Cornwall.

CORNWALL .

THE Earl of Mount Edgcumbe has decided to hold the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall at Redruth , on Tuesday , 11 th September . The meeting , which is sure to be a large one , says the " Western Morning News , " is to be held in the Wesley Memorial Buildings at 10-30 a . m .

At noon the Brethren will walk in procession to St . Andrew ' s Church , where a sermon is to be preached by Rev . E . G . Ross Provincial Grand Chaplain , after which a collection will be made , two-fifths of which will be devoted to fche Masonic Benevolent Fund of the county ,

another two-fifths to a local charity , while the remainder will be handed to the Vicar for distribution in benevolence . The procession will then reform and return to the Memorial Buildings , and the remaining business will be transacted .

There is simply the ordinary business to be transacted , the members in the Province being united , happy and properous . The Druid's Lodge , No . 589 , was warranted on 15 th March 1651 , and is one of the largest in the Province , having some hundred members . The

W . M . is Rev . W . R . Erskine , M . A ., P . Provincial Grand Chaplain , and the Secretary Bro . T . A . Kistler P . M . Freemasonry was first established in Redruth so far back as 1754 , the Lodge bearing the same name as the

present No . 589 , but after many vicissitudes it fell through about fifty years ago . There are twenty-two Past Masters who subscribe to the Lodge , the senior dating from 1856 .

There are three applicants for the educational grant , £ 10 each being recommended for the full number of years , and there is one candidate for an annuity , being the widow of a late annuitant , to whom probably £ 10

per annum will be voted . The usual benevolent donations will also be made . Luncheon will be provided at Tabb's Hotel , afc 2 . 30 .

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

" A SPRIG OF ACACIA . "

WE regret to be called upon to record the death of Bro . William Kelly , of Leicester , a Brother who

has long occupied a prominent position among the Freemasons of the Midlands , and who did much for the various degrees in that part of the country . As far back as 1877 we wrote of Bro . Kelly , in the series of" Masonic Portraits" which then appeared in the FREEMASON ' CHKONICXE , as " A Veteran , " he having at that time a

record of well nigh forty years service in the Craft , and we then said that although looking upon him as " A Veteran " we " ¦ must not lose sight of the fact tbat he

is a veteran who is still on active service . " Seventeen years have rolled by since then , and Bro . Kelly's activity has been well maintained throughout , only his advancing years keeping him from as frequent participation in the work of Freemasonry as of yore , even his

approach to the age of eighty years—which he entered on previous to his demise—being insufficient to deter him from Masonic work many a younger man would have regarded as too heavy for accomplishment . We should much like to recount the list of all our deceased Brother ' s

attainments in Freemasonry , but they are so numerous and so varied that considerations of space preclude our doing so , particularly as they are pretty fully given in our second volume of " Masonic Portraits , " which includes the sketch to which we have already referred .

Bro . Kelly was initiated in the St . John ' s Lodge ( 279 ) , at Leicester , towards the close of the year 1838 , at which time the Craft was by no means flourishing in that part of the country . He was installed as Master of his Lodge on the 27 th December 1841 , and speedily brought

aoout a change in its condition , the Lodge receiving fourteen Initiates and one Joining Member during his term of office . The year of his installation he was appointed Junior Deacon , and the following year Senior aoout a change in its condition , the Lodge receiving fourteen Initiates and one Joining Member during his term of office . The year of his installation he was appointed Junior Deacon , and the following year Senior

. ueacon , and the next Junior Warden of the Province , which he afterwards served as Secretary and , in 1852 , as Deputy Grand Master , which latter office he filled to

tne . entire satisfaction of all concerned until 1869 , under Sir F . G . Fowke , Barfc ., and the first Earl Howe respectively . When the latter Brother , in 1869

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

announced his wish to retire from the charge of the Province Bio . Kelly also expressed a desire for retirement , but his statement " caused a scene of excitement in the Provincial Grand Lodge which was in the highest degree flattering " to that Brother , and an early result

was that a resolution was unanimously adopted , in which the Brethren requested fche retiring Provincial Master to recommend to the M . W . Grand Master , the then Deputy as successor in the Provincial Grand Mastership . This was done , and in the early days of

1870 Bro . Kelly received his patent as Prov . G . M ., being regularly installed on the 10 th February of that year . He relinquished this honourable post in 1873 , being succeeded by the Earl Ferrers . In Royal Arch Masonry our deceased friend held the office of Provincial Grand

Superintendent of Leicestershire and Rutland at the time of his death , having assumed control of the Province in 1870 , on the retirement of Earl Howe ; while in the Mark Degree he enjoyed the distinction of being the only Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire ,

Northamptonshire , Rutland and Derbyshire , having been appointed in 1858 on the formation of that Province . Despite this brilliant record it is but a very small part of what should be published of Bro . Kelly ' s work for Freemasonry , which has verily been one long succession

of laudable endeavours for the good of the cause . He assisted as a Founder of several Lodges and Chapters , taking the premier position on the establishment of more than one , and , despite his age , remained an active member of the " Veteran " band until the last . Regret

at his decease is in a measure tempered by the knowledge that he did his duty in every sphere of life , and that Freemasonry in particular received such benefit from his enthusiasm and perseverance , as will make its mark so long as the Order flourishes , but especially so in

the district with which he was intimately associated . His name will be handed down to the next generation of Brethren with expressions of love and honour from those who worked side by side with him , and will be perpetuated in the Mark Lodge , No . 339 , which bears

the honoured title of the William Kelly . Personally we express our regret at the loss of one who has always displayed an interest in our paper . In public life Bro . Kelly was formerly borough accountant of Leicester ,

and subsequently became actuary and manager of the Savings Bank . He was an antiquarian , well acquainted with the history of the borough , and the author of several small historic books of considerable interest and

value . The funeral of our late Brother took place on Tuesday afternoon , when his body was interred amid many tokens of respect , in the Knighton Churchyard , his remains being followed to fcheir resting-place by a representative body of Freemasons and many others ,

including Bro . C . F . Matier Mark Grand Secretary , representing H . R . H . the Prince of Wales and the Grand Lodge of Mark Masons . At the porch of the churchyard the coffin was met by the choir of the church and :

the officiating ministers , Rev . D . W . Lord ( curate in charge ) and Rev . H . J . Mason Prov . Grand Mark : Secretary ( vicar of Wigston ) , who was present on behalf ' of the Freemasons . On the coffin , which was of polished oak with brass furniture , was a Masonic emblem and the

inscription : — "W ILLIAM KELLY , died 23 rd August 1894 , Ago 79 . " The coffin was covered with wreaths , some of which were also displayed in the chancel of the church , including offerings from the Officers and Brethren of the

Commercial Lodge , No . 1391 , Leicester ; the Worshipful Master , Officers and Brethren of the Simon De Montfort Lodge of Mark Masons , No . 194 ; the Wardens and Brethren of the John o'Gaunt Lodge ; the Worshipful Master and Brethren of the Fowke Lodge of Mark Master

Masons , No . 19 ; the Worshipful Master , Wardens and Brethren of St . John ' s Lodge , No . 279 ; the Worshipful Master , Officers , and Brethren of the William Kelly Lodge , Royal Ark Mariners ; the Worshipful Masfcer , Officers , and Brethren of the Lodge of fche Golden

Fleece , No . 2081 ; the Principals of the Howe and Cbarnwood Chapter , No . 1007 ; the Deputy Provincial Grand Master , Officers , and Brethren of the Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Leicestershire , Northamptonshire , Derbyshire and Rutland , and the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons .