Consecration Of The Headingley Lodge, No. 2608, Leeds.

lodge a credit lo the province . The merit of our Order does not lie in numbers , and , therefore , I must remind you that it is your bounden duty to exercise the greatest po 5 sible care in the selection of those who aspire to join our ranks ^ through your portals . Your purpose must be to preserve the Order intact , to maintain its traditions , for , remember , it is not a club , it is not a charitable institution , it is

something much higher , much nobler than these , and it needs our supremest efforts to maintain that high standard of puritv and morality which it never ceases to hold up before us . I venture to hope , nay , I fed confident , that the views which 1 have expressed will find an echo in all your hearts , and that you will do your utmost to carry out the principles upon which our Order is founded .

The ceremony of consecration then folio ved , everything bsing carried out with precision and due attention to detail . The Prov . G . Chaplain , Bro . the Rev . L . S . CALVERT , M . A ., Head Master of Batley Grammar School , on being called upon , gave an oration . He said :

This is a memorable day ; we are doing a work which will remain for good or evil when our part in it is past and forgotten—placing another link in the chain which binds together the universal Brotherhood . The master builders , from well nigh pre-historic times , have laid the foundations of the Masonic temples , which will last till time shall be no more , and we are adding yet one more stage to the work . As we look at the list of officers to be invested we cannot doubt that , so far as human intention is concerned , this lodge will be conducted with the dignity

and decorum enjoined by our Order , but the knowledge that Immanum est crrarc leads us to go to the celestial source of light for guidance in all our doings . Light we are taught to wish for at our initiation ; light , the emblem of purity , which can neither be added to nor adulterated ; liqht , which has ever been regarded as the visible presence of the Most High . He has placed it , as part of Himself , in man , made in His image and glory , to direct him in all his ways . •The light which we call conscience is rightly placed in the foreground as

the chief principle of our institution , because , unless warped , from its guidance , brotherly love , relief and truth follow as naturally as water runs down hill , Alid so in the charges in our Constitutions , a Mason is taught that he is never to act against the dictates of his conscience . It is a high standard , so easy to set up , so hard to carry out , because it runs counter to selfinterest . And yet it is this very lofty ideal which lifts our Brotherhood above the scope of ordinary benefit societies . For who of us would tolerate the charge

that he became a Mason for personal gain , present or prospective ? I have sometimes thought that our province has shown greater insig ht into the intentions of our Order , in that it has no Benevolent Fund , but has given a free hand to our Charity Committee . It is well known that that confidence has never been misplaced , nor that any real case of distress has failed to receive the benefit of our liberality . For more than 30 years has it stood the test of criticism , and the munificence of West Yorkshire is proverbial in the Masonic world . Brethren , —

it is not for me to judge of the motives which have pressed such millions into our ranks , but we shall not , I think , be wrong in assigning as the power which keeps them there this lofty ideal , this sense of unity in aim , of duty to God and man , which draws together as by an invisible golden cord the peasant and the king . We cannot hope to reach this standard of perfection in its highest degree , but we can with earnestness of purpose make for it . As we climb some lofty peak , the air gets purer , the view more extended , and the works of the Great Architect in all their grandeur stand out clear , till at last on the summit we

stand beneath the canopy of heaven , and all that was obscure lies clear below . So as we advance in Masonry , things mystic in our novitiate are seen to converge to one focus the Great Illuminant , in whose celestial dwelling we may hope to know , even as we are known . May the guiding light be with you , brethren of 2608 , filling you with tenderness to your brothers , so that when called from labour to refreshment with the sense of men who have done not alone their hard duty , "but as they would be done to , " you may , amidst the freedom of brotherly love , lay down for a time most of the burdens of life and even find some support or solace in its sorrows .

On the completion of the consecration , Bro . J . Cooper Malcolm , D . P . G . M ., at the request of the Prov . G . M ., undertook the ceremony of installation . The first W . M . of the Headingley Lodge was presented by Bro . W . L . Jackson , and duly obligated and invested by Bro . Malcolm , who afterwards explained the working tools and delivered the usual addresses . Bro . Alf . Cooke , P . M . 2397 , having been placed in the chair of K . S ., at once appointed as his I . P . M ., Bro . A . Scarth , P . M . 289 , P . P . G . D .

The officers were next invested as follows : Bros . W . F . Tomlinson , P . M . 304 , P . P . G . D . C , S . W . ; T . A . Withey , 289 . P . P . D . G . R . West Lanes ., J . W . ; W . H . Bradford , P . M . 1211 , P . P . G . D ., Chap . ; W . Lancett , 1056 ( elected ) , Treas ; W . S . Barker , 304 , Sec ; K . Broadhead , 1311 , S . D . ; A . Mills , 1231 , J . D . ; Pryce Lewis , P . M . 1674 , P . P . G . P . North Wales , D . C . ; E . Simpson , 2259 , I . G . ; W . Humphreys , 1611 , E . Bacon , 20 , J . R . Renwick , 1389 , A . Crossland , 2230 , and H . Lewis , 1302 , Stwds . ; and W . Marshall , Tyler .

This done , on the motion of Bro . W . F . TOMLINSON , Bro . Pryce Lewis was elected Prov . Charity Steward , and three members were chosen to represent the new lodge on the Leeds Committee , which has been formed to consider the Masonic Charities , and * especially the great question of the proposed removal of the Boys' School . Notice was given of propositions for three jo ' ning members and five candidates for initiation , after which and the usual questions , the W . M . closed the lodge .

Brethren to the number of upwards of 8 o , all guests of Bro . A . Cooke , the W . M ., then assembled in the dining-room , where a banquet , provided by Bro . Powolny , was served . The tcasts which followed were rather numerous .

After that of " The Queen " had been drunk , that of " The M . W . G . M ., the M . W . Pro G . M ., the Dep . G . M ., and the rest of the Grand Officers , Piesent and Past , " followed . Bro . H . Tooke sang "God bless the Prince of Wales , " and Bro . Hv . SMITH . P . G . D ., responded . Third on the list , alsD proposed from the chair , was that of " The Prov . G . M ., Bro . W . L . Jackson , M . P . ; the Deputy P . G . M ., Bro . J . C . Malcolm ; and the rest of the Prov . Grand Officers , Present and Past . "

In proposing this toast , Bro . A . COOKE was brief but very pertinent . He asked the brethren to receive the coast in the enthusiastic manner it merited , declared that Bro . W . L . Jackson was not only the man of the hour , but also the man of the day , and was , he believed , at that moment the most popular man in West Yorkshire . Bro . Malcolm ' s good qualities they all , as citizens of Leeds , well knew , and , as to _ the rest of the officers , he was of opinion that they deserved all the good things which he could say of them .

Yarwood ' s exquisite part song was here interposed— "Gently sighs the evening breeze . " This was given most beautifully by the musicians pnviouslv ramer " , and met with complete appreciation . Bio . W . L . J ACKSON , whose rising was greeted with great applause , after expressing his thanks for the kind terms in which the toast was

Consecration Of The Headingley Lodge, No. 2608, Leeds.

proposed and the enthusiastic way in which it had been received , declared it to be a great gratification to him when , by enthusiasm such as had been shown that night , he was reminded of the popul irity of the officers of Prov . Grand Lodge . Whilst they shared with him tin very serious responsibilities of the position , it was to him and to them the greatest comfort to know that the spirit of loyalty to their officers , and devotion to the Craft , wh ' ch

they had so King manifested , still retained its hold throughout the length and breadth of that great prownce . On that occasion the feeling he had was somewhat akin to that of a father who , with a quiver full already , had had an addition to his family . Would the child whose birth they had celebrated that day grow up into manhood maintaining the traditions and fulfilling the hopes of those around him ? Bro . J ackson then went into his

connection with the district from which the lodge had taken its name , and gave some amusing particulars of local interest . He concluded by saying that as that new lodge had sprung up amid , and taken its name from those surroundings so intimately associated with his earlier public career , so it would be the greatest grief of his life if that child—that new lodge—did not grow up a stalwart order-loving son , or if it failed to maintain those hi gh

and honoured traditions of which they might justly boast . Before sitting down , he asked the brethren to take from him with even greater enthusiasm the next toast , which was— "The Health of Bro . Alderman Alf . Cooke , W . M . of the Headingley Lodge , No . 260 S . " Their affection fortheir W . M . was deep and strong he did not doubt , and it was right it should be so , for Bro . Alf . Cooke was a man not with one , but with many qualities : he held

a unique position , had wonderful organising capacity , great energy and decision , with a large power for business . In addition to this , he possessed what he might , perhaps , call the somewhat dangerous quality of lavish hospitality , but he ( Bro . Jackson ) was convinced that Bro . Alf . Cooke would recognise fully his responsibility as their first W . M ., that he would see that the infant born that day should have a good bringing up , and would do

everything possible to promote the wellbeing of the new lodge . Bro . Jackson then went into particulars illustrating Bro . Cooke ' s pluck , energy , and recuperative ability after the destruction of his immense business premises by fire , and pointed out that a man so gifted , a brother so endowed would not lightly assume the government of the lodge—that he would in Masonic , as in outside matters , see that everything was well done , give everyone his

just due , exact from none , but expect honest fulfilment of duty all round , and that as in a business position he had made his name known , he might say throughout the world , so in his Masonic status he would bring his energies to bear , and would not forget that to him was entrusted the early teaching of the infant lodge , and that its destinies would largely depend upon the generous impulses and the elevating influences which it was in his power to inspire .

The song , "Worthy Mason" was then sung with the chorus , " lhen hail to thee , our brother , " in which all rose and joined in true Yorkshire fashion . In reply , Bro . ALP . COOKE said that he felt especially gratified that day , insomuch as the lodge , which had done him the honour of selecting him as the first W . M ., had been consecrated by their popular Prov . Grand

Master and townsman , Bro . Jackson , and that he had received the benefit of installation at the hands of their excellent Deputy Provincial Grand Master and equally worthy citizen , Bro . Malcolm . After referring to incidents in bygone days and eulogising the character and conduct of Bro . Jackson , the W . M . declared in Masonic matters he had many things for which he would wish to atone ; that he would help forward the true spirit of Masonry in Leeds , •that any institution whose foundation was Holy

Writ deserved not recognition only , but support , and that it should be his aim , by means of the help of his co-founders , the countenance of the province , and the sympathy of the brethren generally , to make the Headingley Lodge not unworthy of recognition amongst those with whom it had that day become associated . Bro . ALF . COOKE then proposed in flattering terms "The Health of the Installing Master , Bro . J . C . Malcolm , D . P . G . M . " This was very heartily received , and

Bro . MALCOLM , after thanking the brethren , expressed his satisfaction that he had been allowed to take part in that afternoon ' s proceedings , declaring that on all occasions his services were cordially at the disposal of his brethren . He had known Bro . Cooke throughout his entire life , and had known his father before him . He estimated to the full his good

qualities , and had always considered it a misfortune that Bro . Cooke had not become W . M . of a West Yorkshire Lodge . He had served in that capacity in a London lodge , he might almost call it a foreign lodge , though its home was in London , but now they had got him at last in his right place—W . M . of one of their Leeds lodges . After Bro . T . Child had sung " The Holy City , "

Bro . W . F . TOMLINSON , P . M . 304 , P . P . G . D . C , and first S . W . of the new lodge , proposed " The Worshipful Masters of the Leeds Lodges . " He said he was much gratified that the toast had been entrusted to him , and he would bespeak their attention for a few moments . He believed that the Wo » shipful Masters of Leeds possessed all the qualities which their position as rulers of the Craft demanded ; talents which enabled them wisely to

control their lodges and conduct them to successful achievement . He thanked them for coming up in such numbers to grace the ceremony that evening . In the formation of the new lodge they entertained no opposition to , or even competition with , present lodges ; they were actuated by a truly fraternal feeling towards all , and sought not only to provide for those who , by their qualifications , were suitable as initiates to enter their lodge , but also to open

their doors to unattached brethren , whose duties and occupations had called them away from their original Masonic homes . They of the Heading ley Lodge wished to cultivate the kindliest and most brotherly relations with the other Leeds lodges , and they intended to give them cordial and loyal support . Without historic disabilities , free from grudges and jealousies , they

were- going to try to make Freemasonry a great and successful bond amongst them ; they were going to prove , if possible , the truth of Charles McKay ' s lines — If , thou art a Mason In deed and thought ; Loving thy neighbour

As Craftsmen ought ; Sharing thy wealth With the suffering poor ; Helping all sorrow That hope can cure . All God ' s angels will say " Well done !" Whenever thy mortal race is run .