He has also been actively engaged in secular pursuits. He was town clerk from March, 1839, to January, 1840, and from March, 1843, to May, 1846, and city clerk from May, 1846, to October, 1855, and representative in the General Court in 1878 and 1879. He was treasurer of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank from April, 1855, to April, 1871, and has been cashier and president of the Cambridge Bank. He received the degree of A. M. from Harvard in 1850, and D. D. from Tufts in 1861. Although he has retired from business, during the past few years Dr. Paige has given much attention to the preparation of a history of his native town, Hardwick, and after many years of hard work the task is completed and the manuscript is now ready for the printer. He is a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and one of the oldest on the roll; also of the American Antiquarian and Phi Beta Kappa societies. As a Mason he has stood high. He joined the Order in Little Falls, N. Y., in 1824, became Worshipful Master of the Hardwick Lodge in 1826, having previously been exalted to the Royal Arch degree at Greenwich, and having joined the Knights Templars in 1824. He is now the oldest Past Commander of the Knights Templars within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He became Steward of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in 1848, and deacon in 1850. The year following he was elected right worshipful deputy grand master. Upon retiring from that position, he became a permanent member, and is now the oldest surviving permanent member of the Grand Lodge. In 1861 he received the thirty-third degree Scottish, and was at once admitted a member of the Supreme Council. Here he served as Secretary two years, and Minister of State three years. He is now, as he has been for nineteen years past, resident representative of the Supreme Council of Belgium. One of the most noticeable events in the life of Dr. Paige was that of the celebration of his eightieth birthday, in the vestry of the Universalist Church in Cambridgeport, on the evening of March 8, 1882. A large company was assembled, and after a feast at the tables, very impressive exercises followed. Rev. O. A. Safford, pastor of the Universalist Church, presided, and introduced Dr. Paige to the company, who heard from him a very appropriate and affecting address. The assembly was then addressed by Mayor Fox of Cambridge, Rev. Dr. McKenzie of the Congregational church, Rev. Drs. Sawyer, Adams, Miner, and Capen, Rev. C. A. Skinner, J. A. Jacobs, Esq., the city clerk, and Capt. J. W. Cotton. A letter, expressive of his sincere and hearty respect for Dr. Paige, was read from Professor Longfellow. A handsome illustrated copy of Longfellow's Poems was presented to the doctor, bearing this inscription: "Presented by a few old friends, with their congratulations and best wishes on the 80th anniversary of his birthday." [Illustration: A. A. Miner. J. H. Daniels Pr. Boston.]