Provincial.

ceived honours at Devizes ( where he was born ); and these things were felt , perhaps , more iu a man ' s native town than anywhere else . He admired these occasional gatherings , as they brought together old faces , and revived past associations of a happy kind . Alluding to the important nature of the ceremony of installation , especially in such an ancient lodge as No . 90 , the speaker congratulated Bro . Smith on his second election to the chair . and expressed his conviction that he was

thoroughlde-, y serving of the honour , and that the lodge could not fail to prosper under him . ( Hear . ) Bro . HICKMAN thanked the company for the reception of his name , observing that his endeavour was to do his duty zealously . He expressed the pleasure with ivhich he had heard Bro . Beach ' s praise of Bro . Smith , W . M ., and said that brother ' s second year of office ivould surelbe .

y prosperous Bro . PAYNE said , after the addresses of the three worthy brethren who had last spoken , there was not much left , for him to say . He was very happy to be there . He had heard Bro . Stebbing , the late Bro . Firmin , and other brethren of Southampton often speak of the Lodge of Economy ( Old No . 90 ) in terms of respect and veneration , and he could assure his friends that the spirit which had reigned in the lodge and

at the table that evening had had the effect of more deeply impressing his mind with the beauties of the Craft . Bro . Payne then proceeded to speak , in eulogistic terms , of the installing Master , Bro . Beach , whom he described as not only a Mason in word and deed , but everything a brother could desire to see ; he recognised in him a sincere and hearty good wisher of his fellow men , and no matter what the position

and condition of a brother , if he was a true aud honest man , Bro . Beach would never turn from him . He ( Bro . Payne ) owed everything he possessed to the benefits derived from and through Masonry . He had been articled to and served his time with a Mason , and the kindness he had experienced and the warm , support he had always received , evidently proceeding from the influence of good feelingmade him long to become a Mason

, himself , and he was happy to say he had now been connected with the Order for twelve years . For any young man of honest and industriousinclination , there was no institution , a connection with ivhich could benefit him so much , as becoming a member of the Masonic body . ( Hear . ) He was influenced to this

extent , there was no man he would so soon trust , or so readily believe in , as a brother Mason . But , of course , all large'bodies were liable to have some black sheep among them , but that was not the fault of the institution , hut that of the unfaithful individual . As the Prov . G . Chaplain had said , the Order was , Drought to be , the handmaid of religion , and , therefore , all its members could endorse the opinion that every clergyman and every teacher of morality should join the Masonic body . ( Hear ) .

He had been witness , in many cases , of the great good done by the instrumentality of tbe institution , and had experienced , in the history of a family relative , the immense advantages sometimes derived from the united action of the fraternity . At some length the speaker detailed the adventures of a relative who had been in India , and who had undergone curious vicisitudes of life , and who , ultimately .. dying prematurely , had left

a widow , who , in her turn , had reaped solid advantages at the hands of the Masonic brethren of her deplored husband . Alluding to the Boys' Institution , he said there was not a more excellent and deserving charity connected with Masonry . The seventy-two children brought up there were not only educated well , but , whatever their capabilities , they were suited accordingly ; if they had ability capable of warranting their being

trained to the law , or medical men , or in any other profession or trade , whatever their talents indicated , so they were placed to their future calling . And there was one excellent feature in connection with the institution ; there wasno distinction made in the treatment of the boys , whatever class they might have originally belonged to ; and another thing , especially worthy of mention , was this , not one boy who had gone away from

the school at the end of his term had even bronght disgrace upon it . ( Hear . ) And it was the same with the Girls Institution . Besides these two , there were the asylums for the Aged and Decayed Masons and the poor Widows of deceased brethren . The outer world did not . know all tbe Masons were doing . He had seen at one meeting the sum of £ 2500 subscribed there and then , the noblemen putting down their £ 100 and those not so well off their £ 5 and £ 10 . ( Cheers . ) He should , in

future , be visiting Winchester every Saturday , but he must say that the manliness of feeling and the kindly spirit of brotherhood he had experienced there that clay would never be effaced from his memory . ( Hear . )

Bro . BIGGS took the opportunity of tendering his thanks to Bro . Naish for his great kindness in attending his installation at Devizes . He had another brother present who had been doing a great deal for Masonry , a member of the Portsea Lodge , Bro . Emery , P . M . No . 428 . He might say that he had never seen the ceremonies more ably conducted than by him . With reference to the charities , he considered these the mainspring of Masonry and he knew that Bro . Emery had been carrying out

their spirit to perfection . It had been only on the previous day in London , at the Festival of the Eoyal Benevolent Institution for the Aged and decayed that he took £ 92 , the sum he had raised by subscriptions as Steward , and they were all indebted to him for his exertions and the interest he had always evinced in the success of the Charities . He begged to propose Bro . E . Emery ' s health . Drunk with honours . The W . M . said the same toast was on the listand had been

, intended to come from the chair . Bro . EMERY said he thanked the company very heartily and sincerely for the handsome way in which they had drank his health , and was especially obliged to Bro . Biggs , whom he looked upon as an example to all Masons . He referred to the handsome testimonial presented to Bro . Biggs by his lodge . He said he entertained very strong opinions on their Charitiesand

, his influence had been drawn to it by Bro . Sherry . If Masonry meant anything , it was charity . He had already served a Stewardship for the Boys , and for the Aged and Decayed , and he should not stop till he had served also for the Girls ' School , and made the round complete . He had to thank the province of Hants for their handsome contributions and

their presence at the Festival . It was not the contributions of a few individuals only that were required , but they were bound to make a general application and obtain assistance from all the brethren , who only wanted to be applied to . Bro . Binckes hac \ . lately said very truly , that the provinces had been left entirely unattended to . Two years ago only £ 1000 had been the sum raised ; last year , however , it had reached £ 4000 , and this showed that the fraternity only need be applied to in order to

gain their assistance to the utmost of their ability . He found it only necessary to ask , and the liberality of his surrounding brethren had been excited , and he was proud of the result . He again thanked the company , and if any of them ever came to Portsmouth he could assure to them the same good reception they had given him and the other visiting brethren from Southampton and other places . He wished to see a good deal more of the brethren of the north of the province . He knew

that much was to be learnt by visiting other lodges , and all Masters , Wardens , and other officers should make it a duty to pay mutual visits . ( Hear . ) - The W . M . proposed the toast of " The Visiting Brethren , " and in the course of his speech alluded to Bro . Forbes , of Portsmouth , one high in the degrees of the Order , and thoroughly interested in its successancl who had consented to be most

, useful in a case of necessity connected with the Winchester Chapter . The other brethren named in the toast were Bro . Wyndham , from Salisbury , who came backed by the strongest recommendations ; Bro . Lawson , from Trowbridge ; Bro . Collis , Bro . Cooper , Bro . A . H . Weston , & c . Drank with loud cheers .

Bro . FORBES expressed his deep and sincere thanks for the compliment , and went on to say that in anything he could do for a lodge , chapter , or other department of Masonry , his services were at the call of every brother or body of the Order . He held it to he one of their grand principles that if any brother knew what another did not , it was his early duty to convey it to him . He had not visited No . 90 for twenty years , but now , as thenit deserved compliment for the purity of its working .

, He acknowledged what be owed to his former connection with the lodge , and said he should always respect and esteem its members . Bro . A . H . WESTON also responded , ancl observed that he owed his Masonic membership to Winchester , where he had seen so much of good fellowship , and of what he considered came up to the standard of true manliness . '

Bro . COOPER , in making his acknowledgments , said he was there as a representative of a most distant province , namely , the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey . He could not have let the opportunity pass without expressing his warm thanks for the compliment paid to his name , and he should return to his own district with a very satisfactory and lively feeling of the harmony ivhich had prevailed at the meeting that evening . He had belonged some years ago tp No . 387 , Fareham . He had been very pleased to be present , and to see the true Masonic sentiments ivhich existed among them . ( Hear . )