Bower was faithful in the discharge of every Masonic duty . Nothing was too great for him to undertake , and yet he undertook it with such apparent gentleness , and carried it out with such precision and poise

with snch smoothness—that hardly any one realised the overmuch he •was attempting and the overwork he waa doing . Bnt suddenly tbe Dong-strained chord has snapped like brittle glass , and as noble a Ihuman life as ever possessed a human body was released from its sufferings . He is gone , bnt has left ns his example of a faithful

•worker , a good citizen , and an upright Mason . In his closing address to his brethren , on retiring from office in the Grand Chapter , Brother Bower remarked , " I never like to say fare- 1 well , but with a gentle pressure of the hand glide silently away . "

His prayer was granted , for so he passed away , speaking no farewell word . God took him , and he is not . But his " example of strict integrity , honesty of purpose , and purity of intention throngh life is •worthy of imitation by all of ns" who survive him . He has " fallen with his armour on , " and gone to receive his reward .

" Ne er to tho mansions where the virtuous rest , Since their foundation , came a worthier guest ; Nor to the bowers of bliss was e ' er conveyed A nobler spirit or a gentler shade . " Brother Judge James L . Gillis , after a long ancl eveutfc ' . life , died

at the house of his son , who had been a short period before shot down in his own home by an unknown assassin . This so worked upon the mind of the aged and bereft father that he soon followed the son . He had lived seventy years a just and upright Mason , and eighty-eight as a useful and honoured citizen . A man of remarkable energy ,

intelligence , ancl perseverance , bo made a gocd and permanent record in his pnblic and private walk in life . He was a man of dignified ancl commanding appearance , which prepossessed strangers in his favour , and led them to seek a more intimate acquaintance with him . We

¦ met him last at the Grand Conclave in Chicago , in the summer of 1880 , ho being drawn thither in bis old age to meet some whom he had met in his younger years . We remember his interest in the great ¦ gathering , and the courtesy shown him by the Sir Knights favoured in meeting him . The attempt upon the life of the President plunged

Always One Vacant Chair.

him into the deepest anxiety , without the thought that the taking off of a well-Veloved son would be so soon and in the same way . He had forgotten the world of care and the battle of life which had furrowed his earlier years , and drawn closely around the hearth of hia

children and grandchildren , and in their loved presence awaited the hour when he should be summoned to meet his beloved partner in the mansions of rest . That hour came suddenly and unheralded . But be had so lived , and was so prepared for the reaper , that we need nofc ask ,

" Can it be truth , That there is no eloquence in death , No voice beyond the passing breath , For thoughtful man ?" Joseph Curtis Knapp , an old , useful , and prominent citizen , died 27 th April 1882 . He was made a Master Mason dnring the Annual Communication at Keosauqua , where he lived ( almost thirty years

and died ) in the year 1855 , and was Grand Orator at Iowa Cit y in 1857 . He was a leader among leaders at tbe bar and in politics , a worker in good works , in his town , county , and state , leaving an honourable record for manly devotion to the public interest , a Christian's faith in his Master ' s service , nnd devotion to the Fra . ternifcy whose welfare he sought to promote . When such men die , the Fraternity , the church , and the world are the losers .

" Shall the clos d eyes , Once filled with light , and the pale lips That spake for oth ' rs good and friendship ' s Gold ' n tie , ne ' er wake ?" Brothers Watson Emery Webster Senior Grand Warden in 1878 , Norman Chipman Junior Grand Warden in 1853 , Horace Tuttle

Junior Grand Warden in 1856 , and Thomas Mercer Grand Treasurer in 1865 , were all past elective Grand Officers and permanent mem . bers in the Grand Lodge . But their true merit and worth waa not obtained by election , nor did it follow—it preceded ; and their election to those high offices was only the public recognition of that merit which recommended them as Office-bearers in the courts of tha Temple . Brother Webster , at the time of his death , 8 th January 1882 ,

was a member of the General Assembly in session , and died in office , with his " honours thickly blushing on him . " He was a devoted Christian , superintendent of his Sabbath School , and an active Mason , conscientiously performing his duty in whatever sphere called to labour . The purity of his private life well qualified him for the dis . charge of his public duties , and his services as an experienced legis . lator were properly testified to by the body of which he was a member in the memorial service it held in honour of his memory .

" His work ia done—The fleeting sands of life are spent : A beautiful smile from heaven sent Plays o'er his brow . " Brother Norman Chipman—Father Chipman , aa the boys were ao . customed to call him—belonged to a generation of Masons of whom but few are left to recount his services and his worth . We knew him

long and well , and a most deserving man he was . In his younger years active and devoted to the cause , he laboured to advance it among men , and in his declining years ever fondly remembered his " first love . " Living and dying , in official and private life he set before his brethren an example worthy of imitation . The record of a long and useful life he left as a legacy to his brethren who kindly ministered at his bedside in his last hours of earth . He has

" Gone to the land of peace ; Gone where the tempest has no longer sway , The shadow passeth from the soul away ; The sonnds of weeping cease . " Brother Horace Tuttle , immigrating to Iowa at an early day , and lending his services to start and build up Masonic bodies of various

grades in Iowa City , then Mnscatino , and finally Dubuque , usefully and actively engaged as a citizen and Mason , he raised a family , and leaving a son to carry on his work , be in his declining years returned to the place of his nativity to spend his later years and be gathered home among his kindred in an eastern state ( Connecticut ) . We

knew him well as a plain , humble , and unassuming , yet most active and useful , man among men and with his brethren . The memory of his many virtues—we never knew that he had any vices—are treasured in the faithful breasts of his early associates , who always speak of Horace Tuttle as one of nature ' s noblemen .

" Whoever , amidst the sons Of reason , valour , liberty , and virtue , Displays distinguished merit , is a noble Of Nature ' s own creating . " Brother Thomas Mercer , coming to Iowa many years ago , took an active part in County affairs , and made himself very useful in the

Lodgo and Grand Lodge as a ritualist of a superior order . His a 3 tivity in the Grand Locige of 1865 , afc Marshalltown , where he then resided , in his efforts to maintain in its purity from the touch of unholy hands the work he taught , will long be remembered by those present on that occasion . Honest in the discharge of every

duty , he was a useful man , in whatever field he laboured . Removing to California , ho withdrew his membership from Iowa , and there struggled with faith ancl hope against fate , and only lately camo the tidings of his decease far away , borne on the breeze from tho Pacific shore . Few of to-day knew him , but we who did remember bim tho more kindly , and now that he is gone , exclaim :

Brother , we mourn for thee We call upon theo to answer pq . Dost thou hear the call ? Our brother answereth not our call Angels ever bright and fair , Take , 0 take him to your care . "