Provincial.

freedom of a city . In like manner our present Worshipful Master having served a seven years apprenticeship to the lodge , is to night presented with the freedom ofthe chair , the chiefest honour we can bestow . Bro . Austin , I congratulate you warmly upon this fact , I desire for you a happy and pleasurable year of office , but let me tell you that "The purest treasure mortal times afford is—spotless reputation ; " and as you now preside over this lodgeI venture to claim for its members that your

, energies shall be devoted to its government after such a fashion that its good name may be " like a circle in the water that never ceasetb to enlarge itself . " And if you will adopt this for your creed as our leader , I will promise you on bchnlt" of one and all a true and faithful following . One general does not constitute an army , but this fact admitted , it is equally true that an armed host without generalship is but a vast and cumbrous machine

that may be destroyed at any moment . Too lately have we witnessed in tbe sanguinary struggles of the Franco-Prussian war this undeniable fact , that the mental and moral must ever prevail over that whicli is simply and purely physical . France sent forth her sons by thousands and tens of thousands in all the pomp and panoply of war only to realize disaster after disaster . On the other hand , Germany poured forth her legions only to

pursue an interrupted course of victory . Aud why ? Because France had forgotten tbe grand principle of cohesion , and even where generalship could and would have served her , although the physical force supply was abundant , bead and heart vrere wanting for the task , while the grand lesson of unity so thoroughly instilled into the Germanic mind proved the bright beacon of continuous success . And so may it bo Worshipful Master , in the Shakespere Lodge during your year of office . If

you will prove yourself a good general you shall not be wanting for an army , small , it is true , but atoning in loyalty for lack in numbers . Who that has stood by the sea-shore and watched the proud vessel gliding gaily across tbe expansive bosom of tbe ocean , fearlessly cresting the waves , and bringing nations far distant into contact and intercourse one with another , who that in person has traversed tbe deck of one of our mighty ocean steamers , has failed to perceive that unity of thought and action is necessary for the perfect voyage of the ship and tbe safety of

her passengers . Good sailors must be on board , tho ship must be well manned and officered , but above and beyond all this she must boast a dauntless and experienced captain . Brethren , the •' Shakespere " is our ship , and I point you to oar Worshipful Master as the captain , and I am sure you will join with me iu wishing " God speed " to our Craft during the coming year . If earnestness of purpose , if singleness of heart , if zealous and untiring service will suffice for this , I promise you all these

qualifications in the person of our Worshipful Master , and , Sir , I promise you on the part of the Shakespere brethren that from your lieutenants downwards you shall find a true and willing service . Visiting brethren , one word to you while asking you to share in this toast , I trust you will always find us zealous and correct in our Masonic working , and at the same time I promise you that our ship shall not sail without its duo provisioning ; that our geueral shall not call you into the field without

providing an adequate commissariat . Brethren , one and all , I ask you to join heartily with me iu drinking to the health and success of tlie Worshipful Master of the Shakspere Lodge . The Worshipful Master ou rising to respond , was greeted with loud and continued applause . After thanking the brethren for the enthusiastic welcome they bad accorded to him , he said : It is no slight honour to be associated by the simple ties of brotherhoodwith tbe members of the Shakespere Lodge ; but to be

, called upon to preside over them—to be raised to the exalted position in which he bad been placed that day as the representative of K . S ., was a distinction of which a far better num . than himself might be justly and pardonably proud . He knew it to be a laudable ambition in a Mason to aspire to the dignities of tbe Craft ; to strive after the attainments of the top stone , which is the crowning of our Masonic career ; and not only praiseworthy is itbut to a certain extentit is an evidence of

, , faith , and a test of earnestness—faith iu the glorious principles profess and earnestness in their advocacy . There was no better school in the world than a well regulated Masonic Lodge for inculcating all the lessons which can assist in making good men , and worthy citizens ; for elevating the mind , by guiding it into high channels of thought and reflection , for cultivating habits of discipline and self-denial , for developing capacity , while teaching humility , and checking conceit . Moreover , the

rubbing up against better men than ourselves , brushes away the dust of neglect—files off the rust of lethargy , which may possibly have grown upon us , and sharpens and polishes us . There was something beautiful in the order and harmony which prevail—in the kindly , courteous consideration whicli is evinced by one to tbe other , something noble in the abnegation which can be content to bide its time for advancement—which can -wait and hopeand something manlyrobustand healthin the

, , , y generous fraternal rivalry which is displayed . Emulation is the mother of Progress , and Freemasonry by enkindling the one developes the other . The present age , so far at least as science is concerned , is essentially one of progress . It is an age of Great Easterns and Atlantic Cables—of Alpine Tunnels and Suez Canals . Ere long it will witness the consummation of the hecy of the immortal bard whose name we bear" I will

prop , put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes . " Tbe " touch of nature " which " makes the whole world kin , " is supplemented by a pulsation of electric fire , which , flashing quick as thought across seas and continents , annihilates space , and brings the remotest regions into close communion c and immediate neighbourhood . In the accomplishment of these magnificent results of science , Freemasonry has played a more conspicuous

part than is dreamed of by the outer world . She has , we are told " ever gone hand in hand with civilization . " In the dark ages of the world's history , when ignorance hung like a pall over the minds of men—when superstition held them enthralled —stalking despotically abroad—blighting the fan- blossoms of intellect—withering aspiration—and stifling enquiry , then it was that Masonry wooed the bright genius of advancement , and

kept alive the glimmering torch of truth , fanning its flickering sparks with a ceaseless endeavour , until they became a mighty flame to illuminate the world . When the arts and sciences were but frail delicate plants , aud might have perished in the longdrear wintry frosts and snows of prejudice , she it was who took them into her vinery , gave them a congenial soil and temperature , and nurtured them with her fostering care until the springtime of enlightenment came with its genial showers , and vivifying sunshine . But Masonry has not confined her energies to tbe culture of tasto and ingenuity . She has bad a wider scope ,

a master field of operations , embracing the whole range of human capability . Her efforts have been large , as her aims are lofty , her ideas broad , as her charity is boundless . Having ascertained the great and varied capacities of man , she has preached up the duty of developing all the faculties wherewith . God has blessed him , one modifying and balancing the other , and the whole furming a combination of perfect harmony . He , ( Bro . Austin , ) was only a young man , but it had

been upwards of twenty years sirlce he first heard of Freemasonry . AVhat be tben learned had such an influence over him , as to induce him to form the resolve , that one of the ambitions of his life , should be to become united with this noble brotherhood . As years rolled by he gleaned now and then some bit of information , which quickened his resolve and fed his desire . Some five or six years ago , he was received into the bosom of the Shakspere Lodge . He came with great hopes and large

expectations , which were fully realised , be met with a welcome as genuine as it was hearty . He found a simply beautiful , aud grandly impressive ritual . He discovered a charm in Masonry which captivated him—a Cosmopolitan , all-embracing Catholicity which knows no distinction save those of virtue and honour —a gloriously broad platform upon which all men can meet who have faith in the Great Architect of the Universe , though their opinions on the great question which alfect this world aud the

next , be varied as the colours of the rainbow , and opposite as the poles asunder . Masonry was a glorious heritage which could not be prized too highly . It had done great things in the past , and might be made the instrument of still greater achievements . Its mission in the future would be to wean mankind from its idolatrous worship of Mammon ; to teach them there was a nobler purpose in life than to build up a colossal fortune , that the miserly hoarding np of money for its own sakewas a

, miserable morbid disease , which men mistake for pleasure , aud that the only real and true enjoyment desirable from the possession of riches consisted in the opportunities they gave for the exercise of benevolence and charity . As far as Great Britain was concerned there was but too much scope for activity in this direction . Habits of living had much altered since Goldsmith ' s day . Men did not now pass rich on " forty pounds a year . " AVealth accumulated fast ; it was the province of Masoury to see