Metropolitan.

was very satisfactory . The lodge was then closed , and the hrethren adjourned to a very handsome banquet , which did credit to Bros . Elkington and the venerable lodge Steward , AV . Watson . After grace had been said , and the cloth removed , the new W . M ., Bro . GEOROE SMITH , rose and saicl : —Brethren , in every assemblage of Britons—more particularly at social meetings and festive boards—the loyalty of our countrymen is first exemplified ba toast in honour of the august ladwho is

y y our Sovereign , and " the fountain of honour" in this mighty empire . To dilate upon her Majesty ' s many virtues is a somewhat difficult task , because it presupposes such an intimacy with tho ruler of the land that few can pretend to lay claim to . Therefore , as Englishmen , as loyal men ancl Freemasonsand every Freemason is , or ought to be , a loyal man —I beg to propose the first toast of the eveningthe

, daughter of a Freemason , and our Sovereign , summed up in one brief sentence , "The Queen and the Craft . " —After the National Anthem had been sung , the W . M . proceeded to say that the brethren , having proved their loyalty to the Queen , must now eome a step or two lower in the social scale , to show their obedience to the elected chief of the Craft . Here

again one could not boast of an intimacy with the Grand Master ; ancl though that was a red apron lodge , there were very few brethren any nearer connected with bis lordship than being a Grand Steward , which was the nearest approach to grand office by members of the Globe Lodge . However , that might pass : as the Earl of Zetland had been rechosen so many years as Grand Master , they were all bound to suppose he had done something for Freemasonryancl bow to his positionThe next

, . toast would be "The Most Worshipful Grand Master , the Earl of . Zetland . "—The W . MASTEE rose and said , the health of the Grand Officers , past and present , came next , and at their head was a nobleman known for talents as a statesmen , oratory of no mean order , ancl a most zealous Deputy Grand Master . In that lodge they had a past and present Grand Officer . There was their Past Master , Bro . Thomas Alexander Adams , a Past Grand

Officer , who , he regretted to find , was absent on that occasion , and Bro . Kirby , the Grand Steward of the year . The W . M . said he would couple the name of Bro . Kirby with the toast , because , when his year of office expired—thanks to the usages which found support in headquarters —he would no longer be regarded as a Grand , or even Past Grand Officer ; and he thought if red-apron lodges

were to bear the expenses in honour of the Most Worshipful Grand Master , they should sometimes participate in the rewards his lordship could bestow . He then gave " The Health of the Right Worshipful tho Deputy Grand " Master , the Earl de Grey and Ripon , with the rest of the Grand Officers , ancl their present Grand Steward , Bro . ICirby . " —Bro . Knsisr , Grand Steward , was very happy to return thanks on behalf of such a nobleman as the Deputy Grand Master ; and although the

members ofthe Globe Lodge were but Grand Officers for the year , it was a proud thing for them to be associated , even for that brief period , with the Earl de Grey and Ripon . For his own part , he hoped to see many brethren of No . 23 in the office he held , and hoped they would all endeavour to support the dignity of the Globe Lodge ; and he returned his sincere thanks for the compliment they had so kindly paid him . —The AY . MASTER said all Freemasons were proud in receiving a now

brother into Freemasonry , and the Globe Locigo was behind none in this respect ; still , they must remember that it was not in numbers alone that respectability and comfort were to be'found . He would be one of the last to advocate a limitation , as unalterable as the laws of the Medes and Persians , to their numbers , but they ought to bear in mind that they did not initiate gentlemen for themselves only , but made them part and parcel of the great

body of Freemasons—not of the Globe Lodge only , but of the globe itself . , Their lodge was one of the eighteen privileged who furnish the Craft with their Grand Stewards , ancl they ought , on that account as well , to be doubly particular as to those they received . That day they had admitted a brother amongst them . Ho was yet young in their mysteries and customs , and so could not be supposed to comprehend , at a glance , the deep

meanings and recondite subjects which appertain to Freemasonry . But , as he proceeded , it was to be hoped he would feel a stimulus to make himself better acquainted with their principles which , if rightly comprehended , would clo him no little service aud them no small honour . Brother Usher ' s proposer had chosen that lodge for his initiation . He came to them well and worthily recommended , and they cordially greeted him as a brother Freemason . He would , no doubt , form many

friendships from the step he had taken that day , ancl he hoped they would be as stable as he could desire , and they could wish . Might he ever regard that , his mother lodge , with the feelings of a dutiful child , and long be spared as an ornament to it , and continue one of its happiest offspring . The W . M . then gave the initiate ' s health . —Bro . USHER thanked them very cordially and sincerely , and hoped , as he progressed in the knowledge of the fraternityhe should make a similar progress

, in thcii-goocl opinion . —The W . MASTER observed that visitors were ever welcome to their lodge , but they sadly puzzled a Master who did not know their antecedents . They , too , were said to be " distinguished visitors , " and that made his position ten times worse . If lie said the right thing of the rigM man in the right place he should esteem himself very fortunate ; but if he omitted to say the same right thing of the rest of the right brethren , he

would be equally unfortunate , and , to avoid that difficulty , he read the list of those ' ' present . No doubt they were all good men and true , or their friends of the lodge would not have asked them there . He know the brethren felt with him that they were glad to see them . They welcomed them in the most fraternal spirit , ancl hoped they would like them so well that they would come again . As Masons , they ought to be courteous

to brethren—proud of the honour they had done them by coming there—sorry to part with them when they left—but happy to meet them again . He then gave '' The Health of our Visitors . "—Bro . RITTERBRANDT , on behalf of tho visitors , " returned thanks , aud said he had been to the lodge many years before , when it was not quite as prosperous ; but he was happy to congratulate them on their progress , and he was save that

feeling was shared by every visitor present . —The AV . M ASTEF , addressing the Immediate Past Master , Bro . Gibbons , said he would he very brief with him , known as he was to every member of the lodge . He was well aware of their love and respect towards him . The duties of AVorshipful Master had been most ably and efficiently performed by him last year , and the lodge , through him ( Bro . Geo . Smith ) , requested his acceptance of a jewel as a tangible token of its esteem . In placing it upon his ( Bro . Gibbons' ) breast , he expressed the hope that he might wear it with as much pleasure for many years as the lodge felt in giving it , and he trusted Bro . Gibbons

might have health , strength , and happiness , with every other good wish that the Globe Lodge and its Master coulcl desire for him , or he could wish for himself . —Bro . GIBBONS , I . P . M ., felt highly gratified by the kind and cordial expressions of the W . M . He was very happy to say that he looked'back with some degree of pride , and no small pleasure , to his year of office . The brethren had kindly and warmly supported him , ancl he knew how to appreciate their favour . He was much

flattered by the gift of the jewel lie had just received , and would tell them honestly he had tried to deserve it ; and , as they had given it , he supposed he might consider his endeavours to have been successful . Although he was now a P . M ., that would make no difference in his feelings , but thanking both his officers of last year , and the brethren , for their sympathy and kindness , he would promise them his future conduct should be to use his best interests to servo the Globe Lodge . Bro .

Gibbons then proposed tho health of the now W . M ., to which Bro . GEORGE SMITH replied , very neatly and briefly , requesting them to suspend their judgment until his term of office had expired , when , if he did as they coulcl wish , nothing would bo more welcome than their praise . —The AV . MASTEB was sure he would be pardoned , but there were so many Past Masters of the lodge , aud in the locigo , that he was entirely at a loss where to begin . But as he must go in , ho acknowledged that

to the P . M . ' s of the lodge , they were all deeply indebted . Every one of them had done his duty to tho lodge , and to single one out more than another , would be an invidious task ; therefore , he gave the health of the P . M . ' s of the lodge , and hoped they would arrange amongst ^ themselves who should respond . —¦ Bro . AY . AVATSON , father of tlie lodge , was delighted at the very kind manner in which the P . M . ' s were ahvays treated by every member of the lodge . It was pleasant to them to see how well

the lodge was supported , ancl what a vigorous child it had grown . The P . M ' s hailed with satisfaction the position of the lodge , ancl desired to make themselves useful at all times . If assistance was required , they were there to lend it ; but with a AA ' . M . and I . P . M . so able to do their duties , the P . M . s' lot was a light one . Deeply gratified at the prosperity of tho lodge , they , the P . M . 's , one and all felt the Globe Lodge was a great success , and they had each , in their turn , helped to contribute to it . With such feelings he , on behalf of the P . M . 's and him-