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Article PROPOSED EXTENSION OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL. ← Page 2 of 2 Article THE MOTHER CITY OF AMERICAN FREEMASONRY.—II. Page 1 of 1 Article THE MOTHER CITY OF AMERICAN FREEMASONRY.—II. Page 1 of 1 Article A. AND A. RITE. Page 1 of 1
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Proposed Extension Of The Boys' School.
to stop tho grants by not filling np the vacancies which from timo to time must arise by reason of the pupils reaching the age limit at which they leave the School . We agree with Bro . Stewart that his proposal is good , to a certain extent , but we think the objections we have
pointed out far outweigh any advantages which cau be urged in favour of more buildings . The trial of outside education and maintenance would at least not cost more than does that inside our own Avails , and we think that mode of relieving the wants of our orphans should be attempted before any additions aro sanctioned to our already heavy liability .
The Mother City Of American Freemasonry.—Ii.
THE MOTHER CITY OF AMERICAN FREEMASONRY . —II .
BY BEO . R . E . GOULD .
IN a previous article I have endeavoured to show that the list of Lodges on the registry of England , shown in the " Dublin Pocket Companion " for 1735—save as regards the Lodge standing 79 th in order—must have been copied from an English Official List for 1734 . Conceding , however , the further possibility of the " Pocket Companion , "
published in Dublin , having obtained its English Masonic information from the " Pocket Companion " of the same year published in London , an hypothesis almost warranted by the identity of title and similarity of contents , it may be advantageous to examine a little more closely the Lodge
lists covering the period over which our inquiry extends . I append a tabular statement , showing the Lodges constituted by the Grand Lodge of England , between April 1730 and August 1735—Nos . 66-133—together with dates of constitution , and of their payments to Grand Lodge in respect of the same .
It will be seen that No . 79 , although constituted apparently about the middle of 1731 , did not pay the fee of two guineas for its constitution until 21 st Nov . 1732 , on which latter date , moreover , it was represented in Grand Lodge for ths first timo .
In my " Four Old Lodges , " at p 50 , under the description of list No . 11 , I have shown a list of Lodges for 1730 . 32 , copied from the earliest Minute Book of Grand Lodge , where it is thus headed : — "List of the Names of the Members of all the Regular Lodges as they were returned
m the year 1730 . " The list stops at No . 104 , constituted 14 th Sept . 1732 . My original impression , that the list in question had been continued from 1730 to 1732 , may , of course , be a wrong one , and having regard to the pro tracted interval which elapsed between the date upon which
the No . 79 was added to the roll , and the period of payment for its constitution by the Lodge at the Oastle , Highgate , it is fairly possible that the veritable Lodge at the " Hoop , Philadelphia , " may have been the first or original No . 79 ? Excluding from present consideration , the obvious puzzle
of its non-continuance on the list for 1732 , * and on later lists so far as they have come down to us , the following facts are worthy of our attention : —
A deputation was granted to Daniel Coxe on the 5 th June 1730 , and a copy appears in the earliest Minute Book of Grand Lodge , between the proceedings of 21 st April and 28 th August of the same year .
Daniel Coxe , described as " Provincial Grand Master of North America , " was present in Grand Lodge on 29 th January 1731 . In the list of 1730-32 , extracted by me from the
Minute-Book of Grand Lodge , already referred to , * and amongst the members of No . 8 Lodge , meeting at the " Devil " Tavern , appear the names of Claude Crespigny ( Master ) and Daniel Coxe .
[ According to the Library Committee of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ] a letter was written in 1754 by a Bro . Henry Bell , of Lancaster , to a Bro . T . Cadwallader , in Philadelphia , in which Bro . Bell states : —
"I was one of the originators of the first Masonic Lodge in Philadelphia . Once , in the fall of 1730 , we formed a design of obtaining a charter for a regular Lodge , and made application to the Grand Lodge of England for one , bnt before receiving it wo beard that
Daniel Coxe , of New Jersey , had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Master of New York , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania . We therefore made application to him , and onr request was granted . " The Engraved Lists for 1731-3 are unfortunately miss-
The Mother City Of American Freemasonry.—Ii.
ing ; consequently , it cannot be positively determined whether at any time during this period a Pennsylvania Lodge appeared on our roll . Tho early editions of Pritchard ' s "Masonry Dissected" might indeed aid in
solving the mystery . The 1 st and 7 th editions , published in 1730 and 1737 respectively , contain lists of Lodges , accurately copied from the Engraved Series , and doubtless the intermediate editions would supply us with trustworthy reprints for 1731-36 .
Although I cannot believe that an American Lodge ever appeared on our English roll during 1731-32 , and for the reason I have so often expressed , viz ., the improbability , not to say impossibility , of its paying such a flying visit ; still it seems very likely that a Lodge existed as No . 79 , before that hailing from the " Castle , Highgate . "
Amongst the members of No . 79 in the list of 1730-32 appear the names of Thos . Moore Master ( Grand Steward 1731 ) , A . Chocke ( S . G . W . 1726 , Dep . Grand Master 1727 ) , N . Blackerby ( S . G . W . 1727 , Dep . Grand Master 1728-30 , and Grand Treasurer 1730-37 ) , John Bridges , and Claude Crespignyf ( Grand Stewards 1732 ) .
Now , it is scarcely possible ( except on the supposition that all these eminent brethren belonged to other Lodges , or attended Grand Lodge as Grand Officers ) that a Lodge so composed could exist for a year and a half -without being represented at the Quarterly Communications .
Inasmuch , indeed , as Highgate and Hampstead were visited in those days for very much the same purpose as Greenwich and Richmond are now—viz ., for feastings and " outings , " I incline to the opinion that the Lodge at
the " Castle , Highgate , " was a " dinner Lodge , " established in 1732 by a coterie of distinguished brethren , that it collapsed very shortly afterwards , and that a revival of the Lodge , or more probably a further transfer of the number , occurred in the spring of 1735 .
The speculation I have hazarded in my previous article , that the parentage of the first American Lodge which appeared on our English roll may have been wrongly indicated in one or more of the official lists , is strengthened by confirmatory evidence .
Bro . Bell ' s letter of 1754 ( ante ) proves that a charter from the G . Lodge of England , though asked for , was not granted . ! The deputation granted to Coxe on the 5 th
June 1730 was to be in force for two years only , consequently his authority had presumably lapsed when the birth of a Boston Lodge ( 30 th July 1733 ) Avas announced in this country .
The opinion , on the whole , which seems to me decisive , is , that the Editor of the Dublin " Pocket Companion " copied from the list in the London work bearing the same title , but whether he filled the vacant No . 79 by a reference to earlier engraved lists ( or otherwise ) there is not sufficient evidence to determine .
In pursuing this inquiry , whilst carried to a greater length than I had intended , I find various speculations crowding upon me , which demand further space for their adequate discussion .
Beserving , therefore , my concluding remarks for a third and final article , I claim meanwhile an indulgent consideration of these " fugitive thoughts , " which , roughly drafted to serve the purposes of a newspaper article , are designed rather to stimulate further research than to settle the extremely difficult point which Bro . Hughau has raised for discussion .
A. And A. Rite.
A . AND A . RITE .
Hilda Chapter Kose Croix . —The regular meeting of this Chapter was held at the Masonic Kooms , Queen ' s Hotel , York , on Friday evening . The M . W . S . Bro . T . B . Whytehead presided , and there were present 111 . Bro . C . J . Banister 33 S . G . I . G . ; Bros . J . S . Cumberland H . P ., S . Middloton as First General , M . Millington as Second General , A . T . B . Turner R ., E . J . De Salts , Pearson , Jackson , & c . Bro . J . T . Atkinson , Selby Lodge , was duly perfected .
Bro . J . S . Cumberland was unanimously elected M . W . S ., and Bro . Whytehead Treasurer . Two Auditors were appointed . ' The M . W . S . thanked Bro . Banister for his attention in coming over from Bradford for the meeting , and for his assistance in working the ceremonies . A letter was read from Bro . Hanly ( 4 th Dragoons ) , thanking the Chapter for his ^ election as an hon orary member . The Chapter was then closed .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Proposed Extension Of The Boys' School.
to stop tho grants by not filling np the vacancies which from timo to time must arise by reason of the pupils reaching the age limit at which they leave the School . We agree with Bro . Stewart that his proposal is good , to a certain extent , but we think the objections we have
pointed out far outweigh any advantages which cau be urged in favour of more buildings . The trial of outside education and maintenance would at least not cost more than does that inside our own Avails , and we think that mode of relieving the wants of our orphans should be attempted before any additions aro sanctioned to our already heavy liability .
The Mother City Of American Freemasonry.—Ii.
THE MOTHER CITY OF AMERICAN FREEMASONRY . —II .
BY BEO . R . E . GOULD .
IN a previous article I have endeavoured to show that the list of Lodges on the registry of England , shown in the " Dublin Pocket Companion " for 1735—save as regards the Lodge standing 79 th in order—must have been copied from an English Official List for 1734 . Conceding , however , the further possibility of the " Pocket Companion , "
published in Dublin , having obtained its English Masonic information from the " Pocket Companion " of the same year published in London , an hypothesis almost warranted by the identity of title and similarity of contents , it may be advantageous to examine a little more closely the Lodge
lists covering the period over which our inquiry extends . I append a tabular statement , showing the Lodges constituted by the Grand Lodge of England , between April 1730 and August 1735—Nos . 66-133—together with dates of constitution , and of their payments to Grand Lodge in respect of the same .
It will be seen that No . 79 , although constituted apparently about the middle of 1731 , did not pay the fee of two guineas for its constitution until 21 st Nov . 1732 , on which latter date , moreover , it was represented in Grand Lodge for ths first timo .
In my " Four Old Lodges , " at p 50 , under the description of list No . 11 , I have shown a list of Lodges for 1730 . 32 , copied from the earliest Minute Book of Grand Lodge , where it is thus headed : — "List of the Names of the Members of all the Regular Lodges as they were returned
m the year 1730 . " The list stops at No . 104 , constituted 14 th Sept . 1732 . My original impression , that the list in question had been continued from 1730 to 1732 , may , of course , be a wrong one , and having regard to the pro tracted interval which elapsed between the date upon which
the No . 79 was added to the roll , and the period of payment for its constitution by the Lodge at the Oastle , Highgate , it is fairly possible that the veritable Lodge at the " Hoop , Philadelphia , " may have been the first or original No . 79 ? Excluding from present consideration , the obvious puzzle
of its non-continuance on the list for 1732 , * and on later lists so far as they have come down to us , the following facts are worthy of our attention : —
A deputation was granted to Daniel Coxe on the 5 th June 1730 , and a copy appears in the earliest Minute Book of Grand Lodge , between the proceedings of 21 st April and 28 th August of the same year .
Daniel Coxe , described as " Provincial Grand Master of North America , " was present in Grand Lodge on 29 th January 1731 . In the list of 1730-32 , extracted by me from the
Minute-Book of Grand Lodge , already referred to , * and amongst the members of No . 8 Lodge , meeting at the " Devil " Tavern , appear the names of Claude Crespigny ( Master ) and Daniel Coxe .
[ According to the Library Committee of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ] a letter was written in 1754 by a Bro . Henry Bell , of Lancaster , to a Bro . T . Cadwallader , in Philadelphia , in which Bro . Bell states : —
"I was one of the originators of the first Masonic Lodge in Philadelphia . Once , in the fall of 1730 , we formed a design of obtaining a charter for a regular Lodge , and made application to the Grand Lodge of England for one , bnt before receiving it wo beard that
Daniel Coxe , of New Jersey , had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Master of New York , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania . We therefore made application to him , and onr request was granted . " The Engraved Lists for 1731-3 are unfortunately miss-
The Mother City Of American Freemasonry.—Ii.
ing ; consequently , it cannot be positively determined whether at any time during this period a Pennsylvania Lodge appeared on our roll . Tho early editions of Pritchard ' s "Masonry Dissected" might indeed aid in
solving the mystery . The 1 st and 7 th editions , published in 1730 and 1737 respectively , contain lists of Lodges , accurately copied from the Engraved Series , and doubtless the intermediate editions would supply us with trustworthy reprints for 1731-36 .
Although I cannot believe that an American Lodge ever appeared on our English roll during 1731-32 , and for the reason I have so often expressed , viz ., the improbability , not to say impossibility , of its paying such a flying visit ; still it seems very likely that a Lodge existed as No . 79 , before that hailing from the " Castle , Highgate . "
Amongst the members of No . 79 in the list of 1730-32 appear the names of Thos . Moore Master ( Grand Steward 1731 ) , A . Chocke ( S . G . W . 1726 , Dep . Grand Master 1727 ) , N . Blackerby ( S . G . W . 1727 , Dep . Grand Master 1728-30 , and Grand Treasurer 1730-37 ) , John Bridges , and Claude Crespignyf ( Grand Stewards 1732 ) .
Now , it is scarcely possible ( except on the supposition that all these eminent brethren belonged to other Lodges , or attended Grand Lodge as Grand Officers ) that a Lodge so composed could exist for a year and a half -without being represented at the Quarterly Communications .
Inasmuch , indeed , as Highgate and Hampstead were visited in those days for very much the same purpose as Greenwich and Richmond are now—viz ., for feastings and " outings , " I incline to the opinion that the Lodge at
the " Castle , Highgate , " was a " dinner Lodge , " established in 1732 by a coterie of distinguished brethren , that it collapsed very shortly afterwards , and that a revival of the Lodge , or more probably a further transfer of the number , occurred in the spring of 1735 .
The speculation I have hazarded in my previous article , that the parentage of the first American Lodge which appeared on our English roll may have been wrongly indicated in one or more of the official lists , is strengthened by confirmatory evidence .
Bro . Bell ' s letter of 1754 ( ante ) proves that a charter from the G . Lodge of England , though asked for , was not granted . ! The deputation granted to Coxe on the 5 th
June 1730 was to be in force for two years only , consequently his authority had presumably lapsed when the birth of a Boston Lodge ( 30 th July 1733 ) Avas announced in this country .
The opinion , on the whole , which seems to me decisive , is , that the Editor of the Dublin " Pocket Companion " copied from the list in the London work bearing the same title , but whether he filled the vacant No . 79 by a reference to earlier engraved lists ( or otherwise ) there is not sufficient evidence to determine .
In pursuing this inquiry , whilst carried to a greater length than I had intended , I find various speculations crowding upon me , which demand further space for their adequate discussion .
Beserving , therefore , my concluding remarks for a third and final article , I claim meanwhile an indulgent consideration of these " fugitive thoughts , " which , roughly drafted to serve the purposes of a newspaper article , are designed rather to stimulate further research than to settle the extremely difficult point which Bro . Hughau has raised for discussion .
A. And A. Rite.
A . AND A . RITE .
Hilda Chapter Kose Croix . —The regular meeting of this Chapter was held at the Masonic Kooms , Queen ' s Hotel , York , on Friday evening . The M . W . S . Bro . T . B . Whytehead presided , and there were present 111 . Bro . C . J . Banister 33 S . G . I . G . ; Bros . J . S . Cumberland H . P ., S . Middloton as First General , M . Millington as Second General , A . T . B . Turner R ., E . J . De Salts , Pearson , Jackson , & c . Bro . J . T . Atkinson , Selby Lodge , was duly perfected .
Bro . J . S . Cumberland was unanimously elected M . W . S ., and Bro . Whytehead Treasurer . Two Auditors were appointed . ' The M . W . S . thanked Bro . Banister for his attention in coming over from Bradford for the meeting , and for his assistance in working the ceremonies . A letter was read from Bro . Hanly ( 4 th Dragoons ) , thanking the Chapter for his ^ election as an hon orary member . The Chapter was then closed .