Provincial Grand Lodges.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGES .

LONDON , SATURDAY , AUGUST 31 , 1861 .

As tlie time is now approaching when the last of tlie Prov . Gr . Lodges for tlie year will have been held , and the brethren left to the promotion of ihe interests of Freemasonry in their own more immediate circles , we feel that we may fairly take a brief retrospect of their

proceedings , so that the brethren may judge how likely they are to have any influence on the prosperity of the Order .

The first on our list is that of "West Yorkshire , ivhich was held on the 10 th April , under the j > residency of the D . Prov . G-. M ., and at which little may be said to have been done , beyond the appointment of the Prov . Gr . Officers and the making arrangements for the installation of the new Prov . G-. M ., the Earl de Grey and Eipon ,

which event took place on the 22 nd of May , and brought together one of the largest musters of the brethren ever seen in that or any other province . After his installation his lordship addressed the brethren in appropriate terms , promising to rise

his best exertions for the promotion of Masonry in the province , so far as his public avocations would allow him , and from our knowledge of the noble Earl's business habits , we have no doubt that he AviU amply fulfil all that he has promised . The

appointment is very popular in the province , and that fact will ¦ go far to render the discharge of his lordship's duties comparatively easy . On the 3 rd May , the Prov . Grand Lodge of Somersetshire was held under the presidensy of the D . Prov . G . M ., Bro . Bridges , when the sum of £ 20 was voted to the

"Widows' Pund ofthe " Eoyal Benevolent Institution for Aged . Masons and their Widows , " and it gives us some pleasure to record that Somersetshire is now exerting itself most heartily on behalf of our Charitable Institutions , and we do so the more readily inasmuch as we felt it our duty to speak out somewhat strongly on the subject

, last year , in consequence of resolutions carried both in this province and in Wiltshire , relative to an errorpromptly remedied—in the Scrutineer ' s returns at the election for the Benevolent Institution . We heartily join with the Brethren in wishing that the M . W . Grand

Master may soon be enabled to appoint " some eminent and worthy brother , possessed of local influence , to the ofliee of Provincial Grand Master "—for however active may be the Deputy Prov . Grand Master—however good a working Mason he may be , and a better than Bro .

Bridges it would be difficult to find— however devoted he may be to the carrying out the duties of his officewhilst there is a want of a Prov . Grand Master of local influence , Masonry rarely continues to flourish as it does when presided over by such a brother ; and here

we would remark that too many of our provinces are actually without Grand Masters , though nominally possessing them ; many of them never having entered into

Masonry for years , and taking so little interest in the proceedings of the brethren , that we doubt whether some of them could even tell us the names of their own deputies . On the 24 th of the same month the Provincial Grand

Lodge of Oxfordshire was held at Oxford , and the usual annual grants made to the Masonic charities . There was nothing particular , however , to note in the proceedings , if we except the presenting Brother the Eev . H . A . Pickard , If . A ., with the charity jewel j he having

served the office of Steward at the Festivals of both the Girls and Boys' School . This is an excellent arrangement , which we commend to the notice of other Provincial Grand Lodges , ancl even private lodges , for a man feels much more pride in wearing a jewel

presented to him , however insignificant its A * alue , than , one ivhich he has purchased ; and we certainly could never reconcile it to our ideas of propriety that after having spent thirty or forty pounds , or more , in support of the Masonic Charities , a brother should be called upon

to expend another three guineas in order to proclaim it to the world ; whilst , should he also serve as Steward to the Eoyal Benevolent Institution , an extra half-guinea is required for a clasp to his jewel . To wear the Charity jewel is a mark of laudable ambition , and ivould be so considered were it presented to the brethren entitled to in

open Grand Lodge as at Oxford . At present many of the brethren entitled to wear it regard it as only an empty bauble , and decline to put their hands into their pockets for three or four guineas to tell the brethren that they have fairly done then' duty as Masons , and to

the best of their ability endeavoured to serve the Aged , the Widow , and the Orphan . On the 28 th , the Grand Lodge of Cornwall Avas held , but , beyond attending at church , and listening to an excellent discourse by the Prov . G . Chap ., the Eev .

II . Grylls , on the teachings of Masonry ancl the duties of its members , and marching through Penzance in procession , we do not see that anything worthy of record was done .

The brethren of Hampshire assembled on the 9 th July , when Bro . Sir Lucius Curtis the Prov . G . M ., delivered an excellent address on the progress of Masonry in the province , the lodges having increased since he became Prov . G . M ., from ten to fifteen ,- no very great thing to boast of , seeing that the E . W . brother informs

us that he has held the office for something like half a century , and four of the fifteen have received their warrants within the last five years , so that for the first forty-five years of the gallant Admiral's rule there does not appear to have been much progress made , and there is a

lapseof fourteen years between the granting of the warrant of the 11 th and 12 th on the list of Hampshire lodges , and a like period between the issue of the 10 th and 11 th warrant . 'However , the Hampshire brethren are now up and doing—they take considerable interest in the progress of our Charities—and , in the business of Grand Lodge , one of the most distinguished of their members