Knights Templar.

Knt . D . M . Dixon Prov . Capt . of Gd . „ T . J . Armstrong Prov . 2 nd do . „ H . Tovey Prov . Swd . Br . „ J . Treaholme Prov . istEquerry . „ G . S . Sims Prov 2 nd Equerry Alms having been collected , Prov . Priory was closed , and the V . E . Prov . Prior and G . Officers retired under an arch

of steel . The Royal Kent Preceptory was then closed , and the sir knights adjourned to the Douglas Hotel , where an excellent banquet awaited them , which was presided over by the V . E . Sir Knight C . J . Banister , Past Grand Captain of England , & c , supported by his Great Officers , and officers and sir knights of the respective preceptorics . After grace had been said by the acting Prelate the loyal

toasts were proposed , and " The M . E . and S . Grand Master , H . R . H . Albert Edward Prince of Wales , " by the V . E . PROV . PniOR . and were received withgreat enthusiasm . Sir Knight HF . NRY HOTHAM , P . P . Sub-Prior , proposed "The Great Sub-Prior and the Present and Past Grand Officers , " which was responded to by Col . J . MONKS , Grand Std . Br ., in excellent form . Sir Knight JG . YOULL in felicitous terms proposed " I he

. Health of the V . E . Prov . Prior , " which was received most cordially and replied to in a truly fraternal and kind manner , the PROV . PRIOR concluding by proposing " The Health of the Sub-Prior , Col . J . Monks , " thanking him for the very excellent way in which he had taken charge of the province and presiding over the Prov . Priory during his ( the Prov . Prior ' s ) absence in America . The toast was received with great applause and

responded to right loyally , the Sub-Prior in turn proposing "The Prov . Great Officers , " ably acknowledged by Sir Knight R . A . LUCK . _ Sir Knight C . R . Fuv in a telling speech proposed Ihe Prov . Officers , " giving them all good advice and calling upon Sir Knight T . M . W ATSON to respond , which he did in a most excellent spirit . Sir Knight ADAM WIN LAW proposed "The Health of the

Preceptor ' s of the Province , " which was ably responded to by each . The V . E . PROV . P RIOR proposed "The health of Sir Knights Bell , Lane , and Maddison , " whose names were received with acclamation , and responded to with enthusiasm . Sir Knight J . G . YOULL , in very feeling terms proposed " The health of our old friend , Sir Knight Henry Hotham ,

Prov . Treasurer , " hoping that he might be spared to take their money and enjoy good health for many years to come ; although he was the oldest K . T . in the room he was hale and hearty . Sir Knight Hotham ' on rising to respond was received with rounds of applause , and thanked the sir knights most heartily for their great kindness . The last toast brought a most enjoyable evening to an

end . Letters of apology were received from V . E . Sir Knight Charles Fendelow , Prov . Prior of Warwick and Staffordshire ; V . E . Sir Knight N . C . Beswicke-Royds , Prov . Grand Commander of Lancashire ; V . E . Sir Knight T . VV . Tew , Prov . Prior of West Yorkshire and many other knights . Many of the knights contributed to the harmony of the evening by songs and recitations .

Red Cross Of Constantine.

Red Cross of Constantine .

ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL GRAND CONCLAVE . The annual assembly was holden on Monday , 3 rd inst ., at the Freemasons' Tavern , when there were present Sir Knights the Hon . W . T . Orde-Powlett , Most Eminent Grand Viceroy , on the throne ; Thomas Cubitt , Grand Junior General , as Grand Viceroy ; the Rev . P . M . Holden ,

Past Grand High Prelate , as Grand Senior General ; J . L . Thomas , Grand Historiographer , as Grand Junior General ; John Mason , Grand High Chancellor ; H . C . Levander , M . A ., Grand Treas . ; VV . R . Woodman , M . D ., Grand Recorder ; H . A . Dubois , Grand Marshal ; T . C . Walls , Grand Sub-Almoner , as Grand Herald ; C . H . Rogers Harrison , Grand High Almoner ; J . G . Marsh , P . G . S . G . ;

Eugene H . Thiellay , Grand Vice-Chancellor ; Donald M . Dewar , Grand Asst . Recorder ; VV . E . Dawes , Grand Std . Br . ; CE . Peek , Grand Std . Br . ; J . G . Chillingworth , Grand Herald and Intcndcnt General ; C . F . Matier , Intendent General South Lancashire ; George Mickley , M . D . No . 1 ; J . R . Foulger , P . Sov . No . 1 ; VV . H . Shirley , M . P . Sov . No . 1 ; Frederick Wood , M . P . Sov . No .

122 ; John Gilbert , Sentinel ; and several others . The lines having been formed the Most Illustrious Acting Grand Sovereign , attended by the Grand Officers , entered the Grand Conclave , which was opened in imperial form . The minutes of the previous assembly of the General Grand Conclave were taken as read and carried unanimously . The Grand Recorder then read the following report of the

Executive Committee of the Grand Imperial Conclave : "Ihe year that has passed has been absolutely uneventful as regards the Order , as established at home and in the Colonies , with one memorable exception , and that is the introduction of the Red Cross Order into Australia , by Sir Knight W . F . Lamonby , Past Sovereign , No . 3 G , Dykes Conclave , who is inaugurating a conclave in Melbourne .

There have been no complaints during the past year , all correspondencehasbeen carefully attended to . Letters will be sent early in the year to all the conclaves now working asking for returns , which are somewhat in arrear , also for any changes that may have taken place in the office of the Treasurer or Recorder . "The Grand Recorder entered on his duties at the time

when no less than four London offices had been successively abandoned , and the chaos which this occasioned it is not easy to describe . Letters went back to New Zealand and India , and were again forwarded to England with the forlorn hope of finding their destination , which in most instances

they did—after a time . This led to a mass of correspondence of a most unpleasant description . This , we are happy to say has long since ceased , and in the event of another change of address of the office of the Grand Recorder a circular to all the conclaves would prevent the recurrence of such an inconvenient and

Red Cross Of Constantine.

unsatisfactory state of affairs . It is a matter to be considered by the Executive Committee whether the time has arrived when the Order can afford to rent an office in a central position in London , and pay a salary to some official who would be always on the spot to answer questions and attend to communications . " Geneial Account—Balance in hand ... £ 45 10 7 . " Grand Almoner's Fund do . ... £ 39 13 o

"K . H . S . do . ... £ 23 14 o ( Signed ) "WM . ROBT . WOODMAN , " Grand Recorder . " The adoption of the report was proposed by Sir Knight J . L . Thomas , seconded by Sir Knight J . G . Chillingworth , and carried unanimously . Letters had been received from the Most Illustrious Grand Sovereign , Col . Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., who was

unfortunately prevented from attending by severe indisposition ; also from the Most Eminent Grand Viceroy , T . VV . Ellison Macartney , M . P ., who was detained at his seat in Ireland by most pressing business ; also from Sir Knight Wm . Kelly , Past Prov . Grand Master for Leicestershire and Rutland , and Chief Intendant General for Leicestershire , Rutland , and Nottinghamshire ; from Sir Knight J . D . Murray ; also from Sir Knight A . R . Robinson , Landport ;

and from Sir Knight VV . H . Lewthwaite , P . Sov . 36 ; and Sir Knight Richard Robinson , P . Sov . 3 G , both from Yorkshire ; and a telegram from Sir Knight C . F . Hogard , Grand Examiner , who was unavoidably absent ; also from several others . The Most 111 . Grand Sovereign appointed the following eight Grand Senators : 1 . George Kenning . 5 . Donald M . Dewar .

2 . Charles F . Hogard . G . T . C . Walls . 3 . Eugene 11 . Thiellay . 7 . Thomas Massa . 4 . Herbert Dicketts . 8 . VV . E . Dawes . For the ten Grand Senators to be elected by the Grand Conclave voting papers were provided for the ballot ; but as the " exact number had been nominated , their names were read over by the Grand Recorder , and there being no competition they were declared elected by Grand Conclave ,

I hey are as follows : 1 . Cuthbert E . Peck . 6 . J . Moon . 2 . G . A . Rooks . 7 . George Mickley . 3 . Alfred R . Robinson . 8 . Richard Robinson . 4 . H . Venn . 9 . C VV . Pridmore . 5 . J . G . Chillingworth . 10 . H . J . Lardner . Sir Knight THOMAS proposed and Sir Knight CHILLING

WORTH seconded that the Grand Recorder be instructed to send notices to the Recorders of the various conclaves that their conclaves may , if they desire it , nominate one Sovereign or Past Sovereign as a candidate for election as Grand Senator at next Grand Conclave . The banquet was held in conjunction with that of the Premier Conclave , as usual . It was numerously attended , and will be remembered with pleasure by all who were there .

The Cremation Of The Body Of The Late Bro. Captain Hanham.

THE CREMATION OF THE BODY OF THE LATE BRO . CAPTAIN HANHAM .

Bv AN EVE-WITNESS . The writer of the following report desires your readers to understand distinctly that the cremation had nothing whatever to do with the funeral , which had taken place six ot seven hours previously . The two things are as separate and

distinct , as the domain of faith is from the domain of science . The Provincial Grand Lodge of Dorset did not participate "in any such abnormal proceedings , " which were entirely of a private nature , and witnessed only by a few private friends of the deceased who were entrusted to fulfil his last wish and will ; and by a few others who had asked permission to be present , of whom two were medical

men , two editors and one reporter of local papers , and three country magistrates interested in sanitary reforms . It may dispel a good deal of misapprehension , and more still of misty and mistaken speculation , if we relate a few simple facts which led up to the operation , at present so rare in this country . Manston House stands in about eight acres of park ,

pleasure grounds , and garden . The Parish Church and churchyard are within the park , and close to the house , occupying about half an acre . The house is situated on the bank of the river Stour , and its grounds surround the church and graveyard . The river frequently overflows , and sometimes reaches to within a few inches of the graveyard , which has been in use

probably four or five hundred years . Soon after Captain Hanham took up his residence at Manston he observed a dealer in rags and bones with a bag on his shoulder , hovering around a . newly dug grave . Knowing the fellow was not a parishioner , the Captain asked the Rector " how it was that a relative of Porter's ( the rag and bone merchant ' s name ) was t » be buried in the parish . " On

hearing the question the Rector became excited , and exclaimed " VVhat I That rascal here again ? He has been there many times before to collect the bones thrown out of the graves to carry off and sell . " In January , 1 SG 7 , the Rector , the Rev . F . St . John , died in Capt . Hanham ' s house , after a rectorship of 47 years in Manston parish , and many years of close and

confidential friendship , for both Capt . Hanham and St . John were brothers of the mystic tie . Some years before the death of the latter , a vault had been prepared in the graveyard by Lady Shelley for the remains of her first husband , a brother of the Rector . This vault is surrounded above ground with iron railings , to which cling flowers and creepers , some or other of which are in flower " all the year round . "

To prevent the destruction of these flowers , an excavation is made from two to four feet deep outside the vault , so that a hole might be made under the stone plinth which holds the railings , to allow the coffin to slide into the vault . On the day of St . John ' s funeral snow fell heavily , and rain fell the previous night . Thewaterroserapidlyin thevault , and as the coffin was pushed into its place , it went down with a splash into the deep and foul water . Many times , in the very

graveyard where the incidents occurred , has Capt . Hanham related the above and similar anecdotes to the writer , to whom every feature of Manston Church and Churchyard is familiar . Several other shocking instances of tinsanctity had come under his observation ; but are too numerous to have more than a passing allusion . These things at first troubled , and then disgusted , the mind of our late brother with the foulness of earth burial ; the offence was always under his very nose ; and he turned irom it with a loathing which led him to seek , and to decide upon a

The Cremation Of The Body Of The Late Bro. Captain Hanham.

purer mode of decomposition for himself and his remaining near relatives . * With this view the Captain built a mausoleum in the closest proximity ,. but just outside the churchyard , so that this resting place might be under no other control than his own . It consists of two chambers , forming a double hollow cube and a cupola , so constructed as to be perfectly impervious to water , and so welded together that " you may

lift the whole lot and fire it from an Armstrong gun , " as a naval brother and friend one day remarked . This affords a temporary resting place for the dead body , and a final resting place for the ashes , " seven times purified in the fire . " The Crematorium is built amongst the trees , a short distance in rear of the house . It is pentagon shaped , its outer dimensions being 10 ft . o in . long by 5 ft . 6 in . deep ;

the height at the sides S ft . 6 in ., and to the apex of the pentagon , 10 ft . G in . It consists ( 1 ) of abasement containing a fuel chamber ( A ) , stoke-holes and ashpits , none of which are visible from the front , the basement appearing like a bold plinth ; ( 2 ) a central panel containing chamber ( B ) for the reception of the body ; and ( 3 ) , above this panel , a smoke chamber ( C ) . A , B , and C are lined throughout with fire-brick . Each of these three chambers

has an arched roof , the convex sides of which form the floors of the chambers above . The inside measures of chamber B are—length , 7 ft . 6 in . ; width , 2 ft . G in . ; and height , 2 ft . 3 in . In this chamber are four transverse ribs of fire-brick , 9 in . wide , slightly raised above the floor . These ribs serve a triple purpose ; they support the coffin , they mask the openings through which the heat and flames enter from the furnace beneath , and they act as guards , to

prevent anything falling from B to the furnace below . There ate three passages for vapour and flame from B to C , and two flues from C to the chimney , which conduct the vapour and liame to the atmosphere above . When the coffin was placed in chamber B , the front was closed with fire-clay blocks , fitted in grooves , and set in cement , so that the four sides of this chamber were hermetically sealed , and nothing could enter but the " all consuming fire" from

A , and nothing could escape but vapour and flames to chamber C , and thence by the chimney-shaft to the " clouds above . " When the fire was raised to its height the flames rushed into chamber B , and wrapped the body in a winding sheet of intense brightness , the whole chamber becoming incandescent with heat , and white and glowing as the noonday sun . When combustion is going on satisfactorily , very little black smoke issues from the chimney . All that can

be seen is flame , which sometimes rises many feet above the top . About seven hours after the funeral the coffin was borne by the nearest friends of the deceased , and as carefully as a babe is laid in its cradle by a tender mother , was softly placed inside forsublimation . Thedescription of theprocess by Dr . Leach is so good and true that it is here transcribed : " Soon the all-consuming and purifying fire was at its work ,

and at the end of two hours we saw , by removing one of the small side blocks , that it had indeed done the work well . We , as medical men , could recognise the various portions of the bony structure in the sea of fire and the position of the body at the bottom of the furnace was by these means easily indicated . That there was nothing revolting to the feelings in the sight was truly shown by the fact that others present , not accustomed to such sights , looked on eagerly ,

and expressed a unanimous opinion as to the beauty and purity of the rite . After another hour , it was found that the snowy bones crumbled at the slightest touch , and cremation was decided to be complete . The furnace was the work of Mr . Richards , of the Wincanton Ironworks , who had in its construction displayed his complete knowledge of the principles governing that perfect combustion so necessary for the purpose of cremation . The

evening was beautifully clear , and notwithstanding the lowness of the chimney , so perfect was the combustion that not the slightest trace of odourwaspreceptible ; andhaving now witnessed three cremations , I can most truly assert that in no possible way can it be injurious to health or in the least degree offensive to the senses . Can those who know the unspeakable horrors of our great City cemeteries say as much for the earth burial ? The two processes , when

considered with regard to the safety of the living , do not bear comparison ; and seeing that they so closely resemble each other in both being processes of oxidation , differing chiefly n the fact that in the one case , by the agency of the fire , the process is complete in an hour or two , whilst in the other , by a slow , horrible decomposition , it is not complete for years ; seeing that the end is the same—the residuary dust and ashes consisting in each case of the earthy matter of the

body alone—it can only be a question of time to overcome that sentimental dread and the curse of prejudice , ere this will be the accepted method for the disposal of our dead . To-day , the apparatus having cooled , we collected the ashes—parts looking like frosted silver , parts like snowy dust . Reverentially and carefully was this done , as Hector ' s funeral pile , where " His brother then , and friends , searched everywhere ,

And gathered up his snowy bones with care . " These will be deposited eventually in an urn , and be placed in the mausoleum side by side with the urns containing the ashes of his late wife , Mrs , Hanham , and his late mother , Lady Hanham . " On the writer ' s first view , the scarcely-held-together skeleton appeared like an incandescent figure , glowing in pure white light—this was two hours from the time the fire was kindled . One hour later and no trace of figure

remained , for the fire-brick interior had attained an intense white heat , which rapidly completed the work of decomposition . At 8 a . m . the next morning , the temperature had cooled to 90 F ., and all that remained is described above . So inoffensive was the whole process that it might have taken place in a drawing-room ; and there seemed but one opinion amongst the dozen gentlemen who were present , viz ., that , on sanitary grounds alone , it was far preferable to earth burial ; whilst , as a matter of sentiment , the purity

of this mode of decomposing the body into its original elements contrasted most strikingly with the five , ten , or twenty years' putrid decomposition and pestilence-spreading exhalations of our graveyards . To be quickl y sublimated into pure elements is a p leasanter reflection than to be slowly distilled by putrefaction into noxious and poisonous gases , a foul and fatal instrument of disease and death to surviving friends and relatives , which , —whatever good or evil may have been done during life , —Samson like , commits the greatest havoc and destruction in death .