Lancashire.

LANCASHIRE .

TFIE annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Lancashire will be held at Todmorden , on Wednesday , 2 nd October next .

****************** CORNWALL . TPIE annual Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall was held on Tuesday , 17 th inst , at the Public Rooms , Bodmin ,

the proceedings being held under the banner of Lodge One and All , No . 330 , the Brethren of which had very tastefully decorated the Lodge Room . There was a very large attendance , over which the Prov . Grand Master the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe presided .

The Prov . Grand Lodge having been opened in due form , the Prov . Grand Master said two Lodges mentioned in the minutes had completed their new buildings , at St . Austell and Calstock .

During the calling of the roll of Lodges of the Province the Prov . Grand Secretary announced the receipt of a communication from the Grand Lodge to the effect that the Fort Lodge , No . 1528 , of Newquay , had been erased from the list , as it had ceased to work . Lodge Fort was warranted in January 1875 .

The Prov . Grand Treasurer Bro . E . A . P . Broad presented the annual financial statement , which showed that the year commenced with a balance in hand of £ 255 12 s 6 d . Fees of honour conferred at Camborne produced £ 37 13 s , whilst £ 230 ios 6 d was received as dues from the various

Lodges of the Province . With other sums the total was brought up to £$$ ? 8 s nd . After meeting all disbursements there was a balance in hand of £ 304 odd . Bro . Broad drew attention to the sum of £ 5 Qs Sd received as interest , and pointed out that the last time such an item figured in the

balance sheet was in 1863 . The bank authorities were only surprised that they had not been asked for interest before . In the course of further remarks , the Prov . Grand Treasurer mentioned that the present books of the Treasurer were commenced just fifty years ago , and from them the progress

of Freemasonry 111 the Province could easily be traced . Then there was a balance of £ 9 15 s 3 d against the Provincial Grand Lodge , whilst now there was a credit balance of £ 304 9 s iod .

In . 1851 the sum of £ 5 8 s was devoted to Charities , as against £ 128 8 s 6 d this year . The income then was £ 26 6 s 4 d , whilst now it was £ 301 16 s $ d . The financial statement was unanimously adopted .

The Prov . Grand Secretary read his annual report , which stated that the total subscribing members up to 31 st December 1900 was 1 , 995 , compared with 1 , 984 in 1899 , an increase of eleven . A reply had been received to the address they had presented to the King on his accession . In a statement

concerning the Masonic War Bund , Bro . Edyvean mentioned that the receipts were £ 473 6 s , of which £ 14 9 s was sent inadvertently to the " News" Fund . Over £ " 150 had been disbursed at the discretion of the Prov . G . M ., and at present there was £ 314 9 s 6 d in the bank to the credit of the Fund .

The Prov . Grand Master said with regard to the address to his Majesty , he invited the Cornish Lodge in London to join with them in it . The compliment was appreciated very much , because they liked to be associated with the Province . They had heard 'the gracious reply of his Majesty , who had

now ascended the throne of the empire , and his brotheralas , now , his only brother—had ascended the throne of the Craft . He felt sure that the loyalty that had always been evinced towards the King as the ruler of the Order would be continued to his brother the Duke of Connaught . With

regard to the Masonic War Fund he had ventured to sanction certain grants , but the sum concerned was small compared to the amount of money in hand . In addition , he had sanctioned a small sum being set aside for the postage of papers to the

troops 111 South Africa . Before concluding , the Prov . G . M . read a portion of a letter from a Cornish Volunteer , who spoke in the highest terms of the late Lieutenant Cowlard , of Launceston . The Secretary ' s report was then adopted .

The report of the Cornwall Masonic Annuity and Benevolent Fund was presented by Bro . E . M . Milford Treasurer . It showed that the year commenced with a balance in hand of ^" 46 . The receipts from investments were £ 238 ,

and from donations and subscriptions £ 400 , making a total of £ 684 . Aged Masons were granted £ 45 , whilst Widows were voted £ 81 . £ 45 was devoted to educational purposes , whilst the administration expenses were about £ " 35 . The

Lancashire.

balance at the bank was £ 478 . The existing annual charges on the Fund were five annuities to aged Masons , £ go ; eleven annuities to Widows , ; £ 162 ; and six educational grants , £ 75 , making a total of £ 327 . The Committee

recommended the addition of five annuities to Widows , £ 90 , with three educational grants ' , £ 55 , bringing the total annual charges up to £ 472 . The total capital of the Fund was now £ 7 , 199 an increase on the year of £ 481 .

The Prov . Grand Master regarded the report as a most satisfactory one . One of the great functions of Freemasonry was to give relief to families in need . Proceeding , his lordship spoke of the importance of not admitting into the Lodges persons who were not in a position to contribute to such

Funds , but were more likely to stand in need of relief . It was not even fair to the individual or his family , who might be liable to have grants refused , as had been done by the Grand Lodge , because the-person was not in a position financially to become a Mason when initiated .

The report was adopted after Bro . Broad had pointed out that the subscribers to the Fund included more than half

the Brethren of the Province . The report of the Committee of Relief on Petitions , presented by Bro . B . F . Edyvean , stated that three grants had been made to Widows of Brethren of Lodges 131 , 496 , and 1164 . It was suggested that a hundred guineas should

be voted to the Cornwall Masonic Annuity and Benevolent Fund and the great Masonic Charities . In view of the fact that the D . P . G . M . would represent the Province at the next Festival of the Girls School , it was proposed that fifty guineas of the sum should be devoted to that Charity , which proposals were carried .

At this stage the Prov . Grand Lodge adjourned , and a procession was formed . Headed by a band , the Brethren marched to the parish church of St . Petroc , where the usual service was held . The lesson was read by the Rev . T . Kendall P . P . G . C ., of Plolsworthy . The service was taken by the

senior curate , the Rev . Jones , whilst the preacher was the Rev . Bro . H . K . Southwell Senior Prov . Grand Chaplain . Taking as his text St . John ii . 18 and following verses , the Rev . Brother preached a very impressive sermon . The principles of Freemasonry were sublime and Divine in moral

teaching . No man who had worked through Masonry could think or say otherwise . No one who understood the spirit of Masonry could say otherwise . As Masons , they should be of serious demeanour whenever they entered their temple , because they were there as Masons in the sight of God .

Theirs was no worldly society . i \ o rules or ritual could make a society wise and good . It was not that which made Masonry what it was . Plis Brethren would not forget where they were first prepared to be made Masons . It sprang from the heart . It was not the best Mason who best knew the

work , but it was the one who lived with the least reproach and set an example to his Brethren and the world . After the service the Brethren returned in procession to the Public Rooms , and the business of the Lodge was proceeded with . After the four Lewises who had carried the

Volume of the Sacred Law in the procession had been called to the entrance of the Lodge they were each presented with a Bible . The four recipients were Masters F . PL Spear , H . C . Edyvean , L . Goodfellow , and B . Treverton . Addressing them , the Prov . Grand Master explained that Lewises were the sons of Masons . As thev had carried the Bible in the

procession , which was always done , he wanted to give them a copy of the Sacred Volume as a memento of the occasion . He reminded them that the teaching of the Book was

absolutely essential as a motive and as giving power to live such a life as would make them a credit to their society if they joined , as he hoped they would , and would make happy in this life and the future . The Lewises then withdrew .

Bro . E . A . P . Broad , in the absence of Bro . G . B . Pearce , reported on the work of the Cornwall Masonic Charity Association . Contributions had been received during the year amounting to 345 guineas , an increase of forty-eight guineas on the previous year . The Redruth Lodge headed the list ,

having displaced St . Martin , Liskeard , which had occupied the honourable position for some time . After meeting various claims for assistance £ 10 ios was carried forward to next

year . It was decided that a framed copy of the rules of the Association should be provided for each Lodge in the Province , the cost being defrayed out of the Provincial Lodge funds . Bro . E . A . P . Broad Manager of the votes for the great Masonic Charities , in the course of his report , mentioned that