United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

THE Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge was held on Wednesday evening , at Freemasons' HaU . General Brownrigg , Provincial Grand Master for Surrey , presided . Sir E . A . H . Leehmere , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master for Worcestershire , acted as Deputy Grand Master , Bro . Hugh D . Sandeman Past District Grand Master of Bengal as Past Grand Master , Col . Cole as Grand Senior Warden , and the Rev . Sir J . Warren Hayes as Grand Junior Warden . The

attendance of brethren was very large for the September meeting . Besides the confirmation of the minntes , the confirmation of grants recommended by the 1 odgo of Benevolence , ancl the adoption of the Report of the Board of General Purposes , there was but one other item of business—a motion by Bro . Joshua Nunn , and an amendment by Bro . C . J . Perceval , both directed to an alteration of one of the

rules in the Book of Constitutions relating to the Lodge of Benevolence . Bro . Nnnn ' s motion was , to alter the rule by giving power to pay as much as £ 50 the day after the Grand Lodge next succeeding the meeting of tbe Lodge of Benevolence whereat a larger grant than £ 50 had been recommended to any case instead of deferring the payment of the whole amount till after the confirmation of that

Grand Lodge's minntes by the following Grand Lodge . His second proposed alteration was , that any vote or recommend . tion for a sum ceeding £ 20 ( instead of" £ 10 as at present ) should not bo affected until confirmed at a next or subsequent meeting of the Lodge of Benevolence , except in cases of recommendation to Grand Lodge ; bnt the Lodge may afc once pay any sum nofc exceeding £ 20

( instead of £ 10 ) on account of any vote or recommendation of the Lodge exceeding that sum . Bro . Perceval ' s amendment was that any applicant seeking relief from the Lodge of Benevolence , and being voted snch asum as requires a second confirmation by Grand Lodge , shall , within twenty-four hours , or immediately after such grant has been once confirmed , be entitled to receive the

same in full without any further delay , save only £ 10 , or such portion ( if any ) of £ 10 the grantee may have received on account . Bro . Joshua Nnnn explained his motion , and said that if earned ifc would give the brother for ' whom the grant was recommended tbe advantage of having £ 50 to go on with for the three months between the two meetings of Grand Lodge which were required to confirm a

grant which waa more than £ 50 . If £ 75 , or £ 100 , or more was granted by Grand Lodge , Grand Secretary would be able to pay at least £ 50 on the morrow , and the balance would remain till after tbe second confirmation . There might be exceptional circumstances in which Grand Lodge might be asked to give a larger sum than was first voted ; it very rarely happened , bnt it bad occurred , and it was

as well to be prepared for the event . With respect to the alteration of £ 10 to £ 20 , he had felt that ifc was of greater service to a brother to receive the money at once instead of waiting to have it confirmed afc the next meeting of the BoarJ . The motion was seconded by Brother Clabon , who stated that whereas twenty years ago the Lodge of Benevolence was dealing with £ 3 , 000 or £ 4 , 000 a year , it was now

dealing with £ 8 , 000 . Up to the last two or three years the sums voted during the year did not amount to one year ' s income , and the consequence was that about £ 50 , 000 was accumulated . For the lasfc two or three years , however , nearly the whole of tbe income had been voted , although this was quite right , he hoped the brethren would not touch the accumulated capital , but

keep it as a sort of nest egg , and he also hoped thafc the brethren wonld not vote for a larger sum than £ 50 being paid the day after the Grand Lodge had confirmed the recommendation of the Lodge of Benevolence . The £ 50 would be quite enongh to provide for a brother ' s immediate necessities , and it must be remembered that cases had occurred in which Grand Lodge had had to negative

recommendations that had been made . Bro . Perceval , in support of his amendment said the Lodge of Benevolence thoroughly sifted cases which came before it , and the Brethren in Grand Lodge bad tbe advantage of having them before them for more than a week before tbey came on in Grand Lodge . Therefore , when a case had passed these two ordeals , tbe brother was entitled to have the money paid to

him at once . Bro . Raynham W . Stewart seconded tbe amendment , which was also supported by Bros . A . E . Gladwell and F . Binckes . Bro . James Mason supported the original motion , but Bro . the Rev . R . J . Simpson thought that fche amendment was bufc carrying ont to its legitimate conclusion the gracefully progressive step of Bro . Nnnn . Bro . Clabon reminded the brethren again of the cases in which tbe

Lodge of Benevolence had erred in the first instance , and suggested that prudence was the better part of charity . Bro . Nunn thought bis motion was a very liberal one , and that the Brethren should give the Lodge of Benevolence credit by leaving the matter in snch a form as that they would be able to deal with the cases . Bro . Perceval replied , contending that where there were only a few cases of Brethren being

unjustly relieved , those where the Brethren would be disappointed at not being able to get large sums within a short space of time were too many to be counted . Grand Lodge divided , when tbe numbers werefor the amendment 118 , against 150 . Tho amendment of Bro . Perceval was , therefore , lost . The motion of Bro . Joshua Nunn was then put and carried , and Grand Lodge was closed .

The NoHh London Chapter of Improvement , No . 1471 , has resumed its meeting ? . The Companions assemble ever } Thursday evening * at the Joll y Farmers Tavern ( corner <>' Church-road ) , South gate-road , N ., ai ei g ht o ' clock .

Thnbeing the on ! j * Chapter of Improvement in the North ol London , the attendance of newl y exalted Companions iinvited , with a view to their advancement , as of th ' existence of th s means of instruction they may possibl y be unaware . Comp . T . 0 . Edmonds is the Precentor .

Records, &C., In The Archives Of The York Lodge.

RECORDS , & c ., IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE YORK LODGE .

BY BRO . TODD P . M . 236 .

ON the present occasion , when the York brethren aro honoured by the company o f several who are distinguished not only in the Craft to which we belong , but also in the scientific world , as well as hy a large assemblage of brethren from this and other provinces , ifc has been thought that it would not be uninteresting in producing for their inspection the records and antiquities in the possession of the York Lodge , if a few words descriptive of thoso records were also

placed before them . In Masonio history , the ancient city of York has from a very early period held au important and prominent posi . tion indeed , there is no place more interesting to the Ma « onio student than tbe cit y which , by tradition and the evidence of the ancient manuscript contributions , is marked as the early seat of Masonry in this county . Nearly all the old Constitutions , of which

there are upwards of twenty in existence , mention York as the place whero in early times the meetings or assemblies of the Craft were held , and from these meeungs or assemblies there is little or no doubt that the Grand Lodge of All England formerly held in the city was originally constituted . The his'ory of the Grand Lodge has been ably written by Bro . Hughan , the well-known Masonio writer , in his Masonic

" Sketches and Reprints , published in 1871 . I need therefore onl y observe that after a long and somewhat chequered career it finally ceased to exist in the year 1792 . After its dissolution the valuable records and antiquities of the old Grand Lodge were transferred to the York Lodge iu whose hull we are now assembled , for safe custod y . The most important of these records consist of the Ancient MS .

Constitutions , the minutes of proceedings of tbe Grand Lodge , a large account of correspondence , and a number of miscellaneous documents , and with these were handed over the greater portion of the regalia used by tbe Grand Lodge when in active working in York . As regards the MS . Constitutions , these were originally in tbe archives of Grand Lodge , and according to the inventory of its property , taken

in 1779 , six in number . Of these five are now in the possession of fche York Lodge . The first which is numbered is supposed to be of the date of 1600 or thereabouts , and is unquestionably the mosfc interesting as well as the oldest of all the documents . It is composed of four pieces of parchment sewn together , and measuring 7 ft . in length . Ifc is endorsed , "Found in Pontefract Castle , at the demolition , and given

to the Lodge , by Francis Drake , A . D . 1736 . " Dr . Drake , the eminent antiquarian and historian of York , was at that time a prominent member of the Grand Lodge , and took an active part in its proceed , ings . Tbe demolition of Pontefract Castle commenced in April 1649 , but how this di cumenfc found its way there , and how long ifc had remained in that fortiess , it is impossible to ascertain . It was nofc ,

however , destined to remain at York . After having been presented to the Grand Lodge by Bro . Drake , it was in fact lost sight of for a long period , until discovered a few years ago by Bvo . Hughan , in the Archives of the Grand Lodge of London , along with another of the York MSS ., and mainly throngh the exertions of Bro . P . M . Hollon , the senior member of this Lodge , both were restored to its custody in

1877 , the year its centenary was celebrated . The Roll No . 2 is the naost modern of the York MSS ., and is also written on parchment , and is headed " The Constitution of Masonry , 1704 . " Ib is , I believe , the only one of the York Constitutions in which the word " Freemason " is made nse of , the word " Mason " generally occurring . Both the MSS . 1 and 2 contain an Anagramme on Masonry , that in the latter being

of a similar character to the former . The manuscript No . 3 is unfortunately missing , and up to the present time has not been traced . It is referred to in the Inventory of 1779 as a Parchment Roll of Charges on Masonry , 1630 . No . 4 MS . is daied 1693 , and appears to have been written by Mark Kypling , and there are also several signatures of officers or members of the Lodge attached to it . It is written on

a roll of paper 10 £ feet long , and was given to the Grand Lodge by Brother George Walker , of W < -therby , in 1777 . There is a peculiar clause in this MS ., providing for tbe admission of females , wbich is as follows : — " The one of the elders taking the booke , and that hee or shee that is to be made Mason , shall lay their hands thereon and the charge shall be give . " Brother tbe Rev . A . F . A . Woodford is of

opinion that this MS . is in tbe earliest form of all the Masonic Constitutions , and represent in its traditions a form probably even anterior to 1491 , and coeval with the Guild of Masons mentioned in the York Fabric Rolls , the passage relating to female membership pointing to a very early period of Guild history and organization . The MS . also contains a special charge to apprentices , and is altogether a mosfc

interesting document . The MS . No . 5 is a long roll of paper , containing neither date nor signature , bnt its date is supposed to be about the year 1670 . It is evidently a copy of MS . No . 1 , except that it indicates the book on which apprentices , were sworn to secrecy to be "Ye Holy Scripture . " This also occurs in the MS . 1794 . MS . No . 5 was published by Bro . Hughan in last month's " Masouic Mag > zinc

No . 6 , the last of the MSS ., wbich was discovered in the Giand Lodge of London , along with No . 1 , is mentioned in the York Inventory also . A parchment roll or Charge whereof the bottom part is " awantiog . The date of it is abont 1680 , and its contents are similar to the earlier Roll , but the conclusion is certainly different to all the known Mason MSS . It is as follows : —* ' Doe all as yon would be done with ,

ind I beseech yon at every meeting and assembly you pray heartily for all Christians . " Time does not permit of a further description of hese interesting and valuable MS 8 . Must of them have been printed n tbe pages of the Msisoi'ic Magazine , or in the works of Bro . Hug han , ho has done so mnch to'wards opening out the field for Masonic nvestigation , and all of them , being evidently transcripts of much

¦ Ider documents , are well worthy of a careful and attentive perusal . i me now to the minntes or proceedings of tbe old Grand Lodges , the fir * .-1 being a parchment roll , commencing 19 tb Mni'ch 1712 , when it ppears that several members were sworn and admitted . There are l-o several minutes of Lodges held prior to the revival in London in 1717 , when Sir Walter Hawksworth , Bart ., and Charles Fairfax , Esq . -