The Installation Of The Prince Of Wales.

this toast . I am sure that you are aware—in fact , the Pro Grand Master , who I am sorry to say is not here to-night , told you—how great an interest the Royal Family had always taken in Freemasonry . ( Cheers . ) I hope that those of the Royal Family who are following their

ancestors , including the M . W . Grand Master and myself ( prolonged cheering ) , I hope that we shall prove ourselves no less worthy members of the Craft than the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Kent . ( Cheers . ) I am sure that , as the M . W . Grand Master said this afternoon , the fact that

the great mottoes of the Craft are " loyalty " and " charity " is alone sufficient to make the Royal Family take the deepest interest in a Craft with such good mottoes as those . ( Cheers . ) Brethren , before sitting down , I may say that a great honour has been conferred upon me , and that is

no less than that of proposing to you " The Health of our Most Worshi p ful Grand Master . " ( Reiterated applause . ) I only wish , brethren , that this task had fallen to one who is more worthy to propose it , as you all know I am the Junior Master Mason of England . And being

in a very humble position , I am naturally careful , and what is more , nervous , in speaking before you all ( cheers ) on a toast of such great importance as this is . ( Hear , hear . ) Another reason that I am sure will suggest itself to you is that I am doubly related on this occasion to our Most

Worshipful Grand Master . ( Cheers and laughter . ) It will not do for brothers to be flattering each other , but I am sure , from the way in which the mere mention of our Most Worshipful Grand Master ' s health was received , that you all respect and admire him in his new and important ofHce .

( Applause . ) I can assure you , brethren , that there is no one—I will challenge every member of the Craft on this point—who has taken a deeper interest in Freemasonry than His Royal Highness the Most Worshi pful Grand Master .

( Loud cheers . ) I am sure you will find in him one who will uphold the honour and the intergrity of this most noble and most ancient Craft . ( Applause . ) Brethren , I propose to you "The Health of the Most Worshi pful the Grand Master . "

The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm , the cheering being again and again renewed . The Prince of Wales : Brethren , I beg to return my most sincere and my most grateful thanks to the Junior Master Mason of England ( laughter ) for the kind way in which he has proposed my

health , and to you , brethren , for the cordial manner in which you have received it . This is the first time , brethren , that I have had the honour of presiding at the grand festival . I can assure you I am very grateful for your kind reception of me this evening , and I sincerely hope

that we may have the pleasure of meeting together on these festive occasions many many long years to come . I shall never forget , brethren , the ceremony of to-day ( hear , hear ) , and the reception which you gave me . I only hope that you may never regret the choice you have made of your Grand Master . Brethren , I assure you all

on occasions I shall do my utmost to do my dut y in the position in which you have so kindl y placed me . ( Hear , hear ) . Before sitting down , brethren , I have a toast to propose , which I feel sure you will all drink with cordiality , and which \? ™ e ls a specially gratifying toast , that is , The Health of our Illustrious Brother the King of Sweden and Norway . " ( Applause . ) It

affords me especial pleasure to propose this toast , as seven years ago I became a member of this Craft , initiated by the late King , the brother of the present one . Thereby I consider I have a

more special interest in Sweden , and I hope that the Grand Lodges of Sweden and of England may always be bound together in good will and "J fraternal feeling . Our illustrious brother the Jving has been especially pleased to send over

nve distinguished brethren to take part in my instal ation . ( A pplause ) . Therefore it affords me special gratification to drink to the health of one who I know is such a keen Freemason at neart , and so keen an Englishman that he has _ , w —WWIA an . uijujiaiituau uidL UG ilds ¦ equentl

" y visited our shores . Most cordially and most heartil y do I call upon you , brethren , R ° J " to "The Health of our Illustrious brother the Most Worshipful Grand Master and Norw a ; . ^^ the K ' ^ ° f Sweden

The Installation Of The Prince Of Wales.

Count Salcza responded , speaking in French . He passed a high eulogium on Freemasonry , and expressed his great gratification at the magnificent ceremony that had been witnessed in the afternoon , laying especial stress upon the Masonic good feeling between Sweden and Great Britain .

The Grand Master then rose and said Brethren , we are honoured here this evening by the representatives of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , of Ireland , and of Sweden , and I feel convinced that you will all drink with tne most cordially and most heartily to their health (" cheers ) .

The Grand Lodge of England is most desirous on being on the best possible terms with the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland . Although separate through having other Grand Masters , still those three Grand Lodges may consider one another more or less as one .

I have great pleasure in proposing the health of my noble friend and brother , Lord Rosslyn , as representative of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , and I cannot forget the kind reception I met with at Edinburgh some years ago when he was Deputy-Grand Master , and I received the rank

of Patron of Scotch Freemasons at the hands of the late Earl Dalhousie . It also gives me great pleasure topropose the health of the representative of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , coupled with the name of Bro . Shekleton , Deputy Grand Master . I have also the great privilege of being Patron of

the Irish Grand Lodge . I also remember , a few years ago , my reception from the . late Duke of Leinster , who was the popular Grand Master of Ireland at that time , and the reception I met with I shall not easily forget . As the representative of the Grand Lodge of Sweden it affords me

great pleasure to couple with this toast the name of the admiral on my left , who with the other gentlemen of this deputation from the King of Sweden are present here this evening . As my earliest associations in Freemasonry have been with the Grand Lodge of Sweden , I know when

I address those gentlemen I see before me they will appreciate the pleasure it affords me in proposing this toast . ( Cheers . ) Brethren , I give you the toast of" The Grand Lodges of Scotland , Ireland , and Sweden , " coupled with the names Lord Rosslyn , Brother Shekleton , and Admiral

Oscar Dickson . I also include in this toast all the other Grand Lodges . The toast having been drunk , Lord Rosslyn said : Most Worshi pful Grand Master and Brethren , —The honour that your Royal Highness has done the deputation of the

Grand Lodge of Scotland is warmly felt and appreciated by them , and I regret exceedingly that our Right Worshipful Master is upon this most interesting occasion prevented from being present by severe domestic sorrow . One other also of our deputation , one to whom all members of the

Grand Lodge of Scotland have a great regard , our Grand Secretary , is prevented from being present on this occasion by a very severe and dangerous illness . But I am glad , indeed , to have had the opportunity , after so many years connection with the Grand Lodge in

Scotlandno less than 23 years—of congralulating the Craft of England , and your Royal Highness also , upon the most magnificent scene I have ever witnessed in my life . I am glad also to think that the splendour , and , I must add , admirable management

of the display to-day , does not quite efface from your Royal Highness ' s recollection the scene upon a similar scale which we endeavoured to offer you when we had the honour of having your name as patron of the Scottish Craft . Your Royal Highness has been good enough to

say that you have not forgotten the occasion . I can assure Royal Highness no Scotchman will ever forget it , and I can speak on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , with which I have been so long connected , having served every office in it , from Junior Deacon up to Grand Master , having been not quite a holiday

Freemason , but worked my way from the ranks up to the position I have the honour to hold now . His Royal Highness has this day told us what the duties of Freemasonry are , and there is no doubt he has summed them up in two words—loyalty and charity ; which includes mercy , a quality which has been described by the greatest poets as becoming " the throned monarch better than

The Installation Of The Prince Of Wales.

his crown . " There can be no doubt that under the auspices of the Most Worshi pful Grand Master the Grand Lodge of England will flourish , and will continue to be a standard for Masonry all over the world . ( Hear , hear . ) I beg to thank you on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Scotland ,

and I should have felt entirely happy in all the arrrangements that you have given me the opportunity of addressing you this evening , if I had not found that the brother about to follow me is in a much better position than myself ; for , while we are placed , according to the book of

songs before me , " By the sad sea waves , " he has the pleasure of being " By Celia ' s arbour . " ( Laughter . ) Bro . R . W . Shekleton . Deputy Grand Master of Ireland , said : Your Royal Highness , my Lords , and Brethrenj—I have been deputed by his

Grace the Grand Master of Ireland to express to you his great personal regret that his official duties as a Viceroy of her Most Gracious Majesty debar him from being present here in person to do all honour to your Royal Highness , and in his behalf to bid you all hail in the name

of the fraternity of the sister kingdom . Your Royal Highness and Brethren of England , on behalf of his Grace I desire to tender to you his most grateful acknowledgments for the way in which his name has been received , and the invitation which was extended to him to take part

in the imposing and august ceremonial of to-day . But , your Royal Highness , there is another matter which , as far as I am aware , his Grace is not cognisant until to-day , and that is the honour you have conferred upon him by installing his son in the Grand Senior Warden ' s chair

( applause ) . As his Grace takes great interest in Freemasonry , the honour you have thus conferred upon his son is one of the greatest honours you could confer upon him personally ( hear ) On behalf of those who represented the Grand Lodge of Ireland I should be wanting in my duty

if I did not take this opportunity of thanking you for this opportunity of taking part in the ceremony of to-day , which we have seen , and which probably will never be seen again—an event which will be an era in our Masonic lives . We thank you also for having been invited to take part in this

festive ceremony , which , as most of the outside world will suppose , was most indispensable to us , whom they regard as a gormandising fraternity ; ( Laughter . ) In an assemblage of English Masons it may seem absurd to talk about loyalty , but I can assure your Royal Highness that no Masons

are more loyal than the Masons of the Emerald Isle ( immense applause ) , which God grant may never cease to be an integral portion of Her Majesty ' s dominions ; and we pray that the Emerald Isle may never be woven in the crown of any stranger . In our lodges we have no

treason , no plots , or conspiracies—we form no secret societies ; but we are remarkable for our fear of God , our fealty to the Sovereign , love to the brotherhood , and a friendship to all classes and creeds . Those are the principles which are inculcated in Irish lodges , as well as English , and

therefore it is absurd to speak of us in the way we have been spoken of . Your Royal Highness has been threatened with certain pains and penalties if you visit our shores . I can assure your Royal Highness , as far as that is concerned , we are only too happy to see your Royal Highness

on any occasion , and I think there will be no necessity to put his prerogative of mercy into operation if you visit us . I have said that we are loyal , and I say it on behalf of my impulsive countrymen that they are loyal to the heart ' s core ; and that although we have not had the honour of seeing the members of the Royal

Family as often as we would like , yet I know it is only necessary that they should be as familiar to us in Ireland as in England to be equally beloved as in England and in Scotland ; and somewhat to alter the words of one whose genius as a writer we may admire , though we may not agree in his political opinions , I would say" Come in the evening , come in the

morning . Come when you will , or come without warning , Bright smiles of welcome you'll find there before you , And the oftener you come the more we'll adore vou . "