Northumbrian Masonry*.

evidence to show that Northumberland was , even in those distant days , a centre of great Masonic activity , and if all the lodges did not last for long , their existence , however brief it may have been , cannot have been without its influence on thc o-eneral wellbeing and subsequent development of thc Craft .

Chapter VI . treats of thc period from 1765 to iSoo , and contains evidence from the " Delaval Papers "—discovered some years ago and to which Bro . STRACHAN has had the privilege of ace ess—which , we are told , " speaks unmistakably of not onl y

the possible , but the actual , existence of lodges for many years before * their life comes within the historian ' s ken b y authenticated record in the shape of warrant or minutes . " This evidence in one case is in the form of " a letter or petition dated the 14 th of

November , 1765 , addressed b y the brethren of Ford , in Northumberland , to Sir JOHN HUSSEY DELAVAL , Bart , ( who was then staying at Doddington , near Lincoln ) . In this letter , which is the composition of a very illiterate person , the Freemasons of

Ford express themselves as being " very Defiorous of a Charter form the Grand Lodge of England by a proper Recomendation which wee shall have from the above Lodge "—the Lodge of St . George , Berwick— " in order that wee may be properly constitutid . Wee tbe Members that now are wou'd take it as a

particular favour off your Hono to permit us to make an offer of the Dedication of the Lodge at Ford to your Hono- if agreable or to whom you think proper it being of an old standing though without either Charter or Constition till this offer now

made our number being upwards of 40 and in order of Raising more of our bretheren your ansr . as soon as Convenient woud extremly agreablc wee having a form of a petition to send to thc Grand Lodge with the Assignenient of our Bretheren of the St .

Georges . Given at a meeting of the Bretheren at Ford , Nov 14 day 1765 . Francis Collingwood . " There can , we think , be little doubt as to tbe justice of Bro . S'I'UACIIAN ' conjecture that " this Lodge at Ford , " which is described as alread y " being of

an old standing 111 1765 , must have had an independent existence for some years previousl y to have attained to sucli dimensions , and wc agree with him as to the probability of its having been composed of " working Masons engaged in

building and repairing operations on fortresses , churches , or mansions in the immediate nei g hbourhood , as was the olden custom ; and as the ' speculative' interest spread , the brethren of Berwick and other p laces induced the Ford members to apply

for recognition by a central authority . ' In support of this contention , Bro . SfRACHAN quotes certain facts which cannot but have their due weig ht with the reader . But be this as it may , the prayer of the petitioners was acceded to b y Sir JOHN

DELAVAL , with the result that a warrant was granted b y the Earl of KELLY , Grand Master of thc "Ancient" Grand Lod ge , on the 24 th January , 1766 , for the constitution of these brethren as the " Sr John Hussey Delavel's Lodge , " ranking as No . I 40

on the Grand Lodge Register , and the lodge thus constituted continued in more or less active working until December , 1827 , when it was erased from the list together . with its sponsor , the St . George ' s Lodge , of Berwick .

The chapter includes much else that is interesting , not only in respect of lodges that were in existence or were constituted during this period , but also Ircquent references to local persons and events , not the least curious of these

being the announcement quoted from thc Newcastle Chronicle of January 6 th , 1770 , as to the readiness of a Mrs . BELL , thc landlady of the "Crown Inn , Newgate , " to communicate "the secrets of Freemasonry "—which she had learned in the usual

manner by concealing herself 111 a room adjacent to that in which the lodge was meeting , and making holes through the wall—to the members of her own sex . There is also a poem quoted from the Weekly Magazine or Edinburgh

Amusement for 1773 , whichg ives a descript . on of "the PROCESSION at const il nt ing ST . DAVID ' LODGE in Berwick-upon-Tweed , April 29 , 1773 , " and last , but not least , a genealogical sketch of the "WHITE-RIDLEY , " the head of which is thc present respected

Provincial Grand Master of Northumberland , one of whose ancestors ( MATTHEW WHITE , son and successor of the MATTHEW WHITE of Blagdon , who died 1750 ) , was created a baronet bv GEORGE 11 . in 1756 , with remainder , in default of heirs male , to the heirs male of his sister , thc wife of MATTHEW RIDLEY , of

Northumbrian Masonry*.

Heaton , who was appointed the first Provincial Grand Master of Northumberland in 1734 ; whose eldest son , MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY , succeeded to the baronetcy on the death , in 1763 , of his maternal uncle , Sir MATTHEW WHITE , the first baronet ; and

whose grandson—who succeeded as third baronet in 1813—was in 1824 appointed Grand Master of the Province . What further remarks wc are desirous of making must be reserved for another article .

Consecration Of The Nil Sine Labore Lodge, No. 2736.

CONSECRATION OF THE NIL SINE LABORE LODGE , No . 2736 .

On the 2 ist May last , Bro . Lieut . Col . G . J . Parkyn wrote to the Editor of the " A . S . C . Journal " poin ting out the desirability of establishing a lodge for the Army Service Corps , and the idea meeting with cordial support , meetings were held to arrange the preliminaries . Bro . Lieut .-Col . Parkyn was particularly fortunate in enlisting the sympathies of Bro . Lieut . G . McFarlane , who rendered yeoman service in the arduous wo k of

Secretary . Bro . Mc Farlane had had previous experience in this capacity , having successfully launched the Clarence Lodge , No . 2386 , at Chester , being presented with a founder ' s jewel on the second night of meeting , and was subsequently the recipient of a handsome illuminated address on leaving the locality . The Nil Sine Lahore Lodge starts with 6 S founders , and will be further reinforced with 45 joining memb * rs and four initiates , the members hailing from all parts of the world , India excepted .

The consecration ceremony , at which about 200 brethren were present , proved a very interesting and successful function , and was held at the Criterion , Piccadilly-circus , on the 13 th inst . The Consecrating Officer , Bro . E . Letchworth , G . Secretary , was assisted by Bros . Col . Sir Terence O'Brien , K . C . M . G ., P . G . D ., as S . W . ; Col . Davis , A . D . C , P . D . G . D . C , as J . W . ; the Rev . J . Studholme Brownrigg , M . A ., P . G . Chap ., as Chap . ; Frank Richardson , P . G . D ., as D . of C . ; and Major R . H . Murdoch , R . A ., as I . G .

Lodge was ooened in the Three Degrees , and the opening hymn havir \ g been sung , the CONSECRATING OFFICER addressed the brethren . It would be unnecessary , he said , for him to occupy their time with many words of his own . They had met together for the purpose of performing a very interesting ceremony—one which could not fail to appeal to the sympathies of all who had at heart the interests of their Order . The lodge they were about to constitute would be known hereafter as the Nil Sine

Lahore Lodge . This motto was of a truly Misonic character , and was one which was borne by that very distinguished branch of her Majesty ' s service the members of which , he believed , to a very great extent , were the founders of this lodge . He felt sure he was only expressing the feelings of all present when he gave utterance to the hope that this lodge might be the means of accomplishing all those special objects the founders had in view , and unite more closely those already associated together as members of a distinguished corps .

1 he founders having signified their approval of the officers named in the warrant , the Chaplain gave an excellent oration , and the new lodge was consecrated with the customary solemn ceremonial . Bro . Lieut .-Col . G . J . PARKYN , P . P . G . S . B . Cornwall , was installed as the first W . Master , and invested the following ollicers : Bros . Lieut . J . Grapes , VV . M . 1331 , l . P . M . ; Col . J . A . Boyd , C . B ., P . M ., S . VV . ;

Lieut .-Col . F . T . Clayton , J . W . ; Rev . J . Blackbourne , Chap ; Firstclass Staff-Sergt .-Maj . J . VV . Bradshaw , Treas . ; Lieut . G . McFarlane , Sec ; Lieut . W . Lyons , S . D . ; Lieut . T . J . Kearns , J . D . ; First-Class StalT-Sergt .-Maj . C . W . Bamford , I . G . ; Staff-Sergt .-Maj . P . R . Sparke , P . M ., D . of C ; Lieut . L . S . Roberts , Staff-Sergt .-Maj , A . Barron , Staff-Qr .-Master-Sergt . G . White , and Company-Qr .-Master-Sergt . E . J . Brook , Stwds . ; and E . VV . Lanchbury , Tyler .

Letters of regret for non-attendance were announced from Bros . Earl Amherst , Pro G . M . ; Viscount Wolseley , S . r Albert Woods , Vice-Admiral Rawson , Sheriff Col . Probyn , W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., P . G . M . Hants , and many other distinguished brethren . Forty-five brethren were proposed as joining members , and four candidates were proposed for initiation . The

W . Master was appointed Steward to represent the lodge at the R . M . Benevolent Institution Festival , and 10 guineas was voted to his list . The honorary membership of the lodge was conferred upjn the Consecrating Officers , a compliment for which the G . Secretary returned thanks , and a Bye-Law Committee having been formed , the lodge was closed .

An excellent banquet was served in the Victoria Hall , during which the string band of the Corps , under Bro . Staff-Sergt . Geo . Bryce , played a capital selection of music . The musical portions of the ceremony , and the items after banquet were well rendered by Bros . J . Itift H . Schartau , Frank Tebbutt , Wm . Fell , and Geo . Smbbs . "The Queen and the Craft" and "H . R . H . the Prince of Wale- , were heartily honoured as the first toasts .

"The Grand Officers" was next given by the VV . M ., who said he had had a great deal to do with the Grand Officers in connection with this lodge , but he had met with the greatest courtesy and kindness from the Chief Stall' Officer , the Grand Secretary , and his assistant , Bro . Lake . Bro . Lieut .-Gen . J . W . LAURIE , M . P ., P . G . M . Nova Scotia , in response , asked to be excused lor touching upon personal matters and said he had been 4 S years a soldier and 45 years a Mason . He had found there was

no diversity between I < reemasonry and the profession of arms . In a military lodge in Central India they met with bitter hostility from the late Colonel , but four years after he was told that the men in the ljd ge were the best non-commissioned officers the Colonel had . Tnis lodge would help to prove to those who had the control of Masonry what service lodges could do , for corps lodges were not institutions to be put aside and discarded . In other parts they had garrison lodges . He had be > n associated with members of their corps in No . 39 S , Halifax , Nova Scotia , and they had been for years past the life of the lodge . The members of the Nil Sine Lahore