Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Yorkshire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WEST YORKSHIRE .

AT the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire , holden in the Town Hall ,

Wakefield , on Wednesday , 19 th mst ., at 2 ' 0 p . m ., under the banners of Unanimity Lodge , No . 154 , Wakefield Lodge , No . 495 , aDd Sincerity Lodge , No . 1019 , there were present the following Provincial Grand Officers : — Bros . Henry Smith acting Master , William Harrop acting Deputy Master , Bev . T . C . Smyth , D . D ., Senior Warden , Biohard Jessop

Junior Warden ; B . Bronghton , Col . J . Day , T . Bateman For , J . P ., and W . F . Smithson Past Wardens ; Bev . Ben . Mayou Past as Chaplain , Rev . & .. H . B . LeeBChaplain , Jotan Gibbs Treasurer ; Charles Letch Mason , Thomas Bnddook , Henry Oxley , and Thomas Harrison Past Treasurers ; Captain Joseph Bottomley Past as Eegistrar ; John Cooper Malcolm and Joseph Binney Past Begistrar ; Herbert

George Edward Green Secretary ; John William Balmo and Albert Walker Senior Deacons ; W . C . Lnpton and John Cass , J . P ., Junior Deacons ; C . Tait Ehodes , William Henry Pawson , Davis Biohard Glover , William Gaukroger , J . P ., Jame 3 Bedford , George Marshall , Charles E . Ehodes , John Bead Dore , T . Ibbetson Walker , Frederick Cleeves , William Ridgard Massie . and Fred Band Past

Deacons ; Charles Gott , John Barker , Thomas W . Boome , Reuben Castle , J . Lawton , W . Watson , and William Greaves Past Sopts . of Works ; Tudor Trevor Dir . of Cers ., Sydney Thomas Steele Deputy Dir . of Cers ., JCharles A . Phillips Assistant Dir . of Cers . ; Austin Boberts , J . W . Monokman , Edmund Lord , Charles Howroyd , John Dyson , and James Jenkin Past Dirs . of Ceremonies ; Colonel F . C .

Wemyss Past as Sword Boaror ; William Wilson Maovay , John Jos . Rutherford , and John F . Tanner Past Sword Bearers ; John Hey Standard Bearer , AVilliam Fitton as Standard Bearer ; William Lay . cook , William Asquith , Bobert Biley , Thomas Eiloy , Joseph Wilson , and Bobert Fisher Past Standard Bearers ; George Carbert Past as Organist ; William Ash , Max Blume , and George Frederick Carr Past Organists ; Joseph Hatthewman Assistant Secretary , Benjamin

Fawcett Glover Pursuivant , Charles Shaw Assist . Pursuivant ; Geo . Altborp , Frederick Wm . Turner , Biohard Cliffe , Thomas Gaukroger , Bobert Henry Armitage , John Shoesmith , and G . Blackburn Past Pursuivants ; W . H . D . Horsfall , Alfred Scarth , Wm . Fisher Tasker , Thomas Norfolk , Wm . Barrow Wall , and Louis Eismann Stewards ; Thomas Leiehton Tvler . Thomas Chester Assistant Tvler : also

Worshipful Masters , Past Masters , Acting Wardens , and Brethren from Lodges 61 , 139 , 149 , 154 , 208 , 242 , 258 , 264 , 265 , 275 , 289 , 290 , 296 , 302 , 304 , 306 , 307 , 308 , 337 , 380 , 387 , 408 , 439 , 448 , 495 , 521 , 600 , 603 , 652 , 750 , 827 , 904 , 910 , 974 , 1001 , 1018 , 1019 , 1034 , 1042 , 1102 , 1108 , 1211 , 1214 , 1221 , 1231 , 1239 , 1283 , 1301 , 1302 , 1311 , 1462 , 1513 , 1514 , 1522 , 1542 , 1545 , 1645 , 1648 , 1736 , 1779 , 1783 ,

2035 , 2069 , 2091 , 2259 , 2261 , 2263 , 2268 , 2321 , 2330 . Lodges unrepresented : —401 , 458 , 810 , 837 , 971 . Visitor—Bro . T . Fletcher Walker Prov . G . Steward Notts . The acting Provincial Grand Master Bro . Henry Smith ,

the acting Deputy Provincial Grand Master Bro . William Harrop , and tho Provincial Grand Officers entered at 2 " 15 . The Provincial Grand Lodge was opened in form ; solemn prayer was offered ; and a portion of Holy Scripture read by tho Provincial Grand Chaplains .

Letters and telegrams of apology were received from the Provincial Grand Master Bro . T . W . Tew , J . P ., Brother Colonel the Hon . W . T . Orde-Powlett Past Grand Warden D . P . G . M . N . and E . Yorks ., also from forty-six Worshipful Masters , Past Masters , and Brethren .

The acting Provincial Grand Master , the acting Deputy , and the Officers of Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Lodge were saluted according to antient custom , after which the roll of Lodges was called , and it was found that 70 out of 75 were represented .

The roll of Present and Past Grand Officers was after wards called .

The minutes of Provincial Grand Lodge , holden at Bradford , on Wednesday , the 26 th of October 1892 , were presented and confirmed . The acting Provincial Grand Master then delivered the following address : —

BRETHREN , —It is exceedingly gratifying to me to sea onr Annual Communication so numerously attended . It affords strong -evidence of your oontinued interest in the Craft , and at the same time enables you to renew your acquaintance with old and tried friends , and to welcome the many new faces which are yearly to be seen at our

gatherings . The Province of West Yorkshire—in its numbers , its organisation , its enthusiasm , and its generous acts of charity—may be regarded , I venture to believe , as a successful Masonic combination . We are proud of it , and we try to maintain its efficiency and to ensure its

progress , and I trust that we , and those who come after as , will ever continue to do so ; but we cannot always expeot to snstain this high tide of prosperity . As in all human institutions , founded though they may be even upon Masonic principles , we must expect change ,

and must be prepared in our turn for vicissitudes and for less prosperous circumstances . Unhappily , for the last two years , we have lamented the absence from our midst of onr venerated Provincial Grand Master , Brother Thomas William Tew . Without his guiding hand , his ardent

enthusiasm , and his elevating inflnence , we have yet struggled on , for we have been buoyed up with hope—we have trusted that " TiniP , the great healer , " would restore him to us—that we should again see his face , and hear his cheery voice in onr assemblies . Brethren , it is my painful duty to quench that hope . Feeling that there is no prospect of his ever being able to discharge the duties of

his exalted office in the way in which he considers they should be discharged , our Eight AVorshipfnl Provincial Grand Master has already placed his resignation in the hands of the Grand Secretary , with the request that it shall be presented to the Most Worshipful Grand Master , H . B . H . the Prince of Wales , at the earliest moment consistent with expediency and the convenience of this Province .

Brethren , this is a great blow to West Yorkshire . It is almost impossible to rate too highly the splendid services and constant dovotion of our Provincial Grand Master . Consider his strong personality ; his genial hospitality ; his unbounded generosity ; his entire lack of personal ambition ; bis noble advooaoy and support of onr Charities ; his munificently fostering care of our Masonic

Library ; bis unwearied efforts to elevate the character of our assemblies—to guide , to teach , and to sustain us . Consider , I say , all these attributes , and you will agroe with me that he is a Provincial Grand Master whom it is a calamity for us to lose , and whom it will be difficult , if not impossible for us to replace . We , tho Freemasons of West Yorkshire , owe a deep debt of gratitude to Bro . Thomas William Tew , for , by his efforts , he has not

only secured the most cordial relationship between us aDd Grand Lodge , but he has placed us in the foremost rank of Provincial Masonic communities . He has spared neither labour nor time in our servico—for us he has spent many an hour of study and rosearohon our behalf he has often left his own domestic oirole , and regardless of weather or season , has travelled many a weary mile—in a word , Brethren , in the interests of the Masons of nig Province , times without number he has sacrificed his health , his comfort , and his

. Devotion like this should not , could not fail to meet with appreciation . He has won the esteem , the respeot , and the affection of us all ; and I do not hesitate to assert that no more popular chief , and oertainly none more deserving popularity , exists than onr Rt . W . Bro . Thomas William Tew .

Let ns cherish the memory of bis services , and revere his name ; and though we may not bo able to open our hands so generously , or display so great practical benevolence , we can , at any rate , emulate his uprightness , his attention to duty , and his disregard of personal advantage or reward . Connected with this subjeot , though of considerably less

consequence , I feel it my duty to say that the retirement of our Provincial Grand Master will also involve the resignation of his Deputy . For 23 years I have served the Craft , and have endeavoured , whether as Seoretary or Deputy , to improve its organization , and maintain its reputation . Since the illness of Bro . Tew , I have had constant personal communication with him , and , to

the best of my ability , I have administered the affairs of the Province ; and on the appointment of his aucoessor , I think I may claim to do what I long contemplated , that is , retire from this onerous and important post . Should , however , it be the wish of the new Provincial Grand

Master , and solely with the object of promoting the interests of Freemasonry in West Yorkshire , I would , though very reluctantly , put aside any question of personal convenience , and consent to remain in office until our new chief shall have had time to make himself to some extent acquainted with the routine work of the Province , and to consider the question of the appointment of my successor .

Who our successors may be I know not ; some accomplished gentleman and true Freemason will doubtless be found by our Boyal Grand Master to take the place of Bro . Tew , and I venture to wy that in the selection for that office representations from this Province will receive suitable consideration . Whilst on personal matters , let me take this opportunity of

expressing the thanks of this Province to our very Reverend Brother the Dean of York , for his recent visit amongst us , and for the exceedingly practical and valuable address delivered by him to Defence Lodge , No . 1211 , Leeds , on that oocasion . The cordial and fraternal feeling which has so long existed between ourselves and the sister Province of North and East Yorkshire must necessarily be

strengthened and increased by such visits , and the bold and outspoken utterances—not by way of apology , Brethren , nor of defence , for we need neither—the manly exposition of the Rev . Dean , of what Freemasonry is , and what it is oapable of becoming , will find an echo in the heart of every Brother worthy of the name , and will tend to remove the mistaken impressions of the outside world , whioh

doubtless to some extent have been prejudicial to our Order . Our Provincial Grand Master applauds , too , the action of Acaoia , Defence , St . Nicholas , and other Lodges , for their efforts to promote the progress of Masonic knowledge ; and is pleased also to see that onr worthy Librarian ( Bro . William Watson ) is devoting some por .

tion of his time to this useful work , and giving such Lodges as may seek it , the benefit of his extensive and long sustained research into Masonic history and tradition ; all this shows that the seed which Bro . Tew has long and persistently sown is bearing fruit , and it is , I assure you , a matter of profound satisfaction to onr Provincial Grand Master in his enforced retirement .

And now to turn to less personal matters . From the Report prepared by our Provincial Grand Secretary , we find that our numbers are 3 , 655 , as against 3 , 647 last year , and that 256 new men , I hope good and true men , have been admitted to our Order ; that 124 brethren , for reasons whioh were dontless good , bat which wo

cannot help regretting , have resigned ; that the "icy hands of death " have removed from our ranks no less than 82 members of our fraternity , thus forming gaps in families and Lodges never again to b « filled ; that there have been 42 exclusions ; and that 180 brethren remain in arrears . In relation to this laBt most unpleasant