Marquis Of Granby Lodge, No. 124.

MARQUIS OF GRANBY LODGE , No . 124 .

THE Annual Banquet of St . John tho Evangelist , in connection with this Lodge , was held on Tuesday , tho 8 th inst ., in the Masonio Hall , Durham , under peculiarly gratify ing and auspicious circumstances . Seventy-two members sat down to dinner , being the largest gathering that has taken place on any similar occasion in the city of Durham since the Lodgo was established—one hundred

and seventeen years ago . Bro . T . Bell ( Her Majesty ' s Inspector of Mines ) the W . M . presided , supported on his right by tho Wor . Bro . W . L . Robertson ( Mayor of Durham ) ; Bros . W . Brignal P . P . G . R ., Blackett D . C , Lawrence P . P . D ., Dr . Linton P . M ., W . F . Hall . & c . and on the left by Bros . Sam . Holdsworth I . P . M ., Johnson P . P . G . S . B ., Fenny P . M ., and Ground P . M . The W . M . of the Earl Durham Lodge , the

W . M . of the Wear Valley Lodge , the W . M . of the Deloraine Lodge , Northumberland , and Bros . W . Hawkaley , Herbert Robson , Logan , Bowsfield , and Thompson P . S . W ., Barnsley , Ac , were also present . The following officers took their respective places , viz ., Bros . W . Coxon ( Master Elect ) as S . W ., G . G . Forsteras J . W ., S . Wilson ( Dar . lin » ton ) S . D ., G . Oldham J . D ., James Fowler Treasurer , R . Laverick

I . G ., Andrew Carr Hon . Sec , and John Carter Tyler . The banquet was well served up by Bro . Iveson , of the Hat and Feather Hotel , of this city , and gave great satisfaction , both as to the manner in which the dinner was put on the table and the service connected with it . The wines , which were also supplied by Bro . Iveson , were of a very snpericr quality . Before the cloth was removed the usual loving

cup , being the silver one presented by Lord Crewe ( Bishop of Durbam ) to tho Durham Corporation was passed round , after whioh Non nobis , Domine was sung by way of grace by Bros . Walker , Leafcham , Welsh and Goodhead , of the Cathedral choir , in first-class style . The nsual Loyal and Masonic toasts were g iven with considerable efficiency by the WM . During the course of the W . M . 's

observations , he referred to the progress of Masonry in the city of Durham , and more particularly to the rapid accession of high-class members who had been admitted daring his presidency , they numbering no less than twenty-seven initiations and twelve joining members ; and he might say that this eminently satisfactory state of things was unprecedented in the history of the Lodge .

In further alluding to the events of the year , he took , the opportunity of paying a high tribute of respect , whioh , he said , the brethren entertained , to the late Worthy and Worshipful Prov . G . M . Bro . John Fawcett , who had so long and faithfully served tho Masonic Craft in this county . The W . M . also remarked that he was glad His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Grand Master

of England had in his wisdom thought proper to appoint a most popular successor to Bro . Fawcett in the person of the Most Hon . the Marquis Londonderry , who he had no doubt would prove a worthy snccessor , especially if he might jndge from what was said at his recent installation concerning him . During the evening , the

musical gentlemen rendered quintettes , songs , glees , and duets in their well-known efficient manner . After what we have already said , ifc is scarcely necessary to state that it will be an easy task for our readers to imagine that the evening was spent in that love and harmony which are so peculiarly characteristic of the brethren of the mystic tie .

The Polish National Lodge.

THE POLISH NATIONAL LODGE .

THE regular meeting of this Lodge was held afc Freemasons' Hal ! on Thursday , the 9 th inst . ; Bro . Dr . Victor Jagielski W . M . presided . There were present—Bros . Dr . Corrie Jackson S . W ., Lancaster J . W ., Smith S . D ., Eiintz J . D ., Baling I . G ., Bryant D . C , Paas Sec , Nowakowski Treas . Past Masters—Bros . Aspinall ( Immediate ) , Camming and Ebner . Visitors—Bros . Lowson , Potts , Tees , Corbie , Cbigwell , Baldwin , Hervey , Gielguel , Dr . Mordaunt Sigismnnd , and a large muster of brethren . There was little bnsiness . A motion was introduced by Bro . Bryant to alter the Bye . laws in reference to

members of Polish nationality , and the jewel presented to members . Considerable discussion took place , but nothing definite was decided on . A desultory discussion then occupied many of the brethren as to the advisability of electing a former Brother Preceptor as honorary member ; that likewise came to grief . It was with a considerable amount of relief that the brethren were called upon to assist in closing

Lodge , and the adjournment to the banquetting hall tended to soothe the somewhat turbulent element , aggravated by an unusually long Bitting and empty stomachs . Hunger and thirst once assuaged , matters took their ordinary and placid course . The W . M . proposed the customary Loyal and Masonic toasts , which were drunk most heartily . The I . P . M ., Bro . Aspinall , then took possession of the

gavel , and in a few felicitous words proposed the health of the W . M ., of whom , he said , the Lodge had reason to be proud . Dr . Jagielski , in returning thanks , impressed npon the brethren in a very forcible manner the fact that not only are the duties of the chair onerous , but that a W . M . ' s personal feelings in whatever concerns the Lodge are subservient to the wishes of the brethren—in fact , he completely

loses his own identity in being , as it were , not only the servant , but the expounder of the desires of tbe Lodgo over which he presides . In eloquent terms he went on to assure the brethren that his duty to the Lodge was uppermost in his mind , and while he wielded the gavel his only solicitude would be the welfare of that Lodge which he loved so well . The health of the P . M . 's was then drank , and replied

to by Bros . Aspinall , Camming , Nowakowski , and Ebner . The other toasts included that of the Visitors , and was suitably acknowledged by Bros . Lowson , Corbie , Baldwin , and Sigismnnd . Bro . Dr . Sigismnnd , after thanking the W . M . for the kind reception he had that evening received , said , When the Initiate first sees the light of Masonry he

is told that the Order stands aloof from politics as well as creeds ; I am therefore not privileged to touch npon either one or the other . I cannot , however , refrain from remarking that the jewel with which so many of the brethren are decorated has a peculiar signification . It represents a bird , white in colour , emblematic of

The Polish National Lodge.

its purity ; a bird that has a grand yet sad history ; a bird which once upon a time spread its wings and took flight to foreign parts , carrying civilization wherever it went , being the harbinger of peace , and bringing succour to thoso who stood in need of her aid ; a bird which nofc only fought most valiantly in its own territory , but whose whito crest might havo been seen crowning the banners under the

walls of Vienna , when a barbarous foe threatened to annihilate thafc beautiful city ; a bird which , centuries afterwards , fought heroically under the walls of Leipsic—ifc wns the bird of Sobieski and Kuszioski , of whom might wifch truth be said , non sibi , sed patrice , not for themselves but for their country did they live ; a bird that had seen many a hard-fought battle , always magnanimous in victory , and glorious

in defeat , until it met with a most terrible foe ; although one of its own kind , it was a most unnatural , monster-like formation ; a bird with two heads . In the long and sanguinary struggle which then ensued , the bird I allude to found considerable difficulty in coping with the terrible monster ; its allies and friends then gradually deserted it , and finally betrayed it . After a long and unequal struggle ,

it succumbed . No sooner did the spectators—members of the animal kingdom—see the noble and brave bird lying in the throes of death , stretched before them faint and bleeding , its wings broken and its talons torn from it—in fact , all but lifeless—when , with true bestial ferocity , they fell upon it in order to devour ifc , each claiming a share of the prey . The double-headed monster—black in colour , a sign of

evil omen—firmly clutched our poor bird in its grip , taking the lion's share , and defying with threatening attitude any and every feeble attempt that might be made by others to extricate its victim . Thafc bird , my brethren , is no * dead . To-night I am not only forcibly reminded of its history , but I have the conviction that , although weak and helpless , in a state of coma , its physical powers paralysed , ifc is

not dead . There is a great affinity between that bird and two others —one a proud , the other a powerful one . We Masons are well aware that before the Great Architect of the Universe we are all equal : it is the fundamental principle of our Order . That bird may not always have been imbned with that Masonic attribute ; ifc did not always mete out freedom and eqn lity to its children ; might ifc nofc thus have

transgressed and received its punishment ? bufc oh , what a punishment ! far beyond the crime . Bnt the Most Hig h ' is merciful , and will , in His own appointed time , forgive that transgression . The time will yet come when the two other birds of its kind will bid it rise from its lethargic sleep and follow their own example ; her sister in the far West will not forget how bravely , how valiantly some of her

exiled children strove to add their mite to the great and unsuccessful struggle for independence . Only recently I was very nearly feeling the talons of that terrible bird . I travelled in the country over which ifc sways and , but for tho bird under whose wings I stand ifc might have fared hard with me . The fearful monster conld not stand the clear and steady gaze of that proud and defiant bird ,

surrounded by a halo of stars ; its wings widely spread , a refuge for the oppressed —it cowed before it . Our whito bird—a representative of which adorns your breasts—will yet live to see the day when its unnatural foe , gorged with prey of a multitudinous kind , will turn its beaks towards each other and rend itself asunder . Some excellent songs were given by two of the brethren , and with tbe Tyler's toast the evening came to a close .

The Great City Lodge, No. 1426.

THE GREAT CITY LODGE , No . 1426 .

THE monthly meeting of this Lodge was held on Saturday even , in ? , 11 th December , at the Cannon-street Hotel . Bros . T . Hamer W . M ., C Taylor S . W ., Freeman P . M . ( J . W . pro tem ) , N . B . Headon P . M . Treasurer , G . W . Blackie P . M . Secretary ; P . M . ' s Stevens , Seex , Stanway , and the following Visitors : —Bros . Venables 1432 , J . Block 1423 , Shearing 223 , H . Hollis 167 , Postans 167 , T . Poore P . M . 720 , J . Hollington W . M . 933 , G . A . Low W . M . 1670 , J . Glaning P . M

167 , & c There was also a tolerably numerous attendance of members . The Lodge having been opened and the minutes of the previons meeting read and confirmed , the Lodge was opened in the second degree , and Bro . Matthews waa questioned as to his proficiency in the science . The Lodge was then opened in the third decree , and he was most ably raised to the degree of M . M ., the W . M .

most ably acquitting himself in the performance of this important ceremony . Bro . Blackie I . P . M . and Secretary afterwards gave tho traditional history of the degree , and an explanation of the working tools . The Lodge was then closed to the first degree , when some business connected with the general arrangements of the installation meeting were discussed , and the Lodge was closed in dne

form . The brethren and visitors than adjourned for refreshment , and afc the conclusion of the repast the W . M . said he had great pleasure in asking the brethren to join with him in drinking what was always the first toast amongst Freemasons , and , indeed , in all assemblies of Englishmen ; ifc was the health of Her Majesty the Queen , who had sat for many years on the throne of these realms , and whose name

was dear to all Englishmen . In giving her health he coapled wifch ifc the Craft , which was cordially responded to . The W . M . then , in a manner which commended itself to all , gave in one toast the health of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Grand Master , the Earl of Carnarvon Pro Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom Deputy Grand Master , and the rest of the Graid Officers past and present . In asking the

brethren to join him in drinking this toasfc , he said ifc was a most comprehensive one , and it did not require many words from him to ensure for it a hearty reception . It was at all times the desire of the Grand Officers to have the confidence of the brethren , and although they wero looked upon with a jealous eye , he believed that their position , as the elite of the Craft , had always been fully

maintained . The toasfc was heartily responded to . Bro . Blackie I . P . M . said the brethren would be aware what was his object in rising to address them ; it was to propose the health of the W . M . He had afc the last Lodge gone fully into the merits of their W . M ., bnt the manner in which he had gone through the third degree that evening must have been a gratifying surprise to them , as it was the first