The Present Position Of English Ereemasonry.

aixcl our approval , our zealous support and ' our loyal adherence . ; ' First of all let us note its present yposition of material prosperity . "We do •• not wish to lay down here or at any time , -as an axiom , that material prosperity in

iitsclf or by itself alone , is an undoubted . ' token of safe or satisfactory progress . But ; this we may claim for it , that it is an I evidence in its measure of an acceptable ¦ and active support by a considerable por' j tion of our fellow-creatures .

; A society all worthy of support may ; indeed not flourish through some hidden ; cause of hindrance in its own peculiar object , or through some defect in its general arrangements , and a society which cannot properly call for present support on any

ground whatever of actual good or utility , may , from some ephemeral cause , be floated on the full tide of worldly success , by the favouring breeze of popular approval . But still we may fairly ask of any Fraternity or Association the question , does it

meet with the approval of society , and is its membership sought by those , who will grace it either by their patronage , or strengthen it by their numerical adhesion 1 Probably there never was a time hi the history of our English Freemasonry , when

the Craft was so borne on by material prosperity as at the present hour . Indeed , when we compare its early

struggles with , its actual position of prestige and numbers to-day , the contrast is both very striking and very remarkable The earliest return of lodges , acknowledging and subscribing to our English Grand Eodge , which exists in the archives

of the Grand Secretary ' s office 'is of date 1723 , and gives us a list of 51 contributing lodges . * In 1725 , two years later , the number of such lodges had increased to 69 , and in 1736 , eleven years later , to 169 .

So again m 1740 the number had still further augmented to 1 S 9 , in 1745 to 197 , hi 1750 to 214 , and in 1755 to 271 . "We observe so far a considerable and stead y increase ; but in 1760 the numbers had fallen back to 270 , a proof ,

we think , of the entire reliability of these very interesting statistics . In 1766 the number had again risen , namely , to 357 , or an addition of 100 lodges in six years . In the first year of

this century , the number returned . , by Grand Lodge amounts to 581 , or an increase of 224 lodges in thirty-four years . TMs , though a considerable increase , no doubt , is not very striking in itself , and we might fairly have expected a larger

increase , did we not remember , tjiat for the greater portion of the above period , the "Athol Masons , " as they are called , had a Grand Lodge of their own , and their lodges are not included in this enumeration ; while the old York Grand Lodge was also still in existence , though it had at the

close of the last century practically succumbed to the preponderating influence of its more prosperous southern rival . In 1815 , the first record after the Union gives the number of lodges on the roll of the Grand Lodge as 655 , and this number

seems only on the whole slowly to have increased until the year 1843 , in which year our Order lost its lamented Grand

Master , H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex , when the roll of lodges had risen to 721 . Thus during the earlier portion of this century , and the space of nearly thirty years , the increase of lodges had been only 66 . At the installation of Lord Zetland in

1844 , the lodges holding warrants from our Grand Lodge and acknowledging its supreme authority , were 733 in number , while at the close of the year 1870 , when he resigned the high post he had so long and so admirably filled , our English lodges

had risen hi number to 1 , 344 . This is an increase of . 623 lodges in twenty-six years , or an annual increase of .