The Masonicmirror.

—to honour him with the position of D . Prov . G . M . When he accepted that office ho felt bound to exercise his best judgment in every advice he should give , and that he could only do by becoming personally acquainted with the lodges and their members . ( Cheers . ) That course he should continue to pursue , and he thanked them for the manner in which his efforts had hitherto been acknowledged ; at _ the same time , should any little difficulty arise in any of their lod he should consider no trouble too great in

ges , endeavouring to adjust it so that nothing but harmony and good feeling should exist amongst them . ( Cheers . ) One worcl with reference to the province . His Lordship had omitted to mention , with his usual modesty , the great success which had attended the Festival of the Royal Benevolent Institution for Aged Masons and their AVidows , over which his Lordship presided . He ( Bro . Dobson ) felt that a great compliment was paidnot onlto the noble Lord

, y , hut to the province , when he was asked to preside over the festival of that important Charity in his first year of office , and the result could not be otherwise than peculiarly gratifying to them . ( Cheers . ) It showed that they acted ou those feelings which had been so forcibl y inculcated in the pulpit that day , that the outer world should not he enabled to say that there was nothing but forms and vanity in

Freemasonry , but that they did practise what they taught—Charity , and that that was the main tie which bound them together . ( Cheers . ) He thought it was highly honourable to tbe Masons of Kent that out of £ 3000 subscribed on that occasion , no less than £ 340 , or one-ninth of the whole came from their province . ( Cheers . ) AVhat effect that was likely to produce he would not say , but it showed that in their own enjoyments they did not forget the wants of their brethrenand the unitthat

poorer ; y existed amongst the Masons of Kent , and the influence that they could accordingly bring to . bear was shown by the fact that the widow of a brother of the Margate Lodge was elected as an annuitant on the AVidows' Fund of the Royal Benevolent Institution , by a very large majority , at the head of the poll , and that too on her first application . ( Cheers . ) He urged upon them to allow the same feelings of union ever to actuate them as their great bond

of brotherhood , and most cordially thanked them , not only for the compliment they had paid him in drinking his health , but for tbe kindness with which they listened to his observations . ( Cheers . ) The PEOA ' . G . M . then gave "The Prov . G . Officers , Past and Present , " which was briefl y acknowledged by Bro . Eastes , S . Prov . G . AV . J

The R . AV . Prov . G . M . then took leave of the brethren , in order to return to town by railway , and left the room amidst loud cheers . The Chair was then taken by Bro . Dobson , D . Prov . G . M ., ancl the following toasts were drank , ancl appropriately acknowledged : — "The Provincial Grand Chaplain , " "The W . M . and Brethren of the Invieta Lodge ( No . 1011 ) , " with thanks to them for thenhospitality , and the excellent arrangements they had made for the comfort of the brethren ; " The Visitors , " " The Press , " "

Prosperity to the Town and Trade of Ashford , " "The Ladies , " "All Poor and Distressed Masons . " The harmony of the evening was much enhanced by the excellent singing of Bros . Ransford , Holmes , and Genge , who presided at the piano . The whole of the arrangements were most excellent , and reflected the greatest credit on the brethren of the Invieta Lodge , to whom we return our personal thanks for their courtesy and attention .

NORFOLK . PEOVIKCIAL GEAXD LODOE . ( From our own " Reporter . ) The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge was held on Friday the 2 nd inst . The brethren , of whom there was a numerous mustermet athalf-past eleven o ' clock at the Grammar Schoolwhich

, , had been kindly placed at their disposal by the head master , the Rev . Augustus Jessopp , and , at twelve o'clock , the Prov . G . Lodge was opened by the R . AV . Prov . G . M ., Bro . Benjamin Bond Cabbell . After the ordinary business of the lod ge had been transacted , the following brethren were appointed Prov . G . Officers for the ensuing year , most of them being re-appointments-. —Bros . Martin AVilkin , Prov . S . G . AV ., re-appointed ; A . F . Morgan , Prov . J . G . AV ., re-Francis Hod

appointed ; Rev . H . S . gson , Rector of Rackheath , Prov . G . Chap . ; AA . AA indham Baring , Prov . G . Reg . ; John Barwell , Prov . G . Treas ., re-appointed ; W . Leedes Fox , Prov . G . Sec , re-appointed ; E . S . Bignold , Prov . G . S . Deacon , re-appointed ' AVm . Smith ( P . M . of No . 119 ) , Prov . J . G . Deacon , re-appointed ; AVm . Wright , Prov . G . S . of AA orks , re-appointed ; Emanuel Haynes , Prov . G . Dir . of Cers , re-appointed ; W . H . Cox , Asst . Prov . G . Dir . of Cers . ; Henry John Mason , Prov . G . S . B ., re-appointed ; AA m . Norman , Prov . G . Org ., re-appointed ; AVm . Smith , Jun ., Prov . G . Purs ., re-appointed ; Thomas Adams , Prov . G . Tyler , re-appointed ;

Robert Kent . P . M . of No . 110 ; T . M . Kendall , of No . 124 ; C . L . Chipperfield , of No . 117 ; ancl Robert , Gidney , P . M . of No . 258 , Prov . G . Stewards . The brethren at two o ' clock formed in procession , and walked from the Grammar Schoool to the Cathedral ( a distance of only a few yards ) , where a special divine service was performed . The sermon was preached in aid of the Jenny Lincl Infirmarv for sick children by the V . AA * . the Prov . G . Chap ., the Rev . F . H . S .

Hodgson , from the following words of St . Stephen , in Acts , u . 7 . v . 47 ., "Solomon built ; him an house . Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in Temples made with hands . " All the ceremonies and ordinances of the temple worship , all its pomp and magnificence , the preacher remarked , were but the proclaiming of the mediatorial office of Christ before the brightness of his advent's dawn . Many a pious Israelite had learned to look upon the temple as the peculiar residence of the Great Jehovah ; but

when our Lord's apostles proclaimed a more perfect and more Catholic faith , they could only re-echo the words of their divine Master , "Gocl is a spirit , and they that worship him must worship jhim in spirit and truth . " The Jew might regard his temple as endued with all the sanctity of a local religion ; the Samaritan might look upon his house of prayer on Mount Gerizim as peculiarly holy ; hut Jesus taught the

universal presence of the Lord God Almighty in the hearts of all his faithful people . Wherever a holy man was found , who worshipped Gocl in sincerity and truth , wherever prayer was offered from the shrine of a pure and contrite heart , the temple of the Lord was there . The proto-martyr Stephen did not speak against the temple as such ; but he maintained that it was no more than an accessory to eternal truth . No Jew could have doubted hut

that Abraham , the "friend of God ancl the father of their nation , had served God acceptably ; ancl yet Abraham had no temple , no magnificent house of prayer , no laboured ceremonial of religious ordinance . Israel , Jacob , and the twelve patriarchs , had no such ceremonies . For nearly half the time from the fall of Abraham to the coming of the Messiah , the true worshipper had been without the benefit of temple services . It was in truth a glorious proof of the wisdom and piety of Solomon that he should

dedicate his genius and his wealth to the peculiar service of Almighty Gocl . ; God ' s blessing rested on the workman of the work , as it would rest on every workman who laboured to promote his glory , ancl on every work consecrated to His holy name . The

temple worship m its day was the great glory of believing Israel ; it was a public recognition of the presence of God among them ; a public testimony to the great fact that without the blessing of the Almighty man was as nothing , ancl all the works of man a thing of nought . Long years had passed away since Solomon and all his mighty- men , with all that wealth could command or genius devise , were assembled to the consecration of their temple . They served Gocl in their generation ; they had entered into their rest . The

first , the second , the third temple—that magnificent edifice which was yet incomplete when Jesus was on earth—the very place which Stephen was accused of profaning , and which was truly profaned by his unhallowed murder , had long been crumbling in the dust . The chiefest glory of this , our native land , was not the stores of wealth we might possess , though but few nations could vie with us in that respect ; it was not our military or naval prowess , though no country on the face of the wide word could compete with us in

the records of glorious achievements long since , or recently enrolled in the fair annals of an honest fame ; in arts , in science , in learning in all its varied branches , our countrymen had ever stood first , or in the foremost ranks ; and well might we be proud of the array of mighty names whom we had sent forth from among us as benefactors of the great family of man . These things , important as they were , were yet hut- of secondary importance . Our great glory ancl safeguard under the blessing of God was

that we were not only in name , but in a great degree a practically Christian people . Deeply as we must deplore many a dark and God-dishonouring stain — many inconsistencies in the part of professed believers—many sins and many shortcomings—yet let the plain truth be told , and it would be evident that among no people was more done for the spread of divine truth—among none did the worcl of Gocl exercise a more open and soul-refreshing influence . Through many a long and

fretted aisle the anthem pealed in honour of the Lord of Heaven and Earth ; from many a lonely village church the sounds of joy and peace and reconciliation were sent forth ; but yet "the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands . " God said , " my son , give me th y heart . " No ceremonial , however grand—no ritual , however impressive , could commend our souls to God , unless we had that humble spirit of a true and lively faith . Where that was lacking , ceremonies became but as empty show ; ordinances hut

as a lifeless service ; accents of prayer as unmeaning words . Even as the sounding brass and the tinkling cymbal , while those who should be worshippers degenerated into mere spectators . It was