Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
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Royal brotherhood taking such an active part as they do in our proceedings . At the earliest age possible His Royal Hi ghness the Prince of Wales , His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught , and His Royal Hi ghness Prince Leopold , have all in turn become members of our
fraternity ; and not only have they become members of our fraternity , but they have become active working members . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) Brethren , I congratulate you most heartily and sincerely on having secured His Royal Highness Prince Leopold as Grand Masterof the Province
ot Oxford , for I feel sure , brethren , he will carry out the duties of that office as fully as he has hitherto carried out the duties that have fallen to him in lodge . Brethren , I give you " The Health of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold , Provincial Grand Master of Oxfordshire . "
The toast was received with great cheering , in which the ladies joined . Rider A to Oxford Two The Provincial Grand Master , who on rising to respond was received with renewed cheering , said : Brethren , I find it difficult to express m y
feelings on the present occasion , or to thank yo u sufficiently for the manner in which you have re ceived the toast so very kindly proposed by the . Deputy Grand Master : I can assure you I deem it no small honour to be appointed Grand Maste r of this province , and I will ever do my utmost
to prove myself adequate to the charge which has been committed to my care . ( Cheers . ) I feel it also no small compliment that after having been for so short a time a Freemason you should have testified your approbation of my appointment in so kind and flattering a manner . ( Cheers . )
The very name of Oxford will be always associated with everything that is near and dear to me , ( chetrs ); and it is with feelings of the truest pride and pleasure that 1 find myself so closely bound in a bond of brotherhood , both with the university and the province , as Master of the
Apollo Lodge and as Provincial Grand Master . ( Applause . ) One of the greatest benefits of Freemasonry exists in the opportunities it affords to members of the Craft of meeting together from time to lime , and expressing those great qualities of goodwill and friendship which are
the very key notes of Freemasonry . ( Cheers . ) In conclusion , I trust , brethren , that I may be able to perform my duties in a manner not altogether unworthy of my illustrious predecessor , Bro . Mclntyre , who has for some time past
conducted the business of the province so ably , so energetically , and so well . ( Hear , hear . ) Brethren 1 ask you to join ' . me in drinking " The Health of the Grand Registrar of England , Bro . iEneas Mclntyre . " The toast having been drunk ,
Bro . Mclntyre said : Ri ght Worship ful Provincial Grand Master , Deputy Provincial Grand Master , brother Wardens and Officers of the province of Oxfoidshire , I cannot allow a moment to elapse before rising to return thanks for the very great compliment that has been
paid to me by His Royal Highness your new Provincial Grand Master . Some years ago , before I was intimately connected with the province of Oxford , it became my duty , as holding the office which I now hold in the Grand Lodge of England , to rule over a neighbouring
province and to establish on the banks of this noble river which runs through your city a lodge which since that time has flourished . When I reflect that when I came to consecrate the Abbey Lodge of Abingdon the members who were strenuous in supporting me and who rallied
round me in immense numbers and in honour to the consecration of that lodge attended and made it one of the most successful in the province of Oxford—I little thought then that my esteemed friend , your late Grand Master , Bro . Colonel Bowver , would be called to his account
so soon , or that I should be called upon to rule over it . When I was so called I found the province of Oxford , as it was sure to be under so good and able rule as the rule of Bro . Bowyer , supported by Bro . Spiers , in a most admirable
condition . Since I have had the charge of the province , which has been fcr five years , it has kept in that condition , and I may say I leave the province in good working order—loyal Masons , true officers , determined to Uo their duty , to be loyal to their King and faithful to the Craft .
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( Applause . ) Of course , in one respect , I do feel deeply that that tie which has united us so closely during the last five years is now severed j but I do rejoice in this , that in taking my departure from among you as the head of this province I hand the government over to His Royal
Highness . who has shown great promise of doing well , and who has shown all others how to do well , not only throughout the Province of Oxford , rot only throughout England , but throughout the whole world . I am especially thankful to His Royal Highness for the extreme kindness with
which he has been pleased to speak of me on this occasion , and I am also highly flattered by seeing there are such a number of brethren whom I have met on former occasions when I have presided in your Provincial Grand Lodge , and who now shew to me the same kindness that
they always exhibited when I ruled over them . It has been truly said that man honours the rising , not the setting sun ; and when a person has ceased to rule over them , and is departing from among them , and has nothing more to give them , gratitude is very seldom shewn . That is not the characteristic of Freemasons . I feel sure from what
you have manifested towards me this evening that during my rule of five years over you , although I may frequently have erred in judgment , every Mason in Oxford will know that 1 have endeavoured to discharge my duty to the best of my ability ; and in taking my leave of you I thank you for the numberless kindnesses you have shewn towards me . ( Cheers . )
Lord Methuen proposed "The Officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge . " Bro . Reginald Bird , D . Prov . G . M . : Your Royal Hi g hness and brethren , I rise to return thanks for my brethren , the Provincial Grand Officers , and I have to return thanks for a mosr
distinguished number o" brethren—brethren who are far more able than I am to return thanks ; but I feel quite sure that on their behalf I can say this one thing , that no body of men feel the honour more than they do—the honour that has been conferred on this province
today by the appointment His Royal Hig hness the Most Worship ful Grand Master has made of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold as our Provincial Grand Master . If anything was wanted to induce the brethren of this province to endeavour to increase their zeal
for Freemasonry , and to try to do more good to the Craft throughout the province , I am sure this day ' s ceremony and this day ' s appointment will induce every one of them to redouble his efforts . On behalf of myself I have to thank you most heartily and sincerely
for the very hig h honour you have conferred upon me , and I trust I shall be able to discharge those duties you have p laced in my trust , as well to your satisfaction as to that of this province . I thank the brethren very much for the kind reception they gave to me on my appointment , and I
trust my best endeavours will be to promote the interests in the absence of the Provincial Grand Master , of every lodge of this province . I trust the first duty you will be called upon to perform will be that of allowing the consecration of a new lodge in this province , one that I have every
reason to believe in a very few weeks will be consecrated , and which I have every reason to think will be a successful one . On behalf of the Provincial Grand Officers of Oxford I thank you most sincerely for the kind way in which you have drunk our health . ( App lause . )
Bro . W . Beach : Your Royal Highness , Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master , and brethren , I have the honour to propose the next toast . The interchange of visits between
the brethren of the respective provinces is productive of the greatest benefit to Freemasonry ; it affords an opportunity for contracting new friendships , and it also gives an opportunity for welcoming those who perhaps for many a long day we have not seen . I propose the toast o " The Visitors " with peculiar gratification ,
because intimately associated as I have been in former days with the Province of Oxford , and never having relinquished my interest in it , I can bear willing testimony to the delight with which the brethren of that province honoured visitors from other quarters . And I am truly glad to say , as you will all bear me out , that the brethren of the present day have not deteriorated
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from the character which those who went before them earned . Brethren , I will not detain you at this late hour of the evening , but I w ill as an old Mason of this province congratulate you upon the auspicious proceedings of this day , and trust that they augur well for the prospects
of Freemasonry in this province . I beg to couple with this toast the name of Lord Limerick , who is an energetic , an able , and successful Mason . He rules over his province with ability , and I am sure you will receive his name with enthusiasm . ( Cheers ) .
The Earl of Limerick : May it please your Royal Highness [ and brethren—If under ordinary circumstances to attend as visitors at your Masonic meetings is a pleasure and an honour , how much more when we have been called upon to be present at a meeting of such importance , not
only to the province of Oxfordshire but the Craft at large , as the installation of His Royal Highness as Provincial Grand Master . I venture to say , brethren , that , saving one occasion—that of the installation of His Royal Hig hness our Grand Master—there has been no Masonic event
for a long time more fraught with advantage to our Craft . It has been a pleasure and an honour to those brethren whom you have invited to be present at the ceremony of installation and to see with what ability that ceremony was carried out , and whom you also invited to be present and
partake of your magnificent hospitality . I am sure that I only speak the minds of all the visitors when I express our heartfelt wishes for HisRoyal . Hi ghness ' s prosperity , and for the prosperity of the province over which he is called upon to rule . I thank you , brethren , in the
name of the visitors , for the manner in which you have received the toast . The Prov . Grand Master : Before we leave I have one last toast to propose . It is one I am sure that you will drink with the greatest enthusiasm ; it is that of "The ladies , " the ladies ,.
who so seldom deign to visit us , but whom we are always so glad to see . I wish we could see them oftener . I give you " The Ladies ; " and as Bro . Hilton is in the gallery I will call upon him to respond . The Rev . J . Hilton : W . M . and brethren , I
have received at the hands of your W . M ., the first p iece of unkindness that I believe he has ever done me ; that is to say , not that I am not glad and rejoice to be spokesman for so much beauty as you see around me here to-night , but at the same time I feel truly unworthy to be
their spokesman . And for another reason it is unkind , because a stern college and a sterner dean and chapter forbid me to be anything otherwise than a celibate . ( Laughter . ) But perhaps that is rather a reason why 1 should return thanks , because I shall
be so exceedingly impartial to them . ( Renewed laughterj . Let me then return on behalf of tbe ladies their most sincere thanks , and I have heard some say that they hope some day or other the ladies will return thanks for themselves . Unworthy though I am to be their
representative , I hope that that day will be very , very far distant . As we hear so much about the claims of equality , of ladies and gentlemen being exactly alike , that ladies are to go in for all kinds of occupation without proper training or fitness for them . I am sure none of the ladies
here wish any such thing to happen . When 1 say they do not wish it , allow me to say when this does happen , when this equality does occur , but which I hope it never will do , then we shall find what they lose . Ladies gain so much now on all occasons by the courtesy which you shewthem , that when this equality comes they will feel their
k-ss . And what would they lose ? They would lose , if we consider ourselves on an equality that graciousness , kindness , gentleness , and courteous feeling towards ladies that has long been the characteristic of an English gentleman . Brethren , I am sure you will bear me out , and the ladies will bear me out , in saying I hope the dav is far distant . I return on behalf of the
ladies my most sincere thanks to you for drinking their health in the way you have drunk it . I am onl y sorry that you have such an unworthy mouthp iece of so much that is noble , and beautiful , and kind . The proceedings then terminated . The musical entertainment , which w as »
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ar01400
Royal brotherhood taking such an active part as they do in our proceedings . At the earliest age possible His Royal Hi ghness the Prince of Wales , His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught , and His Royal Hi ghness Prince Leopold , have all in turn become members of our
fraternity ; and not only have they become members of our fraternity , but they have become active working members . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) Brethren , I congratulate you most heartily and sincerely on having secured His Royal Highness Prince Leopold as Grand Masterof the Province
ot Oxford , for I feel sure , brethren , he will carry out the duties of that office as fully as he has hitherto carried out the duties that have fallen to him in lodge . Brethren , I give you " The Health of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold , Provincial Grand Master of Oxfordshire . "
The toast was received with great cheering , in which the ladies joined . Rider A to Oxford Two The Provincial Grand Master , who on rising to respond was received with renewed cheering , said : Brethren , I find it difficult to express m y
feelings on the present occasion , or to thank yo u sufficiently for the manner in which you have re ceived the toast so very kindly proposed by the . Deputy Grand Master : I can assure you I deem it no small honour to be appointed Grand Maste r of this province , and I will ever do my utmost
to prove myself adequate to the charge which has been committed to my care . ( Cheers . ) I feel it also no small compliment that after having been for so short a time a Freemason you should have testified your approbation of my appointment in so kind and flattering a manner . ( Cheers . )
The very name of Oxford will be always associated with everything that is near and dear to me , ( chetrs ); and it is with feelings of the truest pride and pleasure that 1 find myself so closely bound in a bond of brotherhood , both with the university and the province , as Master of the
Apollo Lodge and as Provincial Grand Master . ( Applause . ) One of the greatest benefits of Freemasonry exists in the opportunities it affords to members of the Craft of meeting together from time to lime , and expressing those great qualities of goodwill and friendship which are
the very key notes of Freemasonry . ( Cheers . ) In conclusion , I trust , brethren , that I may be able to perform my duties in a manner not altogether unworthy of my illustrious predecessor , Bro . Mclntyre , who has for some time past
conducted the business of the province so ably , so energetically , and so well . ( Hear , hear . ) Brethren 1 ask you to join ' . me in drinking " The Health of the Grand Registrar of England , Bro . iEneas Mclntyre . " The toast having been drunk ,
Bro . Mclntyre said : Ri ght Worship ful Provincial Grand Master , Deputy Provincial Grand Master , brother Wardens and Officers of the province of Oxfoidshire , I cannot allow a moment to elapse before rising to return thanks for the very great compliment that has been
paid to me by His Royal Highness your new Provincial Grand Master . Some years ago , before I was intimately connected with the province of Oxford , it became my duty , as holding the office which I now hold in the Grand Lodge of England , to rule over a neighbouring
province and to establish on the banks of this noble river which runs through your city a lodge which since that time has flourished . When I reflect that when I came to consecrate the Abbey Lodge of Abingdon the members who were strenuous in supporting me and who rallied
round me in immense numbers and in honour to the consecration of that lodge attended and made it one of the most successful in the province of Oxford—I little thought then that my esteemed friend , your late Grand Master , Bro . Colonel Bowver , would be called to his account
so soon , or that I should be called upon to rule over it . When I was so called I found the province of Oxford , as it was sure to be under so good and able rule as the rule of Bro . Bowyer , supported by Bro . Spiers , in a most admirable
condition . Since I have had the charge of the province , which has been fcr five years , it has kept in that condition , and I may say I leave the province in good working order—loyal Masons , true officers , determined to Uo their duty , to be loyal to their King and faithful to the Craft .
Ar01401
( Applause . ) Of course , in one respect , I do feel deeply that that tie which has united us so closely during the last five years is now severed j but I do rejoice in this , that in taking my departure from among you as the head of this province I hand the government over to His Royal
Highness . who has shown great promise of doing well , and who has shown all others how to do well , not only throughout the Province of Oxford , rot only throughout England , but throughout the whole world . I am especially thankful to His Royal Highness for the extreme kindness with
which he has been pleased to speak of me on this occasion , and I am also highly flattered by seeing there are such a number of brethren whom I have met on former occasions when I have presided in your Provincial Grand Lodge , and who now shew to me the same kindness that
they always exhibited when I ruled over them . It has been truly said that man honours the rising , not the setting sun ; and when a person has ceased to rule over them , and is departing from among them , and has nothing more to give them , gratitude is very seldom shewn . That is not the characteristic of Freemasons . I feel sure from what
you have manifested towards me this evening that during my rule of five years over you , although I may frequently have erred in judgment , every Mason in Oxford will know that 1 have endeavoured to discharge my duty to the best of my ability ; and in taking my leave of you I thank you for the numberless kindnesses you have shewn towards me . ( Cheers . )
Lord Methuen proposed "The Officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge . " Bro . Reginald Bird , D . Prov . G . M . : Your Royal Hi g hness and brethren , I rise to return thanks for my brethren , the Provincial Grand Officers , and I have to return thanks for a mosr
distinguished number o" brethren—brethren who are far more able than I am to return thanks ; but I feel quite sure that on their behalf I can say this one thing , that no body of men feel the honour more than they do—the honour that has been conferred on this province
today by the appointment His Royal Hig hness the Most Worship ful Grand Master has made of His Royal Highness Prince Leopold as our Provincial Grand Master . If anything was wanted to induce the brethren of this province to endeavour to increase their zeal
for Freemasonry , and to try to do more good to the Craft throughout the province , I am sure this day ' s ceremony and this day ' s appointment will induce every one of them to redouble his efforts . On behalf of myself I have to thank you most heartily and sincerely
for the very hig h honour you have conferred upon me , and I trust I shall be able to discharge those duties you have p laced in my trust , as well to your satisfaction as to that of this province . I thank the brethren very much for the kind reception they gave to me on my appointment , and I
trust my best endeavours will be to promote the interests in the absence of the Provincial Grand Master , of every lodge of this province . I trust the first duty you will be called upon to perform will be that of allowing the consecration of a new lodge in this province , one that I have every
reason to believe in a very few weeks will be consecrated , and which I have every reason to think will be a successful one . On behalf of the Provincial Grand Officers of Oxford I thank you most sincerely for the kind way in which you have drunk our health . ( App lause . )
Bro . W . Beach : Your Royal Highness , Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master , and brethren , I have the honour to propose the next toast . The interchange of visits between
the brethren of the respective provinces is productive of the greatest benefit to Freemasonry ; it affords an opportunity for contracting new friendships , and it also gives an opportunity for welcoming those who perhaps for many a long day we have not seen . I propose the toast o " The Visitors " with peculiar gratification ,
because intimately associated as I have been in former days with the Province of Oxford , and never having relinquished my interest in it , I can bear willing testimony to the delight with which the brethren of that province honoured visitors from other quarters . And I am truly glad to say , as you will all bear me out , that the brethren of the present day have not deteriorated
Ar01402
from the character which those who went before them earned . Brethren , I will not detain you at this late hour of the evening , but I w ill as an old Mason of this province congratulate you upon the auspicious proceedings of this day , and trust that they augur well for the prospects
of Freemasonry in this province . I beg to couple with this toast the name of Lord Limerick , who is an energetic , an able , and successful Mason . He rules over his province with ability , and I am sure you will receive his name with enthusiasm . ( Cheers ) .
The Earl of Limerick : May it please your Royal Highness [ and brethren—If under ordinary circumstances to attend as visitors at your Masonic meetings is a pleasure and an honour , how much more when we have been called upon to be present at a meeting of such importance , not
only to the province of Oxfordshire but the Craft at large , as the installation of His Royal Highness as Provincial Grand Master . I venture to say , brethren , that , saving one occasion—that of the installation of His Royal Hig hness our Grand Master—there has been no Masonic event
for a long time more fraught with advantage to our Craft . It has been a pleasure and an honour to those brethren whom you have invited to be present at the ceremony of installation and to see with what ability that ceremony was carried out , and whom you also invited to be present and
partake of your magnificent hospitality . I am sure that I only speak the minds of all the visitors when I express our heartfelt wishes for HisRoyal . Hi ghness ' s prosperity , and for the prosperity of the province over which he is called upon to rule . I thank you , brethren , in the
name of the visitors , for the manner in which you have received the toast . The Prov . Grand Master : Before we leave I have one last toast to propose . It is one I am sure that you will drink with the greatest enthusiasm ; it is that of "The ladies , " the ladies ,.
who so seldom deign to visit us , but whom we are always so glad to see . I wish we could see them oftener . I give you " The Ladies ; " and as Bro . Hilton is in the gallery I will call upon him to respond . The Rev . J . Hilton : W . M . and brethren , I
have received at the hands of your W . M ., the first p iece of unkindness that I believe he has ever done me ; that is to say , not that I am not glad and rejoice to be spokesman for so much beauty as you see around me here to-night , but at the same time I feel truly unworthy to be
their spokesman . And for another reason it is unkind , because a stern college and a sterner dean and chapter forbid me to be anything otherwise than a celibate . ( Laughter . ) But perhaps that is rather a reason why 1 should return thanks , because I shall
be so exceedingly impartial to them . ( Renewed laughterj . Let me then return on behalf of tbe ladies their most sincere thanks , and I have heard some say that they hope some day or other the ladies will return thanks for themselves . Unworthy though I am to be their
representative , I hope that that day will be very , very far distant . As we hear so much about the claims of equality , of ladies and gentlemen being exactly alike , that ladies are to go in for all kinds of occupation without proper training or fitness for them . I am sure none of the ladies
here wish any such thing to happen . When 1 say they do not wish it , allow me to say when this does happen , when this equality does occur , but which I hope it never will do , then we shall find what they lose . Ladies gain so much now on all occasons by the courtesy which you shewthem , that when this equality comes they will feel their
k-ss . And what would they lose ? They would lose , if we consider ourselves on an equality that graciousness , kindness , gentleness , and courteous feeling towards ladies that has long been the characteristic of an English gentleman . Brethren , I am sure you will bear me out , and the ladies will bear me out , in saying I hope the dav is far distant . I return on behalf of the
ladies my most sincere thanks to you for drinking their health in the way you have drunk it . I am onl y sorry that you have such an unworthy mouthp iece of so much that is noble , and beautiful , and kind . The proceedings then terminated . The musical entertainment , which w as »