The Freemasons had a grand day on Wednesday. The Prince
of Wales was installed as Grand Master of the English Free- masons at the Albert Hall, and the attendance of the brotherhood was amazing. There are said to have been 20,000 applications for seats, and 7,000 were admitted. The Prince was conducted to his "throne" by the Pro-Grand Master, the Earl of Carnarvon —who is, we suppose, to do any work there may be, the Prince only doing the ceremonial—in a speech in which he dwelt on the fact that the craft had in this country allied itself with social order and the Monarchy. The Prince, in his reply, also said that the watchwords of the craft were "Loyalty and Charity." In Sweden also, as the Prince mentioned at the banquet which concluded the day, the King is Grand Master of the brotherhood. The proceedings were marked by unusual order, but except from the splendour of the spectacle and the number present, were of little interest to the uninitiated. The most odd thing about the speeches was the thorough conviction the speakers either felt or contrived to assume that Masonry is a real thing, a something added to Christianity and goodness. As every Mason knows perfectly well that Masons are exactly like other people, that is a conviction which it must take a good deal of will heartily to entertain.
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