Oration In Honour Of Masonry

and joy . " Worshipful Master , your commands are obeyed , but before I resume my seat , permit me to address a few words to our new lodge . Worship ful Master and Brethren of Lodge Devon , —To-day ive commit to you the honour of

this province and of the Craft ; see that you guard it well . Your history is yet unwritten ; see that its pages be unstained by the record of a single act which you in your Masonic career may wish to blot ! Let the corn , the oil , ancl the wine used

in the ceremony of to-day , and the qualities which they typify , be ever present to your thoughts ! Remember you have vowed to be prudent , discreet , ancl temperate ; liberal in your charity , steadfast in your friendships , just and virtuous in your deportment ; so shall the outer world see

what great and beneficial effects flow from our ancient ancl honourable institution . Say not I have entered on too lofty a flight of speculation , and left terrestrial difficulties too far beloAv . Not so ; you cannot attain excellence unless your aims

are measured by the highest standard . The actual powers of fallen man forbid perfection , but we are commanded to be perfect , and as Masons it is your especial and self-imposed duty to do your best to become so . It is good for you to reflect

hdv much of the misery which man suffers or inflicts is due to himself ; it is good for you to resolve that , as far as your influence extends , those ills so pathetically lamented by our gifted brother the jioet Burns , Han ' s inhumanity to man

Makes countless thousands mourn . shall cease for ever . It is good for you to reflect how the principle of self-control which this involves is the mainspring in all social and individual happiness . Whether it-be in the case of

the sovereign on the throne , the labourer- at the plough , or ourselves in our daily public , domestic , or Masonic life , this self-control , this forgetfulness of self , this care for the happiness of others , is the great and vital source of all that is virtuous ,

dignified , considerate , . and true . This is indeed real Masonry . I pray that the Great Architect of the Universe will prosper you iu your undertaking so auspiciously commenced to-day , and that He will bless and preserve you all through time and eternity .

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PrTKAGOBAS M-. 13 deeply indebted to the Masonry of Solomon , for his trestle-board ivas filled Avith the ancient emblems , the triple ti-iamrle , the point within a circle , the cube , the perfect square , and the -17 th Problem of Euclid .

Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.

EARS OF WHEAT FROM A CORNUCOPIA .

By Bro . D . MUKUM * LYOX , one of the Grand Stewards in the Grand Lodge of Scotland . ( Continued- from page 245 . ) SWARMING OF A MASONIC HIVE . —MOTHER KILWINNING IN VIRGINIA .

In tracing the history of Freemasonry in America , neither Laurie nor Findel takes any notice of the share Mother Kilwinning had in disseminating among the colonists of North America a knowledge of the Royal Art . Such omissions on the

part of acknowledged authorities in matters coming within the compass of their historical researches , shoAV the necessity that exists for the co-operation of some " Old Mortality " in rescuing from oblivion the hoary mementoes of the Craft Avhich he

neglected in the repositories of the more ancient of our lodges . Information regarding the erection of lodges in North America at dates prior to the severance of the tie that bound our transatlantic

cousins to the mother country , besides being- of interest to every student of Masonic history , possesses features of special attraction to brethren in the States . The records of the Lodge of Kilwinning while showing that at least two of its

charters found their way across the Atlantic , side by side with others emanating from the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland to authorise the holding of regularly constituted lodges , contribute a chapter anent the origin of the Falmouth Lodge ,

Avhich affords an inkling of the well-intentioned liberties with supreme Masonic functions that were occasionally taken by daughter lodges of

the period referred to . It was in June , 1758 , that on the petition of certain Masons in Essex County , Virginia , a charter was granted by the Mother Lodge , under the title of ** Tapahannock KiLvinning / ' Seventeen years later , a Kilwinning

charter is asked for another town in Virginia , the petitioners accompanying their amplication with documentary proof of their status as true men and brothers , officebearers of a lodge constituted by a daughter of the Grand Lodge of Scotland . The

petition and enclosure we give entire : — "To the Right Worshipful Grand Master ancl other officers of the ancient Lodge of Kihvinning in North Brittain :

" The petition of the Masters , officers , and other members of the lodge of Freemasons in Falmouth , Virginia , humbly showeth that your petitioners have been constituted a lodge of Freemasons by the chartered Lodge of Fredericksburg , as may