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lUrpI Pofittc JWttutimr far ( Skirls , ST . JOHN'S HILL , BATTERSEA RISE , S . W . Chief Patroness : HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN . Grand Patron and President : H . R . HIGHNESS THE PKINCE OF WALES , K . G ., & c , M . W . G . M . Grand Patroness : HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES . A QUARTERLY GENERAL COURT of the Governors and Subscribers of this Institution will bo heltl in tho Hall of tho FKKEMASONS ' TATEIHT , Great Queen Street , Lincoln ' s Inn Fields , London , on Saturday , 9 th October 1 S 8 G , at Twelve o ' clock precisely , on the General Business of the Institution , to consider Notices of Motion , as under , and to elect 10 Girls into tho School from a list of 33 approved Candidates . Tho Election will commenco at Ono o ' clock ( or after tho usual Business is over ) : — NOTICES OF MOTIONBy Bro . HORACE B . MAKSHATX , J . P ., P . G . Treasurer , Patron : — " That on the death of any Life Governor or Subscribor his executors shall , during tho current financial year , he entitled to receive and sign tho Voting Paper such deceased Life Govornor or Subscriber would havo been entitled to had he been still living . And that tho laws of tho Institution bo amended accordingly . " Upon' recommendation of tho Houso Committee , by Bro . HENBY A . HUNT , Vice-President : — "Thafc tho Houso Committee bo authorised to expend tho balance ofthe Grant of 9 th January last , together with a sum not exceeding £ 500 , in tho erection of a boundary wall along two sides of the newly-acquired land . " By Bro . JOHN E . LE FEUVRE D . Prov . G . M . Hants and I . W ., Vice-President : — To come after Article G of Law 51 as an additional clause : — " Every petition on behalf of a Candidate whose father was initiated in a Province should , whore possible , bo accompanied by a recommendation from tho Provincial Grand Secretary of such Province , who shall bo invited to give his opinion on the circumstances of tho case for the guidance of the General Committee . "Jn the event of the petitioner being nnablo to procure such recommendation and expression of opinion , tho fact shall bo stated in tho petition , with the grounds for such inability , and if deemed sufficient by the Committee , it may , at their discretion , be dispensed with . " F . R . W . HEDGES , Secretary . 5 Freemasons' Hall , Great Queen Street , London , W . O . 2 nd October 1886 .

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Masonic Poetry Of America.

MASONIC POETRY OF AMERICA .

IT is natural for Freemasons to sing : they have sung from the beginning , and will sing to the end . Their song betokens a happy spirit and a merry heart . When

labour is over , and refreshment is begun , then listen for the pi ping notes of peace and harmony in the Craft . We doubt whether there was ever an instance of Freemasons

surrounding the mahogany after the close of a Lodge , when vocal music did not contribute to the pleasure of the brethren . It is as natural for Freemasons to sing as to labour . The brethren taking thus kindly to minstrelsy , of

course there has been no lack of Masonic poetry for them to sing . Eight sorry are we to admit , however , that the majorit y of Masonic poets appear to have been made rather than bom . As a rule their song's do not sing themselves ,

but have to be surip ; , and then are sometimes halting 1 . Mendelssohn made a song without words , but many a Mnson has made words without a song . And how rusrsred in thought , as well as in language , some of them are ! No

old book on Masonry was published without its appendix of Masonic songs . We have before us a work of some dignity—the first " Ahiman Kezon " published in Pennsylvania , by order of the Grand Lodge , edited by Grand

Secretary , the Rev . Bro . Wm . Smith , D . D ., and printed in 1783 , by Hal ! and Sellers . The second song , on page 117 , is entitled " The Progress of Masonry . " We quote four of its twenty stanzas :

Pray lend me your ears , my dear Brethren , awhile , Full sober my sense , tho' joking toy style ; I sing of preat wonders unknown to all those Who stutter in verse , or who hobble in prose . Berry down , down , clown derry clown . Then earth aud the heaveus with jubilee rung , And all tho creation of Masonry sang j

Masonic Poetry Of America.

When , lo ! to complete and adorn the gay ball , Old Adam was made the Grand Master of all . But Satan met Eve when she was a gadding , And set her ( as since all her daughters ) a madding j To find out the secrets of Freemasonry , She ato of the fruit of the forbidden tree .

Then as she was filled with high-flowing fancies , As e ' er was fond girl who deals in romances , She thought her with knowledge sufficiently cramm'd , And said to her spouse , My dear , eat and bo d d . But there is something more finished than this song in

; he volume to which we have referred , and singularly Miongh it springs from America . It is an " Ode for the festival of St . John the Evangelist , in South Carolina ,

1772 , composed by the Most Worshipful , the Honourable Sir Egerton Loigb , Baronet , Grand Master , set to music jy Brother Peter Valton . " We quote several stanzas irom this poem :

Boast not , mortals , human skill , If the sculptur'd dome you raise , Works of art , by fancy ' s will , Lead us oft through folly ' s maze .

What if Phidias' chisel guide ? What if Titian ' s pencil grace ' , ? Marble flatters but our prido , Banc of all the human race .

Let the diamond s lustre blaze , Call its water bright and clear , But confess tho greatest praise Bests on pity ' s tender tear .

May the social virtues bind , Tune each sympathetic heart , Kaise the feeble , lead the blind . Wipe the tear that swells to part .

The next stanza is quite a patriotic prophecy : Blessings await this Western Land , Blessings o ' erflow with liberal hand . Commerce upreara our infant state ,

And golden currents make us great : Fair Science lifts her head and cries , " I'll come to make you good and wise ; These be the glories of each day , Marking our Monarch ' s gentle sway . "

Now let us come down to a later period . There are two American Masonic poets who have gained the attention of the Masonic world : these are , Past Grand Master Brother Rob Morris , of Kentucky , and Bro . David Barker , of Maine—the latter deceased , the former living . Bro . Morris

has , by universal consent in America , been styled and crowned " Masonic Poet-Laureate . " Thirty-two years ago he composed his masterpiece , " The Level and the Square , " which is familiarly known and admired wherever Masonry is known ; and since then he has written hundreds of

Masonic poems and songs , which are only less beautiful and striking than it . Two years ago our now venerable Brother collected all of his Masonic poems into a handsome

volume ( they had previously been published in smaller ones ) , which we are glad to know is meeting with a fair sale , and is undoubtedly the best volume of poetry ever written for the Craft . *

The Fraternity lias just been favoured with a new edition of the poems of another gifted Brother , David Barker , f the author of " The Sign of Distress , " the second most popular Masonic poem in the English language . We need not quote the excellent langnage of either Barker ' s " The

Sign of Distress , " or Morris ' s " The Level and the Square , " for both are indelibly impressed upon the minds , and have touched the hearts , of every Craftsman . Bnt Bro . Barker wrote other poems of nearl y equal merit . We quote a simple but beautiful " Ode : "

Ho , worthy Craftsmen all , Up cheerily to your toil While strength is given j Strike hokllv for tbo ri'tat .

Drive error from your si _ rhfc , Grasp virtue with your might , And trust in Heaven . By Trowel , PIninb and Square , By watchfulness and prayer , Our Temple rose ,