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Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

SATURDAY , FEBRUARY I 8 , 1899 .

A new lodge was added to the roll of the Province of Hertfordshire on Saturday last , when Bro . T . F . Halsey , M . P ., the respected Prov . G . Master , had Ihe p leasure of consecrating the 15 th lodge that has been warranled since his installation in office in the Town Hall , Hertford , now nearly 25 years ago . The new lodge is styled the Grove Park , No . 2732 , and will

meet at The Hall , Bushey , where already is located the Bushey Hall Lodge , No . 2323 , consecrated in the month of November , 18 S 9 . In the performance of his duty the Prov . G . Mister hid the assistance of his

Deputy , Bro . George E . Lake , I ' . U . U . ; l . ros . A . K . Bilby , Prov . S . G . W ., as S . W . ; Charles E . Iv .-yser , P . G . D ., P . Prov . G . W ., as J . W . ; the Rev . O . C . Cockrem , D . D ., P . Prov . G . Chap ., as Chaplain ; Chas . Bullock , Prov . G . Sec , as Secretary ; James Terry

Masonic Notes.

P . G . S . B ., Prov . G . D . C , Sec . R . M . B . I .. as D . C ; and J . P . Taylor , Prov . A . G . D . C , as I . G . The ceremony of installing Bro . T . J . Mercer , as the first W . M . was performed by the Deputy , and the usual banquet

followed on the conclusion of the remaining business There was a full attendance of brethren , and everything passed off most satisfactorily . We heartily wish the new lodge a long career of prosperity . ¥ * *

There are now 23 lodges in Hertfordshire , of which , as we have said , all but eight have been consecrated since the installation in office on the 22 nd April , 18 74 , of the present Prov . G . Master . The senior of the 15 lodges bears the honoured name of " Halsey " and is numbered 1479 , '' consecration on the 2 Sth

April , 1 S 74 , being the first official of Bro . Halsey in his new capacity of Prov . G . Master . During the 10 years that followed there were constituted only four lodges—the Cranbourne , No . 1580 , Hatfield , in 18 7 6 ; the King Henry VIII ., No . 1757 , Hemel Hempstead , in 187 S ; the Earl of Clarendon , No . 1984 , in 1882

and the Wilson lies Lodge , No . 2054 , Rtckmansworth , in 18 S 4 . Since then , however , the rate of progress has been far more rapid , the Dacre Lodge , No . 2 o 85 , Stevenage , having been consecrated in 1 SS 5 ; the St . Michael ' s , No . 2136 , Bishop ' s Stortford , in 1 SS 6 ; the Rickmansworth , No . 221 S , in 1 S 87 ; and the

Kingswood , No . 227 S , Broxbourne , the Bushey Hall Lodge , No . 2323 , and the Ravenscroft Lodge , No . 2331 , High Barnet , in 1889 . The Broxbourne , No . 2353 , High Barnet , and the James Terry , No . 2372 , Waltham Cross , both date from 1890 , and the Charles Edward Keyser , No . 2518 , Hoddesdon , from 18 91 .

A full report of the death and Masonic services of the late Bro . Lieut .-Col . A . Bott Cook , J . P ., P . G . D ., Prov Grand Mark Master of Middlesex , will be found in another colum ; but we cannot allow the sad event to pass without expressing our sorrow at the great loss which Freemasonry , but more especially in connection

with the Mark Degree , has suffered through the death of this most able , energetic , and genial brother . Though still in middle life—he was but 54 years old at the time of his death—he had been an honoured member of our Order for close on 35 years . In Craft and Royal Arch Masonry he had won high distinction ,

and was one of the •¦ ' ¦ ry few brethren upon whom his Royal Highness the V . W . Grand Master had been pleased twice to confer ti . c purple of Grand Lodge , and with it corresponding rank ' . u Supreme Grand Chapter . To him we owe it that ths Studholme Lodge , No . 1591 —of which , as the principal founder and first Master , and Irom his vacating the chair till his lamented death , the

ever-active and ever-popular Secretary , he may be said to have been the central figure during the whole of its career—is one of the best and strongest of the lodges on the roll of United Grand Lodge . The other lodges , also , and likewise the chapters with which he was connected were , without exaggeration , the stronger and more capable of discharging their duties by reason of his membership . #

* * But as it was in Mark Masonry that he was appointed to offices of the greatest responsibility , so , as the outcome of that fact , was it that under the Mark banner he won his chief distinctions . More than 20 years since , he was appointed to high office in Grand

Lodge , and from 1890 lo 18 92 he held the important post of President of the General Board , while in 1892 , on the erection of Middlesex into a separate Province , Bro . Lieut .-Col . Cook was chosen to preside over it as P'ov . G . Mark Master , and had so presided ever since . He was also a Grand Officer or Past Grand Officer in

the Order of the Temple , in the Royal and Select Masters and Allied Masonic Degrees , in the Royal Order of Scotland , and last but not least , in the Supreme Council 33 of the A . and A . Rite , in which he occupied the post of Grand Marshal . He was also a generous supporter of our three Charitable Institutions ,

as well as of the Mark Benevolent Fund . There was indeed , no branch of Masonry nor one of its Institutions , the interests of which he did not labour unceasingly to promote . In these circumstances it devolves on us to express on behalf of our readers and

ourselves our sincerest condolence w . th the family and innumerable friends and admirers of our recently deceased brother , and to express the lupe that for many years to come the memory of his great services to Masonry and its Institutions may be cherished .

• • * Nor , in the case of our late respected Bro . C . W , Hudson , who for well nigh 30 years had been one of the ablest and most active members of the Masonic community in Sussex , though his services are fully

Masonic Notes.

recorded in another part of our columns , should we be discharging our duty loyally if we omitted to pay the same tribute of respect to his memory and express our equally sincere condolence with his family and friends on the severe bereavement that has just befallen them

Though latterly he had won fame as the successful founder and first Master of a London lodge . Bro . Hudson ' s sphere of duty was restricted for the most part to the Province in which he resided , and in which he enjoyed the esteem and respect of the brethren he was associated with . Had his services to the Craft and its

Institutions been more widely known , there is little doubt he would have fared better in the efforts he unsuccessfully made to be elected G . Treasurer of England ; but had his life been prolonged , he would have renewed those efforts , and ul timately might have gained the object of his ambition—lo be an elected officer of Grand Lodge .

* » * The annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement will be held , as usual , on the last Friday in the present month , in other words , on Friday , the 24 th instant , when we anticipate there will be the usual

numerous gathering of brethren . The duties of the lodge will be performed at Freemasons' Hall , the work selected for the occasion being the Sections of the First Lecture ; and when lodge has been closed , the brethren will adjourn to the Freemason's Tavern adjoining , and there , under the presidency of Bro . the Earl

of Dartmouth , P . G . M . Staffordshire , supper will be partaken of , and the toast list of the evening duly honoured . There is a strong Board of Stewards , under whose auspices we doubt not the Executive of our well-known school of instruction will have the satisfaction of scoring another of their brilliant successes .

* * + There is no Province in England in which the duties of the lodges are more faithfully discharged , or in which their interests , both severally and collectively , are more religiously cared for by the Prov . Grand Master

than Hampshire and the Isle of Wi ght . Hence , it is needless to say , that when our distinguished Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., who has presided over that Province for close on 30 years , honours any one of the lodges under his charge . with a visit , there is

no one who receives a more cordial welcome , or to whom is more gladly paid not only the honour due to his rank and office , but likewise the far greater honour which is begotten of respect and affection . We have

an illustration of this in the report , which will be found in another column , of the meeting of the Albert Edward Lodge , No . 1780 , Southampton , on Friday , the 10 th inst . * •

The lodge is not an old one , having been warranted as recently as the year 18 7 8 , but it has earnestly striven to fulfil its duties loyally and to the satisfaction of its chief , and this being the 21 st year of its existence , the members resolved to mark the occasion

by adding to the possessions of their lodge a handsome banner , and invited the R . W . Bro . Beach to grace the meeting with his presence , and formally present the gift to the W . Master . The request was promptly acceded to , and on Friday of last week the Prov . G .

Master visited the lodge , and performed the part assigned to him with his usual kindliness , the proceedings throughout being of the most pleasant character , and worthy of honourable record in the annal , of the lodge .

* * * The Army and Navy Lodge , No . 2733 , was consecrated at Anderton ' s Hotel on Tuesday last , the 14 th inst ., by V . W . Bro . E . Letchworth , Grand Secretary A full report of the proceedings will appear next week .

It would appear that our reporter of the Masonic Service which was held in the Congregational Church , in the Kingsland-road , on Sunday , the 29 th ult ., was somewhat rash in describing it as a unique occasion , such services having been previously confined to the

Established Church . We have already published a previous case quoted by Bro . the Rev . E . Fox-Thomas as having occurred at Whitb y in 18 97 ; and nowtheRev . J . G . James writes us that a similar service was held in the Market Square Congregational Church , Merthyr Tydvil , on the 20 th June , 1897 , when the W . M . and

members of the Loyal Cambrian Lodge , No . no , attended in full Masonic clothing , and that in 1890 on the occasion of the Jubilee service of the same church the brethren were also present in their regalia . Perhaps our reporter intended his remark to apply to London only .