IT is too often the case that a narrative of the acts of men who have been the instruments of misery and evil to their fellow-creatures, is productive of more interest than any account which can be given of the actions of those whose days have passed in doing good to mankind. The life of the hero whose ambition has caused the destruction * of thousands of human beings-the career of the murderer, who does business in secret and on a small scale because his deeds are not legalized-the exploits of the highwayman who has fearlessly attacked and rifled the persons of honest and peaceable men-the cunning expedients of the sharper, and the dexterity of the pickpocket-these are all details more acceptable to the generality of readers than the record which tells of humble and unassuming worth. Our task, however, in the present instance, is not to chronicle deeds of blood, daring, or dishonesty, but to speak of one whose life has been devoted to the promotion of the prosperity of an Institution having for its objects the bettering the condition, and increasing the happiness of its members. Though of lowly rank, and unaided by wealth or shining abilities, he has been one of those who have sown the seeds from which will spring blessings to gladden the hearts of generations yet unborn.

Robert Naylor was born on the 2nd of October, 1769, at Halifax, in Yorkshire, and was one of a family of seventeen children, who all died young, with the exception of himself and a brother, who is still living. His father practised as a surgeon, though he had never taken out a diploma; and, when the subject of this memoir was an infant in arms, he removed to London, where he stayed a few years, and then returned to Halifax. At a subsequent period he went to reside in Manchester, and kept an Apothecary's shop in Smithy Door, and afterwards in Great Ancoats Street, (then Ancoats Lane), where he died in 1825. When Robert had attained the age of fourteen, he was placed in the office of Mr. Parker, then an eminent solicitor in Halifax; but he was soon tired of the drudgery of the law, and at the age of sixteen he was, by his own desire, apprenticed to a painter. His master was a Mr. Hoyland, who had previously dwelt in Manchester; and with him he served an apprenticeship of seven years, at the expiration of which term he went to Wakefield, where he remained three years, and then took up VOL. 6-No. 8-3 B.

his abode in Manchester, where he resided until his death. About the year 1797 he joined the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester and Salford Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Sylvester, and served in the whole about five years in that loyal body. In 1800 he married a widow; and though he had never any children, we must not omit this opportunity of stating a circumstance which redounds greatly to the credit of his humane and generous disposition. He worked for some years at his trade as a journeyman, in the employ of a Mr. Hughes; and a fellow-workman having formed an intimacy with one of his master's female servants, the birth of a daughter was the result. From motives of compassion Mr. Naylor undertook the charge of the child; and its father, for the space of three years, made him a small allowance. At the end of that period the father ceased to make any provision for it, but Mr. Naylor kindly adopted the young unfortunate as his own, and always treated it with the fostering care of an indulgent parent.

The following account has been furnished to us in the course of our inquiries respecting Mr. Naylor. In the year 1810 he was one of a party who were in the habit of meeting at the Rope Maker's Arms, (then kept by a person of the name of Ledsom), in Chapel Street, Salford. This was, in the first instance, nothing more than a convivial meeting, but they in a short time formed a code of laws for their government, and instituted an awful, yet absurd ceremony, which the noviciate had to go through at his initiation. They were soon joined by a portion of the members of the Prince Regent Lodge, belonging to the United Order of Odd Fellows, which was then held in Oldham Street, Manchester, and is still in existence. After having had this addition to their numbers, they formed themselves into a Benefit Society, and met at the sign of the Robin Hood, in Church Street, Manchester. From this source, it is said, has sprung our present numerous and powerful Order, they having in October, 1810, opened the Abercrombie Lodge, in Salford.*

The office of Secretary was the highest which Mr. Naylor filled in the above Lodge; but on the 13th of May, 1813, the Clarence Lodge was opened in Salford, and he on that occasion officiated as N. G., and, after sitting the usual time, went through the duties of G. M. These offices he filled three times in that Lodge. He also officiated as N. G. of the Rose of Sharon Lodge, in Manchester, at its opening, and afterwards filled the chair of G. M. He sat as G. M. at the opening of the Veteran Lodge, in Salford, and subsequently received from its members a Silver Snuff Box, as a token of the high estimation in which they held him. He had also a Silver Box, of the value of

£9, given to him by the members of the Clarence Lodge. In addition to these tokens of respect, he had presented to him from various Lodges, four Silver Medals, and & Silver Label. He was appointed D. G. M. of the Manchester District on the 13th of December, 1824, and G. M. on the 12th of December, 1825. He was elected D. G. M. of the Order in June, 1831, and G. M. in June, 1832; and was present at the A. M. Cs. held at Huddersfield, Manchester, Dudley, Sheffield, Liverpool, Monmouth, and Bury.

No member of the Order was a more constant Lodge-visitor than the subject of this sketch. Scarcely a night elapsed, during a period of upwards of thirty years, that he did not attend one, and he frequently went, after the business of the day, to a distance of eight or ten miles for the purpose of visiting Lodges in the neighbouring Districts. He was always ready with his subscription when any case of distress came before him, and was one of the most liberal contributors where he thought the object was a worthy one. He had a general saying that, as he had no family to provide for at his death, he would not leave much behind, but do all the good he could himself whilst living.

He seems to have had a great partiality for the Veteran Lodge, and rarely misssed attending it, either on Lodge or Lecture-nights, and it was at this Lodge that his career

*We do not vouch for the accuracy of these particulars, which we feel convinced will be subjects of dispute, but. as they came to our knowledge in connection with Mr. Naylor, we felt it to be our duty to mention them in this place. We shall take an early opportunity of making further inquiries on this interesting matter, and when we can satisfy ourselves that we have arrived at the true solution of the mystery which envelopes the origin of the Independent Order, we shall lay before our readers the result of our researches; and, in the meantime we shall esteem it as a favour if parties who are in possession of anything which may aid us in our task will communicate with us.

as an Odd Fellow terminated. On Sunday evening, May 2nd, 1841, he attended the Lecture of the Veteran Lodge. The Lecture proceeded, and he described the attributes of the Institution in his usual manner, being to all appearance in good health. When it was approaching the close, he suddenly began to mutter some indistinct words, and to rub one of his legs. It was thought by those around him that he was labouring under the influence of a paralytic stroke, and it was suggested that a surgeon should be sent for. Mr. Slack, the surgeon of the Clarence Lodge, to which Mr. Naylor belonged, residing in the neighbourhood, a messenger was immediately dispatched for him. In a few minutes Mr. Slack was in attendance, and proceeded to bleed him; Mrs. Woolley, the wife of the Host, kindly supplying everything necessary for his immediate comfort. When he became a little composed, and medicine arrived, he was conveyed home in a coach, and carried to bed. Whilst they were taking him up-stairs a favourite little dog barked very loudly, and he called "Fan, Fan- -that's my Fan!" which were the last words he uttered that could be understood. Two medical men attended him, but held out no hopes of his recovery. When his brother was administering some medicine to him, about half past ten o'clock, he seemed as though endeavouring to speak, and muttered some unintelligible words, but could not articulate, and his sight appeared to be gone. He expired between ten and eleven o'clock the following morning, in the 72nd year of his age, and was interred in the Cemetery at Rusholme Road, near Manchester, on the following Sunday; his funeral being attended by the chief officers of the Order and District, and from 500 to 600 members. On his coffin were displayed the various Silver Medals which had been presented to him as tokens of respect.

Some months before his death he asked his brother several questions as to what were the symptoms of apoplexy, and seemed to entertain the idea that he should die from that cause. On the Thursday previous to his decease, he deposited in his brother's hands a Memorandum, stating what property he was possessed of, which would almost appear as though he had some presentiment that his end was approaching. The party who kept his house observed something the matter with one of his arms, on the afternoon of the day before he died. He was reading, and hung it down as though it were cramped, and it was on that side that he was afterwards seized. Many branches of his family have reached a good age, but nearly all of them have died suddenly. He survived his wife fifteen or sixteen years. He was buried in the same grave as his father, who lived to the age of eighty-four.

Mr. Naylor was of mild and unassuming manners, and was a fine specimen of the old school of Odd Fellowship. His soul was in the cause, and the whole of his energies were devoted to the advancement of its interests and prosperity. He was respected and beloved by all who knew him, and few had a larger circle of acquaintance amongst the brethren of the Order. For the last ten years of his lite his principal employment was the painting of the Dispensation Boxes, and it is a strong proof of the estimation in which he was held that, though this was a business which was open to be estimated for, no one ever opposed him. In the Manchester and Salford Districts he was generally termed the father, and by some the grandfather, of the Order; and many of its members regarded him with the affectionate feeling of sons. His love for the Institution was as strong during the latter part of his existence as it was when in the prime of life-nay, it seemed to increase with his years. Its brethren were to him in the stead of wife, children, and relatives; and its Lodge-rooms were as the apartments of some beloved dwelling, within whose walls he found a shelter from the ills and cares of life. As he had lived, so he died-a true Odd Fellow; and we firmly believe that he felt the approach of Death in the very spot that he himself would have desired to meet it-in the presence of his brothers, and immediately after having inculcated the duties of Odd Fellowship, in the service of which his last breath may literally be said to have been spent.*

*We must express our acknowledgments to Mr. Nathaniel Naylor, (the brother of Mr. Robert Naylor,) for the kind and ready manner with which he supplied us with the information that we required from him. We also beg to thank P. D. G. M. Caldwood, of the Nelson Lodge, and P. G. Henry Eccles, of the Veteran Lodge; to the latter of whom we are indebted for the particulars of the last appearance in public of Mr. Robert Naylor.

OUR FIRST GOSSIP WITH THE MAGAZINE READERS

AND CONTRIBUTORS.

MAN has been variously distinguished, by naturalists and others, from the rest of created beings. By some he has been described as a laughing animal, and by others as a cooking animal, but he may be more correctly termed a reading and writing animal. The parrot, the magpie, and the raven may be taught to speak, and his other peculiarities are imitated by different members of the inferior creation. The power of communicating ideas by the arts of reading and writing is possessed by him alone. By means of this power those who are parted by the waste of waters, of countless miles of land, are enabled to converse-the father can impart to his son the counsels which age and experience may dictate, when that son is far away from the home of his childhood-the husband and the partner of his bosom may exchange words of comfort and affection, when torn asunder by bitter poverty or adverse fate— the lover may convey words of burning passion to the eyes of his beloved, which his tongue would have faltered in uttering to her ears-and commerce wings its way to every part of the habitable globe. Seeing, as we now do, the innumerable benefits which spring from the art of writing, and being convinced, as we are, of its incalculable advantages, the fact that its exercise was checked and discountenanced by powerful ignorance, in what are properly styled the dark ages, is scarcely credible-yet so it was. The feudal baron, it is said, was ashamed of being able to write, and the signing his name was like putting on his armour, a service to be done by an inferior; however, writing became general, and barons were obliged to learn to write in self-defence. In those times, when printing was unknown, and writing was an art which few were able to practise, it became necessary that a vehicle should be used for imparting a knowledge of facts, which was most likely to make the greatest impression on the mind. The early history of almost all nations shows that some of the first compositions were in rhyme or poetry, because in that shape they were more easily committed to memory than if written in prose. From historical ballads many facts connected with the history of Rome, and other countries, have been derived. The laws of the Northern nations were mostly in verse, and some curious specimens are still extant of the way in which rhyme was used by our Saxon ancestors, as a help to memory. Poetry was preserved and recited by minstrels and bards, and was thus impressed by them on the minds of the people; but many of those early productions are now buried in the dark depths of oblivion, like things which never had an existence. From the want of writing the compositions of the master-spirits of Assyria and Ancient Egypt have not come down to us, whilst the works of a numerous host of poets, philosophers, historians, and orators, which but for its aid would have been irretrievably lost, have been preserved unmutilated. Manuscripts, or written books, were, however, too costly, and could only be possessed by the wealthy, who sometimes even bartered an estate for a choice work. Books were then treasures of immense value, and were kept chained. Printing was invented, and learning was speedily unmanacled. Though the nobles of the land at first thought it derogatory to have a printed book