Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.

EARS OF WHEAT FROM A CORNUCOPIA .

LONDON , SATURDAY , HARCS 1 , 1868 .

By Pro . D . HURRAY LYOS" , A . M ., Masonic University of Kentucky , U . S . ; Corresponding Member of the Union of German Freemasons , Leipsic ; one of the ( h'and Stewards ¦ in the Grand Lodge of Scotland ; author of the " History of Mother Kilivinning , " § 'c . ( Continued from vol . xvi . page 382 . )

LODGE SEALS . The " Cosmopolitan" is tiie pioneer of Scottish Freemasonry in the Celestial Empire . It was chartered in March , 1864 , on the petition of certain

brethren then resident in Shanghai , its chief promoter being Bro . 0 . Melville Donaldson , who was also its first Master . Bro . Donaldson is possessed of rare Masonic talent and zeal , and is widely known and respected not only in China but also

in this country , particularly in the western metropolis , where the recollection of his Masonic services is still fresh in the memory of its Craftsmen , who , on Bro . Donaldson ' s return to the East in 1861 , gave public expression to their sense of

his distinguished merit as a Mason and as an officebearer in the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow . The design of the seal of No . 428 is in

strict harmony with the name of the lodge . It is noteworthy—as showing the catholicity of feeling by which in their efforts to advance Freemasonry the brethren in China are characterised—that at the consecration of the " Cosmopolitan" there

were present representatives of the English and American lodges at work within the district , and that the installation of the Master elect was performed by an English Past Master . The seal of " Ayr Kilwinning" forms the

subject of our next illustration . The dove with olive branch , though not a recognised emblem in St . John's Masonry , may be viewed as indicative of the peaceful mission of the Order . The columns depictured on this seal , which are not those of

Craft Masonry , may , along with the arch by which they are united , have been introduced less perhaps with the view of conveying any emblematic meaning than from a desire on the part of the draughtsman to give graceful proportion to the design , The Lodge Ayr Kilwinning came into existence at

the instance of a number of " domatique" Masons ,, members of the Ayr Squaremen Incorporation holding under Royal Charter granted in 1555-6 ., who being desirous of practising Speculative Masonry applied for and obtained from Mother

Kilwinning , in 1765 , a charter of erection under the designation of the " Air Squaremen Kilwinning " Lodge . It joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1771 , when " Squaremen" was dropped from its title , and-No . 163 assigned to it , subsequently

altered to 123 , and again to 124 . It is the oldest of the Ayr lodges , and ranks seventh on the Provincial Grand Lodge roll . As has already been shown in these pages , Ayr Kilwinning was at

several periods of its existence governed by brethren whose names are embalmed in the writings of Coila ' s Bard ; its mallet was wielded too by Macadam the famed roadmaker ; and the late Lord Alloway , whose . sarcophagus will be

remembered by those of our readers who have visited Alloway's auld haunted kirk , was for many years a leading member of Ayr Kilwinning . This lodge still occupies a respectable position among the sister lodges , and its fame seems to have reached

the neutral world ; for on the occasion of a recent visit to its hall we were witness to the raising of seven "Welshmen , whose petition for admission had been granted on the recommendation of the Master of the ship to which they belonged .

" MOTHEE " KILWINNING . Our excellent friend Bro . Buchan wishes for information as to the date at which the appellation of "Mother" came to be associated with the Lodge of Kilwinning , Various are the names by