Consecration Of The Chancery Bar Lodge, No. 2456, In The Presence Of The Prince Of Wales.

the Bar is of old date . Many years J have been a Bencher of the Middle Temple , and though an older Bencher than I am a Mason I am glad to think that on this occasion Ihe grand legal profession and the Masonic brethren are more intimatel y connected to-ni ght than , perhaps , they have been before . Since my installation as your Grand Master now nearly in

years ago I have granted warrants for new lodges amounting to 1027 . ( Cheers . ) None have been more prosperous or successful than the Northern Bar Lodge . You have had as members of it some most distinguished and leading members of the Bar . The new lod ge which we have consecrated and established to-day has been iounded on the same lines , and I most sincerely hope that it may be as successful and prosperous as the brother lodge . I can only thank you once more for the way you have received me and be assured that I always take the deepest interest in everything that concerns Freemasonry . I hope , especially as an Englishman , that Masons will continue to flourish in the way they have done hitherto . ( Cheers ) .

Ihe WORSHIPFUL MASTER again rose and said : Brethren , —The next toast I have on my list is "The Health of the Consecrating Officers , and the other Grand Officers , Present and Past . " Brethren , in the old days when Terms still existed the rule was inflexibly enforced in all Courts of Justice that all proceedings on the last day of Term should be short . I most sincerely trust that the Committee who have

been to-day appointed to frame the bye-laws of the Chancery Bar Lodge will adopt an analogous rule in their bye-laws with regard to after-dinner speeches . ( Laughter ) . But , whether it be so or not , as I know the Grand Master ' s time is valuable , even after dinner . I shall observe it strictly , and , therefore , I will merel y tender to the Consecrating Officers my thanks , on behalf of the lodgefor the way in which

, they have performed ( and to the other Grand Officers , Present and Past , for having come to grace the performance of ) the very impressive and interesting ceremony that we have witnessed to-day , and I will couple with that toast the name of the M . W . the Pro Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom . Before I sit down I should indeed fail in my duty if I neglected to take this opportunity of thanking Bro . Sir Albert Woods , Grand Director of

Ceremonies , and Bro . Letchworth , the Grand Secretary , for all that they have done for us previous to the ceremony . Their advice has been invaluable ; they have worked , I might say , like horses ; they certainly have worked prodigiously hard for us ; they have been ever ready to smooth all difficulties that arose ; and I tender them my best thanks . Any success that has attended the ceremonies has been very largely due to their efforts .

The Earl of LATHOM , in reply , said : Worshi pful Sir , I tender you my hearty thanks for the very large body of the Brotherhood comprised in this toast . The first part of the toast you have so kindl y drunk is that of "The Consecrating Brethren . " The consecrating brethren are comparativel y few . The part I took in the ceremony of consecration was very small , but I cannot help thinking in my own case that you must thank the Grand

Secretary for the admirable way he did part of the work . With regard to the present and past Grand Officers , I am sure , Sir , you will agree vvith me in saying that they have always done their duty in the past ; the present are doing their duty , and there is little doubt those in the future will be able to do the same . I will not dwell on this important toast , brethren , but if you will allow me I will give another toast , and that is " The Health of the

Chancery Bar Lodge , and Long Life to it , " coupled with the name of the Worshipful Master . Now , Sir , I think that the ceremony that we have ^ performed here to-day marks a great epoch in our Masonic career . We include among the number of our lodges a lodge devoted to the Bar , a profession we all admire ; but 1 admire it even more now to think that the Bar is rallying round Freemasonry . What we want about this country at

the present time is intelligent and well-educated men who take an intcresf in Freemasonry . The more we have of them among the members of the Craft the more we shall find Freemasonry flourish and going in the right path ; and I agree with what fell from the Grand Chaplain , that Freemasonry is not only an Order for benevolence , but an Order for the general dispensing of benevolence and doing good to mankind in general—men who

have among them those of the learned societies , and , as I said be ore , well educated men in England—and if that is so the more must Freemasonry flourish , and the more we shall be able to congratulate you on the foundation of this lodge to-day . 1 beg to couple with the toast the name of the W . M . The WORSHIPFUL MASTER , in acknowledging thc toast , said : Brethren—1 beg to thank you most sincerel y for the way in which you have drunk ,

and our Bro . the M . W . Pro Grand Master for the kind way in which he has spoken of our lodge . To-day has indeed been a memorable day in the annals of thc Chancery Bar Lodge ; emphatically dies cretii noiandits , a day which every member of the lodge will remember to the last hour of his existence . I trust that on the foundation which has this day been laid we may in future years raise a superstructure perfect in all its parts and

honourable to the builders , and that in a few years this lodge may be recognised as a worthy sister of that other professional lodge of which the Grand Master has spoken and which has already , in the few years of its existence , obtained so eminent a position in the Craft . Brethren , 1 thank you most sincerely . The WOKSHII'IUL MASI'JiK next proposed "The Bench and the Bar . "

In doing so hc said : Brethren , —My work is very nearly over , but there is one toast more , which in a legal lodge , especially on the day of its consecration , ought not to be omitted . It is thc toast of " The Bench and the Bar . " Brethren , when thc historic New Zealander of Lord Macaulay , having finished his sketch of thc ruins ol St . Paul ' s and returned to his native land , shall sit down to write the history of civilisation in Europe , he will record as one , and not thc least , of the many great blessings which England has bestowed

upon humanity that she has shown to the natives that it is possible at all limes lo fill the judicial bench with a constant succession of men well qualified for that office—men at once incorruptible , impartial , learned , deeply read in legal lore , lovers of justice , haters of oppression and meanness—men who , unmoved by the smiles of the great or the clamours of the populac- * , spend their lives in dispensing , diy by day , equal justice to rich find poor—men to every one of whom may be applied thc noble words ol ihe old Roman poet :

" Justum ct lenacem propositi virum Non civium ardor prava jubenliuni , Non vultus instantis tyranni Mente quatit solida , ncque Ausier . Dux inquieti turbidus Hadriic Nee fulminantis magna jovis manus Si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum fcricnt ruinie . "

Consecration Of The Chancery Bar Lodge, No. 2456, In The Presence Of The Prince Of Wales.

Brethren , we have at the present time—I say it without fearof contradiction —a judicial bench which is worth y of the best traditions of its predecessors , a bench " hand ulli vetcrum virtutc secundus , " and for that Bench I wiil ask the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain to respond . Brethren , for thc other branch of the toast •¦ " The Bar "—of which I am a humble member , perhaps it hardly befits me to speak in praise , but this I may say in the language of

the psalmist , "Their sound has gone out unto all lands , and their words unto the end of the world . " From distant Asia , from darkest Africa , from Australia , where a few years ago was " penitus toto divisus ab orbc , " young men come in crowds to our ancient halls to study ovir system of jurisprudence , consecrated by the wisdom of ages , and , as we trust , to carry back to their distant homes , when their course of study is finishedsome portion at least

, of that' high tone which has ever characterised the English Bar , and a vivid recollection of those grand words of the late Lord Chief Jusiice Cockburn , that " while it is peimissible for an advocate in defence of his client ' s rights to use the sword of a soldier , he must never condescend to employ the dagger of the assassin . " With the toast of " Thc Bar" I will couple the name of our Bro . Pope .

The Lord CHANCELLOR , in acknowled ging the toast , said : Worshipful Master and Brethren , —I shall be very brief in responding to this toast , although after the very kind manner it has been proposed by the W . M .. it would be fit there should be a longer response . I shall be brief , especially for two reasons ; first , because the VV . M . has enjoined brevity , and filling the office I do , it is my duty to obey all constituted authority . ( Laughter !)

I shall be brief , because I believe it is the part of the judge to be silent ; it is for the Bar to speak . ( Laughter . ) I do not not mean to say that this is rigidly observed . ( Laughter . ) There are no doubt occasions on which members of the Bar desire it were more borne in mind ; but to one who has been on the bench as a judge , I may say I am conscious that it is far more difficult to hold your tongue . But inasmuch as I know the Bar has

an excellent representative in the brother who is called upon to respond to the other part of the toast , I shall feel no difficulty . I feel it an honour on this occasion to return thanks for the Bench . I am going to regard them from the point of view of Masonry . It isa satisfaction to me to respond to the toast I am responding to . fortwowho belongtotheCraft—two of my noblcandlearned colleagues with whom I am in the habit of sitting in the House of Lords

judiciallyare present among us , and I shall never forget that although I was not a founder of the Northern Bar Lodge—for I was not a Mason until the Northern Bar Lodge came into existence , yet I was one of its earliest members , and I am sure that all the members of the lodge will agree with me that it has fulfilled the objects for which it was founded , and that it has done an immense amount of good . It is a great satisfaction to me to think

that of those who , like myself , were practising members of the Bar , there are now no less than three sitting on the Bench—Justice Cave , Justice Bruce , and Justice Kennedy . Bro . SAMUEL POPE , Q . C , W . M . and Brethren : It is a litlle startling for one lo become suddenly conscious that one must be thc only member present to be entitled to the honour of returning thanks for the Bar when

toasted . The truth is that all of us who , whether of the Northern B lr Lor * ge or in any other capacity , have become attached to Masonry , have felt that it was a good thing both for the Craft and for the profession that ties should be drawn closer between the two bodies . Speaking for myself , I can onl y refer to what has fallen from the Lord Chancellor , that the Northern Bar Lodge has done certain good services to the Craft . It has initiated as Masons some who have distinguished themselves as lawyers , and the

circumstance that the Lord Chancellor of England owes his initiation in Masonry to that lodge is , I think , sufficient justification for the warrant which the Grand Master granted in the first instance . A good many of us owe our initiation in Masonry to the Northern Bar Lodge , but the reasons which have made the Northern Bar Lodge a success are special and peculiar . There have been social reasons connected with old Circuit associations which have made them

peculiar and special among certain members of the legal profession , and I confess I have rejoiced at the consecration of the Chancery Bar Lodge , because it is an association more complete between the legal profession and the Craft than that which was formed by the Northern Bar itself . You have no Circuits in connection with Chancery practice ; you do not have the social associations which absence from home and family ties for long periods

as those who go on Circuit have in the pursuit of their profession in various parts of the country ; you are always at home , and therefore your association with the Craft brings upon it a more legal influence than even the Northern Bar Lodge has done . ( Laughter . ) I think that that will be a great advantage to the Craft . 1 am quite sure that the ameliorating and beneficent influence of the Craft will be a great relief to the Chancery Bar , ( laughter ) ,

and therefore I think that it was a happy idea , and , if I may venture to say so , a most gracious acquiescence in that idea by the Grand Master to grant the warrant for the Chancery Bar Lodge , which should make closer than ever before the connection between the legal profession and the Craft of Freemasonry . I must follow the example of the Lord Chancellor , and , in obedience to the chair , be as brief as I can be . Upon the part of the Bar , let me say this much , that I believe it is the dominant principle which

governs the entire profession that they desire to advance the happiness and welfare of their clients , that they honestly hate all oppression and all meanness , and desire that their professional conduct should be governed b y true Masonic principles as completely as any other members of the Cratt can possibly do , and therefore , on behalf of the Bar , I thank you for having acknowledged their position , and allow me to thank you for allowing me to assist at the consecration of the Chancery Bar Lodge . ( Cheers . )

The Prince ol WALES , then , amidst loud applause , rose and -. ml : Th ? W . M . has allowed me to propose one mure toast that is not sci down on our list to-nig ht . On the first evening a great many distinguished visii . irs , members of the Craft , have been present ; but it would not do lur us to separate without their names being toasted , and I have the ureal est pleasure

in coupling with it the name of a distinguished lawyer , a distinguished Member of Parliament , a distinguished Mason , and also one who , with the facility of the pencil , has the great facility of speech . Forgive me saying that 1 assure him of the pleasure it gives me to ask Bro . Lockwoo ' d to respond to the toast of " The Visitors . "

Bro . FRANK L OCKWOOJJ , Q . C , said : W . M . and brethren , I assure you J feel fully that in rising to return thanks to-night for the visitors who have had the honour of taking some part in the ceremonial of to-day , it is with some considerable difficulty that I personally look upon myself as a visitor in this hall . In this hall , where 1 have eaten so many dinners that tended more or Iesi to impair my naturall y strong digestive organs ; in that ancient library where 1 have lor so many years studiously studied the great legal principles —( laughter ) -which have