Freemasonry In East Lancashire Under The Right Worshipeul Bro Stephen Blair.

pleased to honour me . But while the fresh breezes of the ocean fill the sails of the noble vessel which floats on its bosom to waft it to its destined harbour , I feel that your kindness " has taken the wind out of my sails , " for I cannot hide from myself the conviction , that the duty imposed on me would have been so much better discharged by many who are now sitting ab the hospitable tho of

board of our respected chief . Again , difficulty my position is increased by having to followthe bursting eloquence of our Provincial Grand Chap lain , but I will crave your indulgence , and take refuge behind the cegis which he has held before him , " and do the best I can . " Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master , —Your wellknown benevolenceaud unrestricted hospitality

, your , have called around you to-day many " rulers in the Craft" to support you in the appointment of a Deputy Provincial Grand Master to aid you in conducting the business of the province over which you have ruled so well and so long , and in promoting the true interests of our Order , and yet while we hail Bro . Callender with welcome in his hih and honourable office there is a cloud

g which for a moment passes over us , we cannot forget that his appointment is consequent on the removal of one whom we revered so highly , and whose memory we cherish with no ordinary affection . My prayer to the Great Architect of the Universe is , that the mantle of

Bro . Newall may descend on his successor , that he may be endowed with the same untiring zeal to further the interests of Masonry , and that he may closely imitate our departed brother in all that was good . and true in him , and avoid all that was imperfect in him , all tho deficiencies over which he would wish that the mantle of charity should cast its ample folds , and I am sure that

if Masonry is something more than an idea , an abstraction of its system ( as I know it does ) affords the opportunity of practising its highest and noblest lesson—its lesson of Charity . Our brother will have enlarged means of continuing in the course for which he is so eminent , and show to tho " outer world " that our Craft has a deep aud glorious reality in it . Our Bro . Callender is

no stranger in our midst , he bears a name that is as " a household word " in our great city , and I am convinced that our common wish is , that he may add additional lustre to it in the high position to which he has this clay attained ; the only drawback which I can perceive is , that labours are placed upon him . in addition to the-many which his hih position claims at his hands— ho

g may long be blessed with health and strength to meet all their requirements . Brethren , apologising- for so long trespassing on your time , I bog to propose " 'the Health of Bro . William Romaine Callender , jun ., our W . Deputy Provincial Grand Master . "

Bro . GaJendar expressed the great gratification which he felt at the manner in which his name bad been proposed and received , and assured the brethren that he entered upon the office feeling not only its honour but its responsibility . It was a matter of great pride to hold so distinguished a position in a province which numbered seventy-four lodges , and was equalled nowhere out of LondonBnt

. a grave responsibility was involved , and he felt this the more when he remembered those who had preceded him . He alluded to Bro . Preston , whom he remembered in the decline of life , and whose industry and knowledge were long remembered .- of tbe Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master , when serving under the lamented Earl of Bllesmere , he need not speak , for his services for nearl had

y thirty yeurs placed Masonry in its present condition in East Lancashire . Bro . Blair was followed by Bro . Royds , who , though now living at a distance , was still with them in spirit ; and , lastly , by Newall , whose loss would long be deeply felt by the province . _ Such examples ivould , he trusted , render him more anxious to discharge to tho best of his skill and ability , the duties of the office on which he was about to enter , and he hoped that he might justify the confidence

reposed in him by the Provincial Grand Master , and so kindly endorsed by the brethren present . Bro . Leresche , P . Prov . G . Reg ., proposed in appropriate terms the health of their distinguished guest , Bro- Starkie , and alluded to the respect with which Bro . Starkie was regarded among his brethren , and the important office he had held in Masonry , as Past Provbub

Grand Warden of the Province of East Lancashire ; further and beyond the Craft Bro . Starkie had experienced the esteem in which he was held out of as well as in this province , which only included a portion of the county , by the high appointment he had received as Sheriff of Lancashire ; and so well had he discharged his public duties , that her Majesty ' s Judges , when on this

circuit , had felt called upon in a special manner to express their satisfaction with the arrangements made by Bro-Starkie for their reception and conduct throughout the county while discharging the important duties of Judges of Assize . Bro . Leresche further alluded to the career of the respected father of Bro . Starkie , the late Provincial Grand Master for the Province of West Lancashire , who in that office had enjoyed the esteem of the brethren for upwards of thirty years as a true and consistent ) Mason . The toast wat drank with enthusiasm .

The High Sheriff , Bro . Le G . W . Starkie , was received with great cordiality on rising to respond . He said : Right " Worshipful Sir and Brethren , —For the handsome and enthusiastic manner with which you have received and drank my health , I beg to thank you most sincerely . For the allusion ofthe worthy brother who proposed the toast to the way I have carried out and fulfilled the

public office I have the honour of holding , I beg him to receive my best thanks , and if iu so doins ? I have pleased the county as well as her Majesty ' s Judges , 1 simply feel that I have done my duty , and paid that respect which any loyal subject wishes to do- ^ Nevertheless , I had rather receive the hearty feelings of kindness from alland I had rather live esteemed and honoured in

you ,, your hearts as a Mason good and true , than possess any other I know of . When I first took up Masonry I took it up heartily , warmly , and devoutly , and I , like you all , never regret having done so ; for Masonry cannot but make a man a better Christian and a better citizen . I

thank you for mentioning the name of my father as connected with the' other province of this county -, but he was not the first of my family belonging to the Craft . I am happy to say that my ancestors have long been high in Masonry . One of them was head of tho Knights of Malta , and his grave and tombstone exist there to this day . Brethren , Masonry has lasted longer than most

institutions . Kingdoms , Monarchies , and Governments of many kinds have passed away , after flourishing to a great extent ; but Masonry , when presided over and watched as it is in this province by our Right Worshipful Master , increases and will increase . Though you may , if you go to Rome and pick up the dust that crumbles from the ancient ruins thereand in that dust

, there may be the ashes of emperors , consuls and proctors , orators and senators , and though you may go to Seville and see the Alhambra , the finest specimen of the skill of the Moor , these but remind you of the glories of the past , and how destruction eomes upon the arreatest efforts of nations and . individuals . It is not so

with Masonry . Masonry , ' bis true , m these ages when science and the arts were confined to the few , discharged its office by keeping aiive that knowledge of architecture some of whose noblest examples are still left to us iu the cathedrals and buildings of the dark ages , and upon whose stones also we have learned our mystery can still discern where the builders have left their marks . Bub

as times rolled on , and learning spread , Masonry ( having done its work in one way ) left the material fabric built ; up , and became speculative instead of operative . She began to raise other and nobler edifices—temples of charity—wherein the indigent and poor , the needy and