Masonic Notes And Queries.

And when they sang of Faith , of Hope , And Charity , the true steps that lead Prom the level of time to the Grand Lodge on high . I pledged myself then , that the tools to me given , Should never find rest till the cap-stone was laid ! And my lamb-skin , if spotted , should know but the stain Of Masonic cement , while on life's rugged road . This pledge was freely given

, Por I meant to act as Masons act ; And if my memory serves me right , I started for the ivork , but found the world All cold and selfish , and then I feared To make the effort .

I never used my tools one hour , And all are lost , save this , this rusty trowel , It seemed to me it might have kept its brightness , If never used , but as -t laid it by The rust began to gather , and non-It has no affinity for any save Uiitempered mortar . I hope some Craftsman true has found

My guage , my gavel , level , plumb , and square , And laid them by for better workmen . Inactive as I was ' My lamb skin gathered dust , And with the gathering dust , It lost its whiteness , and now that , toe , is gone . If I remember rightly , the } ' gave me

Passes , signs , a nd grips , whereby 'To know my brethren . Though they were truly given , They were not safely lodged . Ancl now to tell the summing Of this matter , this much I know , I once was made a Mason ! IONIA , MlOII .

LODGE NOMENCLATUIIE . As you inserted a paper on lodge nomenclature in your last , perhaps it may not be out of place to supplement tho theorv therein advocated , by a practical anecdote . —Ex . Ex . : — " In the year 1825 , American settlements on the Brazos river were few and far between . Almost the only one between the present site of San Felipe de Austin was that of AA'illiam Morton ,

who had commenced a plantation at the place where the flourishing town of Richmond now stands . Morton was a Mason , and as such , nearly alone on the Brazos . In those clays travellers were always sure of a welcome when it was their good fortune to be overtaken by night at a settler ' s house , and at no place in the country was there a more hospitable door than that of AA'illiam Morton . " It fell out that a native of Scotlandand a recent emigrant

, from the land of the thistle , Robert Gillespie by name , was seeking a home in the newly found Utopia , as Texas was then , and is now , by many regarded . AA'hilst travelling over the almost boundless prairies , he . was attacked with fever , and only by dint cf great exertion did he succeed in reaching shelter . It was his good fortune to find . this under Morton's roof . His

disease and exposure proved too much for his constitution , and after lingering along for days , his weary spirit took to flight , Before he died , he had discovered himself to Morton as a Mason . However kindly he might have been treated before , it could not be otherwise than that the heart of the latter at once warmed towards his suffering brother as it could not have clone towards a stranger . " AA'ho shall tell of the kind words and gentle acts to that

dying brother , of the cooling draughts , the tender care , the days and nights of sleepless watching at that bedside , the prayers to the Grand Master above for his recovery ? Morton hath his reward , as we hope for many such , in tbe Temple not made with hands , and the memory of his acts in the hook . " The stranger died , and alone , beneath the old trees above the ' bayou , ' Morton hollowed out his grave ancl deposited the

body in its last resting place , breathing a Mason ' s prayer above the grave , and placing the Mason's offering within the coffin . It was a solemn scene . A Mason , alone in the wild forest , and with no eye but that of the All-seing bent upon him , thus paying the last sad rites to mortality . "Nor was he satisfied with this . AVith his own hands he made the bricks and erected a monument above the grave , which

Masonic Notes And Queries.

remains there yet , a relic of the earliest times of Texan history . " In after years a town grew up upon the spot , which , however , Morton was not permitted to behold . He died , nor was a brother by to receive his last words , or to give to his remains those rites which he so zealously had paid to the stranger . But he was not forgotten , and the principal street of the young city of Richmond now bears his name .

In 184-9 , this town , hitherto of slow growth , hardly numbered a hundred people . At this time there was three or four Masons there , who , after much deliberation , determined to try to establish a lodge . They got up their petition and "hor' rowed" enough from neighbouring jurisdictions to make up the required number , obtained a dispensation , and at the meeting of the Grand Lodge in 1850 , received a charter for Morton LodgeNo . 72 named in honour of AA'illiam Morton . Morton

, , Lodge , although feeble in numbers , was founded on ground consecrated by the first Masonic burial ever known in Texas , and has always been characterised by freedom , fervency , and zeal . For the time in which it has been in operation , it is probably the most flourishing lodge in Texas . "

HIGH Oil LOW CHUnCII MASONS . Some time ago , a brother said to me , speaking of another , " if he is a high or low church Mason he ' s not worth a crown . " I enquired what he meant , and was informed he had often heard it in his younger days , when party spirit ran high . Can you tell me the origin of the expression P—M . M . —[ The third stanza of the old Masonic song , beginning ,

" AVe have no idle prating Of either AA'hig or Tory . " is evidently tho idea from which your friend borrowed his remark . Tho verse is : — " If an accepted Mason , Should talk of high or low church ; AA ' e'll set him down

A shallow crown , And understand him no church . " ] FRENCH MASONIC PLATS . There are two or three Masonic pieces which have appeared on the English stage , I want the titles of any that have been played in Prance . —B . — - [ Take the following as one , Les Sybarites , ou les Francs Mafonnes dc Florence , Drame lyrique , in trois actes , par Lafitte , 1831 . ]

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . THE PROPOSED APPROPRIATION OE THE GRAND LODGE PROPERTY" EOR MASONIC PURPOSES . TO THE EDITOB 03 ? THE I __ lEE _ JASO _ . s' MAGAZIICE AND SU . S 0 _ . IC MIItltOE . DEAB , SIB . AXD BKOTIIEE , —Having favoured your

readers with a sketch of Bro . Meymott ' s plan for effecting the above object , I feel at liberty to make a few remarks thereon , and to express a fervent wish that the crude design will never take up the time of Grand Lodge by its discussion , or meet with any support from the Graft in general . I express this hope because I should be sorry to see the Grand Temple of the Order assume a

shape so ridiculous ond abominable , and hope Bro . Meymott is not an architect : for if he be , I see no prospect of his ever being able ( to judge from his present production ) to grasp so comprehensive and complicated a scheme as that of providing a suitable home for the Order . Bro . Meymott commences with the supposition that -Freemasons do not require light , warmth , or ventilation ,

for he studiously excludes these vital princ _ 2 _ les from his " scheme . " These are so intimately connected that one cannot be deficient without seriously affecting the others . Without enlarging upon this , I would ask in the first place how light is to be obtained to the apartments for the Tyler in the basement , ancl the other offices located there ? To one accustomed to designing , his plan is the most mysterious ever put upon paper ; and he is doubt-