Contemporaries, Referring to the Monotonou

" proper form." By the time the toast of the Worshipful A REFORM IN MASONIC TOASTING. Master is reached at an ordinary gathering most of the T AST week we inserted a paragraph from one of our company are about tired of the talkee-talkee, and it very -*-^ contemporaries, referring to the monotonous way in often happens that the remaining toasts have to be rushed which the toasts are given at Masonic meetings, in which through, in order to clear them off before closing time ; it was urged that surely some originality could penetrate while it . is no unusual sight to witness the departure of into a Masonic gathering. We ventured to differ in this half or two thirds of a company long before the list is respect, as at the time of writing we almost feared brought near . a conclusion. there was no escape from the weary hum-drum process If there was anything fresh to be urged in connection of mutual admiration and all round back scrubbing we with these early complimentary toasts we should be the have so long been accustomed to, but before our words last to advocate their curtailment, but it is one wearisome were printed we found that reform was . possible, the repetition time after time, with never a change to break lesson coming from the highest in the Craft , the Most the monotony of the thing. Why not, then, follow the Worshipful the Grand Master himself, who demonstrated excellent example set by our Grand Master, cut off the to the large assembly present at the Centenary Festival superfluous " gas " from the start, and at once get to work of the Boys School, at the Albert Hall, that there with the toasts which afford a little scope for the exercise was no necessity for the monotonous repetition of tho of originality in proposition or response ? same old toasts we have all long since become heartily If the Grand Officers felt aggrieved at being thus shorn sick of. The Queen and the Craft—proposed by the of some, of their splendour, how would it be to reverse the Prince of Wales in about thirty words ; the Most order of our toasts, making the list somewhat as follows : Worshipful the Grand Master, Chairman of the Festival, Loyalty to , the Throne and devotion to the Craft , the proposed in commendably brief terms by Earl Amherst ; Initiate, the Visitors, the Officers, the Worshipful Master, an interesting response by the Prince ; and a rattling the Past Masters, the Grand Officers. By such an arrange- speech from him in proposing the toast of the evening, ment the old fogies of the Craft , Brethren who have borne with a few concluding remarks from Bro. Keyser in the heat and burden of the dav, and have made themselves acknowledgment, ended the programme, and the very large accustomed to long drawn out sittings, would be in their company rose from their seats with the feeling that all glory, and could be as prosy as they wished after the more that was necessary had been said, without the wearying lively members had taken their departure. Such a radical utterances inseparable from complimentary toasting as change would be out of place, we admit, but something known to those who—from choice or from necessity—have might be done to get rid of a part of the senseless adulation to sit out any considerable number of Masonic after-dinner wound out night after night at every Masonic gathering. gatherings. Now that the Grand Master has set so splendid an example is it not possible for a reform to be attempted ? If it be true, as stated, that kings can do no wrong, the Some years ago Bros. Willing, Stiles, and a few of their same can hardly be said to apply to the sycophants and mere courtiers who hedge the throne, and who at one time make friends who had a little respect for the feelings of " themselves conspicuous by the absurd laudation they lavish listeners," tried as an amendment the united sentiment of upon their patrons, at another sting the hand held out to help " Loyalty to the throne, and devotion to the best interests them, for no apparent reason unless it be to prove the of the Craft " in place of the three or four toasts which insincerity of their devotion, or the under-current of venom hidden beneath their usually soft and velvety language. Well usually head our list, but whether vested interests, in the may our Bro. Richard Eve pray with the poet to be saved form of some enterprising champagne dealer ; or the from his friends, after the great prominence given by a pressure of some of the " talking-machines " of the period contemporary to some of his shortcomings, and the patronising lecture showered, with all the importance of leaded type, stopped this improvement we know not, certain it is the upon his devoted head . It seems Bro. Eve was, for once in innovation did not become popular, and the relief which a way, out of date, and the kind , fatherly censor of the then seemed to be within reach was snatched from us. Masonic world at once makes it his business to air his superior We believe Freemasons can be just as loyal to their knowledge, and point out the awful possibilities that may arise in consequence of the bad example set by the Chairman rulers without three verses of " God save the Queen "— of the Governing body of the Boys School, in mixing a few which even the Prince of Wales appeared to think was a dates out of chronological order. No self-respecting Head little too much of a good thing when rendered in extenso Master would tolerate for a sinele moment such a murderinp- of chronology as Bro. Eve was guilty of , argues the critic, at the Centenary Festival ; " God bless the Prince of and naturally the self-respecting Editor is' equally sensitive, Wales," in its entirety ; and the long rigmarole of titles although we marvel to know what other great crime Brother and distinctions which are usually associated with the Eve has been guilty of to deserve so severe an exhibition of revolt on the part of a hitherto most obedient flatterer toasts of the Pro and Deputy , " A Grand Masters, and the fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind " 'tis said , and Grand Officers, when given in what is considered to be as we were once the victim of one of these periodical displays of superior knowledge on the part of our contemporary, we of the Dorset County Council. Member of the Society of can sympathise with Bro. Eve, in being thus made the Arts, F.R.G.S., F.C.A., F.S.S., Member of St. George's laughing stock of the readers of the paper referred to, but is Society (London), Deputy Chairman of the Poole Con- it not childish in the extreme to make so much out of so little servative Association, President of St. George's Guild (Poole), when, with a very small amount of trouble, a dozen and, above all, a thoroughly genial and companionable interesting items and as many real grievances might be Brother, whose acquaintance is esteemed by all who know discovered, with which to air one's editorial superiority ? him. May we include him in the wish we expressed last Had it been the " contemptible rag " which another very week, and hope he may live for many years to see the result prominent official of the Boys School lately referred to in our of the great efforts made on behalf of the Boys School presence that had thus criticised Bro. Eve, the onslaught Centenary—to the success of which he added in so marked a would no doubt have been treated with the scorn it deserved , manner. but—Et tu, Brute !—this is too awful to contemplate. Those who live in glass houses should certainly be careful how they throw stones, and accordingly we hesitate to direct the KING 'S COURT LODGE. attention of our Bro. Editor to his ninth and tenth paragraphs on page 281. We think there is sufficient therein to cause THE consecration of the King's Court Lodge, No 2689, him to ponder before he again makes so merry over the Gillingham, was performed on Thursday, 2nd inst., by the " viel " of a fellow sufferer. All things come to those who Provincial G.M. of Dorset Bro. Montague J. Guest, and the wait ! ceremony was largely attended by Brethren from the surrounding district, about 120 members of this and other Lodges in Dorset and adjacent counties being present. The premises in which When we saw a representation of the Lodge meeting held the Lodge meetings are held have been erected on the site of an in the quarries of King Solomon's Temple, at Jerusalem, at old malthouse, adjacent to the Phcenix Hotel, the designs for the the time of the Masonic Cruise organised by Bros. Lunn Lodge room and appurtenances being drawn up by Bro. Miles and Perowne, we thought was a splendid idea it would be to (Hants). The Lodge Room, which has a separate entrance in hold, open air meetings during the summer months, provided the lane leading from the Square , is handsomely designed, and proper arrangements could be made for efficient Tvlin_. and the ante rooms and lavatory are also fitted up with every the matter is this week brought to our mind when we read convenience. The furniture is of a choice description, being of the report sent us of the Royal Alfred Lodge of Instruction, carved oak in the Jacobean style.

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