At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar.

muster of brethren . Any Lincolnshire Mason residing in London is invited to communicate with Bro . A . Moresby White , 5 , Crown Office Row , Temple . Tlie Provincial Grand Officers are , we understand , favourable to the movement .

Anolher new lodge has been established in ( lie province of Norths and Hunts . This time it is at Peterborough . It is the seventh lodge consecrated since Lord Euston was appointed to the rule ol the province in 1887—during , that is to say , a period of 16 years . Prior to that the progress of

Masonry Intel been slow in the province , the only lodges consecrated between 18 5 8 and that date—a period of well nigh thirty years—being the Eleanor Cross and the De la Pre , the former an off-shoot of the Pomfret , and the hitter a growth from the Eleanor Cross , both ol them located in the chief town of the province—Northampton . The new

lodge is named ' -The Peterborough and Counties , No . 299 6 . " Peterborough , besides its position at the stalk of the pearas the late Archbishop Magee used to say , as the county of Northampton is , geographically , in the shape of a pear—is in close propinquity to three counties—Lincolnshire , Rutland ,

and Cambridgeshire . It expects to draw members from the near borders of till three , as well as from the cathedral city itself . It is consecrated under very happy auspices , there being no less than 33 founders . Bro . Clarabut ' s acceptance of the chief office of the new lodge for the lirst year is of good omen .

At Colwvn Bay on the 25 th September , the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of North Wales was held under the presidency of Canon J . S . Brownrigg , Grand Chaplain of England . Lord Harlech , who had held the office of Provincial Grand Master for eighteen years , having retired , Sir William Grenville Williams , of Boder , Wyddan ,

was installed as his successor by Canon Brownrigg . The new Provincial Grand Master appointed as his deputy , Bro . Edward Roberts , who for a number of years has filled the office of Provincial Grand Secretary . The Rev . T . Lloyd Kvfiin , Rector of Beaumaris , was appointed as

Provincial Senior Grand Warden , and Bro . T . A . Beresford as Provincial Junior Grand Warden . Addresses of appreciation of the services of the retiring Provincial Grand Master and of the retiring Deputy Provincial Grand Master , Colonel Henry Piatt , C . B ., were delivered . Bro . Charles E . Breese ,

Caradoc Lodge , Portmadoc , was invested as Provincial Grand Secretary , and Bro . James Porter , St . Tuchio , Llandudno , was nominated on the Board of Management of the Masonic Institute for Boys , in succession to the late Bro . Benson .

* **> « *> A handsome memorial cross to the memory of the late Lord Wantage , Y . C ., Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire at the time of his death , has been erected bv his widow on the Berkshire Downs , above Lockinge , and a short dedication

service was held on Saturday , September 5 th , b y the Rev . Canon Houblon , Archdeacon of Oxford , assisted by local clergy . The base is an octagonal block of Portland stone , bearing a suitable inscription , and from it rises a tall marble pillar , supporting a short red marble shaft , culminating in a

carved white marble cross . The height of the monument is 33 leet 6 inches . Tlie column and cross , which are exact copies of the San Zenobio at Florence , unci were carved in Italy , can he seen for many miles round .

The annual meeting ol the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire was held at I he Swan ol Avon Lodge , in the Shakspearc Memorial Buildings , on the 21 st September , which was presided over by the Provincial Grand Master , Lord Leigh , who also presided at the luncheon held in the Town Hall , Ihe Marquis ol" Hertford and Lord Ernest

Seymour being among those present . Subsequently Grand Lodge was opened at the Memorial Pmildiugs , and after the officers had been appointed and invested , the brethren , over 400 in number , proceeded in processional order to

Shakspeare ' s church , where a sermon was preached by the Rev . C . W . Barnard , M . A ., Provincial Grand Chaplain , and a collection made in aid of the Warwickshire Masonic Benevolent and Pupils' Aid Fund . We note that one of the leading Birmingham newspapers

which usually gives a very full report of the annual meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire , accounts for the paucity of its information on ( his occasion in the following statement : —'' Owing to an edict of Grand Lodge forbidding the supplying of particulars to the press , we are

unable to give our customary report of the proceedings . " This desire lo conform to the wishes of Grand . Lodge is bevoncl all praise , but we can hardly think that the authorities had in their mind such a case as the proceedings of a Provincial Grand Lodge , which are more or less of a business character , when it issued its warning against communicating to the public press matters " not proper to lie published . "

\\ e regret to learn that the ill-health ot General Laurie , Provincial Grand Master for South Wales Western Division , necessitating a voyage to Canada , will deprive the province of his presence for some months . The voyage , we trust , will effect a complete restoration .

At the dinner following the regular meeting of the Thomas Railing Lodge , 2508 , held on the 26 th September at the Roebuck , Buckhurst Hill , the W . M ., on behalf of the brethren of the lodge , asked the acceptance by W . Bro . T . J . Railing , P . A . G . D . C , & c , Prov . Grand Secretary , of a small silver salver on the occasion of his silver wedding , to mark the esteem and

brotherly affection in which he is held by the brethren of the lodge which bears his name . Bro . Railing , to whom the gift was , of course , a surprise , replied , expressing for his wife and himself heartfelt thanks for the congratulations of the brethren and for the present made to him .

¦ 3 > 3 > >® On the 22 nd September , at the Town Hall , Lydney , the R . W . the Prov . Grand Master of Gloucestershire , the Right Hon . Sir Michael Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P ., P . G . W ., consecrated the Vassar-Smith Lodge , No . 2994 , this being the fourth new lodge opened in the province during the

22 vears that he has successfully presided over it , and raising the total number of lodges to 18 . The title ol " the new lodge pays a graceful and well-merited compliment lo the Deputy Provincial Grand Master , W . Brother Vassar-Smith , P . G . D ., who supported and assisted the Prov . Grand Master in the day ' s proceedings . Most of the other officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge were also present .

The Town Hall proved an admirable lodge room , and the ceremony of consecration was ably and impressively performed by the R . W . Provincial Grand Master , assisted bv the Provincial Grand Chaplain , the Wardens , the Director of Ceremonies , and other officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge . Jn the course of the ceremony , the Provincial Grand

Chaplain ( Bro . the Rev . S . R . Robertson ) delivered an eloquent oration on the nature and principles of the Order , and , in conclusion , expressed the best of all good wishes for the prosperity of the new lodge , adding the hope ( hat it would prove worthy of him whose name it was to bearand assuredly no Gloucestershire Mason could wish the lodge anything better .

With the object of raising A 2000 to discharge an existing debt on the Blackpool Masonic Hall , the Right Hon . the Earl of Latliom , P . G . W ., Provincial Grand Master of Lancashire , Western Division , opened a four days' bazaar on the 22 nd September , in the Masonic Hall . There was a large gathering of brethren , and the Mayor ol " Blackpool introduced

liis lordship . Earl Lalhom , in formally declaring the bazaar open , said he had been closel y identified with tlie Masonic Hal ) , as he had laid the foundation stone , and was also present at tlie opening ceremony .