Provincial Lodges.

Here s a health to this good company , With a fal , la , la , And may they like our minstrelsy , With a fal , la , la , And he that will not pledge us now , For him may nought but water flow ; So to the horse pond let him go ,

With a fal , la , la . "The Earl of Ellesmere , R . W . P . G . M ., East Lancashire , " " Le Gendre N . Starkie , R . W . P . G . M ., IVest Lancashire , " "Sir W . W . Wynn , Bart ., M . P ., R . W . P . G . M ., North Wales and Salop , " "J . F . Haddock , TLW . D . P . G . M ., Cheshire , " "Provincial Grand Wardens , Cheshire , " " P . G . Chaplain , Cheshire , " "P . G . Treasurer and Officers , past and present , of Cheshire , " " The Visiting Brethren , "

" P . G . Stewards , " "W . Masters and Wardens of Lodges in the Province , " having been duly toasted , the company separated , having spent the day in true Masonic harmony . The R . W . P . G . M . announced his intention of holding the next P . G . L . at the Egremont Hotel , near Birkenhead , in Lodge Room where the Combermere Lodge , 880 , meets , and from the prosperous state in which that Lodge and . Lodges 701 ( Mersey ) and 782 ( Zetland ) are in , no doubt every effort will be made to give eclat to the proceedings , and a splendid affair may be anticipated .

CUMBERLAND .

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE . The Animal "Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland was held at Br . Gray ' s , the Crown and Mitre Hotel , Carlisle , on the 5 th of September . The Lodge ivas opened at high twelve , when the business of the province was disposed of ; after which , the Prov . Grand Lodge was closed in due form , and the brethren adjourned to the assembly-room of the Crown and Mitre to an excellent dinner . The D . P . G . M . Br . Greaves , presided .

The cloth having been cleared , and the usual loyal and Masonic toasts duly honoured , the V . W . D . P . G . M . rose to propose "The health of their Prov . G . M ., Sir James Graham , " whose absence , he said , was owing to his indifferent state of health . Br . Robinson called on the brethren to join him in a bumper , "To the health of our Dep . Prov . G . M . Br . Greaves . " From his knowledge of Br . Greaves , and from what the brethren had witnessed of his conduct in the chair , his gentlemanly feeling , conciliatory manner , his zeal for Masonry , and his knowledge of the duties of the

post he held , he ( Br . Robinson ; , trusted that his appointment as D . P . G . M . had given satisfaction to the brethren , and would g ive a stimulus to Masonry in the Province . Br . Greaves , in returning thanks , said that he never felt himself less prepared with language to express himself as he could wish for the compliment he had just received ; nevertheless , he felt it as he ought , most gratefully . It occurred to him , however , that their excellent Br . Robinson had introduced the toast and himself to their notice

rather as he ought to be , than as he was , and under that impression he would endeavour to keep before his mental vision the character he had described for imitation , that he might feel more worthy of the encomiums which Br . Robinson had been so good as to pay him . Their last year ' s meeting was an unusually large one , but this was a larger , and gave the best assurance that Masonry in the county was being better appreciated ancl on the increase ; and sure he was , that had their P . G . M . been there to-day , he would have been proud to have found himself so well supported .

The D . P . G . M ., in due course , proposed "The Lodges of the Province , " naming them according to seniority , commencing with the Whitehaven Lodge , No . 138 , and he was sure the brethren would support him . Br . Fletcher , W . M ., responded on behalf of the Lodge . "The Union Lodge , Carlisle , " was acknowledged by the W . M . Br . Sherrington .