No. 79 And The Old Lodge Lists.

In my last paper I called the Enwliuson list a 1733 list , but upon further consideration I feel satisfied that it was mainly copied from a 1732 list , and tho few Lodges added to it rp to 2 b ' th July 1733 , wero obtained from tho Graud Secretary about tho last-named date ,

for if he bad had before him a complete 1733 list , he would not have stopped where he did , but would have added tho five remaining podges , which complete the list for 1733 . It is , therefore , possible that No . 79 may have been blank even in tho 1732 list , but it was certainly so on 26 th July 1733 .

I havo already stated that Rawlinson was an LL . D . and a F . E . S ., but , strange to say , tho name of Dr . Richard Rawlinson is not to be found either in the " EncyclopaediaBritannica , " in "Chambers ' , " nor in Charles Knight ' s " English Encyclopaedia . " I found out , however , something about him at last in Alibone ' s " Dictionary of Authors . "

Thoro is quite a lengthy paragraph in that work about R . Rawlinson , but it is not a biography ; it consists of numerous hints , from which a biographer might collect materials for his purpose . Two facts must be noticed here , viz ., Dr . Rawlinson died in 1759 , and " Tho Sale of Richards's Collection of Books , MSS ., etc ., employed fifty-eight days . " So saysAlibono .

Bro . Rawliuson's Masonic zeal may bo judged from his having been a member of several Lodges , from his collection of a number of Masonic curiosities , and from the pains ho took in compiling his Lodge list upon an entirely novel plan , as I shall presently show . Hence I have a right to assume that a man of that peculiar tasto ancl method would never havo stopped short with his list in tho middle of

the year , if he had had the complete 1733 list before him ; tho probability therefore is that he copied the main part from a 1732 list , and obtained the numbers of tho several Lodges constituted in 1733 from tho Grand Secretary . As wc aro indebted to tho Rev . Bro . J . S . Sidebotham for tho little information about Rawliuson ' s Masonry , aud about his Masonic curiosities still preserved at Oxford , I shall quote lis own words about Bro . Rawliuson's Lodge list , as follows : —

" The list of recognised Lodges existing at that timo may not be uninteresting . Bro . Rawlinson evidently intended to make it a complete list of every member of the Craft , and he has devoted at least an entire page to every Lodgo ; most of these are , however , blank , ancl , as in all pages which contain tho list of members of the liod j ^ e , his own name appears , we may infer that he only completed the lists of the Lodges to which he himself belonged . "

I trust that the few hints indicated about a distinguished and learned brother will induce some Masonic scholar to collect and combine all tho materials aud facts about Dr . Rawlinson , so that Masons may know something more about him . I am sure the brother who would do that would enhance the value of a Masonic paper far more , aud would confer a greater service to tho Craft , than all those who

till our magazines with accounts of Ancient Mysteries , Rosicrucianism , Templarism , and what not ; all whioh has about as much to do with Masonry as the man in the moon . I must here only add , should Alibono ' s Dictionary be not readily obtaiuablo in England , for it is a Philadelphia publicatiou , tho desired information will probably bo found in Watt's " Bibliotheca Britannica . " Ancl now I must

resume the Lodgo lists . Bro . Hughan found in the Lodge list appended to Smith ' s Pocket Companion , 1728 , a London Lodge , inserted ancl attached to No . 79 . I at first supposed that the Lodges may have been renumbered in 1738 , and that No . SO took the rank of 79 , or if any other blanks existed then hig her up on the list , some other Lodges lower down were pushed up to No . 79 . I have , however , now before me a Smith ' s

Pocket Companion of 1738 , but tho Lodgo list appended thereto was printed in 1737 . Between No . 2 and No . 120 fifteen numbers are blank ; and tho Lodges numbered 78 ancl 80 are precisely the same Lodges as those of tho earlier lists , so that there could have been no pushing up or tho renumbering of Lodges that year ; and between Nos . 78 ancl 80 , the following is inserted : " 79 , Two Angels and a Crown , Little St . Martin ' s Lane , 2 nd and 4 th Friday . "

I said that tho Lodge list was printed in 1737 ; but as the last Lodge on tho list is dated 20 th April 1737 , the ma n part of that list must have been copied from a 173 G list , and tho few Lodges that were constituted in 1737 , the editor must have obtained from the Grand Secretary . The question now to bo decided is , where did that

Lodge como from that assumed No . 79 in 173 b' or 37 ? Had it been a Lodge of tho Ancients , I would have supposed that they sold the old No . 79 to a new Lodge ; but the Grand Lodge of England never sold the rank or precedency of its defunct Lodges ; why then , did the Lodge that was held in 1736 , at tho Two Angels and the Crown , assume the number of a Lodge that was constituted iu 1731 ?

To this question one rational answer only can bo given , viz ., that the very identical No . 79 Lodge that was constituted in 1731 , after a dormancy of several years , was revised , ancl tho Grand Lodge allowed it to retain its original No . 79 . I am awaro , however , that the following law was enacted by the Grand Lodge , 24 th February 1735 ,

viz . — " If any Lodge within the Bills of Mortality shall ceaso to meet regularly during twelve mouths successive , its name aud place shall be erased or blotted out of the Grand Lodge Book and engraved list , and if they petition to be again inserted and owned as a regular Lodge , it must loso its former rank and precedency , and submit to a new Constitution . "

The seeming obstacle to my theory may , however , be removed under the following suppositions : —First , tho brethren of No . 79 may have petitioned tho Grand Lodge at that very meeting , when the above law was passed ; as there was no law then existing against their resumption of their old number , they wore allowed to resume it , and this very discussion may have suggested the necessity of a law to prevent other dormant Lodges from claiming their old rank , when they require to go to work again . And , second , supposing oven the petition for the restoration of its

No. 79 And The Old Lodge Lists.

old rank was made subsequent to tho passage of the above law , ifc may have been argued iu behalf of the petitioners , that a law cannot be made to retract for past offences ; hence the 1735 law camid only bo applied to Lodges that should siu thereafter , and not to those who had sinned before . In law term , it is called an v- post facto law , and furthermore , as several other Lodges had then ceased to

meet regularly , it was only good policy to reinstate No . 7 9 , so as to induce the other defaulters to do tho like . One or tho other of tho abovo suppositions may account for the restoration of the original Lodge . My theory is further strengthened fjy Dr . Anderson ' s list in his Constitution , 1738 , who added to tho Lodgo , that held its meetings at tho Two Angels , & c , " 1731 . "

It , then , my theory is admitted , it is not impossible that tho Graud Lodgo of England's record may establish it as a fact . I am awaro that the records of that period aro very meagre , aud the restoration of a Lodge may have been omitted from its minutes , but yot , something may bo found iu tho record about No . 79 . I havo therefore begged my ever obliging friend , the Grand Secretary of England ,

to search tho record from 21 th February 1735 to 1737 . I would make another suggestion still ; the chance is very faint ; but if we fail in ono direction , wo may find it in another . I perceive that three Lodges , constituted iu 1731 , are still in existence , and who knows whether ono of tho Lodges may not bo tho identical one that was originally No . 79 ? The Masters of those Lodges

ought therefore to bo questioned ; wo might learn something from tho exact date of a charter , or from tho successive change of tho numbers marked on tho margin . This inquiry , if it should bo deemed necessary , I am sure our Bro . Hughan , to whom tho fraternity is so greatly indebted for his manifold researches iu tho Masonic field of inquiry , would readily do for me .

Tho lndicrnous controversy about Masonic Mothership is mainly duo to a local pride among Americans . Each ono is pulled up with the notion , not only that America is the greatest country in tho world , but also that his State is tho greatest in tho country , and his city is , or will bo , the most important city iu tho State ; thus , in tho Masonic Magazine , Vol . II ., page 5 , Bro . MacCalla confesses that

he was tho moro pleased to acknowledge his former opinion about Boston being the Mother , & c , to have been wrong , because he was a Philadelphian , and ho went on to prove that Philadelphia was tho true Mother . Had ho proved his theory , I should not only havo supported him from a feeling of principle , but I would have been entitled to some applause as tho investigator of that inqm ' ry . But

on perusing his great article , I saw at ouco that there was moro assumption than proof , and I frankly pointed out by letter to him of his short . comings , ancl subsequently remonstrated in the press against his baseless conclusions . But strange to say , his notion spread liko wildfire . Dr . Mackey congratulated him , and only regretted thab the discovery came too late for his enshrining Mother Philadelphia

in his Encyclopaedia of ' Buncombe ., and tho other literati also congratu . lated . But when Bro . Hughan ' s No . 79 discovery reached here , Philadelphia became rank mad with excitement . True , onr Bro . Hughan qualified tho joyful tidings with an admission that tho Hoop Lodgo is not nampd in any so far known English Lodge list . But as ho expressed a hope that an earlier English list may yet ba

discovered , that may corroborate with tho Dublin 1735 list , the mere hope of Bro . Hughan was accepted as an accomplished fact , aud all united in singing Hosanna to No . 79 , tho new discovered Mother of American Masonry , ancl they have been singing so ever since . Bro . P . G . M . Nickerson , in the New England Freemason , endeavoured to recall these deluded ones to some degree of reason , bnt ho was only

jeered , and sneered , and laughed at for his pains . At last , earlier Lodge lists came to light , and assuming even that Bro . Hervey will be unable to throw any light on the history of No . 79 , yot these Lodgo lists by themselves havo settled tho vexed question . And should anyone still persist that the Lodge at the Hoop in Philadel phia was the No . 79 , then , let him explain why No . 79 is blank ou

Rawlinson s list , compiled 2 bth July 1733 ? why it is blank on Pine ' s list of 1731 ? why it is blank on all other English lists ? and last , and not least , why was a new Loudon Lodgo in 1736-7 the recipient of No . 79 ? I frankly confess that the streets of Philadelphia are more regular than that of auy city in tho world , that her system of numbering

houses is the most perfect system in tho world , that her Exhibition in 187 G was the largest in the world , that her Masonic Tempio is the finest aud grandest in tho world . When I visited Philadel phia I was most handsomely received by R . W . Bro . Thomson G . S . and P . G . M ., likewise Bro . MacCalla and other distinguished Philadelphia brethren , for which I am very grateful . 1 shall therefore say all I

can in behalf of Philadelphia , ancl I confess that in many respects Boston is far behind Philadelphia ; but nevertheless historic facts should never be perverted through per & onal preferences or prejudices , aud tho facts I laid before you aud your readers must convince any one that Philadelphi > cannot claim American Masonic Mothershi p from a legal standpoint .

And now thau my labour is completed , I cannot help sayin ^ to myself that , if the Irish brother in 1735 had known that his guesswork would occasion so much popping up , aud so much popping down , that it would give mo so much trouble to col ato ami compare till thoso Lodge lists ancl dates , and to ponder and discriminate between the old and new style , and in this hot season , too , with the

thermometer ranging about f ! 0 cleg . Fahrenheit , besides the trouble I havo to give you , and Bro . Hervey , and Bro . Hughan , aud perhaps to the three Woisliipful Masters ot the Lodges constituted in 1731 , besides the el ceteras too numerous to mention ; I say again if that brother had known all that , I am suro he would uovr r have been

guilty of giving " a local habitation and a name " to Ad . V : . And , in conclusion , I hope aud trust that this will bo a warning and a lesson to all present and future Masonic book makers , aud that they will take due notice thereof ancl govern themselves accordingly . So mote it be .

Bpstpu , UiS ., SPfch Jiii j 1977 i