The Late Grand Secretary.

wc should say , he was thc centre about which thc whole of our government machinery revolved , while , at the same time , it was he who set that machinery in motion , and controlled and regulated its movements . The duties of our Grand Secretary , as defined by the Book of Constitutions , are numerous and sufficiently responsible , but in appearance they seem to

belong to the mechanical rather than the mental order of work . " The Grand Secretary ' s duty is to issue summonses for all meetings of the Grand Lodge , " its Boards and Committees , and to attend and take minutes of their proceedings ; to receive the returns from the several lodges , and enter them in the books of the

Grand Lodge ; to receive the fees and contributions payable by lodges or brethren to the Fund of Benevolence or the Fund of General Purposes , and pay , or cause the same to be paid , to the account of the Grand Lodge at the Bank of England ; to transmit to all the lodges the accounts of the Proceedings of the Quarterly Communications , and all other papers and

documents which may be ordered , either by the Grand Master or the Grand Lodge ; to receive all petitions , memorials , 8 cc , and to lay them before the Grand Master or other proper authority ; to attend the Grand Master , and take to him any books and papers he may direct ; and generally to do all such things as heretofore have becn done or ought to be

done by a Grand Secretary . He may , under the authority of the Grand Registrar , affix thc seals of the Grand Lodge to such patents , warrants , certificates , and other documents , as shall be specified in any such ' authority . " But the impression generally created on first reading this Article , that the Grand Secretary ' s duty , though manifold and responsible , was mechanical

is absolutely erroneous . Those who knew Col . Clerke best or had ever had business to transact with him would be the first to concede that our late Grand Secretary ' s conception of his duty was that it was ver ) ' far from being a cut and dried one , but that on the contrary , it included not only the recording of minutes , attending meetings , receiving moneys , but likewise the post of

adviser-in-chief to the Grand Master , who from his more intimateacquaintance with the inner life of our lodges and chapters , was more competent than any other official of Grand Lodge to be the " guide , philosopher , and friend " of that most exalted and illustrious personage . Col . Clerke , like the true man and Mason that he was , had a lofty conception as well as a lofty sense

of the duties that devolved upon him as Grand Secretary . He fully realised that " generally to do all such things as heretofore have been done or ought to be done by a Grand Secretary , " in no way concerned those minor details of every day work which were deemed to be too insignificant to be enumerated , but that the clause afforded him that ample scope for initiating ,

directing , and controlling movements , which in the military art are assigned to a Chief of the Staff . This , then , is the official ; this , the man , with his fine sense of duty , and his still finer interpretation of it in the daily fulfilment of his labours , whom we members of the English Craft of Masonr \

are now mourning , whose death has come upon us so suddenly that even those who witnessed the committal of his mortal remains to their last resting place in Norwood Cemetery can with difficulty realise that he is gone hence and will be no more seen . But it is time we sketched the details of a career

which has been so honourable to th ; man and so beneficial in its influence on the daily life of our Order . Bro . Colonel Shadwell Henry Clerke , who was a son of the late General St . John Clerke , was born in the year 1836 . He received his first commission at an early age , and served with distinction in the Crimea , the

Mediterranean , and the West Indies . As lieutenant , he carried the regimental colours of his regiment up the heights of Alma , and subsequently at the storming of thc Redan was given the command of a scaling party , in wliich he acquitted himself with so much gallantry that his name was mentioned in the dispatches by the General

Commandingin-Chief . On the conclusion of peace with Russia the 21 st Fusiliers was quartered at Malta . Towards the close of the year i 860 he was appointed firstly A . D . C , and afterwards Military Secretary to the Commander of the Forces in the West Indies . After holding his staff appointment for seven years , he rejoined his regiment in

Ireland . In 1 S 70 , we find him in garrison at Plymouth , and two years later he retired on half-pay , and became a resident in London . In 1875 he was appointed one of the Honourable Corps of Gcntlemen-at-Arms or Royal Body Guard , and was a member of that distinguished body up to the time of his death .

Such are the brief particulars of his military career , but it is his Masonic career in which our readers will take the chief interest , and which will rngagc our attention during the remainder of this memoir . It is a long as well as a distinguished one , dating as far back as April , 1857 , 011 the 13 th day of which he was proposed by Bro . Bruce , and seconded by his friend and comrade

of the Crimea , Bro . Captain N . G . Philips , and on the 27 th of which he was initiated in the Zetland Lodge , No . 515 , Malta . Onthefollowing 27 th December Bro . Captain Clerke , as he then was , was one of 20 brethren on whom was conferred the Degree of Past Master , though it was not till nearly three years later that he was actually elected and installed as W . M . of a lodge .

In the meantime , on the ist rebruary , 1858 , he was proposed as a joining member of the Lodgeof St . John and St . Paul , No . 349 , Malta ; at the following mceling he was not only elected , but appointed and invested as J . W ., and having becn advanced to the chair of S . W ., was elected , and on the 27 th December , 1859 , was installed as W . M . During his service in

the West Indies hc was a joining-member of the Albion Lodge , No . 196 , while in Ireland he occasionally was present at lodge meetings , though from the exigencies of military duly and his frequent change of quarters in that

cjuntry , he was unable to join one permanently . While in garrison at Plymouth he joined the Metham Lodge , No . 1205 , and was appointed firstly Prov . Grand S . B ., and afterwards Prov . Senior Grand Warden of Devonshire . In 18 72 , as we have alread y mentioned , he took up

The Late Grand Secretary.

his residence in London , and thenceforward his career in Masonry had been one of exceptional brilliance and activity . Almost his first act as a Mason was to become a member of the Friends in Council Lodge , No . 1383 , which was consecrated by Bro . the Earl of Limerick , P . G . M . Bristol , on the 3 rd June , 1872 , with the late Bro . thc Earl of Carnarvon , Deputy Grand Master ,

as its first W . M . Following short ! } ' after his election into this lodge , Bro . Major Clerke was elected its Treasurer , and so remained till 1875 , when he was appointed S . W . The year following he was unanimously elected and installed W . M . In 1878 he was appointed one of the Senior Grand Deacons of United Grand Lodge , his colleague being the late Bro . Sir Erasmus

Wilson , while the Junior Grand Deacons were Bros . J . M . P . Montaguwhose office of Grand Chancellor of the Supreme Council , Ancient and Accepted Rite , devolved only a few months since on Col . Clerke—and Bro . Raphael Costa . On this occasion his Royal Highness , the M . W . Grand Master presided in person at the Festival , having with him both

in Grand Lodge and at the banquet his illustrious relative the Crown Prince of Denmark , Grand Master of the Danish Craft , so that Bro . Colonel Gierke had thc honour of being invested by his Royal Highness . Towards the close of the year 1879 , the late Bro . John Hervey , finding his health and the natural infirmities of age prevented him from

continuing the discharge of his duties as Grand Secretary , tendered his resignation to the Grand Master , who after carefully considering the matter was pleased to select Bro . Col . Shadwell H . Clerke , P . G . D ., to be his successor . On the 17 th January , 18 S 0 , a special meeting of Grand Lodge was held bv direction of the Grand Master in order that the new officer

might be invested with the insignia of his rank with all possible eclat . His Royal Highness was graciously pleased to preside in person on this occasion , and in addressing the brethren present , the Prince , after paying a high eulogy to Bro . John Hervey for his long and valuable services , was pleased to say with regard to the new Grand

Officer .- " Bro . Hervey s retirement has thrown upon me the duty of choosing a successor to him , and as I have felt that , as your Grand Master , I should select one who would not only be capable of holding that important post , but also would be acceptable to the brethren , I trust the choice I have made will meet with your approbation . [ am sure that our Brother

Shadwell Clerke has discharged many important duties in Freemasonry , and his other duties , I know from him , will not interfere with the discharge of the duties in the important oflice with which I am about to invest him . " At the conclusion of these remarks , " Bro . Col , Shadwell Clerke , " as thc Freemason report goes on to state , " was then

conducted by Bros . Sir Albert Woods and Thomas Fenn to the right of his Royal Highness , when the Grand Tyler ( Bro . Henry Sadler ) attended with the Grand Secretary ' s apron , collar , and jewel , and gauntlets on a blue velvet cushion . The Prince of Wales thereupon took these regalia , invested Colonel Shadwell Clerke with them , and afterwards cordially shook him

by the hand . The new Grand Secretary proceeded to his table , under the conduct of Bros . Sir Albert Woods and Fenn , amidst universal cheering . Sir Albert Woods then called upon the brethren to salute Colonel Gierke with the salute appertaining to his rank , " and Grand Lodge having been

closed , the ceremony , which was so full of promise both for the recipient of the honour and the Craft , came to an end , and thc new Grand Secretary was presented with an address of congratulation from the brethren of Monmouthshire , which was handed to him by Bro . William Watkins , of Newport , on the part of the Province .

Of tlie admirable manner in which he realised the gracious expectations formed of him by our illustrious Grand Master it is unnecessary to speak at length . We know how well he discharged the duties of his trust , with what exemplar } ' fidelity he carried out or saw carried out the edicts oi Grand Lodge and the wishes and instructions of thc Grand Master . Wc

know how courteous and considerate he was in the reception of visitors , how kind and thoughtful to the members of his staff , how strict in his observance of our forms and ceremonies , and yet with what geniality and bonhomie he presided or was present at the banquet . These are matters which are too well known to be dwelt upon in detail . Nor need wc refer at

length to those special Masonic functions at which he was of necessity present in his official capacity . At the memorable gathering at Truro when the Prince of Wales laid thc first stone of Truro Cathedral ; at Peterborough , when the Earl of Carnarvon , acting for the Prince of Wales , performed a somewhat similar dutv in connection with Peterborough Cathedral ; in the

Royal Albert Hall , in 1887 , on the occasion of the Masonic commemoration of the Queen ' s Jubilee , when the Prince of Wales again presided ; al the initiation of Prince Albert Victor , Duke of Clarence and Avondale , by the Prince of Wales in ( he Koyal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , of which Col . Clerke was Secretary—on these and other great Masonic occasions Col .

Clerke bore himself worthily ; nor , indeed , can we call to mind a single one among the many important gatherings of the Craft during the last 12 years in which the arrangements were not carried out methodically and successfully , or at which , if it were possible for him to attend , he was , to use a familiar expression , " conspicuous by his absence . " One of the last

occasions on which hc took a prominent part in the proceedings of a Craft lodge occurred quite recently , when hc was installed in oflice ns W . M . of the lodge which bears his name the Shadwell Gierke , No . 1910 and will , we trust , preserve il honourably for many a generation yet to come . He was exalted to the R . A . Degree in the Leinster Chapter , No . 387 ,

Irish Constitution , on the 24 th February , 1 S 58 , being the second candidate who received the Degree after its consecration . He was subsequently elected a joining member of the now extinct Union Chapter , No . 407 , and become its M . E . Z . During his service in the West Indies he was affiliated to the Scotia Chapter working under the Scotch Constitution , and on his return to England , and after he