Consecration Of The Queen Victoria Lodge No. 2584, At Manchester.

Votes of thanks were given to the Consecrating Officer and a founder ' s jewel was presented to him . The lodge was closed and the brethren adjourned to a banquet , served at the Cheetham Town Hall . The usual toasts followed . Immediately at the close of the consecration a telegram had been dispatched to her Majesty the Queen , and immediately preceding the first toast

a most gracious reply came from her Majesty . Of course this incident caused a great deal of enthusiasm , and with a heart full of loyalty , Bro . S . MILLS , W . M ., proposed the toast of " The Queen . " He said the Queen , God bless her , is well known to you all as a great upholder of our ancient Institution no less than as a striking example of womanly goodness combined with

imperial greatness . He also alluded to the message they had just received , and the lodge being the only one in the country bearing the name Queen Victoria , they would ally themselves more loyally , if possible , to the beloved Queen Victoria . He , therefore , asked them to be upstanding and drink the toast of the Queen .

The WORSHIPFUL MASTER next said : The toast I now have the honour of proposing is that of " Our Grand Master , H . R . H . the Prince of Wales . " I need not here dilate upon the good and sterling qualities of our Grand Master , they are well known to you all , but this I must say , that a more painstaking , energetic , and hard-working Mason is not to be found in the Craft , and f am sure you will all endorse what I have said . I will , therefore , ask you to be upstanding and drink long life and prosperity to our genial Prince .

The other toasts followed , and were responded to most ably by various brethren , but want of space permits us giving them . The following brethren were present :

Bros . A . H . Duffin , P . G . D . C . ; J . H . Sillitoe , P . G . S . B ., Installing Officer ; E . Ashcroft , P . G . D . ; W . H . Norton , P . G . Reg . : A . H . Jefferis , P . P . G . W . ; A . H . William , P . P . G . Org . ; G . S . Smith , P . P . G . O . East and West Lanes ; J . , P . A . G . D . C .,- Thos . Wolstenholm , P . G . O . ; Thomas Rigby , P . G . S . B . ; James Bromiley , P . G . S . B . ; W . Thornley , P . G . S . ; John Wrigley , P . G . Treas . ; James L . Smith , P . G . S . ; Joseph Bridgford , P . P . G . P . ; J . W . Allitt , P . G . P . ; J . Newman Woolmer , P . A . G . D . C . ; Jas . Andrew , P . P . G . D . ; James Newton ,

P . G . Sec . ; Thos . D . Foreman , P . G . D . ; J . W . Millward , P . G . S . of Wks . ; T . Ramsay , P . G . D . ; John Cliffe , P . P . G . D . C . ; George Jackson , P . D . G . S . B . ; J . Hothersall , P . G . D . C . ; W . Nicholl , P . P . G . T . ; Thos . Knott , P . M . ; Walter Bigg , P . M . ; George Wheewell , P . M . ; W . B . Akerman , P . M ., W . M . 2584 ; T . Plumpton , S . W . ; A . C : K . Smith , Sec . 2554 ; R . Barrow , P . M . ; J . Pollitt , P . M . ; J . Selby , P . M . ; Chas . Dove ; C . W . Hasmith ; W . B . Midgley , P . M . ; J . Howorth , P . M . ; A . A . Millington , J . Hudson , W . M . Higginson , G . Froggatt , and R . H . Williams .

Copy of reply to telegram sent by the brethren of Queen Victoria Lodge : — " O . H . M . S . —Windsor Castle , 7 . 30 p . m ., December 12 th , 1895 . Samuel Iivin Mills , Town Hall , Cheetham , Manchester , —The Queen thanks you for kind message from Brethren of Queen Victoria Lodge of Freemasons . Signed , Private Secretary . "

Copy of reply to telegram sent by the brethren of Queen Victoria Lodge : — " W . M ., Queen Victoria Lodge , Town Hall , Cheetham , —I thank the Biethren for their good wishes . " ALBERT EDWARD . "

Consecration Of The Radnor Lodge, No. 2587.

CONSECRATION OF TEE RADNOR LODGE , No . 2587

For some time past arrangements have been in progress at Folkestone for the consecration of the Radnor Lodge , No . 2587 , and on Wednesday , the nth instant , the long looked-for event took place in the Masonic Hall , in the presence of some 160 brethren , the Consecrating Officer being Bro . Earl Amherst , Prov . Grand Master , who was assisted in the duties of the

day by Bro . E . Letchworth , F . S . A ., G . Sec , with Bros . W . Russell , P . M . 77 , Prov . G . Treas ., as S . W . ; W . Saunders , W . M . 558 - now the senior lodge in Folkestone—as J . W . ; the Rev . A . Jackson and the Rev . J . E . Player , Prov . G . Chaplains , as Chaplains ; A . Spencer , P . G . S . B ., Prov . G . Sec , as Sec ; Horatio Ward , P . D . G . S . B ., P . P . G . W ., as D . C ; J . B . Groome , Prov . G . Org . ; and G . Peden , Prov . G . P ., as I . G .

ln addition , there were present the following , among others , Bros , the Earl of Radnor , Prov . G . M . of Wilts ; H . D . Stock , P . P . J . G . W . ; W . Francis , P . P . G . D . C j Hughes , D . D . G . M . Malta ; J . Terson , P . P . G . D . ; R . Philpott , P . P . A . GS . ; R . Fjnmore , P . P . G . S . of W . ; J . Kennelt , P . P . G . Org . ; C M . Layton , P . P . S . G . W . Herts ; F . Hall , P . P . G . Reg . ;

G . H . OMalley , P . D . G . S . B . Gibraltar ; E . Hire , P . P . G . S . B . ; J . H . Hallett , P . P . G . R . ; Sibert Saunders , P . P . G . R . ; J . T . Reeves , P . P . A . G . D . C . ; and A . Samson , P . P . G . P . Shortly after 2 . 15 p . m , the general body of the brethren having taken their seats , a procession , which included Bros , the Earl of Radnor , Prov . G . Master of Wiltshire ; the Grand Secretary , and the Prov . Grand Officers

and Prov . G . Master of Kent , was formed , and entered the room , and Bro . Karl Amherst having taken the chair , and appointed the brethren alread y named as officers for the day , lodge was opened , and the Prov . G . Masters of Kent and Wilts and the Grand Secretary were successively saluted with the honours due to their rank .

The opening hymn havng been sung , Bro . the Rev . J . E . P LAYER , as Chaplain , delivered the following oration on the nature and purposes of Freemasonry : It has been the custom , from time immemorial , that on such an occasion as this a few words should be spoken on the nature and principles of our Institution .

My object , therefore , in addressing you now , is to lay before you as clearly , and , having regard to the shortness of the time at my disposal , as concisely as I can the nature and purposes of Freemasonry ; nor , in fulfilling this object , do I consider it necessary I should go very far outside the limits of that instruction which

jou have all received at the various stages of your career as Masons . In the earlier stages of that caveer you wete told that Freemasonry is a system of morality . But as there is no form of religious worship which does not inculcate its system of morality , so can there be no system of morality which is not deeply

Consecration Of The Radnor Lodge, No. 2587.

imbued with the spirit of religion . It is impossible for any one to be reli giously good who is not at the same time a man of exemplary morals ; and the converse proposition is equally true , that it is impossible for any one to be morally good in himself and towards his fellow-mon without being actuated by a sense ot true religion . Hence it is that a man who does not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being is ineligible to be received into our Society . Such a man ; f indeed there be such a one , which may well be doubted—would be unable to

put in practice those principles of morality which it is the purpose of Freemasonry to instil into our minds . It would be an absurdity for the Master of one of our lodges to recommend to the serious consideration of one who has no faith in God the Sacred Volume of the Law , which is the basis of our Masonic faith and by the help of which , we are told , we shall be taught the important duties we owe to God , to our neighbour , and to ourselves . But because I tell you , as many others before me in the position I now occupy have told you , that Freemv . onry is of

a system morality , and that it is impossible tor morality to be void of all sense of religion , you must not commit the serious error of imaginingthat Freemasonry is a religion , or that it was ever intended to be a substitute for religion . Freemasonry is the handmaid of religion , but it is not a religion in itself . In the words of our well-beloved Deputy Provincial Grand Master , whom may God speedily restore and long preserve to us , " Freemasonry is not religion , but it is the next best thing to it . " Freemasonry is not religion , but it is religious , and

the great text book of the Institution is the Holy Bible . Having described to you the nature of Freemasonry , Jet me enter upon the second part of my duty , that of explaining to you the purposes for which Freemasonry , in its present speculative form , was established . You are all aware , indeed the evidence of the fact is before you at this very moment , that the Volume of the Sacred Law , which , as I have said , is the basis of our whole system , and which was recommended to your most serious consideration immediatel y after your initiation into our

mysteries , occupies the most prominent place in all our lod ges . That Sacred Volume is the inspired Word of Him whom we all speak of with awe and reverence as the Architect and Supreme Ruler of the Universe . But it is not always the same Sacred Volume which occupies this place of honour . In lodges composed of members , who profess Christianity , it is the Holy Bible , and comprises both the Old and New Testaments . But in Hebrew lodges it would be the Did Testament only ; in lodges of Mohammedans , the Koran ; and in those whose members

are attached to other faiths , the sacred writings of those faiths . But what becomes of the claim which Freemasonry has justly advanced of being a universal system in the face of this material , I will go further still , and say , these fundamental differences of religious opinion among its members ? The answer to this question is immediate and clear . Reli gion is the basis on which Freemasonry is established , but it is Religion without the slightest trace of sectarianism . But the principles of morality , which are contained in

every form of religious cult , are the same . I have slid that a man who does not believe in God , cannot be a Mason , but Masonry takes no heed of the particular form which his belief may assume . The principles of morality are the same in all cults . The Mohammedan and the Brahmin , equally with the Jew and the Christian , know well that their duty to God consists in never mentioning his name but with that awe and reverence which are due from the creature to the Creator ; in imploring His aid on all their lawful undertakings , and in looking to Himin

up , every emergency , for comfort and support . They know , all of them , equally well , that the duty they owe to their neighbour is to act with him on the square , to render him every kind office which justice and mercy may require , to relieve his necessities and soothe his afflictions ; and , generally , to do unto him as they would he should do unto them in similar circumstances . ' All of them know equally well that their duty to themselves consists in adopting such a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline as miy conduce to the

preservation of their corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energy , to the end that they may be the better enabled to exert those talents with which Gad has blessed them , as well to His glory as to the welfare of their fellow creatures . They , all of them , are equally well aware that it is their duty to bj exemplary in the discharge of their civil responsibilities , and to cultivate the practice of every domestic as well as of every public virtue . All of them alike recognise tint it is their duty to be influenced by the dictates of prudence , temperance , fortitude , and

justice , and , above all , of that Charity , without which , though they might possess all knowledge and all faith , and though they might bestow all their goods to feed the poor , it would profit them nothing in the sight of their Creator . In fine , Freemasonry is that code or system of morals without which no form of religion ' is perfect , while its purposes are to instil into the minds of those who freely and voluntarily enrol themselves under its banner to fulfil those duties and to cultivate the knowledge of those virtues which are possessed in common by all religious faiths ; and my earnest hope and prayer is that those who have united to found

the lodge , which is shortly about to be dedicated to God ' s service , as well as those whom they may hereafter admit into its fellowship , shall so order their lives , both in private and in public , as to be an honour to the Society of which they are or shall be in time to come , members . May the blessing of the Great Architect of the Universe rest upon you all ; may the richest Benediction of the Eternal Father attend the work which has been so auspiciously begun here to-day ; and may He , the Most High , grant to each one of us and to all our brethren , wherever they may be , a further mark of His most gracious favour at the last !

A beautiful and appropriate anthem , which had been specially composed for the occasion by Bro . the Rev . E . V . Eustace Bryan , who accompanied it , having been sung by a choir consisting of Bros . C E . Perry , W . Francis , Rev . E . V . Bryan , Rev . C F . Snaith , E . Pepper , Chaffer , F . Franklin , and Couchman , the ceremony of consecration was proceeded with and earned to a conclusion , and Earl Amherst having vacated the chair in favour of the Grand Secretary , the latter forthwith installed Lord Radnor in the ciair

as the first W . M . of the lodge , and his lordshi p having been formall y saluted , appointed and invested the following brethren as his officers for thj year : Bros . Capt . C . M . Layton . P . M . 200 , P . P . S . G . W . Herts , acting l . P . M . ; Lieut .-Col . W . Keily Westropp , P . M . 2195 . S . W . ; Lieut .-Co \ C . J . Hamilton , W . M . 2195 , J . W . ; Rev . J . E . Player , P . M . 55 s , 2237 ,

P . G . Chap ., Chap . ; F . Hall , P . M . 709 , 558 , P . P . G . Reg ., Treas . ( electe 11 ; A . H . Gardner , 558 , Sec . ; E . T . Ward , 284 , S . D . ; A . J . De Baits , 558 , 2195 , J-D . ; Lieut .-Col . G . H . O'Malley , 278 , D . C ; S . H . Greensti ' eet , P . M . 125 , Org . ; W . Chubb , P . M . 143 6 , I . G . ; C A . P . Osburne , 125 , Capt . Lafone , 1665 , and Lieut ; -CoI . F . A . Hutchins , 705 , Stwds . ; and G . Butcher , 125 , 143 O , 558 , Tyler .

The thanks of the lodge and honorary membership having been voted to Lord Amherst and his officers , as well as to the Grand Secrecary , for their services in connection with the inauguration of the lodge , and four candidates for initiation , as well as several joining members , having been proposed , the lodge was closed , and in due course the brethren adjourned to the Royal Pavilion Hotel , where , under the genial presidency ol the newly-installed

W . M ., and to the number of 80 and upwards they partook of the sumptuous banquet which had been prepared for them by Bro . Spurgen , who well maintained tne character of his establishment by the choiceness of his menu and the excellence of his arrangements generally . At the conclusion of the repast , The WORSHIPFUL MASTER proposed "The Qaeen and the Craft , "