Church Service.

positions in society when they grow up to man ' s and woman ' s estate . Many of these boys and girls would be badly equipped for the battle of life but for the help afforded by these charities . And I know from personal experience that the education given in these schools is the very best . A

teacher wno recently left our Day School for a training College received her early education in the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . Colonel Sparkes , who led one of the

Soudanese regiments at the battle of Omdurman , was educated in the Boys School . I could say much about these two charities to commend them to your continued and increased support , did time permit .

But on the present occasion I wish to appeal to your generosity on behalf of the Royal Masonic Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows , which , if I may say so , without making an inviduous distinction , is the most worthy of all . This Institution was founded on 2 nd March 1842 ,

when the Grand Lodge of England voted £ 400 a year towards granting annuities to aged and distressed Freemasons . In 18 43 the first election took place , and 15 Brethren were chosen to receive annuities , varying according to age , from £ 10 to £ 30 annually . As the " institution steadily progressed , it

enlarged its sphere of . usefulness by establishing , in 18 49 , a fund for the widows of Freemasons . In 1867 the earlier system of classifying the annuitants according to age was abolished , and all . were made equal , so that the payment to a Brother is now £ per annum , and to the widow of a

Freemason £ 32 per annum . At one time a large portion of the receipts used to be invested , but now the Committee , desirous to effect the greatest amount of good , whilst being well assured of the permanence of the Institution , feel that subscriptions are intended to alleviate present wants , and ,

therefore , invest only the surplus income of each year , and such as accrue by testamentary bequests . Since the formation of the Institution 970 Brethren and 658 Widows have been elected annuitants . At the last election there were 202 Brethren , and 278 Widows on the funds , and amongst them these

received a total of £ 16 , 592 for the year , from the sympathies and exertions of the Craft . At the election this year there are about 57 male candidates , and 14 vacancies only , and 62 female candidates and only 8 vacancies . These few facts tell their own tale . The Brethren nobly did their duty when

they established this old age pension scheme . The generation that succeeded has cheerfully maintained it . The Craft of the present day is more munificent than its predecessors , but with the increasing struggle to live , and the great number of

candidates for aid , it is necessary to leave no effort untried to bring home to every individual Freemason , supreme and subordinate , the claims of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution on his sympathies and means .

Moreover , I have to ask your assistance for a humble , but good and extremely useful work in our own town . Dukinfield Sick Nursing Association was founded in 188 9 . I am not quite sure , but I think the late Dr . Robinson had something to do with the inception of this work . Like all new

philanthropic enterprises this Association had many liberal helpers and supporters in the first few years of its existence . But death has claimed several who were generous subscribers to its funds , others have removed from the district , and have ceased to subscribe ; new contributors have not been found

to take the place of them , so that now the Association maintains but a precarious existence , and even for this it is dependent mainly upon the self-denying efforts and unwearied perseverance of a few ladies . This work knows neither religion nor politics . It is entirely non-sectarian in its

management , character , and operations . It is dependent for its existence entirely on voluntary aid . It lives to help those whom Christ loved to help when He was on earth , viz ., the poor and the suffering . I believe we are acting in the Spirit of Christ in trying to help both these benevolent Institutions .

And I believe too that objects so worthy will receive generous help to-day , not only from the Freemasons present , but also from this large and influential congregation . As the four men did not shrink from the physical labour and difficulty involved in bringing their friend or neighbour into the

presence of Christ , so let us not shrink from the great privilege of doing what we can to make the declining years of some one or other bright , cheerful , and happy , and of providing skilled nursing for the poor and afflicted . Hereby

we bring the ideal of life which Christ exemplified within our reach . Our lives will partake of the nobility , the dignity , the beauty and grandeur of Christ ' s if we seek to spend and be spent in disinterested , loving service of others . It is fitting on this occasion when so many East Lancashire Masons are present that I should briefl y refer to the

Church Service.

loss we have sustained in the death of the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of East Lancashire Colonel Le Gendre N . Starkie . Colonel Starkie was a Freemason of long standing , and during his Masonic rule of nearly 30 years Freemasonry has made great strides in East Lancashire . He

took a keen interest in the Charitable Institutions of the Order . All those I have referred to , as well as the Provincial Systematic Educational and Benevolent Institution , have benefited largely as the result of his generosity , and his advocacy of their claims amongst his Brethren . In his death Freemasonry in East Lancashire mourns a good man gone to rest .

And now may The Great Architect of the Universe continue to bless our ancient and honourable Fraternity by enriching and adorning it with every social and moral virtue . Miss Ridgway sang " But the Lord is mindful , " with much sweetness , and Mr . Saunders was exceptionally fine in

the recit . and air , " To Arms " and "Sound an Alarm ; " his powerful and high range of voice being effectively displayed . After the hymn " Lead , kindly Light , " and the Benediction , Bro . Chapman played the organ voluntary "Oh , rest in the Lord . "

The collection ( including sale of programmes , donations of £ 1 from Bro . S . Lord P . G . O . East Lancashire , per Bro . A . Cooper W . M . Waverley Lodge ; and 10 s from his worship the Mayor of Ashton Bro . Walter Newton ) amounted

In our report of the Crystal Palace Lodge , No . 742 , in our issue of the 15 th inst ., we spoke of the Worshipful Master as Bro . Walter Eddie ; he should have been recorded as Bro . " Robert" Eddie .

H . R . H . the Prince of Wales has appointed Bro . R . V . Vassar-Smith Provincial Grand Master of Mark Masons of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire as his Deputy in the Mastership of the Grand Master ' s Lodge of Mark Masons , the premier Lodge of the Degree .

By the death of Sir John Mowbray our esteemed and distinguished Brother William W . Bramston Beach , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master Hampshire and Isle of Wight , will now assume the position of " Father of the House of Commons , " he being the senior member in point of uninterrupted

service . Bro . Beach first entered Parliament in 1857 , as Conservative member for North Hampshire ( now styled the Andover Division ) , which constituency he has represented ever since . He was born in the county in the year 1826 , and has presided as head of its Lodges since 1869 . Bro . Beach

has but four Provincial Grand Masters ahead of him in point of seniority—Lord Leigh , the Duke of Devonshire , Earl Amherst , and Col . E . C . Malet de Carteret—but we hope it will be many years ere he can claim the dignity of " Father " among our Provincial rulers , as he has just acquired it in the House of Commons .

Brother Alderman and Sheriff Alliston told a curious story last week at a dinner given by the Shipwrights' Company , at which ex-Sheriff Sir J . H . Johnson ( the Master ) presided . Everybody in the city knows that there is a striking resemblance between the two Sheriffs , and the fact

was illustrated by the senior ' s story . Quite recently , he said , he and his colleague were invited to a Livery Company ' s dinner . He was received by the Master and the Wardens with all the courtesy and kindness invariably extended to the Sheriffs of the city . Bro . Sheriff Probyn was also invited to

the banquet , and as he did not put in an appearance , Bro . Alliston went into one of the outside rooms in search of him . This proved fruitless , and he returned to the reception hall , where he was cordially greeted by the Master and the Wardens as the missing functionary . Not wishing to spoil a good

joke , he remained silent for a few minutes , when a telegram was handed to the Master from Sheriff Probyn , expressing regret at his inablity to attend the dinner . The Master then ,

to his astonishment , discovered that after all only one Sheriff was pi * esent . " But , " as Bro . Alderman Alliston concluded , " that Master took his revenge , for he made me play the part of two Sheriffs by making me respond to two toasts , "

to £ 26 gs . After paying expenses this will be divided between the Dukinfield Sick Nursing Association and the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows .