these days. But from the
words which have fallen from Sir Henry Holland I am glad to hear
that everything has been so prosperous, and I hope that the
important and difficult questions which have been discussed
during the last few weeks will bear fruit. Nobody wishes more
sincerely than I do that the good feeling, or, as the French
say, the _entente cordiale_, between the mother country and our
great colonies may be established on a still firmer basis. Far
be it from us, and far distant may the day be, when we shall see
the colonies separated from us in any way.

"You have been kind enough to allude to the Colonial Exhibition,
which is now a matter of the past. I feel sure that in that
Exhibition, during the few months that it lasted, our own
countrymen learnt perhaps more of the colonies than they could
in any other way except by visiting them. No better means could
have been adopted for bringing the colonies more prominently
before us. Most sincerely do I hope that that Exhibition may
bear fruit. I most sincerely trust that the end of the
Conference may also be successful, and that it may realise all
that we could wish. It is true, as you have observed, that I
have not yet had an opportunity of visiting the distant
colonies, especially the Australian colonies and those of the
Cape. Much as I may desire to go out to those distant colonies,
I fear that my duties at home may prevent my doing so. However,
I assure you that it is my wish to do so, and though I am
unable, it is through circumstances over which I have no
control."

Lord Rosebery, in giving the toast of their Colonial guests, said, that
whatever questions of home policy divided Englishmen, party feeling
never interfered in those greater Imperial questions. It was a happy
innovation to invite representatives of the colonies to meet in
conference, and he trusted that the result of that meeting would hasten
the welding and uniting of the Empire.

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