The poetic fancy of the Greeks was not slow to note the great dissimilarities that mark the destinies of men ushered into being amid the same environments – destinies, the general outlines and ultimate ends of which seem to be beyond their control – and they wove into the song and drama

forth, working threads, dark and bright, into the warp and woof, controlled by an impulse flowing from the unknowable center of the unknown. The same idea has, in later times, found expression in the deeply pious predestinarianism of Calvinism, the coldly callous indifference of fatalism, such popular expressions as " Man proposes and God disposes," and the lines "There is a destiny that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may," and in a thousand other mental conceptions and forms of speech. To what extent each life is pre-ordered and the limits within which free-agency operates, we know not. We know, however, that the serf of Russia, until a few generations back, was born into conditions that he could never hope to alter, and that fixed, from its beginning, the general course and tenor of his life; that every man, however brilliant his inherited talents, however great the wealth that descends to him, however exalted the station into which he is introduced by the fact of birth, however free he may imagine himself to be to do as he pleases, is yet surrounded by limitations that (although as invisible as the air or thought itself) are, yet, as strong as forged and tempered steel and. that he can by no possibility break through. The efforts of the bird that beats its feeble wings against the bars of its cage are not more futile. Two boys are playing upon the village green. One will till the soil where his eyes first beheld the light and, passing quietly through the scenes of youth and manhood, descend through an uneventful old age to his place in the village church-yard where his dust and bones will mingle with those of his fore-fathers of many generations. The other will pass through many strange scenes and thrilling experiences, perhaps, by flood and field, and find his home and final lifework and final resting-place, in a land of which he has, as yet, not so much as heard the name.

Mrs. Hemans, in her poem "The Graves of a Household," thus beautifully expresses the thought: –

They grew in beauty side by side,
They filled one home with glee,
Their graves are severed far and wide,
By mount, and stream and sea.
The same fond mother bent at night
O'er each fair sleeping brow,
She had each folded flower in sight –
Where are those dreamers now!
One, midst the forest of the West,
By a dark stream is laid,
The Indian knows his place of rest,
Far in the cedar-shade.

States. August 17th, 1828, he was in San Domingo and there participated with the Masonic fraternity. He also visited Albion Lodge No. 333, at Barbadoes, West Indies, and received the degree of Past Master. On the ninth of May, 1829, he visited Amity Lodge No. 277, at _____, on the registry of the Right Worshipful G. L., of Ireland. May 11th, 1829, he visited Integrity Lodge, No. 259, at _____, and there received Mark Master degree; June 2, 1829, visited Union Lodge No. 462, at Georgetown, Demerara, and we find that in 1840, he visited Galveston and participated with Harmony Lodge, No. 6. In 1847, he met with DeWitt Clinton Lodge No. 129, in Jasper County, Texas. Two years later, April 17th, 1849, he met with the Woodville, Texas, Lodge. There are few countries in Europe that he did not visit. He lived at various times in Turkey, Asia Minor, the West Indies, Central and South America, and Mexico. He also traveled extensively through the United States and lived for a time in Louisiana before making his home in Texas. He could read, write and speak fluently seven languages. In his young days before coming to America he owned several sailing vessels and engaged in the trade being carried on between New England and the West Indies. In 1836 he was Deputy Collector of Customs for the Republic of Texas at Camp Sabine (now Sabine town) near the border-line between Texas and Louisiana. It was the military post of the United States at that time. Gen. Gaines was stationed there in command of four thousand troops and, during the war for Texas Independence, it was believed that he and Gen. Sam Houston entered into an agreement under which the latter was to retreat in a northeasterly direction before the Mexican army, until it followed him across the disputed boundary line between Texas and the United States and then Gaines was to turn out with his regulars, attack Santa Anna and follow him, if necessary, to the Rio Grande and into Mexico. If any such agreement was entered into, subsequent events rendered the carrying out of its terms unnecessary. The three divisions of the Mexican army became separated and, marching through a country incapable of supporting such a large number of men, were worn down by days of marching over roads that were almost impassable, and thoroughly dispirited before the final blow of the revolution was struck. Houston took advantage of this combination of circumstances, joined battle with Santa Anna at San Jacinto and, with the unaided strength of the Texian arms, won one of the most glorious and decisive victories recorded in the annals of war – an achievement that justly immortalized his name. Mr. Wiess was acquainted

With such decorum as wise law-makers,
From each well governed private house derived
The perfect model of a commonwealth.
Humanity then lodged in the hearts of men,
And thankful masters carefully provided
For creatures wanting reason. The noble horse,
That, in his fiery youth, from his wide nostrils
Neighed courage to his rider, and brake through
Groves of opposed pikes, bearing his lord
Safe to triumphant victory; old or wounded.
Was set at liberty, and freed from service.
The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drew
Marble, hewed for the temples of the gods.
The great work ended, were dismissed, and fed
At the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have found
Their sepulchers; but man to man more cruel.
Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave."

His was the true patriot's heart. He had a deep and intense love for the United States and free institutions. He hated tyranny, oppression and injustice in any form. He liberally rewarded those who served him. He was generous and true to his friends. His charity knew no fainting. He possessed none of that greedy and glutinous spirit that enables its possessor to fare sumptuously and with added zest unaffected by the starvation and the wails of the distressed which are bourne to him upon every breeze. He subordinated his desire for financial independence to the dictates of honor. He was true to every obligation as employer, citizen, husband, father and friend, and left behind him an untarnished name of which his descendants may feel justly proud. He died full of years, loved by many, respected by all. He sleeps with his fathers, a sleep that is the reward of a well-spent life. Peace to his ashes, and honor to the memory of his usefulness, kindliness and worth.

Mrs. Wiess, for so many years his beloved counsellor, companion and helpmate, who cheered and sustained him in many an hour of trial and difficulty, a truly noble woman, died at Wiess' Bluff, May 17, 1881. The following obituary, written by E. L. Armstrong, of Irene, Hill County, Texas, is a fitting testimonial to her many excellencies of character.

"Wiess – Died at Wiess' Bluff, Jasper County, Texas, May 17th, 1881, Mrs. Margaret Wiess. She was born in Scotland, near Dundee, June 12, 1814. Was married to Simon Wiess at Nachitoches, La., January 6th, 1836, with whom she lived happily until his death, which occurred in August, 1868.
"She came to Texas during the struggle for independence, and was intimately acquainted with