Masonic Progress In South Australia.

to satisf y the most captious critic of Masonic ceremonial ; and , thanks to the liberality of the Trustees , who , in y ielding up their trust to the Grand Lodge , presented the Craft with a magnificent home , the premises they occupy are " valuable in themselves , convenient to their occupation , and

without a shilling of debt upon them . " As for the occasion which brought together so large a gathering of the brethren in the Victoria Hall , Adelaide , and was the cause of Grand Master WAY delivering the speech we have referred to , it was such as we are entirely unaccustomed to in this country , being the

installation of the Worshi p ful Masters-elect of no less than seven lodges—Nos . 3 , 4 , 9 , 18 , 28 , 30 , and 32 . About 250 brethren were present , among them being a majority of the Grand Officers , while the duties of Installing Officer were undertaken by Bro . PHILIP SANSOM , D . G . M . The ceremony does not appear to

have differed materially from what it would have been had there been onl y a single Master to instal . The minutes relating to the election of the several Worshipful Masters having been read

and confirmed , the installation was conducted in an adjoining room , the full ceremony being gone through in the case of live who had not previousl y occupied the chair of a lodge , while the remaining' two who had been re-elected were installed into office

without further ceremony . The lodge having been opened in the Second Degree , the members of Grand Lodge were received in due form , the Grand Secretary read the Ancient charges , and the newly-installed Worshi p ful Masters were conducted to the pedestal . Lodge having been opened in the

Third Degree , they were formally placed in their respective chairs and proclaimed and the working tools presented . The same ceremony followed in the Second and First Degrees , after which the Warrants , & c \ , were presented by the Grand Secretary and the address to the Worshipful Masters delivered by the D . G . M .

Subsequentl y the Wardens of the several lodges were invested , and , the final proclamation having been made , the Grand Officers retired , lodge was closed , and the brethren ( to the number of about 200 ) adjourned to the banquet in the Albert Hall , and in due course the usual loyal and Masonic toasts were honoured .

We cannot say that after reading the report of this combined installation , which appeared in our columns last week , we have fallen in love with this method of installing Worshi p ful Masters elect in batches . Even Grand Master WAY—though he countenanced the ceremony by his presence—acknowledged in

his speech , when proposing the toast of "The Newly-Installed Masters , " that there is " a good deal to be said in favour of separate installations as maintaining the individuality of the various lodges and also the dignity of the hi g h office of Worshi p ful Master . In a joint installation the Worship ful

Master had to sink his identity , and to divide his dignityon the present occasion into seven parts ; " nor do we attach very great importance to the " compensations" he cited for this sacrifice of lodge individuality , & e . The new system may save " money " and " valuable time , " but in our humble opinion , the

gain in these respects is small b y comparison with the sacrifices entailed by a combined ceremony . There is , moreover , one point which Bro . WAY appears to have lost sight of altogether , namely , lhat the ability to work the ceremony of installation must become more and more restricted to a few brethren as the

adoption of the new system of " combined installation becomes more general . What is needed is not that the knowledge of our ritual should be limited to a few—as in days gone b y > when capable brethren travelled the country from lodge to lodge , initiating , passing , raising , and installing , as the ceremony of the moment

rendered it necessary (—) , but that it should be spread abroad among the brethren to as great an extent as possible . There may , of course , be circumstances which occasionall y justif y a departure from the regular system of individual lodge installations , as for example when lodges are located in out-of-lhe-wav

districts , and the difficulties in the way of obtaining the services of the requisite number of Installed Masters to constitute a Board are exceptionally great . But hen . ' there does not appear to have been any such difficulty , and we respectfully suggest

that the sooner the new system of "combined installation" is brought to an end the better it will be ( or the " individuality " ol the lodges and the "honourand dignity" of the office of Worshi p ful Master . The more we do to raise ihese in the general estimation , the greater the service we shall be rendering to Freemasonry .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Hampshire And The Isle Of Wight.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT .

The annual meeting of the above Provincial Grand Lodge was held at the Guildhall , Winchester , on Friday , the g . h instant , when there was very large attendance from all parts of the country , over 2 . 10 brethren assembling , including many Present and Past Provincial Grand Officers ,

Bros . W . W . B . Beach , M . P , Piov . Grand M .-ist . r ; J . K . Le I ' euvre , P . G . D ., Deputy Prov . Grand Master ; R . Eve , P . G . Treas . ; F . Newman , P . P . S . G . W . ; Col . W . Campbell , A . D . C . to t ' e Oiecn , P . P . S . G . W . . Major Mortimer , P . P . S . G . W . ; E-lgir Goble , P . G . S . B ., Prov . G . Sec . ; with Bros . Bnimsrion and Bernard II . u field in the P . ov . Grand Wardens '

chairs . The report of the Prov . Grand Treasurer ( Bro . Gieve ) having been submitted , The Deputy Prov . Grand Master , Bro . LE FEUVRE , moved its reception and adoption , congratulating the b : ethren that th-i year had ended with the satisfactory balance of £ 22 S in hand , afier making the ordinary payments to the Central Charilies and the Provincial Charity , and paying ^ C 6 in grants 10 deceased brethren or widows .

Bro . EVE tecondtd the motion , remarking that the accounts showed assets of ^ 1443 , whilst the liabilities were 1 il . The motion was carried . Bro . MORTIMER proposed , and Bro , MILLER seconded , the re-election of Bro . Gieve as Prov . Grand Treasurer

The motion was supported by the PROV . GRAND MASTER , who paid a high compliment to Bro . Gieve lor the services he had rendered to the office for many years . The " proposition was agreed to with acclamation , and Bro . GIEVE returned thanks .

The Audit Committee having been appointed , the report of the Prov . Grand Lodge Committee was read , which stated that three girls and one boy had been elected to the Schools , and one brother and one widow to the Benevolent Institution . During the year 275 brethren had been initiated , the total number of subscribing members being 3503 , or a nett increase on the year of 135 . The report was agreed to .

A letter from Bro . Speth , S-. crelary of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , thanked Provincial Grand Lodge for the fraternal reception given to the members of tec lodge on their recent visit to Winchester . The visit to the province and the evening spent at the Guildhall at Winchester were not likely to be soon forgotten .

On the motion ot the D . P . G . M ., seconded by Bro . BRAMSDON , and supported by Bro . RICHARD EYE , Past Grand Treasurer , Provincial Grand Lodge decided to support the candidature of Bro . John W . Gieve , Prov . Grand Treasurer , for the Grand Treasurtrship next year . The PROV . GRAND MASTER , prior to investing the officers for the year , congratulated Provincial Grand Lodge on the large attendance , showing as

it did the active interest taken by the brethren in all parts of the county in the progress of Freemasonry . He also congratulated the lodges generally on the way in which the minute books were kept , at the same time making one or two suggestions to Secretaries , which he hoped would not be lost sight of . He spoke in terms of satisfaction of the reception by the province of the distinguished body known as the Quatuor Coronati , a lodge , he

said , which performed great services to Masonry by elucidating antiquity , and showing how it bore upon the history of their great Order . The lodge had an outing once a year , and came recently to Winchester , and he was glad to know by the letter read that the members were pleased with their reception . He was sure that Provincial Grand Lodge was pleased to render hospitality to so distinguished a body of Masons , and he hoped , indeed he was sure , it would be reidy to do so again whenever they had

any distinguished visitors to the province . He congratulated the brethren on the progress of Masonry in Hampshire , and on the high position the province had attained among the Masonic provinces of England . He made a few remarks as to the principle on which he acted in the appointment ol officers , and those which should govern lodges in making nominations -in which he was supported by the D . P . G . M ., and then appointed his officers for the year as follows :

Bro . Col . Cooper King . 2475 ... ... Prov . S . G . VV . ,, Arthur Lamb , 6 94 ... ... ... Ptov . J . G . W . „ Rev . W G Whiuarn , 698 ] Prov . G . Chaps . „ Rev . VV . C . Hauk-. lev , 257 ... ... ) r „ I VV . Gi < : ve , 309 " ... ... ... Prov . G . Treas . ,, T . 'G . Timbrtii , 20 ' iii .. ... ... P . ov . G . Reg . ,, E . Goble . " 500 ... ... ... Piov . G . Sec .

„ C . VV' Kvep , . 95 ... ... -jPrjv . S . G . Ds . ,, J . J . Brazier , 2208 ... ) " w ^/ 'Hu , < P . ov . J . G . Ds . ,, W . II . Chapman , 14 ( 11 ... ¦¦¦) J „ F . Bascoirb 1883 ... ... ... P . ov , G . S . of W . „ R . F . O borne , 130 ... ... Prov . G . D . C . „ I . T . Trackara , 48 / ... ... ... Prov . D . G . D . C .

,, \ V . Cole Norman ... ... ... ~ ) ,, S . Dacombe , 394 ... ... ... > Piov . A . G . D . Cs . ,, E . Litchfield , 2203 ... ) „ A . G . Pnckttt , 18 O 1 ) ... ... Prov . G . S . B . „ R . G . Piiher , 201 , 8 } Prov . G . Std . 15 r < . „ H . J . Bundy . 2 . 74 ... . ) ,, J . K . Thornton , 0113 ... ... ... Prov , G . Org . ,, G . F . Lancaster , 903 ... ... ... Prov . A . G . Sec . „ F . lerome . 10 v * ... ... ... Prov . G . Purst .

,, G . A . Dunbar , 21 s , 3 ... ... Prov . A . G . Purs ' . ,, K . Hinxman , 76 ... ... ... ") „ A . Bis ! , 2 " ) ... ¦¦¦ ¦•¦ ' ,, D . H \ Yat ,, ey , 928 ' j . P . ov . G . St . vs . „ W . Stewart , 1428 ... ... ... , ' ,, H . Sherwood , 1373 ... ... j ,, G . Rogers , 21 f ><> ... ... ... J „ J . F . xell , 487 ... ... ... Piov . G . Tyler .

Some other business was trans icted , and Piovincial Grand L'ldge * then closed , the brethren afterwards dining together , under the presidency of the Prov . Grand Master .