Nottinghamshire.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE .

HIS Honour Judge Masterman , D . C . L ., has just been appointed Deputy Prov . G . Master of Nottinghamshire , in place ofthe late Lieut .-Col . William Newton , whose death took place at Newark last month . The announcement that his Honour has consented to undertake the office at the

request of the Duke of Portland Provincial Grand Master will be received with general gratification by members of the Craft . Dr . Masterman has for many years manifested the warmest interest in regard to Masonry , and has been selected for some of the highest honours in the Order . He is a Past

Grand Deacon of England , and is at present Superintendent of the Nottinghamshire Provincial Chapter of Royal Arch Masons , his predecessor being the late . Sir Henry Bromley , who held the office from 1882 to 1895 . His Honour is also Deputy Grand Master of the Nottinghamshire Provincial

Mark Lodge . After the lamented death of Col . Newton , followed more recently by another heavy loss occasioned through the demise of Bro . Arthur Stubbs Provincial Grand Secretary , it was felt that at a very important period in the

history of the Craft in the county no more fitting appointment could be made than that of Judge Masterman , to act as the immediate supporter of the Duke of Portland , the head of the Province .

Church Service.

CHURCH SERVICE .

A MASONIC Service of unusual interest will take place at St . Lawrence Jewry , on Friday , 21 st April , at 5 p . m . The Rector , the Rev . J . Stephen Barrass , is Chaplain to the Gallery Lodge , No . 1928 , and the Service will be held under the auspices of that Lodge . The Church is one of Sir

Christopher Wren ' s , and the offertory will be for the restoration ofthe organ , built by Renatus Harris in 1680 ; the organ case is rich with the carving of Grinling Gibbons . Archdeacon Sinclair will be the preacher , and all the adult members of the choir will be Freemasons . Bro . Herbert

Grover will sing a solo . Applications for tickets by Freemasons wishing to attend should be made to the Rev . J . S . Barrass , at St . Lawrence Jewry Vestry , Gresham Street , E . C . The Gallery Lodge has obtained a dispensation to enable the Brethren to wear Masonic clothing on the occasion .

Responding to the toast of the Visitors , at a recent meeting of the Drury Lane Lodge , Bro . T . Skewes Cox , M . P ., Past G . Steward told a story of "dear old Jonnny Toole , " who late one night at Oxford , desiring to know the way to the " Randolph , " sought the services of a constable .

Thinking it best to put himself on good terms with the guardian of the peace , he chatted to him on the way , and to beguile the time asked his guide if he would like some "Reminiscences . " The worthy constable thanked Bro . Toole for his offer , but he was afraid all the houses were

closed . When the Officers of the Lodge was proposed by the W . M ., and responded to by Bros . Lionel Rignold and J . H . Barnes , it was found that the latter also had a "Reminiscence . " It was to the effect that in 1872 , when playing in " The Lady of the Lake , " at the Royal Drury Lane , under the

management of F . B . Chatterton , he had to call upon a troop of soldiers to follow him and disperse a party of rebels . One night he did not notice that the soldiers had failed to appear on the stage , and spoke the lines as usual . The audience laughed , and the " situation" collapsed . Earnestness was

his excuse to Chatterton afterwards , but that practical manager , with undue emphasis , asserted that Barnes was far too earnest . These amusing " Reminiscences" kept the Brethren together in greater number than usual until the close .

There are many indications that a conversazione and dance to be held in the Rathmines Town Hall , on Thursday , 20 th April , in aid of the Century Fund of the Masonic Orphan Boys School , will be a brilliant success .

Even at this early date the demand for tickets has been most encouraging to the promoters , who are making the most elaborate preparations for the occasion . The proceedings are under the patronage of his Grace the Duke of Abercorn .

Church Service.

Referring to our paragraph ofthe nth inst ., we ought to have mentioned that the monuments being prepared by the firm of our Bro . Harris P . M . 1349 , the popular Secretary of the Israel Lodge of Instruction , are to the memory of the

late Bro . Barny Barnato , Bro . Woolf Joel , Bro . Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild , and Bro . Dr . Cornelius Herz—the fact of the latter ' s connection with the Craft having been communicated to Bro . Harris by the widow , with some amount of pride .

The St . Cecilia Lodge will give a ball in the Town Hall , Rathmines , on 7 th April , in aid of the Victoria Jubilee Masonic Annuity Fund . The ball will be under the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn .

The power of the Master in his Lodge is absolute . No appeal lies from him to the Lodge , as he alone is responsible for its work .

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

"A SPRIG OF ACACIA . "

IN the presence of a large number of mourners , and with manifold tokens of the respect in which the deceased was held , the funeral of the late Bro . Arthur Stubbs took place on Saturday , at the Nottingham Church Cemetery . The deceased , whose state of health had for a long time given

cause for considerable anxiety , died on Wednesday night , 15 th inst ., in his 59 th year . He was in business as a yarn agent in Journal Chambers , Pelham Street , and although he never took any part in the public affairs of the city he was known in a special manner both in Nottingham and

throughout the county , by reason of his prominent association with the Masonic body . After filling the Office of Assistant Secretary to the Province , he succeeded to the chief position as Provincial Grand Secretary in 18 90 , upon the retirement of Dr . Hatherley . The deceased had obtained the highest

honours in connection Avith theCraft . Apart from the Provincial Grand rank , which he held with conspicuous ability , he was chosen last year as one of the Grand Lodge Officers of England , and at the time of his death held the position of Grand Standard Bearer . It may be a matter of interest also

to recall that Bro . Stubbs was ori ginally associated in a prominent degree with Masonry in Derbyshire . He was a Past Master of the St . Oswald Lodge , No . 850 , which meets at Ashbourne ; subsequently he became Prov . G . R . of Derbyshire , and later one of the Prov . G . Wardens ofthe

Province . The obsequies were of a very simple character , in accordance with the wish which had been expressed by the deceased , who was a man of unostentatious demeanour . There was a very large gathering of Brethren at the grave side .

THERE was an exceptionally large muster of Brethren at the funeral on Monday of Bro . H . J . Barter , of Plymouth , which took place at the cemetery in the afternoon . The deceased was for twenty years closel y identified with Lodge 1247 , and many of its members attended . The cortege consisted of twenty-three vehicles , fourteen of which

containing Freemasons , preceded the hearse . At the graveside , after a service , conducted by Rev . J . S . Mathers ( Unitarian ) , Bro . Lord read solemnly the impressive Masonic burial service , and each Mason filed past the grave and

dropped therein a sprig of acacia . The coffin bore many beautiful wreaths , one of which was sent from the Liberal Club , another from the Lodge with which the late Bro . Barter was connected , and a third from the Masonic Dance Committee .

THE Rev . Canon Edward Ferrier , M . A ., of Castletown , died at his residence , on Tuesday , 14 th inst ., after a lingering illness . Our Rev . Brother was the first Chaplain of the Isle of Man Provincial Grand Lodge , and was very active in the important branch of charity work in connection with the Craft .

ON Saturday , nth inst ., the funeral of Bro . James Cutts , a well-known local Brother , took place at Anfield Cemetery , in the presence of a large number of friends . Bro .

Cutts , who died the previous Wednesday , was a member of the Alliance Lodge , No . 667 , and of the Mariners Chapter , No . 249 . At the graveside was a large attendance of Brethren .

Death.

DEATH .

CLARKE . — At St . Leonards-on-Sea , on the 22 nd inst ., John Wells Clarke late of 248 Upper Street , Islington , aged 41 years , '