Annual Meeting Of The Provincial Grand Lodge Of Sussex.

banqueting-room , under the presidency of the E . W . P . G . M ., Lord Pelham , the dinner being served by Bro . Cowley . At its conclusion , the usual loyal aud Masonic toasts were given , the health of the Provincial Grand Master being especially honoured . In reply , he expressed his especial gratification at the manner iu which the late Masonic ceremony at

Lewes—laying the foundation-stone—had been performed , and congratulated the brethren on the progress of Masonry in the county , and on its nonsectarian or political characteristics . They might rest assured that nothing of this kind would ever be introduced by him—nothing whereby in Masonry there should be cause for political differences . Bro . E .

Broadbridge sang two songs , accompanied by Bro . Davin . Bro . Kuhe also played several of his wellknown compositions on the piano . The proceedings were brought to a close at an early hour . This meeting was one ofthe most successful ever held in the province—the only disappointment was the banquet was not quite up to the mark . —East Sussex Aews .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Lincolnshire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF LINCOLNSHIRE .

We are favoured with a copy of the printed proceedings of this Grand Lodge at its last Communication , which was held at Boston , on the 27 th July , under the auspices ofthe Franklin Lodge , No . 838 . Bro . Major W . H . Smyth , D . P . G . M ., presided , and the meeting was attended by 110 brethren . The

province is evidently well officered , and the comprehensive statistics and other valuable information annexed to the proceedings reflect the greatest credit on the excellent P . G . Secretary , Bro . C . E . Lucas . AA o regret that our space will not permit us to quote the reports at length , but the following

resume will interest our readers . The balance in the P . G . Lodge Fund of Benevolence is . £ 385 10 s . Od . Bro . Cotton , the P . G . Tyler , has been awarded four shillings a week for life out of this fund . The province contributed £ 111 6 s . to the last

festival of the Boys School , at which the P . G . Seccretuy officiated as Steward . The twelve lodges in the province have an aggregate of 522 subscribing members , being an increase of forty-three during the year . Sixty initiations have taken place during the same period .

The principal officers appointed for the year were : —Bros . Captain E . Locock , P . M ., 712 , S . G . W . ; AV . H . liadlev , P . M ., 838 , J . G . AV . ; Rev . E . E . Hadath , WM ., 1232 , Chaplain ; AV . G . Moore , P . M ., 207 , Registrar ; C . M . Nesbitt , P . M ., 712 , Treasuier ; C . E . Lucas , P . M ., 712 , Secretary .

The Duke of St . Alban ' s , P . G . Master , was unfortunately unable to attend in consequence of official duties calling him away from the county . AVe congratulate our Lincolnshire brethren on the steady success which has attended their efforts during the past year , and wish them a continuance of prosperity ia the future .

Metropolitan Masonic Meetings

METROPOLITAN MASONIC MEETINGS

For the ncelc ending September IS , 1809 . Monday , September 13 . Lodgo No . 879 , " Peckh .. m , " The Maismoro Anns Tavern , Park road . Peckham . Camden Lodge of Instruction , "So . 701 , Adelaide Tavern , llnvcrstock Hill , at 8 ; Bro . T . A . Adams , Preceptor .

Tuesday , September 14 . Lodge No . 548 , " Wellington , " White Swan Tav ., Deptford „ 'J 3 il , " Doric , " Anderton ' s Hotel , I'lcet-slrect . Metropolitan Chapter of Instruction , George Hotel ,

Alderinanliury at 7 ; Comp . Brett , Preceptor . Domatie Lodge of Instruction , Palmerston Tavern , Grosvenorp . irk , Camberwell , at 7 . 30 . Faith Lodge of Instruction , "Metropolitan " Railway , Victoria Station , at 8 . liro . C . A . Cottebnine , Preceptor .

Wednesday , September 15 . Lodge No . 700 , " Nelson , " Masons' Hall , William-street , Woolwich . „ 1150 , " Buckingham & Chandos , ' ' Frccmasons'IIall . Clivptcr 10 , " Westminster & Keystone , ditto . United Strength Lodge of Instnietion , No . 228 , Bull nnd Gate , Kentish Town-road .

Thursday , September 16 . Lodge No . 917 , " Cosmopolitan , " Terminus Htl ., Cannon-st . Friday , September 17 . House Committee , Boys' School , at 4 . Lodge No . 81 o * , "New Concord , " Itosemary Branch Tavern , Hoxton . Chapter 170 , "Caveac , " liadlcy ' s Hotel , Blackfriars

Emulation Lodge of Improvement for JI . M . ' s , Freemasons ' Hall , at 7 . Metropolitan Lodge of Instruction , Ocorge Hotel , Aldermanbury , nt 7 ; Hro . Brett , Preceptor , United Pilgrims' Lodge of Instruction , Horns Tavern , Kenniiigloii 7 . DO . Belgrave Lodge of Instruction , Duke , of Wellington Hotel , Spriug-gmdeus , Clmring-eross ; Preceptor , Bro . Pulsford . Saturday , September 18 . ( Nil . )

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . DR . JAMES HUNT . [ Last week we printed an obituary of this remarkable man . "We greatly regret that some errors , owing to the hurry of getting to press , arose . We therefore now reprint it , at the author ' s request , with his corrections . ]

Most scientific men , and the whole of the scientific world , will regret the death at an early age , of one of its greatest ornaments and most energetic workers . With a natural restlessness directed ever consistently towards the promotion

of the science of Human Kindness—technically called Anthropology — he conbined a rare faculty for advising and ruling those among whom his lot was cast . But this rule was truly Masonic , and had nothing of the nature of

usurpation iu it , his gentleness and courtesy were as marked as his cheerfulness and patience . He was emphatically one of those men who in elder days of the world ' s history would have p layed no inconsiderable part in the guidance and

governing of mankind . He was no less distinguished as an author , and while , as he ought , he was justly proud of his own achievements , he encouraged and fostered with scrupulous

assiduity those to whom , fortune had been less kind . No one can say that with a deeper sense of verity than the writer of these few lines . Snatched from the world in the midst of his

arduous duties , a limb from the bod y corporate has been cut away ; and though his spirit survives to cheer on the littlo band which was linked together in defence of the ri g ht , his actual presence will be sadly missed .

As a ceremonial Mason , Bro . Hunt did not take a very active part ; but the true spirit of Masonry—the Masonry of the Heart—inspired every action of his noble life . He died on Sunday , the 29 th of August ,

at his residence , Ore House , near Hastings , after a short illness , under forty years of age . Those who have had the privilege of knowing him will mourn for one who was sans peur et sans reproche . He was a Fellow ofthe Society of Antiquaries ,

and Doctor of Philosophy ; Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature , and its Honorary Foreign Secretary ; Ex-President and Founder of the Anthropological Society of London ; Doctor of Medicine , Honoris caicsd ( 1 SG 7 ) , of Giessen ;

Hon . Fellow of the Ethnological Society of London ; Member of the Imperial Dresden Academy ; Foreign Associate of the Anthropological Society of Paris ; Corresponding Member of the Soc . Anthrop . Espanola ; Hon . Member of

the Soc . des Amis do la Nature of Moscow ; Hon . Fellow ofthe Cosmical Society of Londoi ; a good father and husband , and a sincere and unwavering friend . He is now ultra nubila in the Grand Lodge above . KENNETH 11 . II . MACKENZIE , K . S . A ., r . A . S . L ., P . C . S . L .

Ar00505

_ MID-DAY . —As often as the Freemason commences hiswork , it is noon or mid-day , or that time in which the sun has attained its greatest altitude ; fr the earth being round , the sun is always on the meridian somewhere . The Freemason has the most enli ghtened and useful works to do ; and when high noon is passed , he must be able to ;; ive the most satisfactory proofs of the utility of his labour .

PILLARS OF THE POUCH —It is generally thought that these pillars were made and erected only for ornament , because they supported no building lint Abai-binel ' s conjecture is not improbable , that Solomon had respect to the pillar of the cloud , and thepillarof fire , that went before them and conducted them in the wilderness , aud was a token of the

divine Providence over them . He set two pillars at the porch , or entrance of the Temple ( the one representing the pillar of the cloud , and thc other the pillar of lire ) , praying and hoping that the Divine Light and the Cloud of His glory would vouchsafe to enter in there ; and by them God and Ilia providence would dwell anion ; ' them in this house .

Ineligibility Of Bastards And The Maimed As Freemasons.

INELIGIBILITY OF BASTARDS AND THE MAIMED AS FREEMASONS .

Br CIPES . Our articles have cabled forth responses which , we think , have beeu sufficiently met . We ai . swer " Leo " in the concluding part of this article , once and for all , although we must say we are sorry that

such a promising Mason as ' Leo " ( whom in our research we have discovered ) , is of a different opinion to us aud has really , we hope , without serious thought set himself at variance with the guiding laws of Freemasonry . We are not unsupported , however , and are glad to find in the person of " W . L . " one of sound sense and judgment , aud one acting up to

those principles which he promised to uphold . We commend him much for it . "W . L . " asks authorities to read our wayward disciples a salutary lesson . We will endeavour to point out a few facts for their quiet meditation . The landmarks of the Order are the unalterable laws of Freemasonry ; and as we have recaived them

so must we hand them down to succeeding genera tions without adding to or taking from them . T / iey say : — "That every candidate for initiation into the Order should be a man , unmutilatcd , free-born , no bastard , and of mature age . " The most ancient written laws are very express

as to the qualifications of candidates . The fifth article ofthe Gothic Constitutions , adopted at York iu the year A . D . 926 , is in these words : — "A candidate must be without blemish , and have the fall and proper use of liis limbs , for a maimed man can do tho Craft no good . " The words " without blemish" comprehend

everything , clearly denoting that bastards , cripples , eunuchs , deaf , dumb , blind , deformed , or dismein bered , slaves , or not freeborn , are all ineligible . Among the regulations of 1663 , under the Grand Mastership ofthe Earl of St . Albans , we find this : — " No person shall hereafter be accepted a Freemason but which are of able body . "

The ancient charges at makings , dating as far back asl 683 , tliei'nleoftheOrderisgiveniu thesewords : — " That he that ba made ba able in all degtees ; that is , freeborn , no bastard , of a good kindred , true , and no bondsman ; and that he have his right limbs as a man ought to have . " In the charges approved in 1772 , it is said : — " No master should take an apprentice unless he has sufficient employment for him , and unless he bc a perfect youth ,

having no maim or defect iu his body that may ronder him incapable of learning the art of serving his master ' s lord , and of being made a brother . " Again the words are repeated in this charge , " no maim or defect in his body . " Iu the Book of Constitutions , edited by Dr . Anderson , and approved by Desaguliers , Cowper , and Payne , all Freemasons' of high reputation , we find the charge in the following uuniistakeable words : —

" The men made Masons must be free-born , no bastard , of mature age , and of good report , hale , and sound , not deformed or dismembered at tin time of their working . ' This law as to physical qualifications has been maintained among Freemasons iu all parts of the world to the present day . Attempts have been made to set it aside , but

without success , for it is founded on one of the ancient and unchangeable landmarks . It is also , in fact , a necessary consequence of the essential princip les of Freemasonry , and to dispense with it woul I be to throw the whole system into disorder , and to obscure the very purpose ot its institution . Freemasorny dates its origin from the time of the building of

Solomon ' s temple ; its primary laws are derived from the Levitical law , and have the same symbolical meaning . The Levitical law ordained that any of the family of Aaron that bad a blemish should not perforin the services of the priesthood . ( Lev . xxi . \ G-2 . i . ) lie was not to " go iu unto the vail , nor come nigh unto the altar . " The reason is obvious .

Perfection was to be symbolised . And so in Freemasonry , it is required by those laws which have been transmitted without change from age to age , and which have been the laws of the Order ever since its institution , that the candidate for admission -shall be free-born , no bastard , and of good repute . Any known vice — any defect in moral

character—is a complete disqualification . Put this is not all . The candidate must be perfect in body , and of sound mind , aswellasol ' goodmoralcharacter . No iinp- 'i ' f ' ectioii of any kind niustappear . The most perfect ideal of human virtue must be constantly kept befuc the mind of every Freemason . It is altogether a mistake to suppose that the

reason fa * the law of Freemasonry , which requires p hysical perfection in candidates , has passed away , because Freemasons are no longer a mere fraternity of working-men , and the operative feature has given place to the speculative . The reason for this law has

more relation to tliespecill . itivethan to the operative . AVe have pointed out the Laws and Charges prohibiting the imperfect to enter our Order . We will next point out what Grand Lodges have decreed on the subj . ct , and also what other eminent brethren have said . ( To be continued . )