The Province Of Durham.—(Continued.)

The next of the old lodges is the Palatine , No . 97 , Sunderland , warranted 14 th January , 1757 ; the centenary jewel authority being dated 13 th August , 1864 . This decoration is in part suggestive of its original name of Sea Captains' Lodge , having an anchor and sextant arranged on a shield , above which is a globe , and below appear square

and compasses and the year 1757 . The lirst name was selected about 1768 and its present designation in 1830 . The minutes are preserved ( according to Bro . Lane ' s memoranda ) from 1764 , but have not yet been reproduced . The meetings are held in the Masonic Hall , Park Terrace ,

and like several others of the Sunderland lodges , there is a long roll of subscribing Past Masters , who are the real " bone and sinew" of the Craft , locally and generally . The fifth of the senior lodges is the Restoration , No . m , and was so named about 1773 its special centenary warrant

, having been granted May 2 nd , 1861 , slightly in advance of the one hundred years , the original warrant bearing date 19 th June , 1761 . The jewel is of choice design , consisting of a silver star of seven points of formal rays , on which rest two circles , the outer one enclosing the words " Centenary , 1861 ,

Restoration Lodge , " and the other has No . 128 ( changed to in in 1863 ) placed within a wreath , on a ground of blue enamel , above and imposed upon and covering one point of the star is a Royal Crown , as illustrated in Bro . Lane ' s " Centenary Warrants and Jewels" ( 1891 ) .

The Lodge assembles in the Freemasons' Hall , Darlington , and has done so for the last thirty years and more . Its original number was 26 3 , its present position on the roll being indicated , as already noted , by three ones . The chapter held under its protecting wing ( the Vigilance ) was started in the year 1788 , the year after the Concord , of

Durham , was formed ; the Strict Benevolence , of Sunderland , No . 97 , of A . D . 1797 , making the three chapters still on the register , which were on the roll of the " Moderns" Grand Chapter prior to the Union , and were then numbered 56 , 51 , and 103 respectively . The enumeration was then separate

A ISOOM 7 . V FJiKEMASOXS , ' HALL , VVKUMI .

from that of the lodges . The history of the Chapter of Vigilance , Darlington , was written by Dr . C . D . Hill Drury , P . G . S . B . of England , in commemoration of its hundred years , in 1888 , when the centenary jewel was granted . A similar decoration was granted to the members of the Concord , Durham , in the previous year .

The sixth on the roll is the Marquis of Granby , already described , and the seventh is the St . Hilda , No . 240 , of South Shields , its charter being dated 15 th March , 1780 , and its centenary jewel warrant was issued 26 th February , 1880 . It is the largest in the province , and has been very prosperous

for many years . In 1785 , however , it had nearly collapsed . On the completion of its centenary in 1880 , a full account was published of the proceedings , with a history of the lodge by Bro . J . H . Thompson . In the Province of Durham there are now forty-one lodges

, with two more just chartered , but of these twenty-seven have been warranted during my familiarity with the Craft in that county for about forty years . This fact is indicative of the extraordinary progress of the Provincial Grand Lodge of late years ; the prosperity being as great generally as it is

statistically , for never has the business of the province been better conducted , the lodges more united , or the generous activities of the brethren been on such a lavish , systematic , and truly Masonic scale . The forty-one lodges returned at the end of 1902 the large total of 4057 members , and the dues paid amounted to £ 542 .

The eighteenth century lodges end with St . Hilda , No . 240 , and the lirst " Union " series begins with the Lambton , No . 375 , of A . D . 1824 . This is a remarkable lodge in several respects , but I cannot linger long in dilating on its history just now . Its distinguished roll of Past Masters begins with Sir Henry Pottinger , Bart ., Worshipful Master

in 1874 and 1880 , and includes Bros . Victor A . Williamson , C . M . G . ( Junior Grand Warden of England in 1 S 65 ) , the Right Hon . the Earl of Durham , Worshipful Master in 18 91 , the Rev . Canon Tristram , D . D ., Grand Chaplain of England