MASONIC PRESENTATION.

Evening Star, Issue 4294, 30 November 1876, Page 2

MASONIC PRESENTATION.

Yesterday evening the Grand Lodge E.C. paid an official visit to Marine Lodge at Port Chalmers, by which they were suitably entertained. After the Lodge proceedings, D.W.G.M. Bro. Fish made a presentation of an address and jewel (obtained from Mr Telford’s) to Bro. Hyman, who leaves for England next month. In making the presentation, the D.D.G.M. said, in doing so I can only express the strong seise entertained by the D.G.L. and members of the craft generally at the satisfactory manner ir» which you have filled the several important offices held by you during your long connection with the craft, and, I may state, which has gained for you the love and esteem of your brethren. I have, outside the lodge, enjoyed the confidence of your private friendship, and trust (although before long we shall be divided by thousands of miles) I shall ever, in connection with my brethren, enjoy a green place in your memory. I need hardly reiterate the concluding words of the testimonial I shall now read and present to you : “To Worshipful Brother Julius Hyman, P.D.G.S.W. and P.D.G.T. “ Dear Sir and Brother, —The District Grand Lodge of Otago and Southland having heal’d of your intention to shortly leave the Colony for the old country, desires to express its great regret at your valuable services being lost to the craft in the Province. Your character as a man, and your zeal and energy as a M »son, have endeared you to each member of the fraternity, and it is our fervent wish that every success and prosperity may attend you in the country to which you arc going ; and in bidding you a brothei’ly and affectionate farev sd. by your acceptance of the accompanying jewel, which i has been una:iim*.usly voted- you bv tlie I D:str t, ffiMo l Lodge, we feci o/;.nm.‘d that Ithis jewel will not be estimated by you for its intrinsic value, but as a m&ntnto o! the

kindly feelings evoked by the giffy flnd in days to come it will serve to remind yon of the many Masonic friends you have left ill the Province.”

Brother Hyman*replied aslfollows Very Worshipful Sir and Brother—l scarcely know how to find words to properly express the pleasurable feelings which animate me in the reception of this handsome jewel and 1 testimonial, which my brethren of the "District Grand Lodge, through you, new present me with. In accepting your gift, lam fully conscious that no services of mine rendered to the craft generally, or Grand Lodge in particular, deserve so handsome a recognition at your hands, and I therefore look upon it rather as the outcome of those brotherly feelings which the principles of our order are so well calculated to engender, feelings which to you all I in the fullest degree reciprocate. My connection with the craft extends over a period of nineteen years, to me, so far as masonry is concerned, years of unalloyed pleasure ; and I can assure you, Very Worshipful Sir, the greatest regret that I have experienced during this period is that which 1' now feel at my approaching departure from amongst you. The severance £of those Masonic ties which have so long bound us together in the bond of brotherly love and unity is indeed to me full of pain, the only alleviation to which is the belief I hold that, though oceans may divide us, I shall still hold a kindly place in your memory. When I look around this Masonic Temple and. see so many brethren bailing from our sister constitutions, most of whom have travelled so great a distance to be present on this occasion, I feel proud to think that beyond the walls of our constitution I have so many Masonic friends, a fact which enhances the pleasure I now feel in accepting your handsome gift. Very Worshipful Sir and Brothers, I will no longer detain you, for I feel unequal to the task of properly expressing myself. I again thank you for your kindness, and fervently pray that the Grand Master above may continue c to protect the craft, and that Freemasonry may for all time flourish in the Britain of the South, and that the principles of our noble Order may be disseminated through its length and breadth, irrespective of creed, , country, or Masonic constitution. With these words, I now bid you an affectionate and brotherly farewell.