Occasional Papers.—No. Viii.

Grand Lodge by Bro . Walker , 1777 . No . 5 . Part of another paper roll of charges on Masonry . No . 6 . A parchment roll of charges , whereof tho bottom part is wanting . " Of these , all are preserved but No . 3 , to which , we are told , " no clue has yet been obtained , save that

a copy of tho ' old charges' is mentioned by a local historian , and an extract given , which does not agree with either of the five MSS . preserved , ancl is considered _ to refer to No . 3 . The dates assigned to the five existing documents , where not already stated above , are ,

according to the said Cyclopaedia , No . 1 " about A . D . 1 G 00 ; " No . 2 " of A . D . 1704 ; " No . 5 about A . D . 1679 " and No . 6 " of about the same date" as No . 1 , this last being described as being " of special value . " I have been thus particular in making these quotations because it must

be evident that where MSS . of so early a date as " about 1600 " are still in existence , relating to the Craft in York , Freemasonry must have been in a greater or less state of

activity for some considerable time anterior to the date of its earliest minutes , seeing these latter go back no further than 1705 , while those still in existence reach , as stated , only to 1712 .

But , setting aside all matters of conjecture , let me take you rapidly through all the more noteworthy points in the known history of this old Lodge , for fuller particulars about which , however , I can refer you to Bro . Hnghan ' s sketch in the " Kingston Masonic Annual . " During

nearly tho whole of the first quarter of last century the Lodge was in a state of somnolence . During the years 1712-16 it met but once or twice a year ; from 1716 to 1721 no meetings at all were held . In the years immediately following it resumed its labours , but only on rare

occasions . In 1725 , however , or within two years after the publication of Anderson's Book of Constitutions , it exhibited a renewed vitality , which likewise characterised the year 1726 , the Lodge meeting no less than eleven times in the former and thirteen times in the latter year . The

first mention of brethren attending the Lodge as visitors occurs in the period 1722-3 . In the minutes of 22 nd July 1725 the expression " Society of Free Accepted Masons "

substituted " Society , " "Fraternity , " or "Company" of " Freemasons . " In those of 10 th August of the same year Bro . William Scourfield is spoken of as Worshipful Master and Bros . Marsden and Reinoldsen as the Wardens .

On 27 th December , however , Bro . Charles Bathurst was chosen " Grand Master , " and he appointed Bro . Johnson his Deputy , Bros . Pawson and Drake his Wardens , Bro . Scourfield Treasurer , and Bro . Inigo Russell Clerk . It was also in 1725 that a kind of Constitution , consisting of

nineteen articles , was sketched out , the introduction to which—I am now quoting from Findel—describes them as the " Articles agreed to he kept and observed by the Ancient Society of Freemasons in fche City of York , and to be subscribed by every member thereof on their

admittance into the said Society . " Sundry of these nineteen articles our distinguished German historical Brother has thought fit to transcribe , and as they are likely to prove interesting to you , I do not think I can do better than reproduce them now : —

" 1 . Imprimis , that every first Wednesday in the month a Lodge shall be held at the house of a Brother according as their turns shall fall out . 3 . If any Brother appear at a Lodge that is nofc a subscriber to these Articles , ho shall pay one shilling .

4 . The bowl shall be filled at the monthly Lodges with Punch once . Ali bread , cheese , and tobacco in common , & c . 7 . Timely notice shall be given to all the subscribers , when a Brother or Brothers are to be made .

8 . Any Brother or Brothers presuming to call a Lodge with a design to make a Mason or Masons without the Master or Deputy , & c , for every such offence he shall forfeit the sum of five pounds . 9 . An hour shall be set apart at each Lodge to talk Masonry .

14 . No person shall be admitted as Brother of the Lodge , but after having been strictly examined . 15 . No more persons shall be admitted as Brothers of this Society that shall keep a public-house . 16 . These Articles must be laid on the table at the meeting of every Lodge , that the members may make use

Occasional Papers.—No. Viii.

of the same , and the Clerk shall read them aloud , when any new Brother is made . Before leaving this portion of the subject , I may as well mention , incidentally , that the moving spirit in bringing about this renewal of activity in the old York Lodge , was

Bro . Francis Drake , M . D . and F . R . S ., who , like the famous Ashmole and Bro . George Payne , twice Grand Master of the London Grand Lodge—in the years 1718 and 1720—wns a learned antiquary . He is said to have been initiated on 6 th September 1725 , at the Star Inn , Stonegate , York ,

and , as mentioned already , was the first Grand Junior Warden of fcho " Grand Lodge of all England , " as the York Grand Lodge sty led itself . On 27 th December 1726 he delivered a most eloquent lecture on the principles of Freemasonry , which was printed the year following , by

Gent , of York , for the benefit of the Lodge , ancl in which he speaks of Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth , as being the three great characteristics of the Society . Subsequently —in 1729—Bro . Drake was appointed one of a committee of seven brethren to assist the Grand Master

in the management of the Lodge , and every now and then support his authority in helping to remove any abuses that might have crept in . But to resume mj narrative . The period of renewed vitality had not been of long continuance , when the

harmony of the Lodge was disturbed . A brother W . Scourfield has already been noted as W . Master in 1725 , but possibly because he may not have thought his merits had been sufficiently appreciated by the Lodge , when , afc the appointment of Bro . Bathurst as Grand Master , he had

only the office of Treasurer assigned to him , or for other reasons not explained , he became dissatisfied , and set the eighth of the nineteen Articles of Constitution , just quoted , at defiance . So , at least , we gather from the minntes of 6 th of July 1726 , in which occur the following

passages : " Whereas it has been certified io me that Mr . Wm . Scourfield has presumed to call a Lodge and make Masons without the consent of the Grand Master or Deputy , and in opposition to the 8 th Article of the

Constitutions , I do , with the consent of the Grand Master and the approbation of the whole Lodge , declare him to be disqualified from being a member of this Society , and he is hereby banished from the same .

" Such members as were assisting in constituting and forming Mr . Sconrfield's Schismatical Lodge on the 21 st of the last month , whose names are John Carpenter , W . Musgrove , Th . Albanson , and Th . Preston , are by the same authority liable to the same sentence , yet upon their

acknowled ging their error , in being deluded , and making such submission as shall be judged requisite by the Grand Master and Lodge at the next monthly meeting , shall be received into the favour of the Brotherhood , otherwise to be

banished as Mr . Scourfield , and their names to be erased out of the Roll and Articles . " Thus , the York Grand Lodge , like its sister G . Lodge in London had , at the very outset of its career , some serious differences break out in its midst and disturb its harmony .

On the 13 th December of the same year a Viscount Irwin is recorded as having been sworn , not initiated , into the Fraternity , and then after the entry of the minutes of a few clays later , there is a long gap without any records whatever , extending to the 21 st June 1729 , when it is

noted that two gentlemen were initiated , Bro . E . Thompson being Grand Master , with Bros . John Williams Deputy Grand Master , ancl G . Rhodes ancl Reynoldson Grand Wardens . On 4 th May 1730 , so lax had become the attendance , that ifc was found necessary to exact payment of a shilliner each from those of the Officers who did not

make their appearance at the meetings . This is a clear testimony to the fact that the activity which had led to the revival of 1725 had already expended itself , though it must be added that , in the years 1734 and 1738 , Lodges in

Yorkshire were constituted by tho Grand Lodge in London , so that though the old York Grand Lodge was in a dormant state during these years , and for long afterwards , it is evident that interest in the Craft had not wholly died out afc the same time .

On 17 th March 1761 , " The Ancient Independent Constitution of Free and Accepted Masons belonging to the City of York " was " revived by six surviving members of

the Fraternity , who opened the Grand Lodge at the house of Henry Howard in Lendall , when it was further agreed that it should continue to be held for the future there only , the second and last Monday in every month , Bro . Francis