shire Hospital and the Wolverhampton Ragged School. On leaving church the procession was re-formed, and marched down Darlington-street and Waterlooroad to Molineux Grounds. A spacious marquee was here erected for dinner, to which about 600 sat down, and on the removal of the cloth, the party adjourned upon the green, and with the public, who were now admitted, took part in the fetes that followed. These consisted of miscellaneous concerts, performances by the band of the Bilston Rife Corps, the band of the Second Company of Rifle Volunteers, the St. George's Sax-horn band, and Messrs. Humphries' Quadrille band. There were also displays of fireworks, pyrotechnical balloons, rifle shooting, dancing, and the usual paraphernalia of an every-day fete. Upwards of 6,000 persons were on the ground. At the dinner, the Mayor, C.Clark, Esq., took the chair, Dr. Fraser officiating as vice. The usual loyal toasts having been duly honoured, Mr. Hardwick, in his usual happy manner, spoke for the Manchester Unity, and Mr. Gale for the Board of Directors.

WOLVERHAMPTON. SPECIAL INITIATORY MEETING.-Charles Clark, Esq., Mayor of this borongh, was initiated a Member of the Loyal King William the Fourth Lodge, at a meeting held in St. George's School-room, on the 5th of August, when upwards of two hundred Members of the various Lodges were present, including W. Dunn, Esq., Surgeon of the Lodge, and the District Officers. The meeting was called for the especial purpose of the initiation of the Mayor; and the large school-room was tastefully decorated for the occasion. S. R. Willson, P.P.G.M., officiated as N.G. The Rev. J. H. Iles, rector of the Collegiate Church, who is also a Member of the St. Andrew's Lodge, read the initiation charge. P.G. Thomas Gardener officiated as warden, and P.G. Henry Wilcock, of the Chillington Lodge, was conductor. After the ceremony of initiation was concluded, the usual toasts were proposed and responded to, and the Mayor made an excellent speech.

LECTURE AND PRESENTATION.

Mr. Charles Hardwick delivered a lecture in the Assembly Room, Rose and Crown Hotel, Clitheroe, in Lancashire, on Saturday, Sept. 14. The subject of the lecture was, "Friendly Societies: The Provident Institutions of the People, their Vast Social Importance, their Imperfections, and the Remedies." The lecturer entered at length into the question of the real origin of these institutions, and the gradual progress of the working classes from serfdom to their present social position; he reviewed all the more important facts and principles in the science called "vital statistics," and expounded, in a popular manner, by the aid of diagrams representing the average of sickness and mortality, the true laws of finance necessary to secure the future reliability of these valuable societies. While pointing out errors and suggesting remedies, the lecturer defended the members from aspersions which he contended had been unjustly cast upon them. Mr. Hardwick concluded with an earnest appeal to the industrious provident operatives on behalf of these societies, which were calculated in the truest sense, to secure their cherished independence in the hour of affliction, and to promote their moral and social advancement.

The Chairman (Mr. Fielden, bookseller) afterwards, in the name of the Members of the Clitheroe District of the Manchester Unity Friendly Society, presented to Mr. W. Hodgkinson, their Corresponding Secretary, a very elegant timepiece, with a suitable inscription, as an acknowledgment of the value of the services rendered by him to the district during the eight years he has held the office.

THE

ODD-FELLOWS' MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1862.

Samuel Taylor Settle, P. Prob. G.M.

MR. SAMUEL TAYLOR SETTLE, whose portrait accompanies the present number of the Magazine, was born at Turton, near Bolton, Lancashire, on the 13th of July, 1811. At an early age he was employed in a cotton mill, and continued engaged in various departments in connection with the staple manufacture of his native county till 1855, when, under the auspices of his cousin, John Orrell Lever, Esq., M.P., he undertook the management of the "Howard Arms Hotel," built for the accommodation of invalids and other visitors to the celebrated alkaline and chalybeate waters at "Whittle Springs," near Chorley, Lancashire.

Mr. Settle's lengthy career as an Odd-Fellow has been marked by unceasing devotion to its best interests. He was initiated a member of the Order, in the "Welcome Traveller" Lodge, of the Bolton District, on the 9th of March, 1833. He almost immediately commenced his career of active usefulness. He served several inferior offices, and afterwards filled to the satisfaction of his Lodge the offices of V.G. and N.G. On his receiving the purple degree in 1836, the members expressed their appreciation of his services by the presentation of a handsome silver medal, suitably inscribed. At a subsequent period, he again satisfactorily performed the duties of the superior offices of the "Welcome Traveller" Lodge. In 1843, a new Lodge was opened, chiefly through Mr. Settle's instrumentality. He was one of its first officers, and, for a lengthened period, he took a very lively interest in its welfare. This Lodge, in compliment to its founder, was named the "Settle's Pride," and is at present in a very prosperous condition. Mr Settle's activity and zeal in the cause of Odd-Fellowship caused him willingly to render assistance to his brethren in other sections of the then extensive Bolton District. He has served the office of N.G. in various

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Lodges, no fewer than six different times. Scarcely any better proof of his hearty approval of the great principles of our Society could possibly be given.

His zeal in the cause of Odd-Fellowship soon found a larger area for its exhibition. In 1838, he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the Bolton District, and, in the following year, the Prov. Grand Master. He did good service to the cause of progress during this period of his labours, and especially in discountenancing the partial division of Lodge funds, a practice then not uncommon in seasons of commercial depression, when the benevolent, sick, and funeral funds formed one common stock. During the troubled times which succeeded the passing of the celebrated financial resolutions at Glasgow, Mr. Settle again cheerfully accepted the office of Corresponding Secretary of the District, and in December, 1846, he was re-elected Provincial Grand Master. His conciliatory manners and firm adherence to the law and the cause of progress, won him many friends during this trying period. Mr. Settle had been early impressed with the necessity for financial improvement in many of the Lodges in his neighbourhood, and, as early as 1843, when the "Settle's Pride" Lodge was opened, he persuaded the members to commence with a higher rate of contributions than was at that time customary. In consequence of this enlightened policy, Mr. Settle has lived to see many then supposed wealthy branches decay, while a recent valuation of the assets and liabilities of the Lodge which was nursed in its infancy by his fostering hand, as calculated by the C.S. of the Order, shows that a very trifling additional annual contribution would enable the Society to safely promise to its members an annuity of about three shillings per week for life to all who survived the age of sixty-five.

Until within the last few years, during which his business necessities have curtailed his active labours, but not lessened his affection for the good old cause, Mr. Settle was a well known and respected deputy to the Annual Moveable Committees of the Order. When deputies were appointed by lodges, he represented the "Welcome Traveller," at North London, in 1837. He afterwards represented the Bolton District at Birmingham, the Isle of Man, Wigan, Glasgow, Bristol, Southampton, Blackburn, Halifax, Dublin, Carlisle, Preston, and London. He received an appointment for Durham in 1855, but his acceptance of the management of the extensive establishment at Whittle Springs prevented his attendance. Mr. Settle was elected on four different occasions one of the Directors of the Unity, viz., at Blackburn (1849), at Dublin (1851), Carlisle (1852), and Preston (1853). He likewise represented the Bolton District at the celebrated "Corn Exchange" special meeting at Manchester, in 1848. In common with many other of the best friends of the Institution, Mr. Settle, at that time, entertained the greatest possible faith in the professions and general integrity of the late C.S., and accordingly he supported his cause with his habitual zeal. After listening to the proceedings of the Southampton A.M C. however, and carefully weighing the additional evidence from time to time produced, Mr. Settle arrived at the conclusion now universally endorsed, that the confidence of a large section of the Unity in the then C.S. had been misplaced. In the frankest possible manner Mr. Settle acknowledged the change which his opinion had undergone, and laboured as zealously in the cause of the executive as he