Military Lodges.

MILITARY LODGES .

MINDEN LODGE , No . G 3 , I . C . SO little has been Avritten on this subject that AVO need offer no excuse for returning to it . Hitherto our

remarks have been confined to English Military Lodges , Avhile two of our correspondents havo been kind enough to draAv attention to the existence of Scotch and Irish Lodges of a like character . Of the former , but little , Ave fancy , is

known , but of the latter , Ave offer a feAV particulars Avhich , we doubt not , Avill prove interesting . In January of last year there appeared in a Masonic monthly contemporary , a list , No . 3 , of Old Lodges , republished by Bro . W . J . Hughan , from a Dublin "Pocket Companion for

Freemasons , ' of the year 1735 . This list contained 163 Lodges , Irish and English , Nos . 1 to 37 inclusive being Irish , the rest English . Among the former aro no less than five Military Lodges , namely , No . 12 , " In the first Battalion Royal ; " No . 18 , " In Major General Dalzeel ' s Regiment of

Foot ; " No . 25 , " In Colonel Hamilton ' s Regiment ; " No . 34 , " In the Royal Regiment of North British Fusiliers ;" and No . 36 , " In Major General Price ' s Regiment of Foot . " As far as Ave have been able to trace , none of these Lodges are now in existence . Of the ten existing Lodges ,

including " No . 730 , Dublin Garrison , " on the roll of Grand Lodge Ireland , several can boast of a tolerably long existence . Thus , according to the Irish Freemasons' " Calendar and Pocket Companion" for the current year , No . 26 , in the 26 th Cameronians , dates from tho year 1810 ; " No . 128 ,

39 th Regiment , " from 1742 ; " No . 322 , 29 th Regiment , " from 1759 ; " Ko . 354 , 49 th Regiment , " from 1760 ; "No . 441 , 38 th Regiment , " from 1795 ; "No . 570 , 5 th Dragoon Guards , " from 1780 . It is impossible for us , Avithout further inquiry , to say whether the Warrants ,

bearing the above dates , have always resided in the Lodges Avhich nOAV hold them ; or Avhethor , during the Avhole period of their existence , they have been Military Warrants . Still , the inclusion of Military Lodges in the list of 1735 , to Avhich we have referred above , and tho dates of the

Warrants of existing Irish Military Lodges , SIIOAV that this class of Lodge at an early date found favour Avith the Grand Lodgo of Ireland . On these and any other points connected Avith these Lodges Ave shall gladly receive information . We noAv turn to the history of an Irish Lodge ,

not now in the list of Irish Lodges , Avhich Avas published in 1849 by Bro . John Clarke , Sergeant Major 1 st Battalion 20 th Regiment , and at the time Senior Warden of his Lodge , remarking , en passant , that No . 263 ( Irish ) is attached to the 2 nd Battalion of the same Regiment .

The Warrant , Avhich was granted to Lord George Sackville , Colonel of the Regiment , and first Worshipful Master , Colonel Edward Cormvallis , and Captain Millburne , bears date December 1748 , the day itself being illegible , the Regiment at the time being engaged in the pacification of

the Highlands , Avhich had been rendered necessary by the expedition of the Young Pretender , Prince Charles Edward . As regards the records of the Lodge from its foundation to the year 1802 , they have been lost , a circumstance which is not to bo wondered at , considering

that during that period the 20 th Regiment Avas repeatedly , if not continuously , engaged on Foreign Service . Thus , it Avas constantly on the move from 1748 to 1755 , Avhen it was stationed on the coast of Kent , to resist a threatened invasion . In 1756 , we find it en route for Germany , Avhere , in 1759 , it took part in the memorable

Military Lodges.

victory of Minden , and to the glorious achievements on this occupation is clue tho circumstance of its being knoAvn in future as the "Minden " Lodge . It continued fighting till tho end of tho Avar in 1762 , Avhen it returned home , and

remained there till 1775 . That during this period it resumed its labours , Bro . Clarke considers there is satisfactory evidence iu the following , " Avritten memorandum , and appended to a printed copy of By-laws , now " ( that is , in 1849 ) " in the archives of the Lodge . "

" Tho foregoing 2 G Kcsolutioiis aro recommended by the Grand Lodgo to all Warranted , as most usefnl and necessary at this timo . " As given under my hand this sixth day of July , in the year of onr Lord Ono Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Two , and in the year of Masonry 5772 . ( Signed ) WILLIAM DICKEY , G . S . "

In 1775 , ' the Regiment was ordered to North America , and landed at Quebec in the latter part of the year . Ifc took part in the earlier portion of the Avar of American Independence , but though it maintained its former reputation for gallantry , it had the misfortune to form part of

the force under General Burgoyne lvhich , after the unfortunate battle afc Saratoga , in 1777 , Avas forced to capitulate to the American General Gates . The Colours of the Regiment had previously been destroyed , and Bro . Clarke thinks it not improbable that all the records of the Lodgo

shared a similar fate . The regiment Avere kept prisoners afc Prospect Hill , near Boston , Mass ., nor Avere they released till after the conclusion of peace in 1783 . Ifc will be interesting to know if , in tho history of Masonry in Massachusetts , there is any mention at this epoch of

members of the Minden Lodge mixing Avith their Boston brethren . From 1783 to 1789 the Regiment Avas employed in England . On 1 st June of the latter year ib sailed for Halifax , Nova Scotia , Avhere ifc remained till June 1792 , Avhen it proceeded to St . Domingo , and thence to

Jamaica , Avhere it took part in suppressing insurrections among negroes and brigands . It returned home from tho latter station in 1796 , a mere skeleton of its former self , mustering only G officers and 70 non-commissioned officers , drummers and privates . HoAvever , ifc soon recruited itself ,

and Avas divided into two battalions , amounting to upwards of 2 , 000 men , exclusive of officers . In 1799 , they embarked for Holland , and displayed their usual gallantry at Crahendom , under Sir Ralph Abercrombie , and afc Egmontop-Zee . They returned to England at the end of October

the same year , and in the beginning of 1800 Avere sent to Ireland . In June , ifc made an unsuccessful attempt to land at the fortress of Belleisle , off the coast of Brittany , after Avhich it Avas sent to Minorea , where it remained till , in 1801 , the Avhole of the two battalions volunteered for service in

Egypt , and having landed in Aboukir Bay , it again distinguished itself in the actions of the 17 th , 25 th , and 28 th August , and 2 nd September , and was thanked for its gallantry . Ifc landed in Malta , in December 1801 , and thenceforward Ave have some glimpse of Masonic Avork , not , it is true , continuously , but still Avith comparatively shorts breaks .

All this time , though everything in the shape of record had disappeared , the Warrant had been religiously preserved , bufc to what brother or brethren the Lodge Avas indebted for this piece of good fortune there is nothing to

shoAV . At all events , the Lodge , mustering eighteen members , met ; afc Victoriosa , Malta , on the 29 th March 1802 , for tho purpose of installation , and the record of this meeting is the oldest in existence . The particulars or minutes are , ifc seems , somewhat meagre , but AVO learn that Bro .