Since our last Quarterly Communication the mortal remains of our distinguished Brother, Anson Burlingame, have been consigned to their final resting place at Mount Auburn. Amicable Lodge, of Cambridge, with which he was affiliated, attended, with full ranks, the obsequies, and the brethren silently dropped the sprig of acacia into his narrow tomb. Your Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master, with Past Grand Masters Winslow Lewis, John T. Heard, William D. Coolidge, and William Parkman, joined with their brethren of Amicable Lodge, and participated in these mournful rites. His funeral, conducted by the city authorities of Boston, was attended by a large concourse of his friends and fellow citizens, and rarely has it occurred in Massachusetts, that so many men from every department of political, military, naval, literary, scientific, and professional life, have been brought together on a similar occasion.

In his own Lodge, at Cambridge, Br. C. C. Nichols paid a feeling tribute to his memory, in words so just and appropriate, that I desire to place them on record in the Grand Lodge. Said Br. Nichols,

"For more than twenty years I have enjoyed the acquaintance and friendship of our departed friend and Brother, Anson Burlingame. I knew him as a friend of liberty, and the eloquent and successful defender of the rights of man. In an association where I had the honor to officiate as a corporate officer, he was one of our original corporators, and one of our earliest trustees, ever discharging the duties of his position with honor to himself, and his associates. This position he accepted because of his regard for the middling classes, and especially of the poor. With him, poverty was no crime.

"Certainly, if there is one human trait above another, it is that of sympathy for the poor and oppressed. Our Brother possessed this ennobling trait, regarding always the rights, and manifesting, at all times, a tender interest for the welfare of others. He was an aristocrat of the old school, and such alone are the true democrats everywhere. Men may have knowledge, money, influence, and not be gentlemen. The true gentleman, the man of culture, of refinement, the kind hearted, the considerate, is not often found among the ambitious rich, who give of their abundance for a name, the bat-eyed of this generation; such are too cold, cheerless, and designing, to be gentlemen. Mr. Burlingame was well born and well bred. He sought after 'goodness and truth.' That which so distinguished him above many

others, his geniality and devotion to the interests of man as man, and his lofty courage and abiding integrity, were a part of his noble nature born with him. Possessing such rich qualities, he was a good Mason, and was received and known as such wherever he sojourned.

'It was my pleasure to meet him soon after his arrival home, as minister to China. His experience in that distant land was deeply interesting. Nothing, he said, but the existence of a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, working under a Charter from our venerable Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, reconciled him to the loneliness and responsibilities of his situation. Here he met with kindred spirits; here, surrounded by representatives of all nations, he found a cordial welcome. The last hours he spent in China were with his masonic brethren, on which occasion he addressed a large and deeply-affected assembly.

"Thus much in memory of Anson Burlingame, the noble, the gifted, the friend of the poor, the true Mason, the courteous Knight.

"Brothers, at such a time as this, those grand old words come surging up, full of hope and strength for all,

'Unto thyself be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou cans't not then be false to any man.'"

To the long list of departed brethren must now be added the name of R.W. Br. John Hews, who died at Cambridge, on the 17th of March last, at the advanced age of 83 years. He received masonic light in St. John's Lodge, Boston, about 1820, and in 1844 was elevated to the station of Junior Grand Warden. During the bitter storm of anti-masonic fanaticism, he nobly sustained the society whose interest he had early espoused. At the time of his decease he was a member of Amicable Lodge, of Cambridge, and an honorary member of St. John's Lodge, Boston; the brethren of these Lodges attended his funeral at Mount Auburn. A delegation of the Grand Lodge was also in attendance; and Past Grand Master Winslow Lewis, who had long been associated with Brother Hews, delivered an interesting and affecting address. Thus, brethren, one after another of the war-worn veterans of our Grand Lodge are passing away.

The address was referred to R.W. Brothers Charles W. Moore, Charles C. Dame, and Charles L. Woodbury, to print such portions thereof as they may deem expedient.

The Committee on "The Masonic Temple" made the following report, which was accepted, and so much of it as the Grand Master may direct, ordered to be printed with the proceedings of the Grand Lodge.*

IN GRAND LODGE, June 8, 1870.

To the M.W. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts : —

The committee to whom was referred so much of the Grand Master's address of June 9, 1869, as relates to the New Masonic Temple, and who was directed to report"in detail upon the contracts and expenses of this building, and report an inventory of the personal property, and cost thereof, belonging to the Grand Lodge, contained in the Temple," have endeavored to perform that duty, and beg leave to submit the following,

REPORT.

This committee was appointed one year ago; since which time the members have had many meetings and consultations in reference to the subject matter committed to them, and, as authorized, have, for a limited time, employed clerical assistance, owing to the somewhat loose and imperfect manner in which the accounts and vouchers for labor done, and material furnished, were kept by the building committee. To extend, examine, file, and adjust the bills and vouchers, with the Treasurer's payments, have required an amount of time which seldom belongs to business men, and a degree of patience which should always characterize the members of the Fraternity. With one exception, the contracts hereafter referred to, and many of the vouchers for labor, and material furnished (paid for as shown by the Treasurer's books) are not to be found; therefore, it is absolutely impossible for us to report with that degree of accuracy which would naturally be ex

*The Grand Master has ordered that the Report be printed with the Proceedings in extenso, omitting only the column of vouchers in figures.

pected. Your committee have had full access to the books, papers, and documents of the Board of Directors, and of the Grand Treasurer: they have also had before them some of the brethren who were most active in the management of the affairs of the Temple during its erection, who have very willingly given all the information pertaining to the subject, which they possess. So much time, however, having elapsed since its completion, in the absence of any records of their doings, it has been impossible for them to give, from memory, the details in regard to contracts and expenditures, in as full a manner as we desired. The only written contract which has come to the hands of your committee is that of March 26, 1866, with Runals, Clough & Co., of Lowell, to do the extra stone work on the new Temple, made necessary by changes in the original plan, for fifty-eight hundred dollars ($5,800), and this contract refers to, and is in addition to, a previous one with the same parties for eighty thousand nine hundred and twenty dollars ($80,920).

In the absence of other contracts, your committee take the liberty to quote from the records of the Directors such of their votes as have reference to contracts, and of their Proceedings which relate especially to the matter under consideration.

EXTRACT FROM RECORDS.

MAY 4, 1864. Voted, That the President (Parkman) and Secretary (Moore) be a committee to procure plans and estimates for a new building to be erected on the ground recently occupied by the Winthrop House.

JUNE 6, 1864. Several plans for a new building on the Winthrop House estate were presented for the examination of the Board.

JUNE 8, 1864. The Secretary laid before the Board the following resolution, which had this day been adopted by the M.W. Grand Lodge :

Resolved, That the Directors of the Corporation, are hereby authorized to cause a suitable Masonic Temple to be erected on the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets, in Boston, upon the site of the Freemason's Hall, recently destroyed by fire, and to raise all necessary funds therefor, by mortgage of the premises, or otherwise, and to purchase any additional land adjoining the said lot, that may be necessary for the convenient location of the Temple, at the site now owned by the Grand Lodge; whereupon, it was

Voted, That not exceeding six of the best architects in the city be invited to present drawings of a suitable elevation or facade, for a proposed new Masonic Temple, to be erected on the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets, and that the sum of fifty dollars ($50) be paid to each person so presenting an elevation, except the successful competitor, who shall be paid two hundred dollars ($200) for his design.

JULY 7, 1864. Voted, That the President (Parkman) and Secretary (Moore) of the Corporation, be, and they are hereby, authorized to draw, from time to time, on the Treasurer for such sums as may be necessary to meet the expenses of removing the rubbish from the Winthrop House estate, and preparing the same for the foundations of the proposed new edifice.

JULY 14, 1864. The President (Parkman) and Secretary (Moore) were appointed a committee to cause estimates to be made on the designs presented by Mr. M. G. Wheelock and H. Billings, of Boston.

AUGUST 8, 1864. Voted, That when the plan is selected, it is expedient to proceed to lay the foundation the present season, leaving the contracts for the building to be made in the future.

AUGUST 12, 1864. The plan for the new Masonic Temple presented by Mr. M. G. Wheelock, was adopted. Brothers Parkman, Moore, Dean, and Heard, were appointed a Building Committee.

Voted, That the Building Committee be authorized and empowered to proceed at once, and cause the foundations of the new edifice to be laid; and that they also be authorized and requested to procure plans and specifications for the interior of the building, and for this purpose to employ such architects as they may select.

SEPTEMBER 12, 1864. Voted, That the corner-stone of the New Masonic Temple be laid with Masonic Ceremonies, on Friday, the 14th day of October, next.

FEBRUARY 23, 1865. A Building Committee was appointed, consisting of Brothers Parkman, Moore, Dean, and Hutchinson, the latter in the place of Brother Heard, resigned.

APRIL 25, 1865. The Secretary reported that the mortgage on the Winthrop House estate, held by the Trustees of the Grand Charity Fund of the Grand Lodge, had been discharged by that Board, and that the estate was free of all encumberance.

Br. Samuel K. Hutchinson, of Lowell, was unanimously elected Superintendent, in the erection of the new Temple on the Winthrop House estate, at a compensation of 44 per cent on the cost: he furnishing at his own cost all the necessary working plans and drawings, in accordance with the design adopted; to make all contracts subject to the approval of the Building Committee; and to give his entire time and services to the duties of his appointment, and he was directed to proceed with the business at the earliest practicable moment.

AUGUST 3, 1865. The President (Parkman) also stated to the Board, that the Building Committee had contracted with Mr. Charles Nutting, of Con