Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . WILLIAM TURNER . " Memento mori . " Such in effect were the aweinspiring words uttered amidst the pomp and splendour of regal festivals by the Macedonian ' s chosen slave , and the realisation of which is only felt when death snatches a victim from our own immediate circle—one who has shared with us the same aspirations , and worked with us

side by side in devotion to the same cause . It is , therefore , with feelings of no ordinary description that we essay to pay this last mournful tribute of respect to our departed friend and . brother , William Turner , who though young in the Craft , had , by zeal and perseverance , no less than by other sterling qualities , achieved _ a high position in the various branches of our Order .

Bro . Turner was a native of Berne , in Switzerland , where his father held the appointment of British Consul , and he was born , we believe , in 1833 . His Masonic career dates only from the 16 th March , 1864 , when he was initiated in the Lodge of Sincerity ( No . 174 ) , held at Crutched Friars , and continued a member till June , 1865 . On the formation of the Victoria Lod ( No .

ge 1 , 056 ) , Bro . Turner was the first J . AV ., and was installed as its AV . M . in April , 1867 , thus being Master at the time of his decease , which occurred on Friday , the 27 th March , ult .

On the 3 rd June , 186 o , Bro . Turner was exalted into Royal Arch Masonry in the Rose of Denmark Chapter ( No . 975 ) , and few companions have shown more desire to promote the prosperity of capitular Masonry than the lamented deceased , as will be apparent from the fact that he was one of the founders of the Sincerity Chapter ( No . 174 ) , and also the first J . of the Victoria Chapter

( No . 1 , 056 . ) Bro . Turner was advanced to the Mark degree on the 4 th February , 1867 , in the Southwark Lodge ( No . 22 ) , and subsequently became S . W . at the revival of the Old St . Mark's Lodge ( No . 1 , S . C . —now 24 ) , in May , 1867 ; was elected W . M . in January last , and also held the office of Grand Steward in the Mark Grand Lodge . On the 22 nd August , 1865 , Bro . Turner

was installed as a Knight of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine iu the Plantagenet Conclave ( No . 2 ) , and ever afterwards worked most assiduously in conjunction with other members , to extend the Order , which he considered the bean ideal of Christian chivalry Having served various offices he was elected M . P . S . of this conclave , and continued to hold that position up to the time of his death . On the 27 th April , 1866 , he joined the Original or Premier Conclave , and was

advanced to the dignity of K . H . S . in the Mount Carmel Sanctuary attached thereto , on the 6 th December in the same year . In June , 1867 , he was elected a member of the Grand Senate , and was nominated by the Right Hon . Lord Kenlis to the office of Grand Standard Bearer of the Order , on the 3 rd January , 1867 , he became a R . A . Mariner . Bro . Turner was also a member on the

Rosicrucian Society of England , is which he held , for a brief period , the post of Secretary-General . Thus , in the short space of four years , Bro . Turner had distinguished himself in every department of Freemasonry . Well versed in the various rituals , he was always ready to supply deficiencies in lodge , chapter , or conclave—his devotion not being confined to one Order

or degree , but embracing all with which he was connected . He co-operated most efficiently with Comp . Brett and others in the formation of tho Metropolitan Chapter of Instruction—now so well known and valued by R . A . companions—aud afterwards fulfilled the onerous duties of Secretary of the Metropolitan Lodge of Instruction , established under similar auspices . By the numerous brethren who have been wont to hear his cheerful accents at their several Masonic assemblies , he

will long be sorely missed ; for ever stilled is that voice which expounded so ably the mysteries of our sacred rites ; for ever cold that hand which was never withheld from the grasp of friendship , or shut against the appeals of the poor and distressed . But his memory will be enshrined in the hearts of those who recognised beneath the conventionalities of his character , a soul enlightened

by truth and stedfast in the pursuit of knowledge . Mournful as it is to reflect that so promising a Mason should be cut off in the prime of manhood , it is no less a consolation to remember that he performed his allotted task while it was yet day—that his hands were ever busy in the quarries shaping the rough material for use in the Temple—that with the mystic sword of Christian

chivalry he accomplished spiritual victories , and is now gone into the presence of Him whose name is acknowledged by all true Masons as the glorious Architect of the Universe . DEATH OF BRO . JOHN BINNIE , PAST SUBS . PROV . G . M . FOR GLASOW .

The death of this esteemed brother : on . the 17 th ult . at his residence , Ibroxholm , Glasgow , adds another to the list of eminent citizens and Freemasons , whose loss has had to be deplored within the past fcwelvo months . Bro . Binnie's health had been failing for some time past ; latterly his ailment assumed the form of pulmonary consumption , and a few weeks since the

symptoms had become so serious that only a fatal result conld be anticipated . Belonging to a family which has given several leading members to the building trade , Bro . Biniiie devoted himself to that useful branch of industry , and iu the course of an enterprising business career had no inconsidable share in the extension of the city and suburbs

of Glasgow . Among his more notable operations may be mentioned the erection of Hampton Court Terrace and of the Ibroxholm villas , in one of which he himself resided . From his outset in life Bro . Binnie took an active part . in public affairs , and while yet a young man he received the distinction of being appointed a Baillie of Gorbals . After the municipal amalgamation he

repre sented the Sixteenth Ward for some years in the Town Council . Withdrawing several years ago from civic business , he continued to take an interest in parish affairs , and bore a leading share in the business of the Govan Parochial Board down to the recent remodelling of that body .

Our departed brother was a most zealous and enthusiastic Mason ; he was initiated in the Glasgow Kilwinning Lodge ( No . 4 ) , on the 1 st December , 1843 , and took a most active part in the welfare and administration of the affairs of his mother lodge , in the history of which we believe it is unprecedented to find any brother so honoured as was the deceased , Bro . John Binnie , by being

re-elected so often to fill the chair of R . W . M ., and that without auy solicitations on his part ; thus we find him first filling the chair in 1855 and 1856 , again in 1860 , and afterwards iu 1862 and 1863 . It is worthy of note also that it was almost solely through Bro . Binnie ' s exertions that the brethren of No . 4 were enabled to erect the commodious and elegant Masonic HallBuchanan-street

, , in which their meeting and those of some six other Glasgow ledges and R A . Chapters are now held . Bro . Binnie was for some years past the Proxy Master of No . 4 , as her representative at the Grand Lodge of Scotland ; and also held latterly , until the accession of Bro . Capfc . Speirs to the Provincial Grand Mastership , the responsible office of Substitute Provincial Graud Master for

Glasgow . A peculiar and melancholy interest is attached to the decease of Bro . Binnie , following as it did within a very few days that . of Bro . Sheriff Strathern , from the fact that we may fearlessly assert that no brother interested on the side of Bro . Sheriff Strathern , in the recent contest