Provincial.

Following fche usual business of the Lodge was a social evening , non-Masons and ladies having been invited , and , as evincing the popularity of Bro . Boyer , the Visitors turned up in large numbers , nearly seventy being present . After supper a very excellent musical programme was gone through , as follows : —Solo and Chorus , " God save the Queen , " and the Worshipful Master ' s Song , " Here ' s to his health , " by Bro . Chas . Wroe ; Solo and Chorus , " God bless the Prince of Wales , " by Bro . Fred Eastwood ; Songs , " A Widow

Bird , " " To Bose , " and " The Enchantress , " by Miss . Bertha Guthrie ; Violin Solos , "National Airs , " & c . by Miss Gwladys Crawford . Maestro Ferrnccio Zernitz Bonavia , Diplomato al R Conservatoria di Milano , played in his usual masterly manner " Le Legende , " by Wieniawsky . Songs , "In the Cloisters , " and " Pauline , " by Master H . Beach ; Mandoline Solo , " Mazurka , " by Miss Florence Wroe ; and " Shaksperian Recitation , " by Miss Burt .

Loyal and Masonic toasts , the former submitted by the W . M ., were enthusiastically received . That of tha Ladies was proposed by Bro . F . J . Large S . D ., who commenced by remarking that at all social and festive gatherings where fche toast of the Ladies was proposed it naturally became one of very great importance , bufc on tha occasion of the annual social evening of the Manchester Lodgo , as they only had the opportunity of toasting the Ladies

once a year , it became absolutely the mosfc important toasfc of the evening , and he was sorry it was not entrusted to some one better able to propose it , as to do it anything like justice required at least . the eloquence of a Cicero or a Joseph Chamberlain , which unfortunately he was not possessed of .. In the first place he tendered to all the Ladies present , on behalf of the Manchester Lodge , a very cordial and hearty welcome , and was certain that not only many Brethren of that Lodge , but of all the Lodges in the kingdom , were

sorry they were unable to welcome the Ladies at all their gatherings . Why they could not do so it was not his duty to explain , but if he might be allowed to hint at a reason , he was afraid it was owing to a little peculiar failing in their character , their well-known inability to keep a secret , and , he was sure when the Ladies retired to the room upstairs they would lqok -with renewed interest upon the authentic picture hanging there of the only lady who ever attained the dignity of a Master Mason , and he thought if that lady were

alive now Messrs . Barnum and Bailey would offer her a fabulous annual income to go and sit among their Freaks—ho begged their pardon—ha meant the Prodigies , as she would most undoubtedly be the greatest Prodigy of the , lot , viz ., a lady who could keep a secret from her nearest and dearest friend . In proposing the toast of the Ladies one naturally wondered to what they could compare them , and he thought it rather strange that , owing to all the Ladies being or having been daughters , the only thing he could find to

compare fchem to was the sun , he meant the sun , not the son . The sun they knew rose in the morning to open and enliven the day , so did tha Ladies , especially the enlivening •part ,- sometimes .: When the sun shone upon then , as ifc did occasionally in Manchester , tbey felt glad and joyful , and so they did when they had the Ladies with them . When ' they had no sun , as ¦ was the usual state of matters in Manchester , they felt dull arid . depressed , and he asked the gentlemen present to try and imagine what . existence in

Manchester would be without the sun and without the ladies . The idea was awful ; purgatory itself would be paradise compared fco that . Then , again , they were told by the newspapers , and ' if'it was stated soin the papers it must be true , that the sun occasionally had spots upon its face . He was nofc going to be so rude as fco assert that any lady ever had spots upon her face , but he did say they had little imperfections upon : their dispositions , very fortunately for mere men , which prevented them from being quite angels , as he could not

think of anything more awful than having to sit day by day facing an angel . For his own part he was afraid in course of time he would throw hard words at that angel , and other men might be tempted to throw something harder still . Then , again , they were told by scientific men that if the sun stopped performing its natural functions , the world in a short time would ' cease to exist , bufc they did not require to be told by scientific men that'if they had no ladies , the Brotherhood of Freemasonry would soon be non-esfc , and tha

world would cease to exist . Common sense taught tbenvtbat . Then , again , in regard to the ladies , their vary characters were a combination of opposites , and they were a puzzle to all men , being quite a paradox . Their virtues were many and great , and their failings few and insignificant . They were ab once the , delight of our existence , the pride of our homes , and the ruination of our pockets . They were the most economical of mortals , and the most extravagant occasionally . He had no hesitation in stating fchafc , nearly ^ all

the ; ladies present ( especially the married ones ) would make twenty shillings go as far as most men would make forty go , and when they had done that they would go to dear Jack , and after explaining how economical they had been , would demand forty shillings for themselves to .. spend as * they liked ; and he was thankful to say in the majority of cases they got it , and might they continue to do so till the end of time . Then , again , see how methodical they were . He would like to know how many ladies afc the end of last year

told , dear Jack they had determined to keep an account of all the money they spentin future , and dear Jack bought them a splendid Diary for 1899 , ruled : with , double money columns , and explained to them that the left hand page was the debit side of the hook , and the right hand page the credit side , and that they were to debit themselves with what they received , and credit themselves , with what they paid away , and when they had mastered this lesson they commenced in their very best handwriting : —" Received from dear Jack , the 1 st . January 1899 , the sum of £ 20 , " and when thafc was all gone , and they

wanted , more , they went , to , dear Jack for : it , who wished to see how it was spent , so they produced their Diary , with " Received from dear Jack , £ 20 " on the one side , and on the other ( beautifully written ) : " Spent it all , £ 20 . " And so they might go on for any length of time , pointing out fche peculiarities of the ladies , but , as he said before , their , virtues were many and great , and their , failings few and far between . He thought the character of the ladies •was -never better summed , up in a very few . words , than -when Sir Walter Scott wrote : — " ' ¦ '•- '¦ ' * ' * . '''' *'' ¦ . ¦

. a ..: ; .- << : 0 , woman ! in our hours of ease , ''';' , ' •*' * ¦ *" - ' . ''¦'* * . *'"' : 'Uncertain , coy , and hard' to ' please ; ' ' ¦ "' ¦ . ' . '¦ "•* *' ¦ '* ¦ ' When pain and anguish wring the brow , . A ministering angel thou I " ' * . . . ' . ; "' ' '" ' . '*''' ' - "'; , He had-very great pleasure . in , calling upon all the Gentlemen and Brethren present to drink very heartily the toast of the Ladies .

Brother , Chas . Jordan Organist responded , and after thanking the Gentlemen and Brethren for the very hearty reception they had given to the toast claimed it as his privilege , being the youngest Mason present , to respond . He thought Brother Large , in proposing the toast , though ho had referred to fche many and great virtues of the ladies , had been rather hard upon some of their little failings . For his own part , so far , he had only seen the bright side of the ladies , but when ho had lived as long as Brother Largo probably he would know something about the other side of the question also . He felt very proud of tbe enthusiastic reception that had been , given to the

Provincial.

toast , and on behalf of fche ladies tendered to the Manchester Lodge their thanks . Bro . William Charlton , J . P ., I . P . M . proposed the health of the Worshipful Master in a brief , bufc very effective speech , in which he alluded to his many unostentatious acts of charity . Bro . Boyer responded , being visibly affected . In the first place ho thanked

Bro . Charlton for his kind words of commendation , and also the ladies for their attendance , hoping he might live to see very many pleasant evenings like the one they were then enjoying . His interest in the Craft was not merely of a passive kind , as he had endeavoured to prove , and feeling sure fcbab he possessed good Officers , who would loyally support him , he looked forward to a fairly prosperous year in the chair of the Lodge .

The toasfc of the Visitors was proposed by Bro . W . B . Akerman P . M . Prov . G . A . D . O . D . of 0 ., and responded to by Mr . Registrar Smith ( father of the S . W . ) , who , in the courpe of some very pungent remarks , delivered wifch true forensic ability , said of the Worshipful Master thafc he had known him for a period of forty-six years . His abbreviated title was that of W . M ., but to his mind fche letters meant not only W . M . —Worshipful Master , but W . M . —worthy man . Words like these , uttered by a gentleman occupying the high legal position of Mr . Smith , added another testimony to the popularity of Bro . Boyer .

The- last toast , " To all poor and distressed Masons , " given hy Bro . A . C . K . Smith S . W ., brought fco a close one of the mosfc enjoyable evenings in connection with the Manchester Lodge . We may say that during the proceedings Bro . Boyer had the active support of Bros . W . E . Davies Treas ., J . A . Thompson Sec , P . Z . da Cunah I . G ., J . Jordan , W . H . Ashworth , and C . Wroe Stewards . Among the numerous Visitors were Bros . W . H . Maxfield P . M . 201 P . P . G . O ., W . J * Sherlock 2109 , and A . J . Thomas Doric , 58 ( Canada ) .

Fifth Annual Supper And Ladies' Night Of The Citadel Lodge Of Instruction, No. 1897.

FIFTH ANNUAL SUPPER AND LADIES' NIGHT OF THE CITADEL LODGE OF INSTRUCTION , No . 1897 .

THIS event was celebrated on Friday , 17 th inst ., at the Holborn Restaurant . Amongst the members and their Lady friends who attended to support the Chairman Bro . Fred Dunstan P . M . Secretary 1326 P . A . G . D . C . Middx . Preceptor , were : —Bros . Geo . Clark P . M . and Mrs . Clark , H . J . Galley and Mrs . Galley , C . J . Davison P . M . P . G . D . Middx . and Mrs . Davison ,

T . Feistel and the Misses Feistel , S . 3 . Millin P . M ., Mrs . Millin , Miss Millin and Miss Violet Millin , E . H . Keighley and Mrs . Keighley , Gordon Lamer and Mrs . Larner , Bro . and Mrs . Alderman , Bro . and Mrs . Russell , G . D . Fraser and Mrs . Fraser , W . Whiteside and Mrs . Whiteside , W . E . " Jeanes and Mrs . Jeanes , Bro . A . B . Horstead and Mrs . Horstead , Mr . and Mrs ;

Ambrose Horstead , Mrs . Dunstan and two Misses Dunstan , Bro . U . B . Ladler , F . W . Bishop , J . H . Bishop , E . 3 . Van Noorden , Mrs . A . Van Noorden , and Miss Emily Van Noorden , A . Wyatt , Harry Willsmer Secretary , Miss Frances Pink , Bro . J . Bartlett , A . W . Wade , Harry Hall , Miss A . Stewart , W . S . Clark and Mrs . Clark , Bro . and Miss Legg , & c , numbering in all sixty-two . An excellent programme of music and a few toasts brought to a close an exceptionally enjoyable evening .

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