His bent form trembling neath the chills of wo,
Adown his furrow'd cheek the salt tears flow;
The rude winds sport amid his scanty hairs,
The young-the jocund-seldom heed his prayers!

But once it was not so:-his vig'rous form
Could well sustain life's changing sky, and storm ;-
His open hand was stretched to aid the weak,
His step was first misfortune's haunts to seek,
His heart was kindly as the genial sun,-
But now his useful race is nearly run.
His form ye cannot renovate again,
Nor o'er Destruction's work success attain;
For it will steal, remorseless, span by span,
Till it has made its own the clay of man!
But round the noble ruin ye can raise
Fair walls, to shelter in its failing days-
Like some loved relic of imperial Rome,
Shrine it within the precincts of a HOME!
He is your Brother!-shall he shiv'ring stand,
While Masons have a voice-a heart-a hand?
Ye have done much to memorize the name-
Rear now the highest pillar of your fame,
THE "OLD MAN'S REFUGE IN declining years,"
And earn a title to his grateful tears.

Oh, Love fraternal !-principle divine !-
One touch of thee makes erring nature shine
With the pure radiance of angelic grace,
That ting'd with glory Adam's undimm'd face,-
Bids strife depart to reign with fools and slaves,
Whose creeds are narrow as their joys and graves!
By thy bless'd power, behold one common bond
More wonders working than a fairy's wand-
Columbia, Albion, Caledonia, Gaul,

Erin and Cambria, bid their banners fall :-
ALL lands wherein thy influence is felt,

Into one universal nation melt!

The tawny SAVAGE-nature's unschool'd child,
But half develop'd-by his impulse wild

Is taught to love thee as the source of good,
And build thine altar in his deep green wood;
Then, sinks his hatred to the "pale faced" race
Within the mystic folds of thy embrace.
The NOBLE, of fair lands and lofty name,
Deems thee the dearest portion of his fame :
Bright deeds achiev'd beneath his knightly vow,
Adorn him well, but thine shall crown his brow;
The PEASANT's hand he grasps in faith sincere,
And holds his rights as his own honor dear!

How doth thy voice, oh Love fraternal! pierce
Through the dull brain of Interest, factions fierce,
Customs corrupt, from time's abuses stor'd,
And o'er the Million like a plague-spot poured:
As flies the pen that dares be true and free,
Sending its missives over land and sea.
When he whose mind of light, with courage bold,
Alike the clown and scholar's annals told,
Bade "Lord and Beggar," with no fav'ring hand,
Stand forth in bold relief at his command,

Thy spirit nerved him in his noble aim,

And thou shalt bless him more than all his fame.

The SOLDIER, too, though deck'd with laurels, won By his unfaltering arm, not yet has doneHe must not rest while Veteran heads are bare, They challenge him, and he has learn'd to dare! Not now his sword must fly its scabbard's hold, He wins the battle when their cause is told: Victorious RIGHT a bloodless triumph gains, He an unspotted coronal attains!

And ye, who skilful to assuage the pains, The irksome heritage each mortal gains, No drug like Love fraternal e'er will find So apt to heal the sickness of mankind

No famed elixir to prolong the span

E'er death shall close the short career of man

Like HOME's dear comfort, earn'd, in days gone by,
Before the nipping hand of Want was nigh,

By lib'ral deeds in holy Mercy's name,
Whene'er a Brother felt misfortune's bane.

When the Great Architect earth's fabric piled, With skill divine, from atoms floating wild, For meanest creature of creation's morn, He made a shelter from the coming storm: The leaf the fragile insect safe embowered, Within a rock the panting tiger cower'd, The finny tribes their coral caverns sought, The birds the mossy dell's soft bosom caught, And ALL were cared for in the wondrous scheme, Too high-too mighty-for a mortal's theme! Though we must mourn that human skill still fails Perfection's mark to reach, it yet avails To feebly shadow forth the Art supreme— CREATION!-like the dimness of a dream, Imperfect; or the semblance of a truth But ill develop'd, as the thews of youth.

That structure is at fault, abortive, void,
Or by a passing gale too soon destroy'd,
Whose base extends not on a just design,

Where Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, all combine-
Wisdom, whose piercing eye beholds the end-
Strength, that unswerving principles can lend ;
Beauty, whose form harmonious ever charms,
And cynic Discontent at once disarms!
Then, shall the moral fabric Masons teach,
Be long deform'd by an unsightly breach-
The vacant spot whereon the "OLD MAN'S HOME"
Should raise to heaven its venerable dome,
To point Time's finger to ONE sacred spot
Where man his Brothers' wants had not forgot!

ONE voice her summons sends to bid ye speed,
For reverend heads a peaceful shelter need,
Fraternal Love, her aged votaries' cause
Pleads with a fervor that admits no pause!
Then take your "level" (Justice!) and supply
A minaret, that, tow'ring to the sky,
Shall nobly crown fair Charity's abode,
And rest the weary pilgrim on his road
To the bright land where Mercy's deeds are sung
With raptur'd eloquence by old and young.

-London F. Q. Review.

INSTALLATION AT PAWTUCKET, R. I.

A CORRESPONDENT at Pawtucket writes:-"The officers of Pawtucket R. A. Chapter and Union Lodge, took place on the evening of Nov. 3d,—after which the Brethren with their ladies and invited friends, sat down to a sumptuous supper, prepared in the lower hall of the Temple. Upwards of one hundred were present at the table. Appropriate sentiments were offered by a number of the Brethren, and the company retired from the hall at an early hour-all cheerful and happy.

The Lodge, Chapter and Council are all doing a good business. We intend to persevere with zeal, fortitude and prudence.

The preliminary steps have been taken to form an Encampment: you will probably hear from it very soon.

Yours, fraternally,

J. T. G."

The names of the officers forwarded, will be found under the appropriate head. Our Brethren in Pawtucket manifest a lively zeal in the interests of the Order, and we wish them a corresponding success.

EULOGIUM

UPON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF COMP. HON. THOMAS L. HAMER. Delivered before the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of the State of Ohio, at Columbus, Sept. 16, 1847. By Comp. A. DEATH, G. P.

DEATH is the universal doom. The flowers of the valley spring up, bloom for a while in all their variegated beauty and loveliness, but perish when the gray livery of autumn is thrown over the face of Nature. The oak, which at all times, and in all seasons, has afforded shelter alike to bird and beast, and through whose branches the winds of Heaven have whistled for centuries, is at last prostrated by the resistless tornado. Man himself, whom God has distinguished above all the works of His hand, and who stands proud lord of creation's realms, has within him the seeds of death, and finally yields to that stroke which severs him from friends and life, and consigns him to the quiet of oblivion.

The sun tarries not in his course ;-each breaking morn-each radiant noonand each shadowy eve, hurrying on, admonish us that time knows no delay.

The merry spring-the glowing summer-the golden autumn, and the chill snowy winter-all tell us that time is rapidly fleeting by, and that we too shall soon have passed away. We look around, decay meets our view at every glance, and the monuments of the great are on every hand.

"Yes,

The dead are every where

The mountain side, the sea, the woods profound,

All the wide earth-the fertile and the fair

Is one vast burial ground."

These, my Brethren, are melancholy reflections; and melancholy is the occasion which calls them forth.

Much more consonant would it have been to my feelings, to have been relieved the task which I am now endeavoring to discharge, and to have been a listener merely, to the words of one who, better than myself, could do justice to the life and character of our lamented and venerated friend and Brother, THOMAS L. HAMER.

In conformity with a resolution of the Council of which he died a member, and in consequence of the office I have the honor to hold among you, it became me to select a Brother to perform this sad duty.

In this I have failed, since all to whom application has been made, and in whose abilities I could with confidence rely, have been precluded by a pressure of duties, to comply with my wishes. Hence it will be seen that it is not through egotism, or love of self-display, that I have undertaken to pronounce a passing tribute to the memory of that individual, whose memory is yet fresh in the minds of all present, and whose name will not perish with the perishing of his body.

To speak at large upon the qualities of his character, the posts of honor and trust to which he was called through life, and the fidelity with which he discharged all his duties, would be beyond my province on the present occasion. These points have been fully discussed by other and abler hands, and it would be a work of supererogation to add any thing further. Nevertheless, my Brethren, there are a few particulars which we may review with interest and profit.

His early life demands a notice. He was born in the State of Pennsylvania, and came to this country when but thirteen years of age. Then, all was a wilderness. Nothing but the axe of the newly arrived settler broke the deep stillness-nothing was seen to tell that man was there, save the lonely cabin, emiting its wreaths of blue and slowly curling smoke.

Now, how changed the scene! The unbroken forest no longer meets the view. The keen, shrill crack of the rifle no longer startles the timid deer, nor echoes over hill and valley; but fine farms with their neat and beautiful farm

houses, churches, school houses, and villages, are scattered all around, and smiling plenty covers the land.

Amid such scenes and such difficulties as the former, our departed Brother became not discouraged. His was a lofty mind. Not content simply with felling the forest and cultivating the soil, he determined to attend to the cultivation of his mind. His memory he exercised continually-his judgment he improved on every occasion, in examining every object and subject-and his imagination he planted in the Heavens, subjecting it to the high and holy influences of its pure and silent lights, and causing it to manifest the greatest vitality and vigor in its upward aspirations.

From Butler he removed to Brown county, still continuing to cultivate all his moral and mental powers. At the age of twentythree he was admitted to the bar. Here he not only distinguished himself, but he distinguished his profession. He not only became familiar with the rules of the practice of law, but he compassed its extent and fathomed its profoundest depths.

When we consider his extreme youth, my Brethren, we may well deem this a compliment of no inferior kind to his talents and character. With some men, law is a trade, with others, it is a science--with him it was both. He aimed at mighty things, and he achieved mighty things; he shot at the sun, and, while he did not reach the object of his aim, he soared high above others, and accomplished things far beyond what he would have done had he only aimed at the earth. His mind was one of remarkable energy and boldness. He acted upon the motto, "Man is the architect of his own fortune."

"I seek what's to be sought

I learn what's to be taught-
I beg the rest of Heaven."

When others were perplexed, he was clear; when others doubted, he believed; and where others were vassals, he was a king. With an apt conception of the powers of mind, a complete knowledge of human passion, and an almost exhaustless fund of information, he won laurels for his brow, which none but himself could justly and worthily wear.

He stooped not to ask man, or winds, or waves, or mountains, or seas, how he should act; but with a resolution that knew no restraint, an ardor that could not be quenched, he put to flight the hosts of phantoms and hobgoblins which fear conjures up in feebler minds, and went on to honor and to victory.

Subsequently he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature, and he became also Speaker of the House of Representatives. At this period party politics ran high, and it was thought by many that he would not succeed in the office which had been bestowed upon him. Fortunately, however, for himself, and quite unexpectedly to his political opponents, he discharged the duties of his office with the utmost propriety and grace.

Of his election as a member of Congress, it seems unnecessary to speak in detail.

All know with what perfect security he held the good will of his constituents, and with what strict fidelity he discharged the duties of his station.

The lures of political ambition, and the blandishments of polished society, never for once tempted him to stray from that path which the original bent of his gentus had assigned him.

Duty was his guiding star-this he followed through life, and by it was led to fame and distinction.

At the age of twentyfive, he became a member of the Masonic Order. To say that he stood high in the estimation of his Brethren, is only reiterating a fact which has already been stated by others, and with which most of you present are familiar.

In every relation which he sustained, he observed the most scrupulous adherence to the tenets and principles of the Order; and at a time, too, when darkness began to cloud the minds of many of the Brethren, and despair to fill their hearts,