Page 39 - An account of the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235. 1777 to 2012UGLE

Lodge of the Nine Muses 39

One thing in the earlier minutes puts the present day to shame; how long is it
since a Master delivered an “eloquent eulogium on Masonry” to newly elected
Brethren, or with the Senior Warden gave “illustrations of Masonry”, or a Brother
contributed a “luminous memoir”?
14
Such entries are frequent at that time; as instances, on 22 April 1814, “The
R.W.M. delivered an eloquent eulogium on Masonry. And the four first clauses
of the 2nd Section in Masonry were illustrated by the R.W.M. and the S.W.”
And on 31 March 1815, “Illustrations in Masonry were delivered by the R.W.M.
Bro. Harper Bro. Thornton and Bro. Matthias. The thanks of the meeting were
proposed by Bro. Thornton as S.W. to the R. W.M. for his instructions delivered
this day for the benefit of the young members of the Lodge Seconded by the
Secretary & carried unanimously. The R. W.M. made a suitable return.”
On 13 November 1821, “Bror. Pike moved that the thanks of the Lodge be
given to the Count Du Roure for a luminous memoir he read this evening to
the Lodge & that it be entered on the Minutes which was seconded and carried
unanimously.” The entry unfortunately refers to the thanks, not to the paper
which no longer survives.
This is the last entry of the kind which the writer has noted until December
1876, when Bro. Muggeridge read a paper on the “Lodge Board of the First
Degree”, for which he received “the warmest thanks of the Brethren”; and at
the Centenary Festival on 8 May 1877, Bro. Walter Webb read his “Historical
Sketch”.
Perhaps also the late Bro. Sir Philip Dawson’s after-dinner speeches when
proposing the toast of Brothers Initiate should be classed with “Eulogiums on
Masonry”: certainly they will not soon be forgotten by those who heard them.
The three later minute-books are larger and thicker than the first, and
are uniformly bound in black grained leather. In the second the first nine
pages are filled with lists of members for various years from 1836 to 1860-1,
arranged without system, and freely altered and annotated from time to time.
At the other end is a list of Masters from 1823 to 1846, and on the opposite
page a list of “Fines for not attending at the Hour summoned,” as shown
15
over-page.

14 The former practice of the ceremonial closing of the Lodge in the higher degrees has
also now fallen almost completely into desuetude.
15 Here was printed “as shown over-page”. This is now redundant as a result of re-
formatting. ???? to be deleted