The Lady Muriel.

' ¦ She must have been a lovely woman . Was she an old friend of yours ?" " Hum—rather , I knew her , I suppose , ten years . " " Intimately V " Intimately . " " Pardon my curiosity , '' I said" but it

, seems so strange to me—a middle-aged bachelor - becoming the guardian of a young lady whose mother ( a lady of title , as I conclude ) was no connection , only the friend of the man who , of all others , seems to me the least likely to be impressed by

female charms or to be affected by female weaknesses , and who , I should think , could hardly plead guilty to a Platonic attachment . " " Hum . My dear fellow , perhaps I ' m more romantic than I look . You are a

married man , and a deuced lucky fellow . However , I am not . I thought I should be once , though . " " AVhy don ' t you marry , man 1 You ' ve lots of property ; you are not old—fiveand-forty must be the outside of your

age ; and lots of nice girls would have you . " " Very possible , I daresay ; but there was but one woman whom I cared for . " " AVhat was her name , if I may ask 1 " " Muriel Aldithley . "

This Morgan Affair.

THIS MORGAN AFFAIR .

BY BRO . . ROB . MORRIS . As a good deal has been said about this matter , we reprint from the Masonic Journal Bro . Rob . Morris ' s interesting article . Considered merely as an episode in the

history of American politic ; , the period of time , covered by the anti-masonic excitement of 1826 to 1836 , is full of interest . It shows how monotonous must have been the ordinary course of public events , fully recovered at that time from the last

war with England , and ripening for the tremendous political contest between AVhigs and Democrats , when a merel y local affair like the disappearance of Morgan , could be made the subject of political agitation extending nearly throughout the

Union , and for a generation retarding the operations of the oldest and most moral institution in the world . To the Masonic writer , the period cmbraced in the anti-masonic excitement is full of suggestive facts . It reveals the fidelity of the fewand the falling away

, of the many . It shows that the prosperity of the Masonic institution in 1826 , when the troubles began , was hollow and illusory ; that the larger portion of the Masonic Craft were but fair-weather

sailors , poorly informed as to the real nature of their engagements with each other , and the true designs of Freemasonry . It shows that the few , and those not always of the ruling class , exhibited in their adhesion to the Order all that moral firmness and genuine heroism

which in other spheres of life insures an immortality of fame . AVe propose at this date , when almost the last of the actors and sufferers in the drama has passed from the stage , to review the origin of this singular episode in American history . The subject cannot but interest the minds of all who have

at heart the true interest of Freemasonry . In our present prosperity as an institution may perhaps be found all the illusion and hollowness which became so evident in the period to which we advert , and brought so much discredit to the cause . At that period of the breaking out of

the flame of anti-masonic opposition ( 1826 ) there were 26 G . Lodges in the U . States , viz ., Massachusetts , Virginia , Maryland , Pennsylvania , Georgia , New Jersey , New York , South Carolina , North Carolina , New HampshireConnecticutRhode

, , Island , Vermont , Kentucky , Delaware , Ohio , District of Columbia , Louisiana , Tennessee , Indiana , Mississippi , Maine , Alabama , Missouri , Illinois , Michigan ; tbe last of these have been established

that year ( 1826 ) . The number of Lodges and Lodge-members acknowledging allegiance to these 26 Grand Lodges may be computed , approximatively , at 2 , 500 and 100 , 000 . The State of New York , in which the trouble first began , had about one-fifth of the aggregate above given .

In no country was the society more worthily represented than there ; from 1806 to 1819 Governor Clinton had been Grand Master , followed by Ex-Vice President