Masonic Funeral At Bury, Lancashire.

active duty ) , and Thos . Carter S . D ., Thomas Barker J . D ., and Samuel Mosley I . G ., all of Lodge 42 . Bro . J . W . Kenyon P . M . 42 was the undertaker , and efficiently discharged the duties of his office . It should also be stated that the costly brass furniture of tho coffin , which was of polished oak , was given by Mr . Joseph Downham , ironmonger , Fleet Street , Bnrv , a non Mason , but an ntimate friend of

late Bro . Redferu . The name of the deceased , on the brass shield , was surmounted by graven Masonic emblems , and above and below the shield was polished brasswork , fashioned in cruciform style . There was also laid on the lid a beautiful wreath of flowers , the gift of Bro . Geo . O'Neil , and a rare collection of flowers , emblematically arranged , the gift of Bro . J . M . Whitehead .

On Sunday morning a funeral sermon was preached at All Saints Church by the Rev . E . Westerman , the Vicar , who chose for his text the 11 th vet se of the 4 th chapter of tho lstgoneral epistle of St . John , " Beloved , if God so loved us , we ought also to love one another . " Tho preacher delivered an able discourse on the great Christian duties of charity and love . Several members of tbe O'Neil and Redfern

families were present , as were a number of the brethren . Bro . J . Raudle Fletcher officiated as organist , playing a funeral march as an opening voluntary and the "Dead March" at the close . Tho hymns chosen for the occasion were 170 , "Thy Will be Done ; " 179 , " Jesu , Lover of My Soul , " and 306 , "Christ is our Corner Stone , " from Hymns Ancient and Modem .

From Shute To Sidbury.

FROM SHUTE TO SIDBURY .

TEN MILES PILGRIMAGE THROUGH AN EAST DEVONSHIRE LANE , AND NOTES THEREON . From Pulman ' s Weekly News and Advertiser , of 25 th May .

SIDBURY church exhibits evidence of great antiquity , bearing chiefly the well recognised featuresof Norman and Early English construction . The tower is of Norman origin , and though thoroughly trueinoutline and much of detail , yet it has a strange new aspect , this ,

in part , probably from recent touchings up , and also tho circumstance of a story current in tho parish that a large portion of the fabric , inclusive it may be of tho tower , was re-bnilt about Cromwell ' s time , the which , if correct , and an idea we shall moot by and bye as to who its rc-buildor was , will , perhaps , give a clue to the man and account for the rather unusual fact of its having been rc-built so

carefully in accordance with the original design in those boisterous days . A glance over tho tower doorway shows us two figures life size , in circular headed niches , which , for antiquity , wo take to bo second to none in the county , while for freshness and sharpness of appearance they are marvellous , considering they must have been sculptured

seven centuries ago . But their good preservation , wo aro told , was due to the fact that they had been previously carefully plastered over ( Cromwellian care , wo opine ) and only exposed again to view recently . One is a figure of St . Peter with tho keys and a book . He is vested as a priest , with chasuble aud stone . The other , probably intended for Adam , is a man with streaming hair and beard . He wears

a long robe and holds a label in his hand , but the legend is gone . Tho south porch is finely groined and flanked by turrets . This , of Perpendicular date , aud both side aisles appear to have been added about tbe same time . Tho chancel is Early English , or transitional from Norman , aud there is a breadth of diapered panels across the cast end under the chancel window , outside .

But what tomb is this , of comparatively late date , and evidently inserted iu the south chancel wall on the outside ? It occupies the olden place of honour , assigned in earlier times only to such persons as had been the patrons or benefactors of the fabric . The shape of the tomb , too , and the depressed arch above it , all preserves the type of a bygone ago , and looks liko the lingering remembrance of some

one who had been acquainted with aud had a love for this ancient form of sepulchre . A square stone in frout had once commemorated its occupant , but after much patience all wo could make out was J . S . and 16— , the remainder having been worn away by the fraying heels of succeeding generations of little boys who appear to have made this coign of vantage a place of especial resort , two of their

confraternity having darted off like scared birds at our approach . A survey of tho interior of the fabric is found very ninch a reflex of its outside , the three styles of Norman , Early English , and Perpendicular being fully represented , but all enhanced with the indescribable charm ( now fast disappearing ) of an old untouched church , where there are many things left for the curious mind to

investigate , which still bear the sacred untouched traces of other days and undesecrated , as yet , from having been furbished up to order by unceremonious unfeeling hands , until—such is too often the casethese treasures of the past are literally things neither new nor old . The basement story of the tower is groined , and four characteristic Norman corbels support the ribs . The side aisles aro of late

Perpendicular construction and ordinary character , but the arches separating them from the transeptare of singular richness and unique in their ornamentation as far as our experience informs us . They rise from foliaged brackets , and the central compartment of the arch all up round inside the lateral mouldings is occupied by a beautiful

course ot flowers and leaves deeply sculptured and under cut , almost the entire width of tho arch , that in the north aisle finishing at the apex with a priest or angel . It has a very rich effect , which would be much enhanced if the thick coating of whitewash that now covers them was removed .

In the chancel are sundry memorials of former residents in the parish , inclusive of the tablet to the members of the Hnyshe family who rest in the vault of their ancestors beneath the pavement . We wero on the point of leaving tho church when a suspicious looking tablet , at some height from the ground , and in the extreme corner oi

From Shute To Sidbury.

the south chancel wall , arrested onr attention . After a careful survey of its dark surface we succeeded in deciphering and arranging its inscription , which was scattered over it without punctuation or division to aid the sense . An epitaph upon ye life and death of John Stone , Freemason , who departed this life 1 st January , 1617 .

On our great corner stone , this Stone relyed , For blessing to his building , loving most To build God's temple , in which workes he dyed , And lyved the temple of the Holy Ghost , In whose loved lyfe is proved an honest fame , God can of stones raise seed to Abraham .

Hero was apparently a genuine antiquarian find . An inscription to a Freemason , and the date 1617 , tho very oldest we havo yet seen , and we rub our initiated eyes with delight as wo spell out the quaint orthography which embodies the grand meaning of our ancient brother ' s epitaph . Here , too , we solve the riddle of tho tomb in the wall outside , for beneath it , undoubtedly , tho dust of the true old

craftsman reposes . And witb it comes also tho association with him of tho re-building of tho church in Cromwell's days , or a few years before , and tho strong probability that ho was tho man who superintended it , doubtless with jealous care and scrupulous exactness of re-placement as far as his knowledge wont , and the final issue that ho either lost his life during the work , from some

accident , or died peaceably during its progress , as recorded on the tablet , " In which workes ho dyed , " —and that hence , evidently owing to some special event or circumstance of tho sort , his body was entombed in an honourable position under tho very wall of tho fabric itself . Strange conjunction of circumstances , too , even here , —for close adjoining is tho burial-place of the ancient family of Hnyshe ,

whoso present distinguished representative is the honoured and valued Grand Master of the Province . Peace to thy dust , 0 venerable brother of the past ! for thou sleepcst well . Whether the secret of thy history be snch as we have divined " to point tho moral or adorn the tale " we have been

spinning , matters not . Tho earthly mystery of inextingnishablo brotherhood still glimmers in thy ashes , though in thee now that wondrous bond is perfected , as thou standest approved in thy obligation , a spiritual temple at the right hand of the Great Architect of the Universe .

THE FREEMASON'S MESSAGE . Where should tho craftsman sleep , Where ? Close to tho corner keep , In the fonndatiou deep , — There . List to those well-set stones ,

Gray , Comes there no message tones From the old workman ' s bones , Sav ?

" I loved my calling true , So . Here lies the path for you , To excel , still pursue , — Go .

In my own works nnshnned , — Ye , Who would be kept in mind , Can ye aught fitter find ? See .

But while below you roam , Nigh ,-Raising earth ' s fragile dome , Found thou thy heavenly home ,

High . Reared on the true , the just , All , — Let such embalm thy dust , All else moulderinc must

Fall . So dwell a polished stone , Here , — Then , to one lively grown , Deck the Great Builder ' s throne , There !"

NOTE . —The old Freemason sepulchred at Sidbury appears to have been ono of a celebrated family of that name equall y famous both as material aud speculative Masons , and appear to have been undoubtedly originally Devonshire people . The name " Wandbury " mentioned in the following extract is difficult to identify , but it may

possibly mean Sidbury . John Stone , buried at Sidbury , appears to have been living contemporary with Nicholas , born near Exeter in 1586 , probably they were brothers . A descendant of the Stones was Grand Warden to Sir Christopher Wren , when erecting St . Paul ' s ,

before the revival of the Grand Lodge in 1717 . Amongst the painters and sculptors who were bnried in the old church of St . Martin in the Fields , may be mentioned Nicholas Stone , the sculptor . There was a marble monument at the west end of this church to this artist : —

" In his lifetime esteemed for his knowledge m sculpture and architecture , which his works in many parts do testify , aud though made for others will prove a monument of his fame . He departed this life on the 24 th of August 1647 , aged sixty-one , and lyeth buried near the pulpit of this church . " This monument was adorned with his bust , finely carved in profile , with several tools nseel in sculptnre—a square , compasses , & c , His