General Pike's "Masonic Origines."

dignity , or of relief or assistance , in any other way , is plain dishonesty and peculation ; and for any one not legally in possession of Degrees to take money for conferring them is theft , " which is surely strong language , and demands a keen examination , for it is a direct statement , and its aim and intention cannot be misunderstood .

As to Degrees , Bro . Pike observes : " When the First or Second Degree was invented and adopted , or by whom or how , is not known . It is only known that until about a certain date there were no Degrees , and that it was some time after the first two were invented and used that the third was

adopted . " . . . . " No one knows anything about the real origmes of the Charges or Regulations , except that the former , at least , were known and used in Scotland before they were in England . " I demur to this latter statement , as the evidence accumulated points to the opposite view , though I grant that , as respects actual lodge records , the Scottish minutes go much farther back than those of England .

I must not follow the author in his rapid survey of the origin of other Rites , at least , not at present . General Pike is in error however in saying that the " Dermott Grand Lodge chartered an Encampment of Knights Templars at Manchester . " Bro . John Yarker , an excellent authority on Knights Templary , does not say the Dermott or " Atholl " Grand Lodge chartered a Knight Templar

Encampment , for as a matter of fact that Grand Lodge never did so anywhere , nor did any other English Grand Lodge , save the " Grand Lodge of all England , " held at York ; but many Knight Templar Encampments were held under the wings of lodges . However , as Bro . Pike says " To one thing all [ Rites ] agree : that to the Bodies of each of these Rites , the Rite as organised , and as administered by them , exclusively belongs , and if the

Degrees of either are given by any other authority , the recipient is a spurious Royal Arch , a spurious Templar , a spurious Select Master , " & c , & c , & c . He asks ( i ) " When did the Grand Lodge of England begin to keep its minutes ? " I reply , from 1723 , and their chief records are to be found in the History of Freemasonry by Bro . Gould , being copies of the original

Records still preserved at Freemasons' Hall , which many of us have seen and handled . ( 2 ) " Where are any minutes of the ' Old Grand Lodge at York , 'if there were was such a Body ? " I reply , they are still at York , from the year ! 7 i 2 asrespectstheold Lodge , and from 1725 as a Grand Lodge . Many of these are given in my " Masonic Sketches and Reports " ( 1871 ) , and all from 1712 to 1730 , and others , are exactly reproduced in Gould ' s

justly celebrated History . ( 3 ) " Who has seen the minutes of Dermott s Grand Lodge ? Where is the book that contains a record of its sessions during the first twenty-five years of its existence ? " I reply , several of us have seen the minutes and Registers from their origin in 1751-2 , as they are in the archives of the United Grand Lodge from 1751-2 to 1813 , and their main characteristics are faithfully exhibited in Gould ' s History . Our friend , Bro . Pike , says truly that " Fortunately , it is no longer

considered necessary to resort to fictions , impudent and ridiculous , to support the claims to legitimacy of any Degree or Rite of Free Masonry . These fictions happily , though they sufficed at the time when they were invented , are unnecessary and exploded now . " So we say , and what is more , the accumulated evidences of the researches of students during the last quarter of a century , have placed beyond a doubt , not only the reasonable character , but also the antiquity oi Free and Accepted Masonry . W . I . HUGHAN .

Thomas Dunckerley.—His Mother Lodge.

THOMAS DUNCKERLEY . —HIS MOTHER LODGE .

BY BRO . H . SADLER . Some years back I took considerable trouble in order , if possible , to ascertain the lodge in which this remarkable man , and most enthusiastic Mason was initiated , and amongst other sources of information I carefully searched the registers of both "Moderns" and "Ancients" from the

earliest period down to the time of Dunckerley ' s death , 1795 . The nearest approach to the object of my search was finding the date of his initiation , and this is given in the register of the Lodge of Harmony at Hampton Court , No . 384 , now No . 255 , Richmond , of which lodge I believe he was the promoter and first Master ; he is there described as a Barrister , and was

made a Mason on the ioth January , 1754 , at the age of 30 , I found him in several other lodges on the Modern side but the records throw no li ght on the place of his initiation , I also found a Thomas Dunkley in No . 86 , " Ancients , " registered as a Founder or joining member in 1761 , and as this lodge was formed in the Royal Regiment of Artillery at Woolwich , and

Dunckerley is said to have been a gunner in the Royal Navy , I thougbt it possible he might in his early days have been initiated in an Athole Lodge . Since the last issue of the Freemason I have been so fortunate as to find a letter in his own handwriting , with which , I may say , I am well acquainted , which will , I trust , make perfectly clear and conclusive this hitherto doubtful

and much disputed question . To those who are familiar with the history of Masonry in the latter half of the last century , this discovery will , I have no doubt , be exceedingly gratifying , and the general reader will probably feel some little additional interest in the subject of my letter when I state that he had filled the important office of Provincial Grand Master in at least eight

counties at one time , viz ,, Bristol , Essex , Dorset , Gloucester , Hampshire , Herefordshire , Isle of Wi ght , and Somerset , he had been Superintendent of the Royal Arch in eighteen different provinces , and had taken an equally prominent position in the Order of Knights Templar , and possibly in other branches of the Masonic system with which I am less familiar . If he did

not actually organise the Grand Chapter of England , he certainly had a great deal to do with its formation , and was undoubtedly for many years its most energetic supporter ; indeed , I think he may fairly be described as one of the most indefatigable Masons of the 18 th century . I may possibly have something more to say about him on a future occasion , unless some brother with move time at his disposal chooses to take up the subject , but for the

Thomas Dunckerley.—His Mother Lodge.

present I will refer those who wish for further information on the peculiar parentage and remarkable life of this distinguished Mason to the pages of Freemasons' Magazine between 1793 and 1796 . I think something will be found about him in the Freemasons'" Quarterly Review of 1834-5 or * - >» Dut cannot now remember the particular year , his Masonic career is also dwelt upon in the more recent writings of Bros . Gould and Hughan , particularly in the " Origin ot the English Rite of Freemasonry " lately published by the last named brother .

The following is a verbatim copy of the original letter , which is addressed to James Heseltine , Esq ., Doctor ' s Commons ( the then Grand Secretary ) , and bears the Portsmouth postmark , 20 th December : Portsmouth , Deer , ioth , tnx . " My Dear Friend and Bro ' . — // 0

You will not be surprised when 1 acquaint you that we have troublesome Brethren at this place , who I think are equal in obstinacy to any we have formerly met at the Qua . Com . You are no stranger to the regard I have always expressed for my Mother Lodge at the Three Tonns in this Town , and that it was my repeated requests which has prevented it being struck off the List for some years past ; and you are sensible that when I was in Town , five weeks ago , I acquainted you with my hopes that should be able to revive the said lod and establish it

I ge , on a very respectable footing ; but as it was not then , in my power to give you a regular List of the Members ( for not one is to be found that has paid any Subscription for more than three years past ) nor has any Lodge been held . You very justly observed that they were subject to the resolutions of the Committee , and that paying any money on their account to the fund of Charity would not prevent it ; but that they would certainly be restor'd if they

made a proper request to me for that purpose , and it came with my recommendation , before the Grand Lodge . I then paid 5 Guineas to the fund for building the Hall , together with the names of those ( to be registered ) which I had made Masons at this place in a P . G . Lodge . Judge my surprise when after having summon'd the oldest Brethren of the said Lodge , five only came to attend me at P . G . Lodge last Friday , when I had the

pleasure of Sir Peter Parker ' s company several other very respectable beside my Grand Officers . After acquainting them with my proceedings as above , and that it was proper they _ should write to me requesting to have their Lodge restored ; all ( except Captn . Robinson ) rejected it with disdain—said they would not write to me for any such purpose , nor feed my vanity in any such manner—that I had no Right to make Masons—that I had Pocketted the Money—and Mr . John Tucker , a Watch-maker ,

threaten'd me—that he would shake my Provincialship , and write against me to my Grand Seigneur : surely he did not mean the King ? However , supposing he meant Lord Petre ; I have this happiness that my general character , together with my situation and connexion in life set me above his low malice and dedraction ; for if I am rightly infqrm'd he intends to impeach me of high crimes , which if he cannot prove , I am determined to bring an action on the case for Slander against him and all who fovn

with him in the said Impeachment or Accusation . In short , Sir Peter Parker , the P . G . Officers , and my Friends that were present were astonished at his indecent behaviour . I expect to be in Town by the middle of next month ; but shall hope to hear from you as soon as convenient , and that you will acquaint me when the next Qua . Com . is to be held . Sir Peter unites with me & Chez Moi in sincere regard for your yourself and all friends . —I am , Dear Sir , yours ; with the greatest affection ,

THO ** . DUNCKERLEY . " It is not surprising that Duncketley , whose early training in the naval service had doubtless given him very strict ideas of discipline and respect for lawfully constituted authority , should have felt considerable anger at the mutinous conduct described in his letter , and it is but natural to conclude

that the delinquents were at once punished by the deprivation of their warrant , and the irrevocable erasure of the lodge . Such , however , was not the case , for notwithstanding the contemptuous treatment he had received , at the hands of those he had endeavoured to benefit , Dunckerly seems to have kept in view the first Grand Principle of our Order—Brotherly Love and to have displayed to the last that affectionate regard for his mother lodge , which he mentions in the first portion of his letter .

The lodge was undoubtedly erased ; but it must have been before the particular occurrence he describes , for in the Engraved List of Lodges for 1773 , No . 20 ( which in the preceding list is " The Three Tuns , " Portsmouth ) , is blank . This summary proceeding on the part of the authorities , or some other cause , evidently brought the malcontents to reason , for on the 25 th February , 1774 , the lodge is credited by the Grand Treasurer with

£ 1 is ., and reappears in the list for 1775 under its lormer number , having doubtless been restored at the intercession of the Provincial Grand Master . In the Grand Secretary's list for the latter year it is credited with £ 2 2 s ., against which amount is written " Dunck ., " probably as a reminder that he had received that sum from Dunckerley on behalf of the lodge . For some years after the settlement of the differences between the Provincial Grand Master and the Portsmouth brethren , the progress of the old lodge to have been fairlstead

appears y y , although the records give evidence of considerable irregularity in the matter of payments and returns to Grand Lodge . It must be borne in mind , however , that this was a very critical period for Masonry , many of the old lodges were strongly inclined to rebel against the new regulations for compulsory registration and payment for members , and evidently did not see the justice of being taxed for the purpose of building a hall which they were not likely to see , let alone use , unless at a great expense of both time and money .

Dunckerley's mother lodge seems to have taken the name of the " Lodge of Antiquity" about 1789 , and , though in a declining state at the time of the Union in 1813 , ' < - was brought forward on the list of the United Grand Lodge as No . 28 . The last payment was made in 1831 , and it was finally erased from the List of Lodges in 1838 . It may seem strange that Dunckerley ' s name should not be found

amongst those of the members of his mother lodge . I account for it in this way—compulsory registration was only resolved upon by Grand Lodge in 1768 , and was not strictly enforced until five or six years later ; doubtless our old friend , who was then residing in Hampton Court Palace , had left the lodge many years before . The first list of names in the register appears to have been returned about the time of the reconciliation 5 it is headed by that of Mark Robinson ,

Captain in the Navy , made a Mason in Nov . ' , 1747 , who was probably the only member of the lodge , to whom Dunckerley was personally known , and of whom he makes honourable mention in his letter . I need hardly say that the name of the wicked watchmaker who had dared to use such atrocious threats against the person of his superior officer , and that officer a scion of Royalty , is not in the list of members .

There is just one item in connection with this lodge which strikes me as being rather peculiar ; it is in the column of the register which is headed "Remarkable Occurrences , " and is written against the name of George Cuthbert , Clergyman , and runs thus : — " Discontinued a member by hia own request . "