Freemasonry In North Wales And Salop.

the grandest and most enlightened Masons England ha . « ever known , and one to whom this Province of North Wales and Salop is indebted for its regeneration and present status . We allude , of course , to the late Dr . Goldsboro ' , than whom a more zealous , abler , or moro enthusiastic

Mason never entered the precincts of a Lodge . He wa ; - W . Master of the " Welshpool " for two years , and during that period regularly travelled from London in order to be present at its meetings . He initiated between forty and fifty brethren , and so highly valued were the services he

rendered , not to this Lodge alone , but to the Province generally , that the present Prov . G . Master conferred on him the ' Office of Prov . G . S . Warden . No wonder , then , the " Welshpool " shonld be as we have described , or that it should include among its members , many able ,

experienced brethren , worthy emulators of tho Goldsboro ' virtues , such Masons as Bros . D . P . Owen , W . Collender , T . R . Morris , Past Masters—Samuel Davies , mayor of the

town , Dr . G . Robinson , and J . Pngh Morris , ihe Lodge was founded in 1864 , and we trust it may long remain an ornament to tho Craft , of which it is a young , but flourishing branch .

Moira Lodge, No. 92.

MOIRA LODGE , No . 92 .

THIS Lolge held its installation meeting on Saturday last , at tho Criterion , Piccadilly . Bro . Alex . Mortimore presided , and there wero present Bros . Wickham Noakes S . W . and W . M . elect , Harold Carter J . W ., E . Homo P . M . Treasurer , K . P . Williams P . M . Secretary , G . C . Andrews S . D ., H . T . Auldjo J . D ., T . Wilkinson J . G ., H . R . Brett P . M ., Charles S . Sweeting P . M ., R . F . Gould P . M ., Henry Harhen P . M ., C . S . Amos P . M ., G . J . Atkins P . M ., Josiah

Hoolo P . M ., Bertram Noakes and William Bonn , together with the following visitors , namely , Bros . Richard Pidcock 910 , Chas . W . C . Hntton 96 P . G . D ., J . J . Hamilton 1692 , Sharon G . Turner 2 , Cranatonn Kerr 1067 , Lient .-Col . Shadwell H . Gierke G . S . D ., James Self P . G . S . W . Essex , John C . Walker 14 , W . W . Morgan Sec . 211 , C . A . Murton P . G . D ., E . J . H . Booth S . D . 1692 , R . M . Gardiner 31 , George

Lambert P . P . G . J . W . Herts , Rev . H . Smith P . P . G . Chap . Leicester and Rutland , C . C . Dnmas P . A . G . D . C . P . M . 16 , T . Davies Sewell P . G . S . P . M . 21 , E . C . Goodhart W . M . 1 GD 2 , John Sanders P . M . 1139 , Win . Kirkness , W . Elgood 871 , W . Bartholomew 229 , R . G . Webster W . M . 569 . Tbe Lodgo having beeu opened with tho customary formalities , and tho minutes of the previous meeting

having been confirmed , the ceremony of installation was proceeded with , and Bro . Josiah Hoole , who performed the part of installing officer , inducted Bro . Wickham Noakes into the chair of the Lodge in a highly effective and appropriate manner . Having been saluted in duo form , Bro . Noakes appointed and invested his Officers aa follow , namely , Bro . Harold Carter S . W ., G . C . Andrew J . W ., H . T . Anldjo

S . D ., T . Wilkinson J . D ., William Bohn I . G . Bro . E . Horno P . M ., having been re-elected Treasurer , was invested , and Bro . R . P . Williams P . M . was re-appointed Secretary . The other business having been disposed of , the Lodgo was closed , and tho banquet followed . On the removal of the cloth , the W . M . proposed the nsnal Loyal aud Masonic toasts , remarking , in connection with that of the

G . M , on the exertions His Royal Highnesshad mado during the Paris International Exhibition in his capacity of Chairman of tho Royal British Commission . Bro . Lient .-Col . Shadwell Gierke replied fur the toast of the Pro Grand Master , & c , & c , and expressed on behalf of himself and tho other Grand Officers who were present the gratifi . cation they derived from the reception they had mot with . He

congratulated the W . M . on having attained his present position , and wished him a long continuance of prosperity . It then devolved on Bro . R . F . Gould P . M . to propose the important toast of tho evening , i namely , that of the Memory of Earl Moira , the Patron of tho Lodsre , and in the fulfilment of his duty Bro . Gould spoke as follows : — The subject of the toast , known successively aa Lord Rawdon ,

Earl Moira , aud finally as Marquis of Hastings , was the eldest Bon of the first Earl Moira ; and having selected a military career , at the nge of 17 , joined the 15 th Regiment as an Ensign , and being shortly afterwards promoted into the 63 rd , accompanied this latter corps to America , where ho wag engaged in the bloody battle of Banker ' s Hill , receiving on the occasion two shots in his cap , and

being mentioned in despatches b y General Bnrgoyno " as having stamped his fame for life "—a prophetic utterance which , as will be seen hereafter , was fulfilled to the letter , though not , perhaps , in tho capacity of a soldier . Before attaining his 24 th year he waa appointed Adjutant-General to the British forces in America , and greatly distinguished himself during tho hazardous retreat from Philadelphia to

New York , receiving in consequence a separate command , during tho tenure of which he defeated the American General Green , at the battle of HobkirVs Hill . In 1782 , being succeeded as Adjntant-General by the unfortunate Mnjor Andre , he returned to England , when he was created an English peer and appointed A . D . C . to tho Kintr , with the rank of Colonel . In 1793 , he commanded a body of troops near Southampton , intended to co-operate with the Royalists in Brittany ,

and though hia private expenditure at this period exceeded £ 30 , 000 a year , snch was his delicacy that he wonld accept neither pay , emolument , nor patronage , whilst the troops under his command were kept in a state of indecision which did not promise real service . Iu the following year , he commanded a force of 10 , 000 mou , seut to reinforce the Duke of York in Holland , and effected one of tho most extraordinary marches of which military history affords an example . In 1813 , he was appointed Govsmor . Geneinl and Commander-in-

Moira Lodge, No. 92.

Chief of India , and during tho ten years of his sway brought two wars of tho greatest magnitude to a successful issue . As at tho present moment a rupture with one Indian potentate is exciting apprehension , it maybe interesting if I state , and in so doing I uso Lord Moira ' s own words , "that on his acceding to the government of India , in 1813 , there were made over to him no less than s »« hostile

discussions with native powers , each capable of entailing a vesort to arms ; and , likewise , that " tho independent powers of India were so numerous and strong , as to conceive themselves equal to expel the British ;" whilst at the termination of Earl Moira ' s rule , every native state in that vast region was in either acknowledged , or essential subjugation , to our Government . James Mill , the historian of British India , thus speaks of Lord Moira : " Tho administration of the Marquess of

Hastings may bo regarded as the completion of tho great scheme of which Clive had laid tho foundation , and Warren Hastings and the Marquess of Wellesley had reared the superstructure . Tho crowning pinnacle was the work of Lord Hastings , and by him was the supremacy of tho British Empire in India finally established . " In 1823 , having meantime been created Marquis of Hastings , ho returned to England , whence , in tho following year , ho proceeded to Malta aa Governor and Commander-in-Chief . He died on 28 th November 1826 ,

on board H . M . S . Revenge , at Baiaj Bay , near Naples . Contemporary records state that hia excessive liberality aud unbounded generosity had so impoverished him , that his ample fortune absolutely sink under tho benevolence of his nature . Earl Moira ' s Masonic services were also of a very distinguished nature , and greatly endeared him to the Craft . In 1789 , ho was appointed by the then Grand Master ,

the Dnke of Cnmberland , brotherof George III ., acting Grand Master , which position ho continued to occupy until his departure for Iudia in 1813 . In 1801 , ho became tho patron of this Lodge , which has since been designated by his name , nnd has held its annual festival on his birthday . In Jannary 1813 , on his leaving for India , a testimonial of the value of £ 1 , 000 was presented to him by the Craft ,

together with a jewelled collar of the additional value of £ 1 , 500 . The Duke of Sussex presided , and no less than six Royal dukes wero present on the occasion . His lordship remained , as I have before said , for ten years in India , and on relinquishing the Govornor . Genoralnhip , publicly declared " that his pride and exultation were complete , at its having been seen that Masonio principles had influenced him in th «

exercise of his authority . " In 1823 , on hia return to England , great preparations were made by this Lodge to entertain him at a grand dinner , at whick the Duke of Sussex G . M . was to havo presided , and which was to have been open to tho entire Craft , but owing to his lordship ' s ill-health , tho idea was at first postponed , and then reluctantly abandoned . I may observe , brethren , that tho toast we are about to

drink , in the manner , and under the circumstances which connect it with onr annual festival , has a special significance , which has been handed down from remote antiquity . I would first promise , that it was the custom of the Old Mediioval Guilds , from which wo are nndoubtedly descended , to terminate all occasions of initiation or com . memoration by a grand drinking bout . Of these Guilds it has been

said , that whilst England was their birth-place , London waa thencradle . Their esience consisted " in a brotherly banding together for mutual help and support , " aud their distinguishing characteristic waa tho assembly of their members at stated periods , at a common table , where thoy ate and drank together for tho purposes of identification , and to ascertain whether anv man was absent on unlawful bnsiness .

Indeed , so much importance was attached , in some guilds , to an adequate observance of their festal obligations , that tho allowance of the Master or Alderman , on the occasion of a festival , was fixed at two gallons of ale , and a wholesome rule existed that no member was to go to sleep , or to keep the ale up to himself . As regards this custom of meeting at a common table , to its happy influence is

ascribed , by all authorities alike , the permanency and vitality of our gnildic , as well as of our Masouic Institutions . On the decease of a guild-brother , memorial services were sometimes held for three successive days , bnt on the third day toasts were drank to all dead members . This particular usage , however , that of commemorating the virtues of the dead , is traceable to the very twilight of antiquity .

It was a universal practice among tho Pagans of the North to indulge in hilarious feasts , whose principal diet was furnished by victims offered upon the altars of their divinities . At . theso banquets the heroic deeds of distinguished warriors wero sung , and toasts drunk , amid uproarious glee , to the memory of deceased friends , and in honour of their gods . The custom of toasting tho memory of

departed members of the Masonic fraternity , on festal occasions , has come down to us from this semi-religious observance of the Germans . At tho feasts of tho Northern people , a garland of flowers , with a rose prominently placed in the centre , was suspended from the ceiling , above the table , as a symbol that everything which mittht bo done or spoken by the participants in the banquet should be held strictly

secret . Hence has arisen tbo well known phrase sub rosa , or under the rose . To-night , therefore , brethren , in toasting the memory of Earl Moira , whilst commemorating the virtues of a Great Ruler in the Craft , at the same moment , and under the rose , for though tho emblem of secrecy is not visible in our midst , its import is represented by this closely tyled room , we celebrate one of the most

cherished of our traditional observances , which , hallowed by the associations of a remote past , is honoured in the present by onr faithful adherence to time-honoured custom , and will , wo hope , be perpetuated iu the fat ure , and for nil time by onr successors in tho Craft . Bro . Gould concluded by reading the following lines , penned by Earl Moira in 1793 : — " Tho Hoii- Apparent of tho Empire is our chief . Wo fraternise for the purposes of social intercourse , or

mutual assistance , of charity to the distressed , nnd goodwill to all , and fidelity to a trust , reverence to the magistrate , aud obedience to the laws , are sculptured in capital * upon the pediment of our Institution . " The toast was duly honoured , and then Bro . Mortimore I . P . M . rose , and in complimentary terms proposed tho health of the W . M ., who , in the course of his reply , expressed the sincere regret which ho , in common with the rest of the Lodge , feltat the absence of Bro . Cornelius Thorne , a Past Master of the Moira , on whom last year bad