Provincial.

mony of the installation was performed , the usual business of the Lodge was conducted with great efficiency by Bro . Spencer , the W . M . ; it consisted in two initiations and a passing , after which the ceremony of installation was performed by the outgoing Master , Bro . Spencer . We have had the pleasure of visiting many Lodges , but We never remember to have seen the ceremony better performed or the exhortations and charges more correctly or impressively delivered than on this occasion ; indeed , it elicited the most unqualified approbation of the Prov .

G . M . Immediately after the installation the W . M . proceeded to appoint and invest his officers , to each of whom he addressed words of commendation and encouragement . A most pleasing ceremony then took place , that of presenting Bro . Spencer with one of the handsomest Gold Past-Master ' s Jewels we have seen , of a novel design ; in the centre the eye of Providence , described by a single brilliant of the first water , shedding its golden rays around the P . M . ' s square and problem . We were informed that Bro . John Mott Thearle , the

Masonic jeweller , of Fleet-street , is the very clever designer of this very elegant jewel . Bro . Dobson , Past Prov . G . S . W . of Kent , the Treasurer of the Lodge , said he had been deputed by the Brethren to present the jewel to Bro . Spencer , and certainly it afforded him great pleasure in doing so , for no man could more deserve it than the P . M . of the Lodge ; under his fostering care Freemasonry had nourished to an unprecedented degree in Gravesend , for no less than twenty Brethren had been initiated during the past year . He was exceedingly glad to observe the R . W . Prov . G . M . amongst them , as it gave him an opportunity of seeing

the manner in which the work was done in the Lodge ; and he fearlessly challenged any Lodge in the Province or elsewhere to do it better . To young Masons the conduct of Bro . Spencer was a bright example to follow . He ( the Treasurer ) objected , when the proposal was made to present the jewel , that the whole amount should be voted from the Lodge funds : they did not wish it to be so much a Lodge matter , as an opportunity to the Brethren to evince by their individual subscriptions their respect to Bro . Spencer , not only as a Mason and

as the W . M . of the Lodge , but as a man and friend . "I have much pleasure /' continued Bro . Dobson , " in placing this splendid jewel on your breast ; long may you live to wear it , and continue an ornament to the Craft and a good and upright man . " Bro . Sj 3 encer replied in fitting terms , and the Brethren then adjourned to the New Falcon , where a banquet , of which upwards of fifty Brethren partook , was served up in the usual liberal and excellent style by the worthy host , Bro . Pallister .

The chair was taken by the W . M . Bro . Watson ( the Prov . G . M . having declined the honour ) , who presided with good judgment and excellent feeling ; and after the usual loyal and Masonic toasts had been proposed and drunk with due honour , Bro . Dobson proposed , by the leave of the W . M ., " The Health of the R . W . Prov . G . M ., Bro . Purton Cooper , " whom he was glad to see amongst them , so that he had been enabled to form a just estimate of the Lodge—the largest in the Province—and judge for himself the efficient manner in which the work was done . He was satisfied that it was only necessary for the Prov .

G . M . to be known to be appreciated , and he felt convinced the more they knew him and the oftener he came amongst them , the better all parties would be pleased . Bro . Dobson again referred to the excellent example of Bro . Spencer and the beautiful manner in which he had performed the ceremony of installation , and concluded by trusting that the Prov . G . M . might long reign over the Province , and tendered him the most hearty welcome of the Lodge . The toast was drunk with the utmost enthusiasm . In returning thanks the

Prov . G . M . said that on his appointment to the Province he was placed in considerable difficulty in reference to it , and in a position that no one but himself and one or two others knew . He , however , was happy to say that now everything worked well , and he might almost say his office would be a sinecure , were it not that he was called upon to accept such excellent hospitality as he did on the present occasion . He had been most delighted with the Lodge and the working . He was a very old Mason , and had necessarily visited a great number of Lodges , hut he would say he had never seen the work done so admirably as it had been performed that day by Pro . Spencer . He was