The Banquet.

His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master then rose , amid prolonged cheering . He said—Brethren , the first toast I shall have the honour of proposing to you this evening is one which , I know , will require as few words as possible , as it is that toast which is always drunk with enthusiasm on all great gatherings of Englishmen , more especially at the meetings of the Craft . ( Cheers . ) I propose

" The Health of her Majesty the Queen , the Patroness of our Order . " The toast was drunk with musical honours , Miss A . Sinclair singing the solo . The Duke of Manchester then said : Your Royal Highness , Most Worshipful Grand Master of Freemasons , my Lords and Brethren—I now propose to ask yon to drink " The Health of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales . " It is not necessary for me to praise

her . You all admire her , and praise her in your ordinary conversation . ( Hear , hear . ) Those who have the pleasure and honour of knowing her , esteem her and praise her most of all . ( Cheers . ) In the words whioh you will soon hear sung , aud with which you will sympathise—May heavenly flowers bestrew her path ' . May wisdom guide her feet !

That blessings on her bead may fall , We here our prayer repeat . ( Applause . ) I havo to propose to yon , " The Health of the Princess of Wales aud the rest of the Royal Family . " We have for the first time amongst us , as Most Worshipful Grand Master , the eldest son of her Majesty , and his brother the Duke of Connaught—whom we all

most highly esteem and love as the sons of a father whose memory we all so fondly cherish , and whom we so much regret . I propose to you '' The Health of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales and the rest of the Royal Family . " The toast was received with the greatest enthusiasm , after which Miss Edith Wynne sang " Our gentle-hearted future Qneen . "

His Royal Highness the Dake of CONKAUGHT then rose , and after a most cordial reception , said—Most Worshipful Grand Master and Brethren , —In the name of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales aud the other members of the Royal Family , I beg to thank you most sincerely for tho very kind way in which yon have received this toast . I am sure that you are all aware—in fact , the Pro-Grand Master , who

I am sorry is not here to-night , told yon—how great an interest the Royal Family had always taken in Freemasonry . ( Cheers ) . I hope that those of the Royal Family who are following their ancestors , including the most worshipful GrandMaster and myself , I hopo that we shall prove ourselves no less worthy members of the Craft than the Duke of Sussex and the Dnke of Kent . I am sure that , as the Most Worshipful

Grand Master said this afternoon , the fact that the great mottoes of the Craft are "loyalty" and "charity" is alone sufficient to make the Royal family take the deepest interest in a Craft with such good mottoes as those ( Cheers ) . Brethren , before sitting down , I may say that a great hononr has been conferred npon me , and that is no less than that of proposing to you tho health of our Most Worshipful

Grand Master . ( Prolonged applause . ) I only wish , brethren , that this task had fallen to one who is more worthy to propose it . As you all know , I am the Junior Master Mason of England ; and , being in a very humble position , I am naturally careful , and what is morenervous—in speaking before yon all on a toast of such great importance as this is . ( Hear . ) Another reason which I am suro will suggest

itself to you is that I am doubly related on this occasion to our Most Worshipful Grand Master . ( Cheers and laughter . ) It will not do for brothers to bo flattering each other , but I am sure from the way in which the mero mention of our Most Worshipful Grand Master ' s health was received that you all respect and admire him in his new and important office . ( Applause ) . I can assure you , brethren ,

that there is no one—I will challenge every member of the Craft on this point—who has taken a deeper interest in Freemasonry than His Royal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master . ( Loud cheers . ) I am sure you will find in him one who will uphold the hononr and the integrity of this most noble and most ancient Craft . ( Applause . ) Brethren , I propose to you " Tho health of the Most Worshipful the Grand Master . "

The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm , the cheering being again and again renewed . His Royal Highness the Prince of WALES replied as follows : — Brethren , I beg to return my most sincere and my most grateful thanks to tho Junior Master Mason of England ( laughter ) for the kind way in which he has proposed my health , and to you , brethren ,

for the cordial manner in which you have received it . This is the first time that I have had the hononr of presiding at the Grand Festival . I can assure you I am very grateful for your kind reception of mo this evening , and I sincerely hope that we may have the pleasure of meeting together on these festive occasions many , many long years to come . I shall never forget , brethren , the ceremony of

to-day ( hear , hear ) , and the reception which you gave me . I only hope that you may never regret the choice you have made of your Grand Master . Brethren , I assure you on all occasions I shall do my utmost to do my duty in the position in which you have so kindly placed me . ( Hear , hear . ) Before sitting down , I have a toast to propose , which I feel sure yon will all drink with cordiality , and

which to me is a specially gratifying toast—that is , the health of our illustrious Brother the King of Sweden aud Norway . ( Applause . ) It affords me especial pleasure to propose this toast , as seven years ago I became a member of this Craft , initiated by the late King , the brother of the present one . Thereby I consider I have a more special interest in Sweden ; and I hope that the Grand Lodges of Sweden and of England may always bo bound together in goodwill and

fraternal feeling . Our illustrious brother tho King has been especiall y pleased to sond over five distinguished brethren to take part in my installation . ( Applause . ) Therefore it affords mo special gratification to drink to the health of one who I know is such a keen Freemason at heart , and so keen an Englishman that he has frequently visited our shores . Most cordially and heartily do I call upon you , brethren , to drink to " The health of oar illustrious brother

The Banquet.

the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Sweden , His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway . " Count Salcza responded , and he expressed his great gratification at the magnificent ceremony that had been witnessed in the afternoon , laying special stress upon the Masonic good feelings between Sweden and Great Britain . He spoke of himself as feeling that he

stood among friends and brothers , and ho thanked them for their cordial reception . Our worthy brother , who spoke in French , passed a high eulogium on Freemasonry . His Royal Highness the GRAND MASTER then said , —Brethren , we are honoured hero this evening by the representatives of the Grand Lodges of Scotland , of Ireland , and of Sweden , and I feel convinced

that you willall drink with me most cordially and most heartily to their health . ( Cheers . ) The Grand Lodge of England is always most desirious of being on the best possible terms with the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland . Although separate through having other Grand Masters , still those three Grand Lodges may consider one another more or less as one . I have great pleasure in proposing

the health of my noble friend and brother , Lord Rosslyn , as representative of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , and I cannot forget the kind reception I met with at Edinburgh some years ago when he was Deputy Grand Master , and I received the rank of Patron of Scotch Freemasons at the hands of the late Earl D . ilhousie . It also gives me great pleasure to proposo the health of the representative of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland , coupled with the name of Bro . Shekleton , Deputy Grand Master . I have also the great privilege of being Patron of the Irish Grand Lodge , which hononrlalsoremember . afewyears ago , receiving from the late Dnko of Laiuster , who was the popular Grand Master of Ireland at that time , and the reception I met with I shall not easily forget . As the representative of the Grand Lodge of Swedon

it affords me great pleasure to couple with this toast the name of the Admiral on my left . As my earliest associations in Freemasonry have been with tho Grand Lodge of Sweden , I know when I address those gentlemen I see before me they will appreciate the pleasure it affords mo in proposing this toast . ( Cheers . ) Brethren , I give you the toast of " The Grand Lodges of Scotland , Ireland , and Sweden ,

coupled with the names of Lord Rosslyn , Brother Shekleton , and Admiral Oscar Dixon . " I also include in this toast all the other Grand Lodges . The toast having been drunk , Lord Rosslyn said , —Most Worshipful Grand Master and Brethren , the honour that yonr Royal Highness has done the deputation of theGrand

Lodgo of Scotland is warmly felt and appreciated by them , and I regret exceedingly that onr Right Worshipful Master is upon this most interesting occasion prevented from being present by severe domestic sorrow . One other also of our deputation , one for whom all members of the Grand Lodge of Scotland have a great regard , onr Grand Secretary , is prevented from being present on this occasion by a very

severe and dangerous illness . But I am glad , indeed , to have the opportunity after so many years' connection with the Grand Lodge of Scotland—no less than 25 years—of congratulating the Craft of England and your Royal Highness also , npon the most magnificent scene I havo over witnessed in my life . I am glad also to think that the splendour , and , I must add , admirable management of tho display

to-day , does not quite efface from your Royal Highness ' s recollection tho scene upon a similar scalo which we ondeavonrcd to offer you when wo had the honour of having your name as Patron of tho Scottish Craft . Your Royal Highness has been good enough to say that you have not forgotten the occasion . I can assure yonr Royal Highness no Scotchman will ever forget it , and I " can * speak on behalf of

the Grand Lodge of Scotland , with which I have been so long connected , having served every office in it , from Junior Deacon up to Grand Master , having been not quite a holiday Freemason , bnfc worked my way from the ranks up to the position I have the honour to hold now . His Royal Highness has this day told us what the duties of Freemasonry are , and there is no doubt he has summed

them up in two words—Loyalty and Charity—which includes mercy , a quality that has been described by the greatest of poets as becoming "the throned Monarch better than his crown . " There can be no doubt that under the auspices of the Most Worshipful Grand Master the Grand Lodgo of England will flonrish , and will continue to be a standard for Masonry all over the world . ( Hear

hear . ) I beg to thank you on behalf of the Grand Lodgo of Scotland , and I should have felt entirely happy in all tho arrangements that you have given mo the opportunity of addressing you this evening if I had not found that the Brother about to follow me is in a much better position than myself ; for , while we aro placed , according to the book of songs before me , " By tho Sad Sea Waves , "

he has the pleasure of being " By Celia ' s Arbour . " ( Laughter and cheers . ) In reply , Brother R . W . Shekleton , Deputy-Grand Master of Ireland , said , —Your Royal Highnesses , my Lords and Brethren , —I havo been deputed by his Grace the Grand Master of Ireland to express to you his great personal regret that his official duties as a

Viceroy of Her Most Gracious Majesty , debar him from being present here in person , to do all honour to your Royal Highness , and in his behalf to bid you all hail , in the name of the Fraternity of the sister kingdom . Your Royal Highnoss , and brethrenin England , on behalf of his Grace , I desire to tender to you his most grateful acknowledgements for the way in which his name has been received , and tho

invitation which was extended to him to take part in the imposing and august ceremonial of to-day . But , your Royal Highness , there is another matter of which , as far as I am aware , his Grace was not cognizant until to-day , and that is the honour you have conferred upon him by installing his son in the Grand Senior Warden ' s Chair . ( Applause . ) As his Grace takes great interest in Freemasonry , tho

hononr which you have conferred npon his son is one of tho greatest honours you could confer on him personally . On behalf of those who represent the Grand Lodge of Ireland I should be wanting in my duty if I did not take this occasion of thanking yon for this opportunity of taking part in the ceremony of to-day—an event which will bean era in onr . Masonic lives . Wethankjyou also for haying been invited to take