Norfolk.

NORFOLK .

THE Annual Provincial Grand Lodge was held on Thursday , 19 th inst ., in the rooms of the Masonic Association , St . Giles ' s , Norwich , under the presidency of Lord Suffield , K . C . B ., Prov . G . M . There was a large assembly of Brethren from the seventeen Lodges of the Province .

The Brethren assembled at one o ' clock , and half an hour later the Provincial Grand Master , preceded by his Officers , entered the Lodge Room , and the proceedings were commenced in due form .

The roll of the Provincial Grand Officers was called , and there proved to be very few absentees . The roll of Lodges was called and the representatives answered .

The Provincial Grand Registrar , Bro . F . M . Hotblack , gave an account of the work of the Lodges during the past year , and of their present position , and the Provincial Grand Treasurer gave a summary of the financial state of the Province . Bro . H . G . Barwell presented the report of the Charities Committee . It was agreed to make the usual donation to the Girls Institution .

After the transaction of some miscellaneous business the Provincial Grand Master appointed and invested his Officers for the ensuing year as follow : — Bro . E . T . B . Wightman P . M . 93 - Senior Warden W . P . Eversley 52 P . M . 10 - Junior Warden

Rev . E . N . G . Williams 52 P . M . 1724 Chaplain W . Smith P . M . 996 - - Treasurer T . Cranmer P . M . 996 - - Registrar G . W . G . Barnard P . M . 943 - Secretary H . W . Youoll P . M . 313 - - Senior Deacon

W . J . King P . M . 107 - - Junior Deacon W . F . Stockings P . M . 943 - - Superintendent of Wks T . H . Fiddy P . M . 807 - - Director of Ceremonies W . H . Stevens P . M . 1500 - - Assistant Dir . of Cers . O . H . Rust P . M . 213 - - Sword Bearer A . W . F . Whitlock P . M . 2237 - 1 ^ . -, -, ™ * standard

F . w . Frewer P . M . 1193 - - j Bearers A . S . Wilde 1500 - - - Organist A . A . Markham W . M . 943 - Assistant Secretary G . Durrant jun ., P . M . 85 - - Pursuivant A . Tyrrell P . M . 1741 - - Assistant Pursuivant E . Skinner 1500 - - - \

A . A . Bobby 1741 - Rev . G . Sharley 1808 - - £ .., „„ , „ A . H . Beesley 2237- - - " & tewards W . S . Warlters 52 - W . P . Smart 85 - - - / Ephraim Hollidge . . . Tyler .

The Deputy Provincial Grand Master Bro . Hamon Le Strange moved a number of alterations and additions to the bye-laws of the Provincial Grand Lodge , of which he had given notice at the last meeting . These were adopted unanimously , and with very little discussion .

The Auditors Bros . George Baxter and R . F . Ladell were re-appointed . Bro . Hamon Le Strange was warmly thanked for his presentation to the Piovincial Grand Lodge of a number of pictures of Masonic worthies . The Provincial Grand Master announced that he had

decided that the collection to be taken at the service in the Cathedral that day should be given to the Cathedral Reparation Fund . An invitation to hold the next Annual Provincial Grand Lodge at Lynn was accepted . Before closing the meeting the Provincial

Grand Master expressed his extreme gratification at finding all the Lodges so well represented , and at learning they were in so prosperous a condition . The attendance that day had been considerably larger than for many years past .

Provincial Lodge was then closed , the business having occupied a longer time than usual , by reason of the number of bye-laws that had to be considered . Immediately after the close of the Provincial Grand Lodge the Brethren made their way to the Cathedral ,

where the evening service was held an hour earlier than usual . The Brethren gathered in the Cathedral School and in the cloisters and robed . A procession was formed , with the choristers and Cathedral body at the head , and marched down the nave to the stalls and choir , which

were reserved for the Masons , the transcepts being open for the general public . The service was full choral . The Rev . A . W . Callis was the preacher for the occasion , and gave a discourse based on I . Peter , ii , 17 , " Love the brotherhood . Fear God . Honour the king . "

He said : —It is not my purpose this afternoon to dilate upon the history of our ancient Order , a subject doubt-

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less familiar to most of you here present . Upon it the passing events of the world make but little change and exercise but little influence . As you w eil know , materials in abundance may be found to emphasise its antiquity , and to show that in one form or another Masonry was

practised in the far off ages , by the shepherd astronomers , by the astrologers of Chaldea , by the priest-kings of Egypt , by the Brahmins of India , by the philosophers of Greece , reaching its meridan when the Grand Master Solomon , amid much gorgeous ceremony , laid the

foundation of the Temple which was to be dedicated to the service of God . Then , too , we have it on the authority of a Roman historian , that when Julian the Apostate , eighteen centuries after , cleared the foundation of that same temple , he discovered the vaulted chamber ,

with the sacred symbols , in which our ancient Brethren had doubtless often assembled , symbols to be tiaccd among nations far and wide , not only on the pyramids of Egypt , the caves of Elephanta , the temples of Greece ,

the courts of the Alhambra , the round towers of Ireland , but also on the arches of the sublime cathedrals , the glory of our land . I would rather call upon you this afternoon to dwell for a few moments on the cause of

this universal presence , this unfading permanence . It is , my Brethren , not far to seek , embodied , as we findit , in the first catechism of our Craft , which teaches us that its foundation rests , not upon the transitory and perishable circumstances of external life , but on sentiments

which spring from and appeal to the most deep-seated affections of our nature , viz ., Brotherly love , relief , and truth—that golden chain , whose every link may so readily be found inseparably rivetted to the sacred pages of God's Holy Word , that volume never absent from our

midst nor closed in open Lodge , for from it are derived our duty to our Maker , our neighbour , and ourselves ; from it the Apostle exhorts us , in the w ords of my text , to " Love the Brotherhood , fear God , honour the king . " " Love the Brotherhood . " Although St . Peter employs

the term in a general use , meaning the Church , may we not take it to-day in a more particular sense , applying it to ourselves , as Masons working under the direction of the Almighty Architect , who is the one great cause of our being , each striving in his own person after that

spirit of unity , the very essence of the Divine being , which He longs to see instilled in us , and which is the very keynote of Brotherhood . It is the Unity in Trinity that we especially think of in our fraternity—that unity , whose aid we are taught to implore in all our lawful

undertakings—that unity , or , to use the old Saxon word , that oneness , which is the first principle of all that is good and great , and holy and happy in all worlds . What is the attitude the Apostle bids us maintain towards such a Brotherhood ? He exhorts us to the

exercise of love , that highest of Christian virtues , before which all others fade into comparative insignificance . The Almighty Architect is Himself love , and my Brethren if God so loved us , we ought also to love one another . We , His Masons cannot but be united . Each

one of us is a stone forming a part of a great Masonic temple , either in the foundations , the buttresses , the walls or the pinnacles , and on the one hand we can give strength , grace , and lustre to it by a life modelled on Masonic principles ; or on the other we may dim that

lustre by forgetfulness of our sacred vows and obligations . Oh ! may we be filled with this spirit of love , so that it may overflow to our poorer Brethren . It is not alone the charity in deed that I would impress upon you ( essential though this be to Masonry ) , but that charity ,

far harder to practise , which is not easily provoked , which thinketh no evil . ' When this spirit is shed abroad in our hearts , then will every kindred , nation , and tongue be fused into one universal Brotherhood ; then may our working tools be laid aside , for our labour will

be ended ; then may Lodges be closed and secrets proclaimed abroad , for the objects of Freemasonry will be accomplished . Reverting to the text , the preacher spoke of the fear of God as the beginning and the consummation of wisdom , and then went on to remark upon the

words of the apostle , " Honour the king . " He continued : as good citizens , as true Masons , wc , must be first and foremost in our obedience to the laws , and show a loyal allegiance to our sovereign . To do otherwise would be to doubly violate our obligations . For centuries , and even in the most troublous times successive sovereigns