living with his father at the farm of Lochlea, in the parish of Tarbolton. A few days after his initiation, he proceeded to Irvine to learn the art of flax-dressing, with the view of being able to dress the flax which he and his brother had proposed to raise on his father's farm. It has been stated in some publications that he was made a Mason in one of the Lodges of Irvine; but I see no reason whatever to believe that such was the case. It is certain that neither the Irvine Lodge St. Andrew, nor the Lodge Navigation, which now meets at Troon, but which at the time belonged to Irvine, returned him to the Grand Lodge as an entrant. It is by no means unlikely that he attended some of the meetings of these Lodges during his residence at Irvine, which, according to some authorities, extended to a period of six months; but, according to the testimony of his sister, Mrs Begg, to a period of nine months. The evidence of the books of the dormant or defunct Lodge of St. David ought to settle all dispute on this point, and these state that he was entered, in this Lodge, at the time I have stated; and further, that he was there passed and raised on the 1st of October of the same year, most likely during a short visit which he paid to his relatives at Lochlea. Burns, at the time of initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry, was an active and intelligent young man. He had read a number of the books then usually to be found in the cottages of the Scottish peasantry, and he had improved his mind and his skill in composition, by carrying on an extensive epistolary correspondence with his acquaintance. On the November previous to his being made a Mason, he had assisted at the formation of a debating society at Tarbolton, called the "Bachelors' Club," and had the honour of being elected its first president. In speaking of this period of his life, he says:"Poetry was still a darling walk for my mind; but it was only indulged in according to the humour of the hour. I had usually half a dozen or more pieces on hand. took up one or other as it suited the momentary tone of the mind, and dismissed the work as it bordered on fatigue. I In My passions, when once lighted up, raged like so many devils till they got vent in rhyme, and then the conning over my verses, like a spell, soothed all into quiet." mental acquirements he was, no doubt, superior to the greater part of his associates, but his condition was strictly that of a ploughmen or farm labourer. From his earliest years, he had been incessantly engaged in the various employments necessary on a farm, and his wages never exceeded six or seven pounds per annum. The keen sensibility and social temperament of Burns, fitted him to enter with enthusiasm into the business of Freemasonry. He had a heart that glowed with intense reverence and love towards all the objects and manifestations of external nature. The hills, the glades, the woods, the streams, the fragrant birch, ""the milk-white thorn," the mountain daisy, "wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower," and all the vicissitudes of the varied year were dear to him, and he has sung their charms in undying strains. With the lower orders of animated existence he had the 66 warmest sympathy. He has set forth the noble qualities of his dog, Luath, his pet lamb, Mailie, his auld grey mare, Maggie, with a playful tenderness that fascinates every reader. He looked with pity on the timorous mouse, which the destructive ploughshere had dispossessed of its little nest, and the hare limping past him which some cruel sportsman had wounded. While he contemplated the storms and desolation of winter, he thought with compassion "On the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide the brattle O' winter war. and then made the feeling inquiry "Ilk happing bird, wee helpless thing, What comes o' thee? Whare wilt thou cower thy chittering wing, An' close thy e'e?" But Burns, above all, had a warm and an abiding love to the whole brotherhood of man. He entered keenly into their woes, wants, and struggles-no less than into their joys, amusements, and festivities. Nothing connected with humanity was indifferent to him; but the kind sympathies of his nature were specially drawn to the poor but honest man, maintaining a hard conflict with this world's ills, and needing the helping hand of his fellowmortals. And hence he says "Affliction's sons are brothers in distress; A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss! In A man with a heart so full of love to every object around him, and with a mind elevated and refined by cultivation, and taught to look up with reverence to the Great Creator and Preserver of all, could not fail to be a good and a zealous Mason. He could eagerly enter into an examination of the sublime principles of our Order, and feel a high gratification in practising its beneficent requirements. the Mason's Lodge, he would find an extension of the family. circle, and a noble field for the display of those kindly and fraternal feelings which the Almighty had planted in his breast, and which he had been taught to evince and to cherish at his father's fireside. He would enjoy social intercourse with the most generous and intelligent men of the district, and engage in those rational festivities which Masonry sanctions and which serve to knit the heart of man more closely to his brother man. From these circumstances, we would naturally conclude that Burns would take a deep interest in Freemasonry; and that he actually did so, is evident from his constant attendance at the meetings of the Lodge. For some years, it is supposed. that he was scarcely ever absent when the brethren assembled to carry on the work of Masonry. His father died in the month of February, 1784, harassed and broken down by poverty, and the vexation arising from a law-suit, into which he had entered with his landlord, regarding the terms of the lease of his farm. This event induced Burns and his brother Gilbert to take a lease of the farm of Mossgiel, in the parish of Mauchline, from Mr Gavin Hamilton; and accordingly they took possession of this place in the month of March following. By this means, the residence of the Poet was removed several miles from Tarbolton; but this did not slacken his zeal in the cause of Masonry, or prevent his attendance at the meetings of the Lodge. He was elected DeputyMaster in July, 1784, and held this office for several years. In this capacity, he frequently appended his name to the minutes. For instance, in 1785, his signature appears at the minutes on the 29th June, the 20th July, the 2nd and 18th August, the 15th September, the 26th October, the 10th November, and the 1st and 7th December, thus shewing that he attended nine meetings in the course of half a year. He was present, and most likely officiated, on the first of March, 1786, when his brother Gilbert was entered, past, and raised. It was about this time that he got into difficulties, arising from his imprudent connection with Jean Armour —an era in his history well known to all the readers of his works. Her father refused to sanction the clandestine marriage which they had contracted, and had uncoupled, as the Bard himself expresses it, the merciless pack of the law at his heels. The farming speculation into which he had entered after his father's death, along with his brother Gilbert, had, besides, from bad harvests, and perhaps from bad management, proved unprofitable, and he had incurred the warm resentment of the Old Light, or Evangelical, party in his neighbourhood, by the severe castigations which he had given several of their leaders on their peculiarities and improprieties. He was forced, as he tells us, to skulk from place to place to avoid being thrown into a jail; and it may easily be conceived that his condition was most wretched; and, indeed, several poems, composed at this time, such as "The Lament," the odes to "Despondency" and "Ruin," furnish the most conclusive evidence that this was the case. His attendance at the Lodge during the summer was therefore very irregular. He was present, however, at meetings. on the 7th and 15th of June. A somewhat curious proposition was laid before the Lodge on the latter occasion, which is thus stated in the minutes :-"It was proposed by the Lodge, that, as they much wanted a lodge-room, a proposal be laid before the heritors, who are intending to build a steeple here, that the Lodge will contribute to the building of a lodge-room, as the basis of that steeple; and that, from the funds of the Lodge, they offer fifteen pounds, besides what will be advanced from the particular friends. of the Lodge. In order that this proposal be properly laid before the heritors, five persons, namely, the Right Worshipful Master, Brother M'Math, Brother Burns, Brother Wodrow, and Brother William Andrew, are appointed to meet on Saturday, at one o'clock, to draw up a proposal to lay before the heritors on Friday first." If the proposed steeple was to form part of the parish church, the idea of converting the base of it into a Mason's Lodge was certainly somewhat singular. The Lodge St. James, Tarbolton, was, at that time, held in a back apartment of a small inn called the Cross Keys, kept by a person of the name of Manson. It was a small, inconvenient, and stifling tenement, quite unsuited for the purposes of a Mason's Lodge. It is not surprising, then, that the brethren should wish to leave it, and to procure a room possessing more comfort and convenience, and removed altogether from a public house, in which the country brethren have always been averse to assemble, and hence it is that, for the most part, they have built halls for their own accommodation. But certainly it was a rare design to join the Lodge so closely to the church, as, I presume, in this case it was intended to be, though there was nothing incongruous in it, provided the Lodge was properly conducted. A Mason's Lodge, whatever may be said to the contrary, is fitted to be a valuable auxiliary to the Church; and it is only when the Lodge has degenerated into a mere convivial assembly, that its inconsistency with the Church |