''A Sprig Of Acacia.''

''A SPRIG OF ACACIA . ''

np HERE was a large and sorrowing assembly m the JL picturesque little churchyard of Cropwell Bishop on the afternoon of the 8 th inst , when the remains of the late vicar of the parish , Bro . the Rev . A . J . L . Dobbin , were

laid to rest . His friends and admirers gathered together from all the villages round , and the proceedings were exceedingly impressive . The deceased had been vicar of the parish for no fewer than twenty-three years , and during that time had endeared himself to the . hearts .. of all his

parishioners in no uncertain manner . During the time he nresided over the affairs connected with the church , the building—small but pretty—was considerably improved and beautified . In 1893 , owing to his efforts , it was partially restored , and even at the present time orders have

been placed through his instrumentality for further works . He held numerous public offices , and was a Past Grand Chaplain of the Nottinghamshire Provincial Grand Lodge . The following were among those present at the funeral : Bros . His Honor Judge Masterman Deputy Provincial Grand

Master , Dr . W . C . Peskett Provincial Grand Secretary , J . P . Marks Provincial Grand Assistant Secretary , J . Windley Worshipful Master of the Royal Sussex Lodge , Euan Powell Past Master Sussex Lodge , F . W . Boot Pelham Lodge , and A . Huthwaite Royal Sussex Lodge .

BY the death of Bro . Holroyd the 2 nd V . B . Manchester Regiment has lost one of its oldest and most valued members . Pie had recently been appointed one of the staff sergeants of the battalion . He , was a well-known rifle shot and a familiar figure at the Wimbledon , Bisley ,

and Altcar meetings . To the provision and working of the new range of the battalion at Diggle Staff Sergeant Holroyd devoted much time and labour . His funeral took

place on the 19 th ult ., and it was the desire of Colonel Bridgford , C . B ., the officer commanding the 2 nd V . B . M . R ., that Bro . Holroyd should be buried with military honours , but in deference to the wishes of his relatives this was

abandoned . The permanent staff and staff sergeants and the sergeants of the company to which the late Staff Sergeant belonged , however , attended in uniform and acted as bearers . Lieutenant-Colonel J . Howarth Clark and a

number of non-commissioned officers and men of the corps were present . There also attended the funeral a deputation from the Newall Lodge , No . 1134 , Manchester , of which the deceased was a Past Master .

IT is with regret we record the death of Brother Robert Wilson Leadbeater , of Scarborough , which took place at Edinburgh Infirmary , on the 12 th ult . Bro . Leadbeater had not been in the best of health for some time past , and , accompanied by his wife , he left Scarborough

for a short holiday in Scotland . On Monday morning , 9 th ult ., while staying at the Waverley Plotel , Edinburgh , he was stricken with a brain seizure , which necessitated his removal to the Edinburgh Infirmary , where , notwithstanding unremitting attention , he died at eight o ' clock the

following Thursday morning . For over twenty-five years he had been connected with the York City and County Bank , and the news of his death came as a great shock to his many friends in Scarborough . Brother Leadbeater was a Director of the Scarborough People ' s Palace and Aquarium ,

and was Auditor of several public companies in the town . In cricket he took a great interest , and though never an active member , was for many years on . the Scarborough Cricket Club Committee . He was also ' , ' a prominent Mason , being a Past Master of the Old Globe Lodge , No . 200 .

EEPRESENTATIVES of the Arkwright Lodge , No . 1495 , and other Lodges of the Province of Derbyshire , were present on the occasion of the funeral of the late Bro . T . Cooper Drabble , J . P ., who was buried at Darley

Dale , on the 13 th ult . There were a large number of floral tributes laid upon the vault , among them being wreaths from the Arkwright Lodge , and the Okeover Chapter .

THE funeral of the late Bro . E . M . Gardner , which took place at Oswestry , on the 12 th inst ., was largely attended by members of the Fitz-Alan Lodge , No . 1432 , of which he was a member , as well as by a large assembly of other local friends .

Church Services.

CHURCH SERVICES .

AS briefly recorded in our issue of the nth inst ., those present at the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire , at Stockport , on the Sth mat , attended

Divine Service at St . George ' s Church , where Bro Rev . 1 . H . Mentha 1357 Prov . G . Chaplain preached the sermon , taking as his text Romans xiv ., 7— " For none of us liveth to himself . " The preacher said :

These words form one of those frequent sayings which strike us from time to time in the Holy Scriptures , to startle us with their anticipation of what we sometimes think the enlightened conclusions of modern thought , to remind us , if we will accept their suggestion , that

notwithstanding the intellectual and moral progress of to-day whatsoever we have of things that are true , and pure , arid of good report , these things are given us from above . For when we engage , formally or informally , in that most interesting of all human studies , the study of ourselves , i . e ., the study of man , the study of human nature , we recognise

that it is not enough to confine our attention to the individual with his faculties and powers , intellect , emotion , will , our study is incomplete if we isolate man from his fellows , unless we consider him in his relation with others .

acting upon them , and acted upon by them ; we have to study not only man the individual , but man the member of society , to use language with which every newspaper reader is familiar , we pass from the individualist to the collectivist standpoint .

This is the point of view of modern science , and I say it is a striking fact that it is after all no way in advance of the point of view adopted nineteen centuries ago , by an inspired apostle , and contained in the words of my text , " None of us liveth to himself . " This , then , is not merely

a luminous suggestion , dependent for its acceptance on religious faith , but one of those great declarations of science which we call natural laws , and which appeal to experience for an attestation of their truth . " None of us liveth to himself . " It is inevitable ; you cannot escape from it The

slightest reflection shows you how we all depend upon one another ; in trade , the consumer upon the distributor and the manufacturer , the manufacturer upon the workman ; the

skilled labourer upon the producer of the raw material ; in our home life it is the same , we are all dependent on the service , on the good feeling , on the sense of duty one of another .

Nay , take the man who will unblushingd y confess to you his whole aim in life is success in business , the acquisition of wealth by whatever means the law allows ; even he must influence the life of the world . , Throueh him national interests are served ; the commerce he promotes feeds the

hungry and clothes the naked , and serves to advance the general well-being of the world . The profligate , the drunkard , live not to themselves , but in the lower sense of the words , not in the higher ; in the evil they work , in the ruined home , in children destined to hand on to future

generations the tainted Blood , the weakened brain of the victim of excess . So likewise in the moral sphere , the power of personal influence , the power of example for good or evil , whether it be in the wide arena of public life , in the more

restricted activity of the house of business or the club , or in the quiet circle of domestic life , these teach us with unmistakable accuracy that for weal or woe , for better or worse , whether we evade or accept the responsibility , " none of us liveth to himself . "

No man of reverent mind can recognise the existence of this law , can feel himself the possessor of this power without the added consciousness of responsibility as to its righteous and proper exercise . The wisest , the best , the most honoured , the most useful are those who feel this

responsibility the most keenly . It is thus we find men of wealth and rank the most illustrious in the land renounce a life of luxurious ease to serve their country , on the battlefield , in Parliament , on the platform , in the committee , in connection room , with the multifarious agencies , whose aim

is to make the lives of other men happier and better . And surely on none can this sense of responsibility be more fittingly impressed than upon ourselves , upon us who have been solemnly associated in mutual fellowship and true Brotherhood .

Surely the fundamental basis of Masonry is the thought that none of us liveth to himself . We proclaim it by our corporate action in the foundation and maintenance of