Reports Of Meetings.

REPORTS OF MEETINGS .

We shall be pleased to receive particulars of Masonic meetings for insertion in our columns , and where desired will endeavour to send a representative to report Lodge or other proceedings . CRAFT : PROVINCIAL .

FORTITUDE LODGE , No . 105 . AT the usual monthly meeting , held on the 12 th instant , at the Masonio Hall , Plymouth , a circumstance of great interest occurred . Major Shanks P . M . of Nos . 7 and 12 Scotland , also of No . 189 and 1887 England , and P . P . G . Warden of Devon , visited tho Lodge and produced for the inspection of the Brethren his grandfather ' s clearing off certificate from

Lodge Fortitude ( then No . 160 ) dated 12 th August 1782—exactly 113 years ago . This link , connecting the present with the remote past , was tho more interesting to the members from tho fact that the records now in possession of the Lodge do not reach further back than fifty years , says the " Western Mercury . " The certificate is written on parchment , and is believed to bo the oldest document of its kind in the West of England .

ST . BEDE LODGE , No . 1119 . ON the 27 th inst . the annual meeting was held in the Masonic Hall , Jarrow . Bro . J . Rigby W . M . presided , and there was a large attendance of members and visiting Brethren .

The W . M .-elect Bro . R . Madgshon was presented by Bro . John Taylor to the Installing Master ( Bro . Rigby ) , and the latter performed the ceremony in an able and impressive manner . Bro . Madgshon afterwards appointed and invested his Officers .

The musical portion of the ceremony was admirably rendered by the Lodge choir , Bro . Wilkinson officiating at tho organ . Subsequently the new W . M . presented , on behalf of the members of the Lodge , to Bro . Rigby , a handsome jewel in recognition of his services to the Lodge as W . M . during the past year , and as a mark of esteem and regard . Bro . Rigby suitably replied , and the Lodge was closed in due form .

The annual banquet was afterwards held at Bro . J . Rutherford ' s , the County Hotel , Ormonde Street , Bro . Madgshon W . M . presiding . An excellent dinner was served , and the Loyal and Masonic toasts were honoured , the proceedings being pleasantly varied by musical contributions from several of the Brethren .

OBEDIENCE LODGE , No . 1753 . THE installation of Worshipful Master took place on Monday , 26 th inst ., at Okehampton , Bro . W . A . Gregory P . M . P . P . G . Treas . ably performing the duties of Installing Master .

Owing to the state of Bro . J . W . Reed's health , he was not in a position to proceed to the chair , much to tho regret of the Brethren , among whom he is exceedingly popular . The choice of the Brethren then fell upon J . W . Bro . W . Calmer Moon , who will prove a fitting sucoessor to W . M . Bro . C . Piper .

The ceremony of installation being completed , tho W . M . appointed his Officers , and other business was transacted . Bro . Wm . A . Gregory , of Exeter , P . M . 1254 P . P . G . Treas ., who has for so many years installed the Masters of Lodge Obedience , again performed

the duty . Regret was expressed at the prolonged illness of Bro . J . W . Reed S . W ., and a resolution of sympathy with him that this cause had at his own request prevented him becoming W . M . was passed . Hearty wishes were expressed for his restoration to health .

The Brethren afterwards adjourned to the large and handsome diningroom of the White Hart Hotel , where an excellent dinner was provided-by Host A . J . Verdie . The usual Loyal and Masonic toasts were honoured .

AGRICOLA LODGE , No . 1991 . THE members had their annual summer outing on Wednesday , 14 th inst ., and it was very successful . The party , to the number of thirty , proceeded in a saloon carriage from York to Worksop . After partaking of a substantial breakfast , the members and their friends were driven round the Dukeries , a most delightful drive of twenty-six miles through woodland scenery ,

Lunch was served under the major oak , and after being photographed tho party returned to Worksop and had dinner . Music on the homeward journey was freely indulged in , several Brethren contributing largely to the

enjoyment of the guests . The party arrived in York at 10-5 . The arrangements for the day were carried out by the W . M . Bro . J . W . Dow , the S . and J . Wardens Bros . R . Spence and G . H . Stott , assisted by a Committee , with Bro . J . P . Gill as their Secretary and Treasurer .

Duriug the last three months , though virtually on holiday , a few Lodges have been active , but the meetings have been for the most part poorly attended . With more leisure there has been less rush , more circumspection and regard for the ancient landmarks of the Order . In the hurry of the work during the winter

months , says the " Mallet , " in " Glasgow Evening News , " the ever-recurring fortnightly meetings , visitations , & c , there is great danger in a science veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols of overstepping rules and usages . The greater the danger the greater the need for watchfulness . There are many errors to be

guarded against , and insidious practices , which by repeated use have come to be regarded as right , that should be avoided . Laxity in the past has resulted in ridicule being cast , not only upon Masonry in Scotland , but upon the Order . Be watchful then , Brethren , and ye W . Ms , be mindful of your obligation when installed in the chair of K . S .

Here And There.

HERE AND THERE .

PERPETUAL motion was a fantastic absurdity of the last century . A certain Joseph Willan , of Mossloy , addressed a letter to Mr . Titus Hibbert , Yarn Merchant , St . Ann's Square , Manchester , dated 10 th August 1779 , in which he reverts to an invention of his own , using this expression " My machine is what commonly bears the name of perpetual motion . "

" She measured out the butter with a very solemn air , The milk and sugar also , and she took the greatest care To count tho eggs correctly , and to add a little bit Of baking powder which , you know , beginners oft omit . Then she stirred it altogether , And she baked it for an hour , But she never quite forgave herself For missing out the flour ! "

The above lines upon the first efforts of a young housekeeper in cake making may bring to mind many instances of forgetfulness on the part of would be imitators of tho great Vatel . A lady friend of mine enthusiasticall y desirous of proving the truth of Dr . Johnson ' s words that " ono of the arts that aggrandise human life is cooking , " indicated an intention of attempting to elevate tho much abused " pea soup " into a dish which should be sufficient

to gladden the heart of a Dr . Kitchener , or even of Heliogabalus himself . She accordingly filled a pan with water , and placing it upon the fire , carefully put in all the essentials necessary for making the soup—with the exception of one . The table was prepared , tho expectant diners were seated , and the liquor which was to prove tho excellency of her cooking was poured out , when , to the lady ' s chagrin , it was discovered that she had forgotten to add the peas I

Many of our readers may be aware of the fact that to-day is tho anniversary of the death of John Bunyan , into whose sixty years of life , which ended on tho thirty-first of August 1688 , was crowded more of stirring romance than it has been tho lot of men to experience . When Horace Walpole had nearly attained his sixtieth year , ho thus expressed himself : — " As I was an infant when my father became Minister , I came into the world at five years old ; knew half the remaining courts of King William and Queen Anne , or heard

them talked of as fresh ; being the youngest and favourite child , was carried to almost the first operas , kissed the hand of George the First , and am now hearing tho frolics of his great-great-grandson ;—no , all this cannot have happened in one life 1 I have seen a mistress of James II ., the Duke of Marlborough's burial , three or four wars ; the loss of America ; the second conflagration of London by Lord George Gordon—and yet I am not as old as Methuselah by four or five centuries . " .

But even Walpole ' s retrospective did not embrace anything like the scenes which were compressed into the life of Bunyan , the tinker of Elston ( Bedford ) , author of the " Pilgrim ' s Progress , " a book which has its compeer only in the Bible , and the works ol England ' s dramatist William Shakespeare , who died just twelve years before Bunyan saw the light of day .

Born in the riotous age of the first Charles , John Bunyan was familiar with the doings of the Star Chamber , and of the High Commissioner ; he was a contemporary of Laud with his Papistry , and Strafford with his scheme of Thorough , of Pyin and Hampden , Russell and Sydney , of Blake and Falkland . Charnock , Owen , Howe , Henry , and Baxter were doing their best to regenerate the world ; Cudworth and Henry More were living at

Cambridge , South was at Oxford , Prideaux in the close at Norwich , and Whitby in the close of Salisbury . Sherlock preached at the Temple , Tillotson at Lincoln ' s Inn , Burnet at the Rolls , Stillingfleet at St . Paul's Cathedral , Beveridge at St . Peter ' s , Cornhill ; Waller , Cowley , Butler , and George Herbert were busy with the poetic pen , and Brother John Milton was preparing those works which were to immortalise his name as the divine bard .

Bunyan's days were those of the long intestine war ; of Edgehill , Naseby , and Marston . Events which included a monarch dethroned , tried , and executed , were followed by the Protectorate of powerful , iron-willed Cromwell . Then came the Restoration ; the mad orgies of Gates and Dangerfield , who revelled in blood ; the Act of Uniformity , " framed in true succession to take effect on St . Bartholomew ' s Day , by which at one fell swoop were ejected two thousand ministers of the gospel ; the Conventicle

Act , two years later , which hounded the ejected ones from copse and from the glen ; " the great plague ; the death of the dissolute king—the accession of James ; the wild conspiracy of Monmouth ; the butcheries of Kirke and Claverhouse in connection with the army , and of the notorious Jeffreys on tho bench ; the martyrdom of Elizabeth Gaunt and Alice Lisle ; the acquittal of the seven bishops ; the final eclipse of the house of Stuart , and England ' s last revolution . STREBO .

The regular meetings of the Upton Lodge of Instruction , No . 1227 , are held at the Great Eastern Hotel , Bishoppgate Street , every Monday evening at 8 p . m ., comfortable quarters , good company and able instructors being special features .

St . Louis has a Masonic employment bureau to secure work for worthy Masons . This is an innovation that violates no landmark , and is worthy of imitation the world over , and should become an

institution in every city of any consequences in the United States . It is a thoroughly practical relief association that redowns to the glory of the Order . —" Texas Freemason . "

A contemporary , in answer to a correspondent , offers the following , which might well be taken to heart and acted upon by some of the more enterprising members of the Craft , who at times allow tneir zeal to outrun tneir discretion win

: " xou """ it very convenient in Lodge to be occasionally both blind and deaf , and it may add to the comfort of the Brethren if you are occasionally dumb . "