The First Grand Stewards And Their Lodges.

Giles Taylor was Master o the last-mentioned lodge in 1725 . I cannot find that he was a member of any other . Captn . Smith was Master of the 1 . 5 th Iodge in the 1723 List , ihen held at the " Half Moon , " in the Strand . As only 10 members were returned in 1725 , I fear this lodge also dropped out before 1730 .

There is a Major Smith in No . 10 of 1730 ( now No . 14 ); but as the Christian name is not given , and the Smiths are rather a numerous family , it is doubtful .

Richard Crofts was a member of the * ' Rummer " Lodge , 14 th in the 1723 List , and this lodge I am unable to identify after 1725 . Kemp is returned as a member of "Half Moon" in 1723 and 1725 ; but I cannot find his name afterwards . North Stainer was a member of the " Crown , " at Acton , in 1723 and 1725 , and was also Master of No . 28 , the " Queen ' s Head , " in Great Queen-street , in the latter year ; erased before 1 S 32 .

We may fairly presume that there was some difficulty in getting Stewards in 1725 , for none appear to have been appointed , and theonlv mention made of them in that year is at the end of the Grand Lodge minutes on the 27 th

December" After the Generall healths vvere over , one was drank to the Grand Steward , viz ' ., John James Heidegger , and his two Deputys , viz ., John Potter and Mr . Lambert , vvith thanks for their handsome and elegant entertainment . "

On looking through the Lists again , I find that North Stainer vvas a member of the " Anchor " Lodge , in Dutchy-lane , in 1723 , now the Royal Kent Lodge of Antiquity , No . 20 , and that Charles Kent was a member of the same lodge 1725 , and of the " King ' s Arms Lodge , " St . Paul's , No . 27 in the List . The last-named lodge I am unable to identify after

1730 . I cannot find the names of Bros . Heidegger and Potter in any of the lists , but Mr . Lambert , I presume is the brother who was Grand Steward in 1723 , and who prepared the feast for 1726-7 . On the 19 th December , 1727 , a

special Grand Lodge was called for the purpose of arranging matters for the ensuing Festival , and the Deputy Grand Master addressed the brethren at great length on the propriety of taking the tickets before the day of the feast , and ensuring due preparation for their comfort . The following extract vvill , no doubt , suffice :

"And Brethren tnat they maybe able to do that , I must beg of you to desire your lodges not to think of taking ' em at the Door of the Hall , you cannot but be sensible what a hardship it must be upon your Officers , to be under so great an uncertainty as that must produce . " If you take that method , give me leave to say you will be Egyptian

Task Masters to them ; you will set them to make Brick without Straw , and perhaps punish ' em for falling short in their work . " This should move you upon this point , besides the consideration how much the Reputation and Dignity of the Craft is concerned in having a decent , regular , and orderly Entertainment . "

"The Grand Wardens accordingly delivered out tickets to such lodges as were not provided , and they vvere desired to return what should not be disposed of by Saturday next at furthest to Mr . Lambert at his house in Pall Mall . "

It vvas ultimately agreed to consider at the next meeting how to prevent such irregularities in future . Accordingly , on the 26 th November , 172 S , after the election of Lord Kingston as Grand Master for the ensuing year , it was decided to have a grand feast at Slationers' Hall on next St . John ' s Day . "And Dr . Desaguliers proposed ( that in order to have the same conducted in the best manner ) , a certain number of Stewards should be chosen , vvho should have the entire care and direction of the said feast ( together

with the Grand Wardens ) , pursuant to the printed Regulations , which being seconded by Mr . Collis . "The Deputy Grand Master desired that all those who vvere willing to accept the said office of Steward would advance to the Table and declare the same by signing their names before the Chair . " The brethren vvere evidently in no great hurry to avail themselves of a privilege vvhich is now an object of ambition to many , and is considered a very distinguished honour , for the record says :

" 1 he Earl of Inchiquin vvas thereupon pleased to offer himself , in a very obliging manner , to be one of the Stewards on that occasion , But his lordship having been so lately Grand Master , the Lodge thought it would be too great a trouble to , as well as too great a condescention in his Lordship to accept of that Office , therefore would not suffer it , But at the same time exprest their utmost gratitude for the great Honour and Love his Lord'p .

had shown for the Brotherhood and the Craft . " Then the several Brethren hereafter named advanced to the Table and signed their Names respectively , to be Stewards at the next Grand Feast , in number twelve , and in the order following , viz' : 1 . —Mr . Carsar Collys of the Lodge at the Rose in Mary la Bone . 2 . —Mr . John Revis , Master of the " Globe " in the Strand . 3 . —Mr . Samuel Stead , Master of the St . Paul ' s Head , in Ludgate Street .

4 . —Mr . William Benn , Master of the Mag Pye , without Bishopgale . ., 5- —William Tew Do . Do . 6 . —Mr . Gerard Hatley , of Bishopsgate Coffee House . 7 . —Mr . Thomas Alford , Master of the Rose and Rummer , in

Holbourn . 8 . —Mr . H . Smart , of the Cross Keys , in Henrietta-street . 9 . —Mr . Thos . Reason , of Tottenham High Cross . 10 . —Mr . William Hopkins , Rummer , Paternoster Row . 11 . —Mr . William Wilson , Ship , Fish Street Hill .

12 . —Mr . Theodore Chariholme , St . Paul ' s Head , Ludgate Street . "The Healths of the twelve Stewards was proposed and drank with twelve , alluding to the twelve signs of the Zodiac !*; , as well as to their number , which they returned jointly in like manner . The Stewards likewise propos'd Dr . Desaguliers' Health for reviving the office of Stewards ( which appeared to be agreeable to the lodge in general ) and the same was drank accordingly .

"Then the Deputy Grand Master informed the Stewards he had brought with him 200 tickets ready seal'd , & c , to deliver to such Masters or Wardens of lodges present , as were willing to take them , and several Motions being made concerning the disposal of the tickets , the twelve Stewards elect desired leave to withdraw in order to consider thereof

which being granted them , they accordingly withdrew for some time and being returned , " " Mr . Collys ( whom they had chose for their speaker ) reported that it vvas the desire of the Steward That the Masters of the Lodges present

The First Grand Stewards And Their Lodges.

should take as many tickets now as they thought they could dispose of , and they themselves would take the rest , and be accountable for them on the iSth of December next , and they would meet together next Tuesday to consult further on this affair . ' .

Thanks to Bro . Wm . Reid , the Grand Secretary in 1728 , we are for the first time made acquainted vvith the lod ges to which the Grand Stewards belong , and from this period may be dated the present system of selecting Grand Stewards from certain lodges , and of regulating the affairs of the Grand Festival .

The first lodge mentioned , the Rose , at Mary la Bone , is numbered 43 in the official list , for 172 S up to 1740 , when it became No . 38 , and is now the Old King ' s Arms Lodge , No . 28 . Bro . Collys was also Master of No , 29 , in 1725—the "Lyon , " in Brewer Street , now the Tuscan Lodsre , No . 14 .

The" Globe , " in the Strand , I am unable to identify with certainty , but I believe it was erased in 1838 . The Engraved List for 1729 gives the St . Paul ' s Head as No . iS . I believe the lodge removed to the Crown and Cushion , on Ludgate Hill , before 1730 , and was erased in 1744 .

I find the name of " Mr . Benn" in a list of 1723 at "Benns Coffee House , New Bond Street , probably his mother lodge . The lodge at the "Magpie , " No . 45 , in 1728 , removed to the "White Hart , " Bishopsgate , before 1730 , and was erased from the list in 1756 . The lodge at the Bishopgate Coffee House also had but a short life , having been struck off in 1 744 . The Pose and Rummer was No . 2 in 1728 , and , if I am not mistaken , was one of the lodges that formed the Grand Lodge of England .

The Cross Keys , Henrietta-street , is No . 37 in the List for 1729 ; it became No . 33 in 1 740 , and was erased in 1745 . The next lodge mentioned is still in existence ; it removed from Tottenham to Cheapside in 1730 , and is now the Castle Lodge of Harmony , No . 26 , the dual name being derived from an union , in 1776 , of the Castle Lodge , No . 21 , and the Lodge of Harmony , No . 389 .

Williams Hopkins , the next on the List , I find returned as a member of several lodges , viz ., No . 27 , the Crown , behind the Royal Exchange , in 1723 , vvhich is No . 22 in 1725 , and No . 7 in 1730 , now the Westminster and Keystone Lodge , No . 10 ; No . 5 of 1730 , erased before 1744 ; No . 23 of 1730 , " Half Moon , " in Cheapside , now ihe Globe Lodge , No . 23 . The "Rummer , " Paternoster-row , in 1728 is No . 40 in the Engraved List , which was struck off the roll in 18 32 .

The " Ship , on Fish-street Hill , was No . 22 of 1728-30 . William Wilson is returned as a member in 1725-30 . This lodtre was erased in 1822 .

I cannot find the name of the last brother in any List of 1723 or 1725 , and the Iodge he is said to have belonged to ( the "St . Paul ' s Head" ) made no return of members in 1730 . I hope the above analysis will be generall y understood ; but ralher fear that the numerals necessarily employed may render it somewhat complex to the ordinary reader ; for this reason I have omitted the different numbers

the lodges took at each alteration , and will refer those who desire further information under this head to a most exhaustive and comprehensive work , now in the press , which has been compiled b y Bro . John Lane , of Torquay , at an enormous expenditure of time and patience , and which , under the title of " Masonic Records , " will give the name , number , place of meeting , and date of constitution of every lodge on the roll of the Grand Lodge of England from its formation to the present time . ( To be continued . )

Bro. Samuel Pope, Q.C.

BRO . SAMUEL POPE , Q . C .

We reproduce from the World another sketch of a "Celebrity at Home . " This time it is our genial and learned Bro . Samuel Pope , G . D . The same facile pen , we think , has limned him , and those of our readers vvho have the privilege of his acquaintance , will not fail to recognise the " portrait . " " The history of Parliament Street has been an eventful one since it arose in the early days of the Georges on the site of the " Privy Garden" and " Bowling Green , " and superseded gloomy and muddy King Street as the principal

thoroughfare between Westminster and Whitehall . Charles James Fox lived there once , and it was there tbat the Gentleman ' s Magaaitte was edited , and the luckless Mr . Drummond was murdered by mistake . At present it is almost entirely sacred to the various branches of Parliamentary practice , to engineers and specialists , and to the numerous clients who need their services . The opening of the great temple of British Justice in the Strand marked an epoch in its annals . The migration of the lawyers eastwards compelled the leaders of the Parliamentary Bar to seek a

pieda-terre of their own in close and convenient proximity to thc scene of their labours the lofty pile of chambers , with the sombre and awe-inspiring fa 9 ade , which Mr . Frederick Haynes had just completed , afforded thc most appropriate of sites . and it is here that Mr . Samuel Pope holdshisdaily consultations during the continuance of the Session . Promoters and opposers , mayors , and town clerks , zealous country solicitors , and voluble witnesses from the north , no longer seek him in the venerable precincts of King ' s Bench Walk . It is in Parliament-street that they come to

claim the traditional quarter of an hour which is always too short for their requirements . It was at the end of June , and the eleventh Parliament of Queen Victoria was on the eve of dissolution . The parties to the Oldham Corporation Gas and Water Bill , however , did not seem to feel the deep concern which might naturally be expected in Mr . Gladstone ' s great appeal to the constituencies ; the local officials , who had perhaps tempered the severity of their more serious occupations by occasional

visits to the " Colonies , " the British Museum , the Alhambra , and Drury Lane , thought only of thc fate of the Bill and of the disquieting fact that unless the Lords " reported" it in the course of the afternoon there would be no third reading and no Royal assent , and that months of labour and the pleasant trip to London would be alike thrown away . It is certainly to be regretted that you have selected this particular morning to pay a visit to Mr . Pope . Half-an-hour has elapsed since his

neat brougham brought him down swiftly from Holland Park . His assistant has already given him—wet and steaming from the printers—the voluminous minutes of the previous day ' s proceedings , and he is now deep in the perusal of the papers behind the great glass screen which divides the inner sanctuary of Parliamentary practice from the spacious room , which an inscription on the door informs you belongs " Mr . S . Pope's Clerk . " '

I he interest of the various objects around you atone in a measure for the angularity of the chair on which you await the permission to enter which you hardly expect to obtain . A much-trodden-on red tapestry carpet covers the floor ; a smokebegrimed bust of Brougham perched on the top of a cupboard seems much dissatisfied with the companionship of a dusty pile of last year ' s Parliamentary papers ; over the door a faded photograph of the Assize Courts at Manchester ( the scene of many of Mr . Pope's cariy triumphs ) faces an engraving of the Bench of the Middle Temple above the mantelshelf , and you are agreeably surprised to see