The Conduct Of Lodges

when it was impossible he conld serve tho full period as prescribed by law . He absented himself from his duties . In due tiiuo his eligibility to the Mastershi p was called in question , but the Master rnled in his favour , and he was elected W . M . for the ensuing year , by the narrow majority of 13 to

II votes . A series of squabbles ensued , as , indeed , might havo been expected . The ruling of tho W . M . was appealed against , but tho appeal was rejected on the ground of disrespectful language . A second appeal was submitted , but

was decided adversely to tho appellants . Meanwhile , countercharges against the latter had been made and adjucated on , and five of the six appellants excluded from this Lodge ; and , to crown the whole , the D . D . G . M . has declined to interfere on behalf of the excluded brethren . It

is seldom the lot of a Masonic journal to record a series of such disastrous events ; and though the opposite version , when it reaches us , may give a different complexion to the whole matter , it is impossible to escape the belief , that had the officers of the Lodge known what our laws and

regulations prescribed , these objectionable charges and countercharges would never havo happened . The least we have a right to expect of those who aspire to high office is , that they will learn their duties and fulfil them . If they are not

willing to comply with this reasonable expectation , let them have the grace to remain in obscurity , where , if they cannot do much to promote the welfare of Freemasonry , they will at least have small chance of rendering it a dis-service .

Masonic Portraits. (No. 49.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 49 . )

AN INSTALLING MASTER . " Thou hast been As one , in suffering all , that suffers nothing ; A man , that fortune ' s buffets and rewards

Eos ta ' on with equal thanks : and blest are those , Whose blood and judgment are so well co-mingled , That they are not a pipe for fortune ' s finger To sonnd what stop she please . "

BRETHREN who have a longer and more intimate acquaintance with Freemasonry than we are enabled to boast of , must be well aware that in continuing our series of sketches from week to week the difficulty we have to encounter is not in finding suitable subjects . It matters

little to what direction we turn , whether to the Metropolis or to the Provinces , to the North or to the South , to the East or to the West , we shall always find at least a score or two of brethren who may be written down as admirable representatives of the Craft . They will have many

features in common , and , consequently , there will to a certain extent be noticeable in their portraits what may familiarly be called a strong family likeness . On the other hand , the idiosyncrasies which necessarily distinguish them each from the other will enable our readers to discover the

originals without much difficulty . So far all is plain sailing in the task we have undertaken . Our chief care is to select from the multitude of worthies whose names are brought under our notice men who have achieved some special distinction , be it among the rank and file , so to

speak , or among those to whom the governance of our Craft is from time to time entrusted ; so that , iu praising the services of one , we may avoid offering anything approaching even to a slight to others who may consider themselves , and no doubt are , his equals in point of merit . And even in this we find no small amount of

embarrassment , for there are many more brethren whose career haB been distinguished in some special manner than we are ever likely to find room for . So many new names suggest themselves , or are suggested , that even though we should attain the age of Methuselah , we shall still find a stray

brother or two whose portrait has been accidentall y omitted . However , in the fulfilment of our duties we trust we shall be able to regard the future with equanimity . Our earnest desire is , as we have said already , to make our present series of portraits as truly representative as

possible , and no one , we imagine , will begrudge the brother whose sketch we are about to present to the kindly criticism of our readers his place in onv roll of Masonic worthies .

His connection with onr society has been a long as well as a distinguished one , and a few weeks hence he will be able to celebrate what—if the term may be applied to a brother ' s connection with the Craft—is known as his " silver wedding . " Early next month he will have completed 25 years

Masonic Portraits. (No. 49.)

of honourable service in tho ranks of the Craft , haviug been initiated into our mysteries on the 12 th October 18 o 2 , in the Lodge of Israel , No . 205—then No . 247 . In duo course ho was raised to the sublime degree , and having served the office of Warden , was elected to fill the chair as

W . Master , and formally installed as such on the 9 th January 1855 . Such rapid progress as this in tho Royal Art is evidence that from the very beginning our brother set himself resolutely to work to fathom our mysteries . That he was successful in carrying out his resolution is

amply shown by the further distinctions he has since had conferred upon him ; but his zeal and ability must have been unusually conspicuous , or he would never have attained the highest position in his Lodge after so short a connection with the Craft . The year following , he was both

exalted and advanced , the former distinction being gained in the Royal Arch Chapter of Concord , No . 394 , Southampton , and the latter in the Albany Lodge , No . 176 , Newport , Isle of Wight . In 1857 , we find him elected to fill a minor office , that of Pursuivant , iu the Provincial Grand

Lodge of Wiltshire ; but this was merely a steppingstone to still further advancement , for in the year 1858 he rose to be Grand Director of Ceremonies in the same Province ; in 1859 and 1860 he was Prov . G . Registrar , in 1861 Prov . Grand Junior Warden , his Wiltshire

honours culminating in 1864 , when the Prov . G . Master conferred on him the honour of the Prov . G . S . Warden , ship . He had already given further proof of his zeal by helping , in 1856 , to promote the foundation of the Wiltshire Lodge of Fidelity , No . 663 , Devizes , and was chosen its

W . Master in 1863 . A few years later , and we find him settled at Reading , in the heart of that Province in which the most arduous portion of his official Masonic services have been rendered . But whether he hailed from the Metropolis , from Hants , from Wilts , or from Berks , our

brother was not one who ever allowed the grass to grow beneath his feet . No long time had passed when , thanks to tbe initiative taken by him and other zealous Craftsmen , Reading was able to boast a second Masonic Lodge ; the Grey Friars , No . 1101 , being founded in 1866 under his

and their auspices . Our brother has held various offices in this lodge , among them that of Treasurer ; while during 1866 and 1867 he acted as Immediate Past Master , and in that capacity had the honour of initiating Bro . G . J . Shaw Lefevre , one of the members for the borough . In May

1869 , when Sir Daniel Gooch , Bart ., M . P . was installed as P . G . M . of Berks and Bucks , he appointed our worthy brother to be the Grand Secretary of the Province , and it is only a month or two since that , to the great regret of all our Berks and Bucks brethren , he

felt compelled to resign his office . But not to anticipate an event to which it will be necessary to advert more fully ; within three days of his appointment to the Provincial Grand Secretaryship he again took a prominent part in

the proceedings of the Grey Friars Lodge , among the distinguished visitors who honoured the meeting with their presence being the Provincial Grand Master himself . On this occasion the business included the initiation of Bro .

Alfred Gooch , son of the P . G . M ., and the installation of the W . Master , both of which ceremonies were performed by our respected Brother . So ably and so impressively did he fulfil his duty , that , at the banquet which followed , Sir Daniel Gooch , Bro . the Rev . Robert J . Simpson , aud the

late Bro . J . Ranking Stebbing personally complimented him on the accurate and feeling manner in which he had discharged his office . But it is not Craft Masonry alone which is so deeply indebted to the service of our brother . He was one of the founders and first M . E . Z . of the Union

Chapter , No . 414 , the one and only Royal Arch Chapter which Reading possesses , and so highly were his abilities appreciated that , in 1871 , he was again appointed to the chair of First Principal . And when in 1875 a Grand Chapter was established for the Province , he

received the appointment of third Grand Principal , while at the present time he fills the post of Prov . Grand Scribe E . When , in 1870 , the Prince of Wales performed his first public Masonic duty , of laying the foundation stone of the Reading Grammar School , the

superintendence of the arrangements necessary to the fitting reception of His Royal Highness was entrusted to our brother , and the success of the day ' s proceedings was

chiefly due to the skilfulness of his preparations . The latest occasion on which any special service has been required of him was at the memorable gathering in the Royal Albert Hall , when H . R . H . the Prince of Wales was