Masonic Presentations As Rewards Of Heroism.

well accept from the hands of such an organisation a medal which will carry with it the imprimatur of those in whose hands the principles of human virtue rest . Every one of these men feels in accepting the medal that he was accepting « . record of having done his duty , which he might show in any part of the world with the certainty of its being recognised as an authoritative record of what he had done . This could hardly have been the case with a decoration

coming from any other quarter than this ; and I hear from these men that they could not have received a medal or decoration which would have gratified them more than one given by this lodge of Freemasons . I feel that any florid expressions ot gratitude would be out of place . Their feeling is one of pride in having been able to do a good action , and of gratitude in its being recoenised , not for their own sake , butfor the sake

of the example it sets-to others . We have here men who have been accustomed to the sea all their lives ; men to whom the terrible dangers of the 14 th of Alay seemed little more than had been their fate to meet at any time in the course of their hard life ; and we have amongst us also young men belonging to this place who had had no such experiences , but who bravely did their duty , took their place and faced the danger , as older and more experienced

men had done . The medals given to these will not only be a pleasing record of their own deeds , but an inducement to others to do their duty like men under similar circumstances , should they ever unfortunately arise . I beg , on behalf of all the recipients , to tender to you and the brotherhood , and all who have come here to-night , their most hearty and and grateful thanks . The song , " Hear the wild winds blow , " and the glee

"Our ship now goes , were then given . The W . AL thanked the visitors for their presence at the ceremony , expressing his sincere hope that they would never have occasion to witness such a ceremony again . The National Anthem was then sung by all present , after which W . Collis called for three cheers for St . John's

Lodge , which were lustily given by the recipients of the medals , followed by cheers for the W . AL , Airs . Parsons , Mr . Wakefield , and the ladies , after which the ladies and non-Alasons left , all appearing gratified at having been present at so impressively-conducted , interesting , and memorable a ceremony . Lodge then closed in due form .

Gold And Silver Wyre Drawers' Company.

GOLD AND SILVER WYRE DRAWERS ' COMPANY .

On Tuesday evening the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers ' Company dined at the Albion Tavern , Aldersgate-street , under the presidency of Air . George Kenning ( AIaster . ) There were present : Sir E . J . Reed , K . C . B ., M . P ., Air . J . H . Puleston , M . P ., Major Joseph ( Warden ) , Air . 1 . K . Abel

( Warden ) , Alajor Sewell , Air . B . Piercv , Dr . Robert Barnes , Mr . VV . Hays , Air . G . Forster , Air . H . VV . Johnson , Air . G . O . Camroux , Air . D . H . Jacobs , Mr . G . Burney , Air . C . Kains Jackson , Air . E . Burke , Air . R . L . Loveland , Mr . E . 1 " . B . Fuller , Air . J . S . Chisholm , Air . F . Pondered , Mr . H . F . Stewart , Mr . l > . Welby , Mr . j . R . Brown , Mr . F . G . Whitwam , and Air . D . Falcke . The vice-chair

was occupied by Air . H . W . IT . Kance . The loving cup having been passed round , the usual toasts were given from the chair . Dr . BARNES then proposed " The Army , Navy , and Reserve Forces , " remarking that the navy recognised the force and power of constructive genius , without which their troops were nothing , and howlargely that was dependen t upon

Sir E . J . Reed he need not tell any one present . ( Applause . ) With the other part of the toast he coupled the name of Alajor Joseph , who admirably represented the independent civic spirit which kept alive the pluck of the British army . Sir E . J . REED , in responding for the navy , alluded to the immense advantage which England possessed over other nations in the immense mercantile marine which she

possessed . As an instance of this , he mentioned the magnificent strategic movement of the combined naval and mercantile fleet from Alexandria , past Aboukir , to the Suez Canal , in which ships of totally different construction and varied speed were carried with punctuality to the required points . Taking into consideration the fact that our mercantile marine consisted to so great an extent of

the very best steamers in the world , they need not fear even the military spirit of France or Germany , for England carried one half of the commerce of the whole globe . He expressed his gratification that Sir Garnet Wolseley had acknowledged the services of the seamen and marines in the recent campaign , illustrating as it did the admirable way in which the army and navy and all branches of the

forces of the country now worked together . The military power of the whole of the world in the future he regarded as small in comparison with the military power of England , assisted as it was by her mercantile marine . ( Applause . ) Major J OSEPH responded on behalf of the army reserve and auxiliary forces , commenting upon the great value of the reserves and auxiliaries as a support to the regular

army . The regiment to which he belonged had , he said , recently given to the Royal Artillery 303 men . With such a force behind them , determined to do their duty , the army might always be depended upon to maintain the honour of their country . Air . HAYS next proposed the toast of " The Houses of Parliament " in complimentary terms , remarking that no matter what political party were in power , they were always

actuated by a genuine desire to do their duty to the country . Air . Pu l . ESTON , ALP . for Devonport , responded on behalf of the House of Commons , expressing a hope that , although this was the first time he had had the pleasure of being amongst them , it would not be the last . Sir E . J . REED proposed " The Worshipful Company of Gold and Silvcr Wyre Drawers , " coupling with it the name

of the master . He remarked that he had sometimes not heen able to solve the question why a master of a City company was its master , but on the present occasion they had a master about whose qualifications for the office there could be no doubt . He was one of thc mo , t eminent members of the orofession or art which this worshipful company

existed to promote , to advance , and improve ; and behind the chair he saw the arms of the company , very elegantly Worked , to illustrate the work which the company furthered . So far as he ( Sir E . J . Reed ) was concerned , as a Radical member of a House which had seemed disposed to interfere with existing institutions , some of the pleasant-CSt hours of his life had been spent at the tables of the City

Gold And Silver Wyre Drawers' Company.

Companies ; and instead of having to apologise even for their very existence , as some old-fashioned people supposed , these companies were the exemplification of what this age wanted . They were rushing and pressing forward in their avocations of life to the destruction almost of leisure , of friendships , and of assocaition with each other in public enterprises—the individual interest tending continually to override and trample down the social and public

interest ; and these ancient companies seemed almost as if they had been created for the purpose of showing what were the specific dangers of the age , and what were the means and organisations by which those dangers might be avoided . He was not averse to any kind of improvement . He believed that the energy and enterprise of a country like this necessitated changes of every description and many legislative alterations ; but , at the same time , there could

not be a change more to be deplored than the destruction of a number of bodies the very existence ot which , and the practice of which , tended to show them that that there did exist , apart from in some degree and in some degree associated with the avocations of life , which tended to take men away from individual pursuits and to bring them into social connection one with another , and organise themselves into institutions by which they might simultaneously help

themselves and their fellow men . He hoped nothing might be done , or even proposed , which would tend in any degree to do away with the influence which these ancient companies exerted . ( Applause . ) In the masterof the company they had a gentleman who had the interests of the company at heart , and who , by inclination as well a > by his avocation , was well disposed to advance the interests of the company in evcrv way . ( Applause . )

The AIASTER , in acknowledging the toast , said he had been engaged in the work of the company for a long time , and he was very pleased to see it in so prosperous a condition , which was greatly owing to their energetic clerk , Air . Baxter . It would always be his greatest pleasure to do his utmost for the interests of the company . Mr . BURKE next proposed "The Health of the Wardens , " for whom Major Joseph and Air . Abel

responded . Alajor SEWEI . I . then proposed "The Health of the Newly-elected Members of the Company , Dr . Barnes and Mr . Piercy . " Of the latter he remarked that he was an extremely modest man , and it was with very great diffidence that he had permitted himself to come out in public life . But they would feel quite certain that a gentleman who could , as he did in the last session of Parliament , by

his own influence get a railway Bill re-committed was one who , although not a Gold and Silver Wyre Drawer , was sufficiently a wirepuller to be a very good member of this company . He trusted that his having come amongst them would give him a taste for further ambitious motives in municipal life , and that they might look forward to his filling high oflice in the City in the future . ( Cheers . ) He was quite sure that a gentleman who could show the ability he

had done in thc management of his own affairs , not only as a professional man but as a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers , and as a very large contractor both here and abroad , would add both strength and ability , not only to the Gold and Silver Wyre Workers' Company , but to the City of London itself , if he was called upon to fill any high and important office . ( Applause ) . Mr . PUI . ESTON said he should have great pleasure in

drinking The Health of Air . Piercy , who was a countryman of his , and although his modesty had led him to withdraw from the candidature for the vacant aldermancy this time , that only meant that he would not withdraw on the next occasion . Air PIERCV , in responding , said that the reason he had withdrawn was that his professional avocations would take him away from the country for many months durinsr

the coming winter , and he felt that it would not be fair to his constituents to ask for election in those circumstances . He thanked them for electing him a member of their court , and hoped they would co-operate together for many years to come , and that he should prove a good fellow-worker and a useful citizen . The foundations of the City were laid deep in the civilization of the Christian era , and he trusted that countless ages might intervene before Lord Alacaulay ' s New Zealander might view its

ruins from London Bridge . The pulsations of London throbbed throughout the world , and he trusted they might continue to do so for thousands of years . Air . BARNES also responded . Air . LOVELA . VIJ proposed "The New Members of the Livery , " Air . Whitwam and Mr . Fuller , who brielly responded . Air . STEWART proposed "The Health of the Clerk , Air . Baxter , Mayor of Lewes , " in whose absence Air . RANGE returned thanks .

I he dinner was admirably served , and there was some capital singing by Aladame Worrell , Mr . Lester , Air . F . Cozens , and Air . A . Aloore . Air . A . Cooper officiated as toastmaster . —Cit v Press .

Bro. Sala On Drink And Tobacco.

BRO . SALA ON DRINK AND TOBACCO .

The advocates of temperance ( says Bro . Sala , writing in a recent number of the Illustrated . London News ) will rejoice greatly at the intelligence forwarded from Woolwich that Sir Garnet Wolseley has ordered that the troops under his command shall be allowed daily a triple allowance of tea , and that extra supplies of the article in question have

been sent out from the commissariat stores to Ismailia . It is stated that the extra issue of tea is much relished b y our brave soldiers , who find it the most refreshing and most invigorating beverage that they can carry with them on a march . Australian stock-drivers and deer-stalkers in the Highlands found out that fact long ago . Cold tea in the desert is the sweetest of boons . A second ration of coffee

is also ordered daily for every man ; so that when he goes on duty at three or four o ' clock in the morning he may have a slight repast preliminary to the seven or eight o'clock breakfast . In a book called " Illustrious Abstainers " it is inferred that our General commanding the British forces in Egypt

is a tetotaller . That , I believe , is not the fact . But Sir Garnet being an eminently judicious man is naturally an equally temperate one , and does his utmost to encourage sobriety among his troops . Napoleon the Great , was one of the most abstinent of mankind . A single glass of Chambertin sufficed to bring the blcod to his cheek . But he was not a total abstainer ; and when his travelling

Bro. Sala On Drink And Tobacco.

carriage was captured , after Waterloo , there was found in his " nccessaire de voyage " a case bottle half full of rum . According to Jean Baptiste dc Coster , his gti'de ( cited in Sir Walter Scott's " Paul ' s Letters of his Kinsfolk" ) , Napoleon halted during his flight to Charleroi , alighted from his horse , and went into a meadow named Alartene ' . Ie . " There a large fire was made loe him ; and two glasses and two bottles of wine were broughtwhich he crank with his

, ollicers—he took no other refreshment . " Still , while the Good Templars and the Blue Ribbon Army , the United Kingdom Alliance , and the National Temperance League will justifiably exult at Sir Garnet's sensible prescription of tea and coffee for his soldiers in lieu of beer or spirits , 1 scarcely know what the opponents of smoking will say to the news that the London firm of Rothschild have made a gift to our troops in Egypt , through Mr .

Kowsell , the Commissioner of State Domains , of twelve tons of tobacco and live thousand pipes . It is calculated that this will givo about a pound of tobacco to each man . Old travellers ( who are generally old smokers as well ) will duly appreciate the value of thc boon due to the munificence of the Messrs . Rothschild . With the smoker , a pipe of tobacco allays the pangs of hunger , smooths away the asperities of wayfaring , and makes him generally

cheerful and contented with his lot . The wounded man who can smoke forgets half his pain . As to smoke stupefying a man ' s faculties and blunting his energy , that allegation I take to be mainly nonsense . The greatest thinkers and workers of modern times have been inveterate smokers . At the same time , it is idle to deny that smoking to excess weakens the eyesight , impairs the digestion , niavs havoc

with the nerves , and interferes with the action of the heart . I have been a constant smoker for nearly forty years ; but had I my life to live over again I would never touch tobacco in any shape or form . Our soldiers in Egypt have no time to smoke immoderately , and an occasional pipe may do them no harm . It is to the man who sits all day long at a desk , poring over books and scribbling " copy " that smoking is deleterious .

Births ,Marriages And Deaths.

Births , Marriages and Deaths .

__ [ The charge is 2 s . Gd . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ]

BIRTHS . GOODMAN . —On the 25 th inst ., at Cough-road , Edgbaston , Birmingham , the wife of E . Al . Goodman , of a daughter . HALL . —On the 13 th inst ., at Brentwood , the wife of the Rev . li . S . Hall , ALA ., of a son .

JUPI-. —On the 24 th inst ., at Whin Brae , Tunbridge Wells , Airs . J . Jupp , of a son . LEES . —On the 9 th inst ., at Rcinslcc , Ashton-under-Lyne , the wife of J . E . Lees , of a son . ROWAN . —On the iGth inst ., at Chipping-hill , Witham , the wife of H . 11 . Rowan , H . M . Inspector of Schools .

ot a son . SCARLETT . —On the 25 th inst ., at Bryanstoti-squ-. ire , tho wife of Lieutenant-Colonel L . J . Y . C . Scarlett , Scots Guards , of a daughter . TURNER . —On the 14 th inst .,. at Shrewsbury-road , Birkenhead , the wife of Captain F . Al . Turner , Royal Artillery , of a son . VENN . —On thc iSth inst ., at Wincanton , Somerset , Airs . Alfred Edward Venn , of a daughter .

AIARRIAGES . Cui'i'AGE—ToiM'i' . —On the 25 th inst ., at ( he parish church , Newark , the Rev . R . J . Cuppage , ALA ., licensed general preacher in the diocese of Lincoln , to Frances , daughter of the late J . Todcr , Esq ., of

South Muskham , Notts . JOHNSON—JACKSON . —On the 14 th inst ., at Grade Church , Cornwall , Arthur Maxwell , son of M . Johnson , Esq ., of Stone Castle , in the count y of Kent , to Clara , daughter of the Rev . F . C . Jackson , Rector of Grade and Ruan Minor .

SEARLE—HAI . LI'IKI-. —On the iGth inst ., at St . Alary ' s , Lewisham , Ernest Alfred , son of IT . J . Searle , of Hatcham , Surrey , to Stella , daughter of E . Hallpikc , of New Cross .

DEATHS . BAKNARIJ . —On the 25 th inst ., at Gipsey-hill , Upper Norwood , Sarah , widow of Jas . Michael Barnard , Esq ., late of thc Old Bailey , in her 83 rd year . DAWES . —On the 25 th inst ., at Agri Dagh , Alount Araratroad , Richmond , R . S . Dawes , aged 50 . DRKWETT . —On the iGth inst ., at Oving , near Chichester

, G . Drewitt , aged 77 . FERRIS . —On the 18 th inst ., at Bradford-on-Avon , Wilts , F . Ferris , son of the late S . Ferris , of Bulkington , Wilts , aged 30 . FOSTER . —On the 23 rd inst ., at Wells , Somerset , the Rev . F . D . Foster , aged 87 . HILLS . —On the iSth inst , at Blacklieath-road , R . Hills , son of the late J . Hills , of Deptford , aged 44 .

LADRON . —On tlie 13 th inst , at Weetwooi * Grange , near Leeds , J . Labr . on . AlORREs . —On the 1 Sth inst , at Streatley Vicarage , Berks ,. IT . R . Alorres , Vicar of St . Sebastian ' s , Wokingham . PALMER . —On the 24 th inst , at Great Yarmouth , C . J . Palmer , Esq ., F . S . A . ST . JOHN . —On the 13 th inst , at Bath , Maria St . John , widow of C . St . John , Esq ., M . D ., Inspector-General of Her Majesty ' s Hospitals , aged 78 .

iKUSSES , Kl . 'snr llAXliAliKS , lvrc SBKI . KY ' S 11 Mil ) Kl . 'ln ' . Mi InrssEs . —The world ' s recognition of unequalled excellence . Kccevintr the only award aC merit j-ramed for tresses at Ihe late i 11 tr .-rn-1 tion .-1 l . Medical JixJiiliilicni , 1 SX 1 . Made in even-desirable and latest improved pattern , line steel springs , neatlv co \ .: rcd with highly-polished hard rubber , light , cool , clcanlv ; niiallccted bv lime , use , or climate . Free from all sour , rnstv . ' chnling . or

strapping unpleasantness . Used in bathing . Ahvavs reliable . Thu correct am \ skilful mechanical treatment ot henna or rupture a specialty . Under patronage of Hie world ' s most distinguished surgeons . Choice assortment of elastic snrgic . il hosierv . lielts , improved suspensory bandages , shoulder braces . I ' stablishments —14 , l- 'lect-street , London , 1 * . C , and 1347 , Chestnut-street , Philadelphia , U . S . A . —jAim . **