Provincial.

that day heard tho report of its progress read . A few years ago , when their Grand Master was called to preside over them , there was not more than 500 Masons in the province . That was only five or six years ago , viz ., in the October of 1859 , and now they numbered 1 , 006 . They were still extending their influence and their numbers , and this had led his lordship to ask "what shall we do with the plethora of numbers ? " The numbers in their Grand Lodge would soon be so large that they would not

be able to find a room large enough for them . Then came tlie question , what will be the best arrangement in order to meet the requirements of the large number of brethren who attended their Grand Lodge . ( Hear . ) The only thing he thought that they would be enabled to do was to get into a tent , which would be more expensive than a room , and they would then have to be satisfied with soup and a cold collation . ( Hear . ) It must be borne in mind that they must provide for the

requirements of all the lodges attending their festival . They required some sustenance after their business . ( Hear . ) It was all very well to dispute that fact , but hu ^ nan nature after all was only human nature , and required keeping up in the proper manner . They breakfasted at ten o ' clock in the morning , after which they attended to the business of the lodge , and they went till four or five o ' clock without refreshment . If that was the case they must provide for the members who attended , for to ask them

not to attend would be to ask them to neglect an important duty ; and it was important that they should have the opportunity of mealing in Grand Lodge . It was necessary that they should have the opportunity of knowing each other personally , and interchange their sentiments the one with the other . ( Hear . ) It was important that they should know what was going on ; that they should be able to testify by their presence what an important bodMasons were ( hear ) and that they were not

y , only an important body in themselves , but to the country at large . ( Loud applause . ) He asked them to look for a few moments at Freemasonry . It was essential in Freemasons that they should be always ready to hold out the right hand of hospitality and liberality . Hospitality and benevolence were the principal virtues of Freemasonry , and they assembled together on their festivals to promote those virtues to the utmost . It had been alleged against them that they assembled for the purpose of

eatingand drinking . That was easily disproved , for of the Is . ayear which they paid towards the funds of the Provincial Grand Lodge , one half they were bound to appropriate to the three Charities in connection with the Craft , and 2 s . was devoted to make lodges members , and members for ever , not as with an individual whose membership died with him , but they were members for ever of the three Charities in connection with the Craft . Not one Gd . ol

that money could bo touched for any other purpose . This was , he thought , a sufficient denial to the assertion that they assembled for the purpose of benefitting themselves and themselves alone . The other 2 s . they were obliged to spend in the manner which their own laws provided . There were . 125 subscribers of 2 s . a year , and thoy had that day voted £ 50 towards one of the Charities . It would he absurd to suppose that any one ot the provinces

in the country could set to and build almshouses of their own and maintain them . Nothing of that kind could be done . It was well therefore for them to go on as they were , for each of them would have a chance of partaking of the benefits of one of the Charities if they should ever meet with misfortune . ( Applause . ) He was asked that day in Grand Lodge to move a vote to a poor widow at Sheerness ; a very deseiving case , he would grant them ,

but he was unable to do so , inasmuch as it was set forth in their own laws that such motions must be brought before the preliminary meeting , ivhich is to be held a month before the Grand Lodge . Then if the preliminary meeting thought it was a deserving case , they were at liberty to recommend the Grand Lodge to make a grant . There was plenty of time before the preliminary meeting and the case could be taken into consideration by them , and he was sure they would not be slow in

dispensing the great virtues of the Craft in any deserving- case . The Boys' School was then spending £ 30 , 000 ( he was speaking under correction from Brother Binckes , if he made any errors ) in increasing the establishment , so as to maintain , instead of 100 , 200 of the sons of any Masons who might by misfortune or otherwise require assistance . This was a great outlay , and the Committee of the Boys' School had spent a great deal of money and had got into debt in making these alterations . As men of business they did not desire to open the establishment having ,

as they had , a debt hanging over their heads . They did not desire to make these improvements and have to mortgage the building in order to pay for them . That , he knew , was a common way of building , but he , for one , thought it was a most expensive one . ( Applause . ) They desired to act as men of business , and , as he had already said , not open it with a debt hanging over their heads . The committee had spent £ 30 , 000 and they now had to appeal to their brother Masons to helthem out of their

p dilemma . He , for one , was sure that that appeal would not be made in vain . Their chairman had told them that day that Solomon when a young man was very wise , but when he became an old man he got into foolish ways . Let him warn them against getting foolish iu their old and prosperous days . They had been told that they were in a prosperous condition , and that in no province were Freemasons so much respected

and admired as in the Province of Kent . Let them keep up their character . They were noted also for their benevolence , and let them keep up their prestige for that as ^ well . ( Applause . ) It was a matter for congratulation that in five or six years their numbers had so increased . This must reflect credit upon the management of the Grand Master . Ho said their numbers had increased , aye , they had increased one

hundred per cent . ( Loud aud protracted applause . ) Thus much for the Craft . And now , as far as he was concerned , he would refer them to his past conduct , and , as far as he was aware , any little intellect and time he could devote to their service they were willing to claim . ( Applause . ) Whenever they required his assistance , they had but to command and he was at their service . ( Applause . ) He knew them all as neighbours , and he knew them as Masons , and good Masons too . He would say no more , but content himself with returning them the sincere thanks for tho way in which they received the toast .

After a short interval , The D . PEOV . G . MASIEE again arose , and said he had a toast which he wished to propose to them . It was " The Health of the Officers appointed in the Grand Lodge that day . " His office , he was aware , was likely to bring him into disgrace with some of them for not having elected different officers from those he had chosen , yet he assured them he had done his duty conscientiously , and to ihis own satisfactionHe always made it a rule to be

. very careful what gentlemen he proposed for election by the Grand Master ; and he thought that at the expiration of their term of office his selection would meet with the entire approval of all . ( Loud and protracted applause . ) Bro . FOOKES returned thanks . He said they had risen to return thanks for the compliment that had been conferred upon them by those present in drinking their healths in the manner

they had done . They felt—he spoke as a Mason , and was sure his brother officers would all concur with all he said—proud at being Masons , and they esteemed being elected to office as an honour of which they were unworthy . Ho hoped that they should perforin their duty to the satisfaction of the brethren ( applause ) , and not only satisfactory to them but also to the Grand Master and the Craft throughout tho country . It was a matter of no small congratulation to him that he had been chosen to fill an office of so much

importance . He felt the more proud of the honour , because he could remember his father being in the same position before him . This was when a young man had made him the more anxious to become a member , and now he was a member he had been elected to this office . Their Craft impressed everybody by its influence , and by that manly feeling which it exhibited tbe one towards the other . As they had already been told , it had been said that their Craft had assembled for the purpose of enjoying

themselves . There were , however , things deeper set and deeper rooted in the heart of all true Masons than the mere enjoyment of themselves , hut which they themselves could but imperfectly express . He never went to the Provincial Grand Lodge or to his own county lodge without feeling how much importance there was in Freemasonry . It was astonishing how much a small body of men might do for the good of the country , especially when did onl

they worked well together as the Freemasons . He y hoped they would so continue , to deport themselves as to remain worthy of the dignity which they had now attained . He could assure them that he was not speaking for himself alone but for the whole of the brethren who had that day been called to office . He felt certain that the whole of them would endorse his opinion . ( Loud applause . ) In conclusion he would only express a hope that he and his brother officers might perform their duties to tha satisfaction of their brethren at large . ( Applause . )