At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

At the Sign of the Perfect Ashlar

The attendance at the recent meeting of Grand Lodge did not fail to testify anew to the loyalty of the Craft , for althou « h the September Communication falls in the holiday season of the year , the announcement that a vote of congratulation was to be moved to His Alajesty the King on his Coronation and on his restoration to health was the

• signal for a full muster , not only of Grand Officers , but of the rank and file of the Craft . It need not be said that the proceedings , which are dealt with on another page , were marked by great enthusiasm , and that jirecedents of such meetings were faithfully followed , in that that loyal fervour

which is the characteristic of the Craft pervaded all that part of the business of Grand Lodge which had reference to the person of His Alajesty , the Protector of our Order .

The members of our Order will be interested at the ¦ choice of His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught as the rejiresentative of the King at the great Coronation Durbar at Delhi on the ist of January . It seems but recently that

His Royal Highness vacated the jiosition of Commander of the Forces in India , where his Alasonic rule as District Grand Master for Bombay was so successful . There can be little doubt that , next to the King himself , the presence of but few members of the Royal Family could have been more

accejitabJe than that of our Grand Master to those assembled at the crowning of His Alajesty the King as Emperor of India .

Ihe mention of India reminds us that the jiosition of District Grand Master of the Punjab , vacated by Bro . General Sir Power Palmer , in consequence of the comjiletion of his term as Commander-in-Chief of the India Forces there , is still ojien ; there is little doubt that the Grand Alaster ' s usual hajipiness of selection will be displayed in the

ajijiointment of a successor . It is interesting also to note in connection with India affairs that Bro . Lord Kitchener will be jiresent with the Duke of Connaught at the Delhi Durbar . <& < a > . ©

Bro . the Earl of Donoughmore , the jiresent Senior Grand Warden , does not regard his jiosition as in any degree a sinecure . His lordshiji was again to be noticed in the chair , to which he has been appointed , at the last meeting of Grand Lodge . It may not be generally known that since the dea of the late Bro . the Rev . C . J . AlartynLord

, Donoughmore has undertaken the duties of Scribe E . of the ^ hapterV ^ United ) Strength , No . 162 c ; , which numbers amongst itsinemtTers so many well-known figures in Royal Arch Alasonry . ¦ & & <&

By the end of October Lord Leigh will have attained his jubilee as Provincial Grand Master of Warwickshire , and members of the Craft in the province will take the opportunity « f signalising the event by presenting him with an address at the Town Hall , Sutton Coldlield . The natural desire of the brethren of the province was to mark the occasion by an

appropriate gift , but Lord Leigh expressly hoped that this would not be clone , and in obedience to this wish , the address "lone will be presented .

<» # ¦ & Ihe annals of Alasonry do not contain another instance of ihe P ° of Provincial Grand Alaster being held for half a century , and the circumstance that Lord Leigh has achieved this notable distinction is heightened by the fact that throughout his Alasonic career he has been one of the most energetic < md cajiable officers ever connected with the Craft . He ' has .

indeed , a remarkable record , and to his zeal is largely due the great growth of Freemasonry in Warwickshire during the last fifty years . Since he became the head of the jirovince the lodges have trebled , and the membershiji has become about five times as strong .

¦ & ¦ * ¦ & The recent birthday celebrations of Bro . Alajor-General Lord Methuen remind us that of the distinguished generals who have been spared to their country from the recent war , there are none whose names are better known in the Craft than that of the late Commander of the 1 st Division of the

First Army Corjis . It will be remembered that the homecoming of our gallant brother was not a little jiathetic , for after continuous lighting in the field since the commencement of hostilities , he returned in so invalided a state as to render a public welcome impossible .

« s » © © It will be remembered that as Provincial Grand Alaster for Wiltshire , Lord Alethuen ' s father had served the Craft long and well , having ruled over the country in which the family seat is situated for the remarkably long jieriod of thirty-seven years . In attaining high office in Freemasonry ,

Alajor-General Lord Alethuen has not failed to follow in his late father ' s footsteps , although his close attention to military duties has jirevented a continuous jiarticijiation in Alasonic affairs . He was appointed Senior Grand Warden in 18 9 6 , having been initiated in the Windsor Castle Lodge , No . yyj , in 1870 . « S < © e «

The jiresence of Bro . Lieut .-Colonel Daly in the capacity of Acting Deputy Grand Alaster at the last meeting of Grand Lodge , affords the opjioitunity of calling attention to the remote district of British Guiana , of which he is the head . The district was created in 1 H 99 , and comjirises the loclges in Demarara and New Amsterdam . Although

so far removed from the Alasonic centre , and necessarily working under considerable disadvantages , like all the other subordinate jurisdictions under the rule of the Grand Lodge of England , the brethren exhibit much zeal in their work and pride in being an integral part of the great family of English Freemasons .

MHO . I . IK 1 T-COI . ONKI . THO . MAS 1 MLV . Bro . Lieut .-Colonel Thomas Daly , who had the honour of being appointed the first District Grand Alaster , is a Mason of very long standing , having been initiated in the year 18 55 , and has thus nearly completed his half century of connection