Royal Arch.

It ought not to be a difficult task for any Mason to respond for this toast , for it was a testimony to the estimable qualities and labours of one who deserved it at the hands of one and all of the brotherhood —( applause)—for his heart was with the interests of all . He had served three apprenticeships to the office and they had asked him to serve a fourth . He ( Bro . Savage ) remembered when they had a Prince of the Royal blood at the head of their lodgesand that Prince was worthilsucceeded . Bro . Savage

, y then spoke warmly and eloquently of the merits of his brother officers of the Grand Lodge , and sat down amid loud applause Air by tbe band . The CHAIRMAN gave as the next toast , "The Right " Worshipful Provincial Grand Master , tbe Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master , and the Grand Officers of the Province , Past and Present

. " The progress which Freemasonry had made in the province of Cumberland and Westmoreland during the period in which their worthy brother , the Provincial Grand Master , had held office , was very great . He regretted that the Deputy Provincial Grand Master , and the Provincial Grand Chaplain , were unable to be present , but they had a worthy representative in the Assistant Chaplain , the Rev . Bro . Curwen . ( Applause . ) Glee , by Messrs . Winn , Coates , and Land . Bro . DYKES , in responding , said that no one could look upon

the proceedings upon this occasion with greater pleasure than he did . The manner in which everything had been arranged hitherto reflected the greatest credit upon the Masonic body at Kendal . There had been a Masonic zeal and ability manifested , which could not but redound very much to the advantage of the Order in the province , and therefore to the benefit of society generally , which could receive no more benificent influence in its social than the efficient ing out of

progress carry the principles of Freemasonry , and the increased influence and position of the Masonic body . ( Applause . ) Freemasonry was so _ extending in Westmoreland that he thought the county might soon have a fair claim to conduct its own affairs , and have its own separate establishment . ( Cheers . ) Ho for one did not see the slightest reason why the county of Westmoreland should not hold a position to which its Masonic rank

seemed fairly entitled . ( Cheers . ) The toast was also acknowledged by the Rev . Bro . Curwen . The CHAIRMAN rose and said , that with reference to tbe next toast , which he thought could more suitably be proposed by tbe Provincial Grand Master , but which in the list had been delegated to him , he had been requested to prepare on paper some introductory remarks . Considering the circumstances of the case and the short time at their disposal , he thought , and perhaps all would agree with him , that reading the paper had better be omitted .

This , however , was overruled , and Bro . Whitwell read as follows : — Ladies , gentlemen , and brethren , on this occasion we recognise the fact that our lodge has been in existence one hundred years , for it was on the 31 st day of July , in the year 1764 , that the Grand Lodge of England granted a warrant , under the hand of Viscount Blaney , then Grand Master , authorising the establishment of this lod at the Swan HotelAs the

ge . warrant is issued to no less a number than eighteen brethren , there is every reason to believe that several Masons existed in Kendal before then . At any rate , the one hundred years ( which it is believed constitute this lodge the oldest in the province ) have passed and gone , and we form part of a venerable structure , now , we trust , renewing again its ancient youth , and taking a new lease , we hope , of good works , high hopes , and noble actions

. Remember , our lodge is not one of those structures that , built by the hands of our ancient Freemason brethren , seem to defy time with their beauty and stability , yet even the lofty cathedral and the frowning tower must in the end crumble and fall ; but our mansion is one of living stones , built up of life , and . ' partaking of all the joys and woes of humanity . In looking at the names which have been inscribed on the

roll of this lodge , I can scarcely find one of any well-known Kendal family absent . Earlier or later , one or other member or connection seems to have been a member of our Order . I find more than one Swainson , Moser , Bellingham , Ycates , Fell , Holme , Fenton , Berry , Halhead , Shepherd , Jackson , Lonsdale , Te Fleming , Wilson , Busher , Ireland , Lambert , Goff , Braitliwaite , Masterson , Whitwell , Atkinson , Webster , & c . ( Applause . ) " Thus the records of our lodge recall that stream of living time that is ever flowing past us , " stimulating us to works of

benevolence and labours of love . Perhaps it may not be uninteresting to add that when the lodge was at its highest position of prosperity in olden time , it numbered fifty-one members , and contained men of the first distinction in the town or neighbourhood . I see three clergymen , one or two physicians , several surgeons , a baronet , lawyers , merchants , shearmen , & c , and for the number in the lodge a remarkable number of ' mariners' Whether a larger number of the population were

. engaged in maritime pursuits t whether the advantages of Freemasonry made every Ken d al captain of a vessel seek to enter the lodge , I cannot say "~ but he who meets with many strangers is wise to do so . ( Applause . ) I merely state the fact . " Before I leave these old records , I will give my brethren present the most profitable conclusions I can draw from the

ancient journals of the lodge , and that is , that so long as I traced the entries on the debit side of the cash book—so much for relief of a distressed brother , line after line ; so much to Grand Lodge for charity ; so long as I found Mr . So and So applied to be admitted to the privileges of Freemasonry , wasballoted for and rejected , even one , two , and three times , and these rejections frequently occurring ; so long as I found a

very considerable entry , but yet such an entry exists , _ that Bro . So and So , from his conduct , is deprived of the privileges of the Order—so long the lodge throve , increased , and prospered . ( Applause . ) "But when the contributions to Grand Lodge Charities cease to appear , when the rejection of candidates became few and ceased , when no record of expulsion appears , then the

lodge became less prosperous , the applications for admission came from a difi ' erenfc class , and the minutes and accounts look less systematic and more loose . The lodge began to decay in numbers and strength . Let us , brethren , gather up the experience of grey hairs—the wisdom of a century—and let caution , charity , and nobility of aim animate our new course . ( Applause . ) take

" We have grand examples before us . The Jew may up his records and believe in his ancient lineage , but where are his monuments ? Ruins in the hands of the heathen . The Freemason takes up his records , and he finds the lineage of his

Order rivalling that of the Jew ; but the monuments of those who have gone before him are everywhere . And now , ladiesand ; gentlemen , were I to go far away up into the stream of time , I might tell you of the early records of Freemasonry , but that I leave to others , or a more fitting opportunity ; sufficient is it to speak of the wonderful organisation , the very same as that which now exists , by which only could have been erected those lendid temples of worshibuilt in the middle ages .

sp p " When the Cathedral of Cologne , the wonder of Germany ,, had to be erected , it was entrusted to Gerhard , Master of the Cologne Lodge of Masons , who commenced the work in the middle of the thirteenth century . Survey Germany in that period . Whence could such an exquisite and remarkable a structure have sprung up had it not been accomplished by a regular organisation of men infinitely more intelligent , aye ,,

intellectual , than those around him ? ( Applause . ) "So also at St . Owen , at Rouen , where every sculptured stone seems the work of an artist . So also at the church at Strasburgh , with its spire nearly 500 ft . high , in the building of which the Master of the lodge educated so many Masons that they branched off in various lodges , and in a variety of directions , under the headship of Masters appointed over them , to

build new churches and cathedrals in Germany , France , England , and other parts of Europe ; that the German lodges alonebecame sufficiently numerous as to assemble in vast numbers at Ratisbon , in 1459 , and united themselves under a German Grand Master , by an act of fraternity , which received the sanction of the Emperor Maximilian , in 1498 . Although we know that soearlas the ninth century this country imported Freemasons

y from France to erect our ancient ecclesiastical structures , yet we also know that lodges were early established in England ; , and it may interest some present , who have gazed with admiration on St . Paul ' s , that that ornament of London was erected by Wren , the great architect and builder , himself the Master of the lodge , whose members wore his subordinate agents . The records of the Freemasons' lodge over which Wren presided are

still preserved . Now , ladies , I have spoken only of the pure practical lodges of Masons ; but without revealing more secrets than I think my brethren will allow me to communicate , I may tell you that there are other branches of our brotherhood who turn their attention to high antiquarian and intellectual themes .