Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.

EARS OF WHEAT FROM A CORNUCOPIA .

LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 1 G , 1867 .

By Bro . D . MURRAY LYON , yl . il / ., Masonic- University of Kentuclcy , U . S . ; Corresponding Memher of the Union of German Freemasons , Lei ) isic ; one of the Grand Stewards in the Grand Lodge of Scotland ,- author of the " History of Mother Kihcinning , " fyc .

MASONIC SEALS . ( Continued from page -302 . ) Of the charters that have been returned to the Grand Lodge of Scotland , that under which Burns was initiated is pre-eminently the most interesting .

Of the existing- links associating the name of Burns Avith Freemasonry , the Lodge St . James Kilwinning ( No . 135 ) is the brightest and most enduring , the * 'heart-Avarin , fond adieu" of the bard having rendered it so . This lodge was

instituted in 1771 , but , in 1773 , a disruption of its membership resulted in the birth of Lodge St . David ( No . 174 ) . Both lodges continued to work independently of each other until , in 1781 , a reconciliation of the estranged brethren led to a

coalition of the rival lodges under the more recently conferred charter , and in this united lodge Avas the poet received into the bosom of the mystic "brotherhood . The'hopes of the peacemaker were in this instance but imperfectly realised , for in less than a year after Bums'' initiation his mother lodge was rent in tAvain , when he , along Avith other

congenial spirits , re-erectmg the long-neglected altar of the sister lodge , had ere long the satisfaction of seeing St . James ' s become the centre of attraction to the Avorth and intelligence of the Craft in its more immediate neighbourhood . St .

David ' s also held on its way , the then Sheriff of Ayrshire and other brethren of quality remaining in connection with it ; and the two lodges , forgetting their former jealousies , paid and received visits of ceremony the one with the other for a

considerable period . When in' the heyday of prosperity St . David's had branches Avorking under its authority in the villages of Prestwick ancl Kirkmichael , Ayrshire . At length , however , its management was shared in by brethren not over anxious about

the dispensation of Masonic li ght , the adjacent and lodge room alike became deserted , and after a prolonged , but in many respects inglorious , career , it Avas in 1843 declared dormant by the Grand Lodge , from having failed to implement the conditions upon Avhich it Avas instituted . Its charter having been retained , Avas surreptitiously removed

from the charter chest , and all trace of it lost for several years . It was ultimately recovered , but only to receive the indignity of being , along Avith the Masonic records penned under its authority , advertised iu the newspapers for private sale—an

act Avhich may charitably be supposed to have been done more through ignorance than from any intention to bring a reproach upon Freemasomy . The contemplated sale having at the instance of the writer been interdicted by legal authority , the

charter—the only document Avhich the Grand Lodge considered itself entitled to recover—was in July , 1861 , surrendered to commissioners Avho by appointment of the P . G . M . had gone to

Tarbolton to compel its restitution . It is now preserved in the archives of the Grand Lodge , that body having declined to accede to a request that the Lodge St . James should be alloAved to become its custodier . The records and other property

belonging to No . 174 have become the property of the representatives of certain of the brethren in Avhose possession they Avere at the time the charter was returned . St . David ' s banner ancl clothinghave long since fallen a prey to the importunities

of Masonic relic hunters . The seal of Burns ' mother lodge , from an impression of Avhich our illustration is taken , has been inherited by Bro . Neil Murchie , of xVyr . St . Paul .

The three great lights of Masonry , the starry hosts , Avith their king and queen , the : Mosaic pavement ( rather roughly delineated ) , the plumb and trowel , are all appropriate enough bearings on the seal of a Craft lodge ; so are the columns ,

only their design is not that of the pillars of the porch . The initial in the centre of the pentalpha may point to faith , fidelity , or fortitude , or it may be regarded as indicative of the number of points of which the figure Avith Avhich it is incorporated

is composed . The Lodge St . James Kilwinning , Tarbolton , having already had in these pages a niche accorded to it as one of the most famous of the KilAvinning