About seven o'clock, deputations arrived at the Grand Lodge; when many patriotic toasts were given, together with many songs and speeches, highly appropriate to the occasion.

Mr. Boswell, in drinking as a toast, "The Admirers of Burns," took occasion to notice some particulars relative to the subscriptions which had been obtained for the monument: and among those gentlemen who had particularly interested themselves in the business, he mentioned in terms of high respect, Sir James Shaw, Bart., and William Fairlie, Esq., of London. He said, that through the exertions of these gentlemen large sums had been remitted, in furtherance of the undertaking, from the East Indies, from America, and from the metropolis, where a higher enthusiasm in favour of Burns and his writings seemed to prevail than in his native country. This, however, was not to be wondered at, because the glowing descriptions which he gives of scenes and feelings so congenial to Scotchmen, must have an effect proprtionate to the distance to which they are removed from their native land."

§ 2. History of Masonry from 1820 to 1823.

A new era of Masonry now opens to our view. By the accession of his most gracious majesty King George IV. to the throne of his ancestors, we are furnished with a decisive weapon to counteract the foul imputations of Barruel, Robison, and others, that our Society is the cradle where insubordination and treason are nurtured and brought to maturity. Nor did the Grand Lodge omit this opportunity of declaring their attachment

In this year, 1819, Brother W. Preston bequeathed by will £500 Consols to the Fund of Benevolence, and the same sum to the Girls' School, and £300 Consols for a Prestonian lecture.

to the person, and adherence to the laws and institutions, of their revered monarch. At a quarterly communication, holden the 8th March, 1820, the Grand Master, in the chair, called the attention of the Grand Lodge to the heavy and melancholy loss which the nation had sustained by the death of the late venerable sovereign King George III., and also of his royal highness the duke of Kent, and submitted, that before any other business was transacted, it would be proper to move addresses of condolence to be presented to his present majesty on these melancholy events; which was unanimously agreed to, and the addresses were presented in the name and on the behalf of the Fraternity, by his Royal Highness the duke of Sussex, G. M., on the 10th of May.

His Majesty was most graciously pleased to receive them with the utmost complacency, and to confirm to the society the continuance of his royal patronage, which must for ever silence the voice of calumny, and satisfy the world that the opinions of those who would impute treasonable designs to our institution, are nothing but the crude offspring of jealous doubt and dark conjecture. The royal arms, and title of his Majesty, as Patron, were then engraven at the head of the Grand Lodge certificate, as a public testimony of the exalted sanction under which Masonry had now the honour of being placed.

To commemorate the auspicious circumstances which placed the patronage of Masonry under the superintendence of the sovereign of these realms, his royal highness the Grand Master was pleased to present to the Grand Lodge a superb carved and gilt chair, the back and seat of which are covered with very rich blue velvet, to be used as a chair for the Deputy Grand Master; and also four smaller chairs to correspond, as seats for

brethren of distinction. This splendid present was received with gratitude, and it was unanimously "resolved, that the Grand Lodge, highly honoured at all times by the zeal and attention which his royal highness the duke of Sussex, the M. W. Grand Master manifests for the best interests and comfort of the Craft, cannot refrain, on this particular occasion, from expressing to his royal highness its grateful acknowledgments for this additional mark of his liberality and paternal kindness."

About this time, some incipient symptoms of an inclination to disturb the harmony and tranquillity which had characterized the proceedings of Masonry since the union, appeared in the proceedings of certain lodges in the north of England. The lodge No. 31, holden at Liverpool, having violated an essential regulation of Masonry, and being found contumacious by the Provincial Grand Master, was regularly suspended. The disputes had commmenced so early as 1818; and in December of that year, a communication was made to the Grand Lodge, by the Provincial Grand Secretary for Lancashire, suggesting that some regulation was necessary relative to the number of brethren requisite to constitute a legal Lodge, with competent powers to perform the rite of initiation, and transact other general business. To this application the Board for General Purposes replied, that "The subject is one which has undergone a great deal of discussion and consideration, especially on the late revision of the

This rule is as follows: "No Brother shall presume to print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, the proceedings of any Lodge, nor any part thereof, or the names of the persons present at such Lodge, without the direction of the Grand Master, or the Provincial Grand Master, under pain of being expelled from the order." (Const, "Of Members." Art. 6.)

laws. But it is a matter of so much delicacy and difficulty, that it was thought advisable not to depart from that silence on the subject, which had been observed in all the Books of Constitution."

In the latter end of 1819, a memorial was addressed to the M. W. Grand Master, from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lancashire, on a subject, which at a subsequent meeting of that body, was considered improper, and the Grand Master was requested to allow it to be withdrawn. His royal highness, therefore, did not deem it necessary to intimate to the Grand Lodge, or to the Board of General Purposes, that such a document had been transmitted to him. Although this withdrawal was perfectly voluntary on the part of the Provincial Grand Lodge, yet the Brethren of No. 31, having taken an erroneous view of the circumstances, elevated it into an occasion of dissatisfaction and complaint, and instituted an accusation against the Board of General Purposes, in which they cited this as "a case where the Board had detained a communication from the Provincial Grand Lodge for the county of Lancaster, which consists of sixty-two lodges on record; consequently, if the Board for General Purposes acted thus, without the authority of the Grand Lodge, we consider their conduct highly reprehensible; and if, on the other hand, the Grand Lodge gave them power to act in this manner, then we consider it a dangerous innovation upon the landmarks of our Order," &c. &c. &c. Thus they argued upon false grounds, for the Board had no knowledge of the document which had been restored to the P. G. Lodge at its own request..

From this time until the beginning of the year 1821, it should appear that the breach was widened,

for in the month of March the P. G. Master despatched a parcel to the Board, containing charges preferred by Brother H. Lucas against Brothers Thomas Page and M. A. Gage, of the Lodge No. 31; and a copy of the order for the suspension of that Lodge. As that officer had not investigated the charges himself, the papers were returned, and the Board declined interfering with them in their present shape.

It might be rationally conceived that the members of Lodge No. 31, on receiving the order of suspension would have endeavoured to reduce the points in dispute into as narrow a compass as existing circumstances would allow, for the purpose of eliciting an amicable and satisfactory termination, that the science of Masonry might not be brought into disrepute by the effects of division and disunion amongst its professors. This they unfortunately failed to do. They omitted to seize the critical moment; and having passed the rubicon, all hope of future arrangement was at an end. They did not even appeal to the Grand Lodge against the order of suspension, although it was denounced as arbitrary and unjust; but held their accustomed meetings, and transacted Masonic business as usual; they materially aggravated their case by the circulation amongst the lodges of intemperate manifestoes, full of harsh and indecorous language; and in their zeal for the production of evidence in justification of their own conduct, and the crimination of the constituted authorities, they entirely overlooked that one grand charge, which, like a crown of pure gold, decorates and adorns the glorious superstructure of Freemasonry, "The rulers and governors supreme and subordinate, are to be obeyed in their respective stations by all the brethren, according to the old charges and regulations with all humility, reverence, love, and alacrity."