The Province Of West Lancashire.

year which , as Bro . GOODACRE pointed out , had been " preeminently a year of progress . " It may be as well to add that as far as we have been able to determine the numbers , West Lancashire now has , or rather will have when the three lodges for which warrants have been

granted have been consecrated , no less than 101 lodges , and about 40 Royal Arch chapters ; and as the Province of East Lancashire has about the same number of each , it results that the County of Lancashire has over 200 lodges and about 80 Royal Arch chapters , with over 11 , 000 subscribing members . It

can also boast of not far short of 30 Mark lodges , four chapters of Rose Croix , some 16 Knight Templar preceptories and about half-a-dozen conclaves of the Order of the Red Cross . Since Bro . the Earl of LATHOM—at the time Lord

Sk'ELMERSDALEwas appointed Prov . Grand Master in 1872 , there have been added some 3 6 lodges to the Province of West Lancashire , and the progress thus indicated has been material as well as numerical .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Durham.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF DURHAM .

In reviewing the position of Freemasonry in Durham , as disclosed by the proceedings at the annual meeting of its Prov . Grand Lodge at Sunderland on the 24 th ult ., we do not find the figures and facts which were then submitted for the consideration and approval of the brethren as imposing as at the meeting of

the Prov . Grand Lodge of West Lancashire a few days previously . But it is foreign to our purpose in writing these articles to attempt to institute anything in the nature of a comparison between two provinces to the glorification of one and the possible disadvantage of the other . Occasionally , we may feel it

our duty to suggest that something more might have been done , or that a certain policy should have been adopted by this or that province . But what we generally do is to compare each province with itself at some previous period , so that we may be the better able to judge of the progress , if any , which it has . made during

the later of the two periods . Thus , in the case of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Durham , we do not find that there were any new lodges consecrated during the past 12 months , or that there was any appreciable increase in the number of subscribing members , but it does not by any means follow that no progress has been

made . On the contrary , we have every reason to believe that Freemasonry in Durham is in a far stronger position now than it was reported to be at its annual meeting in 1888 . The Prov . Grand Treasurer ' s report showed a balance in hand of £ 251 . The Fund Committee recommended that various grants in relief ,

amounting to £ 75 , should be made ; that £ 25 , with the fees of honour , should be paid to the Durham Education Fund ; and that 125 guineas should be distributed among the Charities , the Girls ' School and Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution receiving 50 guineas each , and the Boys' School 25 guineas . Bro . C . S .

LANE , in moving the adoption of the report of the Durham Masonic Education Committee , made the pleasing announcement that with the grant made that day this fund would have a capital of £ 1000 . Lastly , the Prov . Grand Master , Bro . Sir HEDWORTH WILLIAMSON , Bart ., in the brief address he

delivered , had but little to say which was not in harmony with the very satisfactory reports which have already been alluded to . There had been , as he pointed out , the inevitable losses by death ; good men and true , who had done excellent work in their day , had gone from them for ever , while his respected Deputy , Bro .

the Rev . CANON TRISTRAM , was prevented by illness , contracted when laying the foundation stone of a new Masonic Hall at Monkwearmouth , from being in his place ; but notwithstanding his absence the affairs of the Province had been ably and successfully conducted by the Prov . Grand Secretary , Bro . R . HUDSON ,

and if they had made no headway in the matter of additional lodges , they had well maintained their numerical position , the total number of subscribing members in the province—which musters 32 lodges—being 2181 , or the very high average of close on 70 members per lodge . Moreover—and this seems to be a

point to which our Durham brethren attach considerable importance—the Williamson Lodge , No . 494 , Monkwearmouth , and the Crook Lodge , No . 2019 , had entered into possession of premises of their own during the past year , so that there is now hardly a lodge in the Province which has not a hall of its own ,

or shares with others in the cost of maintaining one . It is not every country lodge that is in a position to make this arrangement , but when it can be made , it is undeniably an arrangement which is greatly to be commended , and we are not surprised , therefore , that Bro . Sir HED WORTH WILLIAMSON should have made

the addition of two to the already large number of Masonic Halls in the Province the subject of special congratulation . We sincerely trust that the hope with which the . Provincial Grand Master brought his remarks to a close will be realised , and that for many a long year to come he will be able to congratulate his brethren , as he did at the annual meeting so recently held , on being a " contented , happy , and prosperous Province . "

The Late Bro. Gerard Ford.

THE LATE BRO . GERARD FORD .

The sad intelligence has reached us that Bro . GERARD FORD , P . G . D . England , and the popular Deputy Prov . Grand Master of Sussex , who , it will be remembered , met with an accident a short time since while travelling on the continent for the benefit of his health , has succumbed to the shock his system then

received . The news will be received everywhere with deep regret During the three years , or thereabouts , that our deceased brother had occupied the position of Deputy to H . R . H . the Duke of CONNAUGHT , he had conducted the affairs of the Craft in Sussex with exemplary zeal . In fact , as his Royal Highness has been absent

in India on military duty during the greater part of his Prov . Grand Mastership , the responsibility of governing the Province of Sussex may be said to have rested almost entirel y on the shoulders of Bro . FORD , and that he acquitted himself well is shown by the prosperous condition of the lodges in the county .

Since 188 7 he had also been in charge , as Grand Superintendent , of the Royal Arch chapters , and it was on the very eve of his installation as Prov . G . Mark Master that he has been removed from our midst . Thus in our late brother Freemasonry , and more especially in Sussex , has lost one of its ablest and most

zealous supporters , and we feel sure that our readers and the Craft generally throughout England will join with us in giving expression to the very great sympathy which is felt with the widow and family of one who was ever mindful of his duty , and in all things discharged it most conscientiously .

An Important Find!

AN IMPORTANT FIND !

I am very pleased to announce another MS . of the " Old Charges , " through the valued assistance of my friend , Bro . G . W . Baird , the esteemed Prov . Grand Registrar of Durham . It is owned by Bro . Thomas William Watson , P . M . and

Treasurer , No . 97 , Sunderland ( P . Prov . J . G . D . of Durham ) , who has , in the kindest manner , sent the valuable document to me for examination and report . By his permission I hope to furnish a copy for the Freemason in a week or two , and in the interim will do my best to fix the family or class to which the MS . belongs .

Its length is nearly 12 feet , the width being a little over live inches , and is neatly , but ornately written on vellum , having , in addition to the ordinary text , an extra strip of parchment which contains the " Prentice ' s Charge . "

This , the " Watson s MS ., " is evidently of the seventeenth century , but has no endorsement , neither is there any clue that can possibly indicate the character of its custod y from the period of origin down to the end of last century .

Bro . Watson purchased the scroll from a resident of Sunderland , who is not a Mason , but his grandfather was . I congratulate the brother who now possesses it , and am especial !)

thankful that the roll has fallen into such good hands , for Bro , Watson rightly appreciates its value and importance , besides being fraternally desirous to let its text be known to Masonic students wherever dispersed . W . J . HUGHAN .

Bro. Gould's "New Departure."

BRO . GOULD'S "NEW DEPARTURE . "

ON THE ANTIQUITY OF MASONIC SYMBOLISM To Comp . Edward Macbean , First Principal of Glasgow Chapter , No . 50 , the students of Masonry in the West of Scotland should be deeply indebted . Last year one of the best known and most widely read of our Masonic historians , Bro . W . J . Hughan ,

delivered a lecture , at the instance of Bro . Macbean , before the Athole Lodge , No . 413 , Glasgow , on " Five Centuries of Freemasonry , " and on 30 th ult . an equally renowned student of our antiquities , also at the instance of Bro . Macbean , lectured , and with a similar measure of success , under the banner of the

Glasgow Royal Arch Chapter . From various causes which are always operative at this season of the year many distinguished brethren who had expressed their desire to attend were unavoidably precluded from being present . Among these were the Grand Secretary of Scotland , Bro . D . Murray Lyon , and

Comp-W . J . Laston , Grand Superintendent of the Province , both whom were heartily in sympathy with the object of the . meeting-For reasons of a like character many other eminent brethren were similarly debarred from participating in an intellectual treat seldom afforded the denizens of the Northern Commercial

Metropolis . Despite all these adverse influences a considerable contingent from the modern Athens journeyed , at no slig ht inconvenience , from Edinburgh to Glasgow to pay homage to _ s 0 distinguished a visitor from the south , including the Grand Scribe E . and Grand Sword Bearer of the Supreme Grand Chapter ol Scotland . Among those who signed the attendance roll were the following ; Comps . James Crichton , Z . 1 , G . S . B , ; R , S . Brown , C ^ -