Freemasonry In Wig An––Antiquit Y Lod Ge, No . 178. 17 86-1902.

The bye-laws appear to have been seldom transgressed . That there Avere occasional lapses on the part of the brethren , however , the following quaint extracts from a later period indicate : — " Feb . 2 ist , 1801 . —Bro . being disguised in liquor , he Avas admonished by the Worshipful and ordered home . "

" Feb . 26 th , 1823 . —For some unbecoming business , Bro . was suspended from the lodge for the space of 999 years . "

LODGK HOOAI , MASONTC HALL , AVIUAX .

The form of circular used in convening the meetings at the Queen ' s Head in 1786 is very quaint indeed , and is still in use in connection with the Festival of St . John , necessary alterations as to time and place of meeting , ike , only having been made . The proceedings in connection with the early installation

meetings differed in some respects from those Avhich are in \ -ogue now . The brethren usually met at half-past nine in the morning . This was so on the occasion of the first installation meeting , and " at half-past ten o ' clock .... called from labour to refreshment , and

proceeded forthwith to hear prayers at the parish church , and thence returned to the lodge room . " The public procession appears to have been quite a usual feature in the proceedings . In the following year , for instance , after the installation meeting . . . " The members of this lodge ,

joined by a many brethren from Chorley , Bolton , and Leigh , ike , Avith a select band of music , UCAV banner , and regalia ; the whole paraded the town , making a respectable appearance , after Avhich the brethren dined together in the New Town Hall . " The banner here referred to still hangs in the Masonic Hall , and a portion of the regalia is still in existence .

The banquet then , as now , a feature of the annual meeting , has also undergone some changes . The "banquet " of 1786 was responsible for the following items of expenditure : — "June 17 . —Paid for the Dinner for the Bros , coming express from Manchester on ac't of Installationis . 4 d .

, June 21 . —Thirty-six Dinners at the Installation , £ 1 16 s ., Beer and Porter , 66 quarts , Brandy > Punch , £ 2 us ., Rum Punch and Suppers , £ 1 8 s . 3 d . " Some of the brethren appear to have stayed overnight , for Ave have on the following day ,

" June 22 . —Chaise , Drivers , Victuals , and Liquor , 5 s . " Ample evidence exists that these early pioneers of Masonry in the district were ever read y to hospitably entertain visiting brethren from other towns . Here , again ,

their successors have worthily folloAved in their footsteps . An ordinary meeting of Antiquity Lodge in the present day without a goodly array of visitors would be somewhat of a novelty . Here Ave must leave these ancient worthies . Their work remains . The foundations they laid were Avell and truly laid ,

and each succeeding storey has only made more evident the strength of such foundations , and the wisdom of the dispositions they made . Well may their representatives

to-day guard the traditions of the lodge with jealous care , and look with no very friendly eye upon innovations ! Brief as this sketch must necessarily be , it is impossible to pass oyer the interval between the two installations under review without a passing reference to the dark days in the

. IAMKS IIKATOX , W .. AI . ANTH'UTY LOIHiK , AVICA . V . lodge ' s history . The old masters had passed away . The }" Avere succeeded by others who lacked their high ideals , and IAVO or three generations later ( viz ., from A . D . 18 35 onwards ) the membership had decreased until it was often found impossible