India.

"I ivill not , on this occasion , Very WorsbipfnlSir , enter in to any retrospect of the services which your father has rendered to Freemasonry . His conscience ivilV bear him witness hoivthat he has laboured long and energetically foriihe good of the Craft , ivhile the Graud Lodge of England has acknowledged his services by conferring upon him a very high and honorary rank ; and the brethren in Bengal have , on many occasions , evinced to him their high appreciation of his endeavours on their behalf .

Personally , I have much to thank him for : it was he who first took public notice of me in Masonry ; it was he Avho conferred upon me rank in this Grand Lodge ; and from him , as Dep . Prov . G . M ., I always found ready and cheerful assistance and support while ruling over private lodges . - " " " Accept , then , Very Worshipful Sir , on'behalf of our dear brother , this testimonial from his felloiv-craftsmen . It is offered to him with sincerity and good-will : it is offered to him as a

token of affection and esteem ; it is offeredto him in recognition of lengthened and meritorious service , which the brethren feel it their pleasure to acknowledge , and their duty and desire to emulate ; and if , as I have said before , it is not valuable in proportion to their sense of his merits and their regard for him , it will , they trust , form to his family and to himself a lasting memento of their good-will , their confidence , and their love . Accept italsowith the expression of a fervent hope from

, , every true-hearted Mason in Bengal , that it may please the Most High Creator to spare him to enjoy the blessings of that retirement which he is voluntarily seeking , and which is so justly due to him after a life of toil and labour . May He also bless him ivith renewed health and strength , and , after a life of credit to

himself and usefulness to his fellow-creatures , give him an abundant entrance into that Grand Lodgo above , to wliich Masonry , like Christianity , teaches us , as it has our forefathers from the earliest generations , to look with humble confidence but ivith fervent hope ' . " The testimonial , made by the firm of Messrs . Allan and Hayes , jewellers to the District Grand Lodge of Bengal , and consisting of a magnificent solid silver-gilt claret jug , ivith a beautifully modelled

elephant top , and a shield enriched with heavily embossed scrolls , ivas then handed to V . W . Bro . William H . Hoff for presentation to liis father . The jug bears the following inscription : — " Presented to Right Worshipful Brother John Jacob Louis Hoff , Past Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Bengal , and Past Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of England , by the Freemasons of the province of Bengal , Burinah , ancl the north-west provinces of India , as atoken of their sincere

respect and fraternal regard , and of the high esteem in ivhieh they hold his Masonic character , as exemplified and illustrated during a career of thirty-seven years in the service of the Craft . St . John's Day , 5862 . " V . W . Bro . W . H . Hoff read the folloiving reply , which , he stated , contained a faithful expression of his father's own sentiments . It was at his father's particular request that he conveyed this assurance to the brethren : —

" R . W . Grand Master and brethren all ! From the bed of sickness , by the voice of him who is now my representative in the Craft , my son , the present provincial Grand Secretary , I tender you my heartfelt thanks for the handsome token of your good-will towards me with ivhieh you have this evening presented me .

I thank you , R . W . Grand Master , specially , for the noble address with ivhieh you have offered this gift to me . I know that , although as yet an untried ruler of the Craft in this province , you have unquestionably that ivhieh is the basis of every good and great action performed by a ruler in Masonry , viz ., a thorough love of the Craft , and an anxious desire to do your duty faithfully . It is my earnest hope that the interests of Masonry may be greatladvanced under

y your Hirnm ; and if I should live to see the day when the Craft in this province is flourishing far beyond AA'hat it did under my humble efforts ( for , as you have said in your address , the province was virtually ruled by me for some years ) , God forbid that I should view your success with envy ! No ; it will be to me a matter of joy , ancl I shall look upon you as a faithful labourer in the same field in ivhieh I have toiled' I can

. truly say that , forgetting self , I have laboured solely for the goocl of the Craft ; to it I have devoted my best energies , perhaps more than it was right for me to do ; and , next to my Jove of my Maker , it has held the uppermost place in my heart ; indeed , so far as earthly things are concerned , I may say it has heen my ruling passion ! And I have been cheered " in my journey by much sweet and pleasant comoanionship ; many a

fast friendship have I formed with men of the very highest Avorth—Grant and Ramsay and King , and many others who were truly as brothers to me . To the brethren now present , also , I have been much indebted for the truly Masonic and loyal spirit in which they have always supported me . I have sometimes come to this hall when some important question was to be broughtforivard , which I had seen in all its bearings , and , after incessant labour , I have been fatigued in body and anxious in

mind , aud doubtful as to the result . But in almost every instance , I found that where I expected difficulty or opposition , I received support . I remember one very remarkable demonstration a few years ago , to wliich Ineed notmore particularly allude , hut it convinced me more than anything else , that our great lexicographer was ivrong Avlien he said that it is natural for men to rebel . Even those who sometimes opposed me in District Grand Lodgeshowed meby friendly acts in private ,

, , that they had not withdrawn then . " regard for me . Now that our relative position has been changed , I can only remember my brethren in Masonry ivith undisturbed feelings of love , —for . a love of everything Masonic has , after all , heen at the foundation of even my severest acts ! "But I fear that , on this festive occasion , I am trespassing too much on your time ivith my reminiscences of the past ; and I willthereforeconclude bagain thanking one and all for

, , y your handsome gift , ivhieh ivill be an heir-loom in' my family , and for the kind manner in ivhieh you have offered it to me . I thank you , R . W . Grand Master ; I thank you , brethren of the District Grand Lodge ; and I thank my brethren in the country lodges , ivith Avhom I have ever maintained a cordial fellowship . God be ivith you all ! FareiA'ell !"

CALCUTTA . TESTIMONIALS TO BEO . JOHN WILLIAM BROWN . At a meeting o . Lodge St . John ( No . 715 ) , held on the 26 th December , an address , a costly piece of plate , and a full-length coloured photograph of Bro . -Brown , by Bro . Baker , ivere presented to R . W . Bro . Jno . W . Brown . Before reading the address , the W . M ., Bro . Paul , . presented the testimonial , which consists of a richly embossed solid silver salver , bearing the

following inscription : — " Presented to R ; W . Bro . John William Brown , P . Prov . J . G . 'W ., P . M . Lodge St . John / No . 715 , by the brethren of the Sister Lodges St . John , No . 715 , ancl Industry and Perseverance , No . 126 , in grateful acknowledgment of his Masonic zeal and virtues , and of his services to the Craft in general , and more especially to those tivo lodges . Calcutta , 26 th December , 1862 . " Ou the border of the salver is engraved the P . M . ' s jeiveland

, the numbers of the following lodges , of ivhieh Bro . Brown is a member , viz ., of Nos . 126 ancl 1150 of England , Nos . 401 and 371 of Scotland , and Nos . 551 and 715 of England . Bro . Brown replied as follows : — "Worshipful Sir , Officers , and brethren , —I cannot this evening pretend to have been taken by surprise ( as I ivas the other day in Lodge St . Luke , at Dum-Dum , when an address and an expensive present Avere

given me ) at the presentation you have made me , because a W . Brother informed me of your intention early in December . I then said to him , and subsequently to others , and now repeat , that I did not think it neoessary for tbe brethren to put their hands into their pockets to give me a valuable present . If you have thought well of my services in this lodge , and in Lodge Industry ancl Perseverance , during the last four years , a short paper ivriting of itself ( even that ivas not necessary ) Avould

have amply compensated me for anything I may have clone . T have done nothing but what any other P . M . would have more efficiently performed . As you have thought fit to present me with this address and testimonial , I beg to tender you the assurance of my sincere thanks , and can only hope , as in the days that have passed away , so , in the unknown future , we may co tinue to live together in harmonyand may God speed the

, prosperity of the lodges . " The testimonial alluded to by Bro . Brown as having been presented to him by Lodge St . Luke , Dum-Dum , is a large chased massive silver cheroot case , displaying on one side , in frosted silver , the device and name of the lodge , and on the other side the folloiving inscription within a wreath , " Presented to R . W . Bro . J . W . BrownbLodge St . LukeNo .

, y , 150 , as an acknoivledgment of Masonic , services rendered during the year 1862 . " TESTIMONIAL TO BEO . W . H . ABBOTT . LODGE EXCELSIOE ( NO . 1127 ) met on the 16 th December , to witness tbe presentation of a testimonial to Bro . Abbott .