History Of The Lodge Of Emulation, No. 21.

History of the Lodge of Emulation , No . 21 .

( By HKXKY SADLER , Sub-Librarian to the Grand Lodge of England . )

^ TOV . 20 th . —A Petition for assistance was received from ^ the widow of a former member , when , for the lirst time on record , the Secretary was directed to inform the applicant '' that the Finances of the Lodge would not allow of any assistance being given to her . "

Subsequently a Motion was unanimously carried that every subscribing member of the Lodge should pay into the hands of the Treasurer £ . 1 us . 6 d . over and above the current subscription , towards liquidating the debt clue to him b y the Lodge . It was also agreed to increase the annual

subscription from One Guinea to £ r ns . 6 d . and to reduce the Initiation , Passing and Raising fee to £ 3 3 s . An urgent appeal was ordered to be made to members in arrear to pay up their subscription . 179 8 , Jan . 15 th . —The appointment of Officers was

postponed , there being only four members present and one visitor . The energetic measures taken by the few members who regularly attended were not without a due effect , but the Lodge cannot be said to have recovered from its period of depression until the advent of William Henry White , who

was proposed by his father on iSth March , 1799 , and initiated at the following meeting .

TIIK HON . TIK 1 JMS IIAHl . EV . I . OIfll MAVOK OP LOMKI . V < 7 ' > 7 <<\ liliAXI ) STEWAHI ) FOK THE I . OllliE OF EMULATION IX 176 . 5 . I'hutograpiiril from , 1 I ' riut in Ih- iinililhull l . ihi-iiri / , hi / iirruiiu-itm of the l . ihmrii Committee of Ih , f „ r / i , ii ; ilioi , of I . 010 I 011 . There seems to have been a sort of magic in the name of

White , as from the very day of the son of the Grand Secretary being proposed as a member , the Lodge began to revive from ils moribund condition . One of the oldest and most active Past Masters who had tendered his resignation at the previous meeting asked permission to withdraw the same ,

and the Lodge made a fresh start on the road to prosperity . W . H . White was raised to the third degree on 20 th May , and as evidence of the active interest he at once evinced in the affairs of the Lodge , the minutes of this meeting are in his handwriting , as also are those of many subsequent meetings . He was elected Master on 15 th December , 1800 , and again

for 1804 , i N ° 5 i 1806 , 1807 , 1808 , 1809 and 1810 . In January , 1800 , the Lodge was removed to The Antwerp Tavern , Threadneedle Street , much against the wishes of the

proprietor of The Paul ' s Head , in Cateaton Street , where it had been held for upwards of thirty years . At the lirst meeting in the new place a Committee consisting of the Wardens , Treasurer and Secretary was appointed to see the furniture , etc ., removed from The Paul's Head , but the landlord of that house , Samuel Marriott , finding that his

promises of better treatment failed to induce the members ( o reconsider their decision , had evidently determined to give them all the trouble he could , and absolutely ' refused to deliver up the Lodge property unless the brethren could produce a receipt which he asserted had been given to the

Lodge for the Furniture , etc ., when it lirst came to his house . This , the Committee was unable to do and the matter was adjourned for a fortnight at the request of the landlord , when the Master of the Lodge attended the Committee , with a former old member who stated " that he perfectly remembered the Furniture going to The Paul ' s Head and that no

receipt was given by Mr . Marriott for the same . " Finding that the Committee was determined to stand no more nonsense Marriott consented to deliver up the Furniture to the Tiler on an order signed by the Master and the several other members , which he might very well have done at lirst . The steps taken

by the Committee in this business are embodied in a lengthy report read to the Lodge on 17 th February , 1800 , the concluding paragraph of which is as follows : — "We consider Mr . Marriott ' s conduct on this occasion was sufficient ( if anything had been wanting ) to convince the Brethren that the removal of the Lodge from the House of Mr . Marriott was a step absolutely necessary . "

On 17 th March following "It was moved by Bro . Norn ' s ( Treasurer ) , 'That the supper Bill in future be called for at half-past eleven o ' clock , ' which , being seconded was carried in the affirmative . " 1801 , June 29 th . —On this evening Francis Columbine Daniel , Masterof the Royal Naval Lodge , No . 57 , who had been

proposed at the previous meeting , was elected a member , thus adding another to the list of Masonic celebrities on the roll of the Lodge of Emulation . He was appointed Senior Warden in 1802 and served as Grand Steward for the Lodge in 1803 , when he was chosen Treasurer of the Board of Grand Stewards . Bro . Daniel was a Surgeon , having an extensive practice

amongst the sea-faring population in the East of London . In 1806 he invented a life preserver and gave several exhibitions of its qualities on the Serpentine in the presence of royally , and also on different parts of the Thames . This invention was brought to the notice of the Royal

Humane Society and was at once awarded a medallion . It was also laid before the Society of Arts , and upon a full investigation of its merits and mechanism , " The Society unanimously agreed in opinion that such a valuable discovery merited the highest prize , the gold medal . "

During his connection with the Royal Naval Lodge Daniel is said to have acted as Master for upwards of seventeen years , and to have initiated over 600 American seamen , and near 400 British naval officers . Bro . Daniel was , for a time , an active member of the

rival Society , known as the " Antients , " and was chiefly instrumental , in 179 8 , in establishing a School for boys under the auspices of that Grand Lodge .

In 1808 , he , assisted by other members of the Roval Naval Lodge , instituted a second Masonic Charity for the purpose of relieving the widows and orphans of brethren under the " Modern " sanction . Owing to his characteristic energy and personal liberality , he was fairly successful in this , as he was in all his undertakings . After the Union of

the two Grand Lodges in 1813 , he endeavoured to unite the two Charities , i . e ., that of 179 8 , and of 1808 , and in 1817 this union was effected , thus forming what is now known as the Royal Masonic Institution for Bovs .