Contents.

CONTENTS .

r RApERS o 59 Masonic Reprints of No . 3076 3 60 pJorbria ' lGiand Lodge of Norths and Hunts 3 Provincial Grand Chapter of Suffolk 3 62 The Earl of Kintore and the Grand Mastership of South Australia 362 Roval Masonic Institution for Girls 363 Masonic Presentation at Hanley 363 Recovery of a Missing Masonic Charter in Keith 3 3 Presentation of a Portrait 363

1 Roval Arch 3

Ar00101

, THE various reports that were read at the recent annual meet-The Province of ' , , East ing at Newchurch , Rossendale , of the Provincial Grand Lodge Lanca . ire . ^ ^^ L ancashire showed that in nearly all respects the position of affairs in the most numerous of our provinces is satisfactory .

The Provincial Grand Treasurer's statement of account for the past year closed with a balance in bank and the hands of the Provincial Grand Secretary amounting to ^ 285 , or a few pounds in excess of the balance at the end . of the preceding year . From the . statistics read by the Provincial Grand Secretary , it appears that a new lodge was consecrated during the

year , raising the total on the roll to 98 , while the number of subscribing members was 4213 , or 202 more than last year , the present average per lodge being a fraction over 44 . It was pointed out , however , that there had been many exclusions and resignation ? , and at the same time a considerable number of members in arrear , the inference from this last mentioned

circumstance being that sufficient vigilance had not been exercised by the lodges to prevent undesirable persons from being admitted into the Society . The Report of the Charity Committee was satisfactory in all points but one , namely , that it recorded the death of its Chairman , Bro . J . A . BIRCH , who had rendered very material assistance in promoting and maintaining the

local Masonic Charitable organisation , and to whose memory , therefore , Provincial Grand Lodge paid a becoming tribute of respect , accompanied by a unanimous and sincere expression of sympathy with the family of the deceased brother . It vvas announced that Bro . HEELIS , Prov . S . G . W ., had been appointed successor to Bro . BIRCH as Chairman of the Provincial

Charity Committee , and the various Prov . Grand Officers having been appointed and invested , the proceedings came to an end . We congratulate Bro . Col . STARKIE , P . G . M ., and the East Lancashire brethren generally on the accounts rendered of their doings during the past year , and we trust they will continue to be of a similarly satisfactory character .

The Craft ' ' ' dent ^ at the worthy brethren of Lincolnshire have I info " h" determined it shall no longer be charged against them that they are not in evidence to the extent which may

reasonabl y be expected of a Province which has upwards of 20 lodges on "s roll . A few years since we heard but little of their doings , now it is frequentl y our good fortune to be able to publish accounts of their meetings , and from those accounts we gather that a fair amount of creditable work is being done by their lodges . The other day the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge was held in the Masonic Hall , Grimsbv , and

upwards of 260 members , among whom were representatives from every ooge in the Province , were assembled together , under the presidency of Br o . Major SMYTH , P . G . Master . The various reports that vvere submitted Proved satisfactory in all respects , and as a compliment to Bro . H . E . OUSANS , who has acted as Prov . Charity Steward for the last two years , i 8 Rs took up a list of fn 6 ns ' at the Centenary of the Girls' Sch ° o 1 in j 88 , and one amounting to £ 374 7 s . in February last for the Benevolent I tution , ^ worthy brother was presented with the Charity jewel . was further resolved to support the Girls' School next year , and two r ethren were chosen to act as Stewards for the Province . All this shows a determination on the part of Lincolnshire to continue in the path of ^ ivity on which it has latterly entered , and we trust that in future years reports of the annual meetings will be as gratif ying as this has been . on th ^ ' ° ' 1 Gar t ' ^ ' Major L OCOCK should have found it necessary trust SC i ° ° ' ling hea"h t 0 reS'gn h'S ° llRce ° f Dep * P - G M and we How t ' the ° aUSe wh ' ch has led t 0 his retirement will be removed , his dT " ' g °° d man haS bee " PP 0 lnted t 0 succeed him , who will find Loco » a " leSS onerous from the fact of his bein £ Br 0 - Ma J Prevail SUCCeESor - lt speaks well for the good fellowship which must vvh 0 at ^ "S Lincolnshire Craftsmen , that nearly 180 of the brethren lt , s 6 n . Prov - G . Lodge vvere present at the banquet which followed . 5 ^ are in ^ SIgn t ' freemasonry agrees with its constituents when so many lhe refreshment which properly follows labour .

Ar00102

THERE have been several occasions on which it has devolved I'reemasonry . in on us to speak in terms of warm and well-merited commenda-Shropshire . tion Q C the zeal anc j activity exhibited by the brethren in Shropshire , not only in behalf of the Masonic Institutions , towards which

they have shown so much goodwill , but also in respect of the work appointed to be done in their private lodges and Prov . G . Lodge . It is less than four years since they vvere constituted as a separate Province , under the rule of Bro . Sir OFFLEY WAKEMAN , Bart ., yet in that brief space of time they have succeeded in reducing their provincial organisation into

admirable working order , and , considering how restricted are their numbers , have done wonders in aid of the Central Charities , and especially of the Girls ' School , both in 188 7 , vvhen their Prov , G . Master presided as Chairman at its 99 th Anniversary Festival , and last year , when he placed himself at the head of a choice band of brethren as Stewards at the Centenary Festival .

In 1886 a new lodge , named the Brownlow , which had been warranted the previous year as No . 2131 , vvas consecrated at Ellesmere , and on Thursday , the 6 th inst ., as reported last week in our columns , a second lodge—the St . Alkmund , No . 2311—was added to the roll , the ceremony of consecration being performed in the Town Hall , Whitchurch , by Bro . Sir O .

WAKEMAN , Bart ., P . G . Master , who vvas well and numerously supported by his Prov . G . Officers and the members of the other lodges in the Province . This raises the number of lodges in Shropshire to a full dozen , and from the facts mentioned by Bro . CRUMP , the first W . M ., at the banquet which concluded the proceedings , as to the

present constitution and immediate prospects of the St . Alkmund Lodge , vve consider there is every likelihood of its proving a very useful addition to those previously existing in the province . At all events , vve congratulate the Provincial Grand Master andj the province generally on the success which attended the consecration ceremony on the 6 lh instant , and , so far as

our goodwill is likely to be of any service to the Iodge , the brethren of the St . Alkmund may rest assured that it will always be exhibited in their behalf . We will add that this is not the first occasion on which a Iodge of Freemasonry has been constituted in Whitchurch . In 1785 , a lodge was warranted at the White Lion as No . 478 , and on the closing up of the

lodges , in 1792 , became No . 388 . In 1789 , a second lod ^ e was warranted at the Coach and Horses , as No . 536 , this latter being named the Egerton Lodge , in honour of the Hon . and Rev . FRANCIS EGERTON , who vvas appointed Provincial Grand Master of Shropshire in 1786 , and had been first S . W . of the elder lodge . On looking through the minutes of

Grand Lodge " Moderns , " I find that both these lodges were erased from the list on the 25 th November , 1801 . However , our Shropshire friends will find some curious and interesting information about Freemasonry in

Whitchurch at page 150 and following pages of Bro . HENRY SADLER ' " Masonic Facts and Fictions . "

THE proceedings in connection with the annual meeting , at Lodgeof Tewkesbury , on Wednesday , the 5 th instant , of the Prov . Gloucestershire . G . Lodge of Gloucestershire , appear to have been on a more extensive scale than usual . Thebrethren of the St . George ' s Lodge , No . 900 , under whose banner the meeting was held , had laid themselves out in

order to give an exceptionally pleasant welcome to the members from other lodges who proposed to be present , and accordingly a Lodge of Recreation met on the good ship Ceres , about too brethren , comprising members and visitors , being present , and a pleasant excursion was made down the River Severn as far as Deerhurst , where so much time was spent in inspecting

the beauties of the ancient chapel and church , that the trip , which vvas to have been continued further , vvas shortened so that the party might get back to Tewkesbury in time for the opening oi the Prov . G . Lodge at 2 . 30 p . m ., in the Town Hall , where a large number who had not been able to join the water party had assembled . Here R . W . Bro . Sir M . E . HICKS-BEACH ,

Bart ., M . P ., presided , his Deputy P . G . M ., Bro . VASSAR-SMITH , and his Prov . G . Officers , both Present and Past , wilh the representatives of all the 14 lodges in the Province being present in very considerable force . The business transacted , if it calls for no particular remark , was of a very satisfactory nature , and must have afforded the utmost pleasure to the

Prov . Grand Master , his Officers , and the brethren , lhe report of the Provincial Grand Treasurer , notwithstanding there had been a somewhat heavy drain on the resourses of the Provincial Grand Lodge ,. showed a balance in hand of close on £ 100 . The report of the Prov . Charity Secretary—Br ' oT VASSAR-S MITH , D . P . G . M . —indicated a

steady amount of useful work done during the year , while the accounts showed a balance in hand of £ 138 in respect of the Provincial Benevolent Fund . A small balance remaining from the Brook-Smith Memorial Fund was directed to be applied to the purposes of the Provincial Benevolent Fund , the cost of the memorial windq . v in Cheltenham Parish Church , which was