Robert Burns And Freemasonry.

the Lodge agreed to mitigate the expense to two shillings , which he is 'to pay at next procession . '" In Burns ' s letter to the Lodge , written from Edinburgh on Aug . 23 , 1787 ( during one of his frequent short visits to the capital subsequent to the famous visit when he was made so much of ) he urges the Brethren to " spare " debtors

to the Lodge who " confess debt and crave days , " and though the minutes breathe threatenings on many occasions , mercy seems , on the whole , to have tempered justice . Thus we read that the Lodge " gave up to Brother George Wilson his bill bearing date the 23 rd of June , 1781 , gs . 4 d ., including interest , finding him at present in

distress . " On occasion , however , they went further . Those who had not paid their entries were to be prosecuted we are told , " for which purpose they have appointed the Secretary to write to John Hamilton , Esq ., of Sundrum , for a warrant to call them before him as a Justice of the Piece . " Decreet seems to have been procured

against certain members , and at one meeting the Brethren discuss how far they shall give effect to such powers . Frequent references are made in the minutes to bills and promissory notes given by the members to the Lodge . As an instance of this , it is

recorded on September 7 , 1785 , that " Brother Hugh Steven granted his promissory note with caution for twelve shillings and sixpence sterling as his entry money , " this being one of the minutes bearing the Poet ' s signature , and a full minute written in the hand of Gilbert Burns and signed by him as Junior Warden refers to the

same subject . It is as follows : — "Tarbolton , August 4 , 1786 . —This evening the Lodge nut , when Quintin Rone and James Good , being before entered apprentices , were passed and raised , and gave promissory notes , with caution for their entry moneys . ' '

The cabinet containing the funds of the Lodge and the Treasurer ' s books were periodically examined , the composing of a letter to " all the brethren indebted to the Lodge , either by bill or quarterly accounts , " being referred to after one of these audits , and we can be tolerably certain that Brother Burns had the lion ' s share in this composition , prosaic even as is the subject . It is pleasing to

note that the Lodge had other channels for their money than that caused by the drinking customs of the time . From a minute dated September 5 , 1787 , it is evident that benefactions to indigent members formed one item of expenditure—as " it was agreed to give John M'Millan , a Brother , three shillings , he being in distress by a misfortune . ( To be continued . )

The petition for the new Universities Lodge , Durham , is now ready , and only awaits the sanction of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M . The following is the complete list of the founders : Bros , the Rev . H . B . Tristram , D . D ., F . R . S ., Canon of Durham , D . P . G . M . of Durham , P . G . C . ; C . D . Hill Drury , M . D ., P . M . 85 ,

W . M . 1379 , P . P . G . Reg . Norfolk ; the Rev . H . Kynaston , D . D ., Canon of Durham , P . P . S . G . W . Gloucestershire , and Professor of Greek , Durham University ; Joseph Forster , M . A ., P . M . 1379 P . P . G . Reg . ; Lionel Booth , M . D ., P . M . 1334 , P . P . S . G . W . ; Richard Luck , M . A ., LL . M ., P . M . 111 , P . M . 1610 , P . P . G . Reg . ; J . Lawrence ,

M . D ., J . W ., 1379 ; Rev . R . H . Yeld , M . A ., P . P . G . Chap ., Vicar of Birtley ; Rev . Thos . Randell , B . D ., P . P . G . Chap . Somersetshire , P . P . G . Chap . Durham , Principal of Bede ' s College , Durham ; Rev . J . Rushton Shortt , M . A ., Fellow and Tutor , Hatfield Hall , University of Durham ; E . Jepson , M . D ., J . W . 1334 ; and Rev . W .

Proctor Swaby , B . D ., P . P . G . Chap ., St . Mark ' s Vicarage , Sunderland . The prayer of the petition being granted , the consecration will probably take place in March . Bro . the Rev . Richard Peek , M . A ., W . M ., Adair Lodge , No . 93 6 , P . M . 555 , P . P . G . Chap . Suffolk , and M . E . Z . Henmker Chapter ,

has b een appointed Chaplain to the English Church at Dinard , Brittany . His address for the next three months will be Villa Lucie , Dinard . Bro . the Rev . J . E . Cox , D . D ., Past Grand Chaplain of England , has resigned the office ot honorary Chaplain of the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain , and is succeeded by the Rev . Edgar Sheppard , Sub-Dean of the Ciiapei Royal .

Facts And Fancies.

Facts and Fancies .

GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND . THE Grand Lodge of Scotland , it is well known , was constituted in its present form in the year 1736 . At that time it is supposed that a hundred Masonic Lodges existed in Scotland . Thirtythree of them sent representatives to Edinburgh , when , in the year

mentioned , William Sinclair , of Roslin , resigned the office of Hereditary Grand Master of the Masonic Craft in Scotland , but a considerable number of them did not at once join the new organisation . The number of its adherents gradually increased , so that the Lodges that work under the Scottish constitution now

amount to upwards of 750 . For upwards of seventy years the Grand Lodge had no building of its own in which to transact its business and hold its periodic assemblies . In 1809 it purchased a tenement at the foot of Niddry Wynd known by the name of St . Cecilia's Hall , which had been erected in 1762 after the model of

the Grand Opera Theatre at Parma , and in which the gentlemen of the Edinburgh Society of Musicians had held their meetings for the cultivation of music , both foreign and domestic . The Grand Lodge occupied this building until 18 44 , when it was sold to the Town Council to be converted into a school under the trust settlement of

Dr . Bell , the founder of the Madras system of education . After this period the Grand Lodge rented premises in Frederick-street for the transaction of its business , and held its quarterly communications in a large room of the Waterloo Hotel . At a quarterly communication in 1857 , James Finlayson , Master of the Lodge Defensive

Band , and William Hunter , Master of the Lodge Journeymen , submitted a motion to the effect that steps should immediately be taken to obtain premises in which all the proceedings of the Grand Lodge could be carried on . This motion was cordially adopted , and a committee was appointed to look out for a suitable building , or a site on which one could be erected . The movement thus set

on foot resulted in the purchase of Mr . Donald Home ' s premises , 9 8 , George-street , and the erection of an elegant and commodious hall , which was opened in 1858 . To provide still more ample accommodation for Masonic purposes the adjoining house on the east was purchased a few years afterwards . The Grand Lodge

thus possesses two tenements , the front walls of which still remain in the same state as the other houses in the street . They present nothing to indicate that they belong to a body whose ramifications and influences are not confined to Scotland , but extend to many parts of the civilised world . This state of matters is entitled to

special notice , and reprehension when regard is paid to the characteristics of the Association to which they belong . It professes to be an order of men practising a symbolical ritual , founded largely on the implements and old traditions of the Masonic craft , and glorying

in the title of Freemasonry . It might naturally be expected , then , that the building in which its headquarters were accommodated would be a choice specimen of the Masonic art . Although the Grand Lodge has held its present property for upwards of thirty years , not a word has been heard of its intention to construct a frontage to it that would be appropriate and creditable to the craft .

This was not to be expected so long as it was burdened with a heavy debt , but this , it is understood , has been cleared off for a number of years , and a considerable balance now remains at the credit of the Lodge . It is true that a movement has been set on foot to procure funds to grant annuities to decayed and deserving Brethren , instead

of the casual charity at present dispensed by the Benevolent Fund established by John Whyte-Melville in 1846 . This is a most commendable object , and quite in keeping with the principles of Masonry , but could not funds be got to effect both objects ? It is proposed to have a grand bazaar at the end of the present year to

obtain money in aid of the Annuity Scheme . This is likely to be largely patronised both at home and abroad . It was heartily received at a great gathering of Freemasons at Bombay on Monday , December 2 last , which was presided over b y Sir Henry