The Province Of North And East Yorkshire.

THE PROVINCE OF NORTH AND EAST YORKSHIRE .

More than the usual amount of interest was felt in the proceech ' no's that were appointed to take place at the annual meeting at Hull on the 24 th ult ., of the Provincial Grand Lodge of North and East Yorkshire . In the first place , it was held under the auspices of the Plumber Lodge , No . 57—the senior on the roll

of the province , and at the same time one of the most numerous and influential of our country lodges—and upward of 20 years had elapsed since the Humber had played the part of entertaining lodo'e . In the next place , the year that was then closing had been distinguished by one or two events of more than ordinary

importance , and , therefore , it is not surprising to find that the attendance of thebrethren , ancl especially of the Present and Past Provincial Grand Officers , was exceptionally large , the number of those present being about 300 , of whom upwards of 60 held past or present Provincial rank . Bro . the Earl of ZETLAND ,

Provincial Grand Master , presided in person , and when the preliminary business and the various reports had been disposed of , an address of congratulation to the noble Earl on his recent appointment tothe-important postof Viceroyand Governor-General of Ireland vvas moved by Bro . thePIon . W . T . ORDE-POWLETT , P . G . W . of

England , D . P . G . M ., and carried by general acclamation . A vote of thanks was also unanimously passed to his lordship for having presided at the first anniversary festival of the newly-organised Educational Fund of the Province , held at York , on the Sth May last , when , by the hands of 113 Stewards , upwards of £ 1050 was

raised for the purposes of the Fund . A resolution was also agreed to , on the motion of the P . G . M ., in which the Province expressed its entire confidence in the Boys' School Provisional Committee , and its opinion that the recommendations of the Committee of Investigation into the management of that

Institution should be adopted . The Prov . G . Master subsequently delivered a brief , but very effective address , in which he reviewed the events of the past year , referring to the ceremonies performed by his able Deputy and himself , in October last , in connection vvith the Masonic Halls which were dedicated in that

month at Hull and York respectively , and also with that of vvhich the foundation stone was laid at Howden . Pie spoke of the pleasure it had given him to act as head of a deputation , in January , which presented an address of welcome to the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M ., on the occasion of his Royal Highness ' s

v , sit to open the new Town Plall at Middlesborough ; a , u - last , but principally , he congratulated the Province 011 the splendid success which had attended the first Festival of their Educational Fund in May . He complimented the Plumber -od ge on the excellence of the arrangements they had made for the reception of Provincial Grand Lodge , and the brethren of le Hull lodges generally , on the success of their management , and the state of prosperity to which , in consequence , they I stained . The address was frequently interrupted by the ¦ earl y applause of the brethren , and the enthusiasm of the

meet-. ? reached its highest point at the banquet which followed , when le comp liments which had been uttered in Provincial Grand -ocl ge were renewed with additional fervour atthe festive board . e meeting throughout was in all respects satisfactory , and we

^ armly congratulate Lord ZETLAND , his Prov . Officers , and our ' Ith and East Yorkshire brethren generally , on the success of '' combined efforts during the past year to promote the wel' - ° t the Craft , and enlarge its sphere of usefulness in the , lon * m of Charity .

The Prov. G. Lodge Of Essex.

THE PROV . G . LODGE OF ESSEX .

] 0 , ' . brethren of Essex were exceptionally fortunate in the Hie p ^ ' ectec - for the meeting on Tuesday of their P . G . Lodge . ¦ Wi Tn ^ Lodge , No . 1543 , vvhich is located in the quaint old ° rdii ° . unmow - was in charge of the arrangements , and , in ing . i y Clrci -mstances , would have played the part of entertain-Prov ° G & ' by the kindness of Bro - Lord BROOKE , M . P ., of j-jj ' •' Master , the brethren met at Easton Lodge , the residence brei-j lr clllef ) who had laid himself out to make the visit of the i be im , - as en J ° yable as possible . There was , therefore , as may [^ gmed , a more than usuall y large attendance of Prov . G .

The Prov. G. Lodge Of Essex.

Officers , both Present and Past , and of the representatives ol the various lodges in the Province . Indeed , the gathering was so numerous that only Prov . G . Officers were enabled to take part in the proceedings ; but this was probably no loss , or rather , the disappointment of those who were perforce excluded by the

comparative smallness of the library in which the meeting was held , was compensated by the pleasure they derived from wandering about in the ample domain in which Easton Lodge is situated . The proceedings , too , were of a most satisfactory character . The reports that were read showed that the Province ,

both numerically and as regards its funds , was in a prosperous condition . The Prov . Grand Master was also pleased to express his firm belief that the recently-consecrated Lennox Browne Lodge would be a great and permanent success , and he evinced his approval of the establishment of the lodge and his respect for

the valuable services rendered by Bro . LENNOX BROWNE to Freemasonry , both in Essex and generally , by appointing that brother to the office of Prov . S . G . W . for the current year . We note also that the Mayor of Maidon , Bro . JOSEPH SADLER , was elected Prov . Grand Treasurer by a fair majority of votes over

Bro . ACKWORTH , and a still greater majority over Bro . ANDREW DURRANT , who had held the post by annual re-election for some few years , the object in preferring Bro . SADLER being not to offer any slight to Bro . DURRANT , who had served the province so well , but to apply to this Provincial Grand Lodge the principle which

for some years past has been adopted in the case of Grand Lodge—of conferring the solitary honour vvhich it is in the power of the brethren to bestow upon as many worthy Masons as possible . In all other respects , the meeting passed off famously , and both Lord BROOKE and our Essex friends are to be congratulated on the unqualified success of the proceedings .

The Election Of Candidates.

THE ELECTION OF CANDIDATES .

BRO . E . V . GREATBACH , P . Prov . Grand Supt . of Works Staffordshire , is to be commended for the outspoken manner in which , in the paper he read before the . Menturia Lodo-e , No . 418 , on the 14 th May , on "Voting : White for , Black against , " he has dealt with the unpleasant subject of black-ballino-.

We do not go so far as to affirm that Bro . GREATBACH has imported anything of a very novel character into his address , but he has placed the most material points before the brethren in clear ancl concise fashion . He has dealt with the question in the first place generally , and then as regards ( a ) the Candidate ,

( b ) his supporters , ancl ( c ) the lodge , ancl under none of these heads is there any gainsaying the perfect justice of his views . It is not new for instance , yet it is undeniably true , " that the black ball is put into our hands to be used , if circumstances demand it , but it is not to be used for private pique , or without

calm deliberation . " And again , " the vote is ours by right , and the power to use and abuse it rests with us , but when vve have put the ball in the box our power over it has ceased . " But " not so the result—that may make its mark in a manner totally beyond our ken or desire , ' and on it may possibly depend the

prosperity or misfortune of our lodge , ancl Whether or not in time to come the genuine tenets ancl principles of our Order shall be transmitted pure ancl unsullied through the medium of our lodge . " As regards the Candidate , Bro . GREATBACH considers " it is utterly unfair for us to declare that a man is unfit

to join our Craft except upon the most powerful reasons . " Indeed , he goes still further , for he says " I am of opinion that my personal likes or dislikes ought not to be allowed to influence my decision in voting . Individually , I feel that all that ought to weigh with me is whether or not . the Candidate is an honourable ,

upright man , likely to beconijjpan honour to the Craft ancl an advantageous member of the lodge . " There are probably not many who take so extreme a ' view as this , but there is undoubtedly much to be said in its behalf , ancl perhaps if brethren inclined more frequently in this direction when the duty devolved upon them of deciding the fate of a candidate , vve should have less of those unfortunate differences vvhich so often

lead to a lodge being divided against itself . As regards the effect on the lodge itself , we recognise clearly enough the force of what Bro . GREATBACH says . The power of the black ball is