Chapter Of Elias Ashmole, No. 148.

CHAPTER OF ELIAS ASHMOLE , No . 148 .

THE Annual Convocation and Installation of Principals of the above Chapter was hold on Monday last . The Chapter having been opened by the Principals , Ex . Comps . Thos . Tnnstall . Ja--. Jackson atu 1 XV . H . Robinson , assisted by Ex . Comps . Finney , Briorley , Bowes , and P . J- Edelsten , the rest of tho Companions were admitted , and the minutes read and confirmed . The M . E . Z . then invited Ex . Comp .

John Bowes P . Z . P . P . G . S . N . to instal tho Principals for tho ensuing year . Comps . J . Jackson , W . H . Robinson and J . Rymer Young woro then introduced into solemn conclaves befitting their respective de"rees , and placed in thoir seats according to tho established customs of the Order . Comp . J . Paul Rylands , F . S . A ., Starkie and Charles Skinner were then invested as E ., N . aud Soj . respectively . Comp . Galloway then handed to the Chapter facsimile tracings of

entries in the Diary of Elias Ashmole relating to his initiation into Freemasonry in Warrington , for which a hearty vote of thanks was accorded . The auditors produced a satisfactory report of the finances of the Chapter , which was ordered to be printed and circulated among the members . The W . M . of the Gilbert Greenall Lodge , No . 1250 , Comp . Galloway , applied for the use of the Chapter furniture , for the purposes of a new Chapter about to be attached to that Lodge , whioh was granted .

Chapter Of Harmony, No. 178, Wigan.

CHAPTER OF HARMONY , No . 178 , WIGAN .

I ^ LIE Annual Convocation this flourishing Chapter was held in the Chapter-rooms , on Wednesday , Sth inst ., afc five p . m . The Chapter having been opened by the Principals and P . Z . ' s , the rest of the Companions were admitted , and the minutes read and confirmed . The M . E . Z . Comp . C . B . Holmes said the only business before the Chapter was the installation of the chiefs for the ensuing year , and

called upon E . Comp . John Bowes P . Z ., P . P . G . S . N . to perform the ceremonies . Comps . C . B . Holmes ( re-elected ) , J . Phillips , and G . L . Campbell were then severally presented in solemn conclaves , and installed according to ancient custom . The Royal Arch having been properly cemented , the conclave was closed , aud the remainder of the Comps . admitted , when the subordinate Officers were invested ,

and placed in their respective positions by the installing Principal . The ancient benediction having been given , the Chapter was closed in love and harmony , and the Companions adjourned to the Victoria Hotel , where a sumptuous banquet awaited them , to which ample justice was done . The M . E . Z . was supported by the other Principals , several P . Z . ' s , the Officers , and a large number of members , and a most enjoyable evening was spent under his genial presidency .

Metropolitan Chapter of Improvement . —A meeting of this eminent Chapter of Improvement was held on Tuesday evening , 15 th inst ., at the Jamaica Tavern , St . Michael ' s-alley , Cornhill , which was numerously attended by Royal Arch Masons , the night being specially appointed for the installation of the three Principals , a ceremony seldom performed in any Chapter of Instruction . The Chapter

having been duly opened , the chairs were filled by the following Companions : W . Stephens Z ., Turquand H ., and H . Thompson J . Comp . Massa having been presented as the First Principal elect , was most impressively and correctly installed into the chair of Z . by Comp . Stephens , and seldom has that important ceremony been so ably performed . The next business was to instal Comp . Storr into the

chair of H ., which was gone through in an equally impressive manner , The same remark will apply to the installation of Comp . Brown , the worthy Preceptor of the Chapter , into the third chair . At the conclusion of these ceremonies , Comp . Massa moved that a vote of thanks should be recorded on the minutes of the Chapter to Comp . Stephens , for tho very able , correct , andi repressive manner in which

he had performed the cermony of installation of the Principals that evening , and for his readiness afc all times to render any assistance to the Chapter . Comp . Storr seconded the motion , which was supported by Comp . H . Thompson M . E . Z . 619 , and carried unanimously . Comp . Stephens , in reply , thanked the Companions for their kindly recognition of his humble services , and assured them that afc any

time when he could be useful to the Chapter his services were at its disposal . The Chapter of Installed Principals was then closed , and the rest of the Companions were admitted . Amongst the installed Principals , in addition to those filling the three chairs , were Comps . Mickley , Pounceby , N . Green , and Wyer . The ceremony of exaltation was then rehearsed , Comps . Pounceby Z ., Lardner H .,

Dotteridge J ., W . Fraser N ., J . Payne P . S ., and Goodenough , candidate . The following Companions were also present—Lardner , King , W . Fraser , J . Payne , Edwards , and Lovegrove . The ceremony was most ably performed by Comp . Pounceby , and afc the close a cordial vote of thanks was passed to him for the very efficient manner in which he had worked the business of the First Principal ' s chair for the

first time . Comp . Pounceby replied , and thanked Comp . Brown for the attention nnd great assistance he had given him in mastering the duties of the three chairs . Tbe following were then elected members of the Chapter—Comps . Goodenough 503 , Mickley 948 , and Turquand 1339 and 890 . The Chapter was then closed and adjourned until Tuesday , 22 nd March , at half-past six p . m .

Bro . Horace B . Marshall , whose liberal donations to onr Institutions we especially referred to last week , has been a Mason only two years and the fraction of a year . Yefc in that brief time he has contributed no less than 700 guineas to our Charities , and has likewise sent in his name as

Steward for the Boys' and Girls' School Festivals for th . present year . It is impossible to give too much prominence to conduct so generous . The thanks of the whole ^ raft are due to Bro . Marshall for setting our younger Brethren so brilliant an example .

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

Alt Books intended for Review should be addressed to the Hditor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 23 Great Queen Street , W . C . The Freemasons' Calendar anil "Director !/ for the Province of Oxford , shire and Neighbourhood . 1881 . Comprising Calendar for the Year , with Meetings of Masonic Bodies ; tho Grand and Provincial

Grand Officers Past and Presont ; Lodges and Chapters of the Province and Neighbourhood ; Universities' Lodges and Chapters , Mark , Knights Templars , Sue ., Sec . With tho Consent and under the immediate Patronage of H . R . H . Princo Leopold , K . G ., Past Grand Warden of England , and Right Worshipfnl Prov . Grand Master of the Province . Oxford : Bro . W . R . Bowden , 59 High-street .

BROTHER BOWDEN , who is the Editor as well as Publisher of this Calendar and Directory , has done a great service to his Province by compiling the information herein contained , and presenting it in so compact a form to his Oxfordshire brethren . The Chapter gives the days of meeting of the different Lodges , Chapters , & c ., in the

Province and neighbourhood , and also those fixed for the meetings of Grand Lodge , Grand Chapter , Grand Mark Lodge , the Board of General Purposes , tho Colonial Board , and the Lodge of Benevolence , and tho different Committees and Courts of our Institutions . Then follow lists of the present Officers of Grand Lodgo , Supreme Grand

Chapter , and Mark Grand Lodge ; present and past Officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Oxfordshire ; the present Officers of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Berks and Bucks , and Provincial Grand Mark Masters' Lodge of Berks and Oxon ; the Members and Officers of the Supreme Conncil of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , and the

Officers of the Great Priory of England and Wales . The Officers for the year 1880 , and in some cases for 1880-1 , together wifch'the Past Masters and Past Principals of the Lodges , Chapters , & -., in Oxford ancl vicinity , as well as of the Westminster and Keystone , No . 10 , both Lodge and Chapter ; tho University Lodge and Chapter , No .

1118 , & o ., complete the list . It would perhaps have been , however , better had the Officers and Past Masters of Isaac Newton University , No . 859 , Cambridge , been furnished , as almost the same relations exist , and there is the same interchange of courtesies between ifc and the Apollo University , No . 357 , Oxford , as there is between

the latter and the Westminster and Keystone , No . 10 , and the University , No . 1118 . of London . Brief particulars of the Craffc Insfcitutions and the Mark Benevolent Fund are given likewise , so thafc within modest compass the Oxford brethren will find all that ifc

is absolutely necessary they should know as regards times and places of certain Masonic meetings in the Province and Metropolis . Bro . Bowden is to be congratulated on the pains he has evidentl y bestowed on his work , and the near approach to accuracy ho has attained in all the sections of his Directory .

The Freemasons Manual and Official " Directory of the Provincial Qrand Lodge and Provincial Grand Chapter of Kent for 1881 . Pub - lished under the Authority of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Kent . Fourth Year of Publication . Edited by Thomas Samuel Warne , Rochester , P . M . No . 20 ; Past Pr .-vincial Assistant Grand Secretary , Kent ; P . Z . ; Provincial Grand Scribe E . Kent , & c . Dover : Printed by J . Terson , Town wall Street . 1881 .

GREAT merit is due to Bro . Warne for the manner in which he has arranged this Manual , and the excellence of tho matter—apart from what is purely statistical—he has collated . After the Officers of Grand Lodge and Frov . Grand Lodge follows the Roll of Lodges in the Province , and a little further on is a table compiled from Bro . W . J . Hughan ' s " Register of Lodges , " and Bro . Gould ' s " Atholl

Lodges , " showing in brief the disposition of the various " ancient " Lodges established iu Kent . Both in the Roll and the Table the dates of the several Lodge Warrants are supplied . As regards the Lodges , the Past Masters and present Officers are given in each , and ifc is perhaps worthy of remark , in passing , that many of these Past Masters ruled the Lodge more than a quarter of a century ago .

Thus the senior P . M . of Royal Kent Lodge of Antiquity No . 20 was W . M . in 1846 , and there are three others who filled the Chairs in 18 _ 8 , 1849 , and 1855 respectively . The Senior P . M . of Lod ge No . 125 , Hyfche , was W . M . in 1850 , I 860 , and a third time in LS 70 . The Senior of Lodge No . 158 Sheerness was the W . M . iu 1848 , and that of Lodge No . 199 Dover is elder still—speaking Masonically

having been W . M . as far back as 1841 . Ramsgate , however , can lay claim to the Senior P . M . of the Province , ifc seems ; for Bro . James Emmerson was elected to fill the chair of the Royal Navy Lodge No . 429 in 1840 . There is also a table showing the numerical strength of the Lodges , which , however , we are given to understand is incomplete , owing to some of them not having sent in a return of

particulars as requested . Thafc any Lodge should omit or object to supply such information is to be deplored , Similar particulars are furnished for the Supreme Grand Chaper , the Provincial Grand Chapter , and the Chapters on the roll of the Province , only there is no list showing the number of R . A . Companions . The Bye-laws of the Prov . G . Lodge and Prov . G . Chapter follow , and

also fcbeir respective statements of accounts for the past year . From these statements , it seems , P . G . Lodge voted for onr Central Charities per sundry Lodges £ 252 , and P . G . Chapter per sundry Chapters £ 73 10 s . Officers of the Rose Croix Chapter and Templar Preceptory come next in order , and the Directory is then closed with particulars

respecting the Prov . G . Mark Lodge and the Lodges on its roll , similar in all respects to fchogf * given in respect of Craffc and Arch Masonry . As Lord Holmos > l . 'l- is a Past G . M . M . M ., it is not surprising that Mark Masonry should seem to flourish here . We con . gratulate Bro . Warne on the completeness of his manual .