Analysis Of The Recent Subscription List.

as staled in the Report , we find it only a little over £ 47 per Steward . Such a comparison needs no comment whatever .

Masonic Portraits. (No. 40.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 40 . )

THE SCHOLAR . " There ia a fair behaviour in thee , captain ; And thonjrh that nature with a bounteous wall Doth oft close in pollation , yet of the * I will believe , thoa hast a mind that suits With this thy fair and outward character . "

WE need not all of us be Lavaters in order to form a tolerably correct estimate of a man ' s character and ability . There are seldom wantin g little evidences by which we may tell whether or not he ia sincere , untrustworthy , generous , niggardly , self-possessed , or of a nervous temperament . True , there are many who assume a virtue

if they have it not , but it seldom happens they are entirely successful in baffling the curiosity of the multitude . A period of weakness overtakes them , and they betray the lack of that virtue they have been so ostentatiously

parading before their fellows . It may be , as Shakspeare says , that " men were deceivers ever , " but they are not invariably successful in one form of deception they often practise . They are not good make-believes as to character . A man of the world will tell what manner of persons they are with

whom he is brought in contact , and in ninety-nine cases ont of a hundred his judgment will hold good in all essential points . Those , for instance , who are acquainted with the subject of our present portrait have no difficulty in determining the salient features in his character . The

attributes he possesses are patent to everybody . We do not need to be told that he is a scholar of no mean order of merit . We know that he has achieved distinction in those branches of learning to which he has devoted the greater part of his life . It is so recorded , and the position he

occupies is irrefragable evidence of the fact . But without this evidence , a mere glance at our brother ' s face will tell you he is a man of no ordinary intelligence , while the interchange of a few ideas with him will show that his intelligence has been cultivated to a verv hich rWrpA .

Nor is there greater difficulty in gauging his moral than his mental capacity . Not that we have the slightest intention of laying bare to our readers what is necessaril y private . Let it suffice , however , to say that no one can come in contact with him , either in connection with

business or in society , without resolving to himself that our brother is a most estimable person . He is a man of great diligence , and of method ; he is capable of dealing with the minutest details of a subject , while , at the same time , he

treats it broadly and generally . His power of making the most abstruse calculations is remarkable . He is a most laborious student and a successful teacher , and is as universally esteemed in private as he is respected in his profession .

Our hero is in tbe prime of life , having been born the year following the passage of tbe Reform Bill . By birth he is a provincial , though during the greater portion of his life his home has been in the metropolis . At the age of twelve , he entered the Upper School in connection with the Royal

Hospital , Greenwich , then noted as the only educational establishment in the United Kingdom at which the science of navigation was efficientl y taught . It was his good fortune to be placed under such able instructors as the late Edward Riddle—author of Riddle ' s Navigation—and his

son the late John Riddle , both men whose names are to this day respected by many officers in the British navy . So satisfactory was the progress he made under these eminent tutors , that in 1849 he was one of a select few who were chosen for special training , in order to qualify themsel

ves as instructors in navigation . At this period of his career , he highly distinguished himself as a mathematician , and , no long time after , received special notice from the late Rev . George Fisher , F . R . S ., for the interest he exhibited , and the able assistance he rendered , in certain

Pendulum experiments , conducted by that gentleman , in 1851 , with a view to showing , by ocular demonstration , the axial revolution of the earth . In 1854 , his connection with the Greenwich School came to an end . Not so , howj * £ » I " desire to perfect , as far as possible , the knowledge ne had thus far acquired . He immediately entered himself

Masonic Portraits. (No. 40.)

at the Government School of Mines , and having attended a series of scientific lectures there , and likewise at the Government School of Design , then located at Marlborough House , ho was appointed by tho Board of Trade to the port of Leith , for tho purpose of establishing a Navigation

School . He succeeded in effecting tho required object , anct as soon as the School was fairly started , the Board transferred him to Glasgow , for the purpose of establishing a similar institution there . So well directed were his efforts in both these appointments , that in 1860 he was recalled to

London to revive the Navigation School at the Sailors Home . Here his labours have continued to the present time , and in these sixteen years some thousands of men havo come under his tuition , and by these not only is he held in the highest respect , but he is likewise looked upon

almost in the light of a personal friend . In 1862 , he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society . But this is by no means the sura of our brother ' s achievements . Among various papers of bis , prepared at different times , on abstruse scientific points , one contributed to tbe Nautical

Magazine , in 1861 , on the " Equal Altitude Problem , " must be mentioned . He has also , in the intervals of his leisure from tuitional engagements , prepared two valuable text books in relation to the subjects which come under his special care . One of these is a Qiiide to tie Board of Trado

Examinations of Masters and Mates in Navigation and Nautical Astronomy . It comprises rules for working each problem , and examples fully worked , the Astronomical definitions , examination in chart and sextant , as well as the description and use of Napier ' s Diagram , for the deviation

of the compass , with examples . A third edition , enlarged and improved , of this useful little work , was published in 1875 . His other text book , entitled Seamanship Examiner , is a guide to the seamanship required of all who present themselves as candidates for Masters' and Mates'

Certificates of competency , at the Board of Trade Examinations at different ports . It contains plates of the Commercial Code of Signals , distance , boat , and Semaphore signals , & c , and a new " Rule of the Road " Diagram . This little guide is now in its eleventh edition , a statement which alone is sufficient testimony to its merits .

We now pass to his Masonic career , which commenced in the year 1860 , when he was initiated into our mysteries in the Lodge of Sincerity , No . 203 , now No . 174 . Six years later he was chosen to fill the chair of the Lodge , and on resigning the gavel at the end of his year of office , he was

appointed to the Secretaryship , a position which he has continued to hold ever since . Iu 1867 , he was exalted in the Sincerity Chapter , and installed its first principal in 1871 . He joined the Rose of Denmark Chapter in 1870 ,

and at the present timo is M . E . Z . When , last year , a Warrant of Constitution was granted to the Loyalty Lodge , No . 1607 , which holds its meetings at the Alexandra Palace , Muswell Hill , our esteemed brother ' s name was inserted as that of the first W . M . The consecration

ceremony was very ably performed by Bro . Terry , who received on the occasion the valuable assistance of Bros . John Hervey G . S ., and H . G . Buss Ass . G . Sec . Our worthy brother was subsequently installed , and having , in due course , appointed and invested his officers , received the

hearty congratulations of all who had assisted at the ceremony . The banquet which followed was so far distinguished by innovation that , on the menu card , appropriate Shakspearian mottoes were inscribed against each toast . Bro . Terry , to whom the toast of the new

W . M . was entrusted , in addressing those present , is reported as saying : " He ( the W . M . ) is entitled to your respect , being a brother of the most exemplary conduct and rare

discrimination , and , in whatever circle he moves , the good feeling of friends is always exhibited towards him , and you , brethren , have cause to rejoice in the selection you have made . " It was said further : —

"In faith , he is a worthy gentleman ; He bears an honourable mind . " We know it is customary to pay brethren compliments on such occasions as these , but we must bear in mind that Bro . Terry spoke as having " long had the pleasure of an

intimate acquaintance with him , and having " worked side by side in the cause of Charity . " We know , too , that " A Zealous Officer " is not in the habit of paying people

compliments which are not their due . We lay some stress , therefore , on the above expressions of Bro . Terry , which were reported in these columns many , many months before it occurred to ua to present to our readers the present