Lodges Of Sorrow.

'Tis thus untired we cherish onrs : These living monuments commend That zeal , which never can forget Friend , once beloved , as living yet . Gems sparkling life , whose fragrant breath

Revives the sense to pleasure there , And garlands crown the place of death , Which joyous life and youth conld wear .

That friend s good name who rests beneath , Aa odorous flowers in sunny air To ns shall sweet and lovely be In everlasting memory .

Charge not with superstitious thought , The kind , the pious deed we do ; Greeks , Romans , Celts , alike have brought Their fairest flowers , tho grave to strew ;

And not alone by custom taught , But native feeling , strong and true , The Christian and the heathen come , To deck with flowers the honoured tomb .

The mourner fain would read around Her grief inscribed on earth and sky , And fondly lovea each floweret found With saddening marks of sympathy .

Tis suoh bestrew this sacred ground , Emblems of woe , of purity , The drooping bead , the dewy tear , The pallid hue to sorrow dear .

Nor gift , nor word , nor kind caress , Affection ' s zeal may now declare , And love , assiduous once to bless , Throngh faithful years of daily care

Casts all iti waste of tenderness In flowers and tears profusely there , Invents a doty to fulfil , And seems to render service still .

Type * , Trnth selects , appropriate , Fair , fading creatures of a day , Of human life to indicate The fragile state and swift decay ,

Now in prosperity elate , And then for ever passed away ; Bedecking thus the mortal cell , Onr tale impressively they tell .

And chiefly now that spring ' s soft breath Wakes latent energies below , Leaves , buds and blossoms bursting forth , With graceful life and beauty glow ,

Symbols of triumph over death , The Resurrection hope they show ; The Grave her tenants shall restore , And Death of victory boast no more . "

It is well for us , at particular times and on particular occasions , to recall the past , and especially those with whom we have been associated , and who now slumber beneath the Acacia branch ! Every Lodge has lost members by death , some having fallen in life ' s early bloom and

promise , and others in the maturity of their powers and the full experience of age . It will be a salutary exercise of our thoughts , and a wise employ of time to pause for a little and hold communion with our departed companions . Their bodies have faded from our view , and mouldered to

dust ; but the lives they have lived , and the examples they have given to the world , can never perish . These will live through the interminable future ! Have our deceased brethren been virtuous , wise and great , iu their fidelity to duty , generous sympathies , lofty and confiding friendships ,

sincere faith in God , man and justice ? Let us emulate their excellencies , their perfections , and by frequent communion reproduce them in our own lives . Have their frailties dishonoured our beloved Order and made our hearts sad ? This invocation of their memory will still be useful—useful as a warning , as an admonition .

The Creator has furnished no means of moral improvement more important , or more effectual , . than this communion with , this invocation of , the dead ; for of the dead we may speak with freedom . Of their virtues , of the

heavenly beauty of their lives , we may speak without being suspected of insincere flattery ; and of their frailties we may speak with mingled justice and charity , without laying ourselves liable to the charge of ulterior purposes of a selfish and interested character .

In truth , the influence of the departed upon . us is far greater than we have been in the habit of thinking . It is not in vain that our brothers deceased have lived in our

midst—it is not in vain they have died . They have left , as we just said , their works behind them ; their remembrances remain in the Lodge room , and in the community in which they were known . Although dead

Lodges Of Sorrow.

and in their graves , fchey still live , and their lives and examples , were they divine and holy , go about among us as ever , continuing those works of goodness which here commenced . Let us pray that they may watch over us as guardian geniuses , and preserve us from all selfishness , injustice and impurity .

Sorrow Lodges , then , are of the highest moral utility . Then and thero calling to mind the departed worthies of our Order , we come to feel tbat . the fraternal ties of our Institution are more powerful than death , and more

enduring than the grave . Our brothers , departed , are not lost to us . Their sympathy surrounds us still , and we feel their presence when we call their names . They look down upon us from the Grand Lodge above , and cheer us on in our works of benevolence and love .

" Even they—the dead—though dead , so dear , Fond Memory , to her duty true , Brings back their faded forms to view . How life-like , throngh the mist of years ,

Each well remembered face appears ! We see them , as in times long past ; From each to etch kind looks are oast ; We hear their words—their smiles

behold—They re round ns as they were of old ! They are all here !" —Voice of Masonry .

Notices Of Meetings.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS .

LODGE OF FREEDOM , No . 77 . rjlHE usual monthly meeting of this ancient Lodge was held ou 1 Monday , 21 st inst ., at the New Falcon Hotel , Gravesend , when the W . M . ( Bro . Solomon ) presided , and was supported by Bros . Rev . A . Jackson S . W ., Raukstraw J . W ., Hitohins I . P . M ., Champion P . M . Treasurer , Biggs P . M . Secretary , Beamish P . M ., Hedger P . M ., Loft , Friar , Whitfield , Nettleingham , Woodford , Masters , Buckle , Davies ,

Orlton Cooper , & c . The minutes of the last Lodge meeting having been read and confirmed , the Treasurer presented his report , showing a satisfactory state of the finances . Bros . Blyth and Boucher being candidates for raising were brought before the Lodge , and having proved their proficiency , were entrusted and they retired . Lodge was opened in the third degree , when the two brethren were admitted as Master Masons , the ceremony being admirably performed by Brother

Solomon , who gave the whole of the traditional history . Ten guineas was voted from the Lodge fnnds for the W . M . ' s list as Steward for tbe Royal Benevolent Institntion . The Treasnrer reported that the two applications for relief from widows of deceased brethren had been favourably entertained by the Provincial Grand Lodge , and stated that the Provincial Grand Festival wonld be held at Ramsgate next July . No other business being forthcoming , the Lodge waa closed in perfect harmony , and the brethren adjourned to supper .

VIRTUE LODGE , No . 152 ( MANCHESTER ) . A REGULAR meeting was held in the Feeemasons' Hall , Cooper Street , on Friday , the 18 th inst ., when there were present Bros . Bait W . M ., Cantill S . W ., Millington J . W ., Pritchard P . M .

Treasurer , Crompton Secretary , Campbell S . D ., Kay J . D ., Williams P . M . Dir . of Cers ., Norton I . G . ; Bros . Constantine , Froggatt , Conway P . M ., Jnffrey P . M . P . P . G . D ., Daniel P . M ., Blaikie P . M ., Saunders , Incram , aud Kelly ; Visitors—Stokes 2182 , Taylor 2156 , Ehlinger P . M . 11 ( 31 , and Lisenrlon P . M . 317 . The Lodge was opened in due form , and the minutes of the previous meeting read and confirmed . Bro . Daniels being present to take the second

degree was interrogated as to his proficiency in the first , and having satisfactorily answered , withdrew . He was subsequently passed to the degree of Follow Craft by the W . M ., and there being no further business , the Lodge was closed in peace and harmony . At the social board the health of the newly passed brother was proposed and responded to , an exceedingly pleasant evening being spent , enlivened with songs and recitations from Bros . Crompton , Stokes , Kay , and Lisenden .

OLD GLOBE LODGE , No . 200 . ON the 16 th inst ., the installation banquet took place at the Boyal Hotel , Scarborough , the newly installed W . M . Brother Francis Goodricke , iu the chair . The installation ceremony took place at the January meeting , but the banquet was poatpotied until the 16 th inst . Bro . Hartmann the retiring manager of the Koyal Hotel was tho recip ient of a token of the esteem in which the local brethren hold him as a Mojon and a caterer .

NEW FOREST LODGE , No . 319 . rriHE monthly meeting was held at the Bugle Hotel , on Tuesday , J- tho Sth inst ., when there was a good attendnnce of the brethren . The ceremonies of thc day wero ably conducted by the W . M . Bro . A . Brist , assisted by the Officers of tho Lodge . At the close of tho bnsinvss tho brethren adjourned to a banqnet , provided by Brother Past Master Dore , and spent a pleasant evening nntil 8 p . m ., when the proceedings terminated .

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