INSTALLATION AS GRAND MASTER OF MARK MASONS.
July 1st, 1886.
A large and most imposing gathering, held in connexion with the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, took place at the Freemasons' Hall on the 1st of July, 1886. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, whose installation as Grand Master of English Freemasons, at the Albert Hall, in April 1875, has been already narrated, was now installed as Grand Mark Master. There were upwards of 1000 Grand, Past, and Provincial Grand Officers present, including many distinguished representatives from India and the Colonies, as well as from all parts of the United Kingdom. The Earl of Kintore, Grand Master, presided at the ceremony.
When the Prince entered the Grand Lodge, which had been opened by Lord Kintore, he was accompanied by a large and representative body of Mark Masons deputed to conduct His Royal Highness to the throne. He then took the customary obligation, having been proclaimed and saluted on the throne, to which he was conducted by Lord Kintore. Addressing the Prince, Lord Kintore expressed the feelings of loyal devotion felt by every Mark Mason in Great Britain, and in the Greater Britain beyond the seas, at the step which the Prince was pleased to take that day. He then gave a few statistics to show the progress of Mark Masonry. In 1876 there were but 5 time-immemorial lodges, and 18 Provincial Grand Lodges. In 1886 there were 13 time-immemorial lodges, and 375 warranted lodges, divided into 44 Provincial Grand Lodges, including those in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, India, and other parts of the globe. The consent of the Prince of Wales to be Grand Mark Master was proof of his zealous personal efforts to unite the Colonies and Dependencies of the empire with the mother country. The Prince, in his reply, said that—
He thanked the Past Grand Master most heartily and sincerely for the address he had just delivered. He feared that Lord Kintore had referred to him in terms far too kind and flattering. He assured the brethren he considered it a high honour and compliment which had been paid him that day, and he accepted the distinguished position of Grand Master of Mark Master Masons with a deep feeling of gratitude, and as a high honour to himself. He assured the brethren that anything he could do to further the interest and welfare of the Mark Degree would be done with sincere pleasure. He was most thankful and grateful for the kind feeling the brethren had manifested towards him, and he appreciated very highly the compliment which had been paid by the Mark Masons who had attended from distant parts of the kingdom. Lord Kintore had spoken in kind and feeling terms of his beloved mother the Queen. It would afford Her Majesty sincere gratification to know the kind terms in which her name had been mentioned, and the hearty manner in which it was invariably received, especially in a meeting of this description. Personally he thanked them from his heart, and he desired to assure them that all he could do for the welfare of Mark Masonry would always be done with very great pleasure.
The Grand Master then appointed the Grand Officers for the ensuing year, beginning with Lord Kintore as Pro-Grand Master, Lord Egerton of Tatton Deputy Grand Master, the Duke of Connaught Senior Grand Warden, and numerous others to the usual offices. The Pro-Grand Master presented the Prince with a jewel, which he accepted with pleasure, and said it would be a gratifying memento of the pleasant proceedings of the day.
After the conclusion of the Grand Lodge proceedings, there was a luncheon at the Holborn Restaurant, at which the Prince presided. After the customary loyal toasts had been proposed, the Prince regretted that he had to leave, having to fulfil an engagement at the East-end of London.
FOUNDATION STONE OF THE PEOPLE'S PALACE.
June 28th, 1886.