alone; if this counsel or this work be of man, it will come to nought. And I am fully persuaded that the proximate intention of all these writers against Freemasonry is to produce an effect decidedly hostile to the lessons of peace and order which the Redeemer bequeathed as an everlasting legacy to his followers.'

"I shall at least,' said Bro. Preston, 'discharge my own conscience, by endeavouring to furnish all right-minded men with a reply to the gratuitous and unfounded assertions of Lefranc, in a short paper on the subject, addressed to the Editor of the 'Gentleman's Magazine.'

"I see no harm in that,' replied Bro. Dagge, 'provided it be done in a mild and gentlemanly spirit.'

" And I will take care not to exceed the bounds of the strictest decorum,' Bro. Preston rejoined.

"But all the Masonic charlatans of the age," the Square continued, "and their name was Legion, were eclipsed by a working tailor of the name of Finch, who was now beginning to acquire a notorious celebrity, which was consummated a few years later by the unblushing assurance with which his pretensions were advocated. Expelled from the Order by the Grand Lodge, he commenced a system of practical Masonry on his own account, although at the best he was but malæ fidei possessor; and, like the fox that had lost his tail, he used every art of persuasion to induce others to cut off theirs, that his deformity might escape the censure of singularity.

He succeeded in finding an abundance of ready abettors, by whose aid he reaped a golden harvest.

"Thus Masonry, appearing to be more profitable than the exercise of his needle, he determined to make the most of it; and having been furnished by nature with an assurance equal to that of Signor Corcuela's friend in 'Gil Blas,' he did not hide his talent under a bushel, but brought it into practice with tolerable success. He commenced his career by giving private instructions in Masonry for a con-si-de-ra-ti-on, and numbers resorted to him for that purpose. By some means or other, known only to himself, he had become pretty well versed in the continental fables, and by amalgamating them with English Masonry, he succeeded in exciting a prurient curiosity amongst the more inexperienced Brethren, which brought an abundance of grist to his Masonic mill.

"The R. W. M.," continued the Square, " on one of our regular Lodge nights, read a Prospectus which Finch had addressed to him officially, and a brief conversation arose out of a remark of Bro. Deans on the insufferable arrogance and effrontery of that person in venturing to annoy the Lodges with his unauthorized correspondence.

"These circulars,' Bro. Preston observed, which are in reality nothing more than advertisements to promote the sale of his catchpenny publications,10

10 His principal works were not published till the beginning of the nineteenth century; but I insert a few of them here to render the subject complete. (1) "A Masonic Treatise, with

are not only disseminated amongst the Lodges, but publicly placarded on blank walls in the purlieus of the city, in company with notices of quack medicines, blacking-pots, metallic tractors, and animal magnetism.'

"I know the fellow,' said Bro. Pigou. His self-possession, under any circumstances that may arise, is worthy of a better cause. He is a nondescript in his principles, and a cormorant in his appetite for plunder. Peace and harmony have no charms for him; order and regularity are his aversion; obedience and subordination he detests; in a word, his sole object is to sink the tailor, and convert Freemasonry into a more profitable and less laborious employment. His needle is sharp, but he thinks himself sharper, and he has discarded the

an Elucidation on the Religious and Moral Beauties of Freemasonry; Ziydvjxyjpix, Zqjisgstn, Wxstxjin, &c. R A— A M— R C— K S— M P— M— &c.; for the use of Lodges and Brothers in general. Dedicated, by permission, to William Perfect, Esq., P. G. M. for the county of Kent. By W. Finch, Canterbury. Please to observe that every book has on the Title-page, ty Qxzf, and Oivjjxg Qvwgzjpix." Deal, 1800. Second Edition, Deal, 1802. (2) "An Elucidation of the Masonic Plates, consisting of sixty-four different compartments. By W. Finch." London, 1802. (3) "A Masonic Key, with an Elucidation. By W. Finch." Deal, 1803. (4) "The Lectures, Laws, and Ceremonies of the Holy Royal Arch degree of Freemasonry. By W. Finch." Lambeth, 1812. (5) "A new Set of Craft Lectures for the use of Lodges and the Brethren in general." Lambeth, Finch, 1814. (6) "The Origin of Freemasons, their Doctrine, &c." London, 1816. He published many other pamphlets respecting the higher degrees, which it would be tedious to enumerate.

thimble for a rig which he fancies will be more remunerative.'

"Besides all this,' Bro. Deans interposed, the man is cursed with the demon of ambition, and is desirous of being

'Jove in his chair,

Of the sky Lord Mayor,'

which is but a prelude to his ultimate exposure.' "And it would be as well to effectuate it at once,' Bro. Dagge observed.

"Let him alone,' replied Bro. Preston; 'let him alone. His imposture is too transparent to be of long continuance. Give him rope enough, and we shall see him, one of these fine days, gracefully dangling from his own signpost.'

"At least,' said Bro. Jones, 'his reputation will be thus suspended, and exposed to public derision. It will not attain a green old age, how verdant soever his credulous disciples may at present be.'

"More improbable things than that have occurred,' rejoined Bro. Pigou.

"And yet,' the R. W. M. observed, 'his speculation promises to be successful, for he is exceedingly popular with a certain set, as many a demagogue has been before him, and will be again, so long as a dupe remains to be tormented by fictitious evils, or amused with the hope of imaginary good.'

"I confess,' said Bro. Batson, that my patience is severely tried when I reflect on the self-sufficient assumption of infallibility which this ignorant empiric arrogates to himself. He boldly announces

that both the ancient and modern sections are erroneous, not only in practice, but in principle; and asserts that the York system alone, which he insinuates to be something essentially different from both, is genuine. And he further proclaims, with a flourish of trumpets, that the York system of Masonry is represented in its purity by only one solitary Lodge the glorious light of Masonry has been universally extinguished, or become like the flickering blaze of an expiring rushlight, and burns brightly in one only place and that place-hear it, ye genii that preside over humbug and knavery, imposition and falsehood-that place-the house of William Finch, of Canterbury, and himself-save the mark-its Grand Master! ! !'

"From which metropolitical centre,' the R. W. M. interposed, his manifestoes and prospectuses radiate in every direction, to induce the purchase of his pretended Lectures, which are enunciated in the form of thin pamphlets, at the enormous charge of half a guinea each. And to clothe the imposture with the hope of being permanently remunerative, they are chiefly in manuscript, and ingeniously constructed on such a principle that, as I am told, a personal application to the author for their elucidation is absolutely necessary to make them moderately intelligible; and the interview can only be obtained through the medium of an additional fee.'

"The rogue,' said Bro. M'Gillivray, 'is grasping to receive, but always unwilling to pay. Like Billy Green, the idiot, who accosted every one he met, with