Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

office-bearers , greatly aided the R . W . M . m the graceful and effective execution of the work for which the lodge had specially met . > P : J' & # 'i ' The procession was reformed , the lodge

returned to Freemasons' Hall , where , amid the huzzas of willing workmen , the Corinthian column was upreared , its delicate and graceful proportions eclipsing for a time the robust solidity of its baseless companion in the west , whose temporary

prostration seemed to be viewed not Avith indifference merely , but with every manifestation of delightthe Avorking tools were replaced by floAving boAvls , mirth and glee resounded through the hall , and the cares of life Avere forgotten amid the harmony

which prevailed . At length au ominous movement reminded the Craft of the evanescent nature of sublunary enjoyments , and the recumbent monarch iu the West , like a giant refreshed , resuming his ancient sway , in due time and in ample form dispersed his subjects to their respective stations in the neutral Avorld .

Of the foundation-stones AA'hich the lodge 01 Thornhill has aided in planting , the following is a summary : —That of a church at Lochmaben , April 1818 ; bridge at Annan , April 1825 ; bridge over the River Milk at Lockerby , July , 1834 ; St .

Mary ' s Church , Dumfries , May , 1837 ; Manse at Lochmaben , April , 1839 ; Caledonian Raihvay Station-house at Lockerby , May , 1847 ; Victoria Bridge , over the Clyde , at GlasgoAv , March , 1851 ; bridge at Lockerby , July , 1851 ; bank at

Lochmaben , Slay , 1852 ; new poorhouse at Dumfries , July , 1853 ; Freemasons' Hall , Edinburgh , June , 2858 ; Wallace Monument at the Abbey Craig , near Stirling , June , 1862 ; IISAY bridge over the jSTifcli at NeAV Cumnock , August , 1863 ; Mechanics '

Institute at Lockerby , January , 1865 . St . John's took part in the installation of the present P . G . M . of Dumfriesshire in 1853 ; and was represented by deputation at the consecration © f the Lodge St . John ' s , New Galloway , May ,

1823 , as well as that of St . Thomas Kihvinniug , Dalmelliugton , Ayrshire , January , 1865 . It is worthy of mention that at the la ' . ter affair , Avhen by some oversight the Provincial Grand Wardens ' columns Avere awanting , the courte ' ous offer of those

belonging to St . John ' s , Thornhill , was cheerfully accepted by the Provincial Grand Master ; so that the brethren of Nithsdale enjoyed the rare privilege of contributing strength and beauty to a Provincial Grand Lodge temporarily erected

among tne hills which overhang the source oi the classic doon , and presided over by the Master of Mother Ivihvinning . Although by a majority of its members No . 252 declined to send a deputation to the Masonic

inauguration of the equestrian statue in honour of the Duke of Wellington , at Edinburgh , June , 1852 , the lodge was represented on that occasion by brethren who spiritedly paid their OAVU expenses ; and under precisely similar circumstances

Avas St . John ' s represented in the Funeral Grand Lodge held at Edinburgh , February , 1864 , in memory of the deceased Grand Master , the Duke of Athole . The inauQ-uration of the statue ofthe

late Earl of Eglinton , erected at Ayr , took place on the 21 st October , 1865 , in the presence of the laro-est assemblage of Freemasons ever before Avitnessed iu the sonth-Avest of Scotland ; and of the thirty-two lodges which attended , No . 252 formed one .

In January , 1860 , No . 252 Avas represented at the centenary meeting of St . AndreAv , Annan ; and in the same year a deputation crossed the border to fraternise Avith Union , Carlisle , No . 389 , in its celebration ofthe anniversary of her Majesty ' s

accession to the throne . Besides giving attendance as already indicated , St . John ' s has seldom , on ordinary occasions even , *' sat the call of a brother , " fraternising not only with its more immediate neighbours , but extending the grip fraternal to its sisters of New Cumnock

Castle-Douglas , and other distant places . And , to its credit be it said , there is not a single instance on record of its ever having been embroiled in unseemly disputation , with any one of its numerous Masonic contemporaries—so filled are its members Avith the leaven of brotherlv love .

The restoration or peace to our country , and the anniversary of our Most Gracious Majesty ' s birthclay , Avere celebrated by a public procession of the brethren , May 29 , 1856 ; and in the public rejoicings over the marriage of his Royal Highness

the Prince of Wales , St . John's , like other lodges of Freemasons , mingled perfumes of the SAveetesfc odour with the incense ascending from the thousand censers Avhich the loyalty of the British public had charged in honour of an event , the

consummation of AA'hich has rendered the 10 th of March , 1863 , a clay for ever commemorable in the nation ' s history . Some there Avere Avho questioned the propriety of auy Masonic demonstration on the