Hampshire And Isle Of Wight.

HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT .

A SPECIAL meeting of this Provincial Grand Lodge was held at the Guildhall , Winchester , on Friday , ist inst ., the occasion assuming special importance from the fact that it was intended to make a presentation to Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., the Provincial Grand Master , in recognition of the completion of his Jubilee in Masonry .

The Provincial Grand Master presided , supported on the right by Bro . Eve as Deputy Provincial Grand Master in the absence through illness of Bro . Le Feuvre , and on his left by Bro . Tilling ( Mayor of Southampton ) a Past Grand Officer of England . The Wardens' chairs were filled by

Bros . Newman P . P . G . S . W ., and Dr . Cross P . G . J . W . There was a very large attendance of Brethren , Present and Past Provincial Grand Officers being particularly strong in number , and when the roll was called it was found that only two Lodges in the Province were unrepresented .

Provincial Grand Lodge having been opened in due form , the Provincial Grand Master said he was sorry to have to announce that the Deputy Provincial Grand Master Bro . Le Feuve was unable to attend , through illness . He very

much regretted his absence , and he was sure that all Brethren wished him a speedy return to health , and that he would long live to he as zealous and energetic in the cause of Freemasonry as he had been in past years .

The Acting D . P . G . M . Bro . Eve , who was called upon from the chair to submit the first resolution , said he would read it as it stood on the paper , as follows : " That in view ofthe Provincial Grand Master R . W . Bro . W . W . B . Beach

having undertaken a Stewardship for the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , a sum not exceeding five hundred guineas be given from the Provincial Grand Lodge Funds , and be placed on his list . " He said he must first of all express his deep regret at the absence of the Deputy

Provincial Grand Master . That was the first time he had had the pain of noting Bro . Le Feuvre ' s absence from such a meeting on account of illness , and he was sure all hoped he would be speedily restored to health . He was sure they were all ready to give him leave of absence under such circumstances . Bro . Le Feuvre had asked him to move the

resolution which stood in his name . Now , the Brethren would remember that at the last Grand Lodge meeting of the Province it was resolved that 250 guineas be voted from the Provincial Grand Lodge funds to be placed on the lists of Stewards for the Boys School Festival , and he would

suggest that' they should not to-day vote 500 guineas in addition to that sum . He should therefore move that 250 guineas be voted to be placed on the list of the Provincial Grand Master , and he felt sure that all the 'Brethren present would support that proposition . The Festival this year

would be one of the greatest that had been seen in England for many years . The Boys School would celebrate its centenary , and it was felt that a special effort should be made on behalf of the charity , not only because the Grand Master the Prince of Wales was to preside at the Festival ,

but also because the executive had undertaken the work of building new schools . He was pleased to announce that not only would the Prince of Wales preside at the Festival on the 10 th of June , but that the Princess of Wales had been graciously pleased to promise to present the prizes to the

boys on the 17 th , for the good work done in the School . They knew the high position their Provincial Grand Master occupied in Freemasonry , and this vote , if carried , would show that he had the Province at his back . Their Provincial Master was one of the Trustees of the Institution , and took a great interest in it .

The Rev . G . N . Palmer P . P . G . Chap . seconded the motion .

The Provincial Grand Master said that before he put the resolution he should like to say that it was 49 years ago since he was first a Steward for the Boys School , which was of very different dimensions to those of the present School , and if they collected a few thousands at the Festival it was

thought they had done well . The Centenary Festival this year would no doubt be a stupendous success , and he hoped the new schools to which Bro . Eve had referred would increase their facilities , and enable them to educate a larger

number of boys than they had hitherto done . He hoped the Festival would put the Trustees in a position to say they were not likely to suffer any loss in the great work they had inaugurated .

The motion was then put and carried unanimously . Bro . Eve , after repeating his expression of regret at the absence of the D . P . G . M ., whose place he had been called

Hampshire And Isle Of Wight.

upon to fill , said they were met that day in the first Provincial Grand Lodge meeting held since the 24 th of March , the day on which their Provincial Grand Master attained his jubilee in Freemasonry , to present to him a memento of the high esteem in which he was held by the Brethren , and in

testimony of the meritorious work he had done in the v ^ raft . Bro . Beach , he knew , had a place in the hearts of the Masons of Hampshire . There was no Mason in Englandthere were slightly older Masons—whose career had been marked with such a large amount of usefulness as that of

their Provincial Grand Master . From the earliest period he had entered into his work with indomitable pluck and perseverance . Though an old Mason he was comparatively a young man full of activity , and he trusted he would be spared for many years to exercise his activity on behalf of

the Province over which he ruled , and of the Masons of England generally . Referring to the early Masonic career of Bro . Beach , the speaker mentioned that he was sent by-Lord Zetland the then Grand Master , to Canada , to heal some differences which had arisen , and the report he made

was of great value , and had been attended with great benefit . He also spoke of his long connection with Hampshire as one of its ¦ Parliamentary representatives , as showing the estimation in which he was held by the people of the county to which he belonged , and went on to remark that possibly

some few were present who attended when he was installed in the chair as Provincial Grand Master , in the Royal Gloucester Lodge , in i 86 g ; Hampshire had had no reason to regret the selection then made by the Grand Master of England ; on the contrary , it had had reason to rejoice . To

say that the Province of Hampshire had extended under his rule was only to call attention to a fact with which they were all well acquainted . Their Provincial Grand Master was always ready to perform Masonic duties , not only in his own Grand Lodge , but in the Grand Lodge of England

where he occupied the chair two or three times a year ; he also worked in other Provinces , and had probably installed a larger number of Provincial Grand Masters than any other living Mason . They rejoiced in having such an active , able , and spirited Provincial Grand Master , and desiring to make

more memorable to him the year of his Masonic jubilee they had thought that nothing could be more gratifying to him than to have the photographs of those Brethren whom from time to time he had selected as Provincial Grand Officers ; and who had also ruled over the several Lodges of the

Province . The photographs were in the two large albums before him ; they were excellent likenesses of excellent Brethren , and he had now on their behalf , and on behalf of the Province generally , to ask the Provincial Grand Master to accept the albums as a memento of their appreciation of

the great work he had done in Masonry for 50 years , and in token of the love and esteem they had for him . He hoped he would live for many years to look upon the books and to carry on his Masonic duties as actively and as faithfully as he had done for many years past .

The albums contain about 300 cabinet portraits of the Brethren , either in regalia or in " mufti . " The arms ofthe Province are emblazoned on the cover , and on the fly leaf within the cover is the following inscription , in illuminated text :

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT , Desirous to record its grateful acknowledgment of the eminent services rendered to the Province by the Right

Worshipful Provincial Grand Master W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., since his initiation into Freemasonry on March 24 th , 18 4 8 . Having been Senior Warden of the Province in 1858 , and Provincial Grand Master since i 86 g .

J . E . LEFEUVRE Deputy Provincial Grand Master . J W . GIEVE Provincial Grand Treasurer . EDGAR GOBLE Provincial Grand Secretary .

Winchester , April ist , i 8 g 8 . The first page contains the portraits of Bros , the Duke of Connaught , Le Feuvre , W . W . Portal , Asher Barfield , R . Eve , and the Rev . G . N . Palmer .

The Provincial Grand Master , who received an ovation on rising , said he hardly knew how to thank' Bro . Eve sufficiently for the kind words he had said of him , and the Brethren for the kindly feeling which had prompted them to

present to him a gift which would be a memento to him of the many great kindnesses he had received during his Masonic career in the Province . In the album were the faces of many whom he had known in the past and of those