Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
sufficient to feel proud of ; but that you should also , in so nattering a manner , present to me a Jewel from my Brethren of Lodge Hope , Kurrachee , I esteem as the greatest honour you could bestow upon me . You have heard , Brethren , the R . W . M . say that Masonry is universal ; I can confirm that statement ; having been a Mason from my youth up , travelling during that time to almost every corner of the known world , and visiting Lodges and Brethren in all parts of the
globe , I have ever had the right hand of fellowship held out to me . Believe me , Brethren , it is only those of our Craft who travel to distant lands who can fully appreciate that fraternal grasp which levels all distinctions , and makes us instinctively feel that in that grasp we hold a sure pledge of fidelity . In the Lodge Hope , of Kurrachee , we have many Scotch Brethren , who , when assembled together on any festive occasion , sing the songs of Scotia ' s native bard , not forgetting to join hands to ¦ " AuldLang Syne , " till every heart is full with the memory of by - gone days , and every Brother looks anxiously home to dear auld Scotland—her
hills and her mountains . Nothing will afford me greater pleasure than to report to them the heartfelt applause you have given to their handsome testimonial , an honour which they will hold conferred upon themselves through me . And I assure you , Brethren , that a body of Masons more gentlemanly in manners , or kind-hearted , than the Lodge Hope , of Kurrachee , does not exist . The R . W . M . of that Lodge is one of my oldest and sincerest friends , and , I assure yon , a better Mason never ruled a Lodge . Permit me , with these few heartfelt remarks , again to thank you for the high honour I have received , and to express a hope , that should God spare me to return to Scotland again , the Defensive Band Lodge will
receive my first visit . " After speeches from Bro . McClumphie ( father of the R . W . M . of Lodge Hope , Kurrachee ) , from the Grand Clerk , and other Brethren , the Lodge was closed . The Jewel was manufactured by Bro . John Law , Masonic jeweller , Edinburgh , and bore the following inscription : —
" Presented to Bro . Walter Meiklejohn , by the R . W . Master , Wardens , ana Brethren of Lodge Hope , Kurrachee , No . 350 , in testimony of the eminent zeal , ability , and integrity with which he conducted the duties of Treasurer for nearly five years , and as a token of their sincere esteem and respect for him , as a man and as a Mason . Kurrachee , 4 th May 1857 . "
LINLITHGOWSHIRE . PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE . On Friday , the 18 tli of September , the Prov . Grand Lodge held a meeting at Bathgate for the purpose of laying the foundation-stone of the Bathgate Corn Exchange . In the absence from indisposition of the Prov . G . M ., R . W . Bro . the Hon . Robert Sandilands , Master of Torphichen , the Prov . Grand Lodge was presided over by R . W . Bro . Sir Alexander Gibson Maitland , of Clifton Hall , Bart .,
Prov . G . M . of Stirlingshire . The Grand Lodge was opened in the Bathgate Academy at 12 o ' clock , thereafter the Brethren formed in procession accompanied by five bands , and proceeded to the church , where an excellent discourse was delivered by the Prov . G . Chap ., Rev . Bro . Byers . The Brethren , again forming line , marched to the ground where the stone was to be laid . A large concourse of people were here assembled on and around tbe platforms . The Rev . Chaplain having offered up prayer , the R . W . Prov . G . M " ., assisted by E . W . Bro . Hunt , of
PittencriefF , Sub G . M ., and the Senior and Junior Wardens , laid the stone according to due and ancient form . After the ceremony was over , the Prov . G . M . addressed tbe members of tbe Corn Exchange Committee and the Brethren , complimenting the gentlemen of the committee on their having succeeded in obtaining for Bathgate a building wherein to bold their meetings ; and after expatiating
largely on the agricultural interests of this country , wound up Ins speech by aome remarks on the war in India . How deeply grateful , he said , may we feel , in this our native land , that a kind Providence has willed that we should be spared the bloodshed and murders which have been committed in India . Wives . slain before the eyes of their husbands , children butchered in cold blood , and the most inhuman massacres carried on which have ever been recorded in history . How
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
sufficient to feel proud of ; but that you should also , in so nattering a manner , present to me a Jewel from my Brethren of Lodge Hope , Kurrachee , I esteem as the greatest honour you could bestow upon me . You have heard , Brethren , the R . W . M . say that Masonry is universal ; I can confirm that statement ; having been a Mason from my youth up , travelling during that time to almost every corner of the known world , and visiting Lodges and Brethren in all parts of the
globe , I have ever had the right hand of fellowship held out to me . Believe me , Brethren , it is only those of our Craft who travel to distant lands who can fully appreciate that fraternal grasp which levels all distinctions , and makes us instinctively feel that in that grasp we hold a sure pledge of fidelity . In the Lodge Hope , of Kurrachee , we have many Scotch Brethren , who , when assembled together on any festive occasion , sing the songs of Scotia ' s native bard , not forgetting to join hands to ¦ " AuldLang Syne , " till every heart is full with the memory of by - gone days , and every Brother looks anxiously home to dear auld Scotland—her
hills and her mountains . Nothing will afford me greater pleasure than to report to them the heartfelt applause you have given to their handsome testimonial , an honour which they will hold conferred upon themselves through me . And I assure you , Brethren , that a body of Masons more gentlemanly in manners , or kind-hearted , than the Lodge Hope , of Kurrachee , does not exist . The R . W . M . of that Lodge is one of my oldest and sincerest friends , and , I assure yon , a better Mason never ruled a Lodge . Permit me , with these few heartfelt remarks , again to thank you for the high honour I have received , and to express a hope , that should God spare me to return to Scotland again , the Defensive Band Lodge will
receive my first visit . " After speeches from Bro . McClumphie ( father of the R . W . M . of Lodge Hope , Kurrachee ) , from the Grand Clerk , and other Brethren , the Lodge was closed . The Jewel was manufactured by Bro . John Law , Masonic jeweller , Edinburgh , and bore the following inscription : —
" Presented to Bro . Walter Meiklejohn , by the R . W . Master , Wardens , ana Brethren of Lodge Hope , Kurrachee , No . 350 , in testimony of the eminent zeal , ability , and integrity with which he conducted the duties of Treasurer for nearly five years , and as a token of their sincere esteem and respect for him , as a man and as a Mason . Kurrachee , 4 th May 1857 . "
LINLITHGOWSHIRE . PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE . On Friday , the 18 tli of September , the Prov . Grand Lodge held a meeting at Bathgate for the purpose of laying the foundation-stone of the Bathgate Corn Exchange . In the absence from indisposition of the Prov . G . M ., R . W . Bro . the Hon . Robert Sandilands , Master of Torphichen , the Prov . Grand Lodge was presided over by R . W . Bro . Sir Alexander Gibson Maitland , of Clifton Hall , Bart .,
Prov . G . M . of Stirlingshire . The Grand Lodge was opened in the Bathgate Academy at 12 o ' clock , thereafter the Brethren formed in procession accompanied by five bands , and proceeded to the church , where an excellent discourse was delivered by the Prov . G . Chap ., Rev . Bro . Byers . The Brethren , again forming line , marched to the ground where the stone was to be laid . A large concourse of people were here assembled on and around tbe platforms . The Rev . Chaplain having offered up prayer , the R . W . Prov . G . M " ., assisted by E . W . Bro . Hunt , of
PittencriefF , Sub G . M ., and the Senior and Junior Wardens , laid the stone according to due and ancient form . After the ceremony was over , the Prov . G . M . addressed tbe members of tbe Corn Exchange Committee and the Brethren , complimenting the gentlemen of the committee on their having succeeded in obtaining for Bathgate a building wherein to bold their meetings ; and after expatiating
largely on the agricultural interests of this country , wound up Ins speech by aome remarks on the war in India . How deeply grateful , he said , may we feel , in this our native land , that a kind Providence has willed that we should be spared the bloodshed and murders which have been committed in India . Wives . slain before the eyes of their husbands , children butchered in cold blood , and the most inhuman massacres carried on which have ever been recorded in history . How