Provincial Charities Association For North And East Yorkshire.

PROVINCIAL CHARITIES ASSOCIATION FOR NORTH AND EAST YORKSHIRE .

On Monday afternoon the representatives of the various lodges in the province met at York for the transaction of business . There were present Bros , the Earl of Zetland , Provincial Grand Master , in the chair ; Dr . J . P . Bell , D . P . G . M . ;

M . C . Peck , Prov . Grand Secretary ; J . W . Woodall , 200 , Scarbro ; W . Lawtin , 236 , York ; J . S . Cumberland , 1611 , Provincial Charity Steward ; W . Tesseyman , W . M . 57 ; G . H . Walshaw , P . M . 200 ; Sir J . Meek ; P . M . 236 ; W . H . Cowper , P . M . 602 ; A . W . Walker , W . M . 660 ; F . W . Booty , W . M . 124 S ; T . B . Whytehead , P . M . 16 T 1 ; R . W . Peacock , P . M . 1760 .

Sir | as . Meek vvas elected Chairman ; J . W . Woodall , Vice-Chairman ; and M . C . Peck , Secretary . A working Committee , consisting of Bros . Tesseyman , 57 ; Peacock , 1760 ; Atkinson , 566 ; and Jackson , 6 43 , were appointed , and it vvas arranged to hold the next meeting at York . Some other business vvas transacted , and the meeting terminated .

Presentation Of An Address To The G. Master By The Merit Lodge, No. 466, Stamford.

PRESENTATION OF AN ADDRESS TO THE G . MASTER BY THE MERIT LODGE , NO . 466 , STAMFORD .

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales having accepted an invitation to visit Lord and Lady Ayeland at Normanton , the Merit Lodge , No . 466 , meeting within the Borough of Stamford , resolved to present an

address upon the occasion of their Royal Highnesses passing through the ancient borough . The Secretary having communicated with Mr . Knollys , and received the Most Worshipful Grand Master's gracious permission , a lodge of emergency was called for Saturday , Jan . 15 th , at eleven o ' clock , at which there were present many visiting brethren from neighbouring lodges , in addition to the subscribing

members of the Merit Lodge . Present : Bros . Booth , W . M . ; Knott , I . P . M . ; Hart , S . W . ; Packer , J . W . ; Hare , Sec ; Rev . R . P . Bent , Chap . ; Bentham , S . D . ; Beddeson , J . D . ; Etchells , I . G . ; Oldham , P . M . ; Bloodwood , P . M . ; Norton , P . M . ; Ward , P . M . ; Rewce , [ Dawson , Halliday , Wilson , Hassan , Suartt , Hatfield , Coulson , Tyler . Visitors Bros . J . Stow , W . M . 1232 ; G . Marsh , 12-12 ; I . C .

Traylen , 442 ; G . F . Burrell , P . M . 469 , P . P . G . D . C . Lincoln ; J . Benner , VV . M . 469 ; F . G . Green , Sec . 1232 ; Cammack , J . W . 469 ; J . Dick , 1232 ; W . Bugg , 1232 ; J . Caunce , 0 . 1232 ; H . Pank , W . M . ' 442 ; } . B . Veryette , 442 ; J . M . Rutherford , J . W . 442 ; J . Read , W . M . 1265 ; I . D . Bennett , P . M . 1265 ; P . P . G . S . D . ; T . Clark , Lebanon ; J . T . Smith , 442 ; A . J . Moyes , SS ; and

Thaddeus Wells , 205 . The address , which was beautifully executed on vellum , enclosed in a morocco case , was as follows : " To H . R . H . Albert Edward , Prince of Wales , K . G ., & c , etc ., & c , Most Worshipful Grand Master of Ancient , Free , anei Accepted Masonry in England . " May it please your Royal Highness , —

" We , the W . M ., P . M . ' s , officers , and brethren of the Lodge of Merit , No . 4 66 , holden within the borough of Stamford , humbly beg to express our dutiful and loyal devotion to you as the Most Worshipful Grand Master of our Order , earnestly and devotedly praying that the Great

Architect of the Universe may long preserve your Royal Highness as the head and ornament of our Ancient and Honourable Institution , and that every blessing may rest upon you and your Royal Consort . " Signed , on behalf of the lodge , " THOMAS BOOTH , W . M .

" R . P . BENT , Chaplain , P . G . C . England , IX ° Sweden . " THOMAS HARE , Secretary . " The lodge of emergency liaving been duly opened , the summons convening the lodge and the dispensation allowing the brethren to appear in Masonic clothing at the presentation were read . _ Time vvas then called , and the brethren adjourned to their private room to partake of refreshment ,

while they awaited the arrival of their Grand Master . On the approach of His Royal Highness ( who was accompanied by H . R . H . the Princess of Wales ) , the brethren arranged themselves on a platform outside the George Hotel . Here the carriage halted , and the presentation was duly made by the W . M . of the lodge , supported by the I . P . M ., Chaplain

Wardens , and the Secretary . The address having been handed to H . R . H . the Grand Master , he graciously acknowledged it , and expressed the pleasure he felt at this proof of Masonic loyalty . The brethren then returned to the lodge , which was duly closed , after what was generally allowed to have been a most successful meeting .

St. Alban's Cathedral Masonic Restoration Fund.

ST . ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL MASONIC RESTORATION FUND .

On Monday , the 17 th inst ., a meeting of the Committee , and the subscribers to , and those interested in the above undertaking , was held at the Freemasons' Hall , V . W . Bro T . F . Halsey , M . P ., Prov . G . M . Hertfordshire , in thc chair .

Some additional subscriptions and promises werc announced , making the total sum received and promised amount to £ 507 iCs . 6 d . ; the expenses up to date being £ 31 3 s . p d . Lord Tenterden , Prov . G . M . Essex , vvas unanimousl y elected a Patron . The following report of the Sub-Committee was then read : —

( I . ) That the Sub-Committee have had an interview with the St . Alban ' s Faculty Committee , who communicated to them their decision that it seemed unadvisable to accept the offer of the Freemasons to erect a reredos at the east end of the Lady Chapel . ( II . ) That the Sub-Committee recommend , as an alternative , the erection of a pulpit .

After some discussion , it was unanimously resolved that a pulpit be given instead of the reredos ; and the Sub-Committec were re-appointed to carry this resolution into effect . £ In order to carry this out well a further sum will be required of , at least , £ 300 . Is it too much to hope that this sum may be speedil y raised ? Any information will be gladly given by the Hon . Sec , Bro . C . E . Keyser , Merry Pill House , Bushey , Watford . ]

The Religion Of Masonry.

THE RELIGION OF MASONRY .

The Rev . W . Tebbs , M . A ., P . G . Chap ., delivered the following sermon in St . Mark's Church at the opening of the new Masonic Hall at Remuera , New Zealand : — St . Matthew , v . 2 S , 29 : " Consider the lilies of the field how thev grow ; they toil not , neither do they spin , and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . "

Solomon , the synonym for all that is greatest and most wonderful in riches , power , and wisdom How magnificent are the scenes that rise before our mind's eye vvhen we try to picture the glories of that court and kingdom—the splendours of that wonderful house , so marvellously gorgeous , "" that the Royal Master Builder " erected for the Lord God of his fathers ; the grandeur of which was enhanced by the awful presence of the dread Jehovah

Himself , the mighty God of Israel , under the veil of the resplendent cloud consuming by heaven-sent fire the sacrifice offered to His Divine Majesty—king , priests , and people sinking to earth with eyes averted from the brilliant vision , And then our minds fly back with lightning-like rapidity to times of old , vvhen man had not thus to veil his . 'face in the presence of his Maker ; when sin and sorrow had no place in this young world of ours ; vvhen possessed of all requisite

knowledge , and every need supplied before thc want was felt , our progenitor , Adam , walked so innocently and trustingly with his Divine Father amidst the beauteous glades of Paradise . But in this rapid mental passage up the stream ot time ive have passed over , without a glance , many and many an age of ignorance and darkness , enlivened , however , here and there by fitful gleams of light —such instances as labal ' s skill in handicraft , Enoch ' s in

architecture , Jubal s in harp and organ , and Tubal Cam , the metal-worker . It really seems as though the knowledge undoubtedly possessed by Adam—to him revealed by Godvvas lost fo his descendants at the fail , and that they were incapable of more than retaining—and then only in solitary instances—aught save disjointed fragments of the learning wherewith he vvas fain to have endowed them . Strange fact again that this more secular knowledge seems

not to have been wed to a knowledge of tbe truth . Enoch , Jabal , Jubal , Tubal , and their kin were the race , not of Seth , but of Cain . Abraham was called from out of a race of image-makers to be the friend and devoted follower of his God . The descendants of the " Prince of God , " Israel , on the other hand , lost these arts in their pastoral sojourn in Canaan , and had to go into capitivity in art-loving Egypt to recover the requisite skill to build their cities

in the promised land . Whilst , on the other hand , again , Moses , a denizen of Pharoah's court , brought up amongst the priests of On , learned in all the arts and sciences of the Egyptians , must yetgo to Midian , there to be indoctrinated by the Jethro of the Shemites , Reul , with the knowledge of the one and only true God . Strange , passing strange , that true Masonry , whilst preserving in those early ages the knowledge of the great "I Am , " yet must goto bodies of

spurious Masonry for instruction in the arts whereby they should build the temple of their God . Here , at the very first revival , as it were , of Hie usefulness of the Craft , we find the line of demarcation clearly drawn between operative Masonry and our own Masonry , free and speculative , and the clue to this mysterious anomaly seems to be that the former then , as now , vvas merely the symbolical garb of the true light preserved in

the latter—the key to the mysterious symbolism being lost until the cope-itone of these different sides of the Arch was found—the cope-stone being the devoting of the real to the spiritual—the workmanship of the hand and the intelligence of thc mind to the worship of the soul . Let us not though be misunderstood to speak too disparagingly of those spurious or imitative systems , for there was in reality a good deal of truth in what they taught ,

although the truth vvas seen but hazily as it were through a veil , and the light shone but dimly through the opacity of the teacher ' s minds—and yet the truth , though partial , and the light , though dim , was there , for of all these systems—the mysteries of old , the fundamental doctrines of the One-ness of God and the immortality of the soul were their raison d ' etre . Witness Eleusis , India , and even the islands of these Southern Seas . Witness , too , tlieir

adherents , Plato and Anstotle , ! Socrates and Cicero—and chen let those who will deny or doubt it . Wc still maintain that in the midst of heathendom the knowledge , if an obscure one , of God prevailed . Why , even in Egypt—the myriadidoled—have we not proof positive of this in the Temple and priests of On , i . e ., of the One True Living God Most High ? Next we come to the utilization of Masonry in the building- of thc Temple of the ( Lord . To Moses , the

doubly instructed in On and Midian , the Great Architect of the Universe , revealed His plans . Connecting with himself two operative Masons , Aholiab and Bezaliel—who were " filled " ( as Moses tells us ) " with wisdom of heart to wc-rk all mariner of work , of the engraver , and of the cunning workman , and of the enbroiderer . . . and of the weaver , even of them that do any work , and of those that devize cunning work , " Moses erected the 'Tabernacle , the

first known material Temple of the Most High . Further down the stream of time we come to The Temple par excellence , "The Temple of Solomon . " Words would fail were wc to attempt to describe the grandeur and beauty of this structure ; suffice it to quote thc vvords ' of the sacred historian , that it was " exceedingly magnifical . " This was built , as we know , hy the three Master Masons—Solomon , the speculative , vvho took his plan from that of The

Great Architect , as embodied in Ihe Tabernacle ; Hiram , thc King of Tyre , and Hiram , the widow ' s son , who was , as we read , of the Operative Masters of Tyre and Sidon . "Skilful , " the chronicler calls him , "to work in gold and in silver , in brass , in iron , in stone , and in timber , in purple , in blue , in fine linen , and in crimson ; also to grave any manner of graving , and to find out any device which shall be put to him . " At the restoration once more of the Jews to their own land , the second Temple vvas built under

Zerubbabel , Joshua , the son of Jozedek , the High Priest , and Haggai , thc Prophet . This Temple , it is true , was far less magnificent than the other , for , as Hag-gai narrates the coming of the message of God through him to his two co-masters , " Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory ? And how do ye see it now . ' Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing ? " " Yet now , " he continues , " be strong .... I am with you , saith the Lord of Hosts . . . and I will fill this house with . r --. ory , saith the Lord of Hosts , The glory of this house sliall be greater than of * the former , saith the

The Religion Of Masonry.

Lord of Hosts , and in this place will t give peace . " Given when the Lord suddenl y came to His Temple ! when " a greater than Solomon was there ! " Here vvas the culmination of al ! Masonry when to the Arch was set the cope-stone , the One Grand and Royal Master—Eternal of the Grand Lodge above ! Now was Masonry to take its full and proper place , when it was to be the systematic rule , applied no longer to material wood or stone , but to the living substance of the

human heart 1 Henceforward the Mason ' s work was to be the building up of a Living Temple unto the Lord—eternal in the heavens—every stone a man , body , mind , and soul , the cement that should bind those ' stones together ; the holy tie of brotherly love ; and the bond , the union in the copestone , the Master ! From henceforth and for evermore could God be worshipped in "temples not made with-hands . " Those temples which He described when speaking of

Himself we read : He spake of the temple of His body . " Inasmuch then as wc were " made in God ' s image , " and that He took that form upon Him , " " our bodies , " too , together with our souls , are as the " Wise Master-builder , " St . Paul , declares " the Temples of God ' s Holy Spirit . " Today , then , brethren , it concerns us to inquire how we are to build these individual Temples of ourselves . Let us go back once more to the Temple-building , and on each occasion what

do we find ? That the work vvas not only planned , but executed through human agency it is true , yet really , executed by the Great Architect of the Universe Himself . Not only was the plan of the Tabernacle revealed by God to Moses in the Mount , but even the two leading operatives were inspired by God— " See , the Lord hath called by name Bezaliel .... and He hath filled them with the Spirit of God in wisdom , in understanding , and in'knowledge , and

in all manner of workmanship . " To build the Temple , Solomon declared himself , in his reply to Hiram , commissioned by God— "the Lord spake unto David , my father , saying : " Thy son , whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room , he shall build an house unto my name , " and , whilst the architect of the Royal Grand Master took , as tve have seen before , the Tabernacle—God ' s model—as his plan , the operative master , Hiram , the widow ' s son , we

read was " endued with understanding . " In the case of the second Temple , whilst it was built on tin ; lines of the former one , for its projection the Jews were indebted to God . "Blessed , " [ says Ezra , "be the Lord God of our fathers , which hath put such a thing as this in the King '? heart , to beautify the house of the Lord , which is in Jerusalem . " So in the temple of living stones , not only was the whole projected by the Almighty architect before

the foundation of the worlds , but every individual stone is polished by His hands . " By the grace of God I am what I am , " said one of the most polished in this spiritual Temple . Here , then , there are many stones , some to honour , some to dishonour—whilst others go to form the tapering pillar or the high-sprung arch ; most , however , are but the four-squared ashlars of the walls—nay some even of ruder mould may be buried out of sight in the foundation .

Not the least useful these—the quiet , unassuming weightbearers , and though their very existence may be unknown to , or ignored by their fellows , their virtues are all known to and recognized by the Architect . All these have been prepared by many a rude blow , and , with excrescences struck off by the workman's tool , now fill their place in the House of God . Now , brethren , it is just in this way that the Great Master polishes us , the living-stones of His eternal

T emple . Those He has prepared less , more out of Tsight , those perfect squared , the mainstay of the building ; those more ornamental , those upon whom the Master has done more work and laid a heavier burden ; whilst those who occupy the place of honour in the fane—the highly wrought , carved and cunning work—are those " into whose souls , like Joseph ' s , the iron has entered most deeply . " To such as these comes refreshment in the toil

in their Master s words— " Take no thought for your life , for what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for body what ye shall put on . Behold the fowls of the air , they sow not , neither do they reap , nor gather into barns . Yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them . Are ye not much better than they ? And why take ye thought for raiment ? Consider the hliesof thefieldshow they grow ; theytoil not neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you that even

Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of those . Wherefore , if God so clothe the grass of the field , which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven , shall He not much more clothe you ? 'Therefore , take no thought saying what shall we eat ? or what shall we drink ? or wherewithal shall we be clothed ? For your Heavenly Father knovveth that ye have need of all these things . But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness , and all these things

shall be added unto you . These concluding words , brethren , point out that which is to each of us the lesson of the present hour— " His righteousness . " But what is this ? " Pure reli g ion and undefiled before God and the Father is this—to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction , and to keep himself unspotted from the world . " To-day , then , whilst we " rejoicewith those whodo rejoice , " let us not forgetto " weep with those thatweep . " Letuskcep ourselves

unspotted from the world in showing that we are above the love of pelf and greed of gain , by giving of our worldly substance to those who need . Let us be first with the word of ready and heartfelt sympathy to soothe a brother's woe . Let us rear once more , in the words of the wise Master Builder , Paul , upon the " foundation already laid " such a superstructure as God gives us means and capabilities of erecting , and thus shall we be building ourselves up

as " Temples of God ' s Hol y Spirit , " and thus squaring ourselves into the perfect Ashlars of thc "Temple Eternal in the Heavens , " there in that Grand Lodge where our Grand Master , St . John , " saw no temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple thereof "—no Temple within it , because it is itself the everlasting Temple of the Lord , knit together of all these living stones in the unity of the Eternal Grand Master , the " Head-stone of the Corner .

HOLLOWAY ' S PILLS . —This purifying and regulating Medicine shoulel occasionally be had recourse to during foggy , cold , and wet weather . These Pills are the best preventive of hoarseness , sore throat , quinsey , pleurisy , and asthma , anel arc sure remedies for congestion , bronchitis , and inflammation . A moderate attention to the directions folded round each box will enable every invalid

to take the Pills 111 the most advantageous manner ; they will there be taught the proper doses , and the circumstances under which they must be increased and diminished . Holloway ' s Pills act as alteratives , aperients , and tonics . Whenever these Pills have been taken as the last resource , thc result has always been gratifying . Even when they fail to cure , they always assuage the severity of the symptoms and diminish the danger . —[ ADVT . ]