Installation Of The Earl Of Carnarvon As W. M. Of The Westminster And Keystone Lodge , No. 10.

like that of Great Britain .. Of the Craft , I will say that it is , to our eyes , the embodiment of all that is ancient , sacred , and venerable . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) There is no good Mason who is not also at the same time a true and loyal subject ; and I am quite sure that her Majesty , having the support of the Brethren of the COO Lodges which are in England , may rest in greater security than if surrounded by the bayonets of ten thousand legions . I give you , ' The Queen and the Craft . '" The toast having been drunk with enthusiasm

, The W . M . next said : " Brethren , I know but of one toast that can legitimately follow the one which we have just now pledged , aud that is the Grand Master of England , the Earl of Zetland , who now sits at my right hand . ( Great applause . ) When I think of the intimacy which has existed between his lordship ' s family and mine , and of which he and I have been talking during dinner , I can only say that I most cordially join in the applause and enthusiasm with which his lordship ' s name has been receivedaud I venture to think that there

; is not one Mason present who will not feel proud to do honour to the Grand Master of England . ( Hear , hear . ) Out of the sphere of public life there is , in my opinion , no position in society which carries with it so high an honour , and at the same time so high a responsibility . When I find , superadded to all this , personal courtesy , kindness , aud consideration for the opinions of others , I may venture to say that his lordship is to the Order the ornamental and graceful capital that adorns the substantial column . Let me then give you

' The Grand Master of England . '" ( Cheers . ) The toast having been duly honoured , The Most Worshipful the Grand Master rose to reply to the compliment , and said : "Worshipful Master , Bro . S . W ., Bro . J . W ., and Brethren , I return you my grateful thanks for the kind manner in which you have drunk my health ; I assure you , Brethren , that I thank the W . M . most sincerely for the kind and flattering manner hi which lie has introduced name to It is to me a source of

my you . the greatest gratification to be present on this occasion , and I feel grateful for the honour you have done me in making mo the guest of so distinguished a Lodge as the Westminster and Keystone . I attended at the working of the Lodge , and I cannot find words to express the gratification I felt at seeing the business of the evening gone through in so able and impressive a manner by Bro . Beach . ( Hear , hear . ) It is also , Brethren , most gratifying to me to be

present when I can congratulate the Lodge on selecting such a Master as my noble friend in the chair . The W . M . has kindly alluded to tho intimacy which has existed between his family and mine . It is not only because his lordship is one for whose family and connections I feel a great interest and affection that I hold the dignity which he has this night attained to be but an instalment of the honours to be hereafter conferred upon him , but because of his high character and the able and talented manner in which ho has hitherto performed the duties which have devolved himHis installation this night is

upon . not only an ornament to the Lodge , but a happy omen of its prosperity . It is with much gratification and pleasure that I see him in the position he now occupies , and I feel it a high honour to be received among you , in so flattering a maimer , on such an auspicious occasion as this evening . " ( Cheers . ) The W . M . then said : "I beg now to give you the next toast in point of dignity , 'The Grand Officers of England . ' It is , Brethren , with peculiar pleasure I bail amongst us the presence of so many of

those officers in the blaze of purple , and the glare of jewels , which dim into insignificance those symbolical stars overhead , but which recall to us that there are dignitaries and rulers in the Craft whose services entitle them to our eulogy . But there is at the head of those Grand Officers one whose name I will join with this toast , my noble friend and Brother who sits 011 my left . ( Cheers . ) My noble friend has been lately appointed to the second office in the Craft , and therefore let usthe members of the Westminster and Keystone Lodge

, , assure him that it gives us the sincerest gratification that one so distinguished for his administrative talents elsewhere should consent to take part in the Government of our Order . I hope , however , that as War Minister he will not drill us too severely . ( Laughter . ) At all events , when he is speaking , I will be always at attention . ( Great laughter . ) As my noble friend comes from the Land of Cakes , we bail his presence here this evcjiing , not only as D . G . M . of England , but because he symbolizes to us that union , concord , and friendly relationswhich should exist between the Grand of

, always Lodges the two countries . In former times it was customary in Scotland that the G . M . should succeed to that honour by heriditary right , but the nobleman who had that right—and I know of no higher honour which a subject of this realm can enjoy—of his own accord resigned it , as he thought that those only were fit to hold high places who were able to discharge the duties which belonged to them . I must make one allusion more to Scotland . A Scotch king , once , when entertaining foreigners from more sunny climes in his drear and cold

dominions ( I say this without the least disrespect to Scotland ) , was , for want of hot-water plates , in some embarrassment , but got ont ol it in this manner . When the guests arrived , they each one found a handful of Scotch gold coins beneath his plate . Now , when my noble friend comes to dine with us , lie must be content with a less ambitious entertainment than that , but he shall have the best cheer we can afford him , and bettor than that , he shall have the heartiest possible welcome . Brethren , I call on you to drink ' The health of Lord PanmureD . G . M . of Englandand that of the other Grand Officers . '"

, , Lord Panmure ( the applause which accompanied tho mention of his name having subsided ) said : '' W . M . and Brethren , for myself and in the name of my colleagues in office , I return you my sincere thanks for the maimer in which you have received and honoured the last toast . The Grand Officers of England have , I think , done honour to themselves in accepting the invitation of this Lodge to witness so gratifying a scene as that presented to us this evening . ( Hear , hear . ) We have seen a Lodge not only numerous from its members ,

but most highly respectable from their talents and position in society , install as its master one of the young and rising statesmen of the day ( hear , heai' ); and we have partaken of a hospitality , not tho less royal because wo have not , as at the banquet given by the king of Scotland , to which the W . M . has alluded , found the gold coins beneath our napkins . We have , I say , enjoyed one of the most hospitable receptions . ( Cheers ) I see at the Board many of the Grand Officers of England , and I am not saying more than the truth , when

I say I see them filling places to which every Mason in the Craft may legitimately aspire , just as there is in this Lodge no office to which tho Brethren , by diligence in the Craft , and by those accomplishments of which they may feel justly proud , may not in proper time aspire . ( Hear , hear . ) I thought when my noble Brother the W . M . gave the toast of the' Grand Officers , ' he would have spared all allusion to any office I may hold elsewhere ; but he has shown himself not only a great master in the Craftbut also a craftMason ( Cheers and

, y . laughter . ) He said that . he hoped I would not be too severe in my drill , but promised for himself that he should be always at attention . I can only say that no drill can be effective in which the troops do not sometimes stand at ease . ( Laughter . ) He shall find mine a very mild rule indeed . Except when the dignity of the Craft requires the contrary , my word of command shall be 'March at ease . ' ( Cheers . ) I may now close these observations , and once more thank you for the honour yon have done us ; but as my noble friend

has alluded to the Grand Lodge of Scotland , I may be permitted , because by the favour of my noble friend , the Grand Master , i have the honour of holding the deputation of the Grand Lodge of England to that of Scotland , to say that I have always found tho greatest cordiality existing between the sister Grand Lodges . " Bro . Beach , M . P ., said : "M . W . G . M ., G . Officers , and Brethren , it is with much pleasure that I find myself privileged to have the opportunity of proposing to your notice the next toast ; I am sure will receive it with enthusiasm when I tell what it is— ' The

you you Brethren whom the M . W . the G . M . has delegated to represent him as Prov . G . M . ' s of the different Provinces . " ( Hear , hear , ) It must be evident to all that such appointments must bo very difficult ( hear ); and their importance cannot be exaggerated ,, because upon the efficiency of our Prov . G . Ms . depends in a very high degree the welfare of the Craft . ( Hear . ) Those appointments , moreover , are not confined to this our native land , but are extended over the entire surface of the globe . ( Cheers . ) The respect in which those Brethren

are universally held is the best practical proof of their efficiency , and of the care with which these appointments have been made . The skill and ability with which those Brethren have discharged their important duties do credit to the selection which the G . M . has made . ( Hear . ) I need only add that it is with the greatest pleasure that we see so many of them among 113 upon this interesting occasion . ( Hear , hear . ) And I call upon you to rise with becoming enthusiasm and to drink to the ProvGMscoupling with tho toast } ' The

. . ., ; health of Bro . Hall , the Prov . G . M . for Cambridgeshire . '" The toast having been duly honoured , Bro . Hall returned thanks . He said he felt some difficulty in returning thanks for that distinguished body to which he had the honour of belonging , and who had so numerously testified by their presence upon that interesting occasion the respect which they entertained for the noble lord the W . M . of that Lodge . ( Cheers . ) He felt bound to refer to the splendid hospitality of that eveningand to the cordial reception which they

, had given them , and he could only refer to it in the most complimentary manner . ( Hear , hear . ) He could hardly regard that as an ordinary Lodge Meeting ( hear ); he rather looked upon it as an important Masonic demonstration . ( Hear . ) They had around them Brethren of every rank in society . ( Hear . ) Ministers of the Cro , vn , noblemen and gentlemen of education and talent , men of fortune , and others who , not participating in those advantages , —all met there with one Masonic feeling , and threw aside all distinctions of rank except