Indiscriminate Charity.

able profit to themselves . So long as it is possible for us to hear , on the one hand , of a brother thinking it almost an insult to inquire into the character of one applying for relief , so long is it likely we shall hear occasionally of the brother who has received relief squandering it at the

nearest tavern or devoting it to some equally unworthy purpose . There is little likelihood of our degenerating into a Benefit Society if we richly endow our several Charitable Institutions . Tho purposes to which they are devoted is the relief of the old and indigent , the widow and

the orphan . The claims of the various applicants are all most carefully sifted before their names are placed on the approved lists of candidates . Similarly , in the case of applicants to Grand Lodge , inquiry is first made whether or not they are deserving cases , and only then are they

recommended . There is great danger , however , we may become a Benefit Society if relief is administered indiscriminately to all who seek it of private members or in private Lodges . If charity is given wholesale and without previous inquiry , we may reckon that Freemasonry

will become a more numerous , but at the same time a less respectable body than it is . Masonry will , in fact , become a profitable occupation to follow , and the needy adventurer who makes a practice of living at other people ' s expense will , in time , become a conspicuous member of our Society .

During the whole of our history the utmost care has been taken to exclude this class of persons , and the same caution is more than ever necessary in these days , when the body of Freemasons is becoming more and more numerous in all countries . One of the best means we

know of for keeping these undesirable fellows outside the pale of our Society is to let the world know that the charity we dispense is not dispensed indiscriminately . They are not likely to trouble us when they know we g ive only to those worthy to receive .

Sketch Of An Old Lodge Book, No. 6, Ancients.

SKETCH OF AN OLD LODGE BOOK , No . 6 , ANCIENTS .

( Continued from page 180 . ) A BALLOT for officers is a matter of frequent occurrence . Thus , when the election for the first half of the year 1779 was held , wo infer both the Wardens would have been proposed as candidates for the chair . It is not so stated in actual words , but the record tells us " the

W . proposed Bro . Bichard Frazer "—who was the Senior Warden— "to stand candidate for Master , the Junior Warden having absented several times During his time the Brethren thought propper to elect the

Senior Warden Master . " We read again at the meeting held on 22 nd June 1779 for the next half yearly election that , " W . Master propos'd the Senior Warden and Junior to stand candidates for the chair . " On the 24 th of the

same month " the state of the members who were in arrears was taken into consideration , and certain who had not answered to the summons were then and there excluded . In July occurs a case in which a newly elected member was " made an enter'd prentice and fellow Craft

and Raised to the Degree of a Master Mason" all in one evening , the new Brother paying "the sum ot three shillings for his Admitence . " The same month we read again of the Worshippful giving " an account of the Transactions of the Stewards Lodge , " and a brother applies

" for a petition to the Stewards Lodge , " which was granted . In August , the Secretary has authority given him " to send Bro . Richard Tidcombe a letter to let him know that the insist of having the Canopy Finish'd before the next lodge night , or he showing cause to the contrary to the

satisfaction of the lodge . " At the next meeting , however , " the Proceedings of the Canopy " are "adjourned to next Lodge night , " and then Bro . Tidcombe is given the month of October in which to finish it . At the election in December , Bro . John Fakins " Received orders to provide a dinner for

fiveteen on Tuesday the 28 th , and to meet at the our of one o ' clock . " On 22 nd February 1780 , we are told "the W - Master Reported the transactions of the Stewards

Lodge , " and the same was done again on the 25 th April . In June of the same year we again find , as , indeed , on many other occasions , of which we have not thought it necessary to take any notice , the two Wardens proposed as candidates for theJChair . At this election Bro . McCormick

Sketch Of An Old Lodge Book, No. 6, Ancients.

was also proposed , and likewise the late Worshipful Master , who , however , declined the honour . On 27 th June , the Lodge celebrated the Festival of St . John , and a brother was raised " to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason . "

We suppose the celebration was of a more than usually " gay and festive " character , as the members thought it too late to instal the officers , and it was agreed to hold an Emergency meeting for that purpose on Sunday , July 2 nd . On the 11 th of that month " a motion was made to Consider

of a Method to Bring the Lodge into its proper State , " but it was agreed to defer consideration of the subject till the next meeting . On the 24 th October we find mention again of the Canopy , it being arranged to summon the members " to take under Consideration Bro . Tidcombe ' s Bill" for the

same . On the 12 th December , the Worshipful Master Elect proposed that the Officers of the Lodge for the future " should be at their Own Expences for attending the Grand Lodge and likewise the Stewards Lodge ; " and it was further proposed that" if any Officers should neglect their

Duty in attending that the fines shall fall on themselves and not upon the Lodge . " On the 27 th of the month Bro . McCormick moves that " if any member should be absent the whole day of the feastivel of St . John he shall pay as usual two Shillings and Sixpence , and if he is present at any

time of the Feastivel Day he shall pay Equal with ye Rest of the Members , " and the motion was agreed to . On 23 rd January 1781 it was resolved that " no other Expencea should be made on the Canopie without the consent of the Members and presiding Officers . " On 11 th September the

Secretary has instructions "to write out a list of the Members that are indebted to the Lodge , in order to lay said list at the Stewards Lodge or other ways as the Lodge shall think propper . " At the following meeting it was agreed that the indebted members should be summoned

once more , and in the event of their not appearing then they should be excluded . Accordingly , in October , we read of sundry being excluded in accordance with the foregoing resolution . The Secretary , at the same meeting , is directed to prepare a list of the excluded , and also " a true list of

the members on Book at present to be layd before the Grand next Quarterly Communication . " The last minute , as we have said , bears date "April 23 : 1782 , " and announces , in the usual manner , that the Lodge " Clos'd in Agreeable harmony . "

So far we have given the more striking features of this interesting Minute Book . A few further observations as to their general character remain to be added . Thus , at nearly every meeting we have it recorded that one or other of the members gives a lecture , sometimes confining his attention

to one degree only , at others extending his labours to more than one , according as the time permitted . In fact , hardly a meeting passes without some such good work being done . This is , at all events , a flattering testimony to the studious habits of the Lodge . Again , but a brief time appears to have been devoted to refreshment . In most of the minutes

we find the interval devoted to this very worthy purpose is only an hour , often , indeed , only a short half-hour . Occasion * ally , however , the time is extended to an hour and a half , or even more . Thus , " call'd to refreshment at \ past 9 call'd on at 10 and closd with harmony " or " Calld to refreshment at 9 o ' clock Calld on 10 . " Such is the usual tenour

of the minutes , except on grand occasions , one of the St . John ' s Days , or the Election or Installation meetings , when the refreshment was on a larger scale . Another noticeable point is the difficulty of getting in the dues . We have

more than once referred to cases of members being excluded for non-payment ; and we have remarked at very frequent intervals the issue of summonses to members who have been unmindful of this important obligation .

As regards the list of members , which is contained in the first portion of the " Lodge Book , " we gather from it that as regards their social status the members mostly belonged to the trading class . The list , as it stands at the beginning of the year 1771 , includes , under the head of " Occupations

and Places of Abode , " a buckle-maker , three tailors , and a breeches-maker , a weaver , a baker , a locksmith , a goldsmith , two attorneys-at-law , a glass manufacturer , a glass engraver , a peruke-maker , three victuallers and a brandy merchant

and one gentleman . Several of them are also mentioned as being members of other Lodges , our friend theperuke-maker , for instance , being a member of No . 93 , while one of the victuallers is set down as Master of No . 81 . One member is as " gone to Holland , " and , later on , another is set down , as " gone to Germany . " Among members added to the list at various subsequent dates , we find a silk dyer , a grocer , a