The "Domatic Lodge," London.

THE " DOMATIC LODGE , " LONDON .

The members of the" Domatic" Lodgehaveacled wisely in having the History written for the Centenary Festival on February 12 th , 1886 , and it would be well if such an example was generally followed , especially if competentbrethren can be found both able and willing to undertake such a duty . The Craft has much to gain , and certainly nothing to lose , by the publication of the early records of old lodges when they are in the hands of a discreet and

zealous brother such as Bro . G . B . Abbott , who is the author of the neat pamphlet now before us containing the chief features of the career of the Domatic Lodge for the last 100 years . Save in one or two particulars , there are not many striking incidents to note ; but Bro . Abbott has carefully drawn attention to any records of an unusual character , and , what is more , has let the minutes speak for themselves in all their untouched and curious

statements , some of which are not only amusing , but typical of the class of members who for many years formed the sole support of the lodge . The " Domatic " element was in complete possession until the " Union , " and ( like many still older [ Scottish ] lodges ) , was not anxious for the " Geomatic" support in any form as respects No . 234 , which was their number

under the " Atholl '' Grand Lod ^ e . We quite agree with Bro . Abbott that this peculiarity was not due to any special feature , either in the charter or at the time of its constitution by Dermott , but a usage entirely settled by the members themselves , who decided to be an exclusively Operative Lodge , and they so began , by dispensation , on December 21 st , 1785 .

John Wood , the Master designated on the warrant ol February 7 th , 1786 , was initiated , apparently at the first meeting , by dispensation , in December , 1785 , so his rise was rather rapid . The same brother , with the others , applied , in accordance with the resolution of the lodge—December 15 th , 1 . 789—for a second warrant , in order that the " Geomatic " element might be represented therein . It is probable that the main reason was to gratify Sir

Watkin Lewes , who was the first Master of the new lodge , No . 25 S . more than to be a means of extending a knowledge of the Craft to other than Operatives . At all events , beyond that Knight ( who was an Alderman and M . P . for the City of London , as also J . G . W . at the time ) and " one or two others , all the members of No . 258 were made Masons in , and continued

on and off as members of No . 234 , hence it is clear that the scheme was a failure , novel as it was , and the one lodge , practically with two warrants , hailing from the same Grand Lodge—a unique experience—turned out to be "burthemsome , " as the W . M . stated to the members of the original lodge on 30 th October , 1795 .

In consequence of ajn application from " a respectable company of gentlemen , " a Committee was appointed with "full power to dispose of the same in such manner as they think meet for the good of the lodge . " On January 26 th , 1796 , Bro . Abbott tells us , Bro . Wight , P . M . [ one of the Com ' mittee ] , " presented the lodge with the sum of one Pound one from Bro , Clark , of 244 , for having purchased the warrant of 258 . " The money was

applied to " decorating the lodge , so it is quite evident that the transaction was effected without the consent of the Grand Lodge . The " Atholl " Masons often sold lapsed warrants , sometimes the cost of transfer for such precedence being a heavy item ; but in all such cases the fee went to the " Charity Fund " of that Grand Lodge , and a new charier was issued . In this instance the Operatives of 234 did a little business on their own account ,

and , what is still more remarkable , the original warrant of No . 258 is now held by the present flourishing lodge , the " Lion and Lamb , " No . 192 , London ; so whatever irregularity there was in the transfer , the authorities do not appear to have troubled about the matter . It would be interesting to know if the early records of the " Lion and Lamb" Lodge throw any light on this point , and we shall be glad to hear that a careful examination of the minute book of that period confirms such an extraordinary occurrence .

The references to the Royal Arch Degree , the election of the " Nine Worthies , " and other matters appertaining to the " Ancients " are all carefully noted , and , humble as was the origin of the lodge , there is abundant testimony throughout the records that the distinguishing characteristic of Freemasonry , viz ., Charity , was " its guiding star . " As the Constitutions are referred to in the records , we may as well remark that the editions issued by the " Ancients , " and called " Ahiman Rezon , " were for the years 1756 , 1764 , 1778 , 1787 , 1 S 00 , iSor , 1807 , and 1 S 13—eight in all .

Bro . Abbott states " there are no means available now for filling the gap in the minutes from May , 1812 , to December , 1815 . " We have not the printed Proceedings of the " Ancients " before us ; but we have those of the " United Grand Lodge , " by which we find the lodge is noted , through having made the following payments , duly acknowledged in the reports for the dates mentioned , viz ., " 293 [ now 177 ] , Hercules Pillars , Great Queen-st . " ( originally No . 234 ) .

School Fund . Fund of Benevolence . Fund of G . P . June 1 , 1814 ... £ 0 5 o ... £ 1 17 o ... £ 0 10 6 Sep . 7 , 1814 ... — ... 1 1 9 o ... — Dec . 7 , 1814 ... 050 ... 39 ° •••° 15 o Feb . 1 , 1815 ... 050 ... 200 ... 050 Jan . 7 , 1815 ... 100 ... o 17 o ... 300 Sep . 6 , 1 S 15 ... 050 ... 190 ... o 15 o "We are pleased to see that copies ot the warrant held by No . 177 , dated

February 7 th , 1786 , and of the one possessed by No . 192 , bearing date December 241 I 1 , 1789 , are printed in the History , as well as the Centenary Warrant of February Sth , 1 S 86 . There are also the By-laws of 1837 , and a valuable Roll of Officers of the " Domatic" Lodge from 17 S 6 to 1 SS 6 , so far as the records go . We congratulate the members on their centenary , and thank Bro . Abbott for his faithful , interesting , and painstaking History of the lodge , of which the "Domatic" brethren especially may justly be proud .

W. Bro. The Lord Mayor At Home.

W . BRO . THE LORD MAYOR AT HOME .

One of the most interesting features in the current number of our Bro , Edmund Yates ' s excellent paper , The World , is a striking pen-picture of the I . P . M . of the St . Botolph ' s Lodge at the Mansion House , which we feel compelled to reproduce in extenso : GEORGE II . was King of England when Lord Mayor Sir Crisp Gascoigne moved

from the comparative obscurity of the Old Jewry into the Grecian palace which Mr . Dance had just completed on the site of the Stocks Marktt . Nearly a century and a half have passed away since then , and Time and London smoke have dealt unkindly with the six substantial ( luted columns of Portland stone " wrought in the proportions of Palladio , " and the varied beauties of Mr . Taylor ' s emblematical bas-relief , half hidden in the heavy pediment which they help to support . Many generations of dingy City

W. Bro. The Lord Mayor At Home.

sparrows have built their nests with impunit y amidst its mouldings and cornices ; and the weather-beaten and turret-crowned lady , who represents London , and is , to all appearances , engaged in inflicting condign punishment with a yard measure on the robust figure of Sir William Harcourt , still looks down disconsolately from amidst her sootbe ^ rimed companions in misfortune on the busiest and most crowded thoroughfare of the metropolis . American travellers and country visitors may perchance pause for an instant to contemplate the solid magnificence of the home of the Civic Fathers , but the great majority of the passers-by concern themselves very little with the details of Mr . Taylor ' s

symbolical sculpture . If , on unofficial occasions , you have the temerity to as : tnd the broad steps of the Mansion House portico , an inhospitable pUcard confronts yon which proclaims the privacy of the precincts , and you turn abashed to seek admittance by the humbler entrance in the missive basement story , "built in rustic , " which lnoks out on the quiet street now called Walbrook , and unce known as Chailotte-iow . The door is opened by a grave servant in black , ( for the gold and purple liveries are reserved for high days and holidays ) , and you find yourself in the gloaming which appiopriately surrounds those awe-inspiring semi-subtertanean chambers in which the

City Marshal , the Clerk of the Cocket , the Yeoman of the Channel , the Plate Butler , and the Water Bailiff ' s Second Young Man discharge the onerous functions of their various offices . Want of time may possibly prevent a visit to the historical kitchen , with its gigantic spits and Brobdinnagian stew-pans , and you pass at once up the wide white staircase with the painted balustrades and funereal urns to the Long Parlour , where coal-fires are burning brightly beneath the monumental mantelpieces at either end . Busts of Nelson and Wellington fill the vacant spaces in the angular broken pediments with which Mr . Dance—the ardent admirer of the architecture

of antiquity—has surmounted thhm , and any want of warmth in the original design is more than atoned for by the gilded ceiling , the glittering chandeliers , the drab and blue wainscot , the brazen tire-dogs , and the tile-lined chimney corners . A large painted screen , in which we see Lord Mayor Beckford in the act of receiving George 111 . at Temple Bar , partially divides the room between ihe dining-tables ; but you have hardly leisure to examine it , for you are soon dazzled with the greater splendour of the Saloon

beyond , where the shortcomings of stucco and red drugget are forg .- . tten in the presence of throne-like chairs ot velvet and gold ; where busts of Royal personages stand on pedestals of vcrde antique ; where the portraits of Lord Duncan and Lord Cornwallis seem to gaze admiringly at the painting of one of Lord Rodney ' s great battles , and where the forbidding and ferocious figures of Sardanapalus and Caractacus guard the sacred portals of Lord Burlington ' s Egyptian Hal ) . *

From the vestibule leading to the saloon ( which Mr . Horace Jones , the City Architect , always delights to call the Loggia ) you enter the Venetian Pailour , where the Lord Mayor spends much of his time . A lofty window , divided by columns , aff ords a prospect of the ceaseless movement in Queen Victoria-street and the Poultry , and the seats in the recesses of the fortress-like wall below it are filled with comfortable cushions . The classical mantelpiece would have done duty admirabl y for the saicophagus of a Roman Emperor , and is an appropriate resting-place for a clock fashioned to represent the facade of a Grecian temple . Between the fireplace and the window is placed a

serviceable mahogany writing-table with a circular cover , which can be closed at will . His early breakfast is just over , and Lord Mayor Staples is busy with his morning ' s post , and has three hours' labour to get through before he can put on his gown and take his seat with due solemnity in the adjacent Justice room . An open door affords a passing glimpse of Mr . Soulsby ' s sanctum ; for the indefatigable Secretary is already ankledeep in torn envelopes , and the business of the "Unemployed Relief Fund" is engrossing the earnest attention of both . We have been accustomed from our childhood to connect the person of the Lord Mayor with gorgeous pomp and pageantry of

November 9 th , but the familiar signs of state are wholly wanting now . The three-cornered hat —that mysterious creation of velvet and ostrich feathers—lies unnoticed in its modest red case on the siJeboard , while the cam ^ o and diam > nd badge is safe in the custody of the Plate Butler , along with Qieen Elizabeth's "pearl" sword , the maces , and other precious insignia of office . A kindly gentleman , clad in a plain frockcoat , greets you from behind a formidable pile of correspondence , and consents to spare you a few minutes before he resumes the work you have indiscreetly disturbed . The letter of the Prince of Wales on the subject of the " Unemuljyed Relief Fund" lies

amongst the papers at his side , and you are astonished to learn that this subject alone entails at present the receipt of between one and two thousand letters every day . The suggestions received are as numerous as they are bewildering . One writer would have sixty thousand of the male inhabitants of the East End enlisted " en masse " into the Army ; another advocates their employment on the wholesale erection of artisans' dwellings at Deptford ; a third clamours for the excavation of ornamental lakes in Greenwich Park ; while a fourth proposes to draft the surplus population of all London indiscriminately into the national Navy . Pamphleteers are , if possible , more prolific than the

letter-writers , and the ephemeral literature of the ' •unemployed" already half covers the great sofa beneath the window , in the view from which the Lnrd Mayor takes a special pride . Between the bronze figures which flank the sideboard you notice a framed copy of the invitation card to the last Guildhall banquet , which was the result of much patient research in the library if the British Museum ; and on the table hard by may be seen copies Of Mr . Riley ' s " Memorialsof London and London Life , " the " Index of the Remembrancia , " and the "History and Antiquities of the VVorshipful Company of Leathersellers , " the preparation and production of all of which were in a great

measure due to the initiative of the present Lord Mayor . He has already collected the materials for an account of the Aldermen of Aldersgate Ward , which he intends to complete at his leisure when the time comes for him to exchange the arduous duties of the Mansion House for the welcome quietude of the Regent ' s Park . Mr . Soulsby ' s room plays an important part in the daily life of the Lord Mayor . A certain picturesque confusion in its arrangement tells the tale of the amount of business perpetually transacted within its walls . Labelled tin boxes call to your recollection a dozen almjst forgotten charitable collections , from the " Earthquake in Essex Relief Fund " down to that in aid of " Irish Ladies in Distress . " Below lie the Lord Mayor ' s Diary and the Mansion

House Invitation Book , bound in crimson and gold . But Mr . S mlsby cannot be interrupted for an instant , and you leave him to his labours , while you complete your inspection of the Mansion House by a brief visit to the drawing-rooms across the Loggia , in which yellow curtains , a red carpet , and orange-coloured satin can hardly be said to harmonise with the modelled trophies on the walls , which belong to the days of Mr . Dance , or the artistic masks surrounded by rays , which still adorn the centre panel of the marble mantelpieces . There is ,-however , enough still left in the Mansion House to console you for the disappearance of the state bed , which cost three thousand guineas , and excited the admiration and wonder of our ancestors .

Mr . John Staples can be claimed as a Wiltshire worthy , for he was born at Belmont , near Salisbury , where his lather had retired from a business career in London . He was as a boy a favourite pupil of Dr . Rice , of Christ ' s Hospital , and afterwards entered Mr . Hatcher ' s school at Salisbury . In 1842 , on the retirement of Mr . Kay ( subsequently High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire ) , he became , in partneiship with his brother , proprietor of the Albion in Aldersgate-street , which he minaged with remarkable success for over twenty years . The Albion was at last transformed into a Limited Company , and Mr . Staples devoted himself henceforth to the service of the Corporation .

In 1865 he was first elected a member of the Couit of Common Council for Aldersgate Ward , distinguished himself over the question of the City records , did excellent service on several of the Committees , and eleven years later was chosen Alderman without a protest . As Sheriff of London he represented the Corporation at the Uying of tho foundation stone of the deep-sea harbour at Boulogne . He is a Governor of Queen Anne ' s Bounty and an Almoner of Christ's Hospital . He has been twice Master of the Pewterers' Company , and is now for the second time passing through the presidential chair of the Leathersellers . As becomes a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries , he has

encouraged the compilation of several works bearing on the history of the City , and has himself produced a modest volume on the annals of the Church of St . Botolph , in his favourite Ward . He is also a zealous Freemason , and a patient and painstaking magistrate . When he entertained the -Society of French Masters in England at tea , just two months ago , the excellent and epigrammatic French in which he made a fluent speech fairly astonished M . Waddington and his other guests . The life of il . e present

Lord Mayor has been one of plodding industry and unobtrusive usefulness . Having had the race distinction of entertaining the members of the two Governments during his mayoralty , Lord Salisbury and Mr Gladstone will both be in a position to appreciate the graceful courtesy with which he has ( with the assistance of the Lady Mayoress ) dispensed the hospitality of the Mansion House , while his sound sense , exemp ' ary diligence , and never failing urbanity can haidly fail to disarm the most poweiful enemy of the Corporation .

We fancy , somehow or other , we recognise in the foregoing sketch the hand of a well-known bi other , whose wit and eloquence are often appreciated and admired at the meetings of many of our London lodges .