Grand Lodge And Grand Festival.

GRAND LODGE AND GRAND FESTIVAL .

The annual Grand Festival of English Freemasons was held on Wednesday . The Earl of Lathom , Pro G . M ., opened Grand Lodge at Freemasons' Hall shortly before six o ' clock in the evening , when he was supported by Bros . Col . Noel Money , C . B ., Prov . G . M ' . Surrey , as D . G . M . ; Hugh D . Sandeman , Past District G . M . Bengal , as Past G . M . ; Gen . Somerset Calthorpe , P . G . W ., as S . G . W . ; and Admiral Sir E . Inglefield , J . G . W .

There vvere about 300 brethren present in Grand Lodge , and among these were Bros . Baron de Ferrieres , Sir John B . Monckton , Sir Albert W . Woods , Capt . N . G . Philips , Frank Richardson , J . H . Matthews , Thomas Fenn , F . A . Philbrick , O . C ., E . Letchworth , G . Sec . ; Gen . Laurie , P . Dist . G . M , Nova Scotia ; Sir W . Clarke , G . M . Victoria ; John Aird , M . P ., Sir Reginald Hanson , M . P ., Lennox Browne , E . Terry , G . Everett , R . Eve , D . P . Cama , H . Smith , W . F . Smithson , R . C . Sudlow , and others .

Grand Lodge having been opened in ample form , Bro . E . LETCHWORTH , G . Sec , read that part of the minutes of the Quarterly Communication of March 2 nd which recorded the election of the M . W . Grand Master and the

Grand Treasurer . Bro . Sir ALBERT W . W OODS { Garter ) , G . D . C , then proclaimed his Royal Hig hness the Prince of Wales duly installed as Most Worshipful Grand Master of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England for the year ensuing .

The Earl of I . ATHOM announced that the M . W . G . M . had been pleased to re-appoint him as M . W . Pro Grand Master , and the Earl' of Mount Edgcumbe as R . W . Deputy Grand Master . Both these announcements vvere received vvith loud applause . Bro . LETCHWORTH informed the Pro Grand Master that the Grand

Master had appointed the Duke of Portland to be Senior Grand Warden , and the Marquis of Granby to be Junior Grand Warden , but neither of those brethren were in attendance . He had , however , that morning received a letter from the former to the effect that he was unavoidably prevented from attending there that evening , and desiring him to present his apologies for his absence . He had received a similar communication from the Marquis of Granby . The following is a list of Grand Officers for the year . *

Bro . Thc Earl of Lathom ... ... ... Pro G . M . „ The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe ... ... Deputy G . M . „ Duke of Portland . ' .. ... ... S . G . W . ,, Marquisof Granby ... ... ... J . G . W . „ Rev . Sir W . Vincent , Bart ., M . A } G Cha Iains . ,, Rev . H . R . Cooper-Smith , D . D . ... ... ) '

„ J . D . Murray ... ... ... G . Treas . „ F . A . Philbrick , O . C . ... ... ... G . Reg . „ Thomas Fenn ... ... ... Pres . Bd . of G . P . „ Edward Letchworth ... ... ... G . Sec . „ Dr . Ernest Emil Wendt ... ... G . Sec . Ger . Cor . .. Rohprt Grpv ... ... ... Pres . Bd . of Ben .

,, Major-Gen . J . Crosland Hay , C . B . ' 1 S G . D ' s ,, Samuel Gibson Sinclair ... ... ) ,, Charles E . Keyser ... ... '"^ TGD ' s ,, Perceval A . Nairne ... ... •••) „ Charles Barry ... ... ... G . S . of W . „ Sir Albert W . Woods , K . C . M . G ., C . B . } rDC

{ Garter ) , P . G . W . ... ... ... J „ G . H . Hopkinson ... ... ... D . G . D . C . „ H . J . Strong , M . D . ... ... ... A . G . D . C . „ Frederick W . Coles ... ... ... G . S . B . , . _ „ Dep . Inspctr .-Gen . Belgrave Ninnis , M . D ., R . N . } Q gt £ j BfS , ,, William Peter Brown ... ... •••) ' „ Edward Cutlei , O . C . ... ... ... G . Org .

,, Alfred A . Pendlebury ... ... ... A . G . Sec . ,, S . Victor Abraham ... ... ... G . Purst . ,, Thomas Minstrell ... ... ... Asst . G . Purst . ,, Henry Sadler ... ... ... G . 'l yler .

The Earl of LATHOM on investing Bro . Letchworth , informed Grand Lodge that by command of the M . W . G . M . a short time ago he attended al Grand Secretary ' s office and privately invested Bro . Letchworth for the time being as Grand Secretary for part of last year . The following are the new Grand Stewards who had been presented by the outgoing Stewards and vvere approved by the Prince of Wales . * Iohn Henry Parker Wilson , 250 ; Hon . W . Fredk . Barton Massey-Mainwaring ,

23 ; Arthur Wellesley Peckham , 99 ; Major-General Frederick Gadsden , 1 ; Edward Evelyn Barron , 2 ; Richard Thomas Kingham , 4 ; Capt . Francis Horner Lyell , 5 ; Alfred Farquhar , 6 ; Edward England Pullman , 8 ; Charles William Stephens , 14 ; William Grellier , 21 ; William Augustus Saunders , 26 ; George Alfred Pickering , 29 ; Algernon Cooke Banke , 46 ; John Smithers , 58 ; William - Masters , 60 ; Henry John Treadwell , 91 ; His Honor Judge Win . Masterman , D . C . L ., 197 .

Grand Lodge was then closed in ample form , and the brethren adjourned to Freemasons' Tavern , where a sumptuous banquet provided by the outgoing Grand Stewards was partaken of by about 400 brethren , under the presidency of the Earl of Lathom . The usual Grand Festival toasts vvere proposed and honoured .

The Iiarl of LATHOM having said : Brethren , I give you the first toast of the evening , " The ( jueen and the Craft , " the toast was drunk enthusiastically . In proposing the toast , "The Most Worshipful Grand Master , " his LORDSHIP said he knew when he rose to propose it it would be received in thc most enthusiastic way by all the brethren , for Masons vvere always loyal . But there was another reason he had for knowing it . During the Prince

of Wales ' s late great grief and sorrow , no body of men more warmly , kindly , and thoroughly sympathised vvith him than the FVcemasons . His Royal Highness was a most enthusiastic Mason , ancl that morning sent him a letter he now held in his hand , sending his cordial greetings to the brethren . He would only add that he hoped that the sad day vvhich had fallen on his Royal Highness lately would not come again , and that the brethren would sec him again amongst them soon , good Mason as he was . The toast vvas most cordially greeted .

Bro . Sir W . CLARKE , G . M . of Victoria , proposed "Thc M . W . Pro Grand Master , the Iiarl of Lathom , " and said the noble lord vvas very much like his predecessor in the Pro Grand Mastership , and thoroughly devoted to Masonry . He thought the Grand Master had been very fortunate in having the Iiarl of Lathom to represent him in his absence . Masonry must be carried on by good officers . The Prince of Wales with his numerous engagements could not do all the work of Masonry by himself , and it vvas

Grand Lodge And Grand Festival.

necessary that he should have some one to represent him . In the Earl of I . athom he had a most admirable representative . The Earl of LATHOM , the toast having been most warmly received , said _ Sir William Clarke and brethren , I thank you most sincerely for the way in which you , Sir William , have proposed the toast of my health , and you , brethren , for the kind way in which you received it . I assure you it gives

me very great pleasure to occupy the chair on this occasion . It is the first opportunity I have had of doing so since his Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master placed me in the high position I now have the honour to hold . I havc been here on many occasions , and I assure you it gives me great-pleasure to receive the hearty welcome you have given me on this occasion . When I think , brethren , of the years that have elapsed since

I first worked in this hall , it certainly is a marvellous thing lo me to see the strides Masonry has made in that time . I am open to correction when [ say that the lodges havc increased in number—I am speaking before the Grand Secretary—by more than a third since the day I first entered Grand Lodge . That is a very large number , and vvhat strikes me when I go about the country is this—that I find thc tone throughout all the

provinces is that we have a better class of men who form the bod y of Masons , and that care is taken in admitting them . That is a thing that should be carried out everywhere . There is an impression that vve arc a benevolent society . We are not , we are a Charitable Institution ; and wherever I go I say this —¦ Make your entrance fees high enough to keep out a man who wishes to come in for the supposed

benefit he may receive from it . That is the right thing 111 Masonry . We are charitable , I need not say : I defy any one to say we are not , when vve look at the enormous sums which have been subscribed to yo ur Charities in the last few years . But I say our Charity ought to be well looked after , to sec that it goes into the right hands , and not into the hands of men who come in only to get what they can out of it , and whom we all know too well .

And I am quite sure of this , that if you refer to the Board of Benevolence , they will all bear witness to the same thing , that during the last two or three years there has been a decided decrease in thc begging spirit . The onl y reason I can give to account for that is this , that the different lodges throughout the country have been more careful in selecting their candidates . I hope that will go on . I thank you very much for your cordial reception of

me . Bro . Sir J B . MONCKTON , P . G . W ., proposed "The Deputy Grand Master , and the rest of the Grand Ofiicers , " a toast which vvas to have been committed to General Laurie had he been present . The Grand Officers , he said , whom they had seen that night were proper looking men , from the beardless boy to the grey-headed veteran . From many years' knowledge of the beardless boy he could say he vvas not quite so young as he looked . One thills' that occurred to him in connection with this toast vvas how

singularly fortunate one of the largest provinces was in various ways to be brought to the front . It happened to be presided over by the Pro Grand Master . His lordship ' s appointment they most heartily endorsed , and they earnestly prayed he might be re-appointed for many years to come . The appointment of another brother of that province was not an appointment of the Grand Master ; he was not in fact appointed , he was the elected of the

Craft—in other words thc merits of Lord Lathom ' s province vvere recognised by the Craft at large in the election of Bro . Murray as Grand Treasurer . Then Bro . Sinclair of thc same province had received an appointment that evening , so lhat the M . W . G . M . recognised the merits of the Province of West Lancashire . He did not wish to be included in the toast himself , because he had just returned from a short holiday in the Riviera , much the

belter for it , and he congratulated the Grand Officers on their / appointment . The Rev . Sir W . VINCENT , G . C , acknowledged the toast , and regretted the absence of the two principal Grand Officers , who should have been invested that evening . He did not know whether Sir John Monckton referred to him when lie spoke of the grey-headed veteran . He had been a great many years a Mason , but he vvas sorry to say he had not devoted

himself to Masonry in the past with the energy that he should . He might , however , tell Lord Lathom that he had the honour of conducting him in thc lodge room when he was initiated in the Apollo Lodge at Oxford . Therefore he thought it was he whom Sir J . Monckton alluded lo . He only returned the night before from the Riviera , but he had not regained thai complete health which the proposer of thc toast had , and therefore he hoped to be excused making but a few remarks in response to the toast . It wns ,

of course , of great importance that his Royal Highness thc Grand Master of lingland should have thc support each year of men who devoted themselves heart and mind to the interests of Masonry . That tradition had been kept up in thc past , and though he felt most unworthy of the honour conferred upon him , yet he trusted during the present year to take part in the work of Grand Lodge , and that the Prince of Wales would have no need to regret having appointed him as a Grand Chaplain .

Bro . Col . NOKL MO . VKV , Prov . G . M . Surrey , proposed " Thc Visitors , " and called on Sir W . Clarke to reply . Sir W . Clarke vvas a man of whom all Masons under the linglish Constitution had reason to be proud ; he was a man who held a unique position , being Master of all the lodges in Victoria vvhich had been under the linglish , Irish , and Scotch Constitutions . When the Grand Lodge of Victoria was formed it was the Grand Master's wish to havc Sir W . Clarke as thc Grand Master there , and the brethren elected

him . liro . Sir W . CLARKK , G . M . Victoria , replied , and said that when tin-Prince of Wales appointed him District Grand Master of Victoria he , e ' quested Bro . Frank Richardson when he was on a visit there to install hi "' - Sir William proceeded to give a verv encouraging account of the conditio "

of Masonry in his colony . Bro . thc Rev C . . [ . MARTV . V , P . G . C , Deputy Prov . G . M . Suffolk * proposed " The Masonic Institutions . " Masons nil understood that Masonr ) vvas nothing if it did not carry out the principles of Charity . As the ' | 0 Grand Master had said if they vvere not a benevolent society they were ¦' Charitable society . In support of that fact he would only refer to thc Festivn

of the Benevolent Institution , when the unprecedented sum of over i , '"' "'" vvas raised . Then , four years ago , when the Grand Master presided at tlv j Centenary Festival ofthe Girls ' School £ 50 , 000 was collected ; and las . year when thc Pro Grand Mnster presided at the Festival of thc "A , School nearly £ 30 , 0110 came in . Under the genial rule of the Pro Gra " Master , acting for his Royal Highness , thc Craft would progress as it M . waster , acting ior nis ivoyai rjigiiness , inc i . iitii vvuiuu JJIUJ ; 1 ^ 33 ' . 1 , 1 wis

in the past . They were glad to see him there that night and they '" j him long life , health , and prosperity . He called on Bro . Hedges to rep . to Ihe toast , and hoped the Festival of the Girls' School would be a f ' . '' Bro . H ' irDGirs , P . G . S . B ., Secretary R . M . I , for Girls , in reply , sau \" expressed his most grateful thanks on behalf of the Masonic ^ 'iar ! ' j They had already heard of thc great success which had attended the el