GFR:  MW Pro Grand Master and Brethren,  two hundred years ago in 1807, there were still two rival Grand Lodges: the Premier Grand Lodge, dubbed “the Moderns” by its newer rival, and the Antients or Atholl Grand Lodge.

At the December Communication of the Antients Grand Lodge, the Minutes record:

“The R.W. Deputy Grand Master having received an address from the Grand Lodge of Ireland accompanied by a very friendly and affectionate communication from the R.W. Grand Master of Ireland, they were ordered to be entered on the journals;
. . . . . . . . . .

“The Grand Lodge of Ireland has received with the most perfect satisfaction the communication from the Right Worshipful the Grand Lodge of England of resolution adopted the 3rd of June and confirmed on the 2nd of September last respecting the turbulent and unmasonic proceedings of certain individuals in the Kingdom for some time past.

The Grand Lodge feels, with the warmest sensibility the lively and truly Masonic interest which the Brethren of the Grand Lodge of England have upon this occasion manifested for the prosperity and dignity of the Ancient Craft and entertain a grateful sense of their Brotherly co-operation to restrain the extension of the abuses committed by the faction which has so wantonly and maliciously attacked the authority of the Grand Lodge of Ireland and to maintain that good order, subordination and respect for law and rule so necessary in society at large and which ought to be so peculiarly the characteristic of the benevolent order of Free Masonry.

The Grand Lodge of Ireland takes this opportunity to express an anxious desire for a continuance of the most cordial correspondence between the Grand Lodge of England and Ireland and to offer their best regards and Brotherly good wishes for the welfare and happiness of the Brethren at large and for the prosperity of the Grand Lodge of England.
Signed by order,
John Leech, G.S. of Ireland.”

JMH:   MW Pro Grand Master and brethren, the Grand Lodge of Ireland had indeed been experiencing “turbulent and un – Masonic proceedings”. They had been caused by one Alexander Seton, who had been appointed Deputy Grand Secretary of Ireland in 1801 but was sacked in 1806 for exceeding his authority and misappropriating Grand Lodge funds. He decamped from his office taking with him the archives, seal and a packet of blank lodge warrants of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.

 He attempted to set up a rival Grand Lodge in Dublin in 1807 but being rumbled by the brethren moved to Belfast, where the Lodges were not too happy with rule from Dublin, and set up the Grand Lodge of Ulster.

The Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1809 took a suit in Chancery to try to recover their property from Seton, who was happily warranting new Lodges in the North, but the case was not settled until 1813. The judgement went against Seton, the Grand Lodge of Ulster fizzled out but, sadly, Ireland never recovered its archives.

GFR:  I should perhaps add that the Antients Grand Lodge had been exercising itself earlier in that year with the question of the duties – and the emoluments – of its own Deputy Grand Secretary!   Meanwhile, in another place, as they say, the Premier Grand Lodge, at its meeting in November had put to rest a matter that had been bothering it for much of the year:

 “A petition and appeal of considerable length was received from Brother William Finch against the proceedings and decision of the Committee of Charity relative to the changes preferred by him against several Brothers.

Whereupon it was moved by the Grand Treasurer and duly seconded that the appeal and petition of Brother Finch and the matters relating thereto be referred to the Hall Committee for their opinion and report to the Grand Lodge thereon.

It was then moved and seconded that all the words after the word ‘that’ be omitted and the following inserted in their stead ‘the appeal be read’.

The question being put on the said amendment. It passed in the Negative. The original motion was then put and it also passed in the Negative, after which on a motion duly made and seconded the minutes of the Committee of Charity were confirmed.”

JMH:  Having myself spent some 42 minutes reading Finch’s rambling appeal, I think those present at the premier Grand Lodge on this occasion took the right decision in refusing to have it read out! But who was Finch and against what was he appealing?

William Finch was a tailor of Canterbury and became involved in Freemasonry in that city in the 1794. He quickly became a student of the Craft and its ritual. In 1801 he published his “A Masonic Key” in which, using a number of alphabetical and numerical codes, he gave the texts of the catechetical Lectures which formed part of the ceremonies of the three degrees in those days. His book was published by permission, of and with a dedication to, Dr William Perfect, the then Provincial Grand Master for Kent.

Such was the success of his book that a second edition appeared in 1802 and Finch moved to London to devote himself to Masonic education. He ran an independent Lodge of Instruction at which the lectures were rehearsed – a sort of proto Emulation Lodge of Improvement. That in itself would not have got him into hot water but to supplement the fees he received from his Lodge of Instruction he offered private tuition and copies of the ceremonies and Lectures in manuscript with a key to his code and details of the signs, tokens and words.

In those days, brethren, one of the most heinous Masonic sins was to write down and circulate details of the ritual. Everything was learned by rote and nothing committed to paper. Charges were laid before the premier Grand Lodge’s Committee of Charity (their equivalent of our Board of General Purposes) in 1806 and after lengthy hearings Finch agreed to desist from selling his manuscripts. His opponents were not satisfied with this and raised the matter again in 1807, claiming that Finch had broken his obligations and was a “wilfully perjured individual” and should be expelled. By December 1807 the premier Grand Lodge was obviously heartily sick of the Finch affair and refused to hear more of it.

Finch, however was obdurate and when in 1809 the premier Grand Lodge set up the special Lodge of Promulgation to look at its ritual, he began to issue his system in printed form and issued revised editions over the next four years. The premier Grand Lodge by that time was too involved in working towards the Union of the two Grand Lodges and chose to ignore Finch.

The title page to one of the issues of his printed Lectures gives a measure of the man. It is headed in bold print “Dedicated to God – by kind permission”!

GFR:  Moving on one hundred years to 1907, the Minutes of the United Grand Lodge of England record a announcement by the M.W. Pro Grand Master:

“Brethren, the next business is to receive a message from the Most Worshipful Grand Master as to London rank. I will ask the Grand Secretary to read it.

The Grand Secretary then read the following message, all the Brethren standing:-

The Grand Master, feeling that special merit on the part of London Brethren is not and cannot at present be adequately recognised in the Metropolis as it is in the respective Provinces and Districts, Is desirous that power should be given to confer upon a certain number of Past Masters of London Lodges a distinction for long and meritorious service, equivalent to what is known as Provincial or District rank.

The Grand Master being of opinion that this may well be accomplished without any violent constitutional change, or the undue devolution of his inherent rights and powers, desires that the sense of Grand Lodge shall be taken on the following resolutions, being the additions and amendments to the Book of Constitutions necessary to carry out his wishes in this respect

The Grand Secretary then read six Resolutions to change the Rules in the Book of Constitutions, creating the distinction of London Rank and laying down the number of appointments that were to be made; specifying the regalia to be worn; and, of course, providing for a fee to be paid.  The regalia was to be the same as that worn today by holders of London Grand Rank, but with one additional provision which was to prove a bone of contention for many years until it was eventually deleted from the Book of Constitutions: “In the Grand Lodge they must wear collars or jewels of the Lodges and offices respectively, in right of which they attend as members of the Grand Lodge, over their collars of London rank.”

The M.W. Pro Grand Master then continued: Brethren, that being the message of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, I in execution of my duty formally move the adoption of the first Resolution by Grand Lodge, reserving any remarks I may have to make until later in the debate.

JMH:  The Grand Master having made a request and the motion having been proposed by the Pro Grand Master and seconded by the Deputy Grand Master one would have expected it to be passed without a dissenting voice. Not so, brethren!  One of the delights of reading the 19th and early 20th century printed proceedings of Grand Lodge is that our brethren in those days believed in expressing themselves, often forcefully, and rarely did a resolution go through without some form of discussion.

The London Rank resolution was no exception. A Brother Ebblewhite asked of the Grand Registrar how London Rank, which was to have no gradations, could be considered equivalent to Provincial and District Ranks which were graded. The Grand  Registrar gave an eminently sensible response but it did not satisfy Ebblewhite who came back with two supplementary questions. He was followed by a Brother Ferguson who objected to the principle of London Rank stating his opinion that the only benefit of it would be to swell the funds of Grand Lodge by the fees of honour and greatly increase the trade of the Masonic regalia manufacturers. He then went on to suggest that the new rank would simply cause “discord and dissension” and “unfriendly rivalry” within London Masonry and ended by querying how the Grand Master would be able to select recipients.

The latter question brought an immediate response from the Pro Grand Master that the Grand Master had power to call on London brethren to assist and advise him “in finding the most meritorious Brethren in the London area”.
 
Despite these interventions the resolutions were passed and London Rank – not to be called London Grand Rank until 1939 – was introduced. For those who would like to know more about its history and that of the London Grand Rank Association, which gave such great service to London Masonry whilst it was under the direct rule of the Grand Master, I heartily recommend the special exhibition now on display in the Library and Museum as part of the celebrations of the centenary of London Grand Rank.