The Life of King Edward VII / with a sketch of the career of King George V

by J. Castell Hopkins

Special Functions and Interests

The Prince of Wales' connection with the Masonic Order was an early one and had always been a close and sincerely interested one. He was first initiated in 1868 by the late King of Sweden when staying at Stockholm. He served several terms as Worshipful Master of the Royal Alpha Lodge, which consisted of a number of Grand Officers, generally noblemen, and in this lodge he personally initiated his eldest son, the late Duke of Clarence and Avondale, in 1885. He was also permanent Master of the Prince of Wales Lodge, to which he initiated the Duke of Connaught in 1874. When the Marquess of Ripon retired from the Grand Mastership of English Freemasons in 1875 the Prince of Wales accepted the post and was installed on April 28th at the Royal Albert Hall. The function was perhaps the most memorable and imposing in the British history of the Order. In the vast Hall there were more than ten thousand members of the craft, of all ranks and degrees, and in costume suited to their Masonic conditions. Many distinguished visitors and deputations from foreign lodges were present in the reserved inclosure. The Earl of Carnarvon performed the initial ceremonies and in the address to His Royal Highness referred to the gathering around them: "I may truly say that never in the whole history of Freemasonry has such a Grand Lodge been convened as that on which my eye rests at this moment and there is, further, an inner view to be taken, that so far as my eyes can carry me over these serried ranks of white and blue, and gold and purple, I recognize in them men who have solemnly taken obligations of worth and morality—men who have undertaken the duties of citizens and the loyalty of subjects."

THE PRINCE'S ADDRESS AS MASONIC GRAND MASTER

In his reply the Prince expressed an "ardent and sincere wish" to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and the belief that, so long as Freemasons did not mix themselves up in politics, "this high and noble Order will flourish and will maintain the integrity of our great Empire." After deputations had been received from the Grand Lodges of Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark the new Grand Master appointed Lord Carnarvon to be Pro-Grand-Master, Lord Skelmersdale to be Deputy Grand Master and the Marquess of Hamilton and the Lord Mayor of London to two other chief offices. In the evening a grand banquet was held at which he presided and made several tactful speeches. The Duke of Connaught, the Duke of Manchester, the late Earl of Rosslyn and the representatives of various Grand Lodges also spoke. On July 1st, 1886, His Royal Highness was installed as Grand Master of the Mark Master Masons in the presence of more than one thousand Grand, Past and Provincial Officers from India and the Colonies as well as from the United Kingdom. The Earl of Kintore presided in the early stages of the function and was afterwards appointed Pro-Grand Master, with Lord Egerton of Tatton as Deputy Grand Master and the Duke of Connaught as Senior Grand Warden.

During the Queen's Jubilee, on June 13th, 1887, it was decided to present an address to Her Majesty as Patron of the Order and of various Masonic charities. The formal action was taken at an immense gathering in the Royal Albert Hall, on the date mentioned, when some seven thousand officers and members, representatives of the Lodges of the Empire met and passed a Resolution to that effect. His Royal Highness the Grand Master, who was accompanied by Prince Albert Victor and the Duke of Connaught, presided and was able to announce, after this part of the business had been disposed of and the National Anthem sung with enthusiasm, that £6000 had that day been paid in by members and was to be entirely devoted to Masonic charities for the children and the aged. Two years later, on July 6, 1888, and in the same place, the Prince of Wales presided over the centennial banquet of the Royal Masonic Institute for Girls. With him were the King of Sweden and Norway, Prince Albert Victor, the Earls of Carnarvon, Lathom and Zetland, Lord Egerton of Tatton, Lord Leigh and many other eminent Masons. One of the speeches of the Chairman was devoted to a history of the institution they were trying to help and to a request for funds to erect additional buildings and better accommodations. The response afterwards announced to the appeal, made before and at this dinner, was £50,472 of which London contributed £22,454 and the Provinces, India and the Colonies the balance.

THE PATRON OF ART

Another subject in which the Prince always took a great and active interest was that of Art—especially as embodied in the work of the Royal Academy. His first appearance in this connection was at the annual banquet on May 4th, 1863, and it has been noted that at the various subsequent occasions of this kind at which he spoke, despite the sameness of the toasts and subjects, there was always fresh material in his remarks. At the banquet on May 5th, 1866, Sir Francis Grant presided for the first time as President and amongst the speakers besides His Royal Highness were his brother Prince Alfred, the Duke of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Earl Russell and the Earl of Derby. In 1867 and in 1870 he also spoke and on the latter occasion the speakers included Mr. J. Lothrop Motley, the American Minister, and Charles Dickens. At the banquet in 1871 the Prince spoke and at that of 1874 he drew special attention to the picture, "Calling the Roll," which afterwards made Miss Elizabeth Thompson so famous, and to a statue by J. E. Boehm which was the beginning of that sculptor's rise to distinction.

The Prince of Wales was again present in May, 1875 and then, owing to other pressing engagements, missed four years. At the annual banquet on May 3rd, 1879, which he attended, Sir Frederick Leighton was President of the Academy and the Prince made kindly allusion to the memory of his late predecessor. Amongst the other speakers were Lord Beaconsfield, Mr. W. H. Smith and Lord Chief Justice Cockburn. At the banquet in 1880, Sir F. Leighton paid his Royal guest an unusual compliment: "Sir, of the graces by which Your Royal Highness has won and firmly retains the affectionate attachment of Englishmen none has operated more strongly than the width of your sympathies; for there is no honourable sphere in which Englishmen move, no path of life in which they tread, wherein Your Royal Highness has not, at some time, by graceful word or deed, evinced an enlightened interest." In 1881, the central subject of toast and speech was Sir Frederick Roberts, who had come fresh from the fields of Cabul and Candahar; but the Prince of Wales did not forget an illusion to the death of "that great statesman" the Earl of Beaconsfield. In 1885 His Royal Highness was accompanied for the first time by Prince Albert Victor and in 1888 he was able to refer to the fact of this occasion being not only the year of his silver wedding but the year which marked a quarter of a century since his first appearance amongst them.

The Corporation of Trinity House, which in the time of Henry VIII. had been a guild for the encouragement of the art and science of navigation and had latterly come into the work of building lighthouses and protecting ships along the coasts of England, was always an object of interest and support to the Prince of Wales. In 1865 he declined the post of Master—which had been held by men like Lord Liverpool, the Duke of Wellington, the Prince Consort and Lord Palmerston—in favour of his brother the Sailor Prince. He attended the next annual banquet, however, together with the King of the Belgians, and two years later was installed as one of the "Younger Brethren" of Trinity House. The Duke of Richmond and Lord Napier of Magdala were amongst the other speakers. The banquet of July 4th, 1869 was especially interesting from the eminent men of all parties whom it brought together. The Prince of Wales presided, in the absence of the Duke of Edinburgh, and the speakers included Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright, Mr. Disraeli, Sir Stafford Northcote and Sir John Burgoyne. He again attended and addressed the banquet of Trinity House on June 24, 1871, and presided at that of June 27, 1874. His speech upon the latter occasion contained various important facts and opinions upon the improvement of navigation facilities. At the dinner in 1877 the Prince again presided and in the proposing his health the late Earl of Derby said: "His Royal Highness has not only now, but for many years past done all that is in the power of man to do, by genial courtesies towards men of every class and by his indefatigable assiduity in the performance of every social duty, to secure at once that public respect which is due to his exalted position and that social sympathy and personal popularity which no position, however exalted, can of itself be sufficient to secure." The most interesting event of this occasion was the presence and very brief soldierly speech of General U. S. Grant.