Some Account Of The Craft In Lincolnshire.

whose experienc d Abilities in the Profession of the Law and impanelled Industry , enabled him to acquire a Fortune ( Avithout the sordid means of avaricious Parsimony ) in times to Avhose Extravagance feAV Patrimonys sufficed . " He dyed 19 th Oct ., 1757 . Under date October , 1734 , the minuti reads , "

recommended Mr . Stephen Harrison of the Close , Music Master , as a proper Person to be a Member of this Society . . . . and in regard Mr . Harrison might be useful and entertaining to the Society , the Lodge agreed to admit him for the said sum of £ 3 13 s . 6 d . . . . and Mr . Stephen Harrison Avere

se \ -erally initiated in Form with due solemnity , Avhen our Right Worshipful Master gave an Elegant Charge , also went thro' an Examination , and the Lodge Avas closed with a Song and decent merriment . "

The foregoing extract will probably answer the question , however did the brethren pass the three or four hours ? Evidently the Toast occupied a prominent position , and " the song of refreshment shed a bright lustre over Labour . " We give one more extract from this interesting record :

" Friday , September ye 19 th , 1735 . At a Lodge held this Day by adjournment at the time and place aforesaid , when were present" a full attendance of members and visitors , " When it was agreed that out of respect to Bro . Herbert all the Brethren of this Lodge should go to the Play that

Evening clothed , The Master and Wardens to have their Jewells abt their necks , tuckcl in their Bosoms , which was accordingly done . " In May of the folloAving year , 173 6 , Sir Cecil Wray died somewhat suddenly in London , and his death , like that of his eminent

predecessor"Who Israel ' s Temple did adorn " " With Wisdom , Strength , and Beauty , " was apparently disastrous to his Lodge , and Ave may easily imagine the excellent Junior Warden conveying the mournful intelligence to his brethren .

Sir Cecil ' s body was brought down to Branston ( a short distance from Lincoln ) . An imposing monument , bearing on either side busts of Sir Cecil and Dame Mary his Wife ( doubtless excellent likenesses , as they were prepared during his life time ) , IIOAV stands in the church , close to the west

11 R 0 . AA' . HAULING S 1 SSONS , DEPUTY 1 'ROY . GRAND MASTKH . Avail . This position is , of course , as far from the S . S . as it was possible to get . Why he was not interred in the S . S . Ave cannot say . indeed , there is a possibility that it was the original place , seeing that Branston Church , like its neighbours , has undergone the process of what the Village

calls "doing up , " the Parson " restoration , " and the Archaeologist " decoration , " a process frequently involving a removal of the landmarks . Of the IAVO other constituted Lodges at Lincoln Above Hill in the Baily Wyke at The Angel 1737 and " Spalding The Black Bull " in connection with the famous gentlemen ' s

Society , 1739 , scarcely any records exist , and it is not till the lapse of half a century that Ave find the Craft again nourishing . Various reasons have been assigned for the decline of the Craft and numerous erasure of lodges about the middle of

the 18 th Century . Probably Dr . Oliver was not wide of the mark in attributing it to the change of dinner hour which about then took place in the higher ranks of Society . It should be noted before quitting this period of our history that the famous Antiquarian , Doctor William Stukeley ,

records in his Diary under June , 1726— "Being sadly plagu'd with the gout I retir'd to Grantham , thinking by country exercise to get the better of it . Here I set up a lodg . of Freemasons , \ vh . lasted all the time I lived there . " No mention of this Grantham Lodge is to be found in the

records of the Grand Lodge ; indeed , one gathers from the tone of some of Stukeley ' s Masonic entries that he did not deem any connection with that body either necessary or desirable .

The expression "Section of our County History" made use above is fully justified . For not only were there no lodges Avorking in Lincolnshire for fifty years , but the veryexistence of those Ave have enumerated was forgotten and unknown in their respective localities , a fact creating little surprise , seeing Grand Lodge at that time gave no

encouragement for research among its archives , even supposing the required amount of zeal and money to have been forthcoming in a country brother . During this half century , Freemasonry as exemplified by Grand Lodge , having outlived the Noble Order of

Bucksthe Gormorgons and other fashionable and convivial assemblies became more philosophical . The rivalry consequent on the establishment of a second Grand Lodge doubtless proving a powerful factor for progress and prevention against the Craft , being dominated by cither the

aristocratic or democratic element . Accordingly , on its revival in Lincolnshire in 1787 , by the establishment of Lodges at Barton-on-Humber and Gainsborough , on perusing the records one is struck not only by the change of procedure in the Lodge , but also with the

social status of its members—not as before , consisting of a majority of country gentry , but composed of people in the middle class and clergymen .

One feature , however , these two lodges SIIOAV in common Avith the old one , namely , a strong personality . In the case of The Prince of Wales lodge at Gainsborough , Bro . Gervas Parnell is recorded as presiding in the Lodge as R . W . M . for twenty years . A perusal of the Old Minute Bk . shows the regard felt by the brethren for their Master , and also the high

standard achieved by the Lodge in carrying out its principles and tenets whilst under his direction , outside testimony also confirming the sincerity of the record Ave have in Thomas Miller ' s reminiscences . " Doctor Parnell took the lead in everything gentlemanly , at vestry , church , and on all

charitable committees , there he was with his advice on his lips and his purse in his hand . Nearly the whole town curtesied to him when he passed . Nature had written on his face Gentleman , and rich and poor admitted the genuiness of the signature . "

Matthew Barnett ( afterwards Rev . ) came to Barton as a schoolmaster . Within a year , being then about twenty-six , he founded the lodge at that place which he named St . Matthew ' s—appointed the Feast on his birthday , and for a period of 4 6 years , till his deatli in 18 33 , virtually ruled the

lodge and Province as D . P . G . M . Brother Barnett ' s Masonic Mantle may truthfully be said to have descended to his Grandson , the late Gerard Ford , a " Worthy Mason , " indeed , who at the time of his lamented death , in 188 9 , was D . P . G . M ., G . Sup ., and Prov . G . M . of the Mark degree in the Province of Sussex .