Ο

CONSECRATION

OF THE

LODGE OF UNANIMITY, No. 136,

AT COLTISHALL, IN NORFOLK.

N the 14th October 1793, a numerous and respectable meeting of the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons was held at the King's-Head New Lodge-Room, in Coltishall, Norfolk, when the Lodge of Unanimity was consecrated in ample form; after which the P. G. M. Sir Edward Astley; the Most Excellent Superintendant of R. A. M. the Hon. Henry Hobart, attended by their respective Grand and Excellent Officers, together with the Masters, Wardens, and Brethren of several visiting Lodges; the Master, Wardens, and Brethren of the Coltishall Lodge, &c. went in grand procession from the Lodge-room to church, preceded by a full band of music.-Two Tylers, with their swords drawn, and uniforms-Two elegant ensigns and standards-Masters, Officers, and Brethren of visiting Lodges two and two-Tyler and Wardens of Coltishall Lodge-Master, carrying the Book of Constitutions— Brethren two and two-Master of the Swan Lodge, carrying the Bible, Compass, and Square, on a rich crimson velvet cushion, with elegant gold fringe and tassels-Officers and Brethren two and twoJanitor-three Principals of R. A. Chapter-R. A. M. two and two-Grand Tyler, carrying the Sword of State-two Stewards, with pink sashes and aprons-Grand Secretary-two G. WardensGrand Chaplain-Grand M.-Deputy Grand M.-and two Stewards closed the procession. On their arrival at the church-gate the Brethren divided and formed an avenue for the Grand Master and his Wardens, &c. to approach the church, after which the whole procession followed two and two; when an elegant and well adapted discourse was preached to them on the subject by the Rev. Mr. Taswell, of Aylesham, defending the institution in every point of view, and inculcating, in animated, nervous, and convincing language, the purity of those duties which are at once the pride and glory of the Craft. The procession returned from church in the same manner it moved there: the numerous and handsome appearance of the ladies and gentlemen of the town and adjacent country, and the satisfaction they expressed on the occasion, together with the harmony and pleasing deportment of the very large assemblage of all ranks of people, sufficiently evinced their general approbation. On their return an elegant and well-conducted dinner was provided; and amidst the most cheerful conversation and pleasing conviviality, the day was spent with that delightful satisfaction which the freedom, fervency, and zeal, of the Society at all times inspire. Present Officers of the Lodge: Chapman Ives, Esq. M.-Mr. Samuel Gotterson, S. W.-Mr. Anthony Ransom, J. W.-Mr. Daniel Green, P. M. Mr. G. Bandy, jun. Treasurer.-Mr. George Preston, Secretary.

VOL. IV,

From the Third Volume of A HISTORY OF DURHAM, lately published by WILLIAM HUTCHINSON, Esq. of Barnard Castle, Author of the SPIRIT OF MASONRY, NEW HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND, &c. &c.

HA

AVING given a sketch of the public character and conduct of this excellent and much-beloved prelate, the author proceeds to say:

It is not always that men distinguished in public appear to advantage in their private characters. We shall consider the life of our late prelate in both these views; and each will throw a lustre upon the other. In the following sketch, we mean to delineate such select traits only as are not common to all other men, but were more peculiar in him.

His person was tall and well formed, it had both elegance and strength; his countenance was ingenuous, animated, and engaging. By nature he was endowed with strong and lively parts, a good temper, and an active disposition. Descended from noble ancestors, and initiated, from his birth, in the most honourable connections, his manners and sentiments were cast, from an early age, in the happiest mould, and gave all the advantages of that ease and propriety of behaviour, which were so very observable even in the most indifferent actions of his life.

In his address there was a peculiar mixture of dignity and affability, by which he had the remarkable art, both of encouraging those who were diffident, and checking those who were presumptuous.

The vivacity of his spirits and conversation, and the peculiar propriety of his manners, made him universally admired and caressed.

His memory was accurate and extensive. In describing the characters, and in relating the anecdotes and transactions with which he had been acquainted, he took particular delight; and this, when his health permitted, he did with much spirit; and often with the utmost pleasantry and humour, but scrupulously taking care that the desire of ornamenting any narrative should never, in the smallest degree, induce him to depart from the truth of it. With so rare and happy a talent for description, with a mind stored with much information, and a memory very retentive, he was one of the most instructive and entertaining of companions; his conversation was enriched with pertinent and useful observations, and enlivened by genuine wit, and humorous anecdote.

He had a very peculiar art of extricating himself, with much immediate address, from those little embarrassments which perplex and confound many, and which often occur in society from the awkwardness of others, or from a concurrence of singular and unexpected

circumstances. When pressed by improper questions*, instead of being offended with them himself, or giving offence by his replies, he had a talent of returning very ready and very dextrous answers.

In every sort of emergency, as well in personal danger as in difficulties of an inferior nature, he shewed an uncommon presence of mind. He possessed a great reach of understanding, and was singularly gifted with a quick and ready judgment, deciding rightly upon the instant when it was necessary. No man was better qualified, or at the same time more averse to give his opinion; which upon many occasions he found a difficulty in avoiding, its value being so well known that it was often solicited by his friends; and, when he was prevailed upon, he delivered it rather with the humility of one who asked, than with the authority of one who gave advice.

In forming his friendships, he was as cautious as he was steady and uniform in adhering to them. He was extremely partial to the friendships of his youth, and made a particular point of being useful to those with whom he had been thus early connected,

It is remarkable that there did not, upon any occasion, exist in his mind the least desire of revenge. Men who are open and entire in their friendships, are commonly .so in their enmities; with him it was otherwise; for, though not without a sense of injnries, he was at all times forgiving. Happy in this disposition, his resentments of course were short, and his friendships lasting,

In all the domestic relations of life he was exemplary-as a husband, a master, and a parent. Instead of holding over his children an authority founded upon interest, during his life he put them into possession of a great part of such fortunes as they would have inherited from him upon his death; willing to have their obedience proceed, not merely from a sense of duty, but from gratitude, and from pure disinterested affection.

Of civil, political, and religious, liberty, he had formed just notions, and was firmly attached to the constitution in church and

state.

He had an extensive knowledge both of men and things, of which he studiously avoided any display. It may be said with the utmost truth that, in every action of his life, however deserving of praise, he

*The following are two instances, among the many that might be alluded to-To a gentleman who indulged rather an unnecessary curiosity, in enquiring of him what he inherited from his father? what was his wife's fortune? and what was the value of his living of Ross? He answered to the first question, not so much as he expected;" to the second, "not as much as was reported; and to the third, "more than he made of it."

A gentleman requiring of him the renewal of a lease, upon terms far short of its real value, and the bishop refusing, the gentleman assigned as a reason why the proposal ought to be accepted, that his lordship was in such a declining state of health as to render his life very precarious, implying that it was very improbable he should live long: upon this the bishop very readily remarked, "Since "that was the case, the gentleman must be convinced, that his own interest was but a secondary consideration to him; and his principal object must be "to do no injury to his successors."

rather declined than courted it; and whenever any thing that had a tendency to his commendation was accidentally introduced into conversation, either by his friends or dependents, so far from thinking it his due, he appeared rather to suspect the one of partiality, and the other of flattery. This aversion to show and parade ran through the whole of his character, so much that the several public appearances and processions his station required, which might be considered as a part, and to many would have been a pleasing part of their duty, were irksome to him. The same freedom from ostentation was observable with regard to his literary endowments, and from that motive, as well as from his abhorrence of controversy, and, perhaps, also from a conviction that there were already too many writers, he was ever disinclined to write for the public *. His merit as a scholar was, however, well known, and properly estimated, by such of his private friends as were themselves distinguished by their erudition +.

In the early part of his life he was fond of those manly exercises which give strength and vigour both to the body and mind, without suffering them to interrupt his studies; a practice which, thus regulated, instead of being injurious, is serviceable to learning, and which men eminent for their judgment have lamented was not more cultivated and improved. His usual relaxations were yet such as exercised the understanding; chess was his favourite amusement, and he played well at that game. The Greek and Latin tongues were familiar to him, but he delighted most in the Greek. He spoke the French and Italian languages, and wrote and spoke his own with purity and precision. Of books he had a competent knowledge, and collected a good library. In every thing he had a pure taste. In history, anecdotes, and memoirs, in the belles lettres, in the arts and sciences, and in whatever else may be supposed to fall within the circle of polite education, he was by no means uninstructed.

But the feature which in him was as prominent as it is lovely was, a perfect union of dignity and humility. In society with persons of his own rank he maintained his equality; and in his intercourse with the inferior ranks of men, where vice did not forbid, he stooped with the utmost condescension to the lowest. To all who had any business or concerns with him he was accessible and sincerely affable, and more especially to the inferior clergy.

He left nothing behind him in print, except three sermons, one preached before the lords, the 11th of February 1757, being a general fast; another before the lords, the 30th of January 1761; and a third before the society for the propagation of the gospel, on the 18th of February 1763.

Amongst many others, we may name Archbishop Secker; Benson Bishop of Gloucester; Butler Bishop of Durham; the late Lord Lyttelton, the late Lord Egremont, the late Mr. George Grenville, Mr. William Gerard Hamilton, Mr. Ansty, Mr. Richard Owen Cambridge, Mr. Garrick, Mr. Stillingfleet, Mr. J. Nourse, author of several pieces of poetry in Dodsley's Collection, Dr. Croxall, Sir William Draper, &c. &c.

Benevolent to man and reverent towards God, he considered himself in the comprehensive view of one bound by the tie of fraternity to all men; and his whole conduct bespoke him only ambitious, as far as human frailty will permit, of humbly imitating HIM who is the pattern of all. By good works he manifested the sincerity of his faith: "True religion," said he, in one of his discourses, 66 consists "in the love of God, and the love of our neighbour; not in an

empty profession of love to God, but in such a love as will manifest "itself by faith, obedience, and adoration; and in such a love of our "neighbour as must prove itself to be undissembled, disinterested, " and productive of all social virtues. But let us never be un"mindful," continued he, " that the first and great duty is the love "of God, or piety; for it is this which must give life and spirit to "the performance of every other duty: in fine, it is this which ex"alts our morality into Christianity, and it is Christianity alone which "can entitle us to a lasting happiness."

His health had been declining for many years, and though he was neither so old nor so infirm as to look upon death as a release, he lived as if he hourly expected it; striving, however, to preserve life by every proper means, valuing the gift, and blessing the Giver, but resigned at all times to yield it at his will. He considered his dissolution, not with the false pride of a stoic, but with the religious indifference of a Christian philosopher. To the last he retained his faculties, and reviewed the main transactions and occurrences of his life, gratefully acknowledging what happiness he had experienced, and how good God had been to him: and when the debt came to be paid, he resigned his breath calmly, and without a groan, and with such composure and expressions, as seemed to anticipate, in ardent hope, the possession of a better country, and bespoke that the soul and body had agreed to part only for a time, as friends, to meet in truer and sublimer love.

He died at his house at Grosvenor-square, London, on the 18th of January 1787, and, by his own express desire, was privately interred in St. James's Church, under the communion table, near his father.

SINGULAR WORDS.

R. HINCE, of Cambridge, has in a Diary for this year pro

Dposed a question, namely, "There is a word in the English

"

language, to which if you add a syllable, it will make it shorter.' Short is the word required, to which if you add er, it will then be shorter. This is a paradox, for the word, by being made actually longer, becomes really shorter. And now, vice versa, to contrast with the above, I shall name two or three words, which, by being made shorter in one sense, become longer in another. Plague is a word of one syllable; take away the two first letters, and there will be a word of two syllables remain, by which it appears the ague is four-sixths of the plague: we have three other words of this kind, viz. teague, league, and Prague.