Lodge Of Peace, No. 149, Meltham.

o ' olock , Bro . Joseph Knight , of the Swan Inn , Meltham , being the caterer ; it reflected the highest credit upon Bro . Knight . Accommodation was provided for about 100 persons . The tables were decorated with very rare plants , from the conservatory at Thickhollins Hall , kindly lent for the occasion by Bro . J . W . Carlile . Each uapkin had in it a splendid bouquet for the coat . On the top or cross table we

noticed that the Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master of the Province of West Yorkshire , Bro . T . W . Tew J . P ., occupied the chair . On his right were seated Bros . Bentley Shaw W . P . D . P . G . M . P . G . D . of England D . L ., Booth W . P . G . S . W . of Wost Yorkshire , John Hirst jun . J . P . W . P . G . J . W . of West Yorkshire , Simpsou W . P . P . G . W ., H . Smith P . G . Secretary West Yorkshire , and Charles Rayner I . P . M .

Lodge of Peace . On his left were seated Bros . Rev . W . T . M . Sylvester P . P . G . C . Provincial Grand Chaplain of West Yorkshire , Rev . R . Oldlield , J . W . Carlile , T . A . Haigh P . M . Lodge of Peace and P . P . G . D ., Jonas Craren P . P . G . S . W ., and Dr . Spark P . P . Graud Organist of Leeds . The choir consisted of Bros . Georgo Milnes , Joe Wood , William Todd , aud B . Stocks : J . Marshall piano .

The cloth having been removed , the Queen was given by the Chairman , and having been duly honoured , the Most Worshipful the Grand Master of Eugtaud , His Royal Highness the Priuoe of Wales , K . G ., & c , was next given aud received with cheers . Tho next toast was the M . W . Pro G . M . the Right Hon . the Earl of Carnarvon , also R . W . Dep . G . M . the Right Hon . Lord Skelmersdale ,

and the rest of the Graud Officers past and present , proposed by the Chair , and responded to by Bro . Bentley Shaw P . G . D . of England . The Chairman , in giving the toast of the R . W . P . G . M ., Lieut-Col . Sir Henry Edwards , Bart ., said : We could hardly expect to be favoured with the presence of Sir Henry Edwards on this occasionhut you will echo this sentiment—we rejoice in this opportunity to

drink his good health . Although absent he desires me to express his congratulations to the brethren assembled ou the 100 th year of existence of this excellent and valued Lodge , and I , as his Deputy , shall not fail to inform him of the admirable working order in which I find the Lodge of Peace , and on the whole with which this day ' s arrangements have been organised . We must look upon another

occasion when a Prov . Grand Master was present in this very room . I refer to the occasion of the Marquis of Ripon visiting Meltham , in 1868 , and the manner in which he laid the foundation stone according to Masonio ritual of the Convalescent Home , and a lasting memorial of the benevolence of Mr . Brook . Greatly do we , as Freemasons , regret the circumstances which deprived the Craft of the Marquis of

Ripon . I fear ho will never return to us again in the capacity of our Prov . Grand Master . We have , however , in his place Sir Henry Edwards , a Baronet who has shown his appreciation of the honour which our Royal Grand Master has conferred upon him , as the head of tho Craft in West Yorkshire , by always being in his place in Provincial Grand Lodge . I am requested to inform yon that our Summer

Meeting is on the 18 th July , at Sheffield , and you will see Sir Henry Edwards in his place on that occasion . We have Bro . Booth from the Lodge of Probity , the same Lodge as that to which Sir Henry Edwards belongs ; we have also the late Deputy Provincial Grand Master preseut with us . It is gratifying to every one of us that he has recovered so far from his indisposition as to give ns the light

of his countenance and the sunshine ot his genial aud ever welcome presence . I can only say that the excellencies of our Provincial Grand Master are now so well known amongst the Craft as to need no special eulogy on my part . It is his popular characteristics which have endeared him to us all , and I think no more worthy gentleman could have been selected to fill the place of the Marquis of Ripon

than Sir Henry Edwards . I now call upon you , brethren , to join me in expressing the hope that the Great Author of the Universe will bestow His blessing upon our P . G . M ., and give him health and long life to preside over our assemblies and the Craft which he adorns with every moral and social virtue . The toast having been drunk with honours , —

Bro . J . W . Carlile proposed the Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master , Bro . T . W . Tew J . P ., also W . P . D . P . G . M . Bro . Bentley Shaw D . L ., and all present and past officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire . Bro . T . W . Tew responded , he said : I feel it to bo no light responsibility to fill the office of D . P . G . M of this Province . In 1875 , 1

was to all of you an untried Mason , and to have been chosen representative to our Prov . Grand Master of so large a Masonic constituency as is this West Yorkshire , is to me the most complimentary privilege of my life . You have been good enough to receive the toast of my health to-night in a manner much more worthy of the close of my official connection with the Province than my first years of labour a

your deputy . I attribute your kind reception of me more to your indulgence and forbearance than to any Masonic talents of my own , because I feel I am continually being brought into contact with brethren in this Province of greater talents and erudition than myself . I greatly regret that my business and other multifarious occupations do not leave me free and unfettered in thought and action , so

that I could devote the whole of my time to gaiu that perfect knowledge and experience of Masonic lile amongst you , without which n < Master Mason can thoroughly succeed in tho office of D . P . G . M . of this Province . I thank you for your invitation to-night , aud promise that , to the best of my poor ability , I will try iu the future to do what 1 have tried to do in the past , to make tho administration oi

this Province , nuder Lient .-Colonol Sir Henry Edwards , prosperous , illustrious , aud brilliant . 1 feel that tho gathering to-day is not onlj a welcome to Bro . Bentley Shaw , but an enthusiastic expression oi your belief in the beauty of Masonic principles of piety , justice ano virtue ; of your abiding faith iu the permanency of the organisatiot of Freemasonry , which has led to the prosperity of the Order and itt

development amongst all nations on tho earth . In this direction tht labours of your previous D . P . G . M . have beeu crowned with success Yon have trusted Prov . G . Officers iu the past . Will you trust thosi now newly elected ? as they may feel you will trust those who comi in the future , so that wo , your officers , may feel sure that in giving confidence to our Government in dealing with great Masonic affaire

Lodge Of Peace, No. 149, Meltham.

you would leave matters , as in the past , so in the present in our hands , trusting to our watchfulness the honour and Masonio interests of our beloved Province . The Old Lodge of Peace was proposed in a suitable speech by Bro . Bentley Shaw . Bro . T . A . Haigh , in responding , begged to tender his sincere and

heartfelt thanks , on behalf of the rest of the brethren , to Bro . Shaw , for the very kind expressions and kind remarks ho had beeu pleased to make respecting the Lodge , and he hoped that so far as the future of the Lod » o was concerned , those wishes and expressions might be fully realised . Bro . Haigh also begged to thank the numerous brethren present from other Lodges , iu this and other Provinces , for

the enthusiastic reception they had given to the toast . The Lodgo , he said , had been in existence over 100 years , having been first opened in tho town of Barnsley in the year 1777 , but in the year 1778 it is supposed to have oeased working for a lengthened period . There was n <> record of its proceedings from that date until the year 1804 , when it was revived by Warrant of Confirmation , granted 28 th

March of that year , and removed from Barnsley to Dewsbury , and held its meetings at the Traveller ' s Rest , in the latter town , until the year 1815 , when on the 26 th August , it was agreed , first to pay all expenses which might be brought against the Lodge , and , secondly , to dispose of the Lodge to the best advantage . In a few years after this time the Lodge regalia and Warrant were purchased by brethren

residing at Honley , as on the 26 th August 1826 it wa 3 agreed to remove to Meltham , and accordingly the first Freemasons' Lodge meeting was held in this village 13 th September 1826 , and tho Lodge of Peace has now been located here for nearly 51 years . During the last half century it has had its times of adversity as well as its times of prosperity , but at the present time he thought it might bo

safely said to be in a more prosperous state than it ever was during any period of its existence . The Lodge had , during the time of its existence in Meltham , taken a promineut part in the following interesting occasions—viz ., on the 15 th of October 1827 , the brethren of tho Lodge assisted in laying the foundation stone of the South Crosland Church , and the trowel used on the occasion wa 3 now in tho possession of the Lodge . On 5 th March 1835 , under the auspioos of

the Lodge , the foundation stone of the Meltham Church Tower was laid by our late Bro . Charles Lee , the then D . P . G . M . of this Province , and a sermon preached by our late Bro . Dr . Naylor , the Provincial Grand Chaplain , and last , though not least , the late Provincial Grand Master , the Marquis of Ripon , assisted by the Provincial G . Officers , on 28 th October 1868 , at the request of the late lamented Charles Brook jun ., Esq ., laid the corner stone of the magnificent Convalescent Home . He concluded by again thanking them .

Bro . Charles Rayner , I . P . M . Lodge of Peace , then proposed the next toast . He said , Brethren , the toast which I have the honour and the pleasure of proposing is that of the Visiting Brethren . It is a toast which is always well received in our Lodge , but on the pre . sent occasion I feel sure that it will meet with a most enthusiastic reception . We have amongst us hero to-day Visiting brethren who

have spent great portions of their lives in working hard , not only for the good of their own Lodges , and the good of their own Provinco , but also for the good and the interest of the Craft generally ; brethren who have attained to hig h honours in the Craft , honours which have been well earned , and which are well deserved , and my fervent wish and ardent hope is that the Great Architect of the tTuiverse may

give them long and happy lives to enjoy thoso honours . We are very proud to have amongst U 3 tho hard working W . D . P . Graud Master of this Province ; a brother who is ever ready to give his assistance and advice to any Lodge in the Province that may require it ; a brother who , in filling the office which he now holds in the Province , has proved himself to be a worthy successor to his most excellent

predecessor in that office . We also feel greatly honoured by the presence of the much respected W . P . D . P . G . M ., Bro . Bentley Shaw , a brother whose Masonio zeal is well known and greatly appreciated throughout the whole of this Province ; whose genial temperament , kindheartedness , and whose noble and generous sentiments have won for him , I believe , both the respect and the admiration of all who

have ever had the pleasure of coming in contact with him . We are greatly delighted and highly honoured in having here to-day so many of the present acting and past officers of Provincial Grand Lodge . They are all of them , brethren who have worked hard in the Graft . And lastly , brethren , I see before me a large number of visiting brethren , whose love for Masonry none can doubt ; brethren whose

Masonic labours , like my own , are in a more humble sphere than those I have before mentioned , and many of them who , like myself , may perhaps never hopo to reach the higher honours in the Craft , but whose labours for the good of Masonry will be none the less incessant on that account . They are brethren whose familiar faces may be found wherever there is any Masonic work to be done . Iu

short , Visiting Brethren , I beg to thank yon all , with the greatest sincerity and from the very bottom of my heart , both on my own behalf and on behalf of every member of this , tho old Lodge of Peace , for tho great honour yon have conferred upon the Lodge by your presence on this great occasion . The toast was received with the greatest enthusiasm , and

then—Bro . Rev . W . T . M . S ylvester proposed the Masonic Charities . Bro . Niuirod Earnshavv , the W . M . of the Lodge , subsequently took the chair , and Bro . Jonas Craven P . P . G . S . W . responded to tho toast , jf our Masonic Charities . He spoke of the large sums of money subicribed every year in support of these Charities , and of the good that uad been done generally .

After a few songs , the remainder of the evening was spi ^ t a very harmonious manner , and the proceedings terminated sow . after eight o ' clock . The Committee of Management consisted of Bros . Nimvod Earn , maw W . M ., 0 . H . Redfearn P . M . Secretary , D . Wood P . M . Treasurer jf the Lodge , W . Haigh P . M ., W . Myers P . M ., and 0 . Rayner I . P . M , Chairman of tho Committee .