Obituary.

For 20 years ( 1865-85 ) he represented Berkshire in the House of Commons , his colleagues being Mr . John Walter and Mr . Richard Benyon , called by Bishop Wilberforce " a trio of as distinguished Churchmen with diverse tastes as could be met in a day's march . " Bro . Lord Wantage married , in 1858 , Harriet Sarah , only child of the first Lord Overstone , who was his constant and able helpmeet in the many charitable and philanthropic social undertakings of which he has

been the life and soul . When Lady Wantage lent her drawing-room in London , as she so often did , for the advocacy of the East London Church Fund and other Charities , Lord Wantage was always to the fore himself , encouraging , by his presence as well as bv his purse , all well-considered efforts for the good of others . Bro . Lord Wantage was a Doctor of Laws , a Fellow of the Royal Society , a Past President of the Astronomical Society , and the founder of one of the finest and best-equipped observatories in the world—that of Dunecht . He joined the

Windsor Castle Lodge , No . 771 , Windsor , on the nth July , i 860 , and was exalted in the Windsor Castle Chapter , No . 771 , on the 3 rd May , 1865 . In 1891 he was appointed S . G . Warden , and in 1 S 9 8 was chosen to fill the important position of Prov . G . Master of Berkshire , which had remained vacant ever since the deith , in January , 1892 , of His late Roya' Highness the Duke of Clarence and Avondale , K . G ., the first G . M . of the newly-formed Province . He was a Life Subscriber of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls .

BRO . SIR WALTER BESANT , P . M . Bro . Sir Walter Besant , to whose death on Sunday , the 9 th instant , we refer elsewhere , was initiated in 1 S 62 in the Mauritius Lodge of Harmony , which was warranted as No . 1163 , on the 10 th November , i 860 , became No . 841 on the closing up of the lodges in 1863 , and was erased on 17 th January , 1 S 68 . In 1869 he joined the Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge , No . 1159 , and was installed W . M . in

1 S 73 . Iu 1871 he became a founder and Hon . Secretary of the Masonic Arch . eological Institute , and the following year was chosen Hon . Treasurer . He took part , as a founder , in the formation of our well-known literary lodge—Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076—and was elected and re-elected annually its Treasurer . Thus —as we point out in our Notes—No . 2076 has had the misfortune to lose within the brief space of a few weeks its first and only Secretary—the lamented Bro . G .

W . Speth—and its lirst and only Treasurer—the subject of this brief memoir . To Sir Walter ' s widow and family we tender our heartfelt sympathy in the loss they have suffered . On Wednesday afternoon the funeral of Bro . Sir Walter Besant took place in the presence of a large gathering of people . The first po-tion of the service was held in Hampstead Parish Church , and the interment was made in the burial ground attached to the church , at the end of Church-row , with which

so many historic associations are identified . The Rev . Brook Deedes , Vicar of Hampstead , and the Rev . H . Williams officiated , and the service was choral , Mr . George Aitken being at the organ . The colli n , which was of unpolished oak , with brass furniture , bore the inscription , " Walter Besant , Kt . Died June 9 th , 1901 . Aged 64 . " The mourners were Lady Besant and her two daughters , Major

I * oster-Barham , Lady Besant's brother , Sir Walter ' s brothers , the Rev . F . Besant and Mr . Edgar Besant , and the latter ' s son and nephew , Dr . Sprigg , of the " Lancet "; Mrs . Carnegie Long , Miss L . Sharpe , Mr . and Mrs . Digby Besmt . Sir Walter ' s eldest brother , Dr . W . H . Besant , was too unwell to be present , and Sir Walter ' s two sons are serving in South Africa .

Bro . Sir Walter Besant was born at Portsmouth on August 14 , 1 S 38 , and was educated at King ' s College , London , whence he proceeded as scholar and exhibitioner to Christ ' s College , Cambridge , graduating as eighteenth Wrangler in 1859 . In 1861 he accepted the appointment of Senior Professor at the Royal College , Mauritius , where he remained until 1867 . Compelled by ill-health to resign this oilice , he returned to England , and in 1868 became Secretary of the

Palestine Exploration Fund , a post which he held for 17 years , and the duties of which directed him to a course of study which qualified him to write a " History of Jerusalem , " in collaboration with the late Professor Palm ° r , and to become editor of the great work entitled " The Survey of Western Palestine . " Before this , however , his literary impulses had already begun to show themselves , and the year after his return to England he published his first work , entitled " Studies

in Early French Poetry . " In 1873 he again ventured into the same field of literature with " The French Humourists , " while four years later he published what is certainly by far the ablest of his critical studies , the little monograph on Rabelais , contributed by him to the series of "Ancient and Foreign Classics . " Meanwhile he had embarked upon another and far more remunerative line of literary industry . In 1871 he entered into that partnership with the late Mr .

James Rice , which may be described without exaggeration as memorable in English letters . In 1872 , they gave the world the first-fruits in the novel of" Ready- Money Mortiboy . " This was well received , the three succeeding productions of the two partners being " My Little Girl , " " With Harp and Crown , " and " This Son of Vulcan . " In the year 1 S 77 , was published "The Goldea Buttcrfiy , " and they well deserved the success it met wilh . " The Monks of Thelema" followed . " By

Celia ' s Arbour , " which in turn was succeeded by the " Chaplain of the Fleet . " But when one more novel , " The Seamy Side , " had been added to the list their companionship was broken for ever by the premature death of Mr . Rice . In 1882 our biother wrote the famous novel which contained perhaps the only dream of the creative imagination ever realised by the practical philanthropist . The " People ' s Palace " of actuality sprang from the beneficent vision first conceived in the brain of the author of " All Sorts and Conditions of Men . " The nucleus of the funds necessary for the realisation of the novelist ' s idea had come from a bequest of . £ 12 , 500 , left in 1840 by Mr . J . T . B . Beaumont , and known as the Beaumont

Obituary.

Trust In 1886 , thanks to the munificence of the Drapers' Company , the Royal family , the late Duke of Westminster , and many others , this fund amounted to £ 75 , , and the trustees drew up a scheme for the erection of a People ' s Palace to include a public library and reading rooms , technical schools , summer and winter gardens , a concert hall , swimming baths , and gymnasia . The foundation stone of the " Queen ' s Hall " was laid on June 18 th , 1886 , by the then Prince of Wales , and was opened by the late Queen Victoria

on May 14 th 1 S 8 7 , her Majesty on the same occasion laying the foundation-stone of the Technical Schools . This was one of the most memorable days of a memorable year . The Queen , who was attended at the ceremony by the Prince and Princess of Wales , Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig . Holstein , the Marquis and Marchioness of Lome , Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg , the Duchess of Teck , the Duke of Cambridge , and other members of the Royal family , drove from Paddington Station to the Mile End-road , and , on returning , visited the Mansion House .

Some years , however , had elapsed before the fiction became fact , and in the meantime Walter Besant continued to ply his fertile pen with unremitting diligence , and with a felicity that se'dom failed . "All in a Garden Fair " appeared in 188 3 , " Dorothy Forster" in 1884 , " Uncle Jack" in iS 8 *_ "Children of Gideon" in 1886 , " The World Went Very Well Then" in 1 SS 7 " For Faith and Freedom " in 1888 , "The Belief St . Paul ' s" in 1889 , " Armorel of Lyonesse" in 1890 . Besant , in fact , could be counted upon , like the late Mr . James Payn down to the period of disablement , for the regular production of at least one novel a year for many years of his working life .

In 188 3 he found time to write a biography of the late Professor Palmer , and to compose , a few years later , the " Eulogy " of the accomplished but too shortlived naturalist , Richard Jefferies . He had always been an enthusiastic lover of London and its antiquities , and , devoting still closer attention to the subject in later years , he may be said to have raised himself almost to the position of its recognised historian . He wrote about London , lectured about it , laboured indefatigably to spread a knowledge of its long glories and a pride in its venerable

record among his fellow-citizens . With all this he was a regular contribjtor to at least one weekly journal of large circulation , and for ' years he conducted , almost single-handed , the little monthly periodical entitled "The Author , " the organ of the Incorported Society of Authors , of which Bro . B ; sant was the virtual founder , and of the executive committee of which he was the first chVirmin It was in the columns of this periodical that he so persistently urged that claim on behalf of the man of letters to participation in official honours , which was

recognised in 1 S 95 by the bestowal of a kni ghthood upon himself . When , more than a year later , Sir Walter was lecturing upon his favourite theme , " London , " at the Queen's Hall , Lord Rosebery , who was in the chair , paid him a handsome compliment . " It was my privilege , " said his lordship , " to submit Sir Walter ' s name to the Queen for the honour of kni ghthood , and I did so for this reason . There are many men of letters in London who have distinguished themselves b y the brilliancy of their works , but I doubt if there is any man in London or elsewhere whose works have produced so practical and beneficent a result as those of

Sir Walter Besant . But for him the People ' s Palace would not , I believe , have been built , and since that time he has enriched our literature in various ways , but in no respect , in my judgment , more usefully than in those two fascinating books in which he has dealt with London and with Westminster . " Yet a third volume , entitled " East London , " appeared from his pen only a few months ago , equal in every respect to the two which preceded it , and his broadly planned " Survey of London " has been in preparation for many years , but its completion will now pass into other hands .

BRO . CHARLES CHAMPNEY POWELL . We regret having to announce the death , at the early age of 41 , of a distinguished West Country brother in the person of Bro . Charles Champney Powell , wine merchant , of Monmouth , and captain of K Company of the 4 th V . B . South Wales Border Regiment . Bro . Powell was P . M . of the Loyai Monmouth Lodge , No . 457 , P . Z . of the Loyal Monmouth Chapter , No . 457 , and Past G . Supt . of Works for the Province of Monmouth . He was also a member of

the St . John ' s Mark Lodge , Abergavenny , the Ivor Hael Ros ; Croix Chapter , 18 , the ( Jwent Preceptory , and the Four Kings' Council in the Allied Degrees . The deceased was furthermore a member of the Correspondence Circle of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , which is losing so heavily by death just now , and a Life Governor of the three Masonic Charities . The deceased was a brother of Mr . F . A . Powell , F . R . I . B . A ., F . S . I ., architect and surveyor , of Kennington . road , S . E .

BRO . GEORGE BARBER . Bro . George Barber , the proprietor of the Furnival Press , Cursitor-street Chancery-lane , and Furnival-street , died at his residence , Sussex Lodge , Loughborough-road , S . W ., on Saturday , the ist instant . The deceased , who was 60 years of age , was the son of Mr . James Barber , of Deal . He established the Furnival Press in 1862 , and the business advanced so rapidly under his superintendence that a short time ago the present piemises had to be built to

accommodate it . His death , which was somewhat unexpected , was due to heart disease . The funeral took place on Thursday , the Gth instant , the remains being interred in the family vault at St . George ' s Church , Deal . Bro . Barber was a freeman of the Barbers' Company , a Freemason , and a member of the Surrey County Cricket Club and the Canterbury Club . He leaves a widow , four daughters , and one son , Mr . Richard Barber ( who will carry on the business ) , his eldest son having predeceased him by six years .

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