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I ^ Sj ^ SSSfM SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 18 , 1899 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

A new Iodge will be added to the roll of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Cheshire on Saturday next , the 25 th instant , when the Assheton Egerton Lodge , No . 2793 , will be consecrated at the Bleeding Wolf Hotel , Hale , Bowdon . The ceremony will be performed by the

Right Hon . Earl Egerton of Tatton , Prov . G . Master , who will be assisted in his important duty by His Honour Sir Horatio Lloyd , P . G . D ., D . P . G . M ., and other Prov . G . Officers . The founders are 19 in number , and include Bros , the Hon . Alan de Tatton Egerton , Past G . W . ; Richard Newhouse , Past . G . S . B ., Prov . G . Secretary ; the Rev . C . Chetwynd

Atkinson , D . D ., P . Prov . G . Chap , j and Coningsby Disraeli , M . P . The Principal Ofiicers Designate are Bros . Fred Broadsmith , P . Prov . G . W ., W . M . ; John Ferguson , P . Prov . G . A . S ., S . W . ; and Henry H . Mainwaring , P . Prov . G . Std ., J . W . A banquet will afterwards be served at the hotel , the musical arrangements throughout being under the direction of Bro . J ames Parker , P . Prov . G . Org .

* » * Nothing could have been better than the arrangements made at Manchester on the 3 rd instant , for the installatian of Bro , Lord Stanley , M . P ., as Provincial Grand Master of East Lancashire . The Free Trade Hall had been secured for the occasion and nothing Was left undone that was likely to conduce to the

comfort and convenience of thc very large number of brethren present . This , however , was nothing more than was to be expected from the known ability and long experience of the principal executive officers of Provincial Grand Lodge . But what undoubtedly will strike the reader as having been pre-eminently the best part of the arrangements for so important a gathering was the selection of the Earl of Lathom , Grand

Masonic Notes.

Master of thecontiguous Province of West Lancashire , to perform the ceremony of installation , and for two principal reasons . In the first place , the late Bro . Col . Starkie and the late Earl of Lathom were in ofiice as Prov . Grand Masters , the one of the Eastern Division and the other of the Western Division of Lancashire , for five and twenty years . In fact , Col . Starkie was

already in office in the East when the late Earl of Lathom was installed in the West , and he survived his lordship by a few months . During the whole of that period the relations between , not only the two Prov . Grand Masters , but likewise the two Provinces were of the closest and most friendly character . What rivalry there was between the two was as to which of them should best promote the interests of Freemasonry .

* The other reason is that Lord Stanley and the Earl of Lathom are closely related to each other , the former ' s grandfather , Edward , 14 th Earl of Derby , the famous " Rupert of Debate , " who was thrice Prime Minister to the Queen , having married a sister

of the first Earl of Lathom , and aunt , therefore , of the present Earl . The fact of the two being thus related was mentioned in the course of the proceedings , nor can there , we think , be the slightest doubt that the pleasure of being installed in office must have been greatly enhanced by the fact of the ceremony being performed by so near a relative . It will also greatly

strengthen Lord Stanley ' s position as Prov . G . Master when our East Lancashire brethren reflect that it was the express wish of their late lamented chief that he might be succeeded by his lordship , whose success in his new office , under the circumstances we have described , may already be looked upon as a foregone conclusion .

* * * There is still another circumstance which deserves to be recorded in connection with the recent gathering at Manchester , namely , the announcement made by Bro . C . D . Cheetham that the newly-installed Prov . G . Master has already consented to preside at a Festival ,

which will be held in May of next year on behalf of the " East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution . Bro . Cheetham said that it was intended to appropriate 1500 guineas out of the donations and subscriptions which might then

be raised towards the purchase of a Perpetual Presentation to the Male Fund of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , to be called the " Colonel Starkie Presentation " as a tribute of respect to the memory of their i ' ate ruler .

• • • Here , again , there are two principal reasons why the Province of East Lancashire may congratulate itself on the form of memorial which has been selected . In the first place , the East Lancashire Educational and Benevolent Institution is chiefly indebted for its success , if

not for its formation , to the ever-watchful care of the late Col . Starkie . It was he who presided at the inaugural Festival held a few years since , when upwards of ^ 4000 was raised towards its support ; and had he been spared there is no doubt he would have occupied the chair at the Festival next ensuing . Moreover , the

Benevolent Institution appears to have been held by him in high estimation . He took a deep interest in all our Central Institutions , but it was to the Charity for the benefit of Aged Masons and their widows that he gave his services as Festival Chairman—in 18 79 , when the Returns amounted to nearly . £ 14 , 400 , of which some £ 3500 was subscribed by his own Province . Thus the

proposed perpetual presentation to the Benevolent Institution will serve the twofold purpose of keeping green in the memory of the Craft his services as President of the East Lancashire Institution and as a former Festival Chairman of one of the Central Charities . # »

Freemasonry has lost an eminent brother by the death of Bro . J . Newton , F . R . A . S ., who , after rendering valuable services to sundry lodges and chapters and other Masonic bodies as well as to our Charitable Institutions , was honoured with the appointment in 1895 , of Grand Pursuivant and A . G . D . C . in Supreme

Grand Chapter . But his loss will be more immediately felt by the Benevolent Institution , of the Committee of Management of which he was one of the most active and i . ealous members . Bro . Newton had been in failing health for some time past and died on the loth instant . A record of his Masonic services will be found in another column .

» » We have received a copy of Bro . Gould ' s eagerlylooked-for book on " Military Lodges , " and though we are unable to describe its contents at any length , a hurried glance through its pages has satisfied us that it

Masonic Notes.

will prove in every way worthy of the author's reputatation . It contains not only an immense amount of information relating to lodges that have been warranted in regiments and ships of war , and of famous soldiers and sailors of all countries ,, but also biographies of distinguished naval and military brethren , and anecdotes illustrative of the influence which Masonry has

exercised in warfare . It is published by Messrs . Gale and Polden , Ltd .. of 2 , Amen-corner , Paternoster-row , E . C , and Aldershot , who are to be congratulated both on the typographical meritsjof the volume and its neatness of turn-out generally , and on the very moderate price at which it is being issued—five shillings per copy . Our review of this interesting book will appear next week .

* * * Bro . Lieut .-General Sir Charles Warren , R . E ., G . C . M . G ., K . C . B ., who has been just appointed to command the 5 th Division of our Army in South Africa , under General Sir Redvers Buller , has won high distinction in the ranks of . Craft Masonry . He

is a Past Master of the Mechanics Lodge , No . 245 , Jersey , of Octahedron Lodge , Barkley West , South Africa , and of the Charles Warren Lodge , No . 1832 , Kimberley . Subsequently he became the principal founder , and in 1886 was installed the first W . M ., of our great literary lodge , the Quatuor Coronati , No .

2076 . In 188 7 he was one of the distinguished brethren upon whom his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master was pleased [ to confer the rank of Past G . Deacon , and four years later , on being appointed to the command of the troops in the Straits Settlement , he was installed District G . Master of the

Eastern Archipelago . As a soldier he has seen much service , firstly in connection with the exploration of Palestine , and later in South Africa , where , in 1884 , he was chosen to command the expedition into Bechuanaland ; at Suakim ; and in command of the troops in

the Thames District . He was also for two years Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police . His former services in South Africa will stand him in good stead in the position to which he has just been assigned .

* * On Thursday , the 30 th inst , being St . Andrew ' s Day , when the Grand Lodge of Scotland holds its Grand Festival , and the office-bearers for the ensuing year are installed in the offices to which they have been severally elected , Bro . Lord Saltoun , who has

presided over Grand Lodge for the last three years , will vacate the chair , and be succeeded by Bro . the Hon . James Hozier , M . P ., the present Depute Grand Master , and Prov . G . Master of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshiie . Lord Saltoun during his tenure of office , has not only shown himself an able ruler of the

Grand Lodge of Scotland , but has also won the esteem and respect of all his Scottish brethren . He has been very active in the discharge of his duties ; he has given encouragement to whatever was calculated to strengthen and promote the interests of the Scottish

Craft , and in his retirement from the cares of government , will retain the feelings of kindness and esteem which have been so readily and so deservedly accorded to him during the past three years . His successor is well-known throughout his Province and in Grand Lodge and will , we are sure , be supported by the brethren with the same loyalty and consideration .

• • * It is clear from the account we published last week of the annual meeting of the Prov . Grand Lodge of Warwickshire that Freemasonry under the wise and beneficent rule of Lord Leigh has attained a high degree of prosperity . It has a roll of 32 lodges , with

an aggregate of 1653 subscribing members . During the year ending the 30 th June last it raised £ 1734 for the purposes of Charity . In the course of next year it proposes to hold a Festival in aid of its Masonic Benevolent and Pupils' Aid Fund , and the better to ensure the success of the project , a resolution was

adopted to form a general Committee consisting of the W . Masters , Past Masters , and Officers of all the lodges in the Province , and , in addition , to have a Central Committee composed of the Prov . G . Master and his Deputy , the Prov . G . Treasurer , the Prov . G

Secretary , the Charity Representative of the Province ,, and a representative from each of the lod ges . We cannot do otherwise than augur well for the success of a Festival for which such ample arrangements have been made at this early date .

» » Our readers will be gratified to know that the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees has been very successful during the past year . It is not a very strong branch of our Masonic system , and , therefore , the progress it has made must be estimated in proportion

to its strength . Two new councils—Nos . 28 and 29—have been formed raising the total on the roll of Grand Council to 37 , while on comparing the opening and closing balances in the Grand Treasurer ' s audited statement of account , we find an increase in favour of the latter amounting to upwards of ^ 40 . Above all , the private councils -ire showing increased energy and

activity , while the concordat established last year between the Grand Council and the Order of the Secret Monitor has worked admirably and all friction between the two bodies is reported to have ceised . Members , however , are warned against having anything to do with a brace of so-called councils at PI ymouth and Devonport respec