Reminiscences Of St. John's Lodge, No. 58, Kelso, N.B.

After a matur deliberation , put it to the vot , who continou the first ofisers , or elect now , and it was carrid to cont jnu . And it was resolved that this and all following sederents shall be registrat in a book to be be keipt by the rreserur , and only subscribed by the Master and next ofisor , or assistants , in case of the Master ' s -vbsens . It was also resolved that all Entcrd Prentiscs

shall pay eight pounds Scots , with their gloves , to be paid to the Treaserur for the use of the society , and all the gentlemen who are the honorary members of the companie , obleidg themselves to pay a crown yearlo , to wit , on Saint John ' s Day , for the us of treed and all treedsmen , and to pay a shillin in yearly , on Saint John ' s Day , on the first Tuesdai of Junis apoyntetl for a

yearly meeting , as well as Sunt John ' s Day , to be held at Kelso , for the entering and recording either treedsmen or others that the companie shall think fit to record ; as also it was concluded , that for every absent on either cf the forward days , that each person absent , whether honorary or otherways , shall pay a crown apiece , unless he find such a reasonable excus as the meeting shall be satisfyd

with , which is to be contained in the sederent of the day . The companie also resolved that when an entered prentis is registrat as Master or fellow of the Craft , that he must pay fyv shillins , with new gloves , to the society . " These minutes were signed on the 2 nd of June , 1702 , by " Sir John Pringle , R . W . M ., " by which it would appear that the lodge only assembled once a year , that is to

say on the Festival of Saint John the Baptist . Passing over to St . John ' s Day , 1705 , there are a lot of fines entened for absence , the first of whom is Sir John Pringle , aforesaid , who , with the Laird of Grubbit , the Laird of Clifton , Cherry Trees ( probably another "Laird" ) , Stodrig , and a Cornet Drummond , are fined two pounds ten shillings each ; whilst James Burnie , Andrew Borthwick ,

and John Esartare mulcted in the sum of twelve shillings each ; and ' •Lovetennant " Bennett thirty shillings . An addendum to this entry was as follows : — " These persons are all deficient of their stent , and fined for absence , conforme with the stattutes of the lodg . " What is the meaning of " stent , " I could not make out ; but perhaps that able and erudite Masonic scholar , Bro .

D . Murray Lyon , the Grand Secretary of Scotland , may enlighten us . May the word not signify the dues ? If so , the total amount opposite each brother ' s name will include arrears of dues and fines . Proceeding on there is a resolution enjoining brethren to return straight to their sevetal homes , after lodge business , so as not to " bring Masonry into disrepute . " In 1752 St . John ' s Lodge subscribed the

handsome sum of £ 50 towards building the old Tweed Bridge , at Kelso , which structure was carried away by a flood forty-five years later . At the same time the lodge subscribed £ 5 to the Melrose Bridge . This goes far to show that the members were an opulent class of Craftsmen . Not the least interesting part of this minute book are the signatures of the brethren belonging to the

lodge , as also visitors . One of the first m the book is a Walter Scott , ( 1701 ) , in all probability an ancestor of his illustrious namesake , the "Wizard of the North , " who likewise was a Mason . A Duke of Roxburghe's autograph is dated Augusti ith , 1804 , but the peculiarity of the signature nearly all through the book , extending over a cen' ury , is the appendage to each name , corresponding in many

instances with the trade , calling , or profession of the brother . Thus an artist has a pallet tacked to his name ; an architect a house ; and so on . In the earlier years of the lodge , however , are appended angular characters something approximating to the marks of the Mark

Master Masons of the present day . Amongst the visitors on October 25 th , 1785 , was the great Italian aeronaut , in whose honour a peculiarly-shaped bonnet , worn by ladies of fashion at that time , was named , and to which Bro . Robert Burns alluded in one of his well-known poems , thus : —

" I wadna been surprised to spy You on an auld wife's flamen toy ; Or aiblins some bit duddie boy , On ' s wylecoat ; But Miss ' s fine Lunardi , fye I How daur ye do't ?"

This was Vincent Lunardi , whose bold signature and address ( Lucca , Italy ) is embellished with a pen and ink sketch of a balloon . Leaving the old minute book and its curiosities , I had a glimpse at the charter of St . John's Lodge , which is dated so late as 1754 , and signed by Ch . Hamilton Gordon , Grand Master ; John Williamson , Deputy Grand Master ; and Geo . Frazer , Substitute Grand

Master . Then again , there is a parchment document , dated 1805 , a sort of obligation , to which all strange visiting brethren had to subscribe their signatures by way of test . This large sheet of parchment is covered with signatures , a great many being the autographs of French officers , on their parole , during the Peninsular war . The old lodge Bible is in splendid preservation , as in fact are

all the tools , jewels , anel clothing , thus fortunately rescued from the limbo of obscurity through the enterprise of the brethren of Tweed Lodge . I should add that the brethren of Tweed Lodge have petitioned the Grand Lodge of Scotland for pfrmission to adopt the charter of No . 58 , of which to-day , I believe , there are only two , or at mest three , members living at

Kelso . I may conclude by adding that the pleasure of inspecting these relics was not a little enhanced by a visit to the Tweed Lodge the same evening , where the Third Degree was conferred on one candidate , another being absent ,

whilst three were proposed for initiation . The brethren of Tweed Lodge are eminent and practical exponents of the greatest of Masonic virtues , inasmuch as they recently organised a concert in aid of the " Indian Famine Relief Fund , " which , after defraying expenses , realised the handsome surplus of £ 65 . RAMBLER .

Masonic Sermon.

MASONIC SERMON .

1 i : ] Preached by Rev . H . Bethell Jones , M . A ., Vicar of Brooklands , Manchester , Prov . Grand Chaplain of West Lancashire , at Withington Parish Church , Saturday , Oct . 27 th , on behalf oE the Indian Famine Fund . Mark vi , 34 : "And Jesus , when he came out , saw much people , and was moved with compassion towards them ,

I i ! i because they were as sheep not having a shepherd . " Freemasonry is not a religion ; the only religion for us is faith in God , through Jesus Christ our Lord , being sanctified by the Holy Ghost . But if Masonry be not a religion , it is at any rate a grand system of moral teaching , founded on the first principles of religion ; so that no Mason can be a sincere follower of the great truths

i i I which he constantly hears taught in our Masonic ceremonies without being a religious man . It is , therefore , strictly in accordance with the tenets of our ancient Order that we . should meet to-day in God ' s holy house for the furtherance of that great principle of charity . which should be , and I trust is the distinguishing characteristic of every Freemason ' s heart . It is on behalf of our suffering

fellowsubjects in India that I have now the privilege of addressing you ; and I call upon you to follow the example of Him who was both God and man—of Him who was the world ' s great teacher of love , as we see Him in the text , moved with compassion at the sight of the multitudes who had followed Him , fainting from their long fast , and whom He fed from His bounteous store . The people of

Galilee had been gathering into the towns , such as Capernaum , preparatory to going up to the approaching Feast of the Passover at Jerusalem . The crowds that had waited on Jesus to hear His words and see His miracles ¦ were thus much increased . His disciples had just returned from their first missionary journey . Therefore , to escape the throng , to give some needed rest to His

disciples , and probably too , to give Himself an opportunity of instructing them in the kingdom of Heaven . He suddenly withdrew from Capernaum by boat , and passed over to the north-east shore of the Sea of Tiberias to a "desert place . " But the people would not let Him thus escape them ; they watched the direction of His boat , and when they had made sure where He would land they followed

Him on foot out of all the cities and villages roundabout . In their hurry and excitement the majority had brought no fcod . Towards evening , signs of exhaustion were apparent among many in the crowd , who had come from far . The disciples , probably wishing to be rid of responsibility , begged Jesus to send them away . But not so : Jesus never drove suppliants away empty ; but moved

with compassion when he saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd , He made them , there in the wilderness , recipients of His bounty . He did not ask if they were all Jews ; or if they had all come with right motives ; or if they were all His friends . He did not say that He would feed only the aged and the weak , and the rest must return home . No ; He commanded that all without

exception should sit down on the ground in order ; and then , after calling down God ' s blessing on the small provision of the five loaves and two fishes , He distributed to the disciples , and the disciples to the multitude , as much as they would . It is in the same Divine spirit of ungruJging charity that I ask you to approach the subject of the relief of those famishing multitudes in India , not perhaps of your

race , religion , or colour , but still children of the one Great Father—whose sad case I plead to-day . In 1757 , a hundred and twenty years ago , the great Clive won the battle of Plassey , and laid the foundation of our Indian empire . By a continued course of conquest and annexation we have gone on , adding territory to territory , tilll we now rule over some 180 , 000 , 000 people . But

never have we had such an opportunity of covering ourselves with glory as now , in taking the people of India as our children under our protection , and , in their defence , fighting against this terrible enemy , Famine . For more than twelve months has this dread foe been advancing in our territory—constantly have we looked for that rain , which would have been our best ally , and we looked in

vain . God seemed for a time to have mysteriously turned away His mercy from us , for the sky was as brass , and the earth as iron . As week followed week , the battle grew even fiercer—cholera , dysentery , fever , brought up their serried batallions , and counted their slain by evcrincreasing thousands ; many were only saved from starving to be withered by the hot blast of pestilence . In one

district alone , in one month , the death rate rose from 1774 to 11 , 800 , i . e ., in plain English , 10 , 000 people died from famine and pestilence . The government of India put forth almost superhuman efforts to stay the ravages ; the officials worked with the most untiring energy and perseverance ; relief camps were established in central positions throughout the country ; the service of the railway

was improved , till at length it was able to transport 4 000 tons of grain per diem ; local committees were formed in towns and villages and supplied with funds from the central committee in Madras ; large public works were commenced and the able-bodied drafted to them—still the famine kept it .-adily advancing , the number of people receiving reli-Jt kept steadily rising , the price of

foodgrains was five and . six limes their nominal value . In the midst of this dire distress an appeal comes to the people of England for aid ; and the people , who had been waiting in suspense , at once generously responded , and by this time more than half a million must have been sent to India . Now this was the condition of things when the north-east monsoon broke on India with its priceless

showers . One year of famine was closing , and we appeared to be enuring on a second ; three quarters of a million sterling being spent per month ; food-grains five times the usual price ; between three anil four millions of people dependent on the government ; at least one million and a half of people dead in the Madras Presidency alone . The first campaign had been fought , and it had

Masonic Sermon.

been disastrous in the loss of life and property , but there was a second campaign in prospect , to face which would require the whole Imperial resources , used without stint . If rain had been withheld in October , the fpring of next year would have seen the Hindoos dying not by thousands but by millions , i From this awful calamity , God , by His goodness in sending the needful rain , has saved us ;

and now what we have to do is to fight courageously on till the end of the year , and then the grandest warfare a government ever waged will be closed , if not with victory , yet with a triumph to be measured by the salvation of four millions of people , who , but for the British government and the British people , must have perished miserably . At the present moment

( October ) there are between 80 , 000 and 90 , 000 centres of population , i . e . towns and villages , to be guarded from death . By the last return in Mysore and Madras , there were 592 , 805 persons on the public works , and 1 , 410 , 716 persons receiving gratuitous relief . If to these we add those in the Bombay Presidency and the Native States , we have a total of 772 , 805 on public works , and 1 , 910 , 716

receiving gratuitous relief , making up a grand total of 2 , 683 , 521 persons dependent upon the government . Let us now compare this state of things with the Cotton Famine in Lancashire , with the details of . which most of you whom I am now addressing are acquainted . The Cotton Famine lasted from March , 1862 , to the end of June , 1863 . We

may say with tolerable certainty the ; crisis of the Cotton Famine was in December , 1862 . Now at that time the total number of persons relieved from parochial rates and by the relief committees amounted £ 0 49 6 , 816 , or say in round numbers half a million . The total amount of money voluntarily subscribed was £ 1 , 974 , 203 , or say in round numbers two millions . If we say there are now

three millions dependent on the government of India , we see that the number of persons relieved in the Cotton Famine was as one-sixth of the number in India , while the amount of money contributed for the Cotton Famine is four times the amount contributed for this famine in India . In other words , six times the number of people have to be relieved with one fourth the amount of money . Now

if we give one shilling per head per week to the three millions in India ^ to keep them alive , it will cost us £ i 50 , ooo ° per week ; or reckoning children at sixpence per week it will cost say £ 100 , 000 . Thus you see in how short a time half a million of money will be swallowed up . Still , it is to be remembered that every one who gives a single shilling will help to keep a fellow creature alive

for a week ; if he gives ten shillings , for ten weeks ; if he gives a pound , for twenty weeks . Let this simple fact , put in this homely fashion , urge us to-day to give as much as we can afford . God , however , in His goodness and mercy has again smiled on India -. the rain has descended , the intensity of the distress is abating . What is the result of this happy change ? People at home are jumping to the

conclusion that all danger is past and suffering too—that there is no further need of help . In a sort of prevision of this feeling there came a timely telegram from Simla of Oct . 14 th— " Well to warn the people of England that , though there is every prospect of the Madras Famine terminating , yet | an infinite amount of misery will still have to be ' endured , and the need of alleviation will be for a

time as pressing as ever . " The distress is no doubt daily lessening , but by the last accounts we read that in Bangalore some thirty dead are picked up in the streets daily—in Mysore thousands are dying from want of clothing to protect them from the cold of the nights . Doubtless the rain brought hope to minds worn out by the persistence of the pressure : there were

very many to whom even hope came too late . The crisis of the battle is past , the victory is assured , but the wounded and the disabled must be cared for—those who have been struck down in the htat of the fight , and are now helpless and forlorn . A great famine like a great war leaves distress in its track , and it will be months yet before the feeble , the sick , and the dying , will cease to need our help .

By ni-xt February , if all goes well , the peiple will be out of danger ; but in the meantime very much has to be done . Even in February , with the most favourable conditions , the circumstances of the people in the stricken districts will be this—all the cattle will be gone , implements of husbandry sold for food , houses bare of furniture , the silver ornaments of the women ( which compose the family

property ) sold or melted down—all disposable property vanished , and no reserve force to fall back upon . All but bare life will have been devoured by the consuming fire of famine 1 Surely it is not yet time to stay our hands , or imagine our work is done . We cannot suppose that a great and prolonged famine can blast a whole country , and then pass away without leaving a trace of its fell

march . It has stripped whole territories bare , and ltft a vast number of cultivators without any present means of support , worn out by hunger and sickness , and unable to till the ground , which is now ready to bring forth . The caste prejudices of the Hindoos have added gieatly to the difficulties of the government . In very many cases they have held out as long as anything has been left , and then

when all is gone and they are on the point t f starvation , they crowd into the large towns , or the relief camps , and die by thousands in the roads . In some famine districts the fields are strewn with the dead as after a great battle , who have died , not in desperate charge , or in hot blood roused by the blare of battle—not standing shoulder to shoulder have they died ; but worn out by exhaustion and

hunger , weary with hope deferred they have sunk down in loneliness to gasp forth their life , unknown , unwept . Thank God we may begin to look forward to the time when aid will be no longer needed , and when , the famine and all its accompanying horrors shall be a story of the past . What that story shall be , will much depend on what we do in the interval . It will be a sad record anyhow ; but it is not yet fully written , and it will rest with