Church Services.

CHURCH SERVICES .

A SPECIAL Masonic service , promoted by the Wolseley jt \ . Lodge , with an offertory on behalf of the East Lancashire Systematic Educational and Benevolent Institution , was held at Manchester Cathedral on Sunday afternoon . The use of the sacred fabric for the service had been sanctioned by the Rev . Canon Crane , and the Derby Chapel had been set apart for the

Masonic Brethren in which to don their clothing . Members of the Craft generally had been invited to attend , and a large number availed themselves of the privilege , including several members of Provincial Grand Lodge . The nave of the Cathedral was crowded .

The musical service had been arranged by the Rev . J . A . Winstanley , minor canon , who also read the prayers . The Very Rev . the Dean read the lessons . The first anthem was " Comfort ye , my people , " " Ev ' ry Valley , " and the chorus " And the

glory of the Lord , " from " The Messiah , " Bro . Cuthbert Blacow being the soloist . The Cathedral choir had been augmented for the occasion . The anthem before the sermon was " Behold how good and joyful a thing ic is , Brethren , to dwell together in unity , " which was sung as an unaccompanied quartette .

The sermon was preached by Bro . J . W . Challenor , one of the P . G . Chaplains of East Lancashire , from St . Paul ' s Epistle to the Philippians ii ., 4 , " Look not every man on his own things , but every man also on the things of others . " The text , he said , lay at the root of all Christianity . The truth of the verse was

being preached in ten thousand times ten thousand pulpits that day . The message of Christianity was the gospel of love—love to one another . Freemasonry connected in one bond of brotherhood men of every nation , and the strongest friendships were cultivated among those who might otherwise be kept at a

distance . Freemasons were called upon to fulfil the words of St . Paul to the Philippians which he had quoted as his text , and to observe the principles of brotherly love , relief , temperance , justice , and truth . Freemasonry , if rightly comprehended , acted beneficiently on the business of the world . The Brethren were

taught by symbols to deal with their fellow men in integrity , never to take a mean advantage in trade—remembering that love worked no ill to a neighbour . To relieve distress was a duty incumbent on every man , especially on a Freemason .

Freemasonry was intensely practical and sympathetic . The Brethren said the aged should not want , nor should the Brother ' s widow or his children starve . The colossal Masonic institutions which existed were a monument to the world of the reality of the Masonic life . — " Manchester Courier . "

A LARGE number of Brethren of the Three Towns attended a special service at St . Paul ' s Church , Devonport , on Sunday afternoon , when the claims of the Royal Albert Hospital were set forth by the preacher , the Rev . Eugenie Sullivan Chaplain of the Dockyard . Iu the course of his sermon , the reverend gentlemen said the

special need for which he had been asked to address them that afternoon was the support of the Royal Albert Hospital . The benefits of that institution were known to all of them . It stood in their town ; its usefulness , value and the very necessity of its existence were known to them better than they were to him .

He was addressing a congregation most of whom he knew were Freemasons , and to whom the virtue of charity was the leading principle . To help the distressed , to aid the afflicted , was to Freemasons a duty so well recognised , so constantly aud so universally practised , that he need only point out to them the

deserving object to gain from them all the support they could possibly give . The self-interested principles on which other associations were founded had no place in Freemasonry . It would be a most deplorable thing if the Royal Albert Hospital , from want of funds , had to close its doors against the sick and suffering who lived in their midst .

The Rev . A . J . Hamlyn , Vicar , and Junior Warden of St . Aubyn Lodge , 954 , and P . P . G . C , also took part in the service . Mr . Philip Wright gave a tine rendering of Gouuod ' s " Nazareth , " and Mr . R . H . V . Ball , L . R . A . M ., played very skilfully a violin solo . Mr . G . Hele jun . presided at the organ . The offertory amounted to £ 5 14 s 4 d . — " Western Mercury . "

UNDER the auspices of Lodges 257 and 481 ( I . C . ) a Masonic service in aid of the Belfast Masonic Charities was held ou Sunday night , in St . Jude ' s Church , Belfast , and was attended by a congregation whose proportions severely taxed the accommodation of the building .

During the procession of the Brethren into the church Gounod ' s " Marche Militaire" was played on the organ , at which Mr . Allan F . Parker presided . The preacher on the ocsasion was Bro . the Rev . Richard Irvine , D . D ., P . P . G . C . Antrim , who also read the lessons . Bro . the Rev . W . H . Davis , Rector , gave the prayers . Rev . Dr . Irvine selected as his text Rev . xxii , 1 and 2 , and gave a lucid , scholarly , and eloquent exposition of it , explaining

Church Services.

its special significance in relation to the Masonic Order . In conclusion , he referred to the collection which was to be taken up in aid of the Belfast Masonic Charities . He said that the Masonic Order was not selfish . There was no institution in the world that was , he believed , so unselfish as the Masonic Order .

True to the principle of generosity which governed their body , they had two charities to bring before the attention of the congregation that evening . They appealed on behalf of their poor , distressed Brethren , and thoy appealed also on behalf of the widows and orphans of their distressed Brethren . Their hearts

were full of sympathy for those Brethren . If a Brother had lost his position in life , and had to go from one place to another to ask for help it would be a degradation and a humiliation for him . But they had a common fund and a committee to investigate his case . Inquiries were made and the necessary help was granted .

He could speak with gratitude of what had been done to his own knowledge by this Society . He asked them to help the fund , which helped their poor distressed Brethren . Ho was delighted

to see the flower of the Masonry of Ulster present that evening , and he knew from experience that they would give generously to maintain in its fullest splendour the true Masonic principles of generosity and charity . The collection was a liberal one .

The Knights Templar formed two lines facing inwards in the aisle , through which the Provincial Graud Master , Officers , and Prince Masons passed out of the church . — " Northern Whig . "

Proposed Masonic Hall At Blyth.

PROPOSED MASONIC HALL AT BLYTH

FOR some time past an effort has been made by the Officers and members of the Blagdon Lodge of Freemasons to erect a hall at Blyth by voluntary subscription . A very suitable site was granted by the Provincial Grand Master the Right Hon . Sir M . W . Ridley , Bart ., M . P ., on favourable terms ,

and the scheme had the approval of the Deputy Provincial Grand Master Brother Aid . R . H . Holmes , and several other Officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge . At a recent meeting of the members of the Lodge it was unanimously resolved to form a company for the carrying out of the building scheme , and already

a large number of applications have been received for shares in the venture . The capital of the new Company is £ 1 , 500 , in shares of £ 1 each , payable on application and allotment . The provisional board of directors and officials were appointed at the aforesaid meeting , Brother R . T . Guthrie S . W . W . M .-elect being

the solicitor , and Brother John Tweedy P . M . the Secretary . There now seems every probability of the new hall being built at an early date , and it will supply a long-felt want at Blyth . It is in contemplation to have a club in connection with the hall , and there is no doubt but that the scheme will prove a complete success , says the " Newcastle Daily Journal . "

Masonry Not All Festivity.

MASONRY NOT ALL FESTIVITY

ON Friday , 29 th ult ., Sir Charles Dalrymple , M . P ., Grand Master of Scotland , opened a bazaar in connection with the Portobello Lodge of Freemasons , in the Masonic Hall , Edinburgh . Sir Charles , who had a very cordial reception , said the object which had brought them together commanded their fullest sympathy , because it was the cause of a Lodge—not a

new Lodge , but one of very considerable standing , it having been erected as long ago as 1808—which had never had a local habitation of its own , and had beeu indebted for shelter to hired buildings , and which was now endeavouring to obtain premises of its own—and what was better , a Lodge of its own , free of

debt . Therefore , everything about the enterprise interested him much , and had his fullest sympathy , as well as the sympathy of the whole Masonic Craft . It was very important that the business of a Lodge should be carried on in prcnises of its own , where everything could be done in ship-shape form , and

where there was not the same tendency to view Masonic meetings as festivities simply , that there might be when these meetings were held in inns . He did not wish any one who was not a Mason to go away with the impression that Masonry was associated in the minds of the Craftsmen with nothing but

festivity . They of the Craft sometimes passed from " labour to refreshment , " but there was far more labour than refreshment . One anomaly in Masonry he might refer to . It was that while ladie 9 were ruthlessly excluded from a Masonic Lodge , when a bazaar on behalf of Masonry was being avvanged their lxbours

were vigorously pressed into the service . For his own part , he thought that whatever might be said about the nuisance of bazaars , the great majority of people loved bazaars . There was no doubt a great deal of labour connected with them , but there was also a great deal of amusement .

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FURNITURE wanted ( second-hand ) for Royal Arch Chapter . —Address , " Furniture , " care of " Freemason ' s Chronicle , " New Barnet .