Meeting Of The Provincial Grand Mark Lodge Of Lincolnshire.

and the other Northumberland and Durham brethren , and must say how honoured he also was by tho way he had received them , by the way he had proposed their healths , and by the way they were received in tho province . He probably should not havo been able to come from his district , except that ho was returning from tho metropolis for the north , and by stopping two days ho was able to be

present . Therefore it was from no want of confidence in tho Chair , man that more had not come , but ho would take back to them an account of this gathering , and the prospect there was that Mark Masonry was an increasing institution ( hear , hear ) , and they might rely upon it that this was only the beginning of muoh greater things . He could congratulate tho Chairman on his province , and the province

on its Grand Mark Master . He felt a peculiar pleasure in being present , and should remember it as a red-letter day when he had the honour of meeting the Provincial Grand Mark Master of Lincolnshire and his Provincial Officers . ( Applause . ) Bro . Perkinton acknowledged the pleasure ha felt in having his name connected with the toast . He had been a Provincial Mark

Master five and a half years , and now his time was nearly ended . ( " No , no . " ) He had been very muoh cheered with what he had seen to-day . He was mnch attached to Mark Masonry , and it wonld ever live in his heart . Bro . Princo was also proud to respond for hia province , whose Grand Master , like the Lincolnshire Grand Master , was a man with

a large heart . Addressing the Chairman , the speaker said— "I thank yon , Right Worshipful Sir , for the kind support you give to Mark Masonry . Yon are a most hononred man in this district , and if others can be found like you when your time ia run out wo shall have cause to be hopeful for the future of Freemasonry . I trust you will accept , through me , the thanka of onr Provincial Grand

Mark Master for what yon have done to-day . " ( Applause . ) Bro . Newhonso responded for Cheshire and North Wales , by asking the Chairman to accept their heart-felt thanks , and by saying he was glad to hear he had accepted again the office of Provincial Grand Mark Master of Lincolnshire . He ( the speaker ) had been many years connected with the Craft and Arch and Mark . He liked the Mark , which had a tendency to bring them more in unity with the

Craft and Arch . ( Applause . ) Bro . Perkinton again rose , and said ho would give without much preface the health of " The Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Mark Master Mason for Lincolnshire , Bro . John Sntcliffe" ( great cheering . ) Nothing ho could say would add to tho esteem of those present , by whom he was so well known . ( Tho toast was drunk with Masonic honours . )

Tho Chairman , who was received with prolonged cheers , said he felt very much obliged to his brethren for the proposal of his health and the kind reception it had met with . He knew not what he conld say more . He valued their opinion , and allowed them to be the best judges . He could only say he thanked them—thanked them most heartily—for the very generous reception they had given to the

toast . He wonld not sit down without taking the opportunity of proposing the toast of the evening , that was tho health of " The Visiting Brethren , " and ho would call upon them to open their lungs and open their shoulders ( laughter ) , and to receive the toast in a way that wonld be heard through Lancashire , Yorkshire , Northumberland , Cheshire , and North Wales . Ifc waa not often they had representatives

from so many provinces , and ho thanked them for tho honour they had done the province of Lincolnshire in coming from all corners of those counties to the old port of Gainsboro * . The Old Hall in which they were assembled would be interesting to archaeologists , and he thought they would like to visit him in that fine old hall , where they were all on a par—all on an equality , which did not exist

in any other kind of assembly ( hear , hear . ) Having thanked them again most heartily and sincerely , he coupled with the toast the name of an " old pal" of his—Charley Matier . Bro . Matier , in returning thanks , said that all the compliments fcestowed npon the Eight Worshipful Bro . Sutcliffe had been justly made , and he conld only say ditto to all that had been said in hia

honour . He narrated what ho called a " little incident" that occurred on the journey to Gainsboro ' . When about three miles on this side of Worksop , and when they were going about 60 miles an hour , the driving axle of the engine broke , but he was happy to say—thanks to the Great Architect of the Universe—no fatality had occurred . Ho was only too pleased in coming to visit the Provincial Grand

Mark Master for the first time , and he sincerely trusted it would not be the last . He hoped they would not allow him to sneak out of the chair . He conld not be put out . No one conld put him out of the chair of Grand Mark Master—no man , wherever he came from ; and they would see him again elected for the third , fourth , or twentieth time . ( Applause . )

Bro . Ruddock also responded , saying he would be second to none in giving his adhesion to the Right Worshipful Master . It had been said he was a large-hearted man : so he was , but he was also a large headed man , and so all would say if they knew him as well as they did in West Yorkshire , where they had proved him before he came into Lincolnshire . No better man was ever put into

shoes than Worshipful Master Sutcliffe . He said it freely , and without fear of contradiction—with all respect and without flatterythat thero never was a man who worked himself up to the position Bro . Sntcliffe now held more rapidly and moro successfully than he had done . It was only the week before last that he ( Bro . Ruddock ) was at a meeting of Royal Arch Masons , and if this gathering had

only heard the remarks which were then passed by the brethren of tho Provincial Chapter , with reference to their brother who now presided at this meeting , there was no one but would have been proud , and deeply proud , to have had those feelings expressed towards himself . There was no worthier man than the present Worshipful Master of their Mark

Lodge . The speaker then referred to the Masonic Schools , mentioning the desire that Bro . Sntcliffe had evinced to have them placed on a proper footing . They were all , he said , actuated by one feeling , and they wished to place those schools in a right position , Xhey did not want to . have " fish for one and flesh for

Meeting Of The Provincial Grand Mark Lodge Of Lincolnshire.

another , " and he for one wished to find out the feeling that existed in the Province of West Yorkshire , and he was determined to do so . ( Hear , hear . ) Bro . Kemp said he had been singled out to propose a toast , and though he lacked the ability he did not believe iu shirking a duty . He felt a very great degree of pleasure in doing so . Ho congratulated

the Right Worshipful Chairman most heartily , most sincerely , and most fully on tho proceedings of the day , aud said the Humber Lodge—of which ho was a young member—felt a great pleasure in meeting him and seeing him surrounded as he was by such a large and influential gathering of the brethren . Ho should have pleasure in reporting it to his Lodge . He was glad to find that West

Yorkshire had put in such an appearance as she had done . In the North and East Ridings they had no Provincial Mark Lodge , but they did indulge the hope that they wonld eventually have a Province , and such a Master to preside over them as Lincolnshire had . He then presented the toast , namely , " The Deputy Provincial Grand Mark Master Mason , Bro . Harrison , and all other Present and Past Grand

Officers of Lincolnshire , " and again reverted to Bro . Sutcliffe , saying ho had made them feel that Mark Masonry was no simple thing , and had made them feel proud that they were Mark Masons , and whether they were recognised by Grand Craft Lodge or not it was a fact , and might she mark well . Bro . Harrison , in responding , said , —I assure you , worshipful sir ,

we feel the honour of being here under your presidency , and hope for many years to see you at the head of the province . I have a very pleasing duty to perform . At tho last Provincial Grand Mark Lodge the Provincial Grand Mark Master was kind enough to invite the officers to breakfast , to Stallingboro' House . When we arrived an artist was there from Grimsby , aud wo were photographed in a

group . We felt that we would like , as a memorial of our visit , to have it enlarged and painted , and ask our Worshipful Master to accept it . I have now , on behalf of tho Past Provincial Grand Mark Officers , to request yon to accept this picture as a mark of the esteem and respect of those who had the honour of acting as your first Provincial Grand Mark Officers ( applause ) .

The Chairman gave some account of the first production of the photographic group . He called on the artist to order a copy for each Provincial Officer , but was informed that several brethren had requested him to finish it , and he was about to do so . Therefore it was taken out of his—the Chairman ' s—hands altogether . It was his intention to present that group to his officers , but he was told in a

sense to mind his own business , and he saw no more of it . He thought it had taken a wrong turn , but still he thought they would all agree with him that ho could not be so ungrateful as to refuse the honour of accepting that handsome picture . It would not belong to him ; it would belong to Masonry—Mark Masonry—and he felt bound to accept it ; and somo day they would see it hung up in

the Province of Lincolnshire as a mark of respect to the Worshipful Master . I accept it ( concluded Bro . Sntcliffe ) at your hands , and thank you on behalf of the family to whom you have paid this high honour . ( Cheers . ) The brethren then separated , to return to their homes by their respective trains .

The Grand Bard's Song.

THE GRAND BARD'S SONG .

Sung at the Masomo Banquet , in Freemasons' Hall , Edinburgh , on Thursday , 30 th November , in celebration of the Festival of St . Andrew . COME , gather round the cozy hearth , And let us chant a canty lay , — For Scottish hearts ower a' the earth ,

Are blythe upon St . Andrew a Day . Since that gude Saint in days o' yore , Led forth our sires in battle fray ,

And won for Scotland . deathless gloir , A' Scotsmen bless St . Andrew's day . Come then , brither , join wi' brither , Lilt and sing a' blythe and gay ;

Linked in holy love thegither , Blessings on St . Andrew ' s Day . In every clime , in every land , On every shore , on every sea , Far , far frae Scotland ' s rugged strand ,

Arc members of her millions three—Parts of her small , but matchless band , Men born tho world to teach and sway , All bound together heart and hand , By Scotland and St . Andrew ' s Day .

Como then , etc . And here within this regal hall , With dear St . Andrew shrined on high , We'll cherish deep the pledge we all

Have made beneath yon radiant eye . And may the holy star of love Light up our hearts with genial ray , And Mason aye to Mason prove

True brother on St . Andrew ' s Day . Come then , brither , join wi' brither , Lilt and sing a' blythe and gay ; Linked in holy love thegither , Blessings on St . Andrew ' s Day . JAMES BAMANTINE . Grand Bard ,