Death Of Lord Leigh,

Death of Lord Leigh ,

^ Provincial Brand cMasfer for Warwickshire .

F FREEMASONRY has suffered a severe loss in the death of Lord Leigh , as not only was he the doyen of Provincial Grand Masters—having held that position in the Province of Warwickshire since 1852—but he had , up to the last , taken keen interest in the Craft . As an evidence of his continued interest in Masonic affairs , he had , notwithstanding

his advanced age , promised to preside next June at the Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ; and preparations worthily to celebrate so striking a chairmanship liad already commenced at Birmingham and elsewhere in

the province . Lord Leigh was the oldest Provincial Grand Master in the country , having entered on his

fiftyfourth year as ruler of the brethren of Warwickshire . He was appointed by the late Earl of

Zetland , August ist , . 1852 . There is but one older Grand Officer of England , Sir Francis Beilby

Alston , who was made Senior Grand Warden in 1850 . Lord Leigh was appointed Provincial

Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masons of Warwickshire in 186 4 , in succession to the first Earl Howe .

T h r o u g h o 111 Warwickshire there was no man more widely known or more respected

than the late Lord Lieutenant . This not by reason of his birth , but because , associated with

every good work carried on in the county , he had won his way into the hearts of the

people . Like the Earl of Shaftesbury , he made use of his high position to further

the interests of humanity . He was possessed of those substantial qualities which befitted the high station in life which he was called upon to fill . Of that eloquence which always sways , if it does not convince the ordinary mind , he had little ; but his perspicacity of judgment and kindness of heart carried weight wherever they were exercised . Harshness , either in

the interpretation of the motives of others , or in the laying down of his own views , formed no part of his genial nature . It would be very difficult to recall any single instance of his lordship having been betrayed into vehemence of expression in commenting on the conduct of those from whom he differed in opinion . To his kindliness of disposition ,

there-T 1 IK LATK LOItU LEIGH .

fore , was owing much of the popularity he enjoyed among all sorts and conditions of men , not only in his native county , but wherever he was known . In Lord Leigh was to be found a perfect type of the old school of English gentleman . He could always find something for head and heart to do , and there was scarcely a philanthropic movement in the

county in which he chiefly resided , in which he did not take active part . Amongst the numerous public tributes to the virtues of the late Lord Leigh , that of the Mayor of Leamington , at a special meeting of the Borough Council , very aptly describes

him as a true and splendid type of a good old English gentleman . " I feel it is no easy task to give an adequate

idea of such a life as the late Lord Leigh's : so kind , so strenuous , so gentle , so full , and yet so

strong , in short , a life that it would be well for everyone to strive to imitate and follow .

Lord Leigh has died full of years and full of honours after but a very brief illness . His

kindness of heart , nobility of purpose , constant unselfishness , and devotion

to duty , and the affectionate sympathy with which his whole career was prompted , is well known to all . "

To this appreciation the Mayor , at another public meeting , a d d e d this further

testimony to the late Earl ' s character : — " He bore , " he said , " an honoured name , and held a very

distinguished position in this country . He was one of His Majesty's Privy Councillors , and a

few years ago he declined an earldom offered to him by the then Prime Minister , Lord Rosebery . He was sympathetic to all alike , and served his generation faithfully and well in every capacity . For his kindly deeds and noble actions his name will be revered ; he will ever live in the grateful memory of all classes of the

community . A valued and a blameless life has ebbed away , full of years and honour , with troops of friends to mourn their irreparable loss , and to-day we are thereby the poorer . It is hard for me , and I am sure it is for you , to realise that dear old Lord Leigh has gone from amongst us . His watchword was undoubtedly ' Duty , ' and that in a marked degree .