Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
fixed for the ceremonial , and that auspicious day saw one ot the most imposing Masonic spectacles ever witnessed within the boundaries of St . Mungo's . Seventy-two lodges responded to the summons of the Grand JIaster to assist him in testing by plumb , square , and level , the foundation of a structure which "the flourishing state and extraordinary commerce of the city of Glasgow had rendered necessary . " At the conclusion of the ceremony , the Duke was presented by the Lodge Glasgow St .
John with a handsome gold-headed staff , made of part of the oak from the original foundation of the old Stockwell Bridge ; he was afterwards entertained in the City Hall at a sumptuous banquet given by Provost Sir J . Anderson and other trustees of Glasgow Bridges ; and in the evening he was present at a grand Masonic festival , held in the Trades' Hall , under the auspices of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow . The inauguration , in June 1852 of the Equestrian Statue in honour of the Duke of
, , Wellington , again brought the late Grand JIaster to the western metropolis ; and in the following month lie visited Dundee for the purpose of planting the corner-stone of the Royal Infirmary of that city . The erection of a suitable hall for the accommodation of Grand Lodge had long been earnestly desired by that body : into the scheme for the accomplishment of this the Grand Master entered warmly , and in its prosecution so heartily was he supported that in 1858 he was privileged to lay the
foundation-stone of the splendid edifice , which in February of the succeeding year he was further privileged to consecrate to the purposes of Jlasonry—to A irtue , Universal Charity , and Benevolence . The planting of tho corner-stone of the Freemasons ' Hall , looked forward to with so much interest , took place with extraordinary splendour and success . By the Queen ' s permission , Grand Lodge assembled and was opened in the ancient Palace of Holyrood , the Depute Grand Alaster of
England , and many other Craftsmen of distinction assisting thereat , —hundreds of military lined the streets through which the procession passed on its way to the site of the new hall , —divine service was conducted in the High Church and in AVest St . Giles—and at the conclusion of the ceremony ( performed by the Grand JIaster with graceful ease and dignity ) , nearly a fourth of the four thousand brethren who had aided in forming ivhat had been pronounced the grandest JIasonic
spectacle ever before witnessed in Europe , repaired to the banquet which had been prepared in the Jlusic Hall ; and if the circumstances under which the Doric column had that morning been raised were unsurpassed by any known previous Masonic display , those accompanying the unveiling of the Pillar of Beauty were equally interesting . AA e cannot better advance the object of this hastily prepared and succinct sketch of the Masonic life of our late Grand Master than by here reproducing
what Bro . the Right Hon . Lord Panmure said of the Duke of Athole on proposing , at the banquet referred to , his health as the Head of the Scottish Craft : — "Brethren ( remarked his lordship ) , by permission of the Most AVorshipful the Grand JIaster , I again intrude myself upon you , and do so for the purpose of iirojiosing a toast , which , although intimately connected with your own interests , I must nevertheless beg you to assist me in doing the greatest honour to . It is to the health
of an individual at present the supreme head of the Craft in Scotland—to one who has not filled that high situation with merely a name for doing his duties . Ever since the Duke of Athole has been Grand JIaster of Scotland , he has made it his earliest endeavour to advance tlie interests of the Craft to the utmost of his ability , and he has achieved this by giving his presence and leading the Craft on all occasions where JIasonic duties were to be performed in any part of Scotland . It is and
must be a subject of pride to your Most AVorshipful Grand Master to know that such a national structure as the Scott Monument was inaugurated under his presidency . It must be a source of jiride to him to know that in the west he has laid the foundation of a bridge which is to afford convenience not only to multitudes of the citizens of Glasgow , but to the trade of a city third only in the world . AVe owe to the Grand JIaster
a deep debt of gratitude for laying the foundation-stone of a refuge for sickness and misfortune in another great trading city of Scotland , namely , in Dundee ; and if he had done nothing else as a JIason in Scotland , he has this day placed the copestone on his triumph as a JIaster Master , by laying the foundation-stone of the Freemasons' Hall of Scotland . These are but a few of the works of the Grand Master . I- will not detain you , for it would detain you too long to go over the whole of them . Suffice it for me to say that I think you should be proud of one who has filled your throne so long with so much
credit to himself and so much benefit to the Craft in Scotland . " The grand demonstration at laying the foundation-stone of the Wallace Monument , now in course of erection on the Abbey Craig , is still fresh in the public recollection . Of all the JIasonic gatherings over wliich it was our late Grand Blaster's lot to preside that which met at Stirling on the 24 th June , 1861 , was unequalled in point of numerical strength—upwards
of five thousand brethren having opened up their ranks through which his Grace should pass to the picturesque eminence upon which , with mystic solemnity , was to be laid the corner-stone of a " grand national monument to the memory of Scotland's chiefest hero . " But , while honouring with his presence demonstrations calculated to add to his name and fame as a JIason , the Duke of Athole did not neglect to leave the mark of the Grand Master in comparatively obscure places within the scope
of his JIasonic jurisdiction . In October , I 860 , he laid in person the foundation-stone of an unpretending public hall in the small town of Blairgowrie ; and again in October , 1862 , he is found , trowel in hand , and surrounded by some five hundred navvies , spreading cement upon the corner-stone of a railway viaduct in the vicinity of Dunkeld ; and accepting from the uncouth labourers employed on the works of which the bridge was to form a parta stone cup of uni design and workmanship
, que , pi-esented as a " small token of the value the } ' put upon the kindness which he had all along shown them during their sojourn in the vale of Athole . " The gathering at Dunkeld is rendered all the more memorable and interesting as being the last occasion of the late Grand Master using the trowel in his official JIasonic capacity . The last meeting of Grand Lodge presided over by his Grace was the quarterly communication ,
held Feb . 2 , of the past year , at which was presented to the Grand Lodge , on behalf of the late Chevalier James Burnes , the celebrated picture of the "Installation of the Poet Burns as Poet Laureate of the Lodge Canongate Kilwinning . " Twice did his attachment to the Craft and jealousy for their honour and interest bring him into disagreeable collision with Royalty itself . First , when in 1851 , on Prince Albert's being invited to lay the foundatiun-stone of the Fine Arts Gallery erected on the Jlound ; and , again , in 1862 , when his Royal
Highness officiated in a similar capacity at the commencement of the new Edinburgh Post Office and Industrial JIuseum . Having on the lirst occasion exhausted all his personal influence in vainly endeavouring to persuade the Prince Consort to join the Order , which , had the Prince clone , would have been followed by his temporary investiture with the grand gavel , the Grand Master declined to countenance the proceedings , which in consequence were rendered less imposing than had the Grand
Lodge , with their gorgeous paraphernalia and train of daughter lodges , joined in the ceremony . Again , acting on the conviction that the part Prince Albert took in the affair of the new Post Office was a fresh encroachment upon the province of the Grand Master JIason of Scotland , the Duke tendered to his Royal Highness a protest against his further interference with the duties of the Grand JIaster , whose right it was , confirmed by ancient royal ordinance , to lay the foundation-stones of all
public buildings erected within the Scottish realm . This act excited the warmest admiration of the Scottish brotherhood , who recognised in it their Grand Master's determination to uphold the dignity and defend the rights and privileges of the time-honoured institution . Come we now to note a few of the more prominent of the designs of another description which from time to time appeared upon the Grand Jlaster's trestle-boardand which the
, co-operation of Grand Lodge enabled him to carry out with some degree of success . That the boasted benevolence of the Fraternity might not under his rule remain a dead letter , it was long the Duke of Athole ' s anxious desire to establish in connection with the Order a charit y fund worthy of the name . No doubt there existed , previous to his Grace becoming a Mason , a fund for the temporary relief of poor and indigent brethren ;
but the basis upon which it was formed was not so broad as was desirable , its income was precarious , and although admirably administered , was calculated to do little more than relieve the temporary wants of those applying for aid through the medium of Grand Lodge . To give permanence to the scheme , and to widen its sphere of usefulness , the accumulation of a reserve fund was necessary ; and this having received the fullest consideration of Grand Lodge , the Grand JIaster had the high satisfaction to see established , in August , 1844 , "The Fund of Scottish JIasonic Benevolence " —a charity which , while for
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
fixed for the ceremonial , and that auspicious day saw one ot the most imposing Masonic spectacles ever witnessed within the boundaries of St . Mungo's . Seventy-two lodges responded to the summons of the Grand JIaster to assist him in testing by plumb , square , and level , the foundation of a structure which "the flourishing state and extraordinary commerce of the city of Glasgow had rendered necessary . " At the conclusion of the ceremony , the Duke was presented by the Lodge Glasgow St .
John with a handsome gold-headed staff , made of part of the oak from the original foundation of the old Stockwell Bridge ; he was afterwards entertained in the City Hall at a sumptuous banquet given by Provost Sir J . Anderson and other trustees of Glasgow Bridges ; and in the evening he was present at a grand Masonic festival , held in the Trades' Hall , under the auspices of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow . The inauguration , in June 1852 of the Equestrian Statue in honour of the Duke of
, , Wellington , again brought the late Grand JIaster to the western metropolis ; and in the following month lie visited Dundee for the purpose of planting the corner-stone of the Royal Infirmary of that city . The erection of a suitable hall for the accommodation of Grand Lodge had long been earnestly desired by that body : into the scheme for the accomplishment of this the Grand Master entered warmly , and in its prosecution so heartily was he supported that in 1858 he was privileged to lay the
foundation-stone of the splendid edifice , which in February of the succeeding year he was further privileged to consecrate to the purposes of Jlasonry—to A irtue , Universal Charity , and Benevolence . The planting of tho corner-stone of the Freemasons ' Hall , looked forward to with so much interest , took place with extraordinary splendour and success . By the Queen ' s permission , Grand Lodge assembled and was opened in the ancient Palace of Holyrood , the Depute Grand Alaster of
England , and many other Craftsmen of distinction assisting thereat , —hundreds of military lined the streets through which the procession passed on its way to the site of the new hall , —divine service was conducted in the High Church and in AVest St . Giles—and at the conclusion of the ceremony ( performed by the Grand JIaster with graceful ease and dignity ) , nearly a fourth of the four thousand brethren who had aided in forming ivhat had been pronounced the grandest JIasonic
spectacle ever before witnessed in Europe , repaired to the banquet which had been prepared in the Jlusic Hall ; and if the circumstances under which the Doric column had that morning been raised were unsurpassed by any known previous Masonic display , those accompanying the unveiling of the Pillar of Beauty were equally interesting . AA e cannot better advance the object of this hastily prepared and succinct sketch of the Masonic life of our late Grand Master than by here reproducing
what Bro . the Right Hon . Lord Panmure said of the Duke of Athole on proposing , at the banquet referred to , his health as the Head of the Scottish Craft : — "Brethren ( remarked his lordship ) , by permission of the Most AVorshipful the Grand JIaster , I again intrude myself upon you , and do so for the purpose of iirojiosing a toast , which , although intimately connected with your own interests , I must nevertheless beg you to assist me in doing the greatest honour to . It is to the health
of an individual at present the supreme head of the Craft in Scotland—to one who has not filled that high situation with merely a name for doing his duties . Ever since the Duke of Athole has been Grand JIaster of Scotland , he has made it his earliest endeavour to advance tlie interests of the Craft to the utmost of his ability , and he has achieved this by giving his presence and leading the Craft on all occasions where JIasonic duties were to be performed in any part of Scotland . It is and
must be a subject of pride to your Most AVorshipful Grand Master to know that such a national structure as the Scott Monument was inaugurated under his presidency . It must be a source of jiride to him to know that in the west he has laid the foundation of a bridge which is to afford convenience not only to multitudes of the citizens of Glasgow , but to the trade of a city third only in the world . AVe owe to the Grand JIaster
a deep debt of gratitude for laying the foundation-stone of a refuge for sickness and misfortune in another great trading city of Scotland , namely , in Dundee ; and if he had done nothing else as a JIason in Scotland , he has this day placed the copestone on his triumph as a JIaster Master , by laying the foundation-stone of the Freemasons' Hall of Scotland . These are but a few of the works of the Grand Master . I- will not detain you , for it would detain you too long to go over the whole of them . Suffice it for me to say that I think you should be proud of one who has filled your throne so long with so much
credit to himself and so much benefit to the Craft in Scotland . " The grand demonstration at laying the foundation-stone of the Wallace Monument , now in course of erection on the Abbey Craig , is still fresh in the public recollection . Of all the JIasonic gatherings over wliich it was our late Grand Blaster's lot to preside that which met at Stirling on the 24 th June , 1861 , was unequalled in point of numerical strength—upwards
of five thousand brethren having opened up their ranks through which his Grace should pass to the picturesque eminence upon which , with mystic solemnity , was to be laid the corner-stone of a " grand national monument to the memory of Scotland's chiefest hero . " But , while honouring with his presence demonstrations calculated to add to his name and fame as a JIason , the Duke of Athole did not neglect to leave the mark of the Grand Master in comparatively obscure places within the scope
of his JIasonic jurisdiction . In October , I 860 , he laid in person the foundation-stone of an unpretending public hall in the small town of Blairgowrie ; and again in October , 1862 , he is found , trowel in hand , and surrounded by some five hundred navvies , spreading cement upon the corner-stone of a railway viaduct in the vicinity of Dunkeld ; and accepting from the uncouth labourers employed on the works of which the bridge was to form a parta stone cup of uni design and workmanship
, que , pi-esented as a " small token of the value the } ' put upon the kindness which he had all along shown them during their sojourn in the vale of Athole . " The gathering at Dunkeld is rendered all the more memorable and interesting as being the last occasion of the late Grand Master using the trowel in his official JIasonic capacity . The last meeting of Grand Lodge presided over by his Grace was the quarterly communication ,
held Feb . 2 , of the past year , at which was presented to the Grand Lodge , on behalf of the late Chevalier James Burnes , the celebrated picture of the "Installation of the Poet Burns as Poet Laureate of the Lodge Canongate Kilwinning . " Twice did his attachment to the Craft and jealousy for their honour and interest bring him into disagreeable collision with Royalty itself . First , when in 1851 , on Prince Albert's being invited to lay the foundatiun-stone of the Fine Arts Gallery erected on the Jlound ; and , again , in 1862 , when his Royal
Highness officiated in a similar capacity at the commencement of the new Edinburgh Post Office and Industrial JIuseum . Having on the lirst occasion exhausted all his personal influence in vainly endeavouring to persuade the Prince Consort to join the Order , which , had the Prince clone , would have been followed by his temporary investiture with the grand gavel , the Grand Master declined to countenance the proceedings , which in consequence were rendered less imposing than had the Grand
Lodge , with their gorgeous paraphernalia and train of daughter lodges , joined in the ceremony . Again , acting on the conviction that the part Prince Albert took in the affair of the new Post Office was a fresh encroachment upon the province of the Grand Master JIason of Scotland , the Duke tendered to his Royal Highness a protest against his further interference with the duties of the Grand JIaster , whose right it was , confirmed by ancient royal ordinance , to lay the foundation-stones of all
public buildings erected within the Scottish realm . This act excited the warmest admiration of the Scottish brotherhood , who recognised in it their Grand Master's determination to uphold the dignity and defend the rights and privileges of the time-honoured institution . Come we now to note a few of the more prominent of the designs of another description which from time to time appeared upon the Grand Jlaster's trestle-boardand which the
, co-operation of Grand Lodge enabled him to carry out with some degree of success . That the boasted benevolence of the Fraternity might not under his rule remain a dead letter , it was long the Duke of Athole ' s anxious desire to establish in connection with the Order a charit y fund worthy of the name . No doubt there existed , previous to his Grace becoming a Mason , a fund for the temporary relief of poor and indigent brethren ;
but the basis upon which it was formed was not so broad as was desirable , its income was precarious , and although admirably administered , was calculated to do little more than relieve the temporary wants of those applying for aid through the medium of Grand Lodge . To give permanence to the scheme , and to widen its sphere of usefulness , the accumulation of a reserve fund was necessary ; and this having received the fullest consideration of Grand Lodge , the Grand JIaster had the high satisfaction to see established , in August , 1844 , "The Fund of Scottish JIasonic Benevolence " —a charity which , while for