Masonic Portraits (No. 30.) Fortune's Conqueror.

university , but few men of native talent possess forco sufficient to overcome the obstacles that are placed in tho way of their march upwards . Many a man spends his day . behind a counter who is fitted for a nobler sphere of action ; manv a so-railed statesman conld confer a lastinir benefit

upon hi-i country if he would consent to give up politics and turn his a'teation to tr ; uio . Bat life is a lottery , and he is the truest philosopher who can consent to accept the inevitable , and make tho best of it . Few men , however , are gifted with patience sufficient to bear the evil chances

of the world easily . A man who finds himself in a false position , either sinks under his difficulties , or runs riot in a career which eventually leads to ruin . Some sturdy hearted people , however , appear to defy the adverse strokes of fortune , and achieve success in spite of the difficulties

which may surround them . Though fate bo never so cruel , they are sure to triumph , and let the starting point of their career be never so humble , they are sure to come , sooner or later , to the surface . But the mass of men who feel that they have that within them which in happier

circumstances might have won them renown , are too sensitive to fight their way out of the ranks . They may accept their lot with apparent indifference , but the harness of servitude galls to the quick , and they either sink under their sufferings , or recklessly fling aside the

realities of life for the pleasure of following an ignis fatuus , which sooner or later leads them into the mire . Such men sometimes awake to a just sense of their true sphere in life at the very first stumble , and many a man has reason

to date his good fortune from the day when he lost his all in attempting to follow the supposed bent of his genius . The sudden plunge head over ears into adversity often acts like a charm . The man comes out of his cold bath a

philosopher , ready to accept his fate with cheerfulness , and with his heart and mind steeled against the trials of the world . The brother whose portrait we shall attempt to sketch has known some of the difficulties and the trials of life , and

has borne a few of the adverse strokes of fortune . Nature fashioned him of finer clay than common , and then , in accordance with her usual practice , she placed him in a sphere in which he was ill fitted to shine . His tastes and the whole bent of his mind were strongly opposed to the

mere drudgery of buying aud selling . Ho would have made an admirable country gentleman , or an excellent soldier . If his father had started him in life with a commission , he might have accepted his lot thankfully , and at this moment he might have been performing tho dry duties of an

adjutant with the zeal of a man who had found his true vocation in life . Born to be a soldier , and fashioned of the stuff out of which men of the sword shonld be made , he might have passed his life happily and contentedly in the daily round of regimental duties . He has an eye for

the details of military affairs , and perhaps even now if he had his way he would rather cast his critical glance over a battalion of tall fellows than givo his opinion of a master piece of the studio . As a Lieutenant of Volunteers he has proved that he possesses military knowledge

and tact . He was born in Halifax , Yorkshire and his father was in business at Bradford , as a manufacturer of woollen stuffs . The Yorkshire "makers , " as they are called in the trade , have long been characterised by a spirit of restless enterprise , and they have taken

the manufacture of fancy woollens entirely out of the hands of their rivals of the West of England . Yorkshire " goods " are known all over the world , and the superfine cloths of this great county are but little inferior to those of Gloucestershire . Our brother was

apprenticed to his father s business , and , upon the expiration of his " time , " he started for himself . But he was not fitted for the humdrum calling of a manufacturer . He possessed mental qualities which attracted attention , and he was courted by men who were in a position of life

superior to his own . The pleasures of society attracted him from his counting-house to the hunting-field , where he distinguished himself as a bold and fearless rider . But one cannot follow the hounds and attend closely to the details of a woollen mill . While his workmen were toilino-.

or skulking , amid the clatter of machinery , he was puttinoin the woof of a web which the grim sisters in due time severed with their merciless scissors . The blow fell , and

he retired from his business , after having suffered a loss of £ 15 , 000 . The shock of this catastrophe helped to brino ^ out all the resolution which had hitherto lain dormant in his nature , and he faced fortune with the calm courage

Masonic Portraits (No. 30.) Fortune's Conqueror.

of a true man . Finding that the curtain had fallen for » v : > t- upon his life in the manufacturing hivo of industry in ¦¦ ' ' : ch his lot had been cast , he turned manfully away from old scenes aud associations , and sought scope for a career at tho Antipodes . While the civil war was rairin ' in tho

United Stale : ? , our brother sailed for Australia . Here ho devoted himself to photography , an art which he had practised as an amateur , without any idea that it would one day help him to fig ht tho battle of life . He appears to have distinguished himself at Melbourne as a

photographic artist , but ho found colonial life distasteful , and returned to England and set up his studio in the metropolis . His skill was soon recognised , and he received much patronage from Royal and distinguished persons who soon made his studio fashionable . Lord Palmerston , with

the majority of his Cabinet , submitted to the keen glance of his Camera , and quite recently H . R . H . Prince Leopold honoured him with a sitting . His photographs are all works of great artistic merit , and his carbon portraits aro acknowledged to be unequalled in this country . He has

assisted Bro . Harty in the preparation of materials for the installation picture , upon which that artist is now expending all the resources of his art , and has photographed nearly all the brethren whose faces and forms are to figure in the work . He has , we need scarcely say , achieved high

pecuniary , as well as artistic success , aud can look back upon his early losses with few regrets . Surrounded by warm friends , the idol of a select circle of society , he has littlo

cause to reproach the fates for their severity . The scourge which was once raised to strike , has turned into a wand of good fortune ; and the gold which was lost , pours back into his coffers .

His Masonic career need not detain us long . He was initiated in the Airedale Lodge , 887 , in 1859 , at Baldon , near Leeds , and was exalted in Chapter in 1860 . In the same year he joined the St . Albans , No . 29 , a red apron Lodge , and served all tho offices , from Deacon to Master . He hero

distinguished himself , amid somewhat languid brothers , by his hearty zeal for good work . The St . Albans Lodge is blessed with too many of the good things of this life , and has not made itself conspicuous in the philanthropic sphere of Masonry . Prosperity is good in its way , but a touch of

adversity might rouse its slumbering giants to a just appreciation of their responsibilities . Our brother is a life governor of all the charities , and has served all the stewardships . His mental characteristics are strongly marked . He possesses great force of mind and vast determination .

He is warm-hearted and frank . A brother indeed who cares not to conceal the thoughts that spring for utterance to his lips . Genial and good , a conqueror in its best sense , for he has conquered the difficulties of life , we leave him , with sincere wishes for his future happiness and prosperity .

The annual Provincial Grand Lodge of Lincolnshire will be held , under the presidency of His Grace the Duke oi St . Alban ' s , in the Corn Exchange , Brigg ( under the banner of Ancholmo Lodge , No . 1282 ) , on Tuesday , the 6 th June , at 12 . 30 .

List of Lodges for which warrants have been granted by the M . W . Grand Master since the last Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge : — 1598 . —Ley Spring Lodge , Leytonstone , Essex . 1509 . —Skelmeradale Lodge , Basinghall Street . 1 G 00 . —Hamilton Lodge , Alford , Lincolnshire .

1601 . —Ravensbourne Lodge , Lewisham . 1602 . —Sir Hugh Myddelton Lodge , Islington . 1603 . —Worcester Lodge , Worcester , Cape of Good Hope . 1 G 0-1 . —Wanderers' Lodge , Freemasons' Hall , London . 1605— Do La Polo Lodge , Hull . 160 G . —Lodgo of Industry , Deesa , Bombay .

1607 . —Lodge of Loyalty , Muswell Hill . 1608 . —Kilbnrn Lodge , Kilburn Gate . 1609 . —Liverpool Dramatic Lodge , Liverpool . 1610 . —Northern Bar Lodge , Golden Square . 1611 . —Eboracum Lodge , York . 1612 . —West Middlesex Lodge , Ealing . 1613 . —Cripplegato Lodge , Aldersgate Street .

1614 . —Covent Garden Lodge , Coveut Garden . 1615 . —Bayard Lodge , Golden Square . 1616 . —Lodge of Friendship and Harmony , Walton-on-Thames , Surrey . 1617 . —Aparima Lodge , Eiverton , Otago , New Zealand . 1618 . —Handyside Lodge , Saltburn-by-the-Sea , Yorks . 1619 . —Sackville Lodgo , East Gviustead , Sussex , '