At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

He svas lirst installed at Christchurch , and afterwards at Hokitika . It is not superfluous to add that in the appointment of such brethren as R . W . Bro . the Right Hon . R . J . Seddon to the highest positions in the Colonial Craft , is to be found no slight factor in the harmonious working of the lodges in the Colonies . In Nesv Zealand , where , as in other

parts of the British Empire , many different jurisdictions are working side by side , the wisest possible government is necessitated on the part of their Masonic rulers , that that peace and harmony which is the first essentia ] of Freemasonry may ever be preserved .

We regret to record the death , after only a few days ' illness , from pneumonia , of Bro . Colonel John Davis , Aide-de-Camp to the King . He served in a similar capacity to the late Queen Victoria , having been appointed by her as A . D . C . in 18 95 . He was born at Rainford , Lancashire , in 18 32 , and was therefore at the time of his death

in his sixty-eighth year . He joined as Lieutenant the Third Battalion Queen ' s Regiment , and later came to command the Battalion under its newer name of Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment . He has written histories of both the Second Royal Surrey Militia and the Second Queen ' s Regiments . He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of other learned bodies , and a I . P . for Surrey .

* * ¦ But it is as a Freemason that Col . Davis will be long and lovingly remembered by our readers . His appointment as Provincial Grand Master of Surrey took place on the retirement of the Earl of Onslow in 1900 , and during his brief tenure of office he lias so conscientiously and ably discharged

his duties as to leave a lasting impression on the province . His geniality and tact , combined svith the firmness and decision born of military training and experience , rendered him a model Provincial Grand Master , whose place it will be very difficult to fill . A & -its

Col . Davis has been a liberal supporter of the various Charities connected with the Craft , being a Vice-President of the Girls' Institution and a Life Governor of the Institution for Boys and of the Benevolent Institution . He was initiated into Freemasonry as far back as 18 5 8 , at Glasgow , and filled the chairs of the Brittanic Lodge ,

No . 33 , in 1 877 ; the Jerusalem Lodge , No . 197 , in 188 4 ; and the Aldershot Army and Navy Lodge , No . 1971 , in 18 9 6 . He svas a founder of the Huguenot Lodge , No . 21 4 , in 188 5 , and became a joining member of the Royal Alfred Lodge , No . 777 , Guildford , in 18 99 . The rank of

Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies svas conferred upon him by the Grand Master in 1888 . In the same year he svas appointed a Grand Standard Bearer in Grand Chapter . His mother chapter is the St . James ' s , attached to the Lodge of Antiquity , No . 2 , of which he was M . E . Z . in 1883-84 . In the

A . and A . Rite Bro . Colonel Davis has attained the 30 th Degree , and is a P . M . W . S ., while in the Mark Degree he is a P . M ., and a P . G . S . B . of the Grand Lodge .

•&¦ * <; - . It was only a fortnight before his death that our late distinguished brother presided at one of the most successful Festivals that the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys had ever experienced , when the donations and subscriptions amounted to £ 24 , , upwards of £ " 4500 of that sum having been contributed by the Chairman ' s osvn Province of Surrey .

¦ •» «& «& The funeral took place on the 10 th of July at Tilford , Surrey , and svas attended by a very large number of military officers and representative Freemasons . There were nearl y one hundred wreaths . Mr . Brodrick , Secretary of State for War , wrote regretting his inability , owing to public

engagements , to be present . The coffin , draped svith a Union Jack , svas borne to the parish church on a gun-carriage drawn b y six horses in charge of men ol the Royal Horse Artillery , svith eleven sergeants and drummers of the 3 rd Queen ' s Royal West Surrey Regiment , of which Colonel Davis svas Honorary Colonel , acting as pall bearers .

The most important business at the meeting of the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution on Wednesday , the 9 th July , was the election of a Secretary to succeed Bro . James Terry , AVIIO for such a long period has so successfully directed the executive work of the Institution . The meeting ss'as presided over by Bro .

James Stephens , Past Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies , the recently elected Treasurer , and there svas a large gathering of members present . The number of candidates originally svas 24 , and a Sub-Committee svas appointed to examine their respective credentials and qualifications , with

the result that the number was reduced to seven , and at a second meeting of the Committee this number was further reduced to five , viz ., Bros . F . W . English , Past District Grand Treasurer of Bombay ; W . C . Hamblett , Provincial Grand Deacon of Staffordshire ; J . Hodgkin ; P . Colville

Smith , Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Cornwall and Provincial Grand Secretary of Oxfordshire ; and W . Songhurst , P . M . 227 . At the opening" of the poll it svas announced that Bro . Hamblett had withdrawn his candidature .

€ » . ©) O The result of the ballot was the election of Bro . Colville Smith by an overwhelming majority , the numbers being : Bro . P . Colville Smith , 114 ; Bro . Songhurst , 3 8 ; Bro . English , 1 ; and Bro . Hodgkin , o . We heartily congratulate Bro . Colville

Smith on his election and the Institution on having secured the services of a brother so universally respected and beloved . Few , indeed , have clone more for the Craft than Bro . Colville Smith , and his record of work in every phase and department of Masonry is such as to warrant the assurance that not only

will the Secretarial duties of the office be wisely and conscientiously carried out , but the dignity and interests of the Institution in every respect maintained .

¦ © ' © "S > The retirement of so popular a ruler as the Earl of Warwick from the position of Provincial Grand Master of Essex will not fail to be received with great regret . The announcement svill presumably be formally made at the

meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex on the 29 th July .. It is satisfactory to learn that so worthy a successor as Bro . Col . Locksvood , the present Deputy Grand Master of the Province , svill probably be appointed .

The announcement which has been made of Bro . W . S . Penley ' s candidature for the office of Grand Treasurer next year cannot fail to excite a good deal of interest and attention on the part of our worthy brother ' s many friends in the

Craft . Bro . Penley has many claims on the support of Metropolitan brethren , and whoever else appears as a candidate svill undoubtedly find in him a strong competitor .

«» < 3 > «< Following closely on the consecration of the East Anglia Lodge comes the announcement of the formation of the Somersetshire Lodge , which is to represent the Somersetshire brethren in the Metropolis . It is understood that R . W . Bro .

Viscount Dungarvan , Provincial Grand Master for Somerset , is to be the first Master of the new lodge , and under such favourable auspices the question of a successful future for the lodge cannot be left in doubt .

The homecoming of R . W . Bro . Lord Kitchener reminds us that his lordship is by no means unknown to distinction in the Craft . He svas initiated in the Drury Lane Lodge , b y whom , it will be remembered , he was entertained on his

return from the last Soudan campaign . His lordship svas aftersvards appointed District Grand Master of Egypt and the Soudan , but in consequence of the outbreak of the war svas unable ever to take up his duties there . Shortly aftersvards he was specially appointed by the Grand Master a Past District Grand Master of Egypt and the Soudan , having previously in 18 97 been made a Past Junior Grand Warden of England .