Military Lodges.—Ii.

MILITARY LODGES . —II .

BY Bito . R . F . GOULD .

— : o : — 1 , 0 IK ; R IN" TUB l 7 l'H RElilMENT OV FOOT . [ X a list of Lodges , published afc Dubliu , A . I > . 1801 , by Bro . C . Downes— Printer to tho Grand Lodgo of Ireland—appears , nnder tho heading of Pennsylvania : — " No . 18 . British 17 th Regiment of Foot . " It is probable , that Downes copied from the Ancient ( or Athol ) official list of tlio same vcar—a list now missing , bnt which

according to the Proceedings of tho " Ancient Grand Lodge , was published for Robert Leslie , Grand Secretary in 1804 , by T . Burton , printer to tho Society . * However this may be , ' Ahiman Rezon , " or tho " Book of Constitutions" of the "Ancients , " copied or re- cop ied from Bro . Downes , in 1807 and 1813 : in both of these last-named publications , No . 18 on tho General List being allotted to the 17 th

Regiment [ vide FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE 10 th Jnly ] . According to the Historical Record of this distinguished regiment , it landed at Boston on tho 1 st January 177 G , and in 1777 formed a part of the British Force which occupied Philadelphia . " On the ISfch June 1778 , " says Steadman , in his History of the American War , " Philadelphia was evacuated by the English Array , accompanied by the great body of

the loyalists of Pennsylvania . If , therefore , the 17 th Regiment was ever warranted by the G . Lodgo of Pennsylvania , it must havo taken place during 1777-78 . The earliest proceedings of this Grand Lodge aro not recorded , the Minutes extant commencing 29 July 1779 j but nnder date of 20 Dec , in t >> e same year , the names of Bros . McCall S . VV ., P . B . Plenry J . W ., and Mark McCall P . M ., of No . 18 , are recorded as

having beon present . The proceedings also register : — "That the warrants of tho different Lodges whose Officers were present wero produced in duo form , and found to be regnlar and genuine , excepting Nos . 14 and 18 , which were forgot . " Ou tho 21 st December " the warrants of Nos . 15 , 16 and 18 were produced ancl confirmed on motion . "

On the 17 December 1781 , at a Grand Quarterly Commnnication , it is recorded inter alia that , " a letter was received from Lodge No . 38 , sent by the hands of Bro . Chas . Nixon , last Past Master oi that Lodge , informing that the stoppage of the river trade , by crm ' zers , had pat it oat of their power to send np their dues to this Communication . " !

On 20 December 1784 , No . 18 was duly represented at the Quarterly Communication of the Prov . G . Lodge . Two years later , viz ., on 12 June 1780 , the Minutes record : — " A letter was read from the Master and Brethren of Lodge No . 18 , held at Shelburne . J relative to the G . Lodge having issued ont a warrant of tho same numher which they worked under , by which they thought themselves

excluded from being under their jurisdiction ; also requesting to be furnished with the sum they stood indebted to the G . Lodge for their dues , and soliciting tho G . Lodge to address a letter in their behalf to General Parsons on the subject of a Lodge Warrant and civilities which they had experienced from him . Ordered that the Secretary reply to the same , and advise the said

Lodge that the G . L . not having heard from them for some time , did grant a warrant of the same number as theirs , but that they do not consider their warrant vacated , and that they still shall consider them as under their jurisdiction , & c , & c , and their requisition with respect to General Parsons to be granted . " Poor years later , viz ., on 1 st March 1790 : — " The Right Worship .

fnl Grand Master [ the Prov . G . L . having then developed into a Qrand Lodge ] read a paragraph of a letter concerning the Lodge No . 18 at Dover [ Delaware ] . In Brennan ' s edition of Rebold [ Boston 1875 ] , at p 430 it is stated : "A Diploma , bearing date the first of May 1784 , issued by an "Assembly of the Knights of the Red Cross , held under the sanction of

Warrant No . 18 , Lodge Unity , in H . M . 17 th Regiment of Foot , and on the Registry of Pennsylvania , " to " our trusty and well-beloved Brother , Sir John North , & o ., & c , and signed by George Cockhurn K ., Henry Caasaday 1 st , and Daniel Webb 2 nd G ., and William Davidson Secretary , " proves that among the Military at least , this degree of Military Masonry (?) was known in Halifax at an earlier date . " The 17 th Regiment was at Now York in 1779 , and when quartered

Military Lodges.—Ii.

at " Stoney Point" a fortified post on the river Hudson , and com . manded by Lient .-Col . H . Johnson , being suddenly beset bv nearl y fmir thonsand Americans nnder General Wayne , after a gallant reinstance , tho survivors surrendered themselves prisoners of war . On lining exchanged , the men fit for duty wero formed into a small battalion , and being united with a nnmber of detachments of Provincial

Troops , they wero placrd under the order of Colonel Watson of the l < 'oot Guards . At York Town , in 1781 , they again became prisoners of War , but were again exchanged in 1782 , and stationed in Virginia . Ia 1783 , tho Regiment was quartered at New York [ but though an " Ancient " ( or " Atholl " ) Lodge , No . IS never consorted with tho other " Ancient" Lodges of tho garrison , which mainly made np tho

Prov . G . Lodge of New York ] , Upon the conclusion of peace the 17 th Regiment was removed to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland , 1784-5 , and arrived in England in 1786 . It is abundantly clear that the Lodge Unity in the 17 th Regiment , No . 18 Pennsylvania , was in work in 1784 and 1786 . I wish , however , to ask a few questions of our brethren in Pennsylvania and Nova

Scotia , and to make some observations on the foregoing evidence . These I will endeavour to combine . It seems very odd that the Lodge re-warranted locally as No . 18 Pennsylvania , should have adhered to the Lodge name , " Unity . " ? As previously stated , Lodgo "Unity" in the 17 th Regiment , was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland as No . 168 , in 1771 . I am

strongly of opinion that on joining the [ Prov . J G . Lodge of Pennsylvania , the then Lodge " Unity , " No . 168 Scotch , becoming eighteenth in seniority on the Provincial roll , dropped its Scotch number , and whilst retaining its old name , and preserving , it may be , an unbroken continuity of existence as a Masonic hody from 1771 , was afterwards known by its place or position on the roll of the G . L . of

Pennsylvania ? The date of the Regiment's encounter with the American General Parsons , when the Lodge paraphernalia was captured , perhaps some reader can supply ? I am aware that the 17 th Foot under command of Lieut .-Col . Charles Mawwood fell in with the van of the American Army , under Washington , on the 4 th January 1777 , and was very

roughly handled . But the vicissitudes of this gallant corps during the revolutionary war were so numerous , that it ia difficult to identify the Masonic incident to which so many American writers have alluded . A transcript of the Communication addressed by the G . L . of

Pennsylvania to General Parsons wonld be very interesting ? No . 18 Bis on the Local Roll , must have been warranted , I presume , circa , 1778 . If original Nos . 17 and 19 are in work , or their records available for inspection , the date of charter of original No . 18 ( 17 th Regiment ) might be approximately determined . The following Lodges have been warranted in the 17 th

Regiment : — Irish . No . 136 Constitnted 1748 . [ No other dates ] Scotch „ 97 " Hooker St . John , " constituted 1759 ; cancelled

1809 . „ 168 "Unity , " constitnted 1771 ; cancelled 1816 Penna . „ 18 „ „ 1777-78 „ Enalish „ 237 „ „ 1787 „ 1792 „ 18 [ doubtful ] „ Irish „ 921 „ 1802 „ 1824 „ 258 „ 1824 „ 1847

[ No . 921 ( Iris / 0 exchanged for No . 258 in 1824 . ] Of Lodge "Unity" [ No . 18 or 168 ?] Bro . C . W . Moore , in an address delivered in 183 G , remarks : — " After having routed a detachment of the British Army , the

constitution and regalia of a Lodge fell into the bands of the American General , Parsons . Actuated by the genuine principles of Masonry , he immediately returned them to the British commander , with a note in the following words : —

" When the ambition of monarchs , or the jarring interests of States , call forth their subjects to war , we , as Masons , are disarmed of that resentment which stimulates to indiscriminate desolation ; and however onr political sentiments may impel ns in the public dispute , we

are still Brethren ; and , our professional duties apart , ought to promote the happiness of each other . Accept , therefore , at the hands of a Brother , the constitution of the Lodge " Unity , " No . 18 , held in the Britioh 17 th Regiment , which your late misfortanes have put it in my power to return to you . "

Perhaps some brother in tho " States may be able to say , from what source Bro . Moore derived his knowledge of by-gone Masonry in the 17 th Foot ? The " Early History of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania" ( for a copy of which I have to thank Bro . W . J . Hughan ) , besides mnch

interesting matter relating to Military Lodges , records one memorable event , viz ., the death of Laurence Dermott , as to wbich the records of the Grand Lodge he did so mnch to create are quite silent . I have vainly searched for the date of thia great Mason's decease , both amongst the records of Grand Lodge and in the

Gentleman's and other Magazines ; also in the newspaper obituary notices for 1789-91 . In the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , Part II ., at p 119 , there appears , nnder date of 4 th June 1792 : — " The R . W . Grand Master informed the Lodge that our R . W . Brother Laurence Dermott , late Deputy Grand Master of England , had departed this life . " If a History of English

Freemasonry is ever written , no prominent character of the last century will , I venture to think , be found , who is more entitled to the respect and remembrance of the universal Craft , than this able and singleminded Brother . A model of unselfishness , be rose to eminence by

merit , and throughout a long rule , as the virtual Grand Master of the " Ancients , " nothing ever caused the brethren he loved so well and ruled so wisely , to waver in their fealty towards the wine merchant of Tower-hill—to whose ability and exertions , they owed the ad-