West Yorkshire.

expressed his satisfaction at the good feeling and harmony existing throughout the Province . Brother Blackburn Chairman of the Charity Committee presented his half-yearly report , which showed that the Brethren of the Province , notwithstanding the numerous

outside calls upon them , had subscribed to the Masonic Charities during the year a grand total of £ 3 , 533- At the recent elections the seven candidates from West Yorkshire had all been carried , at a cost of 32 , 806 votes . For the

coming elections there were five candidates , and Brother Blackburn , in urging increased liberality , pressed upon the Brethren the claims of the West Yorkshire Educational and Benevolent Fund .

On the motion of Bro . Wm . Watson P . P . G . W . Hon . Librarian , who stated that he had recently secured an old parchment manuscript of great interest and value , a sum of £ 25 was voted to the Library Fund , and the Prov . Grand Master intimated that he proposed to appoint as Hon . Asst . Librarian of the Province , Bro . H . B . Wilson , son of the D PGM

The remainder of the business was purely formal . A large number of the Brethren subsequently dined together at the Queen ' s Hotel , under the presidency of the Provincial Grand Master .

A Musical Mason.

A MUSICAL MASON .

THE Council of the Royal Manchester College of Music have just accepted the following strange collection of old and curious musical instruments presented by Bro . Dr . Henry Watson , Arthur Sullivan Lodge , No . 2156 : —English : Viols , treble and tenor ; viol da Gamba , six strings , by Barak Norman ; cittern , 18 th cent . ; keyed cittern , dancing master ' s kit and pocket fiddle ; zither ( old ); bassoon , five

keys , c . 1780 ; oboe , six keys ; pitch pipe , c . 1700 ; two pan-pipes , picco pipe . Indian .- Two turhi ( brass trumpets ) , pungi ( snake charmer ' s pipe ) , two bin-baja ( pipes used at weddings ) , small and large sitars , dotara ( guitar ) , vina ( the

national instrument of India ) , manjeera ( brass cymbals ) , three sets ; kangari ( tambourine ) , two dolak ( tom-toms ) , dhol ( drums ) , sarangi ( fiddle ) , two large , one small , with bows ; debrubba , Hindoo fiddle made of tortoise

shell , tabla ( small drum ) . Chinese : Urheen ( violin and bow ) , san hsien ( banjo ) , hiuen tchung ( large bell ) . Japanese : Koto ( and a representative set of Japanese instruments now on the way to England ) . African : Marimba ( Zulu harmonicon ) , large and small igedegbo , & c . A five-stringed

harp ( Egyptian ) , nose flute ( Savage Islands ) , & c . Piano family : Dulcimer , virginal , 1570 ; clavichord ( German ) , 1700 ; spinet ( English ) , 1773 ; harpsichord ( English ) , 1780 ;

square piano ( English ) , 1791 . The gift is contained in a letter from the donor , addressed to Mr . Brodsky , the Principal of the College , in the following terms :

Dear Sir , —For some time past I have been gathering together a collection of old and curious musical instruments , with a view to presenting them ( when the collection became of sufficient interest ) to some public institution where they would be of service . The number of instruments now in

my possession has alread y out-grown the space at my disposal , and I now wish to hand them over to the institution I have decided on , which is the Royal Manchester College of Music , provided , of course , the council see their way to accept the gift . In that case I will sign a deed of transfer

making over the instruments to the college . The only conditions I attach are that proper provision should be made for their display and that I should have the care of the collection and have access to it at all reasonable times The

collection consists of instruments of most countries—England France Germany , India , China , Japan , Africa ( South Africa , Zululand , and Niger districts , and North Africa Egypt , and Morocco ) , South Sea Islands , & c The whole

piano family is represented , beginning with the dulcimer , the virginal , clavichord , spinet , harpsichord and square piano up to the modern grand , while the violin family is represented by a set of old English viols and

stringed instruments of a like nature of other countries And here I would like to state that many good friends , both at home and abroad , knowing the object I have in ' view have assisted me with many valuable gifts of rare instruments , for which I heartil y thank them , and as others are

A Musical Mason.

constantly looking out for all kinds of instruments on my account , I shall be able to add to the collection from time to time , and hope eventually to make it of great practical use to the College students particularly , and to the public generally ,

as showing the . development of musical art at different times and in different parts of the earth , so that they may be able to compare the past with the present and form an idea of the advance made in this direction at the present day .

I may mention that a portion of the collection is now being shown at the Crystal Palace International Music Exhibition , London . —Yours faithfully , HENRY WATSON .

As will be seen , the collection consists of instruments from nearly every country , and is a very valuable and interesting one .

At fifty-nine years of age Bro . Charles Wyndham is one of the most famous of English actors . In his early days he was intended for the ministry , and was educated at a Moravian Academy in Germany , but on his return to England he took up the study of medicine , and in 1 S 63 he was in America , a

doctor with the Federal Army . Even then the stage-fever which had been with him as a youngster was acute , and , through John Wilkes Booth , he got an engagement at a small

theatre . As an actor he returned to England , and laid the foundations of his Thespian reputation at the Old Amphitheatre , Liverpool . In 1 S 66 he made his debut in London . The rest is known .

* * * A rising Common Councilman of the City of London , Bro . Bowater , mentions a novel Masonic meeting . He relates that a party of nine or ten city men travelling to Berlin found

that all but one of them were Masons , and that the Brethren managed to secure a carriage to themselves and actually opened Lodge therein . Freemasonry is clearly travelling at express speed . Good ! Charity cannot be too much accelerated . — " Sketch . "

At a meeting of the Senatus Academicus of the Ophthalmic College of Canada , held at Toronto on 1 st October last , it was unanimously decided to confer upon Dr . Charles Forshaw , of Bradford , their honorary degree in optics . The

diploma came to hand on Monday last , and is a very handsome document , ft will be remembered that a few months ago the Optical Institute of Canada at Montreal conferred on Bro . Forshaw a like degree .

* * » The annual dinner of the Royal Victorian Jubilee Lodge of Instruction , No . 2184 , which meets on Wednesday afternoons at the Dover Castle Hotel , Westminster Bridge Road ,

will be held at that establishment on Wednesday , 14 th inst , and will take the form of a Ladies festival , the members of the fair sex being invited to participate in the proceedings . The price of tickets is fixed at 3 s 6 d each .

Our highly esteemed Brother and Companion John Nathaniel Willis , the Immediate Past Master of the Lodge of Sympathy , No . 483 , has been re-elected to fill the office of

Chief Magistrate of the ancient Borough of Gravesend . The past year has proved Bro . Willis ' s fitness for the post , and we hope that his second year as Mayor will be even more successful than its predecessor .

''A Sprig Of Acacia.''

''A SPRIG OF ACACIA . ''

WE regret to record the death of Brother Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Wri ght Wilkinson , of Stockport The funeral / which took place on Wednesday , 17 th ult ., was attended by a large contingent of Freemasons . The procession , headed by an imposing number of police officers , and the 4 th Volunteer Battalion Cheshire Regiment under

the command of Col . Cafrington , V . D ., left St . Thomas ' s Church , of which deceased was churchwarden , and as it proceeded to Tiviot Dale Wesleyan Chapel , the place of interment , it was watched by crowds of sympathising spectators . Besides the Brethren of the Craft there were

present representatives of the Stockport Sunday School , and numerous deputations , including one from the Grammar School , and the Infirmary . Then came Justices of the Peace for the borough and county , the Mayor of Stockport and many public officials , all anxious to show their appreciation of the life-labours of our deceased Brother .