Twenty-One Years' Service.

TWENTY-ONE YEARS' SERVICE .

nPHE brethren of East Lancashire celebrated au event at their annual Provincial Grand Lodge , held in Manchester last week , which was eminently gratifying , not only from a local point of view , but also when considered in its national sense . It also goes far to prove the truth of our remarks , last week , to tho effect that the rulers of Freemasonry are useful members of the Order , and not mere ornamental figure heads . The celebration we refer to marked the completion of twenty-one years' service by Colonel Le Gendre N . Starkie as Provincial Grand Master of East Lancashire , ancl we are pleased to

know the Craftsmen of his district devoted themselves , as they did , to ensure a satisfactory recognition of so important an event . A fund having been started to provide some tangible proof of the satisfaction of the brethren , a total of - £ 400 was received , from which an illuminated address and a presentation of plate was provided , the surplus being devoted to the East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution , as the nucleus of a proposed Starkie Annuity Fund , which will remain

as a permanent monument of the esteem of the brethren for their chief , who , it must be acknowledged , is a Mason well qualified to take a leading place in the conduct of Masonic affairs . Looking back to 1870 , when Colonel Starkie was appointed to the office of Masonic ruler of East Lancashire , we find the Province then consisted of seventy-four Lodges , with a roll of 3419 subscribers , while to-day there are one hundred and three Lodges , with an aggregate of 4600 members , an increase

which shows marked prosperity , and is evidence that East Lancashire Freemasonry has not suffered while under the rule of its present head . But it is not only by mere reference to the increase in Lodges and membership that we can prove the popularity of Colonel Starkie in his Province . Under his rule East Lancashire has earned a high reputation for the practice of the true principles of Freemasonry , and has won a name for itself in matters of benevolence which could not have been possible had the district been in charge of an unpopular or unsympathetic

President . From the address presented to Colonel Starkie we learn that during his Mastership the Province has contributed no less than £ 23 , 532 to the three Charitable Institutions in London— £ 4941 to the Girls' School , £ 9216 to the Boys' School , and £ 9375 to the Benevolent Institution , while beyond this a local Charity Fund has been established , for which £ 17 , 000 lias been subscribed in the Province . In the

piistwe have had occasion to refer to this East Lancashire Fund , and havo from time to time considered its bearing on the whole work of Masonic benevolence , but whatever may be urged against it when reviewed from a general standpoint , there is no gainsaying the fact that it proves the East Lancashire Masons to be

Twenty-One Years' Service.

thoroughly in earnest , and fully alive to the desirability of providing at home for tho needs of their own district . This Charity , wo aro told , has already spent £ 8062 in educating and clothing 98 children of brethren of the county , while a further sum of £ 2922 has been distributed in relieving the necessities of indigent Freemasons or their families . Beyond this there is an invested fund of £ 10 , 000 , all of which —in the estimation of those best able to judge—is

primarily attributable to the action taken by the Prov . Grand Master , and the example he has set to the brethren of his district . Surely this is a record of which any man might be proud , and we can imagine our distinguished Craftsman was sincere when he expressed the gratification he felt in receiving the tributes of affection and regard tendered him by the Masons of his Province , as a means of marking the completion of Twenty-one Years' Service .

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

rriHE Quarterly Communication was held on Wednesday JL evening , in the Temple , Freemasons' Hall . Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Prov . G . M . Hants and Islo of Wight , presided ; Bro . tho Rev . R . J . Simpson P . G . C . acted as G . S . W ., and Bro . Admiral Sir B . Englefiold G . J . W .

After formal opening of Grand Lodge the Grand Secretary ( Bro . Colonel Shadwell H . Gierke ) read tho minutes of the Quarterly Communication of 2 nd September , bnt before they were put for confirmation informed

Grand Lodge that he had received a letter written on behalf of tbe Prov . Grand Master of Jersey by the Prov . Grand Secretary , to tho effect that Lodge La Ciesaree , at a special meeting , had duly submitted to the decision of

Grand Lodge of England on 2 nd September , and apologised , and that the Prov . Grand Master of Jersey had from 15 th November removed the sentence of suspension , and reinstated tho Lodge in all ita rights and privileges , and directed his letter to that effect to be entered on tbe

minutes of La Cteaare . e Lodge . The minutes were then confirmed . Scrutineers of the ballot for members of the Board of Benevolence were . selected and obligated , tho ballot papers were collected , and the Scrutineers withdrew .

Bro . H . Crawford ( City Solicitor ) then rose to exercise a very groat privilege , that of nominating the illustrious brother the Most Worshipfnl tho Grand Mastisr his Royal Highness tho Prince of Wales for election to the oflice of

M . W . Grand Master for tho year ensuing , and he desired to express the immense obligation under which the Craffc rested for thc great energy displayed by the Prince of Wales in furthering the interests of Freemasonry . It was

gratifying to him to know that in submitting this proposition bo was laying before the brethren a motion that would qf necessity be a popular one , although ho felt that ho was only discharging a small instalment of tho great debt , of

gratitude nnder which every member of the Masonic Craft rested to the Grand Master by giving proof of a desire by all loyal means to retain tho valuable services of a Princo so illustrious , so devotedly attached to onr beloved Qneen and the Craft , and so profoundl y respected .