Installation Meetings, &C.

Board of General Purposes , Robert Grey President Board of Benevolence , and Matthews Past Grand Standard Bearer , to whose admirable organisation as Director of Ceremonies that day was due the success of this groat meeting . Those brethren had attended as regularly as himself , thus giving the Drury Lane Lodge the unique

advantage of having its work performed under the supervision of men who were recognised throughout the Craft as leading authorities . Their labours have been richly rewarded by the appreciation of the brethren , and by the knowledge that they have contributed to tho remarkable success the Lodge had achieved . Mark Tapley , it would

be remembered , left tho village whero everybody knew him and was fond of him , turned his back upon the cosy parlour of the village inn and tho buxom widow who was devoted to him , not because he doubted their appreciation , but that he felt thero was no credit in being jolly where life was made so easy ancl so pleasant . So he

went further afield , and took np his abode among strangers that he might come out strong , as he said , by keeping up hia jollity where circumstances were moro difficult . But he found everybody as kind to him in tho new country as the old , and he was as jolly and happy as before , and still unable to take any credit to himself .

Thafc was his case . When he ( Bro . Parkinson ) joined the Drury Lane Lodge , his Masonic career bad been one of perpetual sunshine and unchequered spoiling , so thafc looking back he could nofc recal a single circumstance to mar the brilliance of tho retrospect—not a quarrel , nofc a solitary difference of opinion—until he asked himself ,

in a spirit of self-oxamination , what credit is there in being devoted to an institution where everybody combined in an amiable conspiracy to make things pleasant ? Pining , like Mark Tapley , for difficulties in his path , this Drury Lane Lodge , he thought , would furnish the very opportunity he wanted . There he should find brethren whoso own

high calling compels them to be critical—artists whose lives are spent in endowing creatures of the imagination with the breath of life , in giving visible expression to poetic thought , in studying the niceties of our noble English tongue , ancl weighing their effect , and who must , by reason of these avocations , be more difficult and more

severely critical than brethren belonging to professions less arduous and intellectual . Never wore anticipations more completly falsified . So far from being difficult to please , the brethren of the Drury Lane Lodge had excelled in generous appreciation , and in attention to their duties , and , dropping the Mark Tapley metaphor , ifc must be

a matter of pride to auy one capable of thought to be supported by men whose intellect aud training make their approbation of the highest value , because it must necessarily be discriminating and sound . It was once said of a groat orator that , when in full accord with his audience , what he gathered up from their sympathies in mist , he

restored to them in bounteous life-inspiring rain . So in Freemasonry , tho lofty language in which its ceremonies are enshrined , language which , thongh unequal , rises at times to sublime—he hadjalmost said to biblical—heights ; this language ought to gain in strength and force when its temporary mouthpiece , whoever he may | be , finds a

sympathetic echo iu the trained intelligences around him . On the foundation of the Drury Lane Lodge there seemed to tho Honorary Members and himself to be a great opportunity and a certain danger . The opportunity was fco enlist the practical sympathy and mental energies of the artists to whom it especially appealed , ancl to thns

make the new Lodge strong ancl famous . The danger was , lest in a rush of sudden , and unearue . ) prosperity , in the social popularity of its members , in the claims of their profession and its public fame , in the ease with which success of a certain kind could bo won by them—the more difficult and trying side of Freemasonry—the duties ,

tho claims , and the work whieh alono establish a Lodge on a stable basis , and give it lasting strength , that theso things might como to ocenpy a secondary place . Thanks to the good setiso of the members of the Drury Lane Lodge that danger , if ifc ever existed , had beeu entirely escaped . The work had beeu nnusally oucrous and heavy .

had not as a rule been followed by the usual material solatium , but had had throughout the year the studious , and willing , and punctual co-operation of the well known public servants of which tho Lodgo was mainly composed . Oue fallacy , therefore , had been knocked on the head , ho hoped for ever , namely that an Actors' Lodge , however

amusing and agreeable socially—is less likely than another to build up itself a reputation for strict nnd regnlar Masonic work . Still there has been much work of another kind which has gone to build up this Lodge . I mean the work that has been performed with fo much advantage by the Secretary . The focussing power

the cementing quality , tho talent for organization , ancl tho administrative skill which has welded together various professional and social forces ; the genius of snggestiveness and adaptability ; the swift perception which avails itself of opportunities which a ' uother

would pass by unheeded ; tho versatility of the citizen of the world , tbo aenmen which comes from legal training ; tho literary power , which is a special gift specially developed ; tho unresisting energy ' , which like the pungent root in Sydney Smith ' s salad :

" scarce suspected animates the whole . " All these are Bro . Iroaclley ' s . As the private friend of our W . M . he bronght ; these qnalifieations to the work of raising the Drury Lano Lodge to its present pinnacle of success , and it mnst have been a proud moment when he saw his labours culminate in Iho

installation of the friend on whose behalf he had toiled so devotedly , and when Bro . Harris was congratulated on his high position by one of the most representative gatherings of distinguished Masons ever assembled in a Worshipful Master ' s honour . Statistics would fail him , and would nudoubtedlv b ; re his amVwn . -o

viero be to attempt to give them particulars of Bro . Broadley's labours—tbo records he had kepfc , the loiters ho hud written , tho figures he had dealt with , the historical and antiquarian researches ho had made , the interesting essay he had published , the no » otiafc'ous

ho had conrincteo , the interviews with influential people ho ha 1 secured—all with one end in view , the advancement ' . ind consolidation of this Lodge . Instead of wearying with these details he would psn-nphrasn the epitaph on tumMier rlisfingiiiHliud IVemason , Hb

Installation Meetings, &C.

Christopher Wren , and say if they wished to see Bro . Broadley ' s monument to the Worshipful Master and his Lodge , —Look around ! Consider the composition of this great meeting and the still greater meeting in Lodge , and the distinguished people it had included , and reflect upon what this nnusn . d conjunction of great dignitaries

implies . At tha last Lodge meeting Bros . Lord Londesborough , Sir John Gorst , the Wor . Master , and himself , were appointed a Committee to consider the matter of Bro . Broadley ' s great services , and to act for the Lodge . In the name of that Committee , and of every member of fche Lodge—may he nofc say of all ?—wo now present

Bro . Broadley with a small token of kindly remembrance , trifling in itself if compared with the labours ifc acknowledges , but important to him , and to ns , for all that it commemorates and inspires . The presentation comprised a handsome liqueur stand , wifch two bottles , and twelve glasses , mounted on silver stands . The salver bore fche following inscription : —

" Presented to W . Bro . A . M . Broadley , P . D . D . G . M . Malta , P . M . 1717 and 1835 , by the members of the Dury Lane Lodge , in grateful recognition of his valuable services aa its first Secretary . 8 th Feb . 1887 . " Brother Secretary replied . When he listened to the kindly words in

which Brother Parkinson introduced to their notice the humble services he had rendered to their Lodge , he really felt unequal to the task he knew he shonld have to perform . It was perhaps a trite saying that any particular moment is the proudest of anybody ' s life , but in connection with his humble Masonic career , he could assuredly

use that expression that day . Just ten years ago it waa hia privilege to assist in planting the flag of Masonry in the Mediter . ranoan ; he helped five years later to revive , in Egypt , a historical Lodge in which the Most Worshipful Grand Master once safc as a Fellow Craft . And ifc was a proud moment when he was able fco

assist in drawing together the Craft , the Drama , and Drury Lane . Seveuty-nine years ago , down the very street in whioh their Lodge was held , passed a great procession , which included the Prince Regent , then Grand Master of our Order , who assisted Bro . Kemble in laying the foundation stone of Covent Garden Theatre . It was then

that Freemasonry held out ; fche hand of fellowship to the Drama in distress—the bond of union . There is something in the constitution of the Drury Lane Lodge that will cement the profession of the drama and the truest of all mystic ties . Eight years ago he paid a visit to this country , having been absent for a tima in the Mediter .

ranean and having been there installed as Deputy District Grand Master . He was here as a comparative stranger , and where was ifc thafc he received the hand of fellowship ? It was in this very hall , in the well known Asaph Lodge . The memory of thafc kindly hospitality was always present , and when he enlisted himself under

the banner of this Lodge he felt he should be doing a good service to Masonry if he could help in drawing together the Craft , the Drama , and Drury Lane . Had they succeeded ? He felt a deep satisfaction that day when ho saw the truest of friends and the best of Masons installed as Worshipful Master . He only regretted Brother Lord

Londesborongh was not with tham . Amongst the distinguished Visitors present he was glad to seo Brofcher His Grace the Duke of Abercorn , who had hastened from an Irish Deputation afc the Mansion House , to testify by his presauco his great belief in our work . If we look round we see that at this meeting there is scarcely

a section of society , of English social life , that is not represented . There are peers , ecclesiastics , men of letters and science , and men holding high position in tho State . As representatives of the Privy Council we havo Brother Marriott , M . P ., who fills with credit an important post in Her Majesty's government , and Brother Lord

Robert Montague , who was passed as a Fellow Craffc forty years ago . We see the army well represented by Bros . Gen . Collingwood and Colonel H . Hallett . If wo turn to the Navy wo have one whose name is historical iuthe annals of ( hat great service—he alluded to Admiral Cochrane . We havo enlisted a Grand Chaplain as the

Chaplain of our Lodge . It was nofc his duty to detain them bat to propose the health cf the Visitors around that board who were members of our confraternity , aud who come from every class and every creed . We havo a vast assembly of Visitors , and if there ia ono thing thafc claims our attention it is the cosmopolitan character

of Freemasonry , as SQOWU by the Drury Lane Lodge . We have with us the Bishop of New Westminster . They had all heard of our own Westminster , but New Westminster is in British Columbia , and our Rev . brother present is Grand Chaplain there . There is another name thafc will b ? 5 appreciated aud that will re-echo wherever the

English tongne is spoken . J ¦< meant Bro . G . A . Sala . Who had nofc read his vivid description and his ready wit in the columns of the Daily Telegraph at d tbo Illustrated London News ? He is a member of fche Universal Lodge , and it is right and proper thafc he should belong to that Lodge . He had that night marked his return to Masonic life .

He was au intimate friend of tho father of tho Worshipful Master , and by his presence helped to illustrate the character of this Lodge . There was another name , and thafc was Bro . Puleston , M . P ., who had been sitting amongst a number of Members of Parliament from whom a cabinet could bo formed thafc would meet with the approbation of

most reasonable people . Bro . Puloston was a member of tho Lodge of Nine Muses . He now asked thorn to rise and drink to the health of the Visitors , ancl show them that hospitality is the first virtue in this Lodge ; he conpled with fche toasfc the names of Bros , the Bishop of New Westminster , G . A . Sala , and Pnlestou , M . P .

Bro . George Augustus Sala in his reply said : Unaccustomed as ho was to public speaking , and being nervously apprehensive that he might be asked by some brother at tha end of the Hall to " speak up , " he was compelled to do his best ancl assure them of fche great gratification ifc had afforded him to bo present . Thafc gratification waa

intermingled with a slight fesling of regret when he witnessed the installation of the Worshipful Master . He felfc sad for a moment when he remembered thafc nearly thirty years had elapsed since ho wns initiated . Looking at Bro . Parkinson , and seeing him covered with jewels , which marked his position in Masonry , he