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would ever be his fortune to attain to , but even in their presence he would say that a Master should show younger Masons the beauties of Freemasonry as exemplified in the dealings of Masons outside the lodges . It had been his lot , young Mason though he was , to meet men in Masonry that made him wonder how they got there . A W . M . ought to be very guarded in respect to

whom he initiated . 'I hat evening he had initiated two gentlemen into Masonry , but he must tell the brethren it depended on every Mason , acting in his individual capacity , whether Masonry should be an honoured institution . It was no use to come to a Masonic lodge , it was no use for him as W . M . to go through the ceremonies , it was no use for the officers to perform their duties properly , unless

the brethren went outside the lodge and enunciated and practised the teachings they had received therein . It might be that they would find men who elid not come up to the brethren ' s standard of Masonry , but they should remember that they were to view a brother ' s failings with the greatest amount of charity they could put upon them , and give the most favourable constructions they

possibly could . He only hoped that when his year of office ended he should have the good feelings of all the members of the Crichton Lodge . It should not be his fault , or from any want of striving to earn their good will , if he failed . He knew that men did fail to secure the ends for which they strove ; however , one could but aim high , and if at the end of his year he went out of the

W . M . ' s chair with the good wishes of the brethren he would have the satisfaction of knowing that , at least , he had striven to do his duty . The W . M . next gave "The Initiates , " to which Bro . Adams and Bro . Pink replied , The W . M . then proposed " The Installing Master , " whose influence on the lodge he trusted would have its effect in causing his successor to follow in his footsteps . He also

hoped the ceremony of that evening would leave its mark upon his ( Bro . Griffiths' ) mind . Bro . Middlemass responded and said , there was a good old Scotch maxim , " Claw me , and I'll claw you . " That was the case with the Masters and Past Masters of lodges . He had flattered himself that he should hear no more about the I . P . M . When he heard the W . M . speak of him in the

lodge as he did , he thought he should have dropped on the floor . He was very deeply indebted to the brethren , very much more than they were indebted to him . He had said it before , and he should never cease to say so . Some time after the lodge commenced it appeared to him that there were two careers before it : one was to make Masons from among friends ; the other was to devote

thc lodge to the practical cause of benevolence . He believed in Masonry , and he believed in Masons being men whose hands were guided by justice and whose hearts were expanded by benevolence . Not to indulge in vain boastings , this lodge had completed two years of existence , and in that time it had devoted a hundred guineas to the cause of charity . He had the honour of going up

as Steward at the Boys' School festival and carrying with him forty guineas . He had also the honour as Master to go up to the Girls' School with fifty guineas , and they had devoted to the sustenance of widows and orphans of members the sum of ten guineas . That spoke much more for the lodge than anything that could be said of its interior arrangements or the number of its members . He

hoped that as they had begun so they would go on to the end , and whatever deficiencies might be discovered in the Crichton Lodge , its deficiencies would never be that its members had been backward in the cause of benevolence . He was going to make an appeal to them on behalf of a very intelligent little bny , Salter . The good and true work of the late Bro . John Hall Salter had placed the people of

Bcrmondsey under great obligations to him . The brethren knew how completely he showed himself the friend and benefactor of education . On his dying bed , and with his dying breath , he said , " Perhaps my brother Masons will get Arthur into the Boys' School . " Now this Arthur was a remarkable boy . Give him the means of a good education , and he ( Bro . Middlemass ) did not hesitate to say that

under the good provielence of the G . A . O . T . U . he would rise to eminence in the world . When he went before the General Committee of the Boys' School that day fortnight , attended by Bro , Mercer , he astonished thc brethren on the committee by his accurate reading . The brethren who were present were not numerous but they were certainly critical . The boy was passed . He was a lad of extreme intelligence ,

and he would ask the brethren to support his candidature . They must elect him in April . That was something practical they had before them . He ( Bro . Middlemass ) was quite aware of his shortcomings in the loelge , and he repeated now that he never felt timid with regard to what a Master should do except when he was in the chair . When he came to the sticking point , like Bob Acres , his

courage oozed out at his fingers' ends . The brethren of the lodge were not like his colleagues in the Camberwell vestry , and he could not bore them . The brethren did not need to be bored , because they were much more intelligent than the vestrymen . The parochial intellect was somewhat dense j the Crichton intellect was somewhat bright . Thanking the brethren again for their kindness , he had no

doubt that the present W . M . would fill the chair very much better than he ( Bro . Middlemass ) had filled it , and when he came to the end ot his year he would most probably have the same signs of the brethren's deep and lasting kindness shown to him by the members of the lodge . He would ask the brethren to sustain the W . M . in his position by the same kindness andloibcarance as they had

always shown towards their late Master ; then he would have a happy and successful year . Bro . Edward Clarke , P . M . 134 , replied to the toast of " The P . M ' s . " Bro . Nairne , he said , was distinguished for the excellence of his work , and for the amazing service he had rendered to different lodges , by the instruction he had given to those who had come on in office . He ( Bro . Clarke ) would have been

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very well content to have been sheltered under Bro . Nairne ' s experience , and to have heard him respond for the P . M's . He hoped it would not be expected of him , at the close of a very fatiguing term , when he was somewhat exhausted by thc work of the last few weeks , to say very much on behalf of Masonry . It was sufficient to say of P . M ' s ., there as elsewhere , that they had worked through the

different stages of Massntc honour , that they had in their way attempted to discharge the high duties of Master of a loelge , and Bro . Middlemass had spoken in not too high terms of the responsibility that fell upon every one who assumed for twelve months the government of a lodge . He ( Bro . Clarke ) was sure that every Master when he went into the chair felt that it was a precious possession

that was entrusted to him in the reputation and the work of a lodge ; and he ( Bro . Clarke ) confessed to a feeling of very great relief , when he had passed from the active duties of the Mastership of the Caledonian Lodge , and took his place in that quieter ground where he was only occasionally called upon to assist younger brethren . He hoped it might be said of those Past Masters who were now

standing in response to this toast , and that it might hereafter be said of all the brethren present when they had passed through the chair , that they worthily upheld the highest traditions of Freemasonry . These social gatherings , although they helped to keep Freemasons together , and although they afforded many pretexts for the cultivation of that personal friendship and good will , which was

one of the happiest aspects of Masonic life , still they did not constitute the principal object and duty of Freemasons . It was , in his belief , more and more essential that thc true meaning of Freemasonry should be learned by and shown in the practice of Freemasons . As time went on , as men were gathered together , in the large assemblies of great towns especially , there was some difficulty in keeping

alive the bonds of personal friendship . T he residents of the neighbourhood were not sufficient , the connection of men of the same profession was a connection which was apt to degenerate into cliqueishness and exclusiveness ; and it was in the highest degree desirable that there should be some bond , which , having a good and true meaning for its object , should link together men of different professions , of

different neighbourhoods , of diferent classes , in one common association for objects of good , which were common objects to all ; and that was found in Freemasonry . They had been reminded that evening of the labour which this young lodge hael already tlone in the cause of charity ; they had had pointed out to them in a way which he hoped would affect the members of this Lodge , a special and particular duty which lay for discharge upon the friends and

members of the Crichton Lodge at this time . There could be no better work in Masonry than such work as Bro . Middlemass had pointed out to be done in the next few weeks by the members of the Crichton Lodge . In conclusion , Bro . Clarke thanked the W . M . and brethren for the toast , and stated that the P . M ' s were always ready to give their assistance to younger brethren . Bro . Thomas and Bro . P . A . Nairne also replied , and the remaining toasts were afterwards given and the brethren separated .

CHELTENHAM . —Foundation Lodge ( No . 82 ) . —The annual installation meeting of this old and popular lodge was held on Friday , the 27 th ult . ( St . John the Evan . ) , when there was a large gathering of members and visitors . The W . M ., Bro . John Bubb , opened his lodge at 5 . 30 , and after the minutes of the last lodge had been read and confirmed , the lodge was opened in the Second

Degree , when a brother was duly passed . The chair was then assumed by the Installing Master , Bro . Henry Godfrey , P . M ., Prov . G . S . W ., who , in the most able and impressive manner , installed according to ancient custom , Bro . W . Anslow Sole , the W . M . elect , into the chair of K . S ., and who was afterwards proclaimed in the Three Degrees . The newly-installed W . M . then appointed and

invested his officers as follows : Bros . Dr . Julius Maier , S . W . ; the Baron de Ferrieres , J . W . ; Colonel Basevi , Sec . ; Frederick Ticehurst , S . D . ; John Pearson , J . D . ; E . Dyer , I . G . ; Rev . C . R . N . Lyne , Chaplain ; and S . Green , Treas . Opon thc proclamations being made by the W . M ., he referred to the very able , efficient , and impressive manner in which the installation ceremony had been performed

by Bro . Godfrey , and concluded by proposing a resolution " That the best thanks of the lodge be accordingly presented to him , " which having been seconded by the I . P . M ., Bro . Bubb , was carried unanimously . The W . M . then closed his lodge in due form ar . d with solemn prayer , after which the brethren proceeded to the large banqueting-room , where the banquet was subsequently served . The

newlyinstalled Master , Bro . Sole , presided , and was well supported by a large and important muster of P . M ' s . and Provincial and Past Provincial Grand Officers , of which the Foundation Lodge has many upon its roll of members . The W . iNl . in proposing the toasts of " The Queen and the Craft" as also " The M . W . G . M . the Prince of Wales " referred in feeling terms to the great loss Her Majesty , our

M . W . G . M ., and in fact the whole country , had sustained in the death of the Princess Alice , and observed that as Masons he was sure we all mourned with our Sovereign and our M . W . G . M . in their bereavement . In giving " The Health of thc Installing Master" the W . M . referred to the eminent services that had been rendered to the Foundation Lodge by Bro . Godfrey , in his great desire to bring its working as nearly as possible up to the high standard of the

Emulation Lodge , in that endeavour sparing himself no trouble or expense . He also referred to the tribute of praise awarded to him by the R . W . Prov . G . M ., who , when visiting the lodge during thc Mastership of Bro . Godfrey , incidentally stated that he had been much gratified by the way the ceremony of " raising" had been performed , the work being as he considered as nearly correct as it could be . Bro . Godfrey having suitably responded , and thanked the brethren , the I . P . M ., Bro . Bubb , then proposed " The Newly-

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Installed W . M . " who in responding mentioned that it was exactly seven years since he was initiated into Masonry , and that the then I . P . M ., Bro . Bubb , was being passed to the Second Degree . That from that time , when filling each office successively in the lodge , he had always been immediately preceded by him , and that any success he may have attained in Freemasonry he could not but attribute in a

great measure to the influence of that which he might term his guiding star preceding him . The other usual toasts followed , and the evening was spent in a most enjoyable manner . Amongst the visitors and members of the Foundation Lodge present were : — Bros . Geo . Atkins , P . M . ; J . B . Winterbotham , P . M ., P . P . G . S . D . ; W . H . Gwinnett , P . M ., P . P . G . S . W . ; E . W .

Godfrey , Captain Nelson Foster , C . F . 'Gale , W . R . Porcher , P . M . ; Rev . H . E . Bayly . P . M . P . P . G . C . ; Captain Owen Lloyd , John Walker , P . M ., P . P . G . S . W . ; H Wilmott , ( Mayor of Cheltenham ) , General Money , P . M . ; J . B . Battan , P . M . ; J . Brook-Smith , P . M ., Prov . G . Treasurer ; R . J . Mitford , J . A . Matthews , H . d' Autier , Sir Brook Kay , Bart ., L . Wirterbotham , P . M ., P . P . G . Reg . ; E . Williams ,

P . M . ; R . J . Ticehurst , P . M . ; T . F . Stoney , No . 246 ; T . Taynton , P . M ., P . P . G . J . W ., No . 8 39 ; W . H . Bruton , P . M . No . 8 39 ; A . W . Wheeler , No . 839 ; A . Lewis , No . 246 ; W . H . Bloxome , P . M . No . 318 ; j . Balcomb , P . M ., No . 246 ; J . L . Butler , No . 246 ; J . H . H . Howard , P . M . No . 246 , P . P . G . J . W ; Rev . W . Boyce , No . 07 ; G . Norman . No . 246 ; E . J . Bryant , W . M ., 246 , P . G . S . B . ; R . B . Lewis

W . M . No . 339 . SUNDERLAND . —Palatine Lodge ( No . 97 . ) —On Thursday , the 12 th ult ., the installation of Brother Thomas Millican Watson , W . M . elect , took place at the Masonic Hall , Park-terrace . The lodge was opened at four o ' clock by the W . M . Bro . Taylorson Sharp , and the minutes of the last lodge having been read and confirmed ,

Mr . William Vincent was unanimously elected by ballot , and initiated into the mysteries of the Craft by the W . M . Bro . T . M . Watson was then duly installed in the chair of K . S . by Bro . Thomas Twizell , P . M ., in a most eloquent and impressive manner , in the presence of about twenty Masters and Past-Masters . The newly-installed W . M . then invested his officers for the ensuing year as follows : —Bros .

T . Sharp , I . P . M . ; Henry Tonkinson , S . W . ; J . H . Leech , J . W . ; T . Twizell , P . M ., Treasurer ; G . C . Watson , Hon . Secretary ; T . E . Hall , S . D . ; C . MacNamara , J . D . ; J . J . Clay , P . M ., D . of C . ; George Tawse , I . G . ; Robert Fairclough , S . S . ; John Deans , J . S . ; H . Fryer and A . F . Amundsen , Auditors ; and John Thompson , Tyler . The lodge was then closed by the W , M . in the usual manner .

and the brethren , numbering about forty , adjourned to the Queen ' s Hotel and partook of a sumptuous banquet . The usual loyal and Masonic toasts having been given and responded to , " The Health of the newly-installed W . M . " was proposed by Bro . T . Sharpe , I . P . M ., and responded to

in a feeling manner . Other ttiasts followed , amongst which was " The Masonic Charities , " proposed by Bro , Robert Hudson , Prov . Grand Dir . of Cer ., in which he made an earnest appeal on behalf of those Benevolent Institutions . A most en joyable evening was spent , enlivened by some excellent singing by several of the brethren .

BRIDGWATER . — Lodge of Perpetual Friendship , ( No . i 3 S . )—The annual festival of this lodge took place on Friday , 27 th ult ., at the Royal Clarence Hotel , when the lodge was opened in due form at 1 . 30 p . m . The Worshipful Master elect , Bro . John Charles Small , was then re-installed W . M . for the ensuing year by the V . W . D . P . G . M . of Somerset , Bro . Richard Charles

Else . The officers for the ensuing year are i Bros . John C . Hunt , P . M ., P . P . J . G . D ., the l . M . ; the Rev . F . Seale , P . P . G . C , iS . W . ; James Treliving , S . W . ; J . C . Lyons , P . G . C ., Chaplain ; F . Shepherd , S . D . ; W . L . Levy , S . D , ; and J . J . Trundle , I . G . The banquet took place at 4 p . m . There were many distinguisheel brethren from neighbouring lodges present , and a very enjoyable

evening was spent . IPSWICH . —St . LuHe ' s Lodge ( No . 225 ) . — On Wednesday , the 11 th ult ., the ceremony of installation of the Worshipful Master for the ensuing year of the above lodge , was held , by kind permission of the Mayor , A . F . Nicholson , Esq ., in the Council Chamber of the Ipswich Town Hall , which presented a very imposing ap .

pearance , laid out as a lodge . Bro . Thomas J . Wentworth was installed as W . M . by Bro . Joseph Whitehead , P . M . The lodge , on this occasion , was honoured by the presence and assistance of Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn , Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Suffolk , and P . G , Chaplain of England , and wf ) 0 rriet with a most cordial reception , being highly esteemed j > y the province . Bro . Thomas Clement

Cobbold , S . D . 114 , and 'M . P . for Ipswich , was prevented by parliamentary duties from being present . During the evening a most pleasing ceremony was very ably and feelingly performed by the Worshipful Master , in the presenation to the worthy Secretary of this lodge ( Bro . A . C . Barker , P . M . ) , of a purse of money and a handsome watch , as a token of the great

esteem he is held in , for eighteen years' services , by his brethren . There were nearly sixty members and guests present . The banquet was held in the Golden Lion Hotel , and was a great success ; in fact , St . Luke ' s Lodge now stands first in the province of Suffolk , numerically , and is in a most flourishing condition . Amongst the brethren present were noticed : —Bros , the Rev . C . J . Martyn , D . P . G . M . of Suffolk and P . G . C . of

England ; Rev . R . S . Sanderson , P . M . 95 6 ; Dr . W . P . Mills , P . M . 376 ; Dr . J . H . Staddon , P . M . 37 6 ; N . Tracey , P . M . 37 6 ; H . Miller , P . M . 114 ; W . Boby , P . M . 114 ; H . Casley , W . M . 114 ; Churchyard , W . M . 37 6 ; W . B Jeffries , W . M . elect 37 6 ; J . B . Fraser , P . M . 376 ; W . T .-Wcstgate , P . M . 225 ; P . Whitehead , I . P . M . 225 ; A . CBarber , Secretary 225 ; W . Daking , P . M . 225 ; W . GCoumold , S . W . 225 ; Napier , J . W . 225 j J . Talbot , S . D .