A Short History Of The Lodge Of Emulation, No. 21.

and clays of meeting , and no doubt this had a very salutary effect in consolidating the Order and increasing the number of Regular lodges . The first list in which the lodges are given consecutive numbers and in which the date of their constitution appears was issued either late in 1728 or early

in 1729 . It is known as Pine's Engraved List of Lodges for i / 2 g , and when I state that the copy belonging to the Grand Loclge is the only one of that year known to be in existence , it will readily be understood how valuable it is . There are two earlier lists of a similar kind in the Grand

Loclge Library , namely , for 1723 and 1725 , but in them the signs of the taverns , their locality , and the days of meeting only are given . The seventh loclge in the Engraved List for 1723 is The Griffin , Newgate Street , the first registered home of

this lodge , where it remained five years and was then removed to The Green Dragon , Snow Hill , as shown in the List for 1729 , in which it figures as No . 19 . The blank space over 1723 in the right hand column should have contained the date of its constitution and probably would have clone so had it been formally constituted in the usual way . It appears between No . 18 , constituted May 5 th , 1723 , and No . 20 ,

constituted June 12 th , 1723 . The Engraved Lists were issued annually until 1778 , after which year they were superseded by the ordinary printed list in the Freemasons ' Calendar and so continued down to the present day . The date of the constitution of " The Mourning Bush Lodge " never appeared in either one or the other . In 176 9 the

Grand Secretary wrote to the loclge requesting that the date of its constitution might be transmitted to him , but in consequence of the destruction by fire in 1742 of the original records , his request could not be complied with . This matter will be more fully dealt with later on ; it is , however ,

quite clear that in 176 9 neither the Grand Secretary nor the members of the lodge knew the exact date of its constitution . Whence the Grand Secretary got the date " 15 th May , 1723 , " for the Warrant of Confirmation in 1810 is a puzzle to me . Certainly not from the Grand Lodge Records , for , as before stated , there were none in existence prior to the 24 th [ unc , ' 7 3-

Our only authority in nearly every instance for the date of the constitution of these old lodges is the Engraved Lists , and as already shown , these , from first to last , are blank as regards the date of the constitution of this lodge , the year only being given . I am most reluctant to question the accuracy of any of

William Henry White ' s statements , but truth is truth and history is of little value if not reliable . I will , therefore , venture to correct one or two palpable errors in the preamble of this Warrant of Confirmation . It seems to me that imagination played a not unimportant part in the concoction

of the opening story . For instance , ( he author states that a Warrant of Constitution , etc ., was issued under the seal of Masonry to certain brethren in 1723 , and that the " Lodge was accordingly opened at The Mournin << Bush Tavern " in

that year . Now , in the first place , as already stated , Warrants bearing the seal of Masonry were not issued for London lodges prior to the year 1750 , and it was in the year 1735 that the loclge held its first meeting at the tavern named . During the twelve years that had elapsed since its official recognition it had been held at four different

houses , viz ., The Griffin , Newgate Street ; The Green Dragon , Snow Hill ; The Crown , Snow Hill ; and The Queen ' s Arms , Newgate Street . I am not at all surprised that W . H . White should have omitted mentioning one or more of these houses—• indeed , I should have been greatly astonished had he done

so—for he had only just been appointed Assistant Grand Secretary , and the lodge records being missing he knew nothing of the identity of "The Mourning Bush Loclge " with that held at the houses named .

It was not until the comparatively recent advent of that wonderful example of the patience and industry of the late John Lane , Masonic Records , that identification of some of the early lodges by the ordinary Masonic Student was

rendered possible , and when I state that the task which the author voluntarily undertook for the benefit of the Craft , aided as he was by other enthusiastic brethren , occupied several laborious years , its magnitude may readily be imagined , and also furnish a probable reason for the officials of the Grand Loclge not having attempted something of the kind previously .

SOME OF THK SKINS OF TIIH TAVERNS AT WHICH THE MOURXINli HUSH I . OIKU- ; WAS HELD . FI-I , II , Ihr Eii , / i ; ir ,, l I . M of Ijiilger . Prior to the year 1723 no returns of the members of the several lodges were made to the Grand Loclge for registration , nor was there a Grand Secretary until the 24 II 1 June in that

year , when William Cowper , a member of the loclge at The Horn Tavern , Westminster , was appointed to that office . The first page of the earliest Minute Book of the Grand Lodge is thus headed : — "This Manuscript was begun the 25 th November , 1723 ,

The Rt . Hon . Francis Earl of Dalkeith , Grand Master ; Dr . John Theophilus Desaguliers , Deputy Grand Master ; Francis Sorrell , Esq ., Mr . John Senex , Grand Wardens . "A List of the Regular Constituted Lodges , together with the names of the Masters , Wardens , and Members of each

Lodge . " Then follow 28 pages headed by the names of the taverns at which 52 lodges held their meetings , 3 6 having the names of the members appended , the rest being blank . The seventh lodge in this list was held at The Griffin , in Newgate Street , showing a membership of fourteen .

1 he next registration of members was begun two years later—27 th November , 1725—and shows a marked improvement , not only in the number of lodges on the register , but also in the returns of their members . It comprises a list of seventy-seven lodges up to April 22 nd , 1728 , seventy-three of which have the names of their members appended , the sixth

thereon being The Griffin in Newgate Street ( one of the older lodges having dropped out ) with a list of sixteen names , including seven who were members in 1723 . We learn from the Minutes of the Grand Lodge that on the 27 th December , 1727 , it was "Agreed that it shall be

referr'd to the succeeding Grand Master , Deputy Grand Master , and Grand Wardens , to enquire into the precedency of the several lodges , and to make report thereof at the next Quarterly Communication in order that the same may be finally settled and entrecl accordingly . "

This seems to have been a task of considerable difficulty , for on the 25 th June , 1728 , it is recorded that after the previous minutes had been read by the " Senior Grand Warden in his place , Pursuant to an Article in the aforesaid minutes ( requiring all the regular lodges to give in the exact time when they were severally Constituted ) some of the