Annual Festival Of The Grand Master's (Mark) Lodge Of Instruction.

The presentation was made by Bro . Dr . J . REYNOLDS GREEN , F . R . S ., who asked the brethren to excuse him addressing a few remarks to one of their number instead of to the general body present . Occasions of retiring from office were generally associated with considerable regret . Although it was a source of veiy great ragret in the case of Bro . Vincent , the brethren were , nevertheless , rpioiced to find that while he was leaving them officially he was doing so in the

full enjoyment of mental and bodily vigour and of Masonic enthusiasm . During a ' career of something like 12 years he had worked well and worthily in the interests of the lodge , the present prosperity and development of which was mainly due to his exertions , courtesy , and kindness . The brethren had asked him ( Bro . Green ) to be their mouthpiece in expressing their feeling of regret at losing him as their Preceptor , and their happiness at retaining him still , though

unofficially , among them . In their name he asked Bro . Vincent to accept the present—which he would now ask the Deacons to uncover—as an expression of their esteem and regard . They felt it would be dearer to Bro . Vincent , not so much on account of its intrinsic value , as of the expression it represented of the esteem in which his brethren had long held him . The presentation having been uncovered ,

Bro . W ILLIAM VINCENT , in accepting the gift , said it was an extremely difficult task that was laid before him to reply , and he had often admired and envied men who had the talents to do so . He could not claim to such talents himself . His 11 years of office as Preceptor of the lodge had been 11 years of considerable pleasure . He had met many acquaintances , and formed ties of

friendship which he hoped would last as long as he lived . He was under great obligations to members of the permanent Committee for assistance and advice , and particularly also to the Grand Secretary , who proposed hiai for the office of Precep tor and had afterwards assisted him as much as he could . He thanked the brethren from the bottom of his heart for the presentation .

Bro . Sir J . C . DIMSDALE , J . G . W ., was elected an honorary member of the lodge , and Bros . Lord Addington , William Truman , and J . A . Robinson were elected joining members . The lodge was then closed , and the brethren adjourned to banquet at the Holborn Restaurant , where they were presided over by Bro . Sir Joseph C . Dimsdale . After the banquet the usual toasts were proposed .

Bro . Sir J . C . DIMSDALE , in proposing " The Grand Officers , " said that the feeling which actuated the Grand Master permeated through Grand Lodge generally ; the feeling was one of homegeneity—a desire to co-operate with the different lodges throughout the kingdom and even beyond the kingdom . This was the great secret of the expansion , development , and consolidation of Masonry . They knew for what they strove ; they knew the great ends they had in view ;

they might rise in their ceremonies into a religious and grand ceremony ; but they saw still behind that far more than what it superficially represented—its vitality and its head . It was to inculcate into their fellow men and to extend to those who did not possess the happiness and the benefits that they existed . To his mind those were the secrets of Masonry ; and because every lodge had the same uniform feeling with Grand Lodge that they worked as one to extend that

still further . The Board was graced that night by many Grand Officers . Lord Addington was a representative Mason , the embodiment of an excellent Mason , whom he had known in another place in the City of London , and he knew his father before him ; the whole family was respected , beloved , and esteemed . That was the sort of Mason they wished to see carry the doctrines of Masonry

outside the Temple of Masonry . Bro . Matier was another Grand Officer , respected , well known , and beloved by all , to whom much of the development of Mark Masonry was attributable in the last few years . Bro . Loveland Loveland was another eminent Mason . Grand Lodge desired as one man to work in unison , sympathy , and homogeneity with every lodge in the kingdom , and thus further the great objects and cause of the Order .

Bro . Lord ADDINGTON replied . They had all a supreme affection for Mark Masonry . The work they had to do was good work . In this age of competition and rivalry it was a fine thing to have an Order like Masonry to unite men in a common bond of brotherhood—all classes , rich and poor , high and low—to help one another in time of need , and do good to each other . Bro . C . F . MATIER , P . G . W ., G . Sec , proposed "The Chairman . " Ever

since the inception of the Grand Master ' s Lodge of Instruction in 1884 , the lodge had been honoured by many brethren of rank and of great influence presiding over these annual festivals ; the Pro Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master ; they had had numbers of men of the greatest eminence in the Mother Grand Lodge in the Craft , such as Bro . Thomas Fenn , to preside over them ; they had had Provincial Grand Masters ; and now they had the Junior Grand Warden of the

year , who was alike honoured and esteemed by the City of London , where , perhaps , he was not born and nurtured , but which looked to him as one of its most distinguished citizens , who at no very distant date would be called upon to take the crown of their chief magistrate . It was not in either capacity as Alderman ° as possible Lord Mayor that he desired to recommend to the brethren Sir Joseph Dimsdale j it was in his position as Junior Grand Warden of England , but above all that of their Chairman that night that he called on the brethren to drink

his health . They knew with what affection Sir Joseph Dimsdale was looked upon , because when the crucial test came when they were asked to vote for him as Grand 1 reasurer , they returned him triumphantly at the head of the poll . He asked trem now to do the same and return him at the head of the poll of their own hearts as the Chairman of the evening .

Bro . Sir J OSEPH C . DIMSDALE . in acknowledging the toast , said he was fully aware of his shortcomings . Months ago Bro . Matier asked him to preside at that meeting , and he ( Sir J . Dimsdale ) flippantly said he would . He could now quite realise that men did make very poor mistakes in their lives . He was but a th *\ t ' rman ; but he couId assure them that he unfeignedly returned them Iht K ™ r . " . > ° ur they had done him that night . He had been able to enjoy ine peautiful ritual excellently rendered in all its details and above all . th « snirir

thorn f ce 5 emony permeating through the whole of it . He had also to thank of iwi J < nour they had done him bv permitting him to become a member tn « i ? ( l ge j , Instruction ' should deem it a high privilege to be permitted in a J and'earn the beautiful working . He hoped he had occupied the chair renaiH n ' t !! h met "'^ e brethren ' s approval ; if he had he was more than n , o- u Betore ne sat . down he would ask the brethren to drink a toast nearer to their h — 1 wuuiu us * me uremrcn co unnK a coast nearer to

, tion" I il £ reat , dea 1— " Prosperity to the Grand Master ' s Lodge of Instrucimmr-n . it 1 akedthem _ to drink it with enthusiasm . That lodge had done an of Mark Y £ °° ° r Mark Masonsgenerally . Young brethren on the threshold tenet an ^ ?" , y Were advanced ; but they then only feebly recognised the great WherwpaJ - ""!* * " thevhad undertaken ; and if there was one thing Rreat dtmH . n v * organisation of their lodge and their Craft-he spoke with No 1 |„ th , ' ¦¦ I . P eakin S ° * own lodge , the Grand Masters' Lodge , "ley merelyUS , J / L % Wentin and went "" rough the important ceremonies ; lodges of L ? ,- $ 1 frln « - and did not SO below the surface . Now , these ugi-s oi instruction did an mm ^ , ;! ,, „ f «»« J : _ u . _ « - _ . » .. __ J it . - '¦ ., __!_ aiijr 111 \ aim 111

mat good rnnM r , « f u „ w . u . < JUU me _ rau me Mars Masonrvat hP „ t M ^ tated ! and ' « efore , all who had the interests of almost DreLmnii ° u des , , the Prosperity of lodges of instruction . It was su ggestanv 3 t ° ^ , . v , ' - l > ust elected to this position , that he should because !?*«« £ ¦ 1 " 8 kmd ; but he did address the brethren on this point Craft or in the MaT u Y ' ° instruct the y ° ung Masons that > whether in the afran who became a Mason " \ l ? £ fJT- * ] 0 r the Fourth D < * ' but t 0 teach me a Mason th * t he had his duty to do-in the first place , to his

Annual Festival Of The Grand Master's (Mark) Lodge Of Instruction.

God , and then , as a natural sequence , his duty to his fellow man . He therefore gave with the greatest pleasure prosperity and perpetuity to that lodge of instruction , and might its instruction be extended until time with us should be no more . He coupled with the toast the name of Bro . Green , who had shown great capacity and ability to expound the principles of the Order in a manner that redounded to the credit of himself and of the Fraternity ; he required a lot of beating .

Bro . GREEN , replying , thanked the brethren for the confidence which they had shown in placing him in the post of Preceptor , but he said he could hardly respond in adequate terms on account of the kind way in which the Chairman had spoken of him . It was the desire of the workers in the lodge of instruction to interpret the ceremonies in a reverent spirit . There was a great tendency in the hurry and rush of every day business life to lose sight of this higher aimbut lodges of instruction corrected this . The ceremonies were very

, beautiful and he was glad that with the brethren ' s assistance they h id been able to interpret them that evening in a way which brought no discredit to the lodge A keen critic , however , mig ht have found imperfections , for on one occasion he lost the thread of his own remarks , but he must plead in extenuation the shock he had suffered by the announcement of Bro . Tamburini ' s illness ; it was a crushing blow , as Bro . Tamburini was to have taken one of the offices and he had the affection and confidence of the brethren . It was a great gratification to him

( Bro . Green ) to be the brethren ' s mouthpiece in the presentation to Bro . Vincent . He did not feel at liberty in the lodge to say how much he had gained by his association with Bro . Vincent , who had been Preceptor 11 years . Eight of those years he had been associated with Bro . Vincent . He had been trained in Bro . Vincent ' s footsteps , and during the last three years he had been connected with him . The assistance had been invaluable . What he had said of Bro . Vincent

was from his heart . All the lodges felt indebted to him . Bro , Matier had also rendered great assistance , and at a time when his blushing honours were not so thick upon him . Although they did not see him so often now , they were extremely gratified he was with them that night with his usual geniality . The lodge was greatly indebted to Bro . Matier for his efforts on its behalf in its earlier years . They hoped to have many recruits that year . He asked the brethren to support him .

Bro . MOLSON , from Montreal , responded to the toast of " The Visitors . He said he was W . M . elect of his lodge—St . Paul's . He was an old Mason , although only lately in active Mason . Only three lodges under the Grand Lodge of England were left working there . Grand Lodge of Quebec was very prolific . But the English lodges would remain under the Grand Lodge of England as long as the Grand Lodge of England would allow them to do so ; never with their own wish would there be a severance . Some brethren thought it a thorn in the side ; but it was not by the wish of the English lodges there that it was so , and they hoped that that feeling would change later on if there was such a feeling .

Bro . R . LOVELAND-LOVELAND , responding to the toast proposed in his honour . Until a week ago , he was ashamed to say , he did not know of the existence of this lodge , and he had to apologise for not being a member . From an experience of over a quarter of a century he must say these lodges of instruction must be of great importance in any Order . He and Bro . Beach had found that in Hampshire . Many years ago there were 40 lodges in the province and several sets of ritual . They found that in London with the Emulation Lodge of Improvement there was

one recognised working , so they induced the lodges in Hants and the Isle of Wig ht to adopt that ritual . They established lodges of instruction with the result that now they had one working . He should be glad if the same was done with the Mark Degree . Uniformity of ritual was the proper thing ; but there was another point which these lodges of instruction taught—that what was worth doing at all was worth doing well . He was exceedingly delighted at seeing that night that all the ceremony was rendered so beautifully . The Tyler ' s toast closed the proceedings .

Craft Masonry.

Craft Masonry .

Benevolent Lodge , No . 303 , The installation meeting of this lodge was held at the Masonic Hall , Teignmouth , on the 14 th inst ., when Bro . J . W . Finch wa 3 ably installed as W . M . for the ensuing vear by the outgoing W . M ., Bro . E . Silk . The following formed the Board of Installed Masters : Bros . F . C Frost , P . M ., P . P . G . S . of W ., G . N . Burnen , P . M ., P . P . J . G . W ., D . C ., J . U . Valentine , P . M ., P . D . P . G . D . C , G . H . Johnson , E . Andrews , P . M ., and R C . MusgraveP . M . all of the lodge : W . H . Chesterman , I . P . M . 1255 ; W . H .

, , Grives , P . M . 818 ; Thos . Wills , P . M , 1402 ; Cas . Hill , W . M 1402 ; G . L . Lorme , I . P . M . 740 , P . P . G . O . j D . O . Powell , P . M . 1443 , P . G . Stwd . ; J . A . Dennis , S . D . 28 j j Jno . Oliver . P . M . 113 S , Chap . ; W . Forty , P . M . 1138 , P . P . G . S . of W . ; H . T . Parker , W . M . 113 S ; and J . C . Lueg , I . P . M . 1138 . The brethren also present were Bros . R . K . Gilpin , F . Linter , H . Marks , R . J . Jones , and W . A . Onn , all of the lodge . W . G . Hole , D . C . 1197 ; and Geo . J . Gibson , S . W . 1 753 . The newly-installed Master appointed and inducted his

officers as follows : Bros . E . Silk , I . P . M . ; J . Wotton , S . W . ; Burden , J . W . ; G . J . Ford , Chap . ; F . C . Hallett , P . M ., P . P . S . G . D ., Treas . ; J . U . Valentine , P . M ., P . O . P . G . D . C , Sec ; S . D . Furler , S . D . ; W . H . Bonner , J . D . ; G . P . N . Burden , P . M ., P . P . J . G . W ., D . C ; R . J . Jones , I . G . ; W . A . Thomas , Org . ; H . Marks and W . A . Onn , Stwds . ; and W . Robbins , Tyler . .......... ,, , After the ceremony , the brethren adjourned to Bro . H . Marks' Railway Hotel , where a recherche banquet was served . The room was most tastefully and appropriately decorated by Miss A . Marks . Bro . H . Marks' catering refheted much credit upon the

resources of the hotel , and was spoken of in terms of the highest praise . The usual Masonic toasts were duly honoured . A unique coincidence in connection with this ceremony was that the installation was held on St . Valentine's Day , the surname of the Secretary of the lodge is Valentine ; the day was the anniversary of Bro . Valentine ' s wedding ; and the newly ^ appointed and popular stationmaster , Bro . Hole , who was also present , and whose christian name is Valentine , was born on St . Valentine's Day .

Westbourne Lodge , No . 733 . This lodge , which has now entered upon its 41 st year , held its annual installation meeting on the 17 th instant , in the Masonic Hall of the Holborn Restaurant . It was presided over by Bro . Charles T . Brown , W . M ., and there were also present Bros . W . M . Roberts , I . P . M . ; F . Wortham , S . W . ; G . Weaver , J . W . ; J . Welford , P . M ., Treas . ; S . R . Walker , P . M ., Sec . ; C . E . Lilly , S . D . ; W . Busby , J . D . ; H . H . Bagnall , I . G . ; R . B . Hopkins and Alfred C . Hawkins , Organists ; E . Thomas and F .

Beesley , Stewards ; C . A . Cottebrune , P . M . ; Thomas W . Allen , P . M . ; Charles J . Biorn , P . M . ; E . Collins , P . M . ; J . W . Curtis , P . M . ; R . J . Rogers , P . M . ; A . Arrowsmith , P . M . ; Samuel Ellis , P . M ., Tyler ; G . A . Bu'cher , J . S . Beckham , T . Gale , G . Wall , Thomas G . Matthews , F . W . Brock , W . G . Rodkien , J . Woodford , A . S . Pemberton , Thomas Stroud , C . Halstead , R . J . Gillings , N . Rolles , Ernest T . White , G . Walker , E . Stevens , P . J . Wheeler , J . Martin , A . Clare , H . C . Phipps , S . Goulding , I . Thompson , A . II . Boughton , J . Shapecobb , F . Quick , f . S . Kilvert , H . C . Carter , T .

lsons , J . W . Norris , R . H . Jackson , J . J . White , G . Goddard , and C . Williams . The visitors were Bros . J . T . Baron , I . G . 1531 ; J . Todd , 1791 ; P . Truckham , 2 oyo ; G . Klan Payne , 2000 ; G . D . Mogford , P . M . 2362 ; W . MidJIeweck , P . M . 1703 , P . P . A . G . D . C . Middx . ; C F . Sanger , 1 O 43 ; Wm . Bragg , 23 O 1 ; R . Bramble , 21 S 2 ; T . Nutten , 2362 ; C Marment , yy >; I " . Bartlctt , P . M . 1637 ; R . R . Thomas , J . D . 511 ; H . Rolles , 15 S 1 ; G . Campbell , fiiy ; T . W . Mjgford , I . P . M . 2362 ; A . Ellenden , D . C . 1623 ; H . Massey , P . M . Gty and . iy 2 S ; A . Alsop , 1542 ; H . C Coffin , P . M . 16 7 ; W . E . Lane , 167 ; R . J . Hearnden , I . P . M . 1853 ; L . B . Griffith , 2 IO ; A .