Count Salcza responded, and, speaking in French, he passed a high eulogium on Freemasonry, and expressed his great gratification at the magnificent ceremony that had been witnessed in the afternoon, laying especial stress upon the Masonic good feeling between Sweden and Great Britain. He spoke of himself as feeling that he stood among friends and brothers, and he thanked them for their cordial reception.
His Royal Highness the Grand Master then said:—
"Brethren, we are honoured here this evening by the representatives of the Grand Lodges of Scotland, of Ireland, and of Sweden, and I feel convinced that you will all drink with me most cordially and most heartily to their health. The Grand Lodge of England is always most desirous 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 Dalhousie. It also gives me great pleasure to propose the health of the representative of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, coupled with the name of Brother Shekleton, Deputy Grand Master. I have also the great privilege of being Patron of the Irish Grand Lodge, which honour I also remember, a few years ago, receiving from the late Duke of Leinster, 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 Sweden it affords the great pleasure to couple with this toast the name of the Admiral on my left. As my earliest associations in Freemasonry have been with the Grand Lodge of Sweden, I know when I address those gentlemen I see before me they will appreciate the pleasure it affords me in proposing this toast. 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 Dickson.' 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 your Royal Highness has done the deputation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland is warmly appreciated by them. I am glad, indeed, to have the opportunity after so many years' connexion with the Grand Lodge of Scotland—no less than twenty-five years—of congratulating the craft of England and your Royal Highness also, upon the most magnificent scene I have ever witnessed in my life.
"I am glad also to think that the splendour, and, I must add, admirable management of the display to-day, does not quite efface from your Royal Highness's recollection, the scene upon a similar scale which we endeavoured to offer you when we had the honour of having your name as Patron of the Scottish craft. Your Royal Highness has been good enough to say that you have not forgotten the occasion. I can assure your 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, but 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 Lodge of England will flourish, and will continue to be a standard for Masonry all over the world."
Brother R. W. Shekleton, Deputy Grand Master of Ireland, spoke of the loyalty of Irish Masons, who are, he said, "remarkable for fear of God, fealty to the Sovereign, love to the brotherhood, and friendship to all classes and creeds."
Brother Admiral Oscar Dickson returned thanks in the name of the Swedish Grand Lodge for the honour conferred upon them.
The Most Worshipful Grand Master then proposed the toast of various Grand Officers and Brethren, according to custom. Sir Erasmus Wilson replied for the Stewards, whose special duty it was, with the aid of their good Brother Francatelli (the Master Cook), to see to the humble but necessary ceremonies consequent on our sublunary existence; or, in the beautiful words of our Ritual: "to lead them to unite in the grand design of being happy and communicating happiness."