A Grand banquet and reception waas given by Damas-Cus Commandery at Keokuk, Iowa, Oct. 21, 1875.

Welcome, Sir Knights ! the Chapter stands
With open arms and outstretched hands !
Damascus greets, with beaming eye,
The chosen of the Mystic Tie !
And wreathes in green her banquet hall
For those who heed her kindly call.

Grand Knighthood ! though not understood
The mystery of thy Brotherhood,
We know each solemn rite conferred
Is symboled in His Holy Word,
And that an origin divine
Is traced through every secret sign.

The Red Cross ! not yourselves can claim
This sign alone, ―'tis ours the same.
To it the sinner turns to see
The dying throes on Calvary,
And learn Redemption's price was paid
By Him on Whom our guilt was laid.

Who dares antiquity disdain
That reaches back to Bethlehem's plain ?
Rolls back the ages farther still,
To rest upon Mount Zion's hill?
Claims the same paths the prophets trod,
And lifts the spirit up to God ?