Festival Of The Emulation Lodge Of Improvement.

but seriously advance the Order . He only wished it were possible that arrangements could be made for London brethren to deliver them in the provinces . Personally he congratulated the working brethren on their skill and ability , and concluded by moving a very hearty vote of thanks to

those brethren who had been good enough to enlighten the company in the very excellent way they had then witnessed . The motion was seconded by Bro . George Richards and carried with much applause .

Bro . R . Clay Sudlow , in returning thanks for the vote , remarked that he was well aware that great things were expected from every individual Freemason who took part in the work of the lodge , and on behalf of the seven brethren who had worked that evening he could say that they had

been made happy if it had been proved that the great prestige and high standard of tlie Emulation Lodge of Improvement had not suffered at their hands . After a large number of names had been handed in to be balloted for at the next meeting the lodge was closed , and the brethren adjourned to a supper at Freemasons ' Tavern .

I he chair was occupied by Lord Barnard , who proposed the toast of "The King , Protector of the Order , " and "The Most Worshipful Grand Master , the Duke of Connanght . " Bro . C . E . Lewis proposed the toast of " The Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master , the R . W . Deputy Grand Master , and the rest of the Grand Officers . "

Bro . Geo . Richards , D . G . M . Transvaal , in responding , remarked that the Grand Officers who had been present that evening had experienced a treat which did not often fall to their lot to witness . To dilate much on the marvellous accuracy , eloquence , and perfect rendering of the beautiful

ritual presented to them would be but to paint the lily and to gild refined gold . It was a great advantage that so many were privileged to sit at the feet of that Gamaliel , their trusty and well-beloved Bro . Sudlow , and

learn from him what was meant by the perfect ceremonies of Craft Masonry . Bro . Lord Barnard had alluded in his opening remarks to the loyalty of Freemasonry . He ( Bro . Richards ) was proud to say that in the district he ruled the Freemasons under the Grand Lodge of England were second to none in loyalty to King and Throne , and it had always

been their aim there to uphold loyalty to the home of Freemasonry , as they did loyalty to the Empire to which they all belonged ; and whether in the Transvaal or South Africa , God forbid that loyalty to the King and Empire and loyalty to the Grand Master were other than synonymous

terms . If they ever were , he trusted he should not then be wearing the badge in that distant part . He wished a long career of Masonic usefulness to the Emulation Lodge of Improvement .

Bro . Sir E . Letchworth next said it was his privilege , as Treasurer of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , to propose the next toast , and it was a privilege of which he availed . himself with the very greatest pleasure , because it was one which required no speech to secure for the toast a favourable reception at the hands of the brethrenand

, because the subject of it was one which could not fail to receive the heartiest welcome . The toast was " The Health of the distinguished brother who had done them the great honour of presiding over their festival that evening . " They were all probably aware that Lord Barnard was not only

a Past Grand Warden in the Grand Lodge of England , but that he presided over one of the most important provinces in the North of England , the members of every lodge of which were most devoted to him . His lordship had discharged his duties that evening with that geniality and

ability which were so characteristic of him , and on behalf of the Committee of this lodge he begged to tender his warmest thanks to Lord Barnard for the great honour he had done the brethren by presiding over them . Bro . Lord Barnard , in reply , said the toast , which

had been proposed in such glowing terms by the Grand Secretary , he felt somehow or other to be entirely out of place . No thanks , he considered , were c ) ue to him for

presiding that evening ; on the contrary , the gratitude ought to be on his part to the Grand Secretary and the brethren for giving him the opportunity of attending the most interesting among the many interesting Masonic functions he had ever been at . He attached the greatest importance to the perfect rendering of the ritual , and in the exalted position

in the Craft he had the honour to hold in the important Province of Durham , he had always done his best to insist on the ritual being carried out in the best possible manner . After this visit , he should go back to his district and try more than ever before to insist—although he felt no insistence on

his part was necessary—and encourage his bretliren as much as he could to emulate the example he had had set before him that evening . He regretted , as he had already intimated in the lodge , that those opportunities were not more common than the ) - were . Among the large number of

brethren of various capacities enrolled in the Craft , all had not the same faculty or the same ability , but every brother could do his duty in one form or other , and , therefore , brethren who had a particular skill and aptitude , such as

they had had in an unusual form that evening , had performed the ceremonies of the Order . Living , as he and some others did , some 250 miles from London , it was impossible that they should take that part in London ceremonial that they would like ; and now and then , in some of the districts of set purpose , slight variations of ritual did creep in . Some said

that , provided the sense was maintained the actual form of words was not important " , but he did not altogether agree with that , because he felt it might lead to a deviation from the ancient landmarks of the Order , and , therefore , it was of the utmost use to the Craft in general that an institution like

the Emulation Lodge of Improvement should exist . He only wished there were many others in different parts of the country . He was permitted now , before he sat down , to propose , on behalf of himself and all others who had the great privilege of attending , " Success to the Emulation

Lodge of Improvement , " and most heartily and cordially did he present it to the brethren's notice . He coupled with the toast the name of their most capable and esteemed Master , Bro . Sudlow .

Bro . R . Clay Sudlow , in acknowledging the toast , expressed his very high appreciation of the honour again conferred upon hi in of responding to the toast of " The Emulation Lodge of Improvement . " He thanked Lord Barnard for the extremely kind way in which he had presented the toast for their acceptance , and desired also to thank those Grand Officers and brethren who had assembled

in such goodly numbers to celebrate with the Committee the virtual completion of eighty years of active work—work , he ventured to say , which was fraught with the greatest possible benefit throughout the whole of that period to the Craft . To whom on such an occasion did their thoughts naturally turn ? To whom was the Craft really indebted for the teaching of that

lodge ? Surely , to those who , at the invitation of the Grand Lodge in 1813 , gathered together the various and varying systems of ritual , digested , arranged , and brought them into a regular system—a system practised , he was glad to say , by most lodges in the present day ; a system that , he submitted ,

could not be bettered by any improvements . It was curious and interesting to notice how- the truth of the adage , that history repeats itself , had been exemplified in the annals of that lodge ; he would give two instances only , but those who were reading the very ably written series of articles

on the history of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , by Bro . Sadler , appearing now in the MASONIC ILLCSTKATED , would easily be able to find others . It appeared that in 18 4 8 the Masons of Birmingham approached that lodge with a request that an expert might be deputed to visit them and

bring their working into harmony with the Emulation Lodge system . The request was granted , and Bro . Honey , a pupil of Bro . Peter Gilkes , was commissioned to carry out the work . Some time after Bro . Honey had returned to this lodge , differences in tlie working began to creep in , and as

these differences grew and multiplied , the Masons of Birmingham in 1891 again approached the Emulation Lodge of Improvement and invited an expert from that lodge to