Provincial Grand Lodge Of Worcester.

and Corporation of Worcester , for the nse of the Guildhall for the week ; and also to those brethren who had taken part in the organisation and arrangement of the Exhibition . To the Dean of York , also , was tendered a similar compliment , and it was recommended that immediate

steps be taken to establish a permanent Museum in connection with the Province . During the proceedings Bro . Binckes bore testimony to tho earnestness and consistency with which the brethren of Worcestershire were supporting the Masonic Charitable Institutions , and arrangements

were made that Kidderminster should be the place for next Provincial Grand Lodge meeting . Shortly afterwards the brethren went in procession to attend Divine Service in the Cathedral , where a sermon was preached by the Very Rev . the Dean of York , Bro . A . Purey-Cust P . G . Chaplain .

at the conclusion of which a collection was made , which realised £ 17 2 s 8 d , and this amount is to be presented to the Worcester Ophthalmic Hospital and to the Worcester Society for Providing Literature for the Poor Blind . On the return of the brethren to the College Hall , routine work followed , and Provincial Grand Lodge was closed .

The banquet was served at the Guildhall , under the presidency of the Provincial Grand Master , who was supported by most of those enumerated above . It has been a regular custom in this district that in the procession to church the volume of the Sacred Law should be carried by

four Lewises , who on this occasion occupied a central position at the banquet table . At the conclusion of the repast they received bibles at the hands of the Provincial Grand Master , with suitable inscriptions in each referring to the services for which they were presented . The

Lewises having retired , the toasts of the evening were proceeeded with . The first on the list , that of the Queen and the Craft , having been honoured , the Provincial Grand Master proposed that of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales M . W . Grand Master . Sir Edmund referred to the

earnestness displayed by His Royal Highness m all that concerned the welfare of Freemasonry and of the conntry at large , specially mentioning his recent visits to York and Redhill . Bro . Godson gave the toast of the Pro Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , and the other Officers

of Grand Lodge , speaking of the zeal displayed both by the Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Lathom . They had among them Bro . M . Mclntyre , a Mason who was well known throughout the Craft , and especially to the inhabitants of Worcester . Bro . Mclntyre ' s services to the

Order were of the highest character . Other distinguished Grand Officers were among them , and they felt greatly honoured by their presence . Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., responded . It gave him great pleasure to acknowledge this toast ; and at the same time he did

so with great diffidence , as there were so many distinguished brethren present . The enlogy which had been pronounced on Lord Carnarvon by the proposer of the toast was fully deserved . The Earl of Lathom was universally beloved by Freemasons . In no district was he

more respected than in his own Province or West Lancashire . The Grand Officers were ready and willing to do all that might be required of them . Bro . Col . Sbadwell H . Clerke also replied to the toast , and was followed by Bro . Mclntyre , who spoke of the interest taken by the

Grand Officers in the meeting , and the gratification they would feel at its success . The Dean of York proposed the health of the Provincial Grand Master . They had been staunch friends for many years past , their acquaintance dating back to their college days . He looked upon their

Provincial Grand Master as a man who was accomplishing an immense amount of good in his generation , and doing all he could to advance the interests of Freemasonry and his fellows generally . Sir E . A . H . Lechmere briefl y replied . In Masonry as in many other matters he and the

Dean of York had studied together . They had both been members of the Apollo University Lodge when they were resident at Oxford . He then made retrospective allusion to the Masonic work of the Province of Worcestershire ,

and expressed himself as satisfied with the working of the past . He hoped to have the support of his officers and the brethren in the future , and assured them that he should not relax his efforts on their behalf . Col . Sbadwell H .

Clerke proposed the health of the Deputy Prov . G . Master and the other Officers of Provincial Grand Lodge ; he spoke in eulogistic terms of Bro . Godson , and paid well merited compliments to others embraced in the toast . The Province had put itself in the front by its recent action in organising a Masonic Exhibition , and in connection

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Worcester.

with this matter the name of Bro . Taylor , the Provincial Grand Secretary , stood out prominently . Bros . Godaon and Taylor hnving responded to the toast , Bro . Grosvenor crave that of the very Rev . the Dean of York Past Grand Chaplain of England . The Dean explained that his many

other engagements had prevented his giving as much attention to Freemasonry as he should have wished . The present meeting had brought him to a city where he was not exactly a stranger ; he was pleased to be among them . Ho could but be impressed with the dignity , regularity ,

and precision which had marked their proceedings , and was especially pleased with the ceremony of presentation of Bibles to the Lewises , which had taken place that evening . The Prov . G . Master proposed the toast of the Visitors , which was acknowledged by Bros . Hughan , Whyteheadand

Stevens . Bro . Bedford , P . G . Chap . England , gave the Masonic Press , for which Bro . W . W . Morgan replied ; then the Masonic Charities were referred to , Bro . Binckes responding . A special toast was made of the Mayor and

Corporation of Worcester , which compliment was acknowledged by Bro . Williamson . Other toasts were given ; the proceedings , which were of a most enjoyable character , were brought to a conclusion with the Tyler ' s toast .

The Value Of Freemasonry.

THE VALUE OF FREEMASONRY .

THE Masonic Exhibition held at Worcester this week has proved a brilliant success . It was natural that so ardent a Freemason as the Mayor of Worcester shonld desire to associate his year of office with some speoial celebration in connection with his anoient and distinguished Craft . Sir Edmund Lechmere , tbe Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master , seems to have been responsible for the precise form which the occasion assumed : and although a ball

might have been a more popular diversion , an Exhibition of Masonio Antiquities and Literature upon a scale never before exceeded in this country is an event of greater permanent importance and interest . Sir Edmund Lechmere and the Mayor of Worcester are to be heartily congratnlated npon the success of an occasion which has not only delighted Freemasons but has interested outsiders by bringing to

their view a dazzling display of what may be called tbe historic wealth of the Order . One of the many indirect benefits whioh Masonry has conferred is , that it has kept in constant movement amongst the upper and middle classes of society a high standard of art and beauty . We are no advocates for " man millinery , " but the notion that it is unmasculine to admire gorgeous costumes and

brilliant colours has been carried to a srreat excess . The wenring of scarves and medals for tho mere sake of appearance is not consistent with the somewhat severe restraints which Englishmen are accustomed to impose on themselves in all matters of dress . But it must be remembered that in the case of Freemasonry such decorations are intended to symbolise the great principles upon whioh the Order

rests , or else to mark various degrees and distinctions which can only be gained by skill and perseverance in mastering the mysteries of tbe Craft . It has been said that next to the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer — which , apart altogether from their sacred character , are unrivalled in point of literary beauty by any writings either classic or modern—some of the formularies nsed by

Freemasons are without equal in loftiness of ideas and sublimity of Iangnage . Tbe jewels and medals now on display in the Guildhall testify to the instinctive alliance between art and Freemasonry . The latter can fairly claim to be a great force in encouraging skilled workmanship and artistic ingenuity . Freemasonry was an sosthetio influence in a very legitimate sense long before the reign of yellow china and the sunflower .

These are some of the indirect influences to the Order . But as the Dean of York insisted , in his excellent sermon , in these days , when every institution is on its trial , Freemasonry must have more solid and serious reasons to justify its existence . Men , the Dean added , were forming their opinions " as to whether the Craft was worthy to

be preserved , or whether it ought to be relegated to the fripperies of the past . " Those persons who sneer at it as a huge association of diners-out , forget the sweeping and wholesale oharaoter of suoh au indictment . Everybody who moves about in the world at all must recosnise the fact that the Order is not confined to the bon vivant .

Great statesmen , great painters , and celebrated men of letters , have considered it a distinction to belong to it and to make progress in it . They have been attracted by the almost unfathomable antiquity of the Craft ; by its qnaint usages ; by its impressive ceremonials ; by the chivalry which even in this prosaic age ought to be its leading characteristic ; by the good it does in bringing men of different

opinions and different degrees together upon a neutral ground ; and by its utility as a vast charitable agency . This last point alone is sufficient to vindicate even in this age of utilitarianism the existence of the Order . The stream of charity would be deprived of a very powerful tributary if Freemasonry were to be withered up . Of course there are many important objects in life which Freemasonry

does not profess to cover . It is not supposed to bo the serious business of existence , nor does it pretend to bring happiness and prosperity to all who belong to it . But it does profess to be not only an ancient and au houonrable , bnt also a useful Craft . While maintaining the quaiut ceremonials of the past , it adapts itself to the necessities

of the present , and is an ever active force in the promotion of charitable enterprise . The Dean of York , in his eloquent sermon on Thursday , drew a somewhat highly-colonied picture of the scepticism of the age . It is very doubtful whether Atheism in any active or aggressive form is