Provincial.

ensuing vear , after ivhich the Alaster proceeded to invest the following officers-. —Bros . AV . H . Preece , S . AV . ; Collis , J . AV . ; T , Falvey , S . D . ; H . Allies , J . D . ; H . Abraham , P . M . ; J . R . AA eston , Treas . ; A . AVeston , Sec . ; and J . G . Bemister , P . AI ., 139 , Dir . of Cers . A vote of thanks was awarded to Bro . Abraham for the

manner m which he had performed the ceremony of installation , and the loclge ivas then adjourned until six o'clock , ivhen the brethren assembled again to dine in open loclge , fco celebrate the Festival of St . John . Bro . G . AI . Passenger , AA . AL , presided , supported bv Bros . Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis , Bart ., Prov . G . M . ; C . E . Deacon , D . Prov . G . M . ; Capt . F . Perkins ( ex-Mayor ); J . R . Stebbing , J . P . ; G . Dunlop , Douglas , Payne , Abraham , aucl other P . AI . s ; Falvey , S . D ., and Kinsbury , P . Prov . G . Organist of

Somersetshire . Bro . AV . I-I . Preece , S . AV ., filled the vice-chair . The cloth having been removed , and grace saicl , Bro . PASSEXOER , AA . M ., rose and said the toast he ivas then about to propose needed no com-, ment . It was always drunk ivith the greatest sincerity in a Masons' loclge . He would , therefore , propose , ivith all loyalty and fraternal feeling , " The Queen and the Craft . "—This toast having been duly honoured , fche JIASTEE proposed " The Health of the M . AV . Grand Alaster of Englandthe Riht Honthe Earl of

Zet-, g . land , " who had presided oi * er tho Craft for a very long period , ivith an honest zeal and singleness of purpose , of ivhich Masonry had lately received a remarkable proof , by the effort his Lordship had so successfully made to induce their brother , His Grace the Duke of Newcastle , to accept the Prov . Grand Mastership of Nottinghamshire . He ( the Master ) believed that the appointment ivas fraught with the greatest good to the Craft —( cheers)—and he called them to drink the health of that distinguished

upon nobleman , and illustrious and worthy brother , the Al . AA . Grand Alaster of England . ( Applause . )—Bro . PASSEXG-EB then rose ancl said : Brethren , the toast I am about to propose relates to the R . AV /" . Brother and gallant Admiral on my right . He is a member of this loclge , and although not among us so often as we wish , I have no doubt it is as often as his important duties ivill permit , and certainly often enough to make us thoroughly acquainted with

Ids virtues ancl excellence as a man ancl as a Mason . He has presided oi-er this proA'ince more than twenty years , ancl the best comment I can make upon the value and success of his services , will be to call your attention to the present state of Masonry in this province , the progress it has made in this town , where four odge » ancl two chaptei-s now meet , the resuscitation of old edges , the manner in ivhich they are worked , and the reputation Hampshire Masonry has achieved throughout the Craffc . These facts are a practical eulogy upon our Prov . Grand Alaster .

Personally , we cordially greet him ivith unlimited esteem and affection , and shall always reflect with pleasure upon the knowlodge that one ivho lias acquired honour in the service of his Queen ancl country , has , during a busy and brilliant professional career , been able to do so much for the promotion of Alasonry , especially in the province of Hampshire . Brethren , I call upon you to drink " Health and Happiness to our R . AA . Prov . G . AL , Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis , " which call the brethren responded to

with great enthusiasm . —The PEOV . GHASD MASTEB , in returning thanks , congratulated the lodge upon the immense progress Alasonry hacl made while he hail presided over tbe province , the great strength of the various lodges , and his constant desire to protect its interest , and preserve the olcl landmarks of the Order . He had , happily , been greatly assisted in this object by his-worthy deputy , Bro , Deacon , for whom he entertained the highest regard . He became a member of that lodge twenty-two

. years back , ancl hacl presided over the province nearly a quarter of a century , and as long as the G . A . O . T . U . spared him , he ivould not fail in taking the same interest in the welfare of the Craft as he had hitherto done , especially in the prosperity of the Royal Gloucester Lodge , ivhere lie was aiwavs received with such brotherly goodwill . —The AV . AI . then proposed "The Health of Bro . C . E . Deacon , D . Prov . G . AL" That brother gave every evidence of bis attachment to Freemasonry bhis constant attendance

y among them , and the Alasonie spirit ivhich he threw into everything connected with that lodge ; bis high position in Alasonry demanded their respect , his genial and courteous demeanour hacl won their wannest regards , and he ( the \\ . M . ) trusted that the brethren Avould have the pleasure of his presence , and the advantage of his experience for many years to come . —Bro . DEACOX saicl he rose with feelings of heartfelt pleasure to thank the brethren for the cordial

manner in ivhich his health hacl been proposed anil drank . He delighted to serve his chief ) the G . AL of the province , and was grateful tor these repeated proofs of his confidence ; and , after comlimenting the lodge in pleasing terms , and at considerable length , resinned his seat amid the plaudits of the brethren . —The Prov . G . AL , Admiral Sir Lucius CURTIS , Bart ., then rose and congratulated the brethren upon having chosen Bro . Passenger to preside over them , and after complimenting that brother upon his attainments and courtesy , called upon the brethren to drink to the

health of their W . AL , wishing him a successful year of office . —Bro . PASSEXGER replied as follows . —If I were to lay claim to the kind words uttered by the R . AV . brother who has proposed my health , I should display a large amount of egotism ; if , on the other hand , I ivere to avoAV myself unworthy of any of them , the brethren might take that for mere affectation . Permit me , then , to compromise the matter by [ assuring you that I will clo all I can in future to render myself worthy of your kind consideration . AAltli these few

words , brethren , allow me to pass away from all that is personal to myself ancl my position here , and say a few words upon the aim and object of our institution , in which I see everything great and good . I was much struck by a very unfair criticism upon Freemasonry in one of our leading periodicals , in ivhich the reviewer says , in course o f a critique upon Bro . Dr . Mackey ' s new work , entitled , A Lexicon of Freemasonry , that the history of our Order exists only in the imagination of its disciples . If there is any one thing more

self-evident than another ifc is the history of our Order . AVe see it in the classic remains of the antique world , in which arc registered tho intellectual status and physical condition of the various groups of the human race ; and although the origin of Freemasonry lies far back in fche obscure depths of antiquity—we can trace it to that elder Egypt ivhich contributed powerfully to the influence of our Order , and gave , in gigantic characters , and according to the rules of the Craft , the impress of its times to posterity . It was from

this Egypt that one favoured by our omnipotent Master wandered forth to become illustrious among nations , so that the greatness of this inspired law-giver ancl mighty legislator—Alosesshould not pass aivay unrecorded . The piety of King Solomon called into requisition the capability of Hiram , the capability of the one being evidenced by the construction of the first great temple , ancl the piety of the other proved by dedicating fco the supreme Alaster of all , that first great work which recorded the

rise , progress , and condition of bis favoured people as a nation . AVhat a mighty , what a powerful order Avas Alasonry then—this art of recording the AA'orld ' s history with the materials dug from her own bosom . AVhat should Ave have been Avithout it ? The plain facts of history Avould have passed away ivith each generation , or have been construed , into the burlesque of heathen mythology ; and even now if the kindling mind of the AA esfc wishes to pass into fche rp . llifcy of f . ho 2 > nsfc , ifc goos foz-fch and leasts itself upon the pure virgin unalloyed fact as there recorded , unbiassed by partial historian , ungarbled by inrperfect translation , but standing forth in all

its primitive truth and candour , speaking one universal tongue to all . Thus the sphinxes ancl pyramids of Egypt inform us of the slavery and superstition of a group of our species , where the multitude possessed little more knowledge of the truth than the mean creation they Avorshipped , while the grandeur and regularity of their palaces and temples speak of a people fur advanced in the industrial refinements of life . Thus ancient ruins inform us ivifch more accuracy than ancient authors . From these remains of

operative Alasonry , we learn that the Egyptian mind ivas sombre ancl superstitious . Their theology , dark and mysterious , partook of the gloomy character of their lives . Everything connected ivith them ivas deep , grand , vast , and powerful . Their early records show nothing like lyrical poetry ; the solitary pastoral landscape , the verdant dales , the blooming Avoodland scenery , with its mossy banks and rippling streams , ivhich gave rise to the lyrical poetry of the AA est , ivas to them unknown , while the grand ; and solemn

nature of their scenery , as depicted in the sandy desert , heights , the mighty Nile , the immense sweep of cloudless sky , all stamped upon their character and art a mysterious sublimity , Avhile the impenetrable vastness and silence of its unexplored sandy lvaste urged their primitive minds to tbe solemn grandeur we behold in their palaces and temples . Pass on from them to the race by Avhom they Avere conquered , the Persians . In the ancient ruins of Persia ive read of le ivho conquered and ivere conqueredLook afc the

a peop . descendants of those conquerors . AA e can no more read their pedigree in them that ive can that of an Arab steed in a roadside hack ; but turn to their remains of operative Alasonry , every stone , is a page , every group of ruins a volume thafc informs you ivith as much truth and accuracy as the first hour the craftsmen placed them . Pass on to tbe Greek—the brave , the free , the all-accomplished Greek . His mind was the t of his person—all that was great

ype and beautiful . Greece elevated Alasonry to the height of Attic arfc ivith a simplicity , elegance , and chasteness which revelled in all that ivas beautiful . Her manner of embodying the ideal seemed to endoAV stone ivith life . It was at this time that the chisel ivas Avielded Avith such magical effect as to produce the Corinthian , Doric , and Ionic orders—those orders of architecture , which first form and substance to the poetry of the mindand are

degave , stined , by tlieir purity , to continue to the last period of recorded time ; and it ivas here also that the genius of Icfchras and Phideas , fostered by the taste of Pericles , gave such a practical development of the fundamental rules of art , as to defy all attempts at innovation , so much so that the profanity of Roman conquests only