Presidents Of The U.S.A. Who Were Freemasons.

PRESIDENTS OF THE U . S . A . WHO WERE FREEMASONS .

Many of our American Exchanges , and among thein the American Tyler in particular , have latterly been publishing brief accounts of those former Presidents of the United States of North America who are known to have been members of our

Society . Exclusive of thc present occupant of thc Presidential chair—Bro . McKinley—the number of them is seven out of the 25 gentlemen who , at the regular stated periods of election , have been chosen to rule the great American Republic . These seven

are Bros . George Washington , Andrew Jackson , James Knox Polk , Millard Fillmore , James Buchanan , Andrew Johnson , and James A . Garfield . More than one of them won distinction in our ranks , and especially in the case of George Washington and

Andrew Jackson , evidence has again and again been produced showing that they always took a deep interest in the Order , Washington having presided over one of the early lodges in Virginia while that State was still a British Colony , and Jackson having

served as M . W . Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee . As regards the former of these distinguished men there is , loommind , very little doubt that had the project which was suggested during the last decade of the 18 th century of establishing a

General Grand Lodge for fhe whole of the United Slates been carried to a successful issue , George Washington would have been elected to the ollice of General Grand Master . Jackson , however , ruled the Grand Lodge of his State of Tennessee with

the same tact and ability that he administered the government of the United States as President , and , though the details of his Masonic career are of the scantiest , except such as relate lohim as Grand Master , there are numerous anecdotes extant as to his

love for the Craft . These anecdotes may or may not rest on a very sure foundation ; but as there is no smoke without fire , so is it very unusual to find anecdotes circulated about people whose life and actions , generally , or in some particular sphere of duly , have not won for them respect and popularity .

Of the remaining live Masonic Presidents , we read in the American Tyler that Bro . Polk was initiated in Columbia Lodge , No . 31 , on the Tennessee Register , in 1 S 20 , and served as J . W . the following year , and that he was also a Royal Arch Mason

and that on his death , which occurred in June , 1849 , ' y a ^ months after his vacation of the Presidential oflice , he was buried , at his own request , with Masonic honours in the garden of his residence at Nashville , a monument being subsequently

erected over his grave . Millard Fillmore is also known tc have been a member of the Order , but "being of a sensitive nature , " he " recanted during the anti-Masonic excitement of 1826-36 , and it is not known that he ever after affiliated with

the fraternity . " James Buchanan , the 15 th President of tlu U . S . A ., was appointed on 27 th December , 1823 , by the M . W Grand Master of Pennsylvania , District Deputy . Andrew Johnson , who became President on the assassination of Abraham

Lincoln , shortly after the latter had been re-elected to office for a second term of four years , was also a brother , and so , too , was James A . Garfield , who was

assassinated by Guileau , on the 2 nd July , 1881 . Our worth y contemporary further mentions that a belief prevails that Lincoln proposed to apply for membershi p of a lodge on completing his second term as President , and also that General U . S . Grant is said to have been elected a

member of a lodge when a lieutenant , and to have gone through the ceremony of initiation . Of the Vice-Presidents and delealed candidates for the Presidency or Vice-Presidency who were Masons the number given b y the Tyler is considerable , and

includes Aaron Burr , Daniel D . Thompkins , Richard M Johnson , George M . Dallas , John C . Bn-ckenridge , and Garret A . Hobart , who served as Vice-Presidents ; John Hancock and John Marshall , who wen ; defeated candidates for the Presidency ,

and Henry Clay , Lewis Cass , John Bell , Stephen A . Douglas , Wiiifield S . Hancock , George B . McClellan , William II . English , and Arthur W . Sewall , who were also unsuccessful aspiranls for one or other of the offices we have mentioned .

AT THE MEETING of the Croydon Corporation on Monday last the Mayor read the followii f telegram In m Bro . Lord Roberts with reference to the decision to confer the fre » dtm of the biroufch upon him : "Gladly accept the high honour proposed to be conferred on me . —ROBERTS . " The message was received with loud cheers .

Grand Secretary Of Scotland.

GRAND SECRETARY OF SCOTLAND .

In common with very many brethren al Home and Abroad I have heard of the resignation , by my dear old friend Bro . D . Murray Lyon , of the office of Grand Secretary of Scotland with great regret , especially as failing health is the cause .

Twenty-four years' occupancy of such an office has entailed an immense deal of labour and anxiety , and though all that lonotime Bro . Lyon has been blessed with good health until just now , one cannot but feel that if anyone bas earned fhe right to

retirement he has . Still , we have become so used to hjs occupancy of the ollice of Grand Secretary , all things have gone so smoothly and well , and the prosperity of the Grand Lodo- has so increased by leaps and bounds , financially and generally

that we have almost forgotten that the chief moving spirit throughout all this period , who has brought order out of chaos , is , after all , subject to illness and infirmities , as well as his many admirers and friends .

Bro . Lyon , in his letter of resignation , gives expression to the dee ]) gratitude he feels for the active help he has received from the Grand Master , the Past Grand Masters , the Grand Committee , and the office-bearers , as well as the Craft generally ;

their generous co-operation being warmly appreciated . I feci assured , when the time comes for the Grand Lodge to speak , there will be no doubtful sound as to the heartiest reciprocation

of all such expressions , and that in his retirement he will take with him the love and respect of the whole Scottish Fralernitv . W . J . HUGHAN .

Ireland.

Ireland .

MASONIC SERVICE AT TEMPLEPATRICK , PROVINCE OF ANTRIM .

On the iCth instanl , under the auspices of St . Paul's Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter , No . 160 , a sperial Masonic service was held in the Old Prusbyterian Church , Templepatrick . A special train travelled from Belfast , and a number ot brethren from thc city took advantage of the opportunity of assisting their friends . The brethren met at the Masonic Hall , Templepatrick , and marched in procession to the church , which vvas filled to its utmost capacity ,

Amongst others there were present : Bros . C . K . Cordner , 10 ; J . H . Woods , P . P . J . G . W . ; W . T . Braithwaite , P . S . G . W . ; W . Mchaffey , P . P . J . S . D . ; Arthur M'Keovvn , M . E . K . 1 C 0 ; James Clarke , P . K ., Reg . ; Alexander Bill , P . M . 160 ; John Nelson , P . M . 140 ; Wm . Baird , P . M . 317 ; A . M'Clelland , P . J . G . I ) . ; J . M . M'Cullough , J . W . 17 S ; G . Gordon , 160 ; Nathaniel Gray , ifio ; David Boyd , 56 ; Robert Downey , 56 ; James Moore , 160 and 28 ; Wm . Gray , P . K . 64 ; Thomas

M'Dufiin , 645 ; John Kerr , 645 ; R . B . Andrews , P . P . G . S . B . ; John Moore , lfio ; Wm . B . Davison , 2 S ; T . Coulter , H . P . 28 James Millar , W . M . 537 ; W . Hart , P . M . 74 ; George Reid , 28 ; George II . M'Kinney , 253 ; John . Scott , 160 ; Gibson . Barron , 1 C 0 ; H . R . Ashcroft , 160 ' ; W . J . Ritchie , R . A . C . 28 S , John Alexander , 103 , R . A . C . 109 ; James Strain , J . D . 28 ; R . B . Fleming , 160 ; S . Stevenson , 160 ; W . Montgomery , 28 ; F . G . Barrett , P . M . 28 ; James Harrison ,

S . D . 513 ; Wm . Strainer , 5 G ; Robert Auld , P . M . 74 ; Arthur Johnston , 181 ; Wm . Redpath , 1 S 6 ; Isaac Duffin , 1 C 0 ; Samuel Blair , 513 ; Thomas Blair , 513 ; J . Todd , P . M . 29 ; J . H . M'Kinstry , 335 ; James Cameron , M . A . 56 ; James Frazer , M . A . 140 ; J . Courtney , M . A . 140 ; James Ritchie , 1 C 0 ; J . Ollicer , 140 ; A . Reid , 160 ; Wm . Shannon , 160 ; J . B . M'llroy , 1 C 0 ; J . H . Carson , 140 ; A . Caldwell , 140 ;

H . Millar , 28 ; J . Atcken , 140-, J . Ingram , 140 ; John Garrett , 258 ; W . 0 'Flaherty , 28 ; D . M'Ervel , 140 ; A . Peden , P . M . 160 ; W . J . Adjey , P . P . G . S . ; John Simpson , 28 ; John Hamilton , 140 ; Thomas Henderson , P . M . 258 ; Samuel Milliken , S . W . 276 ; Thomas Boyd , P . M . 27 C ; R . Robinson , R . A . 276 ; Thomas K'Knight , R . A . 276 ; R . Carlisle , R . A . 276 ; Richard Allen , P . M . 140 ; A . Pameson , 22 ; D . M'Crubb , 22 ; and Joseph Nutt , 28 .

Rev . A . 'turner chose for his text ist Kings , vi ., 7— "And the house , when it was in building , vvas built of stone , made ready before it was brought thither , so that there was neither hammer nor axe , nor . my tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building . " The origin of Freemasonry , let them freely admit , was , he said , lost in obscurity . The line of descent vvas not straight . Tracing backwards , they followed a zig-zag course , touching one corporation here ,

another there , until at last there was no path left , and they paused . To make the institution coeval with creation was beyond his power . But even so , its great antiquity was acknowledged and at least dated back to the time when men were first gathered together in numbers to build the grand architectural structures of the world . In the fact of the vast numbers employed lay , he thought , the beginning of the present institution . The first care of the architect was to

provide lor his men . Huts were built frequently called lodges—wherein the workers might dwell , 10 men to it lodge , and one of the 10 was appointed warden or overseer over the remaining nine . These small groups doubtless fostered the spirit of brotherly love among themselves , and thus from the very beginning Speculative Masonry existed to some extent alongside the Operative kind . It was easy to imagine that a worker injured or maimed in the course of his work would be carried to his lodge and faithfully and tenderly cared for by the remaining th

members thereof . Charity of the highest description thus crept in from e commencement , and became an integral part of Freemasonry . A peculiarity about those old-time architects and builders vvas that they moved about ot bloc from place to place , from conntry to country , to wherever especially good work was to be done . This travelling about in company unconsciously bound them together as a society , kept the lodges intact , with ali their membership and office-bearers , and fostend a desire to keep within themselves the secrets of their craft , and about the year 1044 before Christ the Dionysiac Fraternity appeared in Asia