Notices Of Meetings.

to remember that the chair to whioh he had succeeded that night had previously been filled by Lord Londesborough , Augustus Harris and Sir John Gorst . The accession of their present Master might be regarded as the completion of a square that was really inassailable . A Masonic Lodge had rarely , if ever , had four such men to presido

over its destinies during the earliest years of its existence , men who had made their fame in such widely different spheres as was the case with the four of whom he was speaking . Reverting to the subject of the toast , Bro . Parkinson referred to the career of Admiral Inglefield , whose name , he said , was indelibly engraved on the

memory of his country . His services in the naval service had been such as to keep him somewhat behind in the way of Masonio preferment , bnb he hoped now that he had attained the chair of the Drury Lane Lodge he would long enjoy the pleasures of the appointment . Iu reply , the Worshipful Master said he most heartily and most

sincerely thanked those present for the honour they had conferred on him in responding so heartily to the toasfc . He felt they were paying a compliment to the Lodge rather than to him personally . He felt he was sorely deficient in a knowledge of his duties , and all he could hope to earn was the meed of praise which is awarded

to the man who does his best . If he could only follow , in a very small degree , in the footsteps of his predecessors he should be most delighted . He had occasionally met a ship with good officers but a poor captain—still he had won renown . He had also met a ship with a good captain commanding a bad set of officers—and that ship had

become the black ship of the squadron . All did not , therefore , depend on the man at the head , and as he was in the fortunate position of the former illustration , he hoped he should be able to steer the Drury Lane Lodge safely through the coming year . Bro . Broadley proposed the toast of the Visitors . There was never a more

representative Masonic company than were gathered together that evening at the festive board of the Drury Lane Lodge . Foremost amongst them was Lord Georgo Hamilton First Lord of the Admiralty , son of one of the most distinguished Masons the world had ever seen , and brother to the present Grand Master

of Ireland , who was so worthily fulfilling the duties of that important office in succession to their father . Their guest had had a somewhat varied experience in Freemasonry , having been initiated in a Lodge in the North of Ireland , but bad finally come to an anohor in the ancient town of Chiswick , where he was now ruling

over the destinies of a Masonic Lodge . The Lord Mayor of London was another of their distinguished guests that evening , as also was Lord Alcester , who , he might say , was initiated in the United Lodge some time back by the respected Chaplain of the Drury Lane Lodge , Bro . Rev . C J . Martyn . Lord George Hamilton thanked the brethren

for the compliment paid him , as ono of the visitors , in coupling his name with the toast . Ifc was an especial pleasure to him to learn that tho brother who had been selected to fill the office of Worshipful Master of the Lodge was a distinguished naval officer , and an ornament of that service with which he had the present hononr of

being associated . He was very pleased to be one of so distinguished an array of visitors . Among them , he understood , was a brother who could also boast tho name of George , bub whose surname began with that letter of the alphabet which preceded the initial of his own , and concerning whom ho might say , that if he was able to give to tho nation as much satisfaction as First Lord of the Admiraltv as that

brother ( George Grosamith ) had given in the part he had played as " Ruler of the Queen's Navie " he should bo more than gratified . He could well remember the somewhat rude Lodge in which he had been made a Mason , and it compared somewhat unfavourably with the comfort and grandeur of their present surroundings ,

but yet there was the same hearty feeling of brotherhood in each , and the same sentiments actuated the members of that Lodge as wero to be found in the great and rich Lodge in which they were then assembled in the great metropolis of the world . If the evening had been an especially pleasant one ifc

was because the Lodgo had brought to a high state of perfection the art of hospitality . He could assure them that so far as be was concerned they had made a lasting impression by the true Masonic spirit that had been displayed towards the visitors that evening . Tho Right Hon . the Lord Mayor followed . It must always be a

source of difficulty for a Lord Mayor of Loudon to follow a speaker so distinguished , and distinguished in administrative capacity as Lord George Hamilton . He hardly knew why he was there that night , much less why he should be asked to respond to this toast after they had had the pleasure of listening to the First Lord of the

Admiralty . He knew that his predecessors in the office he then so unworthily filled had attended the meetings of the Drury Lane Lodge , and he hopod that in some degree an affinity might spring up between it and the Lord Mayors of London , for among them there was much in common . Both the Masonic bocly and the Corporation

of which the Lord Mayor was the head were always desirous of assisting brethren in distress . He knew that tho Lord Mayor had a very important office to fill , and he was awnre that his influenceor rather the influence of his position—was very considerable ; he had accordingly striven , during the short period he had had the

honour of filling the office , to uphold it to the best of his ability . As an instance , lie referred to a meeting which had taken place at tho Mansion House , when a lecture was delivered by Lord Brassey , and when , out of purely patriotic motives , ho had felt ifc his duty to tako the chair . On that occasion not only wero the most distinguished

Admirals and the most distinguished Generals present ; , bnt he might say all the most important Bankers and Merchants were represented , so that the resolutions gave tho opinions of the leaders of thc City of Loudon . In conclusion ho might eay ho fully recognised the hor . oor which had been paid him that night , and at the same time bo

rseogiiised it as paid to tho great Corporation of which he was tho outward bead , and on whom they might at all times rely to maintain tho honour and dignity of the United Kingdom , Lord Alcester and the Rev . Dr . Kynaston having also spoken , Bro . Catling , I . G . of tho Lodge and W . M . of tho Savage Club Lodge , proposed the health of the Pasfc Mastets , Tho very great honour which had been thrust

Notices Of Meetings.

npon him , really without a moment ' s notice—in the absenoe of Bro » J . Fernandez , who had had to leave—bad found him quite nnpre . pared for the task . He had come into the Lodge when it was under the auspices of its first Master , and had found in Lord Londesborough , the representative of a distinguished line of nobility , a most

enthusiastic Mason . Ho was followed by one who had won a name in a very different sphere—Bro . Augustus Harris , who was known to them in many ways , but principally as foremost among the publ c caterers who had rnled the destinies of tho National Theatre w th which their Lodge was so intimately associated . As the succe-sorof

Bro . Harris , Sir John Gorst had won for himself the esteem and regard of the members , who , ho felt sure , would unite most heartily in drinking to the health of their Pasfc Masters . Bro . Sir John Gorst replied . The Masters of the Drury Lane Lods < e had b ^ en proverbi . il for lho shortness of their speeches , he would not attempt , to upset

the tradition . He envied his successor the pleasures that were before him , and felt that the only bitterness in tho cup of Mastership was , that , like all earthly pleasures , it passed away . If the Lodge gave its present ruler the same support it had given him he would be able to look back upon bis year of office as one of the most

pleasurable experiences of his life . Brother Augustus Harris P . M . proposed the Officers of tho Lodge . He first apologised for that he had not been able to attend the Lodge or to join the brethren afc the festive board until the last moment , but be had boen kept away by other duties . In his capacity as a Coanty

Councillor he had in a sense been changing places with the Lord Mayor , who had , he hoped , been enjoying the work and the good things provided by the Drury Lane Lodge , while he had been busy ia the Common Connoil Chamber of the City of London . His experience of that chamber was , that it was abonfc the dryest he had ever

been in , the only thing liquid about it that afternoon being tbe talk , and that was very 1 quid , never-ending , he had almost feared , and all about nothing . He did not know how long thia was to contiuue , but he was quite sure that if Masonio business was conducted on the same lines as they had so far experienced in the London County

Council the Drury Lane Lodge , for one , would never have been in existence . Nothing could give him greater pleasure at that moment than to propose the health of the Officers of the Lo Ige . There were few Lodges who could boasb such an array . They had tbe fatnre Lord Mayor of London as S . VV ., and Masons to follow him who were lead * r i

in their particular sections , and who together formed as representative a body of men as could be found anywhere . Sir Henry Isaaos replied . The Officers were exceedingly proud to work under suoh a distinguished ruler as the Master of their Lodge . Although he ( Bro . Isaacs ) was only First Officer afc the present time , he possessed a

Master ' s certificate . He hoped he might perform his duties during the year in such a manner as to earn some good marks aud not deserve any bad ones , indeed , that at the close be would Lo deemed worthy of the distinction of the Mastership . Bro . Bancroft also acknowledged the toast , after which the Right

Hon . fcho Earl of Euston proposed that of the Masonic Charities . He referred to the approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , to be held on the 27 th inst ., and at which he will preside , and hoped the Drury Lane Lodge would be represented thereat , if nofc as successfully as was the case last year at the Festival

of the Girls' School—when the Steward of the Lodge took up the largest list , £ 552—afc least with a respectable amount . Bro . Hedges replied . The Tyler gave the concluding toast , and the proceedings

terminate 1 . The banquet , which , as will be seen from the list given above , was most numerously attended , was well served by Messrs . Spiers and Pond , Limited , uuder the superintendence of Bro . Madell , and reflected credit on tho management of tho Freemasons' Tavern .

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