George William Speth.

that the loving husband , the tender father is no longer by their side . God grant them strength , so that in the hour of trial they fail not ! Born in 18 47 , Bro . George William Speth was a comparatively young man when the hand of Death stilled his heart . Indeed , he was the youngest of the little knot of enthusiastic

Freemasons who founded the famous Lodge of the QUATUOR CORONATI , devoted to the Literature and History of Freemasonry . On the progress and development of that Lodge he spent the indomitable energy of his life , and in its success he found his amplest reward . Bro . Speth was initiated , when he had just attained his

twenty-fifth year , in Lodge of Unit } - , No . 18 3 , and passed the chair in 1876 . He was exalted in Sir Francis Burdett R . A . Chapter , No . 1503 , Twickenham , in 188 3 . With his demise so recent upon us , there is neither opportunity nor

occasion to trace minutely the Masonic career of this great Freemason ; that will be a care for others when the edge of grief has been dulled by Time .

Associated with the Lodge of the QUATUOR CORONATI as its Secretary from its inception , he found in its service world-wide fame and appreciation . He was

honoured , in 18 9 6 , with the rank of Past Deputy G . D . of Ceremonies . Our late Brother ' s

qualifications for the post of Secretary of the Lodge of the QUATUOR CORONATI were manifold , and such as tire rarely possessed by any one man . He was

an accomplished linguist , speaking and writing the principal European languages with Huency and accuracy . His gift of languages was exceptional ,

for . he showed equal proficiency in languages of the Teutonic stock , and of the Latin stock . As is often the case with these Polyglot Masters of

speech , his English style , charming in its directness and simplicity , was set oft" by quaint turns of expression that showed the traces of some foreign tongue . His reading was

wide in more languages than one . His perception was acute , and no keener logician was ever trained in the Schools of the Medieval Doctors of Subtleties . His artistic gifts were of a high order . W ell versed in music ; he was a draughtsman of no mean skill . The elaborate and tasteful designs for the St . John's cards that graced the earl y volumes

of the ARS QUATUOR COROXATORUM were till the products of his fertile imagination and facile fingers . So , too , tire the tail pieces that adorn the later volumes of the same series . He had an adroit turn for the lighter kinds of versification , and his intimate friends can recall many a rattling

string of rhymes that would be no discredit to an Aytoun or a Barhani . Nor did Bro . Speth confine himself , in his more serious studies , to the subjects that serve exclusively as Handmaids of Freemasonry . He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society , a Fellow of the Royal Societ y of Antiquaries of Ireland , and an active member of " several

Till-: LATK UUO . GK 0 HUK WILLIAM Sl'KTH . ( I'huhi lliuuliiiiili . (• Seliiuiilt , Muri / ulr . )

local Archaeological and kindred societies in Kent and the surrounding counties . Bro . Speth ' s contributions to the literature of Freemasonry were numerous and of the highest value . His '' Royal Freemasons" has gone through several editions on both sides of the Atlantic , and his "Builders' Rites" earned him

the commendation of leading Anthropologists . Quite recently , his pamphlet entitled " A Masonic Curriculum , " which had been long out of print , has been recast and republished in the United States in an edition of which the copies are to be reckoned by thousands . His linguistic

powers gave him particular aptitude for philological researches , and some of the most valuable productions of his pen deal with our corruption of technical phrases . But the great bulk of his compositions will be found in the Ars Oualnor Coronalorum , or Transactions of the QUATUOR

CORONATI Lodge , which he edited with conspicuous literary ability . His share in editing the Anligrapha , as the reprints of the QUATUOR

CORONATI Lodge are quaintly called , reflected no less credit on his skill as an editor and his geniality as a man , for the true secret of the success of the

lodge lay in the exquisitely sympathetic humanity of the Secretary .

Never in our time , or in the time of our fathers , has there been built up such an edifice round a lodge as the Correspondence Circle of the

QUATUOR CORONATI Lodge , numbering to-day close on 3 , 000 members , and spread over the whole surface of the globe , from New Zealand to

Norway , from Shanghai to Galwav . Here is , in truth , a long life ' s work concentrated within a dozen years . Here , too , alas ! lie

the seeds of the untimely demise that has left us till lamenting—over-anxiety , over-pressure , over-work . It is not yet in the power of his friends to

write of the man , George William Speth , as he showed himself to them .

Their hearts are too full to -allow them to set clown in words the measure of their grief . The man that is gone was a man among ten thousand . Wherever the English race is found , there is found esteem for the old-fashioned virtues of courage , truth , and fidelity . Wherever the Plnglish-speaking Craft is

found , there is found anxious desire to further the practice of those virtues by the teaching that underlies our oldfashioned symbolism . True and trusty are the watchwords of the Craft . True and trusty were the watchwords of George William Speth's life . No man ever heard him speak

ill of his neighbour ; no man ever found in him an evil thought of his neighbour . The shadow of the grave weighs on us who lag behind him in the race that till men run . But for such as he there are no shadows beyond the grave . Sit unium men cum anima illius ! W . J . CHETWODE CRAWLEY . 22 nd April , 1901 .