"A Sprig Of Acacia."

"A SPRIG OF ACACIA . "

WE regret to record the death of Brother Charles Truby Worshipful Master of the St . Thomas Lodge , No . 992 , Manchester , which occurred at his residence , 19 Gloucester Road , Urmston , on Monday , 20 th ult ., after a very brief but painful

illness . The late Brother Truby was initiated in St . Thomas Lodge in January 1893 , and passed through the various Offices with very great credit . He was installed into the principal chair so recently as December last , thus literally dying in harness . Our deceased Brother possessed all the

qualifications which are required to make a typical Mason , and his unostentatious charity , liberally dispensed , together with his indefatigable zeal in the Craft , and extraordinary enthusiasm in matters affecting its welfare , win make his loss felt by a very wide circle of Brethren , and non-Masons . He

was a Life Governor of the London Institutions , and had subscribed most bounteously to the East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution , in which he took more than ordinary interest . The interment took place on ihursday , 23 rd ult , at Highgate Cemetery ,

London , and at 2 . 45 p . m ., simultaneously with the proceedings in the capital , a service was given at St . Clement ' s , Broughton Lane , Manchester , the same being conducted by Bro . the Rev . A . Parkinson , A . K . C ., P . P . G . C , Robert Burns Lodge , No . 999 . As an evidence of Bro . Truby ' s popularity ,

thirty-one members of St . Thomas Lodge attended the service , among whom , were Bros . R . Taylor I . P . M ., PI . Mason S . W ., W . Mann J . W ., Thomas Threlfall P . M . P . P . G , P . Treas ., J . W . Millward P . M . P . P . G . Supt . of Works Secretary , J . J . Millson P . M . D . C ., J . C . Poyser S . D ., J . H . Baker J . D , G .

Owen Organist , H . Royle , AV . PI . Burke , C . Owens , J . L . Grandison , A . Simcock , and J . PI . Chadwick . Many representatives of neighbouring Lodges were likewise present , these including Bros . C . Turner P . M . ion P . P . A . G . D . C , J . Butterworth W . M . 935 , - Councillor T . Roby Foy P . M . 935 ,

William Dumville P . M . 2156 , W . B . Flowers 287 , H . J ones 1011 , and Bro . Cradock , of the Manchester Cathedral , who had very kindly volunteered to give a solo . The service was essentially impressive , and at its conclusion Bro . . R . Johnson , the newly-appointed Provincial Grand Organist of

the division , played the " Dead March in Saul . " Bro . Truby was well known in business circles , he being proprietor of the Manchester Aniline Company , the local offices of which are at 20 High Street , Manchester , and it was only to be

expected that numerous letters of condolence would be sent on the melancholy occasion , many of these being from members of the Craft , the same being directed to Bro . Millward Secretary 992 .

THE funeral took place in Plymouth Cemetery on Saturday afternoon , 1 st inst , of Bro . John G . Kevern , who died on the previous Thursday , after a very painful illness . Pie was for over twenty-eight years connected as a commercial traveller with the firm of Adams , Clarx and Lindon , of George

Street , Plymouth , and was greatly respected throughout the West of England . Pie was a prominent member of the Masonic body , with which he had been connected for about thirty years , having originally been initiated in St . J ohn Lodge , No . 70 , and as far back as 1879 filled the Office of

W . M . of Prudence Lodge , No . 1550 , which was started as a Commercial Travellers' Lodge in 1 S 75 , ar > d of which he at once became a member , retaining his connection with it up to the time of his death . lie was also a P . P . G . D . C . of Devon , and for a great number of years represented Lodge Prudence

on the Committee of Petitions . . The funeral on Saturday was attended by a very large number of Masonic and personal friends . The cofhn was covered with beautiful wreaths , sent by various friends , and at the conclusion of the service at the graveside , conducted by the Rev . J . M . Iiodge , the Masonic

Brethren dropped sprigs of acacia on the coffin . At a meeting of the members of Lodge Prudence held in the evening , sympathetic reference was made to Bro . Kevern ' s death , and to the great loss the Lodge had sustained , and a vote of condolence to the widow was passed . The Dead

March in '" Saul" was impressively played on the organ by Bro . G . Plele , the whole of the Brethren upstanding . THE Province of Berkshire is particularly unfortunate in regard to its chiefs ; once again death has called away its ruler , in the person of Lord Wantage , who had only enjoyed the Provincial Grand Mastershi p since 1898 , but

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

in that brief period he had won such respect and regard from the Brethren under his rule as to make the loss all the more Keenly felt . Plis lordship , who had been in bad health for some time , and latterly had been very ill , died on Monday morning , at the age of sixty-nine , at ins residence , Lockinge

liouse , Wantage . Pie was born in London on 18 th April 1832 , was educated at Eton , and entered the Scots Fusilier Guards as Ensign and Lieutenant in November 1850 . In 1854 he accompanied the 1 st Battalion of his regiment to the Crimea , and served in the Crimean Campaign of 1854-5 ,

taking part in the battles of the Alma , Balaclava , and Inkerman , and the siege and fall of bebastopol , including the repulse of the sortie of 26 th October . At the battle of the

Alma he carried the Queen ' s colour , and Major Knollys , in his stirring narrative of " The Victoria Cross in the Crimea , " gives a most interesting account of the young Subaltern ' s conduct in his first fight .

FREEMASONRY , like the world of literature , has sustained a severe loss in the death of Bro . Sir Walter Besant , which occurred on Monday ; and the members of the Ouatuor Coronati Lodge are once again plunged into the greatest grief as a consequence . Sir Walter Besant was one of the

Founders , and up to the time of his death Treasurer of that Lodge , his connection with which has so recently been fully referred to in the notices which appeared on the death of the Secretary Bro . Speth . Outside of Freemasonry Sir Walter Besant had long occupied a most prominent position , his

literary labours and his great efforts in virtually starting and carrying through the scheme for the People ' s Palace in East London , placing him in the foremost rank , and winning for him the distinction of Knighthood at the hands of his Queen . Sir Walter was born in August 1838 .

THE Boer war has claimed another victim in the person of Bro . Captain J . T . Seeds , whose demise , at the age of thirty years , is deeply deplored by all who had the pleasure of knowing him . On 5 th April he sailed with his regiment , the 5 th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles , under the command of

Colonel R . PI . Wallace , from Oueenstown , and on Tuesday , 4 th inst ., his relatives received the sad intelligence that he had succumbed to the effects of the South African climate ,

which has already proved fatal to so many of our countrymen . He was deeply interested in the Masonic Female Orphan School , Dublin , and was a Governor of that Institution .

ON Sunday afternoon , 26 th ult ., the funeral took place , in the Hebrew portion of the Bishopwearmouth Cemetery , Sunderland , of the late Bro . Isadore Isaacs . The cortege left the residence of the deceased , the Oaks West , about three o ' clock , in a drenching downpour of rain , and besides the

immediate relatives and friends present , there was a large following of the Sunderland Plebrew congregation , solicitors , Freemasons , police officials , and prominent townspeople . The deceased was a member of the Fenwick Lodge , No . 1389 , from which , and all public societies of the town , were sent floral tributes .

THE death of Bro . Joseph ITarry Bradley , of Barnsbury , happened on Monday , 27 th ult ., after only a few clays illness , from pneumonia , and his funeral the following Thursday was attended with all manifestations of esteem for

the deceased and sympathy for the bereaved . He was only thirty-six years of age , and of such a genial disposition as to recall the quotation , " Whom the Gods love die young . " Bro . Bradley was a member of the St . Martin ' s-le-Grand Lodge .

Bro . Sir Walter Besant .

In that Grand Temple far beyond the skies There is a Lodge where labour is but rest ; AA here the Eternal rules—the Great AU-AVise—AA'here countless mvriads bow to His behest . Here we prepare for this Grand Lodge of all .

And toil below in faith and hope and love , AA ' atching and waiting for the Master ' s call—The summons issued from the realms above . For the Most High would make His Home complete , He needs the best of bravest workers here ; And Lo , a voice came from the mercy-seat ,

Heard by Sir AA ^ alter on this earthly sphere : "Come unto Me , O vou who ' ve laboured well , And in the Light Divine , now and forever dwell . " CHAS , F . FORSHAW . LL . D .