History Of The Airedale Lodge, No. 387,

348 , St . George ' s , Doncaster ; 351 , Rodney , Hull - , 356 , St . George ' s , E . Y . Militia ; 363 , Minerva , Hull ; 408 , Newtonian , Knaresborongh ; 438 , Duke of York , Doncaster ; 439 Royal YorkshireKeighley ;

, , 440 , Globe , Scarborough ; 460 , Albion , Skipton ; 461 , Harmony , Halifax ; 493 , Loyal and Prudent , Leeds ; 504 , Samaritan , Keighley ; 505 , Philanthropic , Skipton ;

506 , Three Graces , Barnoldswick ; 512 , Fidelity , Leeds ; 513 , White Hart , Hnddersfield ; 525 , Constitutional , Beverley ; 527 , Royal Brunswick , Sheffield ; 539 , Hope , Bradford ; 542 PhilanthropicLeeds ;

, , 546 , Alfred , Leeds ; 549 , Loyal Halifax , Halifax ; 550 , Prince George , Haworth ; 556 , Ebenezer , Pateley Bridge ; 561 , Lion , Whitby .

Since 1788 , an Antient Lodge , 434 , at Wetherby had expired , and the Britannia Lodge , Whitby , No . 332 , hacl been erased . Appended to the minutes on 2 nd September , 1799 , is the following remarkably written statement b y Bro . Hawley , W . M . Bro . J . Hawley being extremely sorry to observe the misconduct of the brothers ancl particularly in that of not attending the Lodge when regularly called for that purpose , and has l

declines being any longer a member of the Lodge accordingy erased his name from the list of members . This worthy brother was S . W . in the warrant—W . M . from 17 , 89 to 1803—and Secretary , so far as the actual entry of minutes ancl the general duties are concerned , from the first meeting of the lodge , September 1 st , 1788 , to September 5 th , 1803 , when his name appears for the last time .

Bro . Hawley seems to have been a superior ancl cultivated man , intellectually far in advance of the brethren of his lodge , and by trade a painter . He was undoubtedly as perfect an example of the " Brother of Master Mind , " referred to b y Dr . Oliver in his "Masonic Jurisprudence " ( New Edition , 1874 , paragraph 9 , page 21 , ) as could possibly be found , ancl the lodge would most certainly have been extinct long before , had not this excellent brother remained to steer the Masonic bark through the sea of apathy ( ancl consequently Masonic ignorance ) with which it was surrounded and more than once nearly overwhelmed . Having made a study

of the decadence of this Doncaster Lodge , I firmly believe that hacl the members paid more attention to the j > rinciples of onr Order , instead of being satisfied with ( at the best ) an imperfect knowledge of the ritual , it would still exist in the town in which it was established . During the whole of its career at Doncaster , the lodge was kept together only by the Masonic zeal of a few , guided by the example of Bro . Hawley . The evil of " shewing off" by the exhibition of feats of memory is as mischevions to-day as then

, ancl sooner or later the lodge encouraging it amongst its members must succumb . In its effects , like the baneful power of a poisoned arrow , the vanit y of such ornamental Masons gradually overcomes its victim , to the exclusion of the more elevating tendencies of Craft study ; ancl unfortunatel y the evil is never sufficiently acknowledged until too late to avert its influence on others . Then sympathizers and disappointed orators form cliques , we will

not say to destroy the lodge , but which end in the formation of a new lodge , based however on such inflammable materials that it never reall y prospers . Although so far as can be judged the actual extinction of this lodge may not be attributable altogether to any special anxiety on the part of its members to excel in ritualistic perfection , yet the same personal vanity was at the root of its decline . It is a species of Masonic " measles " attacking the junior members of all lodges , ancl is easily cured at the outset ; the authority of one respected P . M . then having more weight than the whole lodge afterwards . If the members hacl been able to acquire as extensive knowledge of the ritual