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CONTENTS . LEADERSFreemasonry in Cheshire ... ... •••••••••4 ° 5 The Lodge of Research ... ... ... •¦••••40 . S Provincial Grand Rank ... ... ... ... ¦••4 ° « Provincial Grand Lodge of Nottinghamshire ... .. ... ¦¦•4 ° 7 MASONIC NOTESMeeting of the Committee of Management ]^ the Royal Masonic

Benevolent Institution ... ... ... ... •••4 ° 9 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex ... ... 409 Annual Meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex ... ... 4 ° 9 Ouarterly Communication of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales ... . •... ... ... ... - 4 9 Provincial Grand Lodge of Shropshire ... _ ... ... •••4 Grand Lodge of Scotland ( Ouarterly Communication ) ... ... ... 410

The Presentation of the " Sudlow " Testimonial ... ... ¦¦¦ 4 [ 0 The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 " Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire ... ... ... ... 4 " Impressions ... ... ... ... ... •¦••••4 Officer and Private ... ... ... ... ... ¦••4 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... - 4 ' 4 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ¦••4 < 4

Freemasonry In Cheshire.

FREEMASONRY IN CHESHIRE .

Cheshire lias always been looked upon as one of our Masonic strongholds , and the present position of the Craft in the Province does not belie its reputation . In the very earliest extant lists of lodges holding under the Grand Lodge of England

will be found lodges located in the city of Chester and at other places in the County , and though many of them appeared and disappeared with almost equal facility , there have always boon others to take their places and maintain that love for and attachment to the Craft which have been characteristic of our

Cheshire brethren . But it is with the Masonry of to-day , not of a century or a century and a half ago , that we are principally concerned just now . We have received a pamphlet containing , in addition to the report of the proceedings at the annual

meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge during the autumn of last year , and those of the Committee of Benevolence , the Cheshire Kducalional and Benevolent Institutions , the Prov . Grand Treasurer ' s Statement of Accounts for the year to 30 th June ,

18 99 , & c , and from all these it is clear that though owing to the claims of the Boys' Centenary , the Provincial Charities may not have received the full amount of support to which they were entitled , the Province generally , with its several organisations ,

is in a high degree of prosperity . The Prov . Grand Treasurer ' s Account shows a balance , on 30 th June last , of £ 127 18 s . fid ., of which sum £ Ri belonged to the Fund of Benevolence , and the remainder to the Fund of General Purposes , the grants made

during the year by the former amounting to £ 35 , while £ 105 was voted to the Hoys' Centenary , one moietv thereof being defrayed out of the same Fund , and the other out of the General Purposes Fund . According to the 3 > th annual report

of the Cheshire Masonic Kducalional Inslitution , there were 4 8 children educated and clothed during the year , at a cost of close on £ 3 86 " ; but the amount r < ceived in donations and subscriptions from lodges , chapter- ' , members , & c ,

was only between £ 257 and £ 25 8 , though a moiety of the offertory at Altrincham Church , when the Prov . Grand Lod ge attended Divine Service there , amounting to upwards of £ b , and the proceeds of a ball at Birkenhead , of 50 guineas ,

raised the total to nearl y £ 219 . Doubtless the sum would have heen larger still but for the Hoys' Centenary , which the Province generousl y supported to the extent of over , £ 2750 . The invested L " ipilal of this Institution comprises stocks of various kinds of

'he nominal value of £ 51 70 , which , however , cost sums amounting "gelher to . £ 5945 , and the interest accruing from their invest"lenls , reached to close on , £ 200 . Hence , with the balance of £ 2 73 brought forward from the previous account , not only was there ample means to defray the year ' s expenditure , but there

Freemasonry In Cheshire.

remained at the close of the year a balance in hand of close on £ 3 8 7 . The Cheshire Masonic Benevolent Institution , which has been only a few years in existence , appears to have fared similarly . The total of donations and subscriptions received

during the year reached . £ 133 , the comparative smallness of the amount being accounted for by the superior claims of the Boys ' Centenary Festival , but the Committee of Management consider this but a small sum to be contributed by a Province with 152

lodges , for they suggest that during the ensuing year each lodge should make a special donation of two guineas ( £ 2 2 s . ) ' * to be credited to income , so that additional candidates may be placed on the Annuity List . " In the case of this Institution the

receipts , including a balance of £ 343 from the preceding account , show a total of £ 620 , of which over ^ , 122 is interest on stocks of the nominal value of , £ 3400 , Avhich cost ^ 3 862 , the expenditure comprising £ 127 dispersed among seven

annuitants , and some £ 20 for Printing , Postages , Bank charges , the balance remaining in bank on the 30 th June last being £ 472 . Thus , both the Provincial Charitable organisations are well set up in the matter of invested funds , and if the lodges

and brethren , now that the special demands for support of one of the Central Institutions have been handsomely satisfied , will continue their donations and subscriptions—and as there are 52 lodges , with an aggregate of about 2500 subscribing members , we have no doubt ( lie increased contributions which

arc asked for will be forthcoming—the educational and benevolent work which they have succeeded in doing will be continued , and even extended to a still larger number of beneficiaries . Hut , doubtless , we shall learn more as to ihe possibilities of the future when the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge takes

place at Chester during the apjiroaching autumn . In the meantime we congratulate our Cheshire brethren on the eminentl y satisfactory state of their finances for general purposes and the purposes of the Charitable Funds they have established for the requirements of their Province ; .

The Lodge Of Research*

THE LODGE OF RESEARCH *

The Lodge of Research , like its prototype , Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 , has been established for literary purposes , and its Transactions , like these of No . 2076 , are always most welcome . Indeed , the difference between the two lodges is one

of degree , the older and more important of the two appealing for support and encouragement in its literary work to the whole Craft of Masonry , not only to that which is established in the United Kingdom and the Colonies and Possessions of the

British Crown , but to Masons throughout the world ; while the junior and lesser lodge appeals for support to a more restricted circle , composed for themostpartof Leicestershire Masons , with a very fair sprinkling of brethren in other Provinces and London

and elsewhere . But , though small , the lodge has prospered , and Bro . BlLLSON , VV . M ., in the letter which does duty for a Preface , remarks that " the present issue of the Transactions of our Lodu-e marks the close of the seventh year of its existence , and the

Founders , looking backwards , note with gratitude and pleasure the success which has hitherto attended its labours . " To the claim thus advanced , and the success with which the special objects the founders had in view have been carried out , the present issue