Provincial Lodges.

OXFORDSHIRE . THERE was a grand week for Freemasons at Oxford in the early part of the past month , when a very large assemblage of the brethren were brought together . The chief occasion of their gathering was to do honour to Br . Capt . Henry Atkins Bowyer , of Steeple Aston , who had been appointed by the Grand Master of England ( the Earl of Zetland ) to the high and honourable office of Provincial Grand Master of

Oxfordshire , vacant by the death of the Rev . C J . Ridley . The high position which Br . Bowyer held in Masonry as Deputy P . G . M . of this province , and his longestablished fame as a Mason , drew together an unusually large number of officers and members of the Grand Lodge and of the Provincial Lodges . On the evening of Monday the 7 th , the late Mayor ( Br . R . J . Spiers , P . G . S . B . ) and Mrs . Spiers gave a Masonic evening party , at their residence , to the visitors who had arrived in Oxfordand to many of the resident Brethren . This afforded an agreeable

, opportunity of introducing them to each other , and enabled them to become better acquainted before entering on their Masonic duties . The evening was spent in that agreeable and intellectual manner which Br . Spiers ' s resources enable him to accomplish with so much facility . On the following morning the P . G . M . ( Br . Bowyer ) gave a breakfast in the Council Chamber , which was attended by the Mayor , all the distinguished visiting brethren from various provinces , and the Provincial Grand Officers of Oxfordshire .

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE . —At twelve o ' clock on the morning of Tuesday , the Sth of May , a Provincial Grand Lodge was held for the purpose of installing the Pl . G . M . elect , and there was a more than usually numerous attendance , owing to an anticipation that the ceremony would be performed by the G . M . or D . G . M . of

England—an anticipation which could not be realised , owing to the other engagements of those distinguished individuals ; the duty , therefore , devolved upon Br . Hall , the P . G . M . of Cambridgeshire . The brethren being assembled in Lodge , Br . Hall stated that by this meeting they were painfully reminded of the great loss which they had sustained by the death of the late P . G . M ., Br . Ridley , a loss that was great to Masons in general , but more especially to the brethren of this province , to whom he had endeared himself by his

many amiable qualities , and by his zeal for Masonry . He was gone to his rest , and in obedience to command of Grand Lodge , they were assembled to instal a worthy successor to that office , which he had filled with so much ability and fidelity . The P . G . M . then instructed seven of the Senior Past Masters to induct the P . G . M . elect , who was in attendance in another apartment . The P . G . M . was then introduced by P . M . Sadler , Mayor of Oxford , who presented Mm to the presiding P . G . M . in a short address , in which he adverted to his high

qualifications for the honourable office conferred on him by the G . M . of England . The P . G . S . read the patent of office , after which the P . G . M . assented to the ancient charges which were read to him . The presiding P . G . M . next inducted Br . Bowyer to his seat , and congratulated him and the Province on the appointment , and remarked that there was no Province in the kingdom where the proceedings were regarded with so much interest as those of the Province of Oxford . He expressed an earnest hope that he might long be spared to rule over the Province , and to exemplify those great Masonic qualities for which he was so distinguished . The brethren then saluted the P . G . M . in the customary

manner . The P . G . M . said that his first duty was to appoint a Deputy P . G . M . for this Province , and that it afforded him the highest gratification to confer that office on Br . R . J . Spiers , who was not only highly esteemed in the Province , but had enjoyed the confidence of the G . M ., who had honoured Mm a short time since with the office of Grand Sword Bearer of England . He knew that Br . Spiers's services to Masonry would be gratefully acknowledged by the whole Province , and constitutedsufficient grounds for his conferring upon him that important office . Br . Spiers , having made the usual declaration , was inducted to his seat , and saluted by the brethren .