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SATURDAY , DECEMBER 15 , 1900 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The regular meeting of the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution was held at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday , when 12 petitions ( seven male and five widows ) were considered and accepted . The Secretary reported that one male and one widow annuitant had died , and onc accepted candidate , and that one male annuitant had resigned his annuity .

» » * It is satisfactory to learn from thc reports which were submitted at the half-yearly meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of East Lancashire , which was held at the Town Hall , Salford , on Friday , the 30 th ult ., that the Craft is prospering greatly in that Province , ar . d

that if the year has not been as memorable a one as we had reason to hope it would some 12 months since , this is due to accident , and not to any inactivity or lack of zeal among the lodges and brethren . In thc autumn of 1899 , at the installation of Lord Stanley , M . P ., as Prov . Grand Master , in succession to the late

lamented Bro . Col . Lc Gendre N . Starkie , it was announced that the Province intended to hold a Festival during the present year on behalf of its Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution , and that out of the sum raised it was in contemplation to appropriate 1550 guineas to . the

Masonic Notes.

purchase of a Perpetual Presentation to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution as a memorial to their deceased ruler . But the Festival has not been held owing to the absence of Lord Stanley in South Africa . However , his lordship is on his way home , and it is

proposed that the Festival shall be held under his auspices some time during the spring or early summer of 1901 . In the meantime , Prov . Grand Lodge voted 100 guineas to the funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and £ 20 to its own Institution .

+ * * The Province of Cambridgeshire is a small one . It has only seven lodges on its roll with an aggregate membership of abcut 540 subscribing brethren . Still it does its work admirably , especially in the support it

g ives to our Central Charitable Institutions . For many years past it has contributed most generously to their funds , and we are pleased to note that the Prov . Grand Master—Bro . Col . R . Townley Caldwell—made special complimentary reference to this fact at the

annuaLmeeting of * his Provincial Grand Lodge on the 7 th instant . He also greatly eulogised the services which Bro . Major Oliver Papworth has been rendering during the many years he has filled the most important oflice of Prov . Grand Secretary and as a member of the Board of Management of the Royal Masonic

Institution . We feel sure that the brethren present , and more especially Bro . Papworth himself , must have appreciated these kindly encomiums of their and his chief . We hope it may be our privilege to learn that the prosperity which has attended the Province of Cambridgeshire during the last 15 or 20 years may be continued .

* * It will be in the recollection of our readers that during the late months of his Shrievalty Bro . Sir A . H . Bevan was prevented by illness from fulfilling the duties of his office , and in particular that he was

absent through that cause on the day he should have quitted his post and invested his successor . It is now our sad duty to announce the death of our respected brother , who was as distinguished in Masonry as he was in civic a d private life . Bro . Sir A . H . Bevan

had the honour of being elected Grand Treasurer in Craft , Royal Arch , and Mark Masonry for the year 1 S 99-1900 . He was a generous supporter of our Institutions , as well as of n umerous other Charitable Institutions unconnected with Masonry , and doubtless

had hc lived longer , would have continued his support to one and all of them . A record of his work in Masonry will be found in another column , but we must not omit to express here our respectful and sincere condolence with the family and friends of our deceased brother .

• » » Hertfordshire is again lamenting the death of one of its most earnest and active Masons . Bro . lohn Purrott had been long a member of the Craft in St . Albans and Watford , and had filled high ollice in

Prov . Grand Lodge , Prov . Grand Chapter , and Prov . Grand Mark Lodge , as well as in the Stuart Preceptory of Knights Templar at Watford . He was highly esteemed and respected by the whole Masonic body in the county , and his death will create a void that will not be readily filled . He was , too , the oldest

member of thc Yeomanry force in England . He joined the Herts Yeomanry in the early " forties , " and at the time of his death was the Regimental Sergeant-Major . His funeral was appointed to take place with military honours at St . Albans on Thursday , the 13 th instant . We tender our sincere sympathy to the family and friends of our deceased brother . » » *

In the West Indies there has always been a large amount of interest taken in Freemasonry . This is shown by the number of lodges there existing , which date from the last or the earlier years of the present century , to say nothing oi those that were warranted

then , but have become defunct . At the present time there are between 30 and 40 lodges ifl this part of the world under the English Constitution , two of them having been warranted during the present year . Last week we published a report of thc younger of the two ,

which was consecrated at the Masonic Hall , St . John ' s , Antigua , on the 30 th October last , and was started on its career under the guidance of his Excellency Bro . Sir George Melville , K . C . M . G ., as W . Mister . There

appears to have been a strong muster of thc brethren in honour of the event , and the ceremonies , both of consecration and installation , so far as it is possible to judge from thc report that appeared , passed off admirably .

Masonic Notes.

Next week we shall have the pleasure ot laying before our readers the report of another successful Masonic function , the scene of the event being Woodbrook , in the island of Trinidad , and the event itself , the laying of the foundation stone of a new church by the acting !

Governor , Bro . Sir C . Courtenay Knollys , K . C . M . G ., P . M ., Past Deputy District Grand Master of Barbadoes . In the performance of his task , Bro . Sir C . Knollys was assisted and supported by the officers and brethren of the Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 867 , the youngest of the three English lodges located on the

island . There was also a numerous attendance of clergymen , who would naturally desire to assist on such an occasion , and also a great concourse of the public eager to witness so unusual a spectacle . Thus , the Sth November , 1 9 , the day on which the stone was laid , will always be a memorable one in the annals of the Craft in Trinidad .

His Grace the Duke of Devonshn-e , owing to the prominent position he has held for so many years in the political world , has so many demands upon his time , that it does not often happen that he can find an opportunity to discharge in person the duties of his

office of Provincial Grand Master of Derbyshire , which he has held for more than 42 years . Hence the brethren of that Province must have been gratified beyond measure when they found his Grace was able to preside at their annual meeting on the 29 th ult . The ; D ' uke

likewise must have felt notalittle proud when the reports for the past year which were laid before the Provincial Grand Lodge showed that the Craft in Derbyshire was in such a flourishing state . Indeed , there was only ; one matter for regret in connection with the meeting , and

the Provincial Grand Master gracefully expressed the , feelings of all present when he referred in terms of , sympathy to the absence through illness of his able : Deputy , Bro . H . C . Okeover , P . G . W ., and uttered a hope that he ( Bro . Okeover ) would be able to resume his duties at no distant date .

* » . .. * Monday , the i ^ th instant , when Bro . the Hon . Alan de Tatton Egerton , M . P ., Past Grand Warden of England , will be installed Prov . Grand Master of Cheshire in succession to his brother , Earl Egerton of

Tatton , who has resigned after 15 years of service , will be a day of days with our Cheshire brethren . It is not pleasant to realise that the bond which has so long united the ruler of a Province with the lodges and brethren he has presided with such ability arid ,

success has at length been severed , but it is one of the penalties the Craft pays for having distinguished public men to preside over its Provinces , that it cam not hope to retain their services for long or to have tliem frequently taking p . irt in its gatherings . Lord ' Egerton has held office for some 15 years , and under

his guidance , Cheshire , which has always been a stronghold of Masonry , has made great progress and won high distinction as a friend of our Institutions , But his lordship has found himself unable to continue longer as their chief , and he retires now with the respect and heaity good wishes of his brethren of the Province .

» » » But though Cheshire has lost one of the ablest and most pomilar of those who have presided over it Masonically , it has the iatisfaction of knowing that his successor is a man of high standing , who , by the

manner in which he has discharged his duties of Grand Superintendent in Royal Arch Masonry and Prov . G . Master in the Mark Degree , has won the respect of the community . Moreover , he is a close

relation of their retired chief , and while , on the one hand , they will be wishing heartily God-speed to their late Prov . G . Master , they are likely to welcome his successor with equal , or it may be with even greater , heartiness than if he were comparatively a stranger .

« * * It is much to be regretted that the meeting of the Prov . Grand Chapter of Durham , which took place on the ist instint , was shorn of what should have been its chief attraction , and still more that this was due to

thc illness of the distinguished companion who would have been the leading actor in the day ' s function Comp . the Rev . Canon Tristram , who has been appointed to succeed the late Sir Hedworth Williamson , Bart ., as Grand Superintendent of the Province , was prevented by a bronchial attack from

attending , and his installation had necessarily to be postponed till some other time . We trust that our Rev . Companion will be speedily restored to health and inducted into an office which , there can be no doubt , he will adorn , and we trust , in spite of his ripe age , for many years to come .