THE MASONS AT THE MANSION HOUSE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 685, 5 February 1881, Page 2

THE MASONS AT THE MANSION HOUSE.

■.! In his capacity as J iinior Grand Warden '•' of England, the Lord Mayor, on October * 2p, entertained the- Prince;of Wales, . (Grand Master) the Duke of Connaught, . and a number.of other Masotia at the . Mansion House.. Under the authority of -.. a dispensation obtained'from the' Grand:■■■;; Lodge, the guests, numbering-about 300; : appeared in the ornate clothing aud jewels of the'craft. 'Agiiafdy,4bnot of ■:, the Honorable Artillery Company. linedv> ' the step's of the Mansion House, and when-; •• the Prince of Wsles, acoomp^niect.'by. .tha I .-. Duke of Connaught'and : :Prittce;Jpnnibf .-•••■■ Glucksburgi arrjyed shortly-after sevenY.- :■■■.': . presented arms^' the. band of the corps,; ; stationed outside, playedT.tfie' ; National., Anthem; At, tho-*ntrahQe,..tKe'-Cord.'.', Mayor and Lord Lathora. received •rpyalJguosts,- who were: conduoted-t'o-'an " ! ;. ante-room, wjiere ; they w6re-olotheJj' : -and,f.' .assumed the deoorations OfAheir different.;' degrees.' Before leaving 'this' apartment' y; • the Prince oi Wales, in virtue bf m#p6wer- L ' ; as Grand Maßter, cohfeh'ed upon-Prince' ••• jjohn 1 of Gliicksburg,' the' ofMe'.;orPast'." ■ 'Grand Warden—an lionorary- diilinctipii'v V set apart for foreigners who : bavel'madfl'';. ' theiiipilyea famous in' the craft,;' After the .V, ceremony; a procession, headed' by .the. , Lord Mayor .and his civic officers carrying" <.' .the; Mace, >an'd • Sword of • Xistic'ej' was .' ' fomed to''theVdrawingrrpijn,. where the. .. .Grand Master, held a soft of Masohio' ■ levee,the-priucipalmemberflof-the.order.; '• being Sir ..Albert; Woods, ..'!■ Garter KingMJLriniC Thence the coin» ■' pany passed through the Egyptian Ghara;. '• ber, where the dinner was served.; -The ;•'; Prince of Wales'' Health' having.' been: drunk as Grand Master, his' Fiqyal Highr ... neas said it' was thirty years since the ■',- Grand Lodge had been entertained in that hall..'.' You have been kind enough to ,; allude to the laying of the .foundation*.. ■stone of Truro Cathedral. 1 believe lam ■ right in etating that such'a ceremony had • not previously occurred in the history of * English Frenmaflonry—namely ,• thelaying of a foundation-stone of a Cathedral with Masonio honors (Cheers). I can only, say that it was most gratifying to me to per* form that ceremony, and also to havebeen. .. so well supported on that occasion by the. .< Grand Lodge, whose members certainly. came front a long distanbe to be present on the occasion.., (Cheers). I sincerely ■ ■ trust that the cathedral may be completed; before many years, and that it may be a credit to the country in which it'is built* and to the craft which was represented in ' • this initiative ceremony. (Cheers.)' You, my Lord Mayor, have especially taken a. great interest and concern in the work and have started a fund, which I trust : before your present year of-office.is over';, • may be still more largely increased; and . I hope that as a sum of £SOOO or £6OOO is needed, that that sum may before'.: long •• be found," (Cheers.) Proceeding to speak of the' prospects of Masonry itself, the Prince said that when his lamented grand-unole (the Duke of Sussex) died in ' 1844, there were not more than SQO lodges . under th'e.prand. roll of England, There ~ we're'now 1900," including '4OO in foreign, ;" countries. Moreover, as many, as 10,000 ; Freemasons 'have been made 'in these lodges every year during the last tea years, (Cheers.) "Wehave beeu charged with being a*' seoret society j'- but 'the-, great tenet of the craft is that we'do not '•- mix in politics as Masons, or in anything- ;■'■■ that may be detrimental to our country. (Cheers.) We may say_ that the' three great oharitable institutions of the craft in Englandi-those for the boys and for. .'the girls,'and!for the decayed Masons.or r ' their, widows--are our principal charities, .which are supported by all the Masons; in the country. : I think I.am not wroiig'in--•stating that annually the sutaß'subscribed :to theaei'bharitie's amount"to. more than 1 £4OiOOO^Xoheer&).'^hatifaot,'speaks. enough for the name ■ which :.iHru'B't''we . hafe : go.t,fp i . charity, and which is one, I trus't'rwlf'shalljjlsfa'ys .keep." '(Cheers'.)... The Duke of Connaught returned thanks for'the (jraud o%9r.s;.and,Prince iphn for the foreign Grand Lodgeß, ~" '