Consecration Of The Devonian Lodge, No. 2834.

Secretary , assisted by Bros . Sir John Monckton , j . i ' . trachan , Q . C ., the Rev . Canon Brownrigg , Frank Richardson , and W . Lake were the Consecrating Officers and the following brethren were installed in the principal offices : —Bros , the Earl of Halsburv , P . G . W ., W . M . ; Walter Wellsman , P . A . G . D . CS . W . ; the Rev . W . Whittley , P . G . D ., P . S . G . W .

, Devon , J . W . ; W . Bradford , P . M ., Treas . ; John Cockrem Taylor , " P . M ., Sec . ; Geo . Lambert , M . P ., " S . D . ; P . H . Pridham Whippell , J . D . ; C . Luxmore Drew , I . G . ; the Rev . Harry Arthur Hebb , P . G . D . Chap . ; William Hayman CummingsP . G . D . Org . ; John White

, , , D . of C . ' ; F . W . Budie , " Stwd . ; and W . T . Winsor Tyler . The Consecrating Officers were elected honorary members of the lodge , and an unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to them for their

valued services . After the nomination for election of a long list of candidates for initiation and joining , the lodge was closed . The Worshipful Master afterwards presided at a banquetat which the

, usual loyal and Masonic toasts were given and responded to , Bro . Sir John Monckton replying for " The Grand Officers , " and Bro . Letehworth , G . Sec , for "The Consecrating Officers . "

The toast of " The Worshipful Master " was placed in the able hands of Bro . Justice Kennedy , and he discharged that duty with sympathetic eloquence , the toast being received with much enthusiasm .

The LORD CHANCELLOR , in reply , said , among the many qualities whicli distinguished Devonshire men , one had not been mentioned by the learned judge who had just spoken—he meant that of modesty . ( Laughter . ) He had

every right to exhibit that quality , because , being a Devon man , and because of his profession , which he had practised for fifty years , he was bound to be modest . What was he to say in answer to such a speech

, and , at the same time , to exhibit that quality for which he claimed constant possession ? Well , he would say this : in the position to which the learned judge had referred he believed none of them could live under himself . He

believed that which made them harmonise , and enabled them to go on , was a feeling that they were mutuall y dependent on each other . The Masonic

spirit , if it could be extended to all society and to all mankind , he believed , would , in a great measure , remove all difficulties which stood in the way of a higher and a better civilisation . One of the things which rendered Masonic

intercourse so delightful was thisthat it cultivated a spirit independent of all those questions on which men were divided . An infinite variety of feelings , thoughts , and imaginations which naturally belonged to different

degrees , . divided men politically , theologicall y , and in many other ways , but the Masonic spirit enabled them to meet together in social intercourse , and in a manner which , for the time at all events , obliterated and stamped out the feeling of those differences which , on other occasions ,

necessaril y kept them at arm's length . Therefore it was that the Masonic spirit which united them together , whatever might be their walks in life , was a gain for civilisation , a gain for that kindl y spirit which tended to bring men together , and not to separate them . The toast in its terms was complimentary to him . He thought it was relevant to the toast , which , of course , was the toast . of the Worshipful Master for the time being , whoever he might be , to point out how desirable it was that there should be such an Institution as

that they were met to form , when the Worshipful Master and his Brethren should be on such terms of intercourse as , happily , he thought , they were at present . And in that spirit he heartily wished to reciprocate , and he desired to thank them most heartily for the way in which they had received him .

The toast of '' The Visitors" followed , and was responded to bv Bros . Justice Bigham , Underdown , Q . C ., and J . Passmore Edwards . The toast of " ' 1 he Officers , " and the T yler ' s toast brought the proceedings to a close .

THE HltillT HON . THE KAHl , OK IIA I . SIIUl ! Y , LORD IIKMI Oil AX < 'KLLOH . - I' / ,,, / ,, by V . / .. Fry . (¦ . <_ . __ ..

The Earl of Halsburv—a portrait of whom , in his robes ; ts Lord Chancellor , we have the pleasure to present to our readers—was better known to a former generation as Mr . Hardinge Giffard . He was called to the' Bar and "took silk" in 186 5 , becoming Solicitor-General to the Government of 1875-80 , representing Launceston in the Conservative interest from 1877 to 1885 . The present administration will have been the fourth occasion on which Lord Halsburv will have taken his seat on the Woolsack ,