Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
highest unsuccessful candidates ( male and female ) . At the declaration of the poll the following was found to be the result of thc election :
MALES . SUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Bro . Charles Benjamin Bennett ... 1 S 54 „ William F . Tubbv 1 S 14 „ Geo . H . T . Dyer 1727 „ Thomas Sansom 151 S „ John Martin Baab 1290 „ " William M . Ford 12 SG „ George Cole 1235
„ John Patterson 1223 „ Thomas Nuttall 1192 „ James Shepherd 11 S 5 „ James Hayter 1179 „ Joseph Robertson 1166 „ Richard Wild 1151 „ Michael Coffey ... ... 1099 „ Francis Joseph Wirtzfield ... 1002
Bro . James L . Langley 10 S 7 „ Jonathan Wright 10 S 7 ,, Joseph Lewis ... ... ... 10 S 2 ,, Ralph M . Smith 1055 „ William Radford 1037 ,, Thomas Ashmore ... ... 1010 „ Frederick John Knott ... 100 S
„ Richard Churchill 989 „ William Norman ... ... 972 „ Robert West 971 „ Thomas Collins 94 6 „ Ben Exley S 75 „ William Stork S 31 „ Thomas William Sewell ... 7-3 „ Benjamin Banks ... ... 65 S
UNSUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Bro . John Inwood 542 „ Christopher Willcox 495 „ Charles Fitzwater 45 S „ Noach S . Lotinga 439 „ Thomas R . Weston 411 „ Daniel Heigho 39 S „ James Goodchild 3 'j 5 „ George Ensell 30 S „ Hanniball Gardner 13 S „ John Thomas Jones 11 S
Bro . Alexander Reid 102 ,, John L . Towning 77 ,, VVilliam Harrison ... ... 53 ,, Charles Sari ... ... ... 33 ,, John Kingsbury ... ... 2 S „ Andrew Wade ... C ,, Frederick Allies ... ... 4 „ Francis Harper 3 ,, John Musham ... ... ... 3 „ " William Bratield Dead
FEMALES . SUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Mrs . Charlotte Muruss 2290 „ Ellen Morrison 1914 „ Eliza Laffitau 1912 „ Jane Penman 1900
„ Ann Roberts 1 S 47 ,, Amelia Wallis Davis 1 S 03 „ Mary Ann Petty 179 6 „ Harriett Caswell 17 SG „ Caroline Golding 1779 „ Mary Ann Watson 1772
Mrs . Louisa Cathcart 177-„ Jane Greenwood 1747 „ Mary Nowlan 1705 ,, Naomi Gambell 16 99 Harbord i 75
„ Mary <> „ Sarah Greathcad 1 < M 3 ., Elizabeth Pearson ... ... 1593 ,, Lilias Greig ... ... 1573 „ Caroline Sarah Louisa Pratt ... i 5 ' 5
UNSUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Mrs . Fanny Stubington 1393 „ Annetta T . H . Wood 1317 „ Emma Bowen 1316 „ Ellen G . Beattie 1276 „ Mary Russell 1194 Kli :. _ t Haunp . 111 )!
„ Ann Wakelield 1123 „ Elizabeth Mary Thomas ... 1102 „ Elizabeth Mary Ann Child ... 1095 „ Zelie Emmerson 955 „ Caroline C . H . V . Buckley ... 947 „ Magdalene J ager 904 „ Isabella Elliot S 63 „ Sarah Anne Mardon 7 S 2
„ Pha _ be Ann Rumsey 737 „ Mary Smith 713 „ 1-Tizabeth Chappie C 4 6 „ Rebecca Pcrridge 5 S 9 „ Sarah Ann Allen 4 S 1 „ Elizabeth Hobbs 475 „ Harriet Evans 459 „ Margaret Rowell 3 S 5 „ Mary Geary 355 „ Elizabeth Hill 309 „ Frances Isaac 307 „ Susan Timms ... ... ... 271
Mrs . Mary Pelton 2 fio „ Ellen Potter 151 „ Jane Tribe 141 „ Jane Mary Townsend Si „ May Marianne Rodgers ... 7-_ . Hnnnali Rphhprk ... 71
„ Mary Heppel 66 „ Louisa Lovelock ... ... Cl „ Jane Polkinghorne 50 „ Elizabeth L . Cooley 5 ° „ Jane Leaver 37 „ Charlotte Copeland 16 „ Harriet Matilda Madcley ... 14 „ Jane Maddick 13
„ Mary Matthews >_) „ Sarah Rigarlsford £ „ Mary Crisp S „ Elizabeth Aon Barras ... .. 7 „ Sarah Coates i ,, Susan Croad ... 4 „ Ellen Greenwood 4 „ Annie Parker 3 „ Amelia Hargreaves — „ Elizabeth Ann Cook — ,, Sarah Penning Dead
Brought forward 21 -W ] f ., G 83 Votes issued ... ... 35 . 209 _> J J Polled to , day 34 , 360 Voles of thanks to the Scrutineers and the Chairman of the day con eluded the proceedings .
Presentation To Major-General Laurie, Grand Master Of Nova Scotia.
PRESENTATION TO MAJOR-GENERAL LAURIE , GRAND MASTER OF NOVA SCOTIA .
The brief notice we gave last week of the presentation of a testimonial to Major-General Laurie , late Deputy Adjutant-General of Militia in Canada , was hardly worthy of the occasion or of thc distinguished oflicer and brother who was made the recipient of the honour . Major-General Laurie has not only seen much active service in the Held , but he has likewise shown that he possesses in a high degree the less showy , but , in the long
run perhaps , the more valuable qualities of the military organiser . Io him during the long period of his service in Canada it is in a great degree attributable that the Militia of the Dominion is in such an admirable state of organisation . To him we owe it that , at the period of the Fenian raids into the Dominion some few years since , NovaScoliaalonewasin a position to put into thc field some 15 , 000 men , well trained and well equipped enough lo
meet any emergency . To him also must be ascribed the credit—and we doubt not the Imperial Government will unhesitatingly admit the obligation —of having rendered it unnecessary for the War Office to maintain a large force of British troops in Canada . The Militia , in promoting the efficiency of which he has had so conspicuous a share , is fully equal to the ordinary requirements of military duty , and consequently our small army is stronger
by some 10 , 000 men for home purposes , and , if the occasion should unhappily arise , for service in other parts of the world . These are claims which deserve to be recognised , and it must considerably enhance the value—in his estimation , at all events—of the testimonial , which a few dayssince was so ceremoniously presented to our respected brother , that it has emanated from the officers , non-commissioned officers and men of the force with which his name is , and ever will be , so intimately associated .
Major-General Laurie is a soldier of some 30 years' standing , having received his first commission in 1853 , when the prospect of this country becoming involved in a tremendous struggle with Russia over the Eastern question bid fair to become sooner rather than later a certainty . A few months sufficed to set all doubts at rest , ancl Major-General Laurie , then a subaltern in the King ' s Own Regiment , was one of the force despatched to the East under Lord Raglan to check the aggressive designs of our powerful antagonist . Hc was present with the allied armies during the
Presentation To Major-General Laurie, Grand Master Of Nova Scotia.
whole of the struggle in the Crimea , and for his services received the Crimean medal and clasps , as well as the Turkish medal . He also took part in repressing the Indian Mutiny , and his services were again rewarded with the honour of a medal . When the memorable Trent affair occurred towards the end of 1 S 61 , Bro . Laurie was sent to Canada and had entrusted to him the very responsible duty of organising the militia of
Nova Scotia , and there , with the exception of a brief period of service in South Africa against the Boers in 18 S 0 , hc continued to be employed till quite recently . On retiring from the Deputy Adjutant-Generalship of Canada , the militia of Nova Scotia determined to mark their sense of his valuable services by raising a subscription with a view to picscnting him with some memento of his career in that colony . Hence the gathering on
on the 17 th inst . in the hall of the Saddlers' Company , of thc Court of Assistants of which Bro . Laurie has lately become a member . The Master , Mr . H . M . Reed , presided , and there was a large gathering of ladies and gentlemen as well as of representatives from different colonies lo witness the interesting ceremony , among the most distinguished being Bro . the Right Hon . the Lord Mayor , Sir Alexander Gall , " High Commissioner for
Canada , Mr . Archer , Agent-General for Queensland , Mr . M . Smith , Agent-General for Victoria , Mr . Mills , Agent-General for Cape Colony , Sir Charles and Lad y Clifford , Generals Ansell , Lowry , Rigby , and Sir H . Lefroy , Major-General Paget , Sir R . Temple , Sir C . Stirling , Sir J . Rose , Sir L . McCIintock , Sir Ii . Inglelield , Surgeon-Major De Chaumont , Col . Grant , Bro . Capt . N . G . Philips , P . G . D ., and Messrs .
A . G . Laurie and P . G . Laurie . After a few opening remarks by the Chairman , Sir Alexander Gall made the presentation , and read thc address , which bore the . ' signatures of nearly 4000 officers , non-commissioned officers , and men of the Nova Scotian Militia and expressed their congratulations ou his promotion lo be a Major-General in the Imperial army , at the same time that it eulogised his services in Canada for the past twenty years . Bro . Laurie having acknowledged the gift in appropriate terms , votes of thanks to thc
Chairman for presiding and to the Master and Wardens of the Company for the use of their hall were passed with acclamation . The testimonial consists of a sword of honour and a massive silver punch bowl , the former , which was most admirably designed and executed , having been manufactured by Bro . George Kenning . The blade bears the following brief but expressive inscription -. " Presented by the Volunteer Militia of Nova Scotia to Major-General J . W . Laurie , Sept . 13 , 1 SS 2 . "
It remains for us to add a brief account of Major-General Laurie ' s Masonic career , which is almost co-extensive with his career as a soldier . He was initiated in the Albany Lodge , No . 151 , Newport , Isle of Wight , in the year 1854 , but it was not until after his return from foreign service that he was able to take the M . M . Degree , and to that end he crossed over specially from Dublin in order that he mi ght be raised in his mother lodge .
I he same year ( 1 S 57 ) in which this latter event occurred , the King ' s Own Regiment , in which at the time he was a Captain , obtained a charter from the Grand Lodge of Ireland to hold a travelling lodge , and its first meeting was held in the Island of Mauritius , as the King ' s Own Lodge , No . 91 on the roll of Grand Lodge ol Ireland . After holding for a brief time thc post of Tyler till a junior brother had qualified for the office , Bro . Laurie was
successively appointed to the various olliccs , and in i 860 , and again in iS 6 r , was elected W . Master . On arriving in Halifax , in 1862 , he became a joining member of the Royal Standard Lodge , No . 39 S , in that city , the only lodge in Nova Scotia , which still retains its allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England . When the necessities of military duty required that he should remove to a distance , he , to use the American term "dimitted , "
and consequently he took no part on either side in the discussions which ultimately led to the establishment of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia . On the death of the Grand Master , the Hon . A . Keith , Colonel Laurie was elected by a handsome majority over two other candidates Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia , and was annually re-elected to that high office till 1 SS 0 , when he declined in favour of his Deputy Grand
Master , Bro . Allan Crowe , whom only a few months later he had the melancholy duty of burying wilh Masonic honours . On his return from the Cape of Good Hope , he was once more chosen b y his Nova Scotian brethren to be their Grand Master , and from all we have heard and read he is highly esteemed , not only by the brethren in his own jurisdiction , but also by those of the Royal Standard Lodge , No . 39 S , English Constitution , with whom
he is on the best of terms , and whose presence in the colony , though not acknowledging him for their chief , he has openly recognised as beneficial to the Craft . He is the representative of the Grand Lodge of England al the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia as well as of thc Grand Lodge of New York , having been solicited to ( ill the latter oflice in consequence of the very favourable impression he made in 1875 when , as representing his
own Grand Lodge , he took part in the dedioation of thc Masonic Temple in New York City . He has officially visited several of the Grand Lodges on the American continent , and his annual addresses and official decisions have invariably been received with the greatest respect . For some months past he has been in England , and readers of the Freemason will not require to be reminded of the hearty welcome our distinguished brother has always
met with when visiting our Grand Lodge or any of its daughter lodges . It will no doubt interest brethren to know that our distinguished brother is son of John Laurie , who was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 18 46 , and that another near relative of his , Sir Peter Laurie , was Lord Mayor of London in 1 S 46 , and Master of the Saddlers' Company the same year . Thus the family to which he belongs have attained to civic as well as to military and Masonic eminence .
In conclusion we beg to congratulate Bro . Major-General Laurie on the signal evidence which the event of Thursday week affords of the respect in which his military services are held by the force with which for 20 years he was connected , and in the establishment of which he played so great a part . May he yet be spared lo live many years in the esteem and respect of hi _ brother soldiers as well as of his brother Masons !
STONEMASONS OF TUB MIIM > _„ AGES . —The history of the operative Masonic guilds has yet to be written ; and it seems unadvisable , in a cyclopaedia where space is valuable , to dilate on a subject on which we have yet to learn so much . It is sufficient to observe that the guilds of Masons seem to have attached themselves to monasteries especially , and to have
sent distinguished Masons all over the country from time to time , to consult , work , or direct other bodies at work . We ran trace the same Master Mason for instance , in the north and in the south . Perhaps that very connexion with the monasteries preserved that peculiar character of legend and tradition wliich so marks our Masonic Constitutions . —Kenning ' s Cyclope . dia of Freemasonry ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
highest unsuccessful candidates ( male and female ) . At the declaration of the poll the following was found to be the result of thc election :
MALES . SUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Bro . Charles Benjamin Bennett ... 1 S 54 „ William F . Tubbv 1 S 14 „ Geo . H . T . Dyer 1727 „ Thomas Sansom 151 S „ John Martin Baab 1290 „ " William M . Ford 12 SG „ George Cole 1235
„ John Patterson 1223 „ Thomas Nuttall 1192 „ James Shepherd 11 S 5 „ James Hayter 1179 „ Joseph Robertson 1166 „ Richard Wild 1151 „ Michael Coffey ... ... 1099 „ Francis Joseph Wirtzfield ... 1002
Bro . James L . Langley 10 S 7 „ Jonathan Wright 10 S 7 ,, Joseph Lewis ... ... ... 10 S 2 ,, Ralph M . Smith 1055 „ William Radford 1037 ,, Thomas Ashmore ... ... 1010 „ Frederick John Knott ... 100 S
„ Richard Churchill 989 „ William Norman ... ... 972 „ Robert West 971 „ Thomas Collins 94 6 „ Ben Exley S 75 „ William Stork S 31 „ Thomas William Sewell ... 7-3 „ Benjamin Banks ... ... 65 S
UNSUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Bro . John Inwood 542 „ Christopher Willcox 495 „ Charles Fitzwater 45 S „ Noach S . Lotinga 439 „ Thomas R . Weston 411 „ Daniel Heigho 39 S „ James Goodchild 3 'j 5 „ George Ensell 30 S „ Hanniball Gardner 13 S „ John Thomas Jones 11 S
Bro . Alexander Reid 102 ,, John L . Towning 77 ,, VVilliam Harrison ... ... 53 ,, Charles Sari ... ... ... 33 ,, John Kingsbury ... ... 2 S „ Andrew Wade ... C ,, Frederick Allies ... ... 4 „ Francis Harper 3 ,, John Musham ... ... ... 3 „ " William Bratield Dead
FEMALES . SUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Mrs . Charlotte Muruss 2290 „ Ellen Morrison 1914 „ Eliza Laffitau 1912 „ Jane Penman 1900
„ Ann Roberts 1 S 47 ,, Amelia Wallis Davis 1 S 03 „ Mary Ann Petty 179 6 „ Harriett Caswell 17 SG „ Caroline Golding 1779 „ Mary Ann Watson 1772
Mrs . Louisa Cathcart 177-„ Jane Greenwood 1747 „ Mary Nowlan 1705 ,, Naomi Gambell 16 99 Harbord i 75
„ Mary <> „ Sarah Greathcad 1 < M 3 ., Elizabeth Pearson ... ... 1593 ,, Lilias Greig ... ... 1573 „ Caroline Sarah Louisa Pratt ... i 5 ' 5
UNSUCCESSFUL . Votes . Votes .
Mrs . Fanny Stubington 1393 „ Annetta T . H . Wood 1317 „ Emma Bowen 1316 „ Ellen G . Beattie 1276 „ Mary Russell 1194 Kli :. _ t Haunp . 111 )!
„ Ann Wakelield 1123 „ Elizabeth Mary Thomas ... 1102 „ Elizabeth Mary Ann Child ... 1095 „ Zelie Emmerson 955 „ Caroline C . H . V . Buckley ... 947 „ Magdalene J ager 904 „ Isabella Elliot S 63 „ Sarah Anne Mardon 7 S 2
„ Pha _ be Ann Rumsey 737 „ Mary Smith 713 „ 1-Tizabeth Chappie C 4 6 „ Rebecca Pcrridge 5 S 9 „ Sarah Ann Allen 4 S 1 „ Elizabeth Hobbs 475 „ Harriet Evans 459 „ Margaret Rowell 3 S 5 „ Mary Geary 355 „ Elizabeth Hill 309 „ Frances Isaac 307 „ Susan Timms ... ... ... 271
Mrs . Mary Pelton 2 fio „ Ellen Potter 151 „ Jane Tribe 141 „ Jane Mary Townsend Si „ May Marianne Rodgers ... 7-_ . Hnnnali Rphhprk ... 71
„ Mary Heppel 66 „ Louisa Lovelock ... ... Cl „ Jane Polkinghorne 50 „ Elizabeth L . Cooley 5 ° „ Jane Leaver 37 „ Charlotte Copeland 16 „ Harriet Matilda Madcley ... 14 „ Jane Maddick 13
„ Mary Matthews >_) „ Sarah Rigarlsford £ „ Mary Crisp S „ Elizabeth Aon Barras ... .. 7 „ Sarah Coates i ,, Susan Croad ... 4 „ Ellen Greenwood 4 „ Annie Parker 3 „ Amelia Hargreaves — „ Elizabeth Ann Cook — ,, Sarah Penning Dead
Brought forward 21 -W ] f ., G 83 Votes issued ... ... 35 . 209 _> J J Polled to , day 34 , 360 Voles of thanks to the Scrutineers and the Chairman of the day con eluded the proceedings .
Presentation To Major-General Laurie, Grand Master Of Nova Scotia.
PRESENTATION TO MAJOR-GENERAL LAURIE , GRAND MASTER OF NOVA SCOTIA .
The brief notice we gave last week of the presentation of a testimonial to Major-General Laurie , late Deputy Adjutant-General of Militia in Canada , was hardly worthy of the occasion or of thc distinguished oflicer and brother who was made the recipient of the honour . Major-General Laurie has not only seen much active service in the Held , but he has likewise shown that he possesses in a high degree the less showy , but , in the long
run perhaps , the more valuable qualities of the military organiser . Io him during the long period of his service in Canada it is in a great degree attributable that the Militia of the Dominion is in such an admirable state of organisation . To him we owe it that , at the period of the Fenian raids into the Dominion some few years since , NovaScoliaalonewasin a position to put into thc field some 15 , 000 men , well trained and well equipped enough lo
meet any emergency . To him also must be ascribed the credit—and we doubt not the Imperial Government will unhesitatingly admit the obligation —of having rendered it unnecessary for the War Office to maintain a large force of British troops in Canada . The Militia , in promoting the efficiency of which he has had so conspicuous a share , is fully equal to the ordinary requirements of military duty , and consequently our small army is stronger
by some 10 , 000 men for home purposes , and , if the occasion should unhappily arise , for service in other parts of the world . These are claims which deserve to be recognised , and it must considerably enhance the value—in his estimation , at all events—of the testimonial , which a few dayssince was so ceremoniously presented to our respected brother , that it has emanated from the officers , non-commissioned officers and men of the force with which his name is , and ever will be , so intimately associated .
Major-General Laurie is a soldier of some 30 years' standing , having received his first commission in 1853 , when the prospect of this country becoming involved in a tremendous struggle with Russia over the Eastern question bid fair to become sooner rather than later a certainty . A few months sufficed to set all doubts at rest , ancl Major-General Laurie , then a subaltern in the King ' s Own Regiment , was one of the force despatched to the East under Lord Raglan to check the aggressive designs of our powerful antagonist . Hc was present with the allied armies during the
Presentation To Major-General Laurie, Grand Master Of Nova Scotia.
whole of the struggle in the Crimea , and for his services received the Crimean medal and clasps , as well as the Turkish medal . He also took part in repressing the Indian Mutiny , and his services were again rewarded with the honour of a medal . When the memorable Trent affair occurred towards the end of 1 S 61 , Bro . Laurie was sent to Canada and had entrusted to him the very responsible duty of organising the militia of
Nova Scotia , and there , with the exception of a brief period of service in South Africa against the Boers in 18 S 0 , hc continued to be employed till quite recently . On retiring from the Deputy Adjutant-Generalship of Canada , the militia of Nova Scotia determined to mark their sense of his valuable services by raising a subscription with a view to picscnting him with some memento of his career in that colony . Hence the gathering on
on the 17 th inst . in the hall of the Saddlers' Company , of thc Court of Assistants of which Bro . Laurie has lately become a member . The Master , Mr . H . M . Reed , presided , and there was a large gathering of ladies and gentlemen as well as of representatives from different colonies lo witness the interesting ceremony , among the most distinguished being Bro . the Right Hon . the Lord Mayor , Sir Alexander Gall , " High Commissioner for
Canada , Mr . Archer , Agent-General for Queensland , Mr . M . Smith , Agent-General for Victoria , Mr . Mills , Agent-General for Cape Colony , Sir Charles and Lad y Clifford , Generals Ansell , Lowry , Rigby , and Sir H . Lefroy , Major-General Paget , Sir R . Temple , Sir C . Stirling , Sir J . Rose , Sir L . McCIintock , Sir Ii . Inglelield , Surgeon-Major De Chaumont , Col . Grant , Bro . Capt . N . G . Philips , P . G . D ., and Messrs .
A . G . Laurie and P . G . Laurie . After a few opening remarks by the Chairman , Sir Alexander Gall made the presentation , and read thc address , which bore the . ' signatures of nearly 4000 officers , non-commissioned officers , and men of the Nova Scotian Militia and expressed their congratulations ou his promotion lo be a Major-General in the Imperial army , at the same time that it eulogised his services in Canada for the past twenty years . Bro . Laurie having acknowledged the gift in appropriate terms , votes of thanks to thc
Chairman for presiding and to the Master and Wardens of the Company for the use of their hall were passed with acclamation . The testimonial consists of a sword of honour and a massive silver punch bowl , the former , which was most admirably designed and executed , having been manufactured by Bro . George Kenning . The blade bears the following brief but expressive inscription -. " Presented by the Volunteer Militia of Nova Scotia to Major-General J . W . Laurie , Sept . 13 , 1 SS 2 . "
It remains for us to add a brief account of Major-General Laurie ' s Masonic career , which is almost co-extensive with his career as a soldier . He was initiated in the Albany Lodge , No . 151 , Newport , Isle of Wight , in the year 1854 , but it was not until after his return from foreign service that he was able to take the M . M . Degree , and to that end he crossed over specially from Dublin in order that he mi ght be raised in his mother lodge .
I he same year ( 1 S 57 ) in which this latter event occurred , the King ' s Own Regiment , in which at the time he was a Captain , obtained a charter from the Grand Lodge of Ireland to hold a travelling lodge , and its first meeting was held in the Island of Mauritius , as the King ' s Own Lodge , No . 91 on the roll of Grand Lodge ol Ireland . After holding for a brief time thc post of Tyler till a junior brother had qualified for the office , Bro . Laurie was
successively appointed to the various olliccs , and in i 860 , and again in iS 6 r , was elected W . Master . On arriving in Halifax , in 1862 , he became a joining member of the Royal Standard Lodge , No . 39 S , in that city , the only lodge in Nova Scotia , which still retains its allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England . When the necessities of military duty required that he should remove to a distance , he , to use the American term "dimitted , "
and consequently he took no part on either side in the discussions which ultimately led to the establishment of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia . On the death of the Grand Master , the Hon . A . Keith , Colonel Laurie was elected by a handsome majority over two other candidates Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia , and was annually re-elected to that high office till 1 SS 0 , when he declined in favour of his Deputy Grand
Master , Bro . Allan Crowe , whom only a few months later he had the melancholy duty of burying wilh Masonic honours . On his return from the Cape of Good Hope , he was once more chosen b y his Nova Scotian brethren to be their Grand Master , and from all we have heard and read he is highly esteemed , not only by the brethren in his own jurisdiction , but also by those of the Royal Standard Lodge , No . 39 S , English Constitution , with whom
he is on the best of terms , and whose presence in the colony , though not acknowledging him for their chief , he has openly recognised as beneficial to the Craft . He is the representative of the Grand Lodge of England al the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia as well as of thc Grand Lodge of New York , having been solicited to ( ill the latter oflice in consequence of the very favourable impression he made in 1875 when , as representing his
own Grand Lodge , he took part in the dedioation of thc Masonic Temple in New York City . He has officially visited several of the Grand Lodges on the American continent , and his annual addresses and official decisions have invariably been received with the greatest respect . For some months past he has been in England , and readers of the Freemason will not require to be reminded of the hearty welcome our distinguished brother has always
met with when visiting our Grand Lodge or any of its daughter lodges . It will no doubt interest brethren to know that our distinguished brother is son of John Laurie , who was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 18 46 , and that another near relative of his , Sir Peter Laurie , was Lord Mayor of London in 1 S 46 , and Master of the Saddlers' Company the same year . Thus the family to which he belongs have attained to civic as well as to military and Masonic eminence .
In conclusion we beg to congratulate Bro . Major-General Laurie on the signal evidence which the event of Thursday week affords of the respect in which his military services are held by the force with which for 20 years he was connected , and in the establishment of which he played so great a part . May he yet be spared lo live many years in the esteem and respect of hi _ brother soldiers as well as of his brother Masons !
STONEMASONS OF TUB MIIM > _„ AGES . —The history of the operative Masonic guilds has yet to be written ; and it seems unadvisable , in a cyclopaedia where space is valuable , to dilate on a subject on which we have yet to learn so much . It is sufficient to observe that the guilds of Masons seem to have attached themselves to monasteries especially , and to have
sent distinguished Masons all over the country from time to time , to consult , work , or direct other bodies at work . We ran trace the same Master Mason for instance , in the north and in the south . Perhaps that very connexion with the monasteries preserved that peculiar character of legend and tradition wliich so marks our Masonic Constitutions . —Kenning ' s Cyclope . dia of Freemasonry ,