THE FAREWELL.
[Bro. R. BURNS, P.M.]
Adieu! a heart-warm, fond adieu,
Dear brothers of the mystic tie!
Ye favour'd, ye enlighten'd few,
Companions of my social joy.
Though I to foreign lands must hie,
Pursuing fortune's slidd'ry ba',
With melting heart and brimful eye,
I'll mind you still, though far awa'.
Oft have I met your social band,
And spent the cheerful, festive night; Oft, honour'd with supreme command, Presided o'er the sons of light; And by that hieroglyphic bright,
Which none but craftsmen ever saw; Strong memory of my heart shall write Those happy scenes when far awa'.
May freedom, harmony, and love
Ünite you in the grand design,
Beneath th' omniscient Eye above,
The glorious Architect divine!
That you may keep th' unerring line,
Still rising by the plummet's law,
Till order bright completely shine,
Shall be my prayer when far awa'.
And you, farewell! whose merits claim,
Justly, that highest badge to wear.
Heaven bless your honour'd, noble name,
To masonry and Scotia dear!
A last request permit me here,
When yearly ye assembled are,
One round, I ask it with a tear,
To him, the bard that's far awa'.
BELIEVE ME IF EVERY STRANGE
SYMBOL AND SIGN.
[Bro. J. E. CARPENTER, P.M.]
Believe me if every strange symbol and sign
Which we gazed on so fondly to-night
Convey'd not some moral, some lesson divine,
We would banish them all from our sight:
As they ever have been, may they still be adored,
Though the world, un-masonic, condemn,
While to us they such precepts of virtue afford,
Or our actions are govern'd by them.
"Tis not the mere form of the compass and
That to us does such rapture impart;
No! 'tis the deep moral inculcated there
That is stamp'd on each Freemason's heart.
Oh! a lodge of Freemasons, where'er it may be,
Is the dwelling of brotherly love ;-
There are none who in thought or in action can flee
From the all-seeing Eye that's above!
Bro. J. E. CARPENTER, P.M.]
[Music by the late Bro. J. HARROWAY.
Oh! three times three is a mystery
That none but a Mason's allowed to see,
But three times three is a mighty thrall
That an echo meets in the breast of all;
Then fill the cup and I'll give the test
Of a Mason's craft-you know the rest;
Here's a health to all Masons wherever they be,
With a loud huzza! and a three times three!
Come join with me, let the toast go free,
Here's a health to all Masons with three times
Three times three! is there one would shrink
From a temperate glass to his Queen to drink?
May her mind be as pure and her soul as blest
As the tenets enshrined in a Mason's breast;
May the One who rules even queens above,
Instruct her in virtue, in peace, and love;
For a Mason's prayer and his toast shall be
A health to his Queen with three times three!
Come join with me, &c.
Oh! three times three shall the token be
Of friendship-obedience-fidelity;
For 'tis friendship that brother to brother should bear,
And obedience a Mason show everywhere:
Fidelity-virtue the purest, the best,
By Providence planted in every breast,
While these are combined, in full glasses with me Drink to our Grand Master with three times three! Come join with me, &c.
THE NEW ENTERED APPRENTICE'S
[Bro. J. E. CARPENTER, P.M.]
Come let us be gay
And join in the lay,
I have one that will suit the occasion,
While the temperate glass
Is permitted to pass
In this lodge of the mystic persuasion.
Here's a health to the last
Who the portal has pass'd,
Let him find that we love one another,
For, if worthy our choice,
Should we not rejoice
That to-day we may claim a new brother?
To show him our plan
As far as we can,
Let each strive to vie with his neighbour, And cause him to feel
The joys we reveal
When repose has succeeded to labour.
Perchance he has laugh'd
Ere he enter'd the craft
At the apron, the square, and the gavel; But now he's found out
What they all are about,
At our symbols no longer he'll cavil.
The world he will view
In a different hue,
And ev'rything put a bright face on;
But he doesn't know yet
All the knowledge he'll get
In the secrets that make a Freemason.
An apprentice is he,
But he'll presently see
If he'll steadfastly work in his station;
The wherefore and why
The humble may vie
With the noble and great of the nation.
In a Mason's estate,
To be good's to be great,
Abjuring the world and all evil.
We banish all care,
For we meet on the square,
And we all of us part on the level,
In charity's cause
We Masons ne'er pause,-
'Tis our maxim to serve one another;
So, all who're distress'd
May, if worthy, be bless'd,
For we never desert a true brother.
If those who're in pain
Our secrets to gain,
Should ask him what good we've been doing,
He may point to our rules,
Our asylums and schools,
And our aged and poor kept from ruin.
Then join hands again,
One more link in the chain
Is the enter'd apprentice before us;
May he long bless the night
That he first saw the light,
And long live to join in our chorus.
OH! BANQUET NOT IN THIS FESTIVE SCENE.
[Bro. J. E. CARPENTER, P.M.]
Oh! banquet not in this festive scene,
Where craftsmen meet in bright array,
Unless, remembering what they've been,
Ye think of those who're far away;
For many but know "a feast of tears."
And while the gen'rous wine we pour,
Our guests and friends of former years
May meet like us in lodge no more.
Then, that the cup the sweeter be,
Nor thorns beset our festal flowers,
Forget not heaven-born charity
Befits a Mason's lodge like ours.
The giver and the gift is bless'd
If what we give be freely given,
But he who pities the distress'd
And gives not, mocks the truths of Heaven!
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