Lodge Histories.

Perhaps some among the older members of the Lodge may be in a position to thvow some light on tho matter . At the meeting in July , after the half-yearly accounts , wbich showed a balauce in favour of the Lodge of £ 5 Os lOd , had been audited , there was read the report of a Sub-Committee , which had boon appointed to inquire into the custom of other Lodges with respect to their Secretaries , tho result

of such inquiries , so far as they were carried , boiug , that apart from Grand Lodge , the Lodges of Antiquity , Euoch , Kent , and Prosperity , severally presented an honorarium annually to their Secretaries , and on tbe strength of this report it was resolved to pay the Secretary of the Joppa i he anuual sum of £ 6 in addition to a free membership , such payment to commence from

the night of installation of the current year ( 1841 ) . It may be noticed incidentally , that among the members of the Sub-Committee was Bro . D . Moses , Treas . At tbe August meeting a motion was submitted by our worthy Brother Jacob Norton , and seconded by Bro . A . Harris P . M ., to the effect that "in fntnre all glass that is broken at or after supper or dinner , either by a member or

visitor , shall be paid for by such brothers as may break the same . " At an emergency meeting , held on the 23 rd of this same month of August , the question of removing the Lodge from its quarters at the George and Vulture to a private room was taken into consideration , and a Committee , consisting of the Maater , Past Masters , and Officers , was appointed for the purpose of making the necessary inquiries .

In the following month the result of these inquiries was set forth , after a deputation of the Lodge had beeu despatched to the George Hall in order to judge for themselves of its suitability as a Lodge room . When the several members of this deputation had expressed their views on the question , a motiou was submitted that tho Lodge should take up its quarters at the Hall referred to , conditionally

that the proprietor furnished the room with a carpet or drugget , and other necessary accommodation . To this , however , was opposed an amendment that the question of the removal of the Lodge should stand over till the next meeting , and this was eventually carried . At this gathering Bro . Norton , being about to leave the kingdom , tendered his resignation , and the Lodge paid him the compliment of

unanimously agreeing to a resolution to the effect that a recommendation be given him on his departure . In October the question of removal was again deferred , not only on the regular Lodge night , but at the emergency meeting held on the 20 th of the month , which was called partly for the consideration of that particular business , and partly for tho initiation of two gentlemen , of whom one—Mr .

Francis Broughton—was a minor , being only nineteen years and seven months old . In his case , therefore , the consent of the father in writing and the Grand Master ' s dispensation were necessary prerequisites before he could be balloted for , and , as many of our readers may not be acquainted with the form of dispensation granted for this purpose , we have thought it well to reproduce it . This particular dispensation reads as follows : —

" To the W . Master , Wardens , and Members of the Lodge of Joppa , No . 228 , meeting at the George and Vnlture , Cornhill . " Yon having represented toM . W . G . M . that Mr . Francig Broughton , of Falcon Square , London , and minor , of the age of 19 years and 7 months , son of Mr . Broughton , a solicitor of the place aforesaid , is desirous ( with the consent of his father ) to be initiated into the

mysteries of the Craft , and that he is in all respects a fit and proper person to be received , save as to his minority , His Royal Highness is pleased to grant this His Dispensation , and you are hereby authorised and impowered to Initiate the said Francis Broughton , notwithstanding his minority , provided he be approved upon ballot in conformity

with the Laws of the Grand Lodge and the Bye Laws of your own Lodge , and that the Consent of the Father shall be duly signified to you in writing . And for so doing this shall be your sufficient Warrant and you are to cause this Dispensation to be read in your Lodge , previous to the Ballot being taken , and also to be recorded in your minntes .

" Given at Freemasons' Hall , London , the 19 th day of October 1841 . " By Command of His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex , M . W . Grand Master . ( Signed ) WIMIAM A . WHITE G . S . " In November the proposal to remove to the George Hall was determined in the negative ; nor was it till the olose of the year 1850

that the Lodge quitted the George and Vulture , and then it removed to the King ' s Head , Poultry . At the same time , the Bye-Law allowing the Worshipfnl Master to invite an unlimited number of visitors free , was modified , and henceforth he was privileged to invite two only . In December Bro . J . Woolf was elected Worshipful Master , while Bros . D . Moses and Isaacs wero re-elected Treasurer and Tyler . It

was subsequently resolved that on the installation night supper should be provided instead of a dinner , Members contributing 4 s each , and Visitors 5 s , while the Lodge itself gave the sum of £ 7 out of its funds towards the expenses of the entertainment . In January 1842 , Bro . John Woolf was formally installed as Master , and appointed and invested his Officers . Tbe occasion calls foT

no remark save one , and the best way of making this is to quote tho very words of the minute which has attracted onr attention , and affords satisfactory evidence of the exceeding care with which the proceedings ' of the Lodge were conducted . It reads as follows : " The Summonses having been issued most peremptorily by Brother Lazarus the Secretary to assemble at five o'clock precisely , the Worshipfnl Master arrived at Three quarters of an hour after five o'clock , and

fearing there had been some irregularity in tbe proceedings without the Warrant which he then brought with him , proceeded to re-open the Lodge with the usual formalities and solemn prayer . " For the insertion of this minute , we presume , we are indebted to the conduct of Bro . Lazarus , who , at tbe next meeting of the Lodge , objected to the confirmation of the minntes of the installation on the ground that t ' . i'v did not give a complete account of the proceedings ; and it was only on the promise of the new Secretary , Bro . Daniel , that suoh an

Lodge Histories.

addition should be made that the ex-Secretary consented to waive his objection . Bro . Lazarus , however , though he seems to have been a most worthy and active member , aud though steps wero subsequentl y taken with a view to recognising his valuable services as Secretary , does not appear to havo been quite as attentive in tbe matter of delivering up his archives to his successor . Whether the Lodge was or

was not opened aud re-opened on the same evening is , comparativel y speaking , of little importance , but the complaint of Bro . Daniel , who succeeded Bro . Lazarus in the Secretaryship , was a serious onenamely , that the " Old Minute Book , as well as the other Books , were not delivered up to him on his coming into office , " and Bro . Lazarus ' s promise , " that if tbe Tyler came up for

them to his house they should be delivered up , " fully satisfies UB Bro . Laz irus had no adequate conception of the importance of his duties or of tho courtesy due by him to his Lodge . It would not have detracted one iota from the personal dignity of Bro . Lazarus had he beon himself the carrier of the book , and himself placed it in the bauds of his successor . It happens , unfortunately , that this old

Minute Book contains a part , if not the whole of the Records that are missing , and , in the absence of any remarks one way or the other in the pages of the Minute Book now under consideration , we trust the Lodgo had sense enough not to pay Bro . Lazarus the compliment of voting him a testimonial until it was shown that he had done his

duty by handing over to Bro . Daniel this important record—tho ability of the the Tyler to call at his house for it being left entirely out of consideration . A result of Bro . Lazarus ' s remissness in the fulfilment of his duties is noticeable in the minutes relating to this very gathering . Ainongsuudry inquiries it seems he felt it inoumbent on him to make was ono as to whether " the names of the Officers

eligible to sit in Grand Lodge had been made out , " and the prompt reply of Secretary Daniel was to the effect that " he could not do so until Brother Lazarus , the Secretary , gave up the books . " Indeed , the whole conduct of this brother appears to have been singularly inexplicable , for in tho samo set of minutes he is entered as statin " " that he held in hia hands some papers which should be sealed up ,

and opened whenever the Worshipfnl Master thought proper to call a Committee of the Lodge , when those papers should be read . The Worshipfnl Master promised that a Committee should be called . " We ask , in the first place , why this Bro . Lazarus was permitted to retain in his hands , when he was no longer in office , a single paper referring to the business or tho members of the Lodge . In the

next , how happens it that the W . M . and the rest of the Lodge could have been so weak as to allow themselves to be thus dragooned one minute , and prepare a testimonial to the brother who had dragooned them the minute following . We hear nothing further of the Minute Book , the preservation of which was a matter of the greatest importance , but we do hear much about Bro . Lazarus , which we could well

have dispensed with without shedding one single tear of regret . In the minutes for April 1842 is a record to the effect that Bro . Asher Benjamin presented the Lodge with a windlass , which was placed before the Senior Warden , aud that the thanks of the Lodge were given to the donor . In May , a guinea was voted from the funds of the Lodge towards the " Annuity Fund . " In September , the

half-yearly account , when audited , showed the very satisfactory balance in favour of the Lod ge of £ 11 17 s 9 d . At the meeting in October , the Bro . Lazarus we have spoken so fully about already gave notice of motion that " the Lodge be closed every night at nine o ' clock . " What object he could have in making such a proposition does not appear . Iu November a visiting Brother belongiug to what

in those days was Lrclge No . 78 , was refused admission , Bro . Daniel having announced his intention of retiring if the brother in question were allowed to enter . It subsequently transpired lhat the applicant for admission would never have presented himself had he known that Bro . Daniel was present . This is evidence there was great ill-feeling between the two . What , however , occurs to us as being somewhat strange is , that the W . Master , after Bro . Daniel ' s

objection to sit with the proposed visitor , should have pnt the question to the vote . He ought there and then to have settled that the admission of the visitor was out of the question . In December the election of a new W . Master took place . Of the nineteen votes recorded eight were in favour of Bro . Moses Levy , and eight for Bro . Lazarus , and the choice was determined by the casting vote of tho W . Master in favour of . Bro . Levy . Bro . David Moses and Isaac Isaacs were re-elected to their old offices of Treasurer and Tyler . [ To be continued . ]

Societe Culinaire Francais.

SOCIETE CULINAIRE FRANCAIS .

THE Annual Ball of this Society was held on the 31 st ult ., at the Freemasons' Tavern , Great Queen-street , under the presidency of M . Bobers and the following Stewards : —MM . Duplany Secretary , Gudefin , E . Belhomme , Brimond , Dupre , Boizot , A . Penet , Tribolet , J . Cossart , J . C . Innes , Burlet , & c . There was a nnmerous attendance of ladies sine ] visitors , numbering in all 274 . The Ball last year was

considered to be a great success , but this year , owing to the indefatigable exertions of the Stewards , the result will doubtless bo still more satisfactory . The Balls of the Society are held for the purpose of raising fnnds to assist the members when in distressed circumstances . The promoter is M . Penet . M . Duphiny efficiently

acts as Secretary , while the President , M . Bohers , does everything in his power to contribute to the success of these Festivals . The Band was under the direction of Bro . Grove Ellis , and Bro . Johnson acted as M . C . The supper , which as usual was of the most

rdchercM character , was provided by Bro . A . Best , and superintended by Bro . Burlet . The President gave the usnal Loyal toasts , and the Ladies and StewnnU were not overlooked . Dancing was resumed , and the guests concluded a very agreeable evening , with the additional reflection that it was a most successful one as regards the object which was intended .