Masonic Calendars For 1888.

MASONIC CALENDARS FOR 1888 .

The Calendars for 1888 , viz ., that of the Grand Lodge and the " Cosmo , " enable one to judge most accurately of the continued prosperity of the Grand Lodge of England , and of the various Degrees of the Arch , Mark , Templar , Ancient and Accepted Rite , & c , which are worked by members of that Body .

The latest number recorded in the excellent Calendar published by the Grand Lodge is 2234 , which gives a grand total of 2044 lodges on the roll , after deducting 161 erasures and adding that of the " Grand Stewards , " which bears no number . The " Cosmo " gives down to No . 2235 , but as the examination of last year was based on the former publication , we do

the same now . Stnce the issue for 1887 , there have been five lodges erased , viz ., 1038 , New South Wales , 1215 , and 19 61 , Punjab , 1640 , Cape of Good Hope , and 1742 , Dominica . There were seven erasures during the previous year , at the end of which the gross total stood at 2182 , whereas now , it is 2234 , being an increase of 52 , or allowing for removals 47 net .

When the present numeration began in 1863 there were exactly 975 active lodges , so that in rather less than 25 years the remarkable number of 1260 warrants have been granted by the Grand Lodge of England , and the nett total of lodges has increased from 075 to 2044 lodges .

This large constituency is thus distributed : In the Metropolitan district there are some 351 lodges , and in the Provinces and Channel Islands 1116 more . Some of the Provincial Grand Lodges are exceedingly large . East Lancashire , presided over by the R . W . Bro . Col . Starkie , numbers 97 lodges , West Lancashire follows closely with a total of 89 , ruled over by the Right

Hon . the Earl of Lathom , D . G . M ., and the third of this large trio , under the Provincial Grand Mastership of the R . W . Bro . T . VV . Tew , has 69 on its roll . Each of these provinces are larger than many Grand Lodges , and are so ably managed as to leave nothing to be desired . Of the provinces numbering 30 or more lodges , the names of which are familiar to all who

study the pages of the Freemason and the lists of the Charity Festivals , are noted as follows , according to their size ; Kent , the Right Hon . Earl Amherst , Prov . G . M ., 58 ; Devon , the Viscount Ebrington , Prov . G . M ., 51 ; Hants and Isle of Wight , R . W . Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Prov . G . M ., 47 ; Cheshire , the Lord Egerton , Prov . G . M ., 40 ; Middlesex ( one of the

youngest , yet one of the largest provinces ) , Col . Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., Prov . G . M ., 39 ; Surrey , General J . S . Brownrigg , C . B ., Prov . G . M ., 33 ; Durham , Sir Hedworth Williamson , Bart ., Prov . G . M ., 32 ; Warwick , the Rig ht Hon . Lord Leigh , Prov . G . M ., 31 ; and Cornwall , Right Hon . Earl ot Mount Edgcumbe , Prov . G . M ., 30 .

There are eleven Provinces numbering 21 or more lodges , N . and E . Yorkshire and Stafford having each 29 , the remaining twenty one Provinces ranging from 4 , ( Hereford ) , to 18 , ( North Wales ) . The youngest Province is the Isle of Man , founded in 1886 , which numbers 7 lodges .

In Districts there are distributed no less than 572 lodges , situated in the Colonies and abroad , some of which are very large . The District of Victoria having for its Ruler , Sir William J . Clark , Bart ., as Dist . G . M ., has now 97 active lodges , and New South Wales , for which the R . W . Bro . John Williams is Dist . G . M ., rejoices in 79 lodges on its Roll ,

notwithstanding that a rival Grand Lodge has been formed by a small minority of Craftsmen , and has received the moral support of some Grand Lodges that should have known better . Gibraltar , Malta , Turkey , Egypt , China , Japan , and Africa , remain stationery , as do also some other Districts , but a slight

increase is exhibited by New Zealand , the total in that country now amounting to 82 lodges , as compared with 80 in the last year . Burma has now eight lodges , one at Mandalay having lately been warranted , but the total ol 106 in the East Indies remains the same , there being two less in the Punjab , and one more in Madras .

The military warrants remain as usual , viz ., six , one each in the ist , 6 th , 12 th , 14 th , 31 st , and 89 th Regiments . Time was when our military brethren were very numerous , and held lodges abroad , wherever they sojourned , but now there is neither the neccessity nor the opportunity for so

doing , as lodges are chartered in most large towns where the English language is spoken , or the British Empire extends , and our " noble defenders " are absorbed in local lodges , just as they are at home ; but we should always remember with gratitude their services in the past .

The Grand Royal Arch Chapter was never so large and prosperous a body as now , there being over 700 chapters on the roll , and the interest taken in the Degree is greater than ever before . West Lancashire and West Yorkshire are the largest two Provincial Grand Chapters , having 38 chapters each , the next in size being East Lancashire , with 37 . The fourth in extent is Devon , with 28 ; followed by Hants and Isle of Wight , with 21 ;

and Cheshire , with 20 . In the Metropolitan district there are 137 chapters ; the provinces amount to 439 ; the military to 3 ; and the Colonies , & c , muster 130 chapters ; so that there is no lack ol opportunity for Craftsmen generally to become " exalted . " The " minimum fee " also being reduced to two guineas , will tend , if we mistake not , to popularise the ceremony , so that there should be an increasing membership now from year to year .

Dedication Of The New Masonic Hall At Mirfield.

DEDICATION OF THE NEW MASONIC HALL AT MIRFIELD .

ADDRESS BY R . W . BRO . T . W . TEW , J . P ; , P . G . D . ENGLAND , PROV . G . M . WEST YORKSHIRE . Officers and Brethren of the Mirfield Lodge , —It is a time-honoured custom for the Presiding Officer at a ceremonial of this nature—being the dedication of a new Temple to be exclusively set apart for the practice and purposes of Freemasonry—to make some observations " on the nature and principles of the Institution , " and of the ancient Order to which it is our privilege to belong . lt is a progressive work , the erection of

this Temple , the completion of which we are assembled to certify this afternoon , and typical of the progress of Masonry during the past 50 years in this district of West Yorkshire . This noble work is typically progressive in an Operative sense , and it is progressive in a Speculative sense . In its Operative aspect it marks an advance in art over many similar buildings in the skill of the constructors of the edifice . It is in its various arrangements admirably adapted for the purposes of Freemasonry . It is fitly framed together , like the Temple of old , for the rites and ceremonies of our "Order , " and it is a Work of such excellent constructive art as to be worthy of its designers , and of its

Dedication Of The New Masonic Hall At Mirfield.

builders and promoters . In its Speculative aspect it is an amazi ng step from the habitation where the Mirfield Lodge has been held for so many years to a ha 1 symbolically designed for the mysteries of Freemasonry in its various degrees and branches ; our Temple for Freemasonry , " veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols , " is representative and typical of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and of the I em pie of the Jews ; our mysteries , as expounded in the ritual of the'Ihree Degrees , by sign-, toktns , and uords ,

also with symbols and things above human intelligence , which Revelation will render awfully clear to us only after passing through the shadow of death and entering the Grand Lodge above . Signs are the symbols of tokens given without words , as the ratification of deeds by hands and seals . Tokens are marks of remembrance of trust and reliance and the assurance of a firm belief in the intrgrity , stability , and veracity of a brother ' s friendship . Tokens are the symbols of confidence as— "Jehovah shall be

thy confidence —Proverbs III . Words are affirmations by which the volume of the Sacred Law and Revelation are made known to us in prophecy and speech . " It is by signs , tokens , and words , Freemasons all over the globe are known to each other by day as well as by night . " Thus , in the first degree , the principles of knowledge are imprinted on the memory by lively and suitable images well calculated to influence our conduct in the proper discharge of the duties of social and Masonic life . The Second

Degree is of "a Divine and moral nature , " and " enriches the mind with most useful knowledge , " by contemplation and by a study of the wonderful works of the Almighty Creator . We are in this Degree to encourage industry , reward merit , and to supply the wants and relieve the necessities of our brethren and fellows in need , and to view their interests as inseparable from our own . "It reveals to us the symbols of the G . A . O . T . U ., to whom we must all submit and ought humbly to adore . TheThird Degree

that " mysterious veil which the eureka of human reason cannot penetrateunless assisted by that light which is from above" —is partly drawn aside . We are symbolically conducted through the intricate windings of this mortal life , and by contemplation figuratively instructed how to die . By the unshaken fidelity and noble death of H . A . B ., what in like circumstances should be the magnanimity of every Mason whose mind is well constituted , who has squaied his life upon the principles of moral truth and justice :

who , by improving his faculties for the glory of God and the good of mankind , has answered the great end of his creation , and has learned to contemplate death as the end of afflictions and the entrance to a better life in the Grand Lodge above . Such , my brethren , briefly are the nature and the principles of Freemasonry , and here in this Temple , appropriated to acts of Chanty , morality , symbolism , and religious principles , has Freemasonry in 1 SS 7 , this Jubilee year , found a resting place more fitting for its

purposes , in a progressive place like Mirfield , than in its former cramped location . Here I hope the brethren by their lives will show their love to Jehovah by their beneficence to man , and here 1 trust they will revere the memory of Solomon , comprehend his wisdom , and imitate his lofty virtues . The history of Mirfield as an independent parish must be briefly told . It is a curious history of romantic charity , benevolence , and progress . It illustrates the principles of Freeemasonry in a high degree . I think it

worth repeating . Up to the year 1261 Mirfield formed part of the Saxon parish of Dewsbury . It is mentioned in Domesday Book . The cause ot its separation and independence is a singular story . It is quaintly told by the Rev . Joseph Ismony , in Hopkinson's collection of documents , an old Latin MS ., well-known in the district . The Baroness of Mirfield was going to mass before dawn on Christmas-day , at Dewsbury , when she was waylaid and robbed and her principal attendant murdered . Afterwards , but

the same day , while she was at dinner , two mendicant ecclesiastics came to crave her charity and benevolence , telling her they were going on a pilgrimage to Rome , where her husband , Sir John Heton , was then residing . After listening to their story the Baroness wrote a letter to her husband acquainting him of the dreadful deed and how she had been maltreated , and begging him to make interest with Pope Alexander IV . to alter the chapel of Mirfield into a parochial church that the people might no

longer be exposed to the dangers she had encountered on her way to her parish church . These priests , true to their faith and obligations of their order and promises to the Baroness for the charity shown them , delivered her letter in due time to the Knight at Rome , whose suit with the Holy Father was so successful that the Pope elevated Mirfield into a rectory , and bestowed the patronage of the church upon her husband , Sir John Heton , and his heirs for ever . Since

this incident benevolent people have done much for Mirfield between 1667 and 18 S 7 . Richard Thorpe , Joseph Legard , Thomas Holdsworth , Richard Beaumont , Joseph Lee , and many others , have bequeathed lands , houses , and moneyfor endowing your Charities and educating your children , and for the ministrations o * spiritual services—splendid examples of love and sympathy towards their fellow creatures and well worthy of the imitation of Freemasons of the nineteenth century . Surrounded

as it were by the record of their generous gifts stands as a monument of time the ancient Church of St . Mary . Is there anything more legendary or pretty than the monkish story of the Virgin in Mirfield—or of how the Operative Masons of 1261 converted the virgin chapel into a church , and its consecration as a church for the newly created distiict parish of St . Mary at Mirfield ? I think not . What says the Monk

Adam of St . Victor ? "This bright day , so celebrated , Is the fame perpetuated Of the Mother of our God : Of the ever Virgin Mary ,

Praise , laudation , let us carry In our song this day abroad . " This medieval church has given place to a nobler and a newer church , likewise dedicated to St . Mary , built by modern Masons , and worthy of the spirit of our times and of the constructive genius of Scott , its architect , who assimilated in his mind the beauty of the poetry of gothic architecture . In 1866 you established a Church Institute , with

readingroom and class rooms , and a library replete with recourses for the benefit of your labouring community . With the increase of populations , for in 1821 Mirfield had only 5041 , whereas in 1 SS 7 it has near 15 , 000 people—comes as a consequence with the increase of inhabitants and civilisation . In 1 S 86 the establishment of a Masons' lodge by the brethren who had formed for Mirfield its industries of cloths , cottons , carpets , blankets , mattings , and boat buildings of various shapes , in the river , and 1 know nut what

besides , making it one of the most important , enterprising , and prosperous towns of the British Empire , and in every industrial pursuit and good and charitable work a model town for other similar sized towns to imitate and follow in Kngland . This ludj-e was warranted by the Earl of Zetland , Grand Master in 1 S 66 , and therefore , in March of this year completed its 21 st year of its existence . It was consecrated by my reverend friend , Bro . Bentley Shaw , Deputy of this province , 1 st June , 1866 . Ihe lodge was

formed of offshoots from " IhreeGrand Piinciples , Dewsbury , and "Amphibious , ' Heckmondwike , and established by all the brethren residing in Mirfield in 1 S 66 . Bro . Joe Ibberson was the third VV . Master , and his brother the Registrar of Weot Yorkshire , VV . M . in 1 S 76 . We congiatuiate this lodge on its majority , and that it has chosen for its majority Master , Bro . Walter Bailey , a Mason of six years' standing , and one

highly respected in the lodge . In thewoikof Charity it has followed the example of t he founders of its virgin church . Its donations to the annuitants—males , £ 83 ios . ; to the widows , £ 62 ; and to the Boys' School , £ 136 ios . j and to the Girls ' School , £ 105 . It subscribed £ 21 to the Earl de Grey ; £ 11 11 s . to the Bentley Shaw ; £ 12 ns . 6 d . to the Sir Henry Edwards Presentation Funds ;