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  • May 4, 1878
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  • MASONIC PORTRAITS. (No. 55.)
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Masonic Portraits. (No. 55.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 55 . )

SIE BHADAMANTH . Yon aro right , justice , and you weigh this woll ; Therefore , still bear the balance , aud the sword : And I do wish your honours may increase . Tho friei \ d of man ;

who scanned his nature with a brother s eye , His weakness prompt to shade , to raise his arm , To tonch the finer movements of his mind , And with the moral beauty charm the heart .

IN" our last sketch we delineated the exc ellences of a Devon Craftsman . This week we move to a neiedibourine : county , a stage nearer this huge metropolis of ours , that we may chronicle the virtues of one who , in his time , has played many parts , and played them well ; who has endeared himself to all Masons , by his urbanity , his sense of justice ,

aud his generosity ; and who , in every branch of Freemasonry , has won for himself many and great distinctions ; so that in speaking of him as a brother , we may say truthfully , what was said of a distinguished writer of last century , " Nihil tetigit quod non ornaviW" This praise may by some .

perhaps , be considered as approaching too nearly to the verge of adulation . But let the reader note carefully the career of their judicious and judicial brother , as we record it , and the charge of flattery will at once be rejected . The subject of our present sketch is the son of a brother and

the father of a brother . We are treating , therefore , of one of whom it may be declared with accuracy , that tho love and pursuit of Freemasonry are hereditary virtues . There are many such who belong to our Craft . The Shirleys of Leicestershire , the Montagus of Hunts , the Dundasses of

Yorkshire , have been again and again , and be it added , in all cases , most worthily represented in the ranks of our Fraternity , and he whom we have designated Sir Rhadamanth , by reason of his known impartiality on the judgment seat , albeit he has not attained , and is not likely to attain such eminence as some members of the Masonic families

we have enumerated , is nevertheless the occupant of many high Offices which few among ns may hope to fill , and which even fewer still may look to fill so worthily . Our respected brother was in early life a soldier , and it was when oil service with his regiment in the East that the

idea occurred to him , that he , a Lewis already , should follow the example of his father before him , and become a Mason . On his retirement from the army , he settled clown oil his patrimonial estate , but not , as many do , with the intention of leadinga comparatively inactive life . On the

contrary , as one of the county magistracy , and as a Deputy Lieutenant , our brother has had many opportunities afforded him of doing excellent service in both capacities , and especially in the former has he earned for himself a firm place in the affection and respect of his friends and neighbours .

However , it is no part of our duty to dwell at length on the non-Masonic portion of his career . Let it suffice that as an officer and in his civil capacity be has done good service to the state ; and then pass we at once to that which will interest our readers in an especial degree .

We have said that Sir Rhadamanth conceived the idea of becoming a Mason when , as yet only a Lewis , he was with his regiment in India . However , it was not in the Bast

but in a British possession in the great western hemisphere , that he obtained his first glimmering of Masonic light . It was on the 23 rd December 1845 , and in St . Paul's Lodge in Montreal in 1874 , one of the few Canadian Lodges

Masonic Portraits. (No. 55.)

which still acknoAvledgethe jurisdiction of our Grand Lodge , that our brother had an opportunity of giving effect to his resolution , and was initiated into the Masonic mysteries . However , owing no doubt to the exigencies of military

service , we find but little to record during the earlier part of his connection with the Craft . He took his degrees and filled various offices , in all cases meritoriously , and to the satisfaction of his brethren . It is not till the year 1856 that we find him taking that active part in the

doings of our Society by which he has been ever since distinguished . In that year he took the leading role in the foundation of Lodge No . 665 , Lyme Regis , which was accordingly named after him , and in the following year he was again to the fore in founding St . Mary ' s Lodge , No .

707 , Bridport . Fourteen years later we find him among the founders of that eminently popular Lodge , No . 1383 , of Golden-square , which , though young in respect of years , has

already made its mark in the annals of our Craft . He has likewise been a petitioner for other Lodges . Of both the Dorsetshire Lodges we have mentioned he is a Past Master , and he is likewise a Past Senior Grand Warden of his

Province . In T 863 he was appointed Dep . Prov . Grand Master by the late R . W . Prov . Grand Master Bro . Joseph Gundry , and this appointment he continued to hold till the lamented death of his chief in 1877 . A reference to the Grand Lodge Calendar shows , that during the period of his association

with this Province , the number of its Lodges increased from six to thirteen , or was more than doubled ; and though wo cannot in fairness to others ascribe to him the solo glory of this success , we shall certainly not bo exceeding the limits of justice if we affirm that he took a leading part in bringing

it about . And as his labours in subordinate Lodges have been duly recognised in his Province , so it is only in the natural order of things that the ability and tact he has shown in his Provincial offices should in their turn be rewarded by the Grand Master , and we have great pleasure

in announcing that on Wednesday , 24 th April , he was appointed by His Royal Highness one of the Grand Junior Deacons of England , an honour most worthily bestowed , and on which we beg to offer him our heartiest congratulations .

As regards Royal Arch Masonry , it was not till the year 185 G that he was exalted to the R . A . degree , in the Virtue Chapter , No . 494 , of Axminster , Devon . Having , in due time , filled the several minor and principal offices , and having founded the St . Mary ' s Chapter , No . 707 , Bridport ,

and taken parb in the foundation pi other Chapters—among which may be mentioned that attached to the Friends in Council Lodge , No . 1383 , of Golden Square—he at length received , last year , at the hands of His Royal Highness the Grand Z ., the supreme honour

of Provincial Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of his County . In 1869 , he was advanced to the Mark degree , and is founder of the St . Mary ' s Mark Lodge , No . 121 , Bridport , and the Ark Mariners Lodge working thereunder . In 1856 , he was made a Knight

Templar in the Holy Cross Encampment , Coryton , Devon , and on the 20 th June of last year was appointed Provincial Prior of the Order in Dorset , having in the interval founded the Hyde Preceptory , No . 98 , Bridport . He is likewise a Past Grand Captain , and at the present time is one of the

five members of the Council of the Great Prior elected by the Great Priory . In the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters he holds the office of R . P . Grand Illustrious Master , and is 111 . Pr . Cond . of Work in the Grand Masters' Council , No . 1 . But it is , perhaps , in the A . and A . Rite that he has achieved his highest honours . In 1856 ,

“The Freemason's Chronicle: 1878-05-04, Page 1” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 13 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fcn/issues/fcn_04051878/page/1/.
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Title Category Page
MASONIC PORTRAITS. (No. 55.) Article 1
GRAND CHAPTER. Article 2
FREEMASONRY IN MASSACHUSETTS. Article 2
THE TIMES AND FREEMASONRY. Article 3
REVIEWS. Article 4
Untitled Ad 4
PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF WEST YORKSHIRE. Article 4
WAS POPE PIUS IX. A MASON? Article 5
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 6
PROXY VOTING. Article 6
"TOLERANCE" AND THE FRENCH QUESTION ONCE MORE. Article 6
" URIM" AND "THUMMIM." Article 7
Old Warrants Article 7
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OUR WEEKLY BUDGET. Article 9
ANECDOTES IN RELATION TO MILITARY MASONRY. Article 10
DIARY FOR THE WEEK. Article 11
NOTICES OF MEETINGS Article 12
KINGSTON, JAMAICA. Article 13
DISTRICT GRAND LODGE OF EAST JAMAICA. Article 13
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Portraits. (No. 55.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 55 . )

SIE BHADAMANTH . Yon aro right , justice , and you weigh this woll ; Therefore , still bear the balance , aud the sword : And I do wish your honours may increase . Tho friei \ d of man ;

who scanned his nature with a brother s eye , His weakness prompt to shade , to raise his arm , To tonch the finer movements of his mind , And with the moral beauty charm the heart .

IN" our last sketch we delineated the exc ellences of a Devon Craftsman . This week we move to a neiedibourine : county , a stage nearer this huge metropolis of ours , that we may chronicle the virtues of one who , in his time , has played many parts , and played them well ; who has endeared himself to all Masons , by his urbanity , his sense of justice ,

aud his generosity ; and who , in every branch of Freemasonry , has won for himself many and great distinctions ; so that in speaking of him as a brother , we may say truthfully , what was said of a distinguished writer of last century , " Nihil tetigit quod non ornaviW" This praise may by some .

perhaps , be considered as approaching too nearly to the verge of adulation . But let the reader note carefully the career of their judicious and judicial brother , as we record it , and the charge of flattery will at once be rejected . The subject of our present sketch is the son of a brother and

the father of a brother . We are treating , therefore , of one of whom it may be declared with accuracy , that tho love and pursuit of Freemasonry are hereditary virtues . There are many such who belong to our Craft . The Shirleys of Leicestershire , the Montagus of Hunts , the Dundasses of

Yorkshire , have been again and again , and be it added , in all cases , most worthily represented in the ranks of our Fraternity , and he whom we have designated Sir Rhadamanth , by reason of his known impartiality on the judgment seat , albeit he has not attained , and is not likely to attain such eminence as some members of the Masonic families

we have enumerated , is nevertheless the occupant of many high Offices which few among ns may hope to fill , and which even fewer still may look to fill so worthily . Our respected brother was in early life a soldier , and it was when oil service with his regiment in the East that the

idea occurred to him , that he , a Lewis already , should follow the example of his father before him , and become a Mason . On his retirement from the army , he settled clown oil his patrimonial estate , but not , as many do , with the intention of leadinga comparatively inactive life . On the

contrary , as one of the county magistracy , and as a Deputy Lieutenant , our brother has had many opportunities afforded him of doing excellent service in both capacities , and especially in the former has he earned for himself a firm place in the affection and respect of his friends and neighbours .

However , it is no part of our duty to dwell at length on the non-Masonic portion of his career . Let it suffice that as an officer and in his civil capacity be has done good service to the state ; and then pass we at once to that which will interest our readers in an especial degree .

We have said that Sir Rhadamanth conceived the idea of becoming a Mason when , as yet only a Lewis , he was with his regiment in India . However , it was not in the Bast

but in a British possession in the great western hemisphere , that he obtained his first glimmering of Masonic light . It was on the 23 rd December 1845 , and in St . Paul's Lodge in Montreal in 1874 , one of the few Canadian Lodges

Masonic Portraits. (No. 55.)

which still acknoAvledgethe jurisdiction of our Grand Lodge , that our brother had an opportunity of giving effect to his resolution , and was initiated into the Masonic mysteries . However , owing no doubt to the exigencies of military

service , we find but little to record during the earlier part of his connection with the Craft . He took his degrees and filled various offices , in all cases meritoriously , and to the satisfaction of his brethren . It is not till the year 1856 that we find him taking that active part in the

doings of our Society by which he has been ever since distinguished . In that year he took the leading role in the foundation of Lodge No . 665 , Lyme Regis , which was accordingly named after him , and in the following year he was again to the fore in founding St . Mary ' s Lodge , No .

707 , Bridport . Fourteen years later we find him among the founders of that eminently popular Lodge , No . 1383 , of Golden-square , which , though young in respect of years , has

already made its mark in the annals of our Craft . He has likewise been a petitioner for other Lodges . Of both the Dorsetshire Lodges we have mentioned he is a Past Master , and he is likewise a Past Senior Grand Warden of his

Province . In T 863 he was appointed Dep . Prov . Grand Master by the late R . W . Prov . Grand Master Bro . Joseph Gundry , and this appointment he continued to hold till the lamented death of his chief in 1877 . A reference to the Grand Lodge Calendar shows , that during the period of his association

with this Province , the number of its Lodges increased from six to thirteen , or was more than doubled ; and though wo cannot in fairness to others ascribe to him the solo glory of this success , we shall certainly not bo exceeding the limits of justice if we affirm that he took a leading part in bringing

it about . And as his labours in subordinate Lodges have been duly recognised in his Province , so it is only in the natural order of things that the ability and tact he has shown in his Provincial offices should in their turn be rewarded by the Grand Master , and we have great pleasure

in announcing that on Wednesday , 24 th April , he was appointed by His Royal Highness one of the Grand Junior Deacons of England , an honour most worthily bestowed , and on which we beg to offer him our heartiest congratulations .

As regards Royal Arch Masonry , it was not till the year 185 G that he was exalted to the R . A . degree , in the Virtue Chapter , No . 494 , of Axminster , Devon . Having , in due time , filled the several minor and principal offices , and having founded the St . Mary ' s Chapter , No . 707 , Bridport ,

and taken parb in the foundation pi other Chapters—among which may be mentioned that attached to the Friends in Council Lodge , No . 1383 , of Golden Square—he at length received , last year , at the hands of His Royal Highness the Grand Z ., the supreme honour

of Provincial Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of his County . In 1869 , he was advanced to the Mark degree , and is founder of the St . Mary ' s Mark Lodge , No . 121 , Bridport , and the Ark Mariners Lodge working thereunder . In 1856 , he was made a Knight

Templar in the Holy Cross Encampment , Coryton , Devon , and on the 20 th June of last year was appointed Provincial Prior of the Order in Dorset , having in the interval founded the Hyde Preceptory , No . 98 , Bridport . He is likewise a Past Grand Captain , and at the present time is one of the

five members of the Council of the Great Prior elected by the Great Priory . In the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters he holds the office of R . P . Grand Illustrious Master , and is 111 . Pr . Cond . of Work in the Grand Masters' Council , No . 1 . But it is , perhaps , in the A . and A . Rite that he has achieved his highest honours . In 1856 ,

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