Freemasonry In The Danubian Principalities.

pursue , and which consists in the improvement of ihe human species . " We also bid a hearty " God speed" to these ^ excellent emissaries and harbingers of civilisation la their efforts tending to redeem and regain the magnificent countries watered by the mouths of the Danube .

Masonic Poets Of Scotland—No. Ii.

MASONIC POETS OF SCOTLAND—No . II .

SIE WAITEE SCOTT . _ % the BEV . ANDREW It . BONAE , Minister of First Charge of Canongate , Edinburgh . ( Continued from page 87 . ) But let us quote here a vivid and graphic descriptive passage : —

"The western waves of ebbing day Roll'd o'er the glen their level way ; Each purple peak , each flinty spire , Was bathed in floods of living fire . JBut not a setting beam could glow "Within the dark ravines below ,

Where twined the path , in shadoiv hid , Round many a rocky pyramid , Shooting abruptly from the dell Its thunder-splintered pinnacle : The rocky summits split and rent , 3 ? orm'd turret , dome , or battlement ,

Or seem'd fantastically set With cupola or minaret . Nor were these earth-born castles bare , Ufor lack'd they many a banner fair ; For , from their shiver'd brows displayed , J ? ar o ' er the unfathomable glade , All twinkling with the dewdrops' sheen , 'The brier-rose fell in streamers green :

.. And creeping shrubs , of thousand dyes , Waved in the west wind ' s summer skies . Boon nature scattered , far and wild , Each plant or flower , the mountain ' s child . Here eglantine embalmed the air ; jHawthorn and hazel mingled there , -And boughs , that quaked at every breath ;

Gray birch and aspen wept beneath ; Aloft , the ash and warrior-oak Cast anchor in the rifted rock ; And higher yet tho pine-tree hung His shattered trunk , and frequent flung , 'Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high ,

His houghs athwart the narrowed sky . Highest of all , where white peaks glanced , Where glittering streamers waved and danced , The wanderer's eye could scarcely vieiv The summer heaven's delicious blue : "So wondrous wild , the whole might seem

Tiie scenery of a fairy dream . " Here is another gem from the same poem : — " The summer dawn ' s reflected hue To purple changed Loch Katrine blue ; Mildly and soft the western breeze . Just kiss'd the lake , just stirr'd the trees , . And the pleased lake , like maiden coy , Trembled , bat dimpled not , for joy .

***** The water-lily to the light Het chalice reared , of silver bright ; The doe awoke , and to the lawn , Begemm'd with dew-drops , led her fawn ; The gray mist left the mountain side ;

The torrent show'd its glistening pride ; Invisible in flecked sky , The lark sent down her revelry ; The blackbird and the speckled thrush Good morrow gave from brake and hush ; In answer coo'd the cushat-dove

Her notes of peace , and rest , and love . " "Marmion , " not in sustained dignity , but in separate and sometimes long-continuous passages , must be pronounced the greatest of Scott ' s poetical efforts . Nothing can be more picturesque

than the description at length of the mustering of King Jarnes' forces ere they left Edinburgh for Flodden , mingled as it is with the writer's reminiscences of boyish days . Marmion and Sir David Lindsay are nearing the capital : —

. . . . " Their route was laid Across the furzy hills of Braid . They pass'd the glen aud scanty rill , And climbed th' opposing bank , until Thoy gained the top of Blackford Hill . " Marmion arrives , and joins the English host . He

meets with Surrey , who appoints Marmion to the vanguard . The stir and animation of the whole battle-picture toward the close of the poem are truly Homeric . We refrain from further characterising the poetry

of Scott . The question remains—How shall we rank him among British bards ? He belongs , not to the school or class of any one age , but to that of nature and truth . If the framework of the old minstrelsy was borrowed by him , Scott filled

it up with what constitutes effective and interesting poetry . They were but the rude chroniclers , ( though forcible narrators ) of past events . But perhaps some of my readers will understand me when I observe , that what these chroniclers were

to Scott , Ennius , in his roughness and boldness , was to Virgil , with his polished beauty . Scott has not Byron's misanthropy and gloom : he wants , also , his condensed and passionate power : there is nothing to equal the roll and sweep of not a few

of the stanzas in "Ohilde Harold . " But , in a lesser degree , as in his novels , a vast variety of personages—living , acting beings—sweep across the stage ; so , ia his poetry , the personages are those of real flesh and blood—even the " Lady of the Lake" can steer and guide her boat across Loch Katrine's waters . Iii point of natural des-