Grand Lodge Of Scotland.

GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND .

The business transacted at the Quarterl y Communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , on Thursday , the 5 th instant , especially the reports relating to its various Funds , show that Freemasonry north of the Tweed is in a hi ghly

flourishing state , its present condition contrasting in all respects favourably with what it was some 12 or 15 years ago , when , owing to circumstances which need not be recapitulated , its affairs were in a state of dire confusion , and the Grand Lodge ,

though undoubtedly solvent , was burdened with a heavy load of indebtedness . But the influence exercised by the distinguished brethren who have successively presided over it as Grand Masters , ably seconded , as it has been , by the ability and devotion of its Executive Officers—of whom Bro . D . MURRAY

LYON , G . Sec . and the historian of Scottish Freemasonry , stands out most prominently—has not only removed the burden of indebtedness , and evolved order out of disorder , but has likewise placed the Grand Lodge on a sure and stable basis . Last year , for

instance , as will be seen from the report we publish elsewhere , the funds and estate of Grand Lodge are represented as amounting to close on £ 30 , 000 . Its income , so far , we presume , as relates to what corresponds with our Fund of General Purposes ,

amounted last year to £ 4913 , and its expenditure to £ 2268 , or less than one half . Its Annuity Fund shows a capital account of £ 39851 while its income , including the half of the " free income " of Grand Lodge for the year 188 9 , amounted to £ ( 129 , and the

expenditure to £ 622 . This excess of income over expenditure being added to the capital will raise the latter to £ 4492 , which will be still further increased b y £ 1322—the half of the '' free income" for 1890—to £ 5 814 . As regards the Fund of Masonic

Benevolence , the income was £ 75 8 , and the expenditure £ 701 . During the present year , however , the receipts of this Fund of Masonic Benevolence will be swelled by the proceeds of the Grand Bazaar in Edinburgh held some time before last Christmas ,

which amounted to upwards of £ 15 , 000 , as well as by the proceeds of the supplementary Bazaar held in Glasgow in the earl y days of January , so that with such a capital as it will now or shortly have , the Fund of Benevolence of the Grand _ J - — ^ w ^ . v ^ . ^ w ^ v- w .- 1 . 1 .. _ ^ lUllU

, . . -odge of Scotland will be on a large scale , and to judge from le expenditure annually recorded , ample enough to cover the 011 ay and leave a handsome margin to be carried forward from year to year , or capitalisedas be deemed most desirable ¦ ¦ ui IUUJL ^ ouauiL

, may . r , . - ' £ * " — j " — »•*« - « j > - " - w ^^^ u u .. ls also most gratifying to note that , as the result of the J'jangements made between the Grand Committee of Grand lodo- ^ - ° the ° part and the Lodge of Melrose—the only c ge in the kingdom which has hitherto stood aloof from

* wand Lod ge—of the other part , the whole of Scottish Freelasonry is now brought under the government of Grand Lodge . nle lese and the other facts whIch are set forth more hi ]] yw e report alread y referred to , all tend to show that Scottish

years S ^^ maldng rapid strides during the last fifteen ever ' ^ ' ^ S ' sation ' 1 S being made more and more complete iurisV ^ ' that lt ' S at the P rese "t time one of the wealthiest J cnctions in the Old or the New World . We rejoice at this

prop- / '" , and con gratulate our Scottish brethren on the recentT ] VC been and are making . Like us , they have th e esM ? u many lodges dro P from the roll > in consequence of their lshment of the Australasian Grand Lodges , but while their " / " -- » <•ui me Australasian Urancl Lodges , but while U

0 r gaiiis r enCal Stren § th ma > have been thus diminished , their financial ' ^ - been made more and more P erfect < ancl their ex Pectaf P ° Sltlon strengthened beyond the most sanguine ! 0 ns of their most ardent well-wishers .

Old Warrants.

OLD WARRANTS .

LODGE OF UNANIMITY , No . 89 , DUKINFIF . LD . [ C OPY . ] To all and every our Rig ht Worshipful Worshipful and Loveing Bretheren [ of the Antient and Honourable ] Society of free and " accepted Masons . Send Greeting .

KNOW Ye that by virtue of the power g iven under the hand and seal of the Right Honourable and Right Worshipful John Lord Ward Baron of Birmingham in the County of Warwick Grand Master bareing date the 30 th day of April A . D . 1 743 , . L . 5743 [ giving / rtrajful power and authority to me William Ratchdale of Liverpool in the County Palatine of Lancaster M . D . his Provincial Grand Master

to appoint my Deputy and Wardens and Masons and constitute Lodges as occasion shall require , I the said William Ratchdale takeing special care that all and every the Members of every Lodge of ( sic ) shall be constituted have been or shall be regularly made masons and that they do observe perform and keep all & every the Rules orders & regulations contain'd in the Book of Constitutions ( except such as

have been or may be revoked or alter'd at any Quarterly Communications or other general Meeting ) and do al such matters and things as may from Time to time from the Grand Lodge by order of the Right Worshipful the Grand Master for the time being ) deliver'd to me , and that each Lodge so constituted by me ye sd .

P . G . M . shall pay the sum two guineas for the use of the Grand Chanty and ten shillings and six pence to the grand Secretary for entering the said Lodge in the Lodge Book of ye Grand Lodge and [ that every such ' ] Lodge or Lodges as shall by him the P . G . M [ be so ] constituted that they keep the Rules [ Orders ami Regulations aforesaid ] .

Now WHEREAS I the said William Ratchdale ye said P . G . M . have been applyed to by Petition from several Bretheren dwelling and resideing in Manchester in the County Palatine of Lancaster praying that they may be constituted and formed into a regular Lodge . KNOW YE that I the said Wm Ratchdale by virtue and in pursuance of the power

aforesaid Hath and by these presents doth constitute and form the said petitioning Bretheren into a Legal regular and constituted Lodge to be held on every the 1 st and 3 d Wednesday in every month at the place called St . Anns Coffee house now kept by Harry Kirks in Manchester aforesaid , and I do and have appointed Joseph Greenwood Gentn Master of the said Lodge , John Smith Gentn Senr Warden and

John Harrysone MD . Junr Warden . GIVEN under my hand and seal this 4 th Day of Feb . 1754 . A . L . 5754 . WM RATCHDALE < > P . G . M . ^

The foregoing is a literal transcript , so far as it can be deciphered , of an original Warrant now in possession of the Lodge of Unanimity , No . 8 9 , Dukinfield , and which has been kindly supplied to me by Bro . John Clayton , P . P . J . G . W . Cheshire , to whom also I am indebted for other valuable information .

The Warrant , which ( as will be seen ) is a provincial Warrant , i . e ., issued by a Provincial Grand Master , is a most interesting and unusual document , and worthy of more than ordinary notice . The words in italics within brackets are not legible in the original . I supply what appears to be the correct reading .

In the latter part of the year 188 7 Bro . Hughan reproduced copies of the ( so-called ) " Warrants " of Nos . 37 , Bolton , 39 , Exeter , 41 , Bath , and 42 , Bury . All of these , as I have previously pointed out ( " Handy Book , " p . 18 ) , were merely " deputations " to constitute , and were not Warrants in the sense in which we now use that word .

The document , however , quoted above , is a real Warrant , and so far as I am aware is the oldest known issued under the authority of the Premier or " Moderns " Grand Lodge . In it the names of the Master and Wardens are given , and by it , without any further act , the lodge appears to have been duly and regularly constituted .

In addition to this there are one or two peculiarities that may be indicated . ( 1 ) . The date given in the Warrant , 4 th February , 1754 , is just a year earlier than the date given in all the Engraved Lists ,

which is 4 th February , 1755 . This may probably be explained or accounted for if ( as was very likely ) the Provincial Grand Master failed to make a return or report to the Grand Lodge of the issue of that Warrant until the following year .

( 2 ) . The date of the appointment of the Provincial Grand Master is noted in the Grand Lodee Calendars as made in the

year 1742 , and in said Calendars his name is spelt " Rachdale . The Warrant , however , gives the date as 30 th April , 1 743 ( a year later ) , and in the document the name is spelt " Ratchdale . "

The publication of this old , and in many respects remarkable , Warrant will , I trust , induce other brethren to hunt up and send me copies of any old Masonic documents they can find , which when received shall have my best consideration . JNO . LANE .