The Drury Lane Lodge, No. 2127.

brethren , and in due time , if the opportunity come , to accept the honours it rests with those brethren alone to bestow . Later in the evening the toast 0 f the Past Masters will be submitted to you , and it is not my purpose to forestall the brother whose pleasant task it will be to dilate upon their services . But , in a Iodge so successful and distinguished as this , it is impossible to forget on this great annual anniversary , when proposing "The

Health of our Newly-Installed Master , " that his chair has been filled by Lord Londesborough , by Augustus Harris , by Sir John Gorst , who , now that they are followed by Sir Edward Inglefield , furnish a string of names forming what I will venture to call an unassailable quadrilateral . For we may safely challenge contradiction vvhen we say that rarely , if ever , has a Masonic lodge in the first four years of its existence had the privilege of

being presided over by public men ol such varied acquirements and distinction , whose success in life has been achieved in such absolutely different fields . ( Cheers . ) I will not labour this proposition , but simply submit it for your consideration as a fitting prelude to my toast . Our W . M . ' s brilliant career of services to the Crown and to his country commenced before some of us vvere born , and , I am disposed to think , for I refer to the

naval operations on the coast of Syria in 1840 , before most of those present saw the light of Masonry . The honours he has won are part of the history of his country , inscribed imperishably on its annals of personal gallantry and intrepid exploration . ( Cheers . ) Small wonder , then , if his busy active life afloat and at home " , which for many years made it impossible for him to continue long in one stay , delayed his acquiring a full measure

of Masonic knowledge , and kept him in the well filled ranks of those who have not been able to undertake , and who , perhaps , have never aspired to , Masonic work or office . The establishment of this Drury Lane Lodge , however , gave our W . M . an opportunity of vvhich he promptly availed himself . ( Hear , hear . ) He became one " of its founders . ( Hear , hear . ) He vvas its first Senior Deacon . He has since duly served the offices of Junior and Senior Warden . It is , therefore , by no favouritism , but in the regular

course , that he has to-day by the unanimous voice of his brethren received from them the highest honour it is in their power to bestow . ( Cheers . ) Let us pledge ourselves one and all to do our utmost to make our Worshipful Master ' s year of office as brilliantly successful as his public career has been , and , in drinking his health right heartily , congratulate the Drury Lane Lodge on the added distinction it derives from his gallant services and honoured name . ( Loud cheers . )

Bro . Admiral Sir E . A . INGLEFIELD , K . C . B ., D . C . L ., W . Master , in response , said : Most heartily and sincerely I thank you for the honour done me in drinking my health , but let me assure you , I feel it is

an honour you are paying to my lodge rather than to me . I am the unworthy representative of a lodge which will take its

place in the lodges of England as one of the best . As Bro . Parkinson has said , I fear I am but a feeble

Mason—( no , no)—as regards my duties and knowledge of the work , but , notwithstanding , let me assure you I shall do my utmost to

earn from you that meed of praise at the end of my year which has been given to those who have preceded me . ( Cheers . ) I am surrounded by some first rate Masonic

luminaries — luminaries quite of the first magnitude — and I take to myself this advantage in the matter , that , although I am only a little star , still I hope their reflected light will increase in some measure my "gnt , and I trust that I shall be assisted bv those P-onH sen-h-pc nf hr ^ hprl ,,

love and Charity , which it is the duty of every Mason to offer to a brother m distress . ( Hear , hear . ) If I can only follow in a small degree in the jootsteps of my predecessor I shall esteem myself fortunate . During my « e at sea I have occasionally met , and especially noticed , a very inferior captain , who , having good officers , was enabled to obtain for himself and

»• > vessel great renown . Ihave noticed another ship commanded by a first sn j aptain ' but bad officers , vvhich would prove the black sheep of a squadron . I feel I can place myself in the first of these positions , for I know nave good officers and a very good crew . ( Cheers . ) I have in my good "ip some—supernumeraries I was going to call them —( laughter)—who will _ -. ^ , lmlutl < l ,, t ; , ,. Wcl 3 going KKIK . HU mein —( . laugnierj—wno win to

e ready perform any work entrusted to them . I hope I shall continue con r H CeiVe r assistance > and > under such circumstances , I shall be able to ( Ch T & oodcraft—the Drury Lane Lodge—safely through her voyage , craft- ! l S etting int 0 sea talk < for I ought n ° t to be talking of our cliKi S u * Ut 0 ur Craft on shore - ( Laughter . ) I can only say , in coupon , that I thank you , and thank you most heartily . ( Cheers . )

S P- ?? ' * M' BRO ^ DLEY , P . D . D . G . M . Malta , Secretary , said the post of nri ^ u- yY ^ as not alt 0 & ether a sinecure , but he had one privilege which he the f ¦! £ - ' that was Prosing " The Health of the Visitors . " For Which time . was his duty to ask the members to drink this toast—one certaiiw , Ceived with enthusiasm at every Masonic gathering , but always back rh ° ! . ty demonstration from them . If there had been one drawaeaincttu "'"^ the Proceedings , it had been that the snow had gone . 5 "st . them and prevented amp from attpnr \' , ncr , „ hr , , „ n „ iA nt \ , a * ... ;~ a

Councifl E !? i and ln the next place ' the onerous duties of County estepnwf - j „ en from them - for a time - their staunch supporter and Wever •' ° - Augus -us Harris . The attractions of the lodge had , S peaker J n . w y instances proved stronger than the snowstorm . The * er ot the House of Keys had braved a journey from his dominions to

BRO . JAMES FERNANDEZ , J . W .

The Drury Lane Lodge, No. 2127.

be amongst them ; Sir E . Lechmere had come up from Worcestershire , and amongst those present vvas a brother who had presided for many years over the District of Bengal—Bro . Hugh D . Sandeman—who had been suffering , as the members were aware , from the result of an accident , but who was fortunately able to be with them that evening . The lodge had never had a more representative company present than it had that night . There

was first of all the First Lord of the Admiralty , who was the son of one of the most distinguished Grand Masters Ireland had ever possessed , and vvho himself commenced his Masonic career in Ireland . There vvas also with them the Lord Mayor of London , whose predecessors had each in succession visited their Iodge , but he was the first who had been able to grace their banquet table . Although the Lord Mayor had not yet

advanced to a high position in the Craft , still he was a hard worker , and one vvho vvould make his mark in the future . The VV . M . vvas honoured by the presence of several members of that great service to which he belonged , including Lord Alcester , who was initiated in the United Lodge , under Bro . the Rev . C J . Martyn , their Chaplain , a Mason who , during a career of 23 years , had only been absent on three occasions from his place in Grand Lodge . The Church establishment was represented by Bro .

Rev . Dr . Kynaston , formerly Head Master of Cheltenham , and now working in London , and who , in 1857 , rowed stroke in the 'Varsity boat , and was also Senior Classic . He ( Bro . Broadley ) vvould not detain them longer , but vvould ask his brethren of that lodge to assist him in paying especial honour to those illustrious Grand Officers and brethren who had come from distant parts of England to visit the Drury Lane Lodge . He coupled with the toast the names of Bros . Lord George Hamilton , the Lord Mayor , Lord Alcester , and the Rev . Dr . Kynaston .

Bro . Lord GEORGE HAMILTON , M . P ., First Lord of the Admiralty , in reply , said -. I thank you for the compliment , which , as one of your visitors , you have been good enough to pay me in drinking my health . It was a great privilege to be present at the ceremonials which

have taken place elsewhere , and also to partake of the sumptuous banquet served in this room ; and I am especially privileged to know that the distinguished brother whom this lodge has selected as W . M . for the ensuing year is a distinguished Naval Officer , and an ornament to that service vvith which I have the honour for the moment to be associated . ( Cheers . ) The Secretary spoke of me as the First Lord of the Admiralty , and I could not help remembering that I have

spent a certain part of the evening in Drury Lane , and that I have been entertained in a lodge where the names of

Kean and Garrick are honoured , and which now contains the names of many of the most distinguished members of the great profession which they adorned . ( Cheers . ) I may , therefore , say , in the well known lines , that

there is but one chief ruler of the Queen ' s Navee , and that although his Christian name is George—( laughter)—his

surname commences with the letter which succeeds that letter in the alphabet—I hope I may be fortunate enough to give the same satisfaction

to those who know the naval services as the distinguished brother whom you have seen fill the

BRO . S . B . BANCROFT , S . D .

part . ( Cheers . ) Bro . Broadley has alluded to the fact that my Masonic apprenticeship was served in Ireland . Nothing can more clearly show the universality and ubiquity of Masonry . The same spirit animated that small lodge in the North of Ireland vvhich exists in this lodge in the heart of the Metropolis —( cheers)—and I will go further and say that the knowledge of the great principles of law and order , unity and co-operation , so dear to the Masonic Craft—the knowledge that they form the foundation of Masonry—is , in the troublous times in Ireland ,

a great comfort to brethren who do their duty . ( Loud cheers . ) If our evening has been pleasant to those entertained it is not merely on account of the excellence of the dinner and the ceremonial , but it is because this lodge has taught its members the highest perfection of hospitality , and that although they work together in the abstract they also work together

in the concrete . ( Cheers . ) There is not one visitor present who has not noticed the kind attention on the part of every member of the lodge which had given additional gusto to the hospitality , and so far as I am concerned —and if I may speak for the visitors as far as they are concerned , we shall entertain a grateful and lasting recollection of the hospitality you have been kind enough to accord . ( Cheers . )

Bro . the Rt . Hon . the LORD MAYOR said ; It must always be a position of difficulty for a Lord Mayor of London to follow one so distinguishedand so distinguished in administrative capacities—as Lord George Hamilton . I hardly know why I am here to-night , and I know much less why I am called upon to return thanks as one of the visitors on this occasion . I am , however , aware that I have been greatly influenced to be here by the suasive manner of your admirable Secretary —( applause)—and I know that

of late years many of my predecessors who have filled the office which I so unworthily fill —( no , no)—have assembled on this especial occasion , and I hope there will continue to be some tradition by which there may be an association in the future between the Lord Mayor and thisparticular lodge . ( Cheers . ) I am aware , of course , that in another respect there is affinity between Masonry and the City of London . I think vve may claim for the two that there is good fellowship —( applause)—and it vvould not be presumptuous in me if I were to say that the Corporation is as emulous of good works as is