"The Queen And The Craft."

Victor , h the Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , and two years later he presided at the second grand Alasonic gathering held in the Royal Albert Fall , and moved an address of congratulation to the Queen on the completion ] of the Jubilee year of her happy and g lorious - -eign . On this occasion upAvards of 6000 brethren were assembled , while the address itself Avas presented to her Alajesty afc

Osborne l y a deputation from Grand Lodge , headed by his Royal Highness . In 1888 tAvo noteworthy events occurred . In the first place , Grand Lodge , in order to show its appreciation of the great services rendered to tho Craft b y his Royal Highness , voted a sum of £ 500 for th ? purpose of presenting a diamond butterfly to the Princess of Wales on the occasion of the Silver Wedding of their Royal

Highnesses ; and ; n June , the Prince , supported by his Alajesty the King of Sweden , Avho , 19 years previously , had assisted at his initiation into the Craft , presided at the Centenary Festival of tlie Royal Alasonic Institution foi Girls , when the total of donations and subscription ' s Avas announced as exceeding £ 50 , 000 . Subsequently by way of completing this auspicious duty on behalf of our senior Institution , his

Royal Highness , accompanied by the Princess of Wales , visited the School , and foratally opened the neAv Hall , which in the meantime had been erected ou ; of the proceeds of the Centenary Celebration . There are many other occasions on Avhich tlie Prince has demonstrated his love for tlie Craft , and many are tlie public functions in which he

has taken part in his capacity of Grand Alaster of English Masons ; but there is only one thafc I need add to the list I have enumerated , namely , the installation in the late autumn of 1890 , of his son , the Duke of Clarence and Avondale , as Grand Alaster of the newlycreated Province of Berkshire . Bufc in order to make this brief

retrospect of his career in Alasonry more complete , it seems fitting I should record that his Royal Highness is Grand Patron of the Order in Scotland and Ireland , and that previous to the part he took in the Girls' School Centenary , his Royal Highness had already presided as Chairman at a Festival of each of ou . i three Alasonic Charities . With reference to the private

lodges of which he is or has been an enrolled member , it is needless to enumerate more than a few , among the most prominent being the Prince of Wales , No . 259 , of Avhich he is perpetual Alaster , the Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , and the Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 , of which he was installed Alaster in 1873 . In

the case of the Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 259 , of Avhich his greatuncle , George Prince of Wales , Avas founder and perpetnal Alaster , his Royal Highness was present al the celebration of its centenary a feAV years since , and has always evinced the greatest interest in its Avelfare .

The Prince of Wales , his brother , tlie Duke of Connanght , and the late Dnke of Albany belong to the fifth of the generations of the Royal Family Avhich havc successivel y furnished members to our Society , and ifc will certainly givo tho appearance of greater completeness to this paper if I state a feAV particulars of the Alasonic career of the Queen ' s eldest grandson in the direct line of descent ,

THE LATE DUKE OF CLARENCE AND AVONDALE .

who AVUS introduced into 1 < reemasonry under the auspices of his illustrious father and by him initiated into the mysteries of our ancient Craft , as alread y stated , in tlie Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 . Shortl y after that important ceremony , the young Prince , Avho had but just attained his majority , was passed to the Degree of Fellow Craft in the

liodgc of Friendship , No . 100 , Great Yarmouth , and still later was raised to the Sublime Degree of Alaster Alason in the Isaac Newton Universit y Lodge , No . 859 , Cambridge . In 1887 lie AVAS appointed Senior Grand Warden of United Grand Lodge , nnd on the lamented death of Bro . Sir Daniel Gooch , Bart ., P . G . AI . of Berks and Bucks , and the sub-division of that Province into two separate and

"The Queen And The Craft."

distinct Provinces Avhich followed that event , his Royal Highness was appointed Prov . G . Alaster for the Royal Count y of Berkshire , and formally installed , as I have before mentioned , by his father , the Mosfc Worshipful Grand Master . In the year of the Queen ' s Jubilee , the Prince laid the foundation-stone of the Jubilee Wing of the Northampton Infirmary , and in 1891 he did Bro . Lord Carrington

the honour to instal him in office as Provincial G . AIaster of Buckinghamshire . He had also served as W . AI . of the Royal Alpha Lodge , and at the time of his death was W . Alaster-elect of the Studholme Lodge No . 1591 , and a candidate for exaltation to fche Royal Arch Degree in the Chapter attached to that Lodge . Bat before these and the further distinctions which assuredly awaited

him could be conferred upon him , his Royal Hi ghness was prematurely cut , off to the deep grief of his illustrious parents ; the Queen , his grandmother ; the illustrious lady , the Princess Victoria Alary of Teck , Avith whom , had it pleased the Great Architect to prolong his life , he would have been , a few Aveeks later , united in

wedlock ; and the whole British nation . But though his career Avas brought to so untimely a close , the late Dnke had been long enough a member of our Fraternit y to have endeared himself to its members generally , but in a more especial degree to those with Avhom he had been brought into contact either in Grand or his Provincial Grand Lodge , or in the private lodges of Avhich he was a member .

I have thus given , firstly , general reasons , based on the fact of the Queen being the head of what may properly be described as a thoroughly Alasonic family ; and secondly , certain special reasons , derived from the facfc that her father and her eldest son were Grand Alasters of England , and her late grandson , the Duke of Clarence and Avondale , a distinguished member of our United Grand Lodge and

Prov . G . Alaster of Berkshire ; which amply justify tlie association of the Craft with her Alajesty in our first and most familiar toasfc . To these I am able to furnish other reasons on her Alajesfcy ' s own account , derivable from the generous support and patronage which she has been pleased to extend , during the greater part of her rei" * n , to our Alasonic Institutions . Her Alajesty is Chief Patroness of the

Girls' School , became firstl y Patroness in 1852—and moro recentl y Grand Patroness—of tho Boys' School , and is a Vice-Patron of tho Royal Alasonic Benevolent Institution ; and her claims on our loyalty ancl respect are enhanced by these as by the other facts I have enumerated . However , it is not necessary I should prolong this paper . I have already extended it beyond the limits I had originally marked out , because , as regards the Alasonic career of

the Duke of Kent , tho part he took in the affairs of "Ancient " Alasonry is not so widel y known as ifc deserves . Preston appears to have allowed his bias towards the " Alodcrn " Society to outrun tho absolute impartiality he should have shown as an historian , and those who are content to read his " Illustrations of Alasonry" Avithout going further into the history of the Union and thecircumstancesAvhich brought it about will , in all probability , remain under the impression that the Duke of Kent was an ornamental G . Alaster rather than ' one who

understood and was prepared to safeguard the interests of the Societyhe presided oA'or . As a matter of fact , there is no member of our Royal Family in past days—with the solitary exception , perhaps , of tlie Duke of Sussex—to Avhom the Craft owes a deeper debt of gratitude than to the Queen ' s father ; just as in the present day there is none to whom , for similar reasons , AVO are move grateful than her eldest son . Hence this toast of ours— "The Queen and the Craft "—above and

beyond the propriety of the association of which ifc is the symbol , has a special significance of its own which the mere A'erbal form in which it is expressed is quite incapable of conveying ; and I can onl y hope , as I am sure all the readers of this journal musfc hope , thafc for many years to come , " The Queen and the Craft" will retain its place of honour among the toasts of our Lodges , in AvhateA'er localities in the British they may be authorised to assemble .

Brotherly Love.

Brotherly Love .

u Ltd llrollierlij Love continue . " As modern science with its wond ' rous skill Imperious bends , subservient to her will , Tho power electric o ' er the earth ' s wide face

Alike , annihilating time and space ; Our mystic science , hallowed from Above , Sends forth its message of fraternal love ; From Arctic regions to the torrid sun , The electric flash of Brotherhood will run .

SOLO AXD CHORUSSpeed , swifl , O spark of Love to distant lands , In circling sympathy unite onr hands ; Dispel dark Error vvith th y splendour bright , Ancl Truth reveal in thy effulgent light .

Of parts conjoined , yet perfect as a whole , The cable joins tho . North to Southern pole ; Tlie li ghtning current flows with rapid force ,

Brotherly Love.

But slightest flaw" will stay its useful course . And so with us , joined in fraternal ties , Should cold mistrust within our hearts arise ; The chain of sympathy , one link but gone , No longer binds two friendly souls as one .

SOLO AND Ciiouus—Speed , swift , O spark of Love , & c . The Electrician in his watchful care , Will neither time nor anxious toil forbear ;

Strive to the utmost , to enhance his fame , And grateful thanks from future ages claim . Such bo our task , that home and foreign laud Bo linked together in unbroken band , Prove to tho world , that pure Alasonic love , Is bnt the forecast of Grand Lodge Above .

Soto AND Ciiouus—Speed , swift , O spark of Love , Ac . F . W . DRIVER . ALA