Election Of Workshipful Master.

our readers who study thc reports of meetings which appear in these columns must have noticed it almost times out of number . The principle of electing thc Master by seniority must havebeen found thus far to work admirably , and forthree

reasons—( i ) There is rarely , if ever , a report of an installation or other meeting in which the brethren who respond for the toast of "The Visitors" do not state that they have been delig hted and impressed not only with the welcome they have received but

likewise with the work they had the privilege of witnessing in the lodge . ( 2 ) It would be difficult , if not impossible , to discover an instance of a lodge at which the I . P . M ., in proposing " The Worshipful Master , " did not declare him to be " the right man

in the right place , " or speak of him in terms that were equally or similarly complimentary . ( 3 ) There is no record of any case that we are aware of in which the W . Master , in proposing the toast of "The Past Masters , " has not again and again

declared that , provided only he is able to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors , he has no doubt whatever in his own mind that his year of office will be a successful one . In the face

of this marvellous unanimity of opinion , it would be exceedingly undesirable that the present plan of electing the Master , in the majority of cases , by seniority , should be disturbed .

Masonic Celebrities: No. Vi.—The Duke Of Wharton, G.M. 1722-23*.

MASONIC CELEBRITIES : No . VI . —THE DUKE OF WHARTON , G . M . 1722-23 * .

In our review of Vol . VIII ., Part 2 , of " Ars Quatuor Coronatorum" in the Freemason of the 5 th ultimo , the notice we gave of this biography was necessarily brief , brief , that is to say , by comparison with the importance of the subject so ably treated

by Bro . GOULD . But its issue as a separate paper justifies , nay , demands of us almost , that we should discuss it at greater length , and in a manner more commensurate with its merits . With the public and private career of the Duke of WHARTON ,

apart from his connection with the Masonic career , we have little , if anything , to do . It was , of course , necessary that Bro . GOULD should deal with these in this biographical sketch , and all we need say in reference to this part of the paper is that

it appears to us that Bro . GOULD ' S record of WHARTON ' S life is accurate in all its various details , while his estimate of that eccentric nobleman ' s character is just . He has taken infinite ) pains in working up his subject , and it is hardly possible for anyone

to speak too highl y of thc result of his labours . As regards the Duke ' s Masonic career , the occurrences in which he figured are but few in number , but it is of great importance that they should be described as accuratel y as the meagre

information at our disposal will permit , and this , in our judgment , Bro . GOULD has done . The account given in PRESTON ' " Illustrations of Masonry , " with which , no doubt , most of our readers are familiar , is that "in January , 1722-3 , the Duke of MONTAGU

resigned the office of Grand Master in favour of the Duke of WHARTON , who was very ambitious to attain it . His resignation proceeded from the motive of reconciling the Brethren to this nobleman , who had incurred their displeasure by havino-

convened , in opposition to the resolutions of Grand Lodge on the 25 th of March , an irregular assembly of Masons at Stationcrs'Hall , on the Festival of St . John the Baptist , in order to get himself elected Grand Master . Thc duke of WHARTON , sensible of the

impropriety of his conduct , publicl y acknowledged his error : and promising in future a strict conformity and obedience to the resolutions of the Society , he was with the general consent of the Brethren , approved as Grand Master elect for the ensuing

year . Mis brace was regularly invested and installed on the 17 th of January , 1722-3 , by the Duke of MONTAGU , and congratulated by upwards of twenty-live Lod ges on that occasion . " The version to be found in FINDEL ' "History of Freemasonry "

agrees in its main particulars with that of PRESTON , but is somewhat fuller in respect of the events which are alleged to have preceded WHARTON ' investiture . "In the beginning of January ,

1722 , the Duke of MONTAGU was chosen again as Grand Master for the following year . The Duke of WHARTON and his adherents were highly displeased at this , it having been intended to put up

Masonic Celebrities: No. Vi.—The Duke Of Wharton, G.M. 1722-23*.

ihe latter nobleman as a candidate . Therefore the Duke 0 [ WHARTON caused himself to be proclaimed Grand Master , in an assembly which he had convoked for this purpose , a choice which of course was greatly disapproved 0 f by the regular Lodges , it being considered by them as

contrary to their Constitution . But to avoid discussion , the Grand Master MONTAGU called together a meeting of the brethren , and resigned his office in favour of his opponent , who , however , fully sensible of the impropriety of his conduct , publicly acknowledged his error and promised in future a strict

conformity and obedience to the resolutions of the Society . " Unfortunately thc earliest existing minute of Grand Lod ge bears date the 24 th of June , 1723 , and there is therefore no official record which will enable us to determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the foregoing versions . But Bro . GOULD has

unearthed sundry references bearing on the election of WHARTON as Grand Master which are at variance with the circumstances as they have been recorded by ANDERSON in his second edition of the Book of Constitutions , published in 1738 , and by PRESTON and FlNDEL as already quoted . The first is a statement in Dr .

STUKELEY ' s diary to the effect that on the 25 th May , 1 7 , he met three noblemen at the Fountain Tavern Lodge " to consider a Feast of St . John . " The second is the paragraph recentl y discovered by Bro . SADLER , bearing date the 16 th June following , and communicated by him to this journal , to the effect that a

few days previously " a select Body of the Society of Free Masons waited upon the Right Honourable Lord Viscount TOWNSHEND , one of His Majesty ' s Principal Secretaries of State , " for the purpose of signifying to his lordship that they were about to hold a general convention , in accordance

with annual custom , at Midsummer , and they trusted the Government would not take umbrage at their so meeting , as they were all zealously affected towards the King and his government . Several other statements are quoted , 0 ! which one from the Daily Post , of the 20 th June , is to the effect

that the meeting above referred to , would be held at Stationers ' Hall , on the 25 th June , with a second to the like effect , from the Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer , of the 23 rd of the same month ; while others from the Daily Post of the 27 th June , the Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer of the 30 th June , and the

Weekly Journal or Saturday ' s Post of the 27 th June , are to the effect that the meeting was held and the Duke of WHARTON elected Grand Master in the room of the Duke of MONTAGU , it being added in the Weekly Journal , & c ., of the 30 th June , that Dr . DESAGULIERS was chosen " Deputy Master in the room

of Dr . BEAI . for the year ensuing . " But the main strength of the position which Bro . GOULD has established in opposition lo the ordinarily received versions of WHARTON ' S election to the Grand Mastership is to be found in his remarks concerning the first edition of the " Book of Constitutions , " which Dr .

ANDERSON had been charged to compile during thc Grand Mastership of the Duke of MONTAGU , WHARTON'S immediate predecessor in office . This position strikes us as being impregnable . The argument will be found at length in pp . 118-120 , of

Bro . GOULD ' S essay , but thc following define the position most clearly . ( a ) . In describing the contents of the " Book of Constitutions" Bro . GOULD gives inter alia— "II . A Dedication to Ihe Duke of MONTAGU from the pen of Dr . DESAGULIERS— ' By

Order of his Grace the Duke of WHARTON , the present . . ¦ Grand Master of the Free Masons , and as his Deputy . '" ( i ) . Bro . GOULD notes that in " VII . the Approbation " will be found a statement that " the author had ' submitted the whole to the Perusal and Corrections of the late and present Deputy

Grand Masters , and the Duke of MONTAGU , and his bract order'd the same to be handsomely printed for the use of tin

Lodges , though they were not quite ready for the Press during l " Mastership . ' The signatures are appended of the Duke ol WHARTON , G . M . ; Dr . DESAGULIERS , D . G . M . ; J OSIICA TIMSON and WILLIAM HAWKINS , Grand Wardens ; and the

representatives of twenty Lodges . ( c ) . Under the head of "IX . " Bro . GOULD notes that "«»"

the last page of the book ( 91 ) , and forming the last entry J" ' except the word Finis at thc bottom , " is to be found t ' following :