At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

St . Martin ' s Lodge , Liskeard , has unanimously elected W . Bro . R . A . Courtney , as W . M . Bro . Courtney , one of the oldest and most esteemed Freemasons in the Province of Cornwall , filled the chair of his lodge as long ago as 1872 , and has been secretary continuously for upwards of 30 years . In 18 95 he was honoured with the collar of Prov . Grand

Senior Warden ; he is the treasurer and secretarv of the Cornwall Masonic Charity Association , and a member of the Provincial Committee . The rare compliment of electing him for a second term of office as W . M . is a fitting recognition on the part of the brethren of his distinguished services ,

and marks also the diamond jubilee of the lodge , which was celebrated ( his year . It is understood that , on vacating the chair at the close of 1906 , Bro . Courtney will resume the secretarial duties , which will meanwhile be undertaken by W . Bro . W . Nettle , P . P . T . G . W .

© © © In sending the Lord Mayor of London a donation of £ 25 towards the Queen ' s Unemployed Fund , M . Barlet , the secretary of the La France Lodge , said that the brethren of the lodge viewed the misery suffered by such a large section of the working population with deep sympathy . " We arc glad , " the letter continued , " to be able to come , as far as our means permit , to the help of our poor brethren in distress . "

© © © It is with much regret that we record the death of Bro . Percy Wallis , of Derby . He was for a great number of years one of the most active and prominent- members of the Craft in the Province of Derby , and was well known in London , especially in connection with the elections of the

three charities , where he occupied a distinguished position . He was a Past Master of the Tyrian Lodge , the oldest Craft lodge in the province , and also of the St . Oswald Lodge ( Ashbourne ) . In the Provincial Grand Lodge of Derbyshire he held the rank of P . P . S . G . W ., and was chairman of the charity

committee , where he laboured with much energy and success . In Arch Masonry he was P . G . Asst . S . E . in the Provincial Grand Chapter ; in the St . Mary Chapter of the Rose Croix he also held office , and in Mark Masonry he held the rank of P . G . Treasurer ( Eng . ) , and was secretary of the Provincial

Grand Lodge . In Masonry , therefore , Bro . Wallis' decease will be deplored throughout Derbyshire , and especially by the managers of the Masonic charities .

© © © Bro . J . W . Daws , writing in the Surrey Advertiser , notes that on the 6 th of this month of December Bro . R . F . Gould will have attained his Masonic Golden Jubilee . Let us , he writes , accordingly render him , as a Father in Israel and guardian of the Holy Ark , our mental homage ; and whether

or not his eyes happen to meet with these lines , let us further respectfully wish him many happy returns of his Masonic birthday . His ripe scholarship and acumen have combined to elevate Masonic history into a study worthy of the attention ¦ of thoughtful students ; and apart from historical

provincewhich he has made peculiarly his own—the literature of the Craft has long been enriched by expository articles from his vigorous and versatile pen .

© © © From data in the " Transactions of the Humber Installed Masters' Lodge , " and from similar sources , I find that it is exactly forty-eight years since Bro . Gould prepared his first technical lecture . That lecture was delivered in his

twentyfirst year , far away in Gibraltar , far back in the fifties , and significantly on " The origin , progress , and antiquity of Freemasonry . " In 1858 , Bro . Gould—then a lieutenant in the 31 st Foot—became W . M . of the Inhabitants' Lodge , No . 153 , at the historic Rock . During the campaign of i 860 in

North China , under Sir Hope Grant , he commanded a company of the same regiment , and was present in various actions , in connection with which he received a medal and clasp . He also served on the staff during the operations against Taepings in 1862 , under General Staveley , and took

part in numerous engagements . Subsequently , he accepted iin important position in Shanghai . Thence he returned

home to England , studied for and was called to the Bar , and joined the Western Circuit . © © © Bro . Gould was appointed Senior Grand Deacon of the Grand Lodge of England in 1880 and since that year has

, devoted his leisure time mainly to Masonic research . His great history and his recent work " Concise " are so widelydiffused as to need but passing notice here . The Robert Freke Gould Lodge , No . 2874 ( an offshoot of the Inhabitants Lodge at Gibraltar ) gracefully commemorates its

distinguished Patron ' s early labours , and was four years old last month . In brief , Bro . Gould sought and still seeks for historic truth , and in the course of his long and strenuous Masonic career he has destroyed many hoary technical fables . On the other hand , the fair Temple of the ancient Craft appears

to greater advantage after the removal of the external rubbish accumulated during centuries ; for , as the volume of the Sacred Law well says , " Great is Truth and mighty above all things . " Brotherly Love is great ; practical relief is greater still ; but the greatest and most enduring of the foundation stones of the Freemasonic Temple is Truth .

© © © There was a gathering of between 400 and 5 members of the Order at the Hulme Town Hall on the 23 rd November , upon the occasion of the half-yearly meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire . Lord Stanley , M . P ., the

Provincial Grand Master , presided . Bro . C . D . Cheetham , in moving the adoption of the report of the Charity Committee , stated that there were twenty annuitants in the province receiving the benefits of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows , at an

annual cost of . £ 728 . There were in the Institution 241 old men receiving ^ 8 , 88 9 a year , and 317 old women , receiving , £ 9 , 725 annually , making a total cost of ^ 18 , 629 . He asked that there should be no falling off in the support given to the Institution . Bro . J . B . Goulburn , who seconded the resolution ,

spoke of the work carried on in the Royal Masonic Schools . In the Boys' School , he said , there was accommodation for 500 boys , but owing to lack of funds the governors of the schools were only able to take in at present about 350 boys . After Christinas it was hoped to increase the number to 400 .

Children were taken at the age of seven , and retained in the schools till they were fifteen or sixteen , and given a commercial education second to none . It was resolved that the sum of ^ 20 be voted from the Provincial Grand Lodge funds to the East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution . Lord Stanley announced that the next annual meeting would be held at Salford .

© © © Manchester is not alone among Lancashire towns in having an atmosphere that works havoc with sculptured stone memorials . The East Lancashire Freemasons learned at the same meeting that the monument in Littleborough

Churchyard , of a Deputy Provincial Grand Master of a generation ago , is suffering from decay . Bro . Lawrance New-all died in 1867 , and the memorial was erected three years later at a cost of ^ 500 . The railings round the stone have had to be renewed , ( he figure of Charity which surmounts the design

is gradually crumbling away , said Captain Beswicke-Royds , and the effect of the acids given off from some works in the neighbourhood is slowly obliterating the carved Masonic emblems from one side oi the tomb . There are no sons of

the former Deputy Provincial Grand Master to deal with the subject , and it is satisfactory to be able to record that the Provincial Grand Lodge voted the necessary funds for arresting the damage as far as possible . © © ©

The annual meeting of the Committee of Benevolence of the Province of Cheshire took place on November 29 th at Crewe , Bro . L . Ellis presiding . The chairman said the province had reason to be satisfied with the results of the elections to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . They r

had been successful in getting two Cheshire candidates