Especial Grand Lodge.

Especial Grand Lodge .

AN Especial Meeting of Grand Lodge was held at the Queen ' s Hall , Langham Place , on Friday , the 15 th February , tor the threefold purpose of voting " a loyal and dutiful address to His Majesty the King , tendering the respectful sympathy of the Craft on the death of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria , and further offering the respectful

and fraternal congratulations of the Fraternity to His Majesty on his accession to the Throne ; to receive the resignation of His Majesty as Grand Master ; and to nominate a successor to the office . " Nearly 3000 brethren were present , including representatives from the Irish , Scotch , and other jurisdictions , the Irish Grand Lodge being represented by the M . W .

Grand Master , the Duke of Abercorn , and Scotland by the M . W . Grand Master , the Hon . James Hozier , M . P . The Grand Secretary , Bro . E . Letchworth , having read the notice convening the meeting ,

MAV . Bro . Earl Amherst , Pro Grand Master , said : — Brethren , it becomes my duty now to move a loyal and dutiful address to His Majesty the King , sympathising with him on the death of the late Queen , and congratulating him on his accession to the Throne . I need not , I think , on such an occasion as this , delay Grand Lodge with any praises of Her late Majesty ,

otto make long reference to either of the sections into which the proposed address is divided . Those praises have been sounded in the Houses of Parliament , in the Pulpit , in the Press , and by all sorts and conditions of men , and I think no words of mine are necessary to express the great loss we have sustained . But this I may remind you of under the

circumstances in which we meet , that Her late Majesty was a most gracious and generous Patroness and supporter of the Charities of our Order , and Her Majesty was an encourager of our Fraternity by allowing her sons and her grandsons to become members of it , and take upon themselves high office in it , greatly to the advantage of our Ancient Fraternity .

At a time like this when the King has the privilege to take great burdens upon him as have not fallen upon many men , the loss he has sustained is very severe , but , of course , when a mother has attained the years Her late Most Gracious Majesty did , beyond the limit alloted to man , and there having been the premonitory symptons that the end was approaching , all

these signs tend to lighten the shock and to render the blow less heavy . However , such a bereavement is a great shock to the feelings , and when the blow falls it falls heavily , and the first part of our address is to offer our respectful and profound sympathy with our Grand Master , who is now our King , in the great misfortune which has befallen him . It is also our earnest desire to extend our dutiful and fraternal

congratulations to His Majesty on his succession to the Throne . Brethren , I do not claim for the Masons of England that they are more loyal than any other section of His Majesty ' s subjects , but I do say this that they are second to none in their loyalty and without any exclusive loyalty . I am sure that of all the addresses voted

throughout the country to His Majesty , none will be more heartily voted to him than that by this Grand Lodge . His Majesty the King has succeeded to no light heritage . He has succeeded to an Empire hardly to be measured , he succeeds to the greatest Empire ; His Majesty the King has to follow a Sovereign who had endeared herself to all her

subjects , and a heavy burden has fallen upon his shoulders , and I am sure we all pray the Great Architect of the Universe that " as his day is , so may his strength be . " Brethren , the communication I shall shortly have to read to you is that His Majesty has determined to retire from the office of Grand Master . Howeverhe has not entirely left us . Following a

, precedent he will assume the position and title of Protector of English Masons . Brethren , His Majesty's connection with the English Craft as its bead for twenty-seven years , has been of such advantage to our Order that I am sure we shall rejoice that we shall not entirely lose him . I need not recall to your minds the great services he has rendered to the Craft

by taking the chair for the Charities , notwithstanding the many calls on his time , the amount of subscriptions on each occasion being large , but culminating in the case of the Boys ' School Centenary in the sum of / . * 144 , 000 . His services to the Craft are many . His services to the Craft as Grand Master are more . Contrast the position of Masonry when he

first assumed the apron and collar of Most Worshipful Grand Master with the position the Craft is in now , and that will be sufficient to let us know what we owe to His Majesty as Grand Master . That you will find is dealt with in a part of our address . I have now the honour formally to move this address :

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY . MAV IT PLEASE YOUR M . UI . STV , We , the- members of the Fraternity known as the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England ( including the Supreme Order of the Holy Koyal Arch ) , by our Representatives in Especial Grand Lodge assembled , do venture humbly to express our respectful and profound

sympathy with Your Majesty in the sorrow caused by the death of her late Majesty Queen Victoria , whose memory is cherished in our hearts . We further tender our dutiful and fraternal congratulations to Your Majestv on your accession to the Throne ; and beg to express our fervent hope that Your Majesty may be long spared to reign over ( he Kingdom and Empire under Divine Providence confided to Your Majestv . It is with much thankfulness that we have received Your Majesty ' s

gracious intimation that you will be pleased to assume the position and title of Protector of English Freemasons ; and we feel assured that under such auspices the Fraternity will continue to enjoy that prosperity which attended Your Majesty ' s connection with the Order , for upwards of a quarter of a century , as Most Worshipful Grand Master .

Given under the Seal of the Grand Lodge of England this 15 th clay of February , 1901 . Bro . the Right Hon . W . W . B . Beach , Acting Deputy Grand Master : Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master and brethren , —In the absence of the Deputy Grand Master , the Earl of WarwickI am called on to second the motion which

, had just been so ably submitted to you , and I avail myself of that privilege with very great pleasure . We as Freemasons regret the profound sorrow which has come upon us all by the death of Her late Majesty , and we share the sorrow in company with all classes of Englishmen . No more will the time-honoured toast of "The Queen and the Craft " be

heard at our banquets . We know that the Queen for the long time she has ruled over us was enshrined in the hearts of her people , and it has been very difficult for us to adequately realise the fact and to place another in her stead . But the Grand Master of our Order has done his utmost to maintain the high position which the late Queen had won for the

Throne . In old time Princes of Wales had won renown by foreign war , by entering into successful enterprises , and had enshrined themselves in the hearts of the people . But His

Majesty the King , the late Prince of Wales , had not done that , but he had prepared himself for his position by many graceful deeds . He had visited that magnificent portion of the Empire of India , and had commended himself to the hearts of Freemasons , and impressed the Oriental mind . He might refer to the importance of his support of Charities ; this had

endeared him very much to the hearts of the people ; they knew that what he had done for the Masonic Charities had appealed strongly to their Masonic sympathies ; and not only so but he had endeared himself by many acts of courtesy and of kindness . The manner in which he had presided over the Masonic Charities had had

the most powerful effect in promoting their success . He regretted very much that His Majesty would no more preside over Grand Lodge as Grand Master ; but still he would not be entirely cut off from the brethren . Let them hope that he would retain his interest in Freemasonry although not presiding as Grand Master . He had the greatest

pleasure in seconding this proposition , and he trusted that their late Grand Master might be blessed with health and strength to reign over a loyal and united people .

The Duke of Abercorn , the Hon . James Hozier , M . P ., and Bro . George Richards ( District Grand Master of the Transvaal ) also addressed the assembly , and the motion was carried in silence , the brethren standing . The Pro Grand Master then read a communication from His Majesty the King resigning the office of M . W . Grand

Master and conveying His Majesty ' s consent to assume the position of Protector . His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught was then , on the motion of Bro . Vesey-Fitzgeruld , K . C ., nominated as Most Worshipful Grand Master , and Grand Lodge was closed in ample form .