Consecrations.

CONSECRATIONS .

ENGINEER LODGE .

THIS Lodge was consecrated on Thursday , 9 th inst ., at the Criterion , Piccadilly , the Grand Secretary , Brother E . Letchworth officiating , assisted by the following Brethren : Major General J . C . Hay , C . B ., P . G . D . as Senior Warden , Major W . F . Cottrell P . D . D . G . M . Gibraltar as Junior Warden , Rev . R . J . Simpson P . G . Chap . as Chaplain ^ Frank Richardson P . G . D . as D . C ., Samuel Varrell P . P . G . A . G . P . Kent as Inner Guard . The following Brethren were present : —

FOUNDERS : Major Criohton Walker P . M . 1174 P . P . G . S . of Works Kent , Major 0 . B . Mayne P . S . W . 1174 , Col . W . H . Coles P . M . 20 , Major C . P . Buttle , G . Michie P . S . W ., E . Urquhart J . W . 1424 , J . Law 184 , H . K . Knight S . W . 1424 , H . M . Carter 1331 , C . B . Wasser P . M . 1424 , E . S . Standing 1331 .

VISITOBS : Bros . C . Taylor P . M . 726 S . C ., J . P . White P . M . 2277 , Gen . Gordon Pritehard , Thames Lodge , W . F . Trydell S . W . 2434 , J . S . Fletcher P . M . 2200 , E . S . Wilson 1424 , Lewes Harcourt Coles W . M . 1305 , W . A . Dingle , M . D ., P . M . 869 P . P . G . Purs . Herts ., J . Kershaw 2128 , J . D . W . James W . M . 1602 P . M . 795 P . G . St . B . Berks , JL Bateman P . M . St . Albans Lodge , 0 . Hammerton P . G . Swd . B ., H . Whitherly 73 , H . Sadler G . Tyler .

The consecration completed , Brother Crichton Walker was installed in the chair of K . S . according to ancient custom by the Grand Secretary . The W . M . invested his Officers , as follow : Brothers C . B . Mayne S . W ., E . S . Standing J . W ., W . H . Coles Treasurer , R . Urquhart Sec , G . Michie S . D ., H . K . Knight J . D ., J . Law D . C ., C . B . Wasser Org ., H . M . Carter I . G . Brother H . Warren was elected Tyler and invested .

The W . M ., on behalf of the Founders , presented to Brother E . Letchworth a handsome Founder ' s jewel , to mark their appreciation of the very admirable manner in which he had conducted the ceremonies ; and on the motion of the W . M ., seconded by the S . W ., the Consecrating Officers were elected Hon-members of the Lodge .

Numerous applications for joining members were read . The Founders were resolved into a committee to frame Bye-laws and report at next meeting . The customary good wishes were received from representatives of other Lodges present . The Brethren adjourned to the banqueting hall , where a well supplied table was in readiness , Messrs . Spiers and Pond providing .

The Loyal toasts being disposed of , that of the Grand Officers was responded to by Bro . Major-General J . C . Hay P . G . D . The toast of the W . M . was given by Bro . E . Letchworth and heartily received by the Brethren . The W . M ., after responding , proposed the toast of the Consecrating Officers , which was responded to by Brother E . Letchworth .

The toast of the visitors , proposed by the W . M ., was responded to by Bros . Gen . Pritehard and H . Whitherly ; that of the Officers by Bro . C . B . Mayne . The string band of the Corps of Royal Engineers discoursed sweet music during the banquet , to the delight of many Brethren who have not had an opportunity of hearing it for many years .

The consecration of this Lodge has established a central meeting place for the Brethren of the Corps , a want that has long been felt . The Brethren , being distributed in every part where the British flag flies , have hitherto been without a home of their own , but will now have a permanent meeting place—when they return

to England from service abroad . The motto of the Corps is a most appropriate one for Freemasons : —" Ubique "— " Quo Fas et Gloria dacunt . " The members will doubtless strive to show that the confidence placed in them by their Grand Master has been fully justified . May the Lodge continue a pillar of the Grand Lodge of England until time shall be no more .

LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL LODGE . ON Wednesday , 15 th inst ., this new Lodge , numbered 2 , 603 on the register , was consecrated at Freemasons' Hall . The membership of the Lodge will be confined to those who are or have been members of the London County Council , and to the heads of departments in the Council offices .

The ceremony of consecration was conducted by Brother Edward Letchworth Grand Secretary , assisted by Brothers Sir J . B . Monckton as S . W ., R . D . M . Littler , C . B ., as J . W ., Rev . J . Studholme Brownrigg as Chaplain , T . Fenn as D . C ., and W . G . Lemon as I . G .

In his short address the Consecrating Officer said : I can only express a hope that this Lodge which we are about to start into existence may be the means of accomplishing those excellent objects which the Founders have in view , and of uniting more

closely those already associated in the discharge of important municipal duties , aud may generally advance the best interests of Masonry in this great metropolis . At the conclusion of the consecration ceremony , the Earl of

Consecrations.

Onslow Provincial Grand Master of Surrey was installed as the first Worshipful Master of the Lodge . The following Officers were also appointed : —Brothers Sir G . D . Harris S . W ., Nathan Robinson J . W ., Major C . Probyn acting I . P . M ., R . M . Beachcroft Treasurer , Edward White Secretary , G . S . Elliott S . D ., H . P . Harris J . D ., W . J . Bull I . G ., T . H . W . Idris D . C ., W . H . C . Payne Steward .

These Officers , with the following Brethreu , constitute the Founders of the Lodge : —Bros . Earl Carrington , Sir J , B . Maple , M . P ., W . L . Emden , Morris Abrahams , H . Clarke , Nathan Moss , the Earl of Dunraven , Sir J . Dimsdale , W . J . Wetenhall , W . Hayden , and A . Penfold .

Several candidates were proposed for initiation or as joining members . At a banquet which was subsequently held , about 150 Brethren were present , including most of those who attended the consecration ceremouy , and the Earl of Jersey Provincial Grand

Master of Oxfordshire , Viscount Valentia Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Oxfordshire , Rev . C . J . Martyn Past Grand Chaplain , Bro . Loveland Loveland President of the Board of General Purposes , Sir F . Seager Hunt , M . P ., and Sir W . Marriott .

Sir W . T . Marriott , Q . C ., M . P ., in submitting the Consecrating Officers , said the Lodge they had that afternoon consecrated would become an important one . Like many other citizens of London he had watched the doings of the London County Council , and if he were asked to say what he thought of

it he should say its characteristics were entirely Masonic . Brotherly love , a great self-abnegation , a desire to touch nobody else ' s property , and to be free in giving away their own ; a love of water and baths greater than that of alcoholic drinks , and also a preference for labour rather than refreshment , those were Masonic virtues , and had hitherto belonged to the London County

Council . He could only express a hope that those characteristics which had distinguished the Council in the past would also distinguish them , in the future , and that the London County Council Lodge , like all Masonic Lodges , would be a meeting of Brethren gathered together for the good of their fellow-subjects , and no selfish interest of their own .

Success to the London County Council Lodge and the Worshipful Master was then proposed by the Earl of Jersey , says " London . " Those present that evening came from all parts of the country—some of them connected with the County Councils —and they looked upon the London County Council as being the

greatest , in the population over which it ruled , the greatest in power , and the greatest in a Masonic sense , in the fact that it had started that Lodge . They hoped the influence of the Lodge would be great in the silent but powerful effect it would have over the every-day affairs of life . There was nothing which could

more soften the natural differences of public life than the increased opportunities of meeting together in private and social gatherings . That Lodge would do much in that way , and he should like to see that which he had described as the greatest

County Council always upholding the proud position to which it was entitled . They had been singularly fortunate in the first Worshipful Master , who was one of those men whom to know was to like and admire , who never shrank from public duty , and was ever found in social and fraternal intercourse . He asked

them to drink success to the London County Council Lodge , and especial success to the first Worshipful Master . Lord Onslow , in responding , thanked all those Brethren who were members of County Councils adjoining their area who had come to witness the start of their Lodge . It was a great

satisfaction that the toast had been proposed by a distinguished member of the Middlesex County Council , and he saw also Brethren present representing the City of London , all of whom had shown goodwill to the London County Council , by their presence that day . He thought they might claim that , in

starting a Masonic Lodge in connection with a great representative public assembly such as the London County Council , they had inaugurated a new departure . It was , he thought , the first time that a body , divided into two opposite camps , and carrying on across the floor of the Council Chamber

a vigorous party warfare , had agreed to sink all party differences and meet around a Masonic Lodge with all those attributes of Brotherly affection which characterised Masons . He ventured to think it was a happy augury in the public affairs of England . It had often been remarked by foreign critics of Parliamentary

and municipal institutions that , whilst they opposed each other across the floor of the House , five minutes afterwards they were engaged in friendly social intercourse . He recalled an instance of two friends who were contesting the same constituency on opposite sides and started their canvass of the electors in the

same carriage . The electors could not possibly understand such a proceeding , and they were obliged to occupy separate carriages . They had often heard from the chair of the London County Council that the procedure and the standing orders of the Council might well be adopted with great advantage in the House of Commons , and he would venture to suggest , in the