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

carpenter , a warehouseman , a tobacco pipe maker , a lighterman , a coal merchant , a Custom House Officer , a blacksmith , a shoe-maker , a bookbinder . The funniest entry , however , is the case of a member who is entered as at "WhiteHart Yard , Cathern Street , Gardiner or Flowerest

at an old Cloath ' s Shop . " We can scarcely imagine the occupation of this brother can have been on a very large scale , if , at least , his operations were limited to " the old Cloath ' s Shop . " Perhaps the condition of things in 1781

was somewhat different from now , but " an old Cloath ' s Shop" is not the place at which we , in the year 1876 , should look for much in the way of gardening or florieulture .

From the Statements of Account we glean that the financial condition of the Lodge -was not particularly flourishing . During the whole of the period over which they extend there are only two or three occasions when the balance was on the right side . Among the items are such

as " a fine paid to the Grand Lodge for not attending on St . John ' s Day , " half a guinea ; " theWorshipfull Masters attending the Grand Lodge , " one shilling ; " W - M - attending the Stewards Lodge in Dec " two shillings ; " Expenses on the Installation of Officers , " £ 1 . 2 . 11 ; " Expences

and Tiler , " three shillings ; " Paid Bro Char - Bearblock for 3 Brass Nossils " for Lodge Candlesticks , £ 1 , while the Candlesticks themselves cost fifteen shillings . Another entry is to the following effect : Septf- 10 , 1776 " Cash Paid for the Sen - Wardens Jewel which was Pawnded by

B - James Dunn" nine shillings and sixpence . Another reads thus " Cash Paid in attending the Stewards Lodge to appear against Br . Choppen" one shilling . On 25 th November 1777 occurs an amount of thirteen shillings , being " Cash Abated Br- Wra- Bayley for 2 Quarters , the

Members knowing it is not in his Power to pay . " September 8 , 1778 a sum of thirteen shillings was paid to Bro . Fraser for " a Cushon and a P - of Drawers , " and the same day , twelve shillings to Bro . McCormick for " Guilding a Square . " August 22 nd 1780 payment of £ 11 17 s lOd is

entered as having been made to Bro . Percival " for painting the Canopy . " Such are the most noteworthy items of expenditure , the bulk of them of course having been incurred for ordinary expenses of the Lodge and Tyler , though on 24 th June 1787 we find the entry of One Guinea

paid to the Grand Lodge on the Warrant June 1786 and June 1787 . " On the receipt side the entries are mostly sums for making , proposal money , and quarterages , but on 28 th August 1787 we find receipt of Three Guineas " M . Edgeley of Y Coal Exchange for damaging Y Canopy ! "

One other record is worth adding . In the list of members constituting this Lodge in January 1771 we find in the column provided for " Feast of St . John June 1771 " it is mentioned that the Lodge " Dined with the Grand Officers at Dobners Bowling Green . " It is time , however , we

brought this lengthy sketch to a close . We may have occasion to refer to this Lodge Book again , for other purposes , but for the present we have done with it . We will merely add that a similar analysis to the foregoing of

other old Lodge Books must help to throw considerable light on the conduct of the Craft in former days , and will doubtless greatly assist the Masonio historian in the prosecution of his labours .

Bro. Metham's Address.

BRO . METHAM'S ADDRESS .

WE hear our publication , last week , of the address delivered by Bro . Metham at South Molton , before the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devon , in August last , has caused no little excitement . It was not done without a due sense of responsibility . The address contains some

very ugly statements , but it is the misfortune of addresses that they do occasionally contain some very bitter truths . Equally unfortunate is it that journals of every kind do now and again receive matter the publication of which

must inevitably displease many of their readers . None the less is it incumbent on them to give publicity to the unwelcome tale . We rejoice to say it is but seldom we have such , to communicate to our readers . Still , when

they do come , it is a duty we owe to our constituency and to our conscience to give them place in these columns . None will have read the statements contained in Bro . Metham ' s address with deeper feelings of sorrow than we did . Had they emanated from some ordinary personage

Bro. Metham's Address.

we should , no doubt , have let them pass . They came , however , from the Deputy Grand Master of the Province . Bro . Metham , moreover , had not hastily or unadvisedly included them in his address . He had previously submitted them to his chief , the Provincial Grand Master , and

they were made therefore to our Devonian brethren with the full approbation of that chief . Under these circumstances , we consider ib was our duty to publish the address . If there prevailed in the Provinceof Devonanumberof practices hateful enough to call forth the severe condemnation of the Deputy

Prov . Grand Master in Provincial Grand Lodge assembled , and if that condemnation were uttered with the sanction of the Provincial Grand Master himself , it was evidently our duty—a most unpleasant one , we admit—in the interests of Freemasonry generally , and of the Province

of Devon in particular , to l'ender all the aid in our power in stamping out the malpractices thus publicly reprobated . We are sure our brethren in that Province must feel deeply grieved that such charges should have been made , and still more so that they must rest on a very substantial basis of

truth . They must wince when they hear the scandalous behaviour of the black sheep in their midst thus publicly condemned by one of their highest dignitaries . They must be even more sensitive when they hear the outside public and their own families condemning that

Freemasonry they love so much for the outrageous misconduct of a few . And when the story of this grievous state of things obtains a further measure of publicity , and finds its way into the columns of a Masonic Journal , we fully understand that the Province of Devon must feel keenly

upon the subject . Certain are we , however , that , though a present sense of regret may be felt by the general body when they find the malpractices of a few announced in a public journal , they will some day thank us for the announcement . There are , evidently , at least we

have it on the authority of the highest officers in the Province that there are , some black sheep among the Freemasons of Devon , and theso black sheep do not enact their hateful deeds in darkness , but in the open day , thus bringing public scandal on our Craft .

It is absolutely necessary the Society should be purged of all such disgraceful members . Bro . Metham ' s address has publicly condemned their misconduct , and we , by publishing his address , have drawn to it the attention of the Craft even more pointedly still . We repeat , Devon may feel soro

just now ; but supposing next year we publish an address by the same officer , congratulating the brethren of the Province on the change that has come over the spirit of their Masonry since last year ; on the tone and lofty character which animates them generally , on the order that

prevails in the Lodges , and on the absence of any serious cause of complaint , will not this soreness give place to thankfulness ? Will they not feel then , as we do now , that it was the duty of Bro . Metham to condemn this misconduct openly in Provincial Grand Lodge , and our duty to

condemn it , as we do condemn it , publicly in these columns ? And will they not feel thankful that he and we had the courage to perform our duty , even at the risk of causing them temporary pain ? We are much mistaken in our estimate of the Craftsmen in Devon if they do not regard

the matter in the same light we do . It is bad enough to be called upon to condemn the conduct of any of our brethren ; but it is ten thousand times worse that any brethren should be guilty of conduct so disgraceful as to call forth the condemnation of men in high places and of the Masonic press .

We believe our contributor Bro . Walter Spencer , C . E ., F . R . G . S ., & c , is at present pursuing the study of social science , having been appointed to accompany the Russian Minister of the Interior , who has come from St . Petersburg , for the purpose of inspecting the latest

developments in that connection . On Monday , a visit was paid to Millbank Penitentiary and the Regent ' s Park Industrial School , on Tuesday to the Reformatory and Model Farm ab Red Hill , on Wednesday to the Workmen's Town at Wandsworth and to the Middlesex Industrial

School at Feltham . The tour will embrace the Convict prisons at Chatham , Porbsmoutb and Dartmoor , and may possibly extend to Ireland . Whilst on this topic , we may add that an interesting paper on the repression of crime is expected ab the meeting of the Social Science Association next month , from our Rev . Bro . Daniel Ace , D . D ., Grand Chaplain of Lincolnshire .