Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.

work the Mark Degree , the Grand Lodge of Scotland held the step in question to belong to another Order of Masonry than that of St . John . This once repudiated degree has , through the elasticity of the Scotch Constitution , since

become grafted upon the second of those that are practised under Grand Lodge Charters ; although the adoption , by daughter lodges , of the step in question can not yet be said to be general . This may be accounted for by the fact that many of

the brethren who received the degree under a chapter Avarrant consider themselves precluded from communicating upon it in a lodge ; and also from a widely-spread feeling of repugnance to the multiplying of oaths already held to be needlessly numerous .

CURIOSITIES OF MASONIC DISCIPLINE , The rank and file of the Craft did not in former times enjoy the amount of freedom in Masonic matters that , generally speaking , they UOAV do . During the discussion of a question coming before

Ayr Kilwinning in 1784 , a brother was pleased to characterise an act of the R . W . M . as " a rash step . " On being remonstrated with , and " no appearance of sorrow being expressed by him for his conduct , '' he was ordered "to be excluded

from the lodge until in a regular lodge he shall make a proper acknowledgement to the chair and the lodge in general for his very unbrotherly behaviour . " This sentence Avas passed on the motion of Robert Aiken , the brother whom Burns designated as the " dear patron of my virgin muse—he who read me into fame . " In 1811 an

officebearer of Ayr and Renfrew Militia St . Paul , was found guilty of communicating to neutral persons , in a clandestine and illegal manner , the whole supposed proceedings of St . Paul ' s Lodge , and defaming the character and government of

the said lodge . " The sentence following upon this indiscreet brother ' s conviction Avas humiliating enough : " That he be suspended from his office for two months from date hereof ; and that upon the first monthl y meeting after this term is

expired he shall in open lodge read the following words : ' I have been guilty of a crime highly prejudicial to the good order of society , and the interest of St . Paul ' s Lodge ; and I declare this to be a proof of my contrition , aud hope it may

be a warning to all members , and in case of a complaint that they may lay it in a legal manner before an open lodge , and not to be misled by

those who neither consider their own nor the interest of the lodge . " In 1819 three brethren of the same lodge had sentence of expulsion pronounced upon them for refusing , while on a visit to a sister lodge , to reply on behalf of their mother

lodge when toasted from the chair . TAVO of the delinquents , whose excessive modesty had in this instance led to their " dishonouring " their own lodge , afterwards acknowledged their " crime , " sought forgiveness , and were restored to their

place in the lodge . Not less absurd and unconstitutional was the act of the Lodge Mauchline St . Mungo Avhen some forty years ago it summarily expelled one of its sons for refusing when the lodge Avas sitting on " refreshment , " to drink to " the Duke of Wellington "—the toast having

been proposed at a timo when that great man was , as a politician and head of the Ministry , very unpopular Avith a large proportion of his felloAVcountrymen . HoAvever strange it may seem , the brother

subjected to discipline in the last-mentioned case failed to exercise his right of appeal to the higher court . Perhaps this course was out of respect for an old law of the Craft ( 1605 ) Avhich we introduced to notice through these pages some time

ago : — " . . the deakin and Craft forsd hes maid this act to stand in tyme cuming , that qlk of thame effcer they be poindit for ony just fait or occasion , accourding to the auld ordour , males ony murmouring or impediment in court , that murmourer sail pay ane dubill unlaw unforgevin to the dekin and to the Craft . "

At the period to which the preceding cases refer , the charges upon which lodge trials proceeded Avere Avont to be remitted to a Committee of Investigation , Avhose sealed report upon the case , signed by each member , was submitted to

the ensuing monthly communication of the lodge . The accused , if objecting to the decision of this committee , had the privilege , in open lodge , of defending his cause ; he was then required to retire to the adjacent while the subject of complaint

Avas being discussed , and the vote taken . The latter step was gone about with great solemnity . Beginning at the senior member present , each brother , at the invitation of the Master , rose in succession , and placing his hand upon his heart ,

and addressing the chair , delivered his opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused , and approval of' or dissent from the sentence , if any , that had been proposed by the