ed Grand Lodge and was elected Most Worshipful Grand Master. A remarkable record indeed. He also continued to serve as Master of his Lodge for that and the three next succeeding years.

He was exalted a Royal Arch Mason in Washington Chapter, No. 15, at Flint, April 25, 1856, and was zealous and active in the work of the chapter. He received the orders of Christian Knighthood in Genesee Valley Commandery, No. 15. at Flint, and was an enthusiastic Templar during the short time he lived after taking upon himself the Templar's vow.

It may truly be said of him that he took more real pride in Masonry and in the Masonic positions he held from time to time through the good opinion of his brethren, than he did in the notable successes which attended him in public and business life. In 1868, his wife, who for more than thirty years had shared his trials and triumphs, was called home. On the organization of the present city government of Flint he was chosen Chief Engineer of the Fire Department. His zeal in this office led to his death, November 12, 1871. On the night previous he was summoned by an alarm of fire and ran against a post with such force as to inflict an internal injury which caused his death in twenty-four hours. This event cast a gloom over the entire city. Resolutions expressive of the great sorrow felt by the community were adopted at a public meeting of citizens. Similar resolutions were adopted by the members of the Bar, the Common Council of Flint, and the various Masonic organizations, of which he was a member. On the day of his funeral most of the business places in Flint were closed and the city was draped in mourning. He was a ripe scholar, an able lawyer and a wise counselor. The elements of true manhood were combined in his character in such nearly perfect proportions that as a man, neighbor, friend and Christian gentleman he won the entire confidence of his fellow citizens.

One of the most important masonic events occuring in Michigan in the year 1858 was the laying of the corner-stone of the new Postoffice and Custom House then being erected in Detroit. This building, now outlived its usefulness and about giving place to the new and magnificent one now being erected, was considered, at the time it was built, an imposing and commodious structure. It was the first building of any pretentious magnitude that the United States government had ever erected in Michigan, and the ceremonies of laying the corner-stone

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by the Grand Lodge was made an occasion of great importance to that enterprising and growing city.

The corner-stone of this new edifice was laid with masonic ceremonies, on the 18th day of May, 1858, by M. W. Wm. M. Fenton, Grand Master, assisted by the grand officers. The gathering was very large. A procession was formed at the Masonic Hall, which marched through the principal streets to the place of the ceremonies. The Mayor and Common Council of the city, and many other public officers, were present. The ceremonies were solemn and impressive.

The following articles were deposited under the stone: copies of The Ashlar; the coins of the United States, in gold, silver and copper, from one cent to one dollar; an Egyptian coin of the time of Anthony and Cleopatra, presented by Robt. H. Brown, Esq.; Detroit Directory, 1858; Michigan Session Laws, 1858; New City Charter of Detroit; "Sketches of Detroit;" Memorial of Van Dyke; Reports of the Board of Water Commissioners of Detroit, for five years; Report of Detroit Young Men's Society, 1858; Royal Arch Chapter Proceedings, 1858; Masonic Grand Lodge Proceedings, 1858; Statistics of Detroit Trade and Commerce, by M. D. Hamilton, Esq.; Common Council Proceedings, 1857; daily and weekly papers of Detroit; Charter of the Lafayette Benevolent Society; Charter, By-Laws and Scale of Prices of the Detroit Typographical Union; Charter and By-Laws of the Fire Department of Detroit; Parchment Record of the building, and ceremonies of laying the corner-stone.

Brother J. Adams Allen, M. D., Deputy Grand Master, delivered an eloquent address, from which we make the following extract;

"In the living body of man there is a wonderful system of delicate fibers, which, raying out from central parts, permeate every part of the frame. Mazy enough are those fibres-bound up in tiny bundles, or separating into filaments, undiscoverable except by the microscope; here, woven into a seemingly inextricable web, and there lost utterly in surrounding structures. Insignificant enough they seem in their minuteness and obscurity, and even to accurate students, they are seen to create nothing-of themselves they add nothing to the forces of the animal system. But destroy one of these little bundles, and the part which it supplies, although it may still live, has no longer the characteristics of animal life. From thenceforth it is but an inanimate vegetable existence; the arm, or the limb, or the organ of sensation, responds no more to the will of the living sense. These are the conducting fibres, the postal system of our own bodies; they bind the otherwise in

dependent, or, it may be, even discordant parts, in an inimitably harmonious whole. Without them, the mind itself would still exist; the reason and understanding might still remain perfect; even the nutrition of the mass of the body might still go on, but life would only be chained to a corpse.

And thus, without a postal system in this vast country, though in each section there might remain intelligence and thought, science and art, yet the whole would be essentially paralyzed, for the progress of the race is secured only in small part by individuals, but rather by the combined and concentrated efforts of all thinking minds, which this system can alone effectually secure.

A hundred years or more ago, and ideas, even events, were scarcely to be generally known, until the actors had passed from the stage of life. Our ancestors could read but little of history, which came within fifty years of their own time. As the outgoing earth-light beam can meet the coming light of a distant star a thousand years before that ray itself will reach the earth, so this system enables us to meet and study the events of a few days past, as some centuries ago could only be done after the lapse of scores and scores of years. Thus we literally annihilate, in so far, the distinction between present and future time. There is no necessity for a Rip Van Winkle sleep, to bury years of time, so that we may wake up and see what posterity say of us and our works. By the aid of the press and postal route, without which the press would be comparatively powerless, we become, in this respect, the observing and criticising posterity of our own time! Think of this power, and ponder it well. Time and space are but modes of human thought, and lo! the genius of the age is destroying all our scientific definitions of them.

And what shall we say of that other freight which disembarks to us from the Post Office hatchway? Not the history of national wars or diplomacy, of Senatorial debates or Congressional broils; not of moving accidents by sea, or flood, or flame; not the rich treasures of science and learning, eloquence and poetry-but the richer, costlier and rarer burden of human affections, hopes, joys, fears, happiness, sorrows and exultations, which ever cluster around domestic life. Here is a letter from the brave son, who, far away upon the sea, contending with storm and wave, sends greetings homeward; and here from another, whom disease and death have marked for their own, now vainly seeking life in the sunny South, fanned by the perfumed breezes of the tropics; and here from the father, who, upon the distant border, is planting a home for the loved ones of his heart; and here another which brings a blush and a smile both to the face and the heart of the fair receiver, and the contents of which it will not do for us to suggest, although the most of us can dimly surmise. And thus-and thus! All this is not mere word-painting, nor useless. To the profound statesman these things are matters of pervading interest, and must receive serious attention.”

"Let him who complains of the law's delays, and the 'law's uncertainties,' look a little into the past, and consider upon the trial by battle,' and the law of the stronger arm, which once, and for ages, settled all disputes. When titles to estates

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were written in blood, and swords and gunshots were the brief, emphatically brief, arguments relied upon.

A good rule enough, perhaps, when there is no other, but another than that is to be spoken without voice by these solid stones. No mail-clad warrior shall toss his sword into the judicial balance, neither shall a queasy sentimentalism allow the weight of falling tears to disturb its nice adjustment. The 'perfection of human reason' will here be applied to the facts, and from the chaos of conflicting statements, the cool, clear mind of the accomplished jurist shall evoke light and order.

If we but think of it a moment, this is a wonderful change from ideas the world has known, and, alas, still knows, in many less favored lands.

Here we shall see, as we have seen, a single individual, with a word and the dash of a pen, transfer immense estates and Croesus-wealth from the possession of one party to another. A prison receives this one, whilst the other goes out from the tribunal without the smell of the fire of justice upon his garments-and all at the word of this one person sitting alone and unarmed by any physical instrument of power. Strong men bow in silence and submission at the requirement-before the simple mandate of one who bends beneath the snows of more than three-score winters—although the accumulations of long years of patient toil and anxious thought are swept away in a moment, leaving not a wreck behind. They turn away, perhaps, deeply sorrowing, but well they know it were vain to resist--sooner attempt to control the ocean wave.

Behind and around that single unarmed man are seen, as it was given to the prophet's servant in olden time to see, an army more magnificent and mighty than any which the despot of any age could command to his bidding. For the time, that solitary man is the embodiment of the national power, not only of arms, but of that public intelligence and moral sense before which armies and cannon are as easily dispersed as morning shadows by the rising sun. That is an idea which our times only can fully appreciate.

And here we believe it permissible, with the nicest sense of the proprieties of the occassion, to say one word of him who for many years has gracefully and with easy dignity worn the honors of this high position in our midst. Associated by his age and acquirement with those whom history has already embalmed in the transparant amber of memory, and the recollection of whose high worth and eminent services to their country and their time, will go down to the latest coming ages-it is eminently fitting that he, their surviving peer, still lingering among men of another generation, should receive the just meed of long, faithful and meritorious service. We will not wait to weave a chaplet to hang upon his tomb, but will crown him whilst living with the worthily won and richly deserved laurel.

By learning and experience, by the generous gifts of nature, and the abundant labor of study, he has become

'Deep, comprehensive, clear, exact and elegant;'

whilst a life of spotless integrity, ennobled by the practice of every virtue which adorns and elevates the human character, combined with the graces of the Christian gentleman, take captive all hearts and circle him with the love, reverence and honor of all who hear and know him.

'Serus in cœlum redeat!'

May the young men of Michigan long have the benefit of his pure example, and when that venerable figure is seen no more upon our streets, and that voice is heard no more from the judicial station, may the day of his life pass without a physical pang through that twilight of death, which to him, we are assured, will prove but the morning beams of a brighter and glorious day!"

The large number of new lodges started into life in the preceding year left less of that kind of work to be done in 1858; yet six new ones were organized under dispensations granted by Grand Master Fenton. They were located at Flat Rock, Petersburg, Wayne, Allegan, Moscow, and Grass Lake. All these lodges still remain on the rolls of the Grand Lodge as active, working bodies. He also received the petition of Hugh McCurdy and others for a new lodge at Corunna. This he referred to the Grand Lodge and a charter was given them, and Brother Hugh McCurdy's masonic home was duly established.

Stony Creek Lodge, No. 5, having been permanently removed to Rochester, the name was changed to Rochester Lodge, No. 5, and this early lodge, that was the only one to withstand the fires of anti-masonic hate and persecution, lost its identity and became almost as an entirely different lodge, though in reality the same organization.

Northville Lodge, No. 47, was also changed to Plymouth Rock Lodge, No. 47, it having been removed to Plymouth.

The Grand Master, in his address, having recommended some action in aid of the proposed purchase of Mt. Vernon, a committee was appointed to consider the matter, and they submitted the following report, which was adopted by the Grand Lodge:

Whereas, This Grand Lodge regard the measures initiated by the Ladies of the United States to secure the long neglected home of Washington from spoliation, as evincing not only true patriotism on their part, but a duty sacred to all, and especially to the Masonic Fraternity, of which order he was long an able and distinguished working Brother; therefore,

Resolved, That this Grand Lodge hereby appropriate $100, to be paid to the Vice Regent for Michigan of the Ladies' Mt. Vernon Association, toward the purchase of the property aforesaid.