The Savage Club Lodge, No. 2190.

larly with the United States of America . I make bold to say that if they are all of the same stamp as our Senior Deacon , Tommy Burnside , the more vve get of them the better for us . ( Cheers . ) A good idea of the farreaching interest attaching to anything connected with the Savage Club is

that the proceedings of this banquet are already in print , and before the gaze of people in Australia , America , and India . We have amongst us Bro . T . M . Waller , Consul-General for the United States , and Bro . Folsom , U . S . Consul at Sheffield , and Bro . Hughes , the representative of the United States at Birmingham . ( Cheers . )

Bro . BENJAMIN FOLSOM , in reply , said : On behalf of 600 , 000 American Masons , I beg to return thanks for the compliment which has been paid to them . So far as I can see , American Masonry does not differ in any material degree from English Masonry . Masonry in America has produced from the first President downwards , as Statesmen and Soldiers , the best men

we have had in the United States , and I only wish that my friend the late Governor of the great State of Connecticut , who has been sitting beside me to-night , mig ht have responded in the eloquent manner of vvhich he is capable . Whilst , as I have said , the teachings of Freemasonry have produced some of our best men , what I may term a nega'ive result of Masonry is that it has never produced an anarchist or a dynamitard . ( Cheers . )

The W . M . next proposed " The Officers of the Lodge , " and said : I am sure there is no brother who does not regret the absence of Past Masters Sir Francis Truscott and John Maclean , the latter of whom has acted as W . M . inconsequence of the indisposition of Sir Francis Truscott . At the time Sir Francis was appointed to the chair , we knew that many causes would

prevent his attendance , but Bro . John Maclean , vvho took rank as one of the grandest Preceptors of the Order , took his place and performed the duties of W . M . in a manner vvhich had earned their undy ing gratitude as evinced in the presentation awarded him that day . We are a peculiar body as members of the Savage Club , and vvhen we combine together for such an

object as Freemasonry I am certain that nothing but satisfaction can be the result of our efforts . I hope the brethren will strive to make the lodge one of the foremost in the Order . Bro . Catling is a man who was born and bred a journalist , and the same may be said of Bro . Chapman . Bros

Burnside , Ebbetts , and Fisher have all attained such positions in their respective professions as entitle them to rank in the front place of it . I am sure that in the officers appointed the lodge have ratified appointments which they are never likely to regret . ( Cheers . )

Bro . THOS . CATLING , S . W ., in reply , said : When I venture to respond for myself as an officer of the Savage Club Lodge , I must say that I feel deeply grateful to my brother Savages for the honour they have thrust upon me . Shakespeare has told us very happily that some achieve greatness and that others have greatness thrust upon them . No one knows better than our W . M . hoiv much we owe to the kindness of our brother members

of the Savage Club Lodge . I shall not be revealing any secret vvhich should not be known when I say that Bros . Chapman and Burnside were the first vvho broached to me , when walking along the Strand , the idea of the Savage Club Lodge . Little did I think , as a very humble member of the Drury Lane Lodge , what a brilliant future awaited the conversation of

that afternoon . When I look around at the entertainment of to-night and reflect that vve are honoured by the presence of distinguished Grand Officers—brethren who have given their lives , so to speak , for many years for the good of the Craft—vvhen I listened vvith delight and pleasure to the exquisite melodies of the band under our distinguished Bro . Lieut . Dan

Godfrey , and the entertainment vve have been able to offer the brethren since , I cannot but say that all the officers of the Savage Club Lodge are deeply grateful for the assistance they have received on every hand . ( Cheers . ) You , as W . M ., must be aware that vve owe to the Savage Club very much of the prestige that has attached to this lodge , and I only trust that

in endeavouring to follow out the advice so kindly given us by Bro . Col . Shadwell H . Clerke vve may be able to say that whilst we are good Savages we will also show that vve are good Masons . I think vve have done something for a year's work . We have , during a single year of existence , brought into Masonry 20 initiates , amongst whom are men approaching

three score years and ten—men distinguished in various walks in life , men who have achieved a name like Bro . Tegetmeier as a naturalist , others distinguished in art like Bro . Birch , or our other initiates , Bro . M . P . Jackson and H . Johnson , the latter of whom designed the menu vvhich has so much amused us for two years in succession . The lodge , therefore , has done

something to bring within its bounds those who vvould not have otherwise been Masons . ( Cheers . ) In the coming year , as in the past , we shall do our very best to make this lodge one of which every Savage will be proud and every Mason shall say— " It is an acquisition to the order of Freemasonry . " ( Cheers . )

Bro . W . E . CHAPMAN , J . W ., also responded , and the Tyler ' s toast brought the proceedings to a close . Bro . G . Meads officiated as toastmaster .

During the evening a series of special entertainments were given under the able direction of Bro . Charles Townley , vvhen the following programme was carried out- . —Quartette , " By Celia ' s arbour , " Bros . H . Plater , R . Hilton , AJames , and H . Lester ; song , "Annabel Lee , " Bro . H . Bracy ; parody of " Queen of my heart , " Bro . Harry Nicholls ; song , "Did you

ever hear a girl say ' No ? '" Bro . Herbert Campbell ; violin solo , " Fantaisie" ( De Be ' riot ) , Bro . George Jacobi ; song , " King gold , ' ' Bro . F . Mervin ; song , "As in the cup , " Bro . R . Temple ; recitation , "The Cornish

jury , " Bro . E . Terry ; quartette , " The sycamore shade , " Bros . Plater , Hilton , James , and Lester ; song , "Killaloe , " Bro . Arthur Combes ; Natural Magic by Bro . Charles Bertram ; flute solo , "Romance and Tarantella , " Bro , W . L . Barrett ; song , "In felice , " Bro . Henry Pyatt- ;

The Savage Club Lodge, No. 2190.

song , "John Bull , " Bro . Louis Paul ; recitation , "The viper , " Bro . E . J . Odell ; recitation , " The old black crow , " Bro . VV . Rignold ; glee , " The mighty conqueror , " Bros . Plater , Hilton , James , and Lester ; sketch , " Hovv to sing with a bad cold , " Bro . C . Townley ; song ( as encore ) , " She wanted

to be a fairy , " Bro . C . Townley ; recitation , " Tubul Cain , " Bro . Charles DuVal ; song , " The dispensary doctor , " Bro , A , Combes ; recitation , "Bill Jinks , " Bro . E . J . Odell ; glee , "The chafers , " Bros . Plater , Hilton , James , and Lester ; recitation , " Christmas carol , " Bro . W . Rignold ; and flute solo , " Trovatore , " Bro . VV . L . Barrett .

Amongst the apologies received from brethren unable to be present vvere the following : —Sir F . Wyatt Truscott wrote to the W . M ., on Tuesday : " Dear Sir and Brother , —I regret exceedingly to inform you that through an accident of a severe character which quite disables me from attending to any duties I am absolutely prohibited from being present at the Savage

Club Lodge this evening . I need hardly say how great is this deprivation and how keenly it is felt by me . " Lord Wolseley , telegraphing from the War Office , afterwards sent the following letter : " Dear Sir Somers Vine , — I am so vexed at being deprived of the pleasure of attending the Installation Banquet of the Savage Club Lodge this evening , but a pressure

of official duties on , as it were , the eve of the opening of Parliament , renders it quite impossible for me to do so , —Yours fraternally , WOLSELEY . " Sir J . E . Gorst , who had only just returned from Switzerland , found himself detained by official duties at the Foreign Office . Bro . Richard

Eve , the Grand Treasurer , sent an apology from the National Liberal Club , in vvhich he said , " I am lying here with my leg in splints , and unable to leave my room . " Sir Charles Warren wrote that he " had been looking forward with great pleasure to the evening ' s entertainment , " but vvas prevented by sudden indisposition .

Blind Leaders Of The Blind.

BLIND LEADERS OF THE BLIND .

It is disheartening to brethren vvho take an interest in the study of Masonic history , and more especially to those who have contributed in any way towards elucidating the more difficult problems vvith which all our students are certain to be confronted in the course of their investigations , lo find that after all the progress that has been made during the last 15 or 20 years , there are still educated members of our Society vvho are not

unwilling to enact the part of blind leaders of the blind by imparting to others , as unversed as themselves in the works of our later historians , opinions and representations of fact which are known to be worthless . Scarcely a year passes but some knotty point is settled which has hitherto baffled our ablest writers , or some light is thrown upon periods of our history which have been hitherto veiled in obscurity . But though a few may be the wiser

for these discoveries , the general body of the Cratt ignores them altogether , and the representative ot Masonic fiction has as fine a field as ever for the exercise of his imagination . We had an instance-of this only the other da )' , when a learned brother , vvho is a Past Prov . G . Chaplain of Hants and the Isle of Wight , delivered a lecture on " Three Important Epochs in Freemasonry , " in the Hampshire Lodge of Emulation , at the Freemasons '

Hall , Portsmouth . We have not a word to say against the introductory part of his address . It is no doubt a great advantage attending such lodges as the Hampshire Lodgeof Emulation , "that lectures may be given and an insight into Masonry obtained which is hardly possible in an ordinary working lodge . " We can well believe " that a lodge vvhich consists of P . M . ' s of eminence "—provided they possess the requisite knowledge

— " will not allow any statements to be made which may appear at variance with the truth . " We are of the same opinion as our reverend brother , that " no Masonic student can do otherwise than rejoice in the deepening interest which is now taken in all that concerns the Crait , and that " without such interest the establishment of such a lodge as the Quatuor Coronati could not have taken place . " VVe agree with him also , that occasionally " instead

of listening to , and assisting in " our ritual of the several degrees , " we should deepen oiir Masonic knowledge , increase our Masonic interest , and strengthen our Masonic love by searching beneath the waters of that ocean of Masonic lore on the surface of which our vessel has outridden many a stoi m and overcome many a tempest . " All this is so admirable that it necessarily intensifies our regret that one who is capable of offering such excellent advice

has not been at the pains of observing his own precepts , and that instead ot being content , "to sail on the surface of that ocean , " he should not have endeavoured to fathom "its depths . " which , as he rightly says , " conceal many a pearl of wisdom worth searching lor . " Had he followed his own counsel before undertaking to give this lecture he would have discovered many a pearl of wisdon" of great price , of which it is evident that both he

and the "P . M . ' s of eminence" he vvas endeavouring to enli ghten were entirely ignorant . Thus , he would have ascertained that whatever may have been the nature of Sir Christopher Wren ' s connection vvith Masonry , there is no evidence whatever to show that it was that of a regularly-initiated member , and that whatever may have been his position ,-is Surveyor-General of Works , towards the Guild of Masons , he was never Grand Master of the

Society of Masons in the sense in which the term has been used since 1717 . As for Desaguliers , reference to Bro . Gould ' s works would have shown him that that distinguished brolher was not a member of Anti quity , No . I , but of the old Horn Lodge , the last of the " Four Old Lodges" which set up the Grand Lodge oi 1717 , and still exists on the roll of United Grand Lodge as the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge , No . 4 ;

while with reference to the pretty little story he quotes from Dr . Oliver's " Revelations of a Square , " about Desaguliers , and the rebuke he is said to have administered to a noble brother who was more vehement than polite in the language he employed , let him class that among the fables , till such time , at all events , as there is forthcoming some evidence of its authenticity . Again , as regards the " admirable pamphlet by Dr . Anderson , called ' A Defence of Masonry , ' 1730 , " whatever attacks this may have been intended

as a reply to , it is impossible it can have had anything to do vvith the Porteous riots , which occurred six years later—in 1736 ; a little inquiry into what vve call profane history vvould have made this clear . Then as to " The Schism , " vve do not know what Bro . Sadler , who stoutly maintains that none ever took place , may have to say on this subject , but vve take the liberty of pointing out that here , also , our reverend brother has effected an awkward transposition of cause and effect , which might easily have been avoided . He explains its origin to have been in consequence of certain brethren having