A Voice From The " Antients." *

nominated aud unanimously chosen its first Grand Master . " From this time until the Union in 1813 ( when the Duke of Kent , father of the Queen , held the position of Grand Master ) , the Antients were never

without a supreme ruler . On 2 nd March 1771 the Duke of Atholl was installed Grand Master , and from that time the Grand Lodge of the Antients was distinguished as the "Atholl" Grand Locl __ -e Dermott had now ceased to be

Grand Secretary , and was installed Deputy Grand Master , the Dnke signalising the occasion by giving the brethren a " Grand feast . " It would be wearisome to follow the many events that occm * red between this period and 1789 , when

Dermott s visits to Grand Lodge appear to have ceased . He was often the object of attack , and his conduct in the chair was not unfrequcntly challenged . But he came out of every ordeal with credit , if not always triumphantly .

Though quick to resent , he was no less quick to forgive and forget . His position was one of great difficulty , and offered temptations for the exercise of arbitrary power that none but thoso possessed of superhuman unselfishness could

resist . It is to the credit of Dermott that he always placed the Craft generally , and his own Grand Lodge in particular , before all other considerations ; and finding that

he had accomplished so much , he was content to bear hostile criticism—not without protest , defiance and disproof—with the confidence that his work would live to testify of him .

A few extracts will give some idea of the customs and manners of the times in which Dermott lived , and will let in a little light on disputed matters . In Grand Committee , 1 st July 1752 , " Heard complaint , and ordered

Bro . Willoughby to refund nine shillings to a brother whom he had wronged , whereupon Bro . Moses Willoughby declared they might expel him , for he would not conform to the rules of any society upon earth by which ho should lose nine shillings . Expelled accordingly . "

Upon desiring to know whether there were any othei books or MSS . more than had been delivered to him . Der .

mott was assured by some that there were not , and by others " that they knew Mr . Morgan had a Roll of parchment of prodigious length , which contained some Historical

matters relative to the Antient Craft , v . Inch , parchment they did suppose he had taken abroad with him . " Next comes a blow and a vindication . " It was further said that

many MSS . were lost amongst the Lodges lately 'Modernized , ' where a vestige of the Ancient Craft was not suffered to be revived or practised , and it was for this reason so

many of them withdrew from Lodges ( under the Modern sanction ) to support the true Ancient System . That they found the Freemasons from Ireland and Scotland had been

initiated in the very same manner as themselves , which confirmed their system and practice as right ancl just , without which none could be deemed legal , though possessed of all the Books and Papers on Earth . " There is no doubt

but that the Grand Lodges of both Ireland and Scotland were on friendly terms with the " Antients , " but that does not follow that they were unfriendly with the " Moderns . " It is not unlikely but that the Craft

sustained loss in consequence of the fierce antagonism that existed between the " Antients and Moderns , " and that documents were lost or destroyed which would now have a most precious value .

In February 1754 Dermott was presented by Grand Lodge with a jewel , for his great services , to be worn and retained by him as his property . But the unselfish character of the man , where the Craft was concernedis shown

, in the fact that when he retired from the office of Grand Secretary he handed over the jewel to his successor , and it was worn by succeeding Grand Secretaries . On the 14 th of the same month , on the recommendation of the Grand

Secretary , it was resolved "to hold a monthly Committee of Masters at the Crown , St . Paul ' s Churchyard , under the name of Committee of Inspection , to consider the merits of petitions for charity . " In November of this year

, " it was resolved to call tho Committee of Chanty henceforth ' The Stewards' Lodge . ' " It was Dermott who proposed , in June 175 G , that instead of the small fees usually

paid to the Secretary , " One guinea should be levied on every new Warrant for the future . " Here we see the basis of that grand superstructure—the Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund .

As exhibiting the angry feeling that prevailed between the iiva . 1 Grand Lodges , it is recorded that not knowing the difference , one Carroll , a distressed Mason from Ireland , petitioned the "Modern " Masons , when he was mot

A Voice From The " Antients." *

with the following reply from Mr . Spence , then Secretary to the Modern Society : " Your being an Antient Mason , you are not entitled to any of our Charity . The Antient Masons have a Lodsre at tho Five Bells in the Strand , & c .

Our Society is neither Arch , Royal Arch , or Antient , so that you have no right to partake of our Charity . " With instances of how our brethren enjoyed themselves more than a hnudred years ago , we shall close our extracts .

In March 17 G 6 it was resolved to wait upon the Grand Master , Lord Kelly , when " The Grand Officers and others , in fourteen coaches and chariots , weut in Masonical procession to his Lordship the Grand Master ' s house , near

Soho-square , and from thence through Hampstead and Highgate , back to dinner at the Five Bells Tavorn , Strand . " Again , in June , on St . John ' s Day , " the Fraternity , by permission of the Grand Officers , met at the Angell , iu

Whitechapel , and thence walked in procession to Stepney Church , where an excellent sermon was preached After the sermon the Fraternity , amounting to a vast

number , with three bands of mnsick , walked in like manner to the Angell aforesaid , where they separated , and each Lodge went to dine at the houses where held . " On the occasion

of a sermon being preached on St . John's Day , 1767 , at St . Clement ' s in the Strand , it was " Ordered that the ringers of St . Clement's shall be paid one guinea , the poor of the Parish five guineas , and the Beadles ten shillings and

sixpence . " On St . John ' s Day , 1768 , the Graud Officers and brethren assembled at Deptford , and after listening to a sermon , " walked in Masonical procession to the Assembly Rooms on Blackheath , where they dined in form , but did not think proper to open the Grand Lodge . "

At the end of the book , Bro . Byvvater gives a copy of Dermott's will . It is a short document , and the whole of its purport is contained in the following : " I

bequeath my immortal soul to the immortal Creator of all things , my body to the earth , and all my worldly riches I bequeath to my dearly beloved wife , Elizabeth Dermott . " The will was proved by the widow , 15 th July 1791 , just a

month after her husband ' s death . The document adds that the testator was formerly of St . Botolph , Aldgate , but late of Mile End Old Town , St . Dunstan , Stepney . Bro . Bywater is anxious to find out where Dermott ' s remains

were interred , and solicits help in that direction . He has searched the following registers , without success : — St . Botolph , Aldgate ; Christ Church , Spitalfields ; St . Mary , Bow ; St . Mary , Bromley ( Middlesex );

St . Anne , Limehouse ; St . Dunstan , Stepney ; St . Mary , Whitechapel ; Bunhill Fields ; Bull Lane . It is singular that the burial place cannot be discovered ; but as Bro .

Bywater has done so much , evidently as a labour of love , he has a few claims upon the brethren to assist himiu the completion of his self-imposed , though honourable task .

Brother J . Terry P . P . G . S . W . Norths and Hunts , P . M . P . Z ., Secretary R . M . B . I ., will rehearse the ceremonies of consecration aud installation at the Wanderers' Lodge of

Instruction , No . 1604 , at Victoria Mansions Restaurant , Victoria Street , S . W ., on Wednesday , the 22 nd instant . A banquet will follow , at which the W . M . of the mother Lodge will preside .

-E 20 . —TO _ . ACCO _ . ISTS OO . II . ME _ . CING . —A Pamphlet , 110 pages . How to Open respectably from £ 20 to £ 500 . 3 Stamp-. H . Jlriias __ Co ., Ci !_ . ar and Tobacco Merchants , 109 Euston Road , London . Wholesale only . Telephone " So . 7511 .

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