Notices Of Meetings.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS .

MOIBA LODGE , No . 92 .

fTUlE installation meeting of this Lodge was hold on Thursday , the -I- 5 th instant , at the Albion Tavern , E . G . Present : —Bros . ll . W . Tweodio W . M ., Colonel Sir Norman W . Pringle , Ba-t ., S . W ., GGreiner J . W ., T . L . Wilkinson P . M . Treasure ! ' , Josiah Houle Secretary , J . P . Murrough S . D ., M . F . Tweedie J . D , R . F . Gould ( P . G . D . ) P . M .,

Sir Alfred Dent ( K . C . M . G . ) P . M ., W . Noakes P . M ., G . C . Andrew P . M ., W . Bohm P . M ., S . Shorter P . M ., Adam Pringle P . M ., J . A . Muitlaud , W . Kidner , J . P . Fearfield , E . Greiner , J . M . Mitchell , M . A . Tweedie , Rev . R . I . Woodhonse . Also the following Visitors : —Bros . Edward Terry Grand Treasurer , E . J . Barron P . G . D ., Frank Richardson P . G . D .,

Col . R . W . Eddts Grand Superintendent of Works , Major George Lambert P . G . Sword Bearer , W . M . Bywater P . G . Sword Bearer , W . H . Rylanda P . G . Steward W . M . 2 , Lieut-Col . S . C . Pratt , R . A ., W . M . 2076 , B . A . Charlesworth 357 , George Gardner W . M . 2309 , W . Bafct P . M . 162 , J . E . Page 540 , J . W . Noakes 1982 , E . North , W . G . Poole 860 , C . G . Poole 1892 , R . Sheriff W . M . 196 , J . H . Smith

P . P . G . C , H . Reid P . M . 142 , W . Clowes 2012 , E . J . Castle , Q . C ., P . M . 143 , A . Rewtor 1159 , G . R . Dusby P . M . 59 , S . E . Southgate S . W . 700 , G . Boultou P . M . 143 , L . Hansard P . M . 1506 , W . H . Hooker 1670 , T . H . Gardiner 1150 , E . Roberts 917 , and T . Lawler 1296 . Among those who were unavoidably prevented from attending were the Grand Registrar , the President of the Board of General Purposes ,

the Grand Secretary , Bros . Br . Ralph Gooding P . G . D ., P . de Lande Long P . G . D ., E . Letohworth P . G . D ., Walter Besant Treasurer 2076 , Professor T . Hayter Lewis S . W . 2076 , Serjeant Robertson , and others . After the minutes of the preceding meeting had been duly confirmed , Bro . Sir Norman Pringle , Bart ., W . M . elect , was presented

by Bro . T . L . Wilkinson , and installed , according to ancient form , by Bro . R . F . Gould . The following office-bearers were then invested : — Bros . R . W . Tweedie I . P . M ., G . Greiner S . W ., J . P . Murrough J . W ., T . L . Wilkinson P . M . Treasurer , Josiah Houle P . M . Secretary , M . F . Tweedie S . D ., J . P . Fearfield J . D ., E . Greiner I . G ., and B .

Banks Tyler . All business being concluded , tbe brethren adjourned fco refreshment , and on the removal of the oloth , the customary Loyal and Masonio toasts met with a due and fervent response . Bro . E . J . Barron P . G . D . replied for the Grand Officers , and Bros . W . H . Rylands P . G . Steward W . M . 2 , and Lient .-Col . Pratt W . M . 2076 for the Visitors .

The toast of the evening , the Memory of Earl Moira , the Patron of the Lodge , was proposed in eloquent terms by Bro . Wilkinson . Space altogether forbids onr doing justice to this Oration , which will take rank among the best efforts , in a similar direction , of Bro . Wilkinson . Bufc we have much pleasure in reporting the excellent

speech of the W . M ., with which our notice of this most interesting meeting must be brought to a close . In replying to the toast of the W . M ., Bro . Sir Norman Pringle said , Bro . P . M . Tweedie , I thank you for the kind manner iu which you have proposed my health , aud you , brethren , most heartily , for the cordiality with which it has

been received . I have been longer than some of you in climbing to the position in whioh I now find myself , but ; the exigencies of military service , by requiring me to be present with my regiment abroad , havo operated to a certain extent to my disadvantage , Masonioally , by arresting the flow of promotion which in the ordinary

case would have carried me through all the minor offices , and rendered me eligible for tho chair some years before ifc has actuall y boen my good fortune to fill it . But I cannot thank you too warmly , or those brethren who kindly stood aside that I might last year be invested with the Senior Warden's collar , thus conveying to me

tho gratifying assurance thafc both the members and Officers were conscious of my wish to work up to the chair , and of the causes which bad prevented me from so doing . Soldiers who are Masons have to contend with very grave disabilities , from which other sections of our Fraternity are exempt . Prominent among theso is

the constant shifting of quarters , whioh renders it impossible for a military brother , except on very rare occasions , to remain at any one station sufficiently long to reap the reward due to faithful service iu the subordinate offices by election to the Master ' s chair . I was appointed an Officer of this Lodge in 1880 , but vacated the

appointment on joing tho headquarters of my regiment at Malta . Returning to England , I again took office , but only to again vacate it by embarking for active service in Egypt . Since then I have been an officebearer in Lodges at Malta and Gibraltar , and lastly ( until my promotion to-night ) for the third time as one of the subordinate

officers of No . 92 . In former days things were very different . At one time almost every British regiment had a Lodge attached to ifc , and to the influence of theso military or travelling Lodges is dne much of the Masonio progress of the last century , more especially in America . There was a famous

Lodgo in my own regiment , formerly the 38 fch Foot , now the 1 st Battalion South Staffordshire , for which a warrant , bearing tho number 441 , was granted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1765 . This Lodge had a remarkable history . The records of the regiment , the Lodge-chest , warrant , and jewels were on ono occasion captured

by the enemy . The regimental records wero never recovered , but tho property of the Lodge was returned intact . Later in its career its proceedings , from the publicity accorded them , wero a common topic of discussion in the Masonic Press . Bat I shall here only mention that Lodge No . 441 , in the 38 th Foot , was one of the nine

Lodges present at the inauguration of the Grand Lodge of New Yoik , in 1782 , and an officer of tho regiment and the Lodge , Lieutenant John Studholme Brownrigg , was elected tho first Senior Grand Warden of the new governing body . Of theso nine Lodges which

took part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Now York , it is no . a little remarkable that no less than six were attached to British regiments then forming a portion of the garrison . I havo been unable to resist this passing allusion to an old aud distinguished X- cdge , attached for upwards of a century to the regiment which I

Notices Of Meetings.

have so recently had the honour to command . The Lodgo wa *** in working order up to 1860 , but , owing to our being split up in detachments , then ceased to work . But I must now endeavour to show yon that there are other and s ' . tongor reasons than the pleading associations connected with my own regimental career , for tho wish

I have so long entertained to fill the important office in which I have been this evening so ably installed by Bro . Gould , P . M . Moira Lodge and P . G . D . In England , so far as I am informed , there H no documentary evidence relating to the actual proceedings of Lodges whioh is of older date than the Grand Lodge of England .

By this I moan that there are no Lodge minutes on record earlier than 1717 . The W . M . of the oldest English Lodgo I am glad to say is present , and at a later period I dare say ho will kindly pub me right if I am wrong in that supposition . To proceed , however , with my remarks . In Scotland the circumstances of the

Lodges were very different , and both minutes aud records abound . From these I shall next make a brief selection . It would appeal- from the oldest minute book of St . John's Lodge , Kelso , which dates from 1701 , that in that year , "George Faa was the Master . " This name is well known on the Border , being the

name of the Royal Family of the Gipsy tribe located there . In the next year , under the date , Kelso , 2 nd June 1702 , the minutes record that " the Company of Masons have selected the honourable Sir Johu Pringall to be Master iu place of the deceased deacon Faa , aud to continue as Master until St . John ' s day next , when the Company

shall again have it under their consideration whether to elect another or continue the said Sir John Pringall . " When St . John ' s Day arrived , Sir John Pringle was unanimously re-elected . And here I must pause to explain why theso extracts have never been recited to you . Ifc would seem that in 1702 , or fifteen years before there

waa a Grand Lodge of England , my direct ancestor—afc how many removes I cannot at the moment say , without reference to family documents—succeeded either the King of the Gipsies , or one of thaf . royal line , aa Master of the Kelso Lodge . One more quotation' and I have done . The Grand Secretary of Scotland , in his history of fche

Lodge of Edinburgh , records under the date of 24 th June 1670 , the admission of Walter Pringle , Advocate , as " brother and fellow-oraffc . " This Walter Pringle was the brother of my direct ancestor , Sir Robert Pringle , and with his name , I reach the highest point fco whioh I can trace my Masonic pedigree , that is to say , 219 years

from the present date . But it will suffice , I hope , to establish the point whioh I am anxious to submit for your consideration . It is , that the love of Masonry , with which I sincerely trust I am imbued , has come down to me by inheritance , and that in seeking admission into the Craft , as well as iu my fortunate selection of a Mother Lodge ,

I have been guided by an instinctive feeling ,, which has happily caused my feet to tread in the footsteps of those brethren of my name and family , in the 17 th and 18 th century , whose connection with the Lodges of Edinburgh aud Kelso respectively I have briefly adverted fco . Lastly , Brethren , and I hope that I have not fatigued you with

my remarks , let me assure you that during my year of office it will be my constant aim to act according to the traditions of this chair , and to fill as worthily as I can a seat whioh has been well and usefully occupied , both by brethren in the remote past , and by the goodly array of Past Masters now present , in times with which we are more familiar .

FORTITUDE LODGE , No . 105 .

rPHE annual meeting was held afc fche Freemasons' Hall , Plymouth , - * - on the 9 th inst ,, when the brethren elected Bro . Samuel Edgoumbe W . M . Bro . J . T . Browning , declined to allow himself to be re-elected as Treasurer , pleading various engagements .

Bro . A . W . Spinney was then elected to succeed him . Bro . W . H . Phillips was re-eleoted the Tyler . A unanimous vote of thanks waa accorded to Bro . Browning for the able and efficient services he had rendered the Lodge as its Treasurer for the past five years .

BRITISH UNION LODGE , No . 114 .

A LARGE and representative body of brethren assembled afc fcho Masonic Hall , Ipswich , on Thursday , the 5 th inst ., on the occasion of the installation of Bro . H . C . Casley as W . M . The ceremony of installation was most impressively performed by Bro . Sir John Monckton P . G . S . W . England , the chair of S . W . being occupied by Bro . Peter do Lande Long P . M . P . G . D . The W . M . then invested

his Officers , as follow : —Bros . R . Tidbury , M . D ., I . P . M ., Sam . Gooding S . W ., Thos . Palmer , Mas . Baa , J . W ., R . N . Sanderson Chaplain , W . Boby Treasurer , B . P . Grimsey Secretary , A . F . Penraven S . D ., 0 . E . Tempest J . D ., W . Clarke D . C , Thos . Palmer Organist , Thomas B , Read I . G ., F . J . W . Wood and J . 11 . Geard Stewards , George

Gould Tyler . Afc the conclusion of the coremony a most roohercho banquet was served , in tho style for which the British Union Lodgo has long been famous . After the usual Loyal toasts , given by tho W . M ., and received with full Masonic honours , the W . M . gave the Earl of Carnarvon M . W . Pro G . M ., the Earl of Lathom

R . W . D . G . M ., and the Grand Officers , present and past , coupled with tho name of Wor . Bro . Petor de Lando Long , who , in responding , made special allusion to the interest he had ever taken in tho administration of the affairs of tho Masonio Girls' Institution , and tho great benefits derived therefrom by candidates from the Province of

Suffolk . The toasr of the R . W . Lord Henniker P . G . M ., tho V . W . Rev . C . J . Martyn P . G . Chaplain , D . P . G . M . Suffolk , and tho Officers of Provincial Grand Lodge , present and past , was responded to by Bros . Flintham and Tracy . The W . M . then gave the toast of tho Installing Master ( Wor . Sir John Monckton ) , who had done him thehon .

- ur eleven years ago of installing him into tho chair of W . M . of tho British Union Lodge , and had now come down at no small personal inconvenience to perform the same ceremony . Although Bro . Sir John

Monckton was a member of the Lodge , it was no small honour for the brethren to havo amorg tbotn ao distinguished a Mason , ranking us he did among the very highest in England , wh 1 st ; on the Confcinei t ho 1 . id a wide-spread reputation , having received distinctions at tjl-o