Essex.

Province , and said there was a prospect of a new Chapter being formed at Shoeburyness . He also announced that the next annual meeting would be held at Chelmsford .

West Yorkshire.

WEST YORKSHIRE .

THE half-yearly meeting of this Provincial Grand Chapter was held under the auspices of Sincerity Chapter , No . 61 , in the Masonic Hall , St . John ' s Place , Halifax , on the 28 th ult . Comp . R . Wilson P . G . Soj . presided .

In consequence of the death of Comp . E . Pickersgul , of Wakefield , Prov . G . Registrar , since the last meeting of the Chapter , Comp . R . M . Kerr , of Flalifax , was invested with the insignia of the Office .

The Prov . acting G . Supt , in an address , referred to the history of Royal Arch Masonry . He said that the earliest known record of a Chapter in West Yorkshire was a minute dated 9 th Janurary 1765 , relating to a proposition to form a Lodge , taken from the minutes of Probity Lodge , Halifax .

It was , indeed , the earliest record of tire kind in the North of England , with the exception of that relating to York . A Chapter was formed in Rotherham in 1780 ( the records of some of its proceedings were still in existence ) , and in 1817 there were twenty-one West Yorkshire Chapters on the roll .

The Provincial Grand Chapter was opened at Dewsbury in May 1858 . The late Dr . Fearnley was the first Grand Superintendent . Of the Officers invested on that occasion only two survived , Comps . D . Salmond and H . Smith . In the Province there were now forty-five Chapters , with over 1 , 600 members .

Comp . W . Watson , the Hon . Librarian , stated that he was about to make an appeal to the Brethren of the Fraternity for funds to reproduce some of the valuable manuscripts contained in the library . A vote of thanks to the Sincerity Chapter concluded the proceedings .

Books Of The Day.

Books of the Day .

Books , Music , & c . intended for review , should be addressed to the Editor of the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , New Barnet . Helmet and Spear . Stories from the Wars of the Greeks and Romans . By the Rev . A . J . Church , M . A . Illustrated ( 5 s ) . —Seeley and Co ., Limited .

SPECIALISM , as Grant Allen once reminded us , is rampant of late . This is surely as it should be , for if a writer has made one subject his " special study" he can with greater propriety ask time and attention of his readers . The Rev . A . J . Church has written so many volumes on subjects concerning classical antiquity that readers hardly need our assurance regarding the uniform

excellence of these sketches and stories from Roman and Grecian history . A more useful gift-book—whether intended for a boy or a girl—could hardly be selected ; for the reader who carefully masters the general drift of these stories will have laid a very promising foundation for a clear understanding of the great struggles so eloquently depicted by the author . We wish this book had been ours " in the days when we were young . "

The Windfairies and other tales . By Alary de Morgan . With illustrations by Olive Cockerell ( 5 s ) .- —Seeley and Co ., Limited . WHAT a literature the fairies have inspired ? The world of fairyland is , we fear , becoming rapidly depopulated , but we trust a few able writers may yet be left to tell ot maidens who are born

as beggars , but many kings ; or who , like Lucilla in the volume before us , live first in a windmill by the sea and grow in wisdom and in stature until the happy day when they marry some noble sailor and live in a little cottage within sight of the tossing waves . There is some clever writing in this book , and some pretty stories

so well told that we could wish them longer . Perhaps the " Gipsy ' s Cup ' is the most entertaining' of these pleasant fictions ; but readers will decide this question tor themselves . " Tastes differ , '' as Macaulay said of tiie verses of Warren Hastings , and possibly the story of " Dumb Othmar ,: will ajipeal more strongly to manyparticularly to young ladies . The volume is elegantly bound .

A Noah ' s Ark Geography , A true account of the travels and adventures of Kit , J um-J um , and the Cockyolly Bird : faithfully set forth and pictured by Alabel Dearmer ( 6 s ) . —Alacmillan and Co ., Limited . Youxc folk are in clover now-a-days . This Christmas , to judge

from the publishers lists , they are to live in the lap of luxury . The volume before us , like the beautiful lady in Coleridge's poem , is .,. . ui . iig to dream of . As regards printing , illustrating , and Uiiuing it nas nad tiiat lavish attention which is seldom bestowed save on an edition de luxe , Fortunately , the matter which Miss

Books Of The Day.

Dearmer has provided for the edification of young readers is good also , ancl if there is a child who can wish to remain ignorant as to the doings of the Cockyolly Bird and the Polar Bear , or of the Sea Lion or the three Kangaroos , we can only remark , with the critic of old , that " we do not envy him his insensibility . ' This is a very cheap book at 6 s and will certainly receive its full share of praise during the festive season .

At the foot of the Rainbow . A Tale of Adventure . By M . H . Cornwall Legh . Illustrated by J . Jellicce ( 2 s ) . —Wells Gardner , Darton and Co . A STORY of adventure written in a very entertaining and fluent style . We are shown the castle and the hut , the cavern and the

treasure , the ocean and th'e desert island—surely no reasonable person can doubt that we have here what Shakespeare would describe as " variety of sciene enough . " The illustrations are equally suggestive of many adventures , and really illustrate the text . The volume is also attractively bound , and should please everybody .

Ben Cramer : Working Jeweller . A Tale for Boys and Girls . By Stella Austin . Illustrated ( 2 s ) . —Wells Gardner , Darton and Co . ANOTHER admirable little gift-book . All lovers of story books know and appreciate the volumes issued by this well known publishing house , and the stories which they have sent us this

season are no whit inferior to their predecessors . On the whole , this is perhaps the best . The tone of the writer is healthy and vigorous , her morals arc obvious and worth remembering , and her style is of that easy , chatty description so deservedly popular with many readers . It is " a tale for boys and girls" and they should certainly read it .

MESSRS . METHUEN promise a very fine edition of " The Early Poems of Lord Tennyson . " Mr . J . Churton Collins will provide an introduction and notes , and Mr . W . E . F . Britten ten photogravure illustrations . This should be a sumptuous gift-volume , and a very acceptable present to all lovers of the greater English poets . The same publishers are about to add one more to the many editions of " John Halifax , Gentleman , " and to commence a new series , to be entitled " Little Biographies . "

MESSRS . GREENING AND Co . will shortly publish " The After Taste , " by Compton Reade , a brother of Charles Reade . They also promise , as two new volumes in their series " English Writers of To-day , " a study of Bret Harte , by Mr . T . Edgar Pembcrton ; and of Algernon Charles Swinburne , by Mr . T . Wratislaw .

MESSRS . C . P . PUTNAM ' S SONS have issued "Thomas Henry Huxley , " by P . Chalmers Mitchell , M . A . The work is illustrated with portraits , and is published at 5 s . MESSRS . CONSTABLE ' S " Library of Travel and Biography "

contains some really valuable books , at 6 s each , including " The Alps from End to End , " by Sir W . M . Conway ; " The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe , " by Ernest Young ; " Among the Himalayas , " by Major L . A . Waddell , LL . D . ; " Farthest North , " by Fridtjof Nansen , and other works .

MR . T . FISHER UNWIN advertises " Five important Christmas Novels . " Their titles are "Vanity , " by "Rita "; "Edward Barry , " by Louis Becke ; "Trinity Bells , " by Amelia E . Barr ; "Robert Orange , " by John Oliver Hobbes ; and " The Devil's Half-acre , "

by " Alien . " These novels are 6 s each ; they are already published , and are , we understand , selling largely . Attention is further drawn to the " Story of the Nations "—perhaps the most entirely satisfactory series of short histories obtainable at an equal price . This grand work already numbers fifty-five volumes , at 5 s each .

BOOKS RECEIVED . The World-Wide Atlas of modern Geography , Political and Physical . Containing one hundred ancl twenty-eight plates , and complete index . With an introduction by J . Scott Keltic , LL . D ., etc . Fifth edition ( 7 s 6 d ) . —W . ancl A . K . Johnston .

The Captain . A magazine for Boys and " Old Boys . " Vol . iii . —April to September 1900 ( 6 s ) . —George Newnes , Limited . Daddy ' s Girl . B y L . T . Meade . With thirty-seven illustrations by Gordon Browne ( 3 s 6 d ) . —George Newnes , Limited . The Herb-Moon . A Fantasia . By John Oliver Hobbes ( 6 d ) . —George Newnes , Limited .

NEW MUSIC . Edwin Ashdown , Limited—Sweetheart be mine : Song by Anthony McDonald , music by Alice Borton . O Loving Heart : Words and music by A . Burns Nelson . The Cavalier ' s Toast : Song by Bernard Bagnall , music by Bernard Streathfeild . If we should meet : Song by Ernest Aliieri , music by Frank

Lambert . In Victoria's Name : Quick march for the pianoforte , by Dudley Clinton . The Battle Eve March : By Edward St . Quentin . Maypole Dance : For the pianoforte , by Leonard Gautier . Graceful Dance : For the pianoforte , by Leonard Fowles . Dance Espagnole : Pour piano , par Arnoldo Sartorio . A Secret Meeting : Intermezzo for the pianoforte , by S . Translateur .

Chappell and Co ., Limited . —Under Green Leaves : Hammock song for the pianoforte , by G . F . Kendall . Not mine to ask : Song by Edward Teschemacher , music by Florence Aylward . Harmony . Song by Clifton Bingham , music by Teresa del Riego . Lovesight : Song by Dante Gabriel Rossetti , music by Ellen Wright . A Greenland Lullaby : Words by Clifton Bingham , music by Florence Aylward . Primrose Time : Song by W , A . music by