Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Lancashire.

at Blackpool , and of the special meeting held at Preston in connection with the Preston Guild , were read by the Prov . Grand Secretary , and unanimously confirmed . Bro . RICHARD BROWN , Prov . Grand Treasurer , presented the annual accounts of the Prov . Grand Lodge , from which it appeared that the income for the Charity Fund during the year was £ 355 ; the Prov . Grand Lodge Fund XS 33 ; the Fund of Benevolence £ 1823 ; total

about £ 3061 . The sum of £ 105 had been paid to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and £ 105 to the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution , the total disbursements for the Charity Fund being £ 236 5 s . ; Provincial Grand Lodge Fund £ 151 7 s . 3 d . ; and the Fund of Benevolence , £ 154 6 s . Sd . ; total £ 54 1 iSs . nd . The total sum paid to the West Lancashire Masonic

Educational Institution since its establishment was £ 2354 5 s . The amount at present invested was £ 2519 iSs . nd . The accounts , which were taken as read , were passed unanimously . On the motion of Bro . JOHN HOULDING , P . P . G . R ., seconded by Bro . Dr . J . KELLETT SMITH , P . P . G . R ., it was unanimously resolved to appoint Bro . Councillor W . L . Lunt , P . M . S 23 , as Prov . Grand Treasurer for the

ensuing year . The Prov . Grand Master then proceeded to appoint the following as his officers for the ensuing year : Bro . Col . Stanley Prov . D . G . M . „ Myles Kennedy , P . M . 995 ... Prov . G . S . W . „ 1 . P . M'Arthur ( ex-Mayor of Bootle ) Prov . G . J . W . „ Rev . E . Harwood Cook , P . M . 1730 Prov . G . Chap . „ A . C . Wylie , P . M . 1264 Prov . G . Reg . „ W . ] . Lunt , P . M . S 23 Prov . G . Treas . „ H . S . Alpass , P . M . 155 ( re-appointed ) Prov . G . Sec . „ T . Evans , P . M . 1675 Prov . G . S . D . „ Dr . F . J . Bailey , P . M . 7 S 6 ... Prov . G . S . D .

„ \ V . J . Thomson , P . M . 13 S 4 ... Prov . G . J . D . „ T . Milligan , P . M . 17 S Prov . G . J . D . „ W . W . Cottam , P . M . 113 ... Prov . G S . of W . „ Major J . Balmer , P . M . 5 S 0 ... Prov . G . D . C . „ I . W . Mycock , P . M . 703 ... Prov . G . D . C .

„ I . Jackson , P . M . 1854 Prov . G . A . D . C . „ W . Whiteside , D . P . M . 13 S 9 ... Prov . G . S . B . „ ] . P . Bryan , W . M . 1035 ... Prov . G . Org . „ " H . Crosby ( re-appointed ) ... Prov . G . Purst . „ H . Firth , P . M . 667 ... ...-.

„ M . Hart , P . M . 1502 » £ Schofald , 13 S 7 } -Prov . G . Stwds . „ 1 . Tunstall , 14 S j „ T . Davis , 118 ; I „ H . Vollmer , 1140 - „ H . P . jBall ( re-appointed ) ... Prov . G . Tyler . „ W ; H ' :. 'Bkll / re-appointed ) ... Prov . G . A . Tyler

The . PRdVi , ' .-ABB < Jttro . " , M ' A-STER proposed that a vote of thanks be given to Bro . Joseph Skeaf , who had held the post of Prov . Grand Organist for the last fifteen years , referring to the admirable manner in which he had performed the duties of that office . The motion was seconded by Bro . J . K . SMITH , P . P . G . R ., and carried unanimously . Bro . SKEAF thanked the Prov . Grand Lodge for the

compliment which had been paid to him in recognition of his services for the last fifteen years . They had been rendered cheerfully and with best wishes for the prosperity of the Craft , and if he had retained the good opinion of the brethren he was amply rewarded . ( Applause . ) The Prov . Grand Lodge then proceeded to consider applications for assistance from the Fund of Benevolence , and in response the sum of £ 110 was voted for the relief of

distressed widows and children . The PROV . GRAND SECRETARY , in the course of his annual report , stated that the working of the various lodges in the province during the year had been on the whole satisfactory . At the election of annuitants of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution they were successful in securing the election of the two candidates nominated from the province , and they had also obtained the admission of two

candidates into the Girls' School—the Court of Governors admitting all the applicants without a poll . The Prov . Grand Treasurer , the report further stated , had been much inconvenienced by lodges not paying him their fees till almost the day of audit . Secretaries of lodges were again reminded to discontinue the use of the term " Honorary Secretary , " there being no such office in Masonry . He had also to ask brethren , in addressing letters to the Grand

Secretary , to do so thus : " Col . S . H . Clerke , " not " Mr . CIerke , ' or" Clerke , Esq . " It had been decided by Grand Lodge that a copy of the proposed revision of the Constitutions should be sent to each lodge for consideration , and any remarks on the same should be forwarded to the Grand Secretary some time before January , 1 SS 3 . On the motion of Bro . H . S . ALPASS , Prov . Grand Sec , seconded by Bro . R . WYLIE , P . P . G . S . D ., it was

resolved to disagree with the increase proposed to be made to the quarterage at present paid to the Grand Lodge . Bro . R . WYLIE next moved that 100 guineas be voted from the Provincial Grand Lodge Fund to the Royal Masonic Educational Institution for Boys , in the name of the R . W . P . G . M . This was seconded by Bro . Major TURNER , P . P . G Treas ., and agreed to without discussion .

On the motion of Bro . R . WYLIE , seconded by Bro . SMITH , a similar sum was voted from the Charity fund to the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution , in the name of the R . W . P . G . M . The sum of £ 25 , on the motion of Bro . WYLIE , seconded by Bro . H . A . TOBIAS , P . P . G . S . of W ., was voted from the Prov . Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund to the Hamer Benevolent Fund , in the name of Bro . the Earl of Lathom . It was agreed that the votes of the province be used at

the next election for boys in favour of the son of the late Bro . Bowes , of Warrington , and that the sum of £ 20 be voted from the Prov . Grand Lodge fund to assist his election . Five guineas was unanimously granted from the Prov . Grand Lodge fund to Bro . C . J . Yates , organist of St . James ' s Church , Preston , for his services in organising the choir and conducting the musical portion of the ceremony at Preston on the 5 th ultimo . On the proposition of Bro . T . SALTER , P . P . G . J . D ., the sum of £ 30 was voted from the Prov . Grand Lodge fund for the purpose of assisting the widow of a deceased brother

Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Lancashire.

to secure her husband ' s business , and so enable her to maintain herself and four children . Bros . Hunter , Schonstadt , Milligan , Brackenbury , and Crott were invested with charity jewels by the Prov . Grand Master . Five PYst Masters were elected to serve on the Hamer Fund of Benevolence , and afterwards the other officers of the charity were chosen . The annual Court of Governors of the West Lancashire

Masonic Educational Institution was held under the presidency of Bro . the Earl of Lathom . The minutes of the various Courts of Governors held during the year were read by Bro . R . Martin , one of the Hon . Secretaries , and the various propositions for election were unanimously accepted . A pleasing part of this section of the proceedings was the presentation of a very valuable testimonial to Bro . Richard Brown , P . M . 241 , P . P . G .

Treas ., who had for a period of between eight and nine years occupied the important position of one of the Hon . Secretaries of the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution . The testimonial consisted of an illuminated address , a vice-presidency of the West Lancashire Educational Institution , and a silver tea service and silver salver . Bro . H . A . TOBIAS . P . P . G . S . of W ., the Hon . Secretary of the Committee , read the following address to Bro . Brown :

'• ' Dear Sir and Brother , —Representing numerous brethren of the Province of West Lancashire , we cannot allow you to retire from the office of Hon . Secretary of the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution without expressing in a tangible form our sense of the extreme value of your voluntary services for so many years , and conveying an expression of our warm esteem and brotherly feeling for you as a Mason . While regretting that

illhealth has compelled you to give up a position which you have filled with so much self-denying zeal and benefit to the Charity , we trust T . G . A . O . T . U . may long preserve a life which is so full of usefulness both to family and friends . We ask you to take into your ( comparative retirement our sincere expression of our unalterable fraternal affection and cordial desire for your future welfare and prosperity ; and our earnest hope that those who are most closely associated

with you may enjoy life ' s blessings in large measure . Your zeal for the cause of Freemasonry has long been known and admired throughout the Province of West Lancashire , and on giving up office as Hon . Secretary you have the blessed consolation of knowing that , by earnest labour , you have relieved the orphan and the distressed , and cleared away many a dark cloud from the home of the widow and the afflicted . That your strenuous efforts have

served largely to popularise the Institution with which your name will very long be | most honourably associated , is shown by the fact that in 1 S 74 , when you took the Secretaryship , the invested fund was £ 1 i , Sis ; income from investments , £ 481 ; subscriptions and donations from brethren , £ 394 ; and the number of children educated , 4 S ; costing yearly £ 2 SS . In the last year of your office the figures wereinvested fund . ^ iG ^ iS ; income from investments , £ 700 ;

subscriptions from brethren , £ 64 6 ; and number ot children educated , 144 ; costing annually £ p 37 . We ask you to accept with this address a vice-presidency of the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution , a silver tea service , and a silver salver , as some evidence of the great esteem felt for you by a very numerous section of your brethren in Liverpool and other parts of Lancashire , and hope you will ever recognise and remember us as yours

most faithfully and fraternally , "J . B . MACKENZIE , P . M ., Treasurer 1609 , Chairman . " } . KELLETT SMITH , P . P . G . R ., Treasurer . " HENRY A . TOBIAS , P . G . Superintendent of Works , Secretary . " Liverpool , October 4 th , 1 SS 2 . " The address , which was prepared by Bro . James Orr Maroles . I . G . of the Dramatic Lodge , 1600 , Liverpool

was a handsomely-framed work , and met with the cordial approval of the Right Worshipful the Provincial Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom , and other members of the Provincial Grand Lodge . The tea service , which was of solid silver , was of antique pattern , and the salver bore a suitable inscription . Bro . the Earl of Lathom , R . W . Prov . Grand Master , in making the presentation , said he was sure the terms of the address which had just been read so fully conveyed the

feelings of the brethren to Bro . Brown in recognition of his valuable services that very few words were required from him ( the Prov . Grand Master ) . It gave him great pleasure to make the presentation , and to refer to the eminently-valuable services performed by Bro . Brown for a period of upwards of eight years . Bro . BROWN , who was evidentl y much affected , acknowledged the presentation in suitable terms . He

said : My Xord , brother Provincial Grand Officers , and brethren all—When I came here this morning , having some fore-knowledge of the event which has just taken place , I thought the task of thanking you would be a comparatively easy one ; but the reflections that have passed before me during the past few moments have been such that I fear I cannot express in words the gratitude I feel . A year ago , on the anniversary of this day , you did me the

great honour of re-electing me , in my _ absence , to the high and valued position of your Grand Treasurer . The news of this , brought to me on my bed of sickness , by my good doctor , was to me then a balm and a consolation , and I take this , the earliest opportunity , of thanking you for your confidence . I now _ find myself , at the the end of a year of sad misgivings , strong and well , and once more amongst my brethren , the object of

an amount of generosity which gives me great joy . You have been indeed kind to me , and I will ask you to add one more to the many items of kindness in which I stand your debtor , by excusing me if I fail to convey to you the depth of my thankfulness for these your generous gifts ; and I beg that if what I say I should fall short of what you think I ought to say , and what I should like to say , you will attribute it to lack of words and not to lack ot gratitude . ( Hear , hear . ) I can assure , my lord and brethren , it did

not need this crowning act of your kindness to make me feel very happy that I had been so long connected with the management of the affairs of our educational institution . The very great opportunities that it gave me for being useful , in my day and generation , were a sufficient reward . When on the death of the best Mason that ever wore an apron—I allude to our lamented Bro . Captain Mott ( Applause)—I was offered the vacant Secretaryship , I embraced it as an occasion which came to me most opportunely . For , left myself at a very early age fatherless and motherless , and

Provincial Grand Lodge Of West Lancashire.

dependent for all I have and all I know on the generosity of strangers , such an opportunity , coming to a man ( not blest with too much of the world ' s wealth , but possessing , 1 trust , that other wealth which is embraced by a sincere desire to do good ) , 1 say this opportunity brought me pleasure and joy . In that light I have always worked for the interests of our educational institution , and it has brought to me the greater consolation , inasmuch as

I have observed from time to time that my efforts have been successful . It has always been my object , having enlisted under the banner of our home Charity , to keep that banner well before the brethren , and to lose no chance of increasing the income and usefulness of the Charity . My lord and brethren , it would ill accord with the traditions of my connection with this Institution , and it would not be in consonance with my

own teelings , it 1 did not take advantage of this , which will be perhaps the last and only opportunity I shall ever have of saying a word or two about the Chanty itself—about the cause of this effect . And speaking as the onl y living man who has had the greatest opportunity of noticing the beneficent effects wrought by the operations of this Institution , and as one who has , as it were , been very much behind the scenes , I desire to tell your lordship and the

brethren that there is no item of our Masonic charity which has greater demands on continued support than this of which 1 am speaking . ( Hear , hear . ) t can assure your lordship that in the large invested funds of the charity , in its annually increasing revenues , and , above all , in the great hold which it has upon the hearts and sympathies of the brethren throughout the province , you have a great means of doing a lasting and permanent good : and .

if the history of this province , over which your lordship rules so happily , comes to be written , there is no page of that history which will shine more brightly than that which records the operations of this great charity . ( Applause . ) Pardon this digression . I rose to than * you , and I do thank you earnestly , fervently , and sincerely . I thank your lordship for the increased value you have given to this testimonial by your personally presenting it to me , and

by the kindly words you have spoken of me . I thank those brethren whose names are attached to the testimonial as officers of the Committee who have worked so hard in my behalf . I thank the Treasurer , my good brother Dr . J . Kellett Smith , for his exertions in this matter ; and 1 take this public opportunity of also thanking him , believing that 1 am , under God ' s blessing , indebted to him for life itself . I thank the Chairman , Bro .

Mackenzie , and I thank the Secretary , Bro . Tobias , knowing full well the arduous way in which they have worked to bring this , to me , very pleasing business to a satisfactory termination . ( Applause . ) And , in conclusion , brethren , let me say—and 1 would ask the attention of my successorsand of all those who , through the medium of our Masonic Charities , are indulging in the luxury of doing good—I would ask them to observe that to me this Droceedinp- rioints

a moral and a lesson , and it is this : That even in this busy bustling , work-a-day-world , an active , busy man may so devote the leisure time allotted to him as to do great good for his feliow-creatures ; to secure to himself the gratifying testimony of a good conscience , and , in the end , obtain the goodwill , esteem , and recognition of his brethren and fellows . ( Applause . ) My lord and brethren , thank you ; thank you ; thank you . ( Great applause . )

The Prov . Grand Lodge was then closed , and the brethren subsequently banqueted in the Cambridge Hall , under the presidency of the R . W . Prov . Grand Master . An excellent musical programme was provided , under the conductorship of Bro . J . P . Bryan , P . G . O ., by Bros . A . A . Child , 1756 ; W . Quayle , 1325 ; W . Lewis , 203 ; j . Queen , 1505 ; T . Foulkes , P . M . 1325 ; H . J . Nicholfs , 203 ; J . Muir , I . G . 203 ; R . N . Hobart , 241 ; and T . Hatton , W . M . 203 .

Provincial Grand Chapter Of West Lancashire.

PROVINCIAL GRAND CHAPTER OF WEST LANCASHIRE .

The meeting of the Prov . Grand Chapter of West Lancashire was held in the Cambridge Hall , Southport , on Wednesday , the 4 th inst ., the proceedings being under the direction of Comp . the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , Prov . Grand Superintendent . The following appointments were made :

Comps . Col . Stanley Prov . G . H . „ Reginald Young Prov . G . J . „ H . S . Alpass Prov . G . S . E . „ J . Higston Johnston Prov . G . S . N . „ P . B . Gee Prov . G . P . S . „ W . Brackenbury Prov . G . A . S .

„ J . P . M'Arthur Prov . G . A . S . „ A . C . Wylie Prov . G . „ T . Tunstall ( re-appointed ) ... Prov . G . S . B . „ A . Cutter Prov . Std . Br . „ J . Wells ( re-appointed ) ... Prov . G . D . C . „ J . T . Callow Prov . G . Treas .

Bro . Thos . Marriott , Q . C ., M . P ., who is paying a visit to Cairo and other parts of Egypt , inspected , on Friday , the Azhar Mosque University , the centre of Islamism . Ye Antiente Fraternitie of Ye Rahere Almoners has , by special request of Bro . the Lord Mayor , postponed its annual festival to Monday , the 23 rd inst ., the 20 th having been appointed by his lordship , the Junior Grand

Warden of England , for the entertainment of the Grand Officers and the members of his lodge , No . 1 , at the Mansion House . The Rahere Festival promises to be a very unique affair . " Ye Lord Mayore offe ye Citie of London wille be inne ye chair atte vi . offe ye clocke , " and will be supported by the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex ( of whom Bro . Alderman De Keyser is one ) and numerous members of the Court of Common Council . We are informed that during the banquet a boar's head will be

introduced in ancient style of state and old English carol ; and that much of the quaintness which characterised the inauguration festival of the society last year , at the Crystal Palace , and contributed so much to its success , will be repeated at the Cannon-street Hotel on the 23 rd inst . The Rahere Almoners have , in the words of the Lord Mayor , " done good and useful work " during the past winter , and we cordially wish them that further support which a testimony of that kind from so influential a personage should certainly secure .