Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . N . W . OLIVER . It is with extreme regret that we have to announce the death of TV " . Bro . Norman Washington Oliver , Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Western India under Scotland , and Worshipful Master of Lodge Perseverance , in the 46 th year of his age . This melancholy event occurred on Saturday 26 th Marchaud has cast

, , a gloom on the whole of the community of Bombay . The remains of our deceased brother were conveyed to their last resting place , the cemetery at Cokba , on Sunday afternoon , where they were interred by the side of the late Mr . Oliver , whose' death took place just a week before . His Excellency the Governor , attended by his Military Secretary and Aide-de-Oamp , and alarge number

of other gentlemen , including many of the fraternity , were present at the funeral . The Rev . Ward Maule officiated on the mournful occasion . The body arrived at St . John's Church shortly after 4 o'clock , when a portion of the beautiful and solemn service of the Church of England was performed , after which the sad procession re-formed and proceeded to the graveyard , when the Rev . Mr . Maule concluded the ritual of the burial of the dead in a very impressive manner .

JNO mortuary record can excite more universal grief in Western India than the simple announcement of the death of this great and good man and Mason , for no being , be he of the most exalted station , was more intimately known or esteemed . The high Masonic standing , tried worth , and true devotion to the interests of the Order , of our deceased brother , are too well known to

require any eulogy from us . There are few men who could be more generally regretted . He was not only a good citizen , but a good , man , and his death is as much a public loss as a private misfortune . He was so courteous in his manners , so gentlemanly in all he said and did , as to have attracted every one who knew him , and made him an universal

favourite . But his politeness and affability were the unstudied expressions of a gentle , kind heart , which excited in those who had the privilege of intimacy with him , the warmest attachment . May his memory be long cherished in the hearts of the members of the Fraternity in whose service so large a portion of his valuable life has been spent , and who by his pure life and upright conduct has so fully exemplified the Divine teachings of Freemasonry . To mark the respect , affection , and esteem in which

our deceased brother was held , we understand that Lodge Perseverance will go into mourning for a period of three months , and that a general subscription is to be raised amongst tho Fraternity for erecting a monument to his memory . We cannot better express the general sentiments in regard to the public career of our deceased brother , than

by quoting tho following fooling remarks from our respected contemporary and brother of the Bombay Gazette : — ' ¦ The announcement of the death on Saturday last of Norman Washington Oliver , our Chief Police Magistrate , has spread a general gloom over society . Everywhere the sad intelligence has been received with the deepest

regret . With the prospect of improved health from a change to Europe , Mr . Oliver was about to leave India on Wednesday next , much shaken in constitution from a prolonged residence and from close attention to duty over a series of years . One of those faithful , hardworking , painstaking servants of Government , ho was himself the last to perceive the slow' but certain evil

influences which climate and toil were surely working on what had been a sound frame . He quitted his post only when actual disease had proceeded so far that attendance to duty was 110 longer possible . The power

of medicine could do but little , and change to Europe was ordered by his medical attendants . It was proposed he should leave by the steamer of the 14 th , but by that date it was thought necessary to defer his departure until the 29 th , in the hope that his strength might be brought up a little . On the 20 th Mrs . Oliver died after a protracted illness , and this event helped in no small

measure to bear down the strength of the patient , to add mental distress to bodily illness , and thus give -unfavourable turn to tho disease under which he sank on Saturday , in the forty-sixth year of his age . " Mr . Oliver served with distinction in China under Captain Basil Hall , R . rJ ., in 1840-41 in the steamer Nemesis . After the contusion of the treaty of peace by

Sir Henry Pottinger , he came to Bombay and was transferred to the ^ Department of the Master Attendant as First Assistant , and from thence he was advanced to the Magistracy in 1851 , we believe on the retirement of Mr . Rivett . It is as a Magistrate he was best known to

this community ; that he performed the duties ot this office not only with satisfaction to the Government , but that the general public voice accorded him the praise o being a pattern man , and the members of the legal profession , while acknowledging his gentlemanly urbanity , acknowledged also tho justice of his decisions . The Judges of the High Court seldom had a word against

Mr . Oliver ' s cases . It is the best proof of the general esteem iu which he was held in Bomba }' , that when the post of Senior Magistrate became vacant on theretirement of Mr . Crawford , and it was known that Government for the first time thought of departing from the old established rule of conferring the post oil a Civil servant or a Barrister bappointing Mr . Oliver Chief

y Magistrate of Bombay , not a voice was raised by Barrister or Civil Servant against the appointment , butall concurred iu the justice of the selection of Government , and ha had just attained to the highest appointment ever held by an uncovenanted servant in this Presidency when the hand of death removed him .

" As a Naval Officer he was known as a smart sailor and a considerate commander . Duty must be performed he thought , but obedience should be exacted more by love and respect than by the terrors of the articles of war . Regularity and precision afloat were brought with him ashore , aud were observed as distinguishing characters in his official duties . Method and kindness

made even police business tolerable where Norman Oliver presided . We are sure the people of his office will keenly feel his loss , and so will all who came within the circle of his acquaintance . His friends will remember his noble qualities of heart and soul , a bright example of a British gentleman . He leaves a large orphan family ; who can tell the depths of their distress at the loss of a

father such as Norman Oliver ? It is not the province of the journalist to enter into the affairs of private life ; , they are sacred to us and to all . But what has been the loss to Government ? We are sure Sir Bartle Frere will acknowledge the virtues and faithfulness of the dead , and . especially when the Supreme Government has lately thought the duties of the Magistracy in Bombay were

less zealously performed than in Calcutta . Who could say Norman Oliver spared himself ? In him the true spirit of the officer of Justice was markedly manifested * This Government must mourn him a conscientious servant , regardless of self , striken down by exertions and toil , a victim to his own faithfulness .

" While we mourn his loss , while his virtues are still fresh before us , and while we are seeking to establish our title to an appreciation of what is good and lovely , should we not carry the name of Norman Oliver down to future generations along with tho blessing of a living , charity , which , while doing honour to his memory ,, would have been acknowledged by him in life as a deed in every way worthy of our wealth and of our fame . "Masonia Becord of Western India .