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Article At the Sign of the Perfect Ashlar ← Page 2 of 3 →
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At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar
Bro . J . L . Toole , the memory of whose dramatic successes will not be quickly effaced from the minds of those of our generation who have been privileged to witness them , is , we may remind our readers , a veteran Mason . He joined English Freemasonry in 1870 under the auspices of the Lodge of Asaph , Xo . 1319 , having been previously initiated
in Dublin . He afterwards joined the Mayburv Lodge , Xo . 9 6 9 , and in later years the Drury Lane Lodge , No . 2127 , of both of which he is still a member . Continued ill-health , the cause of his long retirement from the stage , must also in later years have necessarily affected his active connection with the Craft . W e hope , however , that his 71 st birthday , which was celebrated a short time since , may be followed bv many more of a cheerier description .
In the April periodicals are to be found two stories illustrative of the benefit of Freemasonry , in perilous times , one in the Windsor Magazine , and the other told by T . P . O'Connor in M ..-LP ., containing , by the way , another moral , which are well worth repetition .
During the present war the tie of the Brotherhood has been recognised both by Boers and Englishmen . A colonel of a Canadian regiment at Modeler River , on a Sunday morning " stroll , strayed too far from his camp , when he suddenly found himself covered by the rifle of a-Boer . By a fortunate impulse he made the customary sign , and cried out ,
" Don't shoot . " The Boer immediately threw clown his gun and hurried to the colonel , informing him that he belonged to " De Broderband in Pretoria , " and was a member of General Cronje ' s staff . He begged him to return at once to his camp , ' and made him accept a valuable coin as a souvenir of his escape .
The " Fiscal Minister " who was accredited from the state of New Granada—now Colombia—to the Government of Lord Palmerston , was a worthy and eccentric Spanish gentleman named Senor Raphael de Ayala . He came over both to represent his adopted country at the Court of St . James ' s , and to consolidate the Colombian debt—in fact
it is his hurried signature which became the " Racala " familiar to holders of Colombian bonds . In his time he had been a prominent Freemason . "Once a Mason , always a Mason , " but , so far as in him lay , he had quite severed his connection with the Craft some little time before leaving New Granada—as it then was—for London , and for the
same reasons which prevailed with a former Grand Master of England , Lord Ripon . However , in one of the almost monthly civil wars of the New Granadians—iioiiveau . v gredins , De Ayala always called thtm , for they treated him badlyhe fell into the hands of the enemy ' s troops .
Their commander was an ambitious medical man , who insisted upon a solemn trial and lengthy interrogatories—Latin republics run to that kind of thing—although it was a foregone conclusion from the start . Prisoner and judge were personally unknown to each other , but when the firing party was being ordered to make ready outside the walls of
the improvised court-house , poor De Ayala saw reason to forget for the moment his abandonment of Masonry , and to make the long familiar sign , as a last resource , and on the merest chance of success . To his delight , it was returned by the military medico—so implacable a moment before . And the good convert ! lived to hob-nob with Palmerston , and
to tell the tale to his son , Mr . Fenian de Ayala , of champagne fame , who ( old it to me . *> •? « 8 »
In the death of W . Bro . Zillwood Milledge , of Weymouth , the Province of Dorset lost one of her most active and zealous members . In his own particular Lodge , that of All Souls ' , No . 170 , he devoted such energy and zeal that his loss is well nigh irreparable . In the correct workings of the various Degrees , both of lodge and chapter , he was
an enthusiast , and guarded with jealous eye and ear against any attempt to alter in the slightest manner the splendid ritual he was so proud of knowing had been handed down to us . To the fostering care of W . Bro Zillwood Milledge is due in a great measure the present perfect stale in which one now sees the All Souls' Temple with its many valuable belongings .
I he temple was most caretullv restored under his personal supervision in 1888 , being the second occasion ol his occupying the chair . The whole of the furniture are gifts from brethren , many of whom have long since passed away , and very many articles were the actual work of the brethren themselves ; conspicuous amongst them are those
from the members of our deceased brother ' s family , for the name of Milledge has been honoured in All Souls' very nearly from its commencement .
Our late brother was initiated into PYecmasonry in All Souls' Lodge , No . 170 , in 1873 , and from that hour till his death he manifested a zeal and fidelity for the cause such as many a young member now might strive to copy . After occupying many of the subordinate offices he filled the chair of his lodge in 188 4 , and again in 1888 , and in 18 91 he was
appointed P . G . J . W . of Dorset . In the year 1887 he occupied the position of First Principal of his chapter , and in 18 93 held the office of Provincial Grand 1 .
Bro . Milledge also took a special interest in the Knight Templar Degree , and filled the office of PUminent Preceptor in 18 93 . In 18 99 he became Sub-Prior of Dorset . He was also a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , having taken the 18 ° in 1890 , and the 30 ° in 18 93 , becoming M . W . S . of his chapter in 18 93 . He was also a Mark
Mason , filling the Master ' s chair in 18 93 , and was afterwards appointed Provincial Grand Warden . He took a special interest in the work of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , and was a member of the Correspondence Circle .
TIIK LATH unci . ZILLWOOD MILI . LIHUC . Bro . Milledge was a loyal supporter of the Masonic Charities , and the Dorset Masonic Charity will lose in him a Vice-Chairman whose place will be difficult to fill . In 18 9 6 our kite brother published an interesting history of All Souls '
Lodge , which will be a valuable addition to the now numerous records of the past doings of private lodges . There has passed away in Bro . Milledge a more than ordinary Mason , one who put his whole heart and soul into the work of the Order .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar
Bro . J . L . Toole , the memory of whose dramatic successes will not be quickly effaced from the minds of those of our generation who have been privileged to witness them , is , we may remind our readers , a veteran Mason . He joined English Freemasonry in 1870 under the auspices of the Lodge of Asaph , Xo . 1319 , having been previously initiated
in Dublin . He afterwards joined the Mayburv Lodge , Xo . 9 6 9 , and in later years the Drury Lane Lodge , No . 2127 , of both of which he is still a member . Continued ill-health , the cause of his long retirement from the stage , must also in later years have necessarily affected his active connection with the Craft . W e hope , however , that his 71 st birthday , which was celebrated a short time since , may be followed bv many more of a cheerier description .
In the April periodicals are to be found two stories illustrative of the benefit of Freemasonry , in perilous times , one in the Windsor Magazine , and the other told by T . P . O'Connor in M ..-LP ., containing , by the way , another moral , which are well worth repetition .
During the present war the tie of the Brotherhood has been recognised both by Boers and Englishmen . A colonel of a Canadian regiment at Modeler River , on a Sunday morning " stroll , strayed too far from his camp , when he suddenly found himself covered by the rifle of a-Boer . By a fortunate impulse he made the customary sign , and cried out ,
" Don't shoot . " The Boer immediately threw clown his gun and hurried to the colonel , informing him that he belonged to " De Broderband in Pretoria , " and was a member of General Cronje ' s staff . He begged him to return at once to his camp , ' and made him accept a valuable coin as a souvenir of his escape .
The " Fiscal Minister " who was accredited from the state of New Granada—now Colombia—to the Government of Lord Palmerston , was a worthy and eccentric Spanish gentleman named Senor Raphael de Ayala . He came over both to represent his adopted country at the Court of St . James ' s , and to consolidate the Colombian debt—in fact
it is his hurried signature which became the " Racala " familiar to holders of Colombian bonds . In his time he had been a prominent Freemason . "Once a Mason , always a Mason , " but , so far as in him lay , he had quite severed his connection with the Craft some little time before leaving New Granada—as it then was—for London , and for the
same reasons which prevailed with a former Grand Master of England , Lord Ripon . However , in one of the almost monthly civil wars of the New Granadians—iioiiveau . v gredins , De Ayala always called thtm , for they treated him badlyhe fell into the hands of the enemy ' s troops .
Their commander was an ambitious medical man , who insisted upon a solemn trial and lengthy interrogatories—Latin republics run to that kind of thing—although it was a foregone conclusion from the start . Prisoner and judge were personally unknown to each other , but when the firing party was being ordered to make ready outside the walls of
the improvised court-house , poor De Ayala saw reason to forget for the moment his abandonment of Masonry , and to make the long familiar sign , as a last resource , and on the merest chance of success . To his delight , it was returned by the military medico—so implacable a moment before . And the good convert ! lived to hob-nob with Palmerston , and
to tell the tale to his son , Mr . Fenian de Ayala , of champagne fame , who ( old it to me . *> •? « 8 »
In the death of W . Bro . Zillwood Milledge , of Weymouth , the Province of Dorset lost one of her most active and zealous members . In his own particular Lodge , that of All Souls ' , No . 170 , he devoted such energy and zeal that his loss is well nigh irreparable . In the correct workings of the various Degrees , both of lodge and chapter , he was
an enthusiast , and guarded with jealous eye and ear against any attempt to alter in the slightest manner the splendid ritual he was so proud of knowing had been handed down to us . To the fostering care of W . Bro Zillwood Milledge is due in a great measure the present perfect stale in which one now sees the All Souls' Temple with its many valuable belongings .
I he temple was most caretullv restored under his personal supervision in 1888 , being the second occasion ol his occupying the chair . The whole of the furniture are gifts from brethren , many of whom have long since passed away , and very many articles were the actual work of the brethren themselves ; conspicuous amongst them are those
from the members of our deceased brother ' s family , for the name of Milledge has been honoured in All Souls' very nearly from its commencement .
Our late brother was initiated into PYecmasonry in All Souls' Lodge , No . 170 , in 1873 , and from that hour till his death he manifested a zeal and fidelity for the cause such as many a young member now might strive to copy . After occupying many of the subordinate offices he filled the chair of his lodge in 188 4 , and again in 1888 , and in 18 91 he was
appointed P . G . J . W . of Dorset . In the year 1887 he occupied the position of First Principal of his chapter , and in 18 93 held the office of Provincial Grand 1 .
Bro . Milledge also took a special interest in the Knight Templar Degree , and filled the office of PUminent Preceptor in 18 93 . In 18 99 he became Sub-Prior of Dorset . He was also a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , having taken the 18 ° in 1890 , and the 30 ° in 18 93 , becoming M . W . S . of his chapter in 18 93 . He was also a Mark
Mason , filling the Master ' s chair in 18 93 , and was afterwards appointed Provincial Grand Warden . He took a special interest in the work of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , and was a member of the Correspondence Circle .
TIIK LATH unci . ZILLWOOD MILI . LIHUC . Bro . Milledge was a loyal supporter of the Masonic Charities , and the Dorset Masonic Charity will lose in him a Vice-Chairman whose place will be difficult to fill . In 18 9 6 our kite brother published an interesting history of All Souls '
Lodge , which will be a valuable addition to the now numerous records of the past doings of private lodges . There has passed away in Bro . Milledge a more than ordinary Mason , one who put his whole heart and soul into the work of the Order .