Installation Of H.R.H. The Duke Of Connaught.

the Duke of Abercorn , Grand Master of Ireland ; the Rt . Hon . W . W . B . Beach , M . P . ; the Rt . Hon . Thos . F . Halsey , M . P . ; and the Provincial Grand Masters of nearly all the . English provinces . From three to four o ' clock brethren who were entitled to

admission to the ceremony were shown to the seats assigned to them by the Stewards on duty . At 4 . 30 a procession of Past Grand Officers entered the Hall , and took their seats on the dais . A quarter of an hour later the procession of Grand Officers entered the hall in the following order , and proceeded to the dais :

Two Grand Stewards . Grand Pursuivant . Two Junior Grand Deacons . Grand Director of Ceremonies . Grand Superintendent of Works

President of Board of Benevolence . Grand Secretary . President of the Board of General Purposes Deputy Grand Registrar . Grand Rcen ' strar .

Grand Treasurer . Grand Chaplains . Past Provincial Grand Masters Provincial Grand Masters . Grand Wardens .

Junior Grand Deacon , j Senior Grand Deacon . Illustrious Visitors . Representatives from the Grand Lodge of Canada . Deputation from the Grand Deputation from the Grand

Lodge of Ireland . Lodge of Scotland Deputy Grand Master . Grand Sword Bearer .

THE M . W . PRO GRAND MASTER . Senior Grand Deacon . | Senior Grand Deacon . Grand Standard Bearers . Two Grand Stewards . The deputation from the Grand Lodge of Scotland included besides Bro . the Hon . James llozier , M . P ., Grand Master , Bros

the Lord Saltoun , I . P . Grand Master ; John Graham of Broadstone , Grand Master Depute ; the Don . C . M . Ramsay , Substitute Grand Master ; A . A . Spiers of Ellerslie , Senior Grand Warden ; W . Munro Denholm , Junior Grand Warden ; and David Reid , Grand Secretary .

The deputation from the Grand Lodge of Ireland comprised Bros , his Grace the Duke of Abercorn , Grand Master ; R . Keating Clay , Grand Treasurer ; Sir C . A . Cameron , C . B ., P . S . G . D . ; W . J . Chelwode Crawley , LL . D ., P . S . G . D . ; the Rev . B . Gibson , M . A , Grand Chaplain ; ' W . M . Battersby , P . S . G . D . ; and Oliver Foy , Hon . Sec . Masonic Boys School .

Bro . H . Walmsley Little , Grand Organist , presided at the organ , and rendered the following selections while the brethren attending Grand Lodge were being shown to their seats : "March in E flat , " W . S . Hoyte , P . G . Org . ; "Olfertoire in B flat , " King Hall ; " Cantilene in A flat , " Wolstenholme ;

" Andante Religioso , J . Gnson ; and " Olfertoire de St . Cecile , " J . Grison . During the procession of Past Grand Officers , the Grand Organist played the March of the Priests from " Athalie " ( Mendelssohn ) , and during the procession of the Grand Officers , Merkel ' s " Grand March in C . "

The Grand Lodge was opened by the M . W . Pro G . Master the Earl Amherst , and the minutes of the last quarterly Communication as to the election of a M . W . Grand Master having been

read , the Pro Grand Master directed a deputation of Provincial Grand Masters , Past Grand Wardens , and Grand Officers to withdraw for the purpose of introducing H . R . H . ihe M . W . Grand Master .

The following procession having been formed , was greeted by a fanfare of trumpets on entering . During its progress up the centre of the hall , the Grand Organist played the march from Handel's " Occasional Oratorio : "

I wo Grand Stewards . I'lie Collar and Jewel of the The Gloves and Apron of the Grand Master on a Cushion Grand Master on a Cushion borne by the Deputy Master borne by the Depuly Master of the London Irish Rifles of the Prince of Wales ' s Lod

Grand Director ol Ceremonies . President of the Board of Benevolence . Grand Secretary . President of the Board of General Purposes . Grand Registrar .

Grand Treasurer . Grand Chaplains . Four Pasl Grand Wardens . Six Provincial Grand Masters . His Royal Highness THK DUKE OF CONNACGll'l Grand Master ,

Installation Of H.R.H. The Duke Of Connaught.

Grand Standard Bearers Two Grand Deacons . Two Grand Stewards .

His Royal Highness having been conducted to a chair on the left of the Pro Grand Master , the brethren took their respective seats with the exception of those bearing the insignia , who stood on the top of the steps on cither side of the dais .

The brethren then stood to order while the National Anthem was sung and prayer offered by the Grand Chaplain , after which the Pro Grand Master addressed his Royal Highness , requesting him to take the obli

gation of office . The Duke of Connaugh t was accordingly conducted to the front of the pedestal , where he knelt and took upon himself the great and solemn obli gation of Grand Master of England .

The Most Worshipful Grand Master was then conducted to the right hand of the throne , and the Pro Grand Master invested him with the insignia of his high office , and inducted him into the chair of the Grand Master . The Pro Grand Master having been conducted to his chair

at the lelt of the M . W . the Grand Master , Bro . Frank Richardson , acting Grand Director of Ceremonies , proclaimed the installation , after sound ol trumpet , of H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught as Grand Master , concluding with the words " whom may the

Great Architect of the Universe long preserve ! " The brethren then saluted the Grand Master according to ancient form , a similar tribute being given in honour of the Grand Masters of Scotland and Ireland respectively , each of whom duly acknowledged the compliment paid him .

Karl AMHERST said : Your Royal Highness , it has been an immemorable custom on occasions like this , when any Master of the Craft has been placed in this chair , to remind him of the duties he then undertakes , and although it is unnecessary forme in view of the experience your Royal Highness has had as Dist . Grand Master of India and Prov . Grand Master of Sussex that

I should say much on this head , it is right that our time-honoured custom should not wholly disappear ; it will be my duty , therefore , to address a very few- words to you on behalf of the Craft . Sir , I well remember that his Majesty , our late Grand Master , when installed in this Hall 26 years ago , spoke of the two

watchwords of Masonry as Loyalty and Charity . As regards the last , it may interest you in this great assemblage to knowthat during the lime his Majesty occupied that chair £ 1 , 350 , 000 was subscribed by the Craft in support of its three great Charities . During this year , although there has been no special

incentive in the way of extra votes or the excitement of a Centenary to influence the brethren , over £ 75 , 000 has been cheerfully contributed to the same end . I think I may therefore claim , Sir , that the Craft has at least not neglected its benevolent usages . As regards Loyalty , Sir , we may congratulate ourselves

that in this country , at least , Freemasonry has never had the misfortune to desert its proper functions and find itself allied with faction and intrigue . In other countries it has not always been so , and if any brother cares to inspect a relic of the Carlist wars which I have lately deposited in our Museum , they will see

proof positive how Masonry in the Peninsula was at that time allied with faction and civil war . // ere , on the contrary , we have been able to hold aloof from any suspicion of political motive , and though I do not claim that we are more loyal than our fellow subjects , yet I do claim that his Majesty our Grand

Protector has no more loyal or devoted subjects than the Ancient Confraternity . Hence it is that we have had the advantage of many Grand Masters of your Royal House , and we now greet your presence as successor to your brother the King in the chair that has been occupied of old by your Ancestors . Sir ,

it onl y remains for me now to respectfully congratulate you on being unanimously chosen Head of this great Body , whose representatives you see before you to-day , and to express a fervent wish , in which all the Craft both within and without this

Hall will cordially join , that T . G . A . O . T . U , may grant you many years of health and strength to prosperously fulfil the duties of the high office to which ( his day you have been formally inducted .

H . R . H . Duke of CONNAUGHT , M . W . Grand Master , said : Brethren , I have in the first place to express my grateful thanks lo the Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master for the exceedingly kind words he has just spoken , and lo this great assembly for the hearty and fraternal reception accorded to those kind words .

Believe me , brethren , 1 am proud to fill the high position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England to which you have been pleased to elect me . It is a position which for a long , though intermittent , succession of years has been filled by

members of my family , who have always taken the greatest interest in the Order . The records of Grand Lodge show that since the year 1737 , when my ancestor , H . R . H . Frederick Prince of Wales , became a member of the Craft , the Royal Family of England lias closely- ' identified itself with it . In the year