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Article MASONIC PORTRAITS. (No. 45.) ← Page 2 of 3 Article MASONIC PORTRAITS. (No. 45.) Page 2 of 3 →
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Masonic Portraits. (No. 45.)
attain to a more elevated position , the struggle to rise still higher is greater . The competitors are few in number , but they are of the foremost , if not the first , order of merit . They cannot all of them reach the topmost rung of the ladder , but it is something to he one of the choice band of
worthies for whom it is possible , without accusation of flattery , to predict a glorious as well as a prosperous future . The subject of our present portrait is ono who dislikes flattery , but it is a mere statement of fact to say of him that thus far his career has been a most distinguished ono .
It is quite possible ho might havo won the same honours had ho relied more on the accidental advantages he owes to fortune than on his own energy and ability . But his chief merit lies in the fact that from the very outset he has been governed by the wise principle , " nohlesse ollir / e . "
He has studied hard to deserve success , and he has fairly won his spurs , not as a carpet knight , but on the field of battle . He mi ght , we repeat , have had the same honours conferred upon him without toil , but we question if he would have appreciated them as highly , and we are certain
they would not have been as well-merited . Succeeding , while yet a mere youth , to the title and estates of his father , ho nevertheless read hard while at Balliol College , Oxford ,
and was rewarded for his pains with a place in the class lists in Uteris Jiumaniorilns . He had not quitted the University many years , when the present Ministry came into office , and our Warden of " Mark " was honoured with the
appointment of private secretary to the Colonial Secretary , whom we have already described in these columns under the title of " The Statesman . " This post he still continues to fill , and will doubtless fill while the present Government are in office , unless , perchance , some higher position should
be offered him . His father held an important office in the second administration of the late Earl of Derby , and we may fairly presume " , from his having likewise chosen an official career , that the son will follow in the father ' s
footsteps . Nor is it in the " vocation" only there appears to be so ' strong a resemblance between the tastes ancl inclinations and , we may add , the achievements of the two . A Warden of " Mark ' s " predecessor was himself , if not " a Warden of Mark '! in the sense in which wo have used
the term , unquestionably " A Warden of Eminence . " He was assigned the rank of Grand Senior Warden of Ireland , and had won many other positions of distinction in Freemasonry about the period 1846-47 ; ancl he had besides received the thirty-second degree under the Supreme
Council of the A . and A . Rite in Scotland . Thus , the lovo of Freemasonry would seem to be hereditary in the family , for the hero of this sketch was initiated into the mysteries of our Society while yet a minor , the first faint glimmerings of light being vouchsafed him in the Apollo University
Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford , in the early part of the year 1867 . Almost from the beginning he took an active part in the labours of the Lodge , and in a very few weeks was appointed one of its Stewards . The same year he became a joining member of the Churchill Lodge , No . 478 , Oxford .
In 1868 , he was appointed and invested as I . G . of the Apollo University , and a few months later was chosen Provincial Grand Secretary of Oxfordshire , by the R . W . Bro . Lieut .-Colonel H . A . Bowyer , the then P . G . Master . He is founder and first Worshipful Master of the United
Lodge , No . 1629 , held at Freemasons' Hall ancl warranted as recently as 1876 ; and , to crown all , at the Annual Communication of Grand Lodge in the same year , ho was appointed Grand Senior Warden , in succession to the Marquis of Hamilton . In April , in the unavoidable absence on
duty of H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught , our Warden of " Mark" acted as the proxy of his Royal Highness , and was formally invested with the collar and jewel of office . He is likewise a Royal Arch Mason , and at the present time occupies the chair of J . in the Friendship Chapter ,
No . 6 . He was advanced in the University Mark Lodge , No . 55 , and at the recent summer half-yearly communication of the Mark Grand Lodge of England and Wales was appointed and invested Senior Grand Warden of that flourishing Grand Body . We may add that he is a
Knight Templar , and a member of the Loudon Chapter of the Royal Order of Scotland , and , doubtless , in a few more years , we shall find the number of his Masonic dignities swelled to a still
greater extent . Enough , however , has been said to show that he is justly entitled to the designation we have bestowed upon him . His duties are not as serious as were those of the old Wardens of the Marks or Marches in the
Masonic Portraits. (No. 45.)
days when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms , when border-forays were made continually , and the rival Wardens saw thoir respective columns charged home to deadly purpose . Then , indeed , there was a constant registering of marks , but 'twas done on the cranium or other
part of tho body , with bow or spear , sword or battle-axe , at what time the gallant fellows " did confound , " as they wero in the habit of doing , " the best part of an hour in changing hardiment" with one another . There was hardly one amongst them , from the Wardens downwards , who did
not carry about with them indelible marks of their opponents' skill and gallantry . But now we have changed all this , so that a Warden of " Mark" need only bo
possessed of " all good grace to grace a gentleman , " and ho will earn for himself , as the subject of this portrait has earned long since , tho goodwill ancl respect of all his fellows .
But we are from having exhausted the sum of his claims upon tho consideration of tho Masonic community . Time has hardly yet allowed of his doing much in aid of our charitable Institutions , but twice , in tho course of this year , has he , to use a common expression , given us a taste
of his quality . On the first occasion , he served as President of tho Board of Stewards for the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and it will ever be a source of legitimate pride to him that , under his
Presidency , the efforts of the Stewards wero moro successful than at any previous Festival . The other occasion is more recent still . It is but a few days since ho took the chair at the annual Festival of the Mark
Masters' Benevolent Fund , and though the gathering was comparatively a small one , seeing that the Mark Grand Lodge is . a young body , and that its Benevolent Fund' has only been in existence some nine years , still the effort made in this instance eclipsed all
previous efforts , and the Fund has benefited to a greater extent than in any previous year . These are an earnest of his good will towards those Institutions of which we are all so justly proud , and we lay all the greater stress
upon them because , while we rejoice to say there is never any lack of subscribers , it is not always so easy a matter to find a President who possesses the necessary qualifications . Ancl this reminds us that there is one other lisrht
in which we are anxious to present him to our readers . Ifc has been said of the poet—nascihir , non fit . This certainly holds good of a chairman . It will sometimes happen that one man , after a tolerably long experience in presiding over different kinds of meetings , obtains a fair knowledge
of his duties , and , provided no unusual circumstance occur during his presidency , everything passes over satisfactorily . But , as there is a wide distinction to be drawn between the versifier and the poet , so there is an equally marked distinction between the chairman who is gifted by nature
to preside over an assembly , ancl him who has only acquired a certain amount of tact ancl ability in presiding . And ifc is , perhaps , in his capacity of a President , that our Warden of "Mark" will be most generally and deservedly appreciated . We have no wish to diminish the praise
which is due to him in other respects , but those who have had the opportunity of noting his bearing in the chair—as , for instance , when he presided at the speeches and prize distribution two days prior to the Boys' School Festival , at the banquet following the half-yearly Communication of
the Mark Grand Lodge , or afc the Mark Benevolent 1 unci Festival—all such , we feel certain , will justify our opinion that there are few , indeed , who surpass him in the ability to fulfil this particular function . It is by no means an easy thing to keep a mixed assembly well in hand , to please a variety
of different , and oftentimes opposing , tastes , ancl dismiss them in a general effervescence of good temper with everything- and everybody . But this is what he was successful in doing on the three occasions wo have enumerated .
There was no one but rose from the table pleased with his entertainment , ancl but too willing to have the opportunity of acknowledging that the pleasure of the evening was mainly attributable to the geniality and kindness of the Chairman . \
We have now dwelt briefly , or more circumstantiallyas circumstances seemed to demand—on the various incidents which have distinguished thus much of the career of a Warden of "Mark . " Wo have shown how
earnestly , and with what a deep sense of responsibility , ho has entered upon the business of life , how he hns already obtained some slight preferment in the political world , and how he may fairly look forward to attaining to some posi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Portraits. (No. 45.)
attain to a more elevated position , the struggle to rise still higher is greater . The competitors are few in number , but they are of the foremost , if not the first , order of merit . They cannot all of them reach the topmost rung of the ladder , but it is something to he one of the choice band of
worthies for whom it is possible , without accusation of flattery , to predict a glorious as well as a prosperous future . The subject of our present portrait is ono who dislikes flattery , but it is a mere statement of fact to say of him that thus far his career has been a most distinguished ono .
It is quite possible ho might havo won the same honours had ho relied more on the accidental advantages he owes to fortune than on his own energy and ability . But his chief merit lies in the fact that from the very outset he has been governed by the wise principle , " nohlesse ollir / e . "
He has studied hard to deserve success , and he has fairly won his spurs , not as a carpet knight , but on the field of battle . He mi ght , we repeat , have had the same honours conferred upon him without toil , but we question if he would have appreciated them as highly , and we are certain
they would not have been as well-merited . Succeeding , while yet a mere youth , to the title and estates of his father , ho nevertheless read hard while at Balliol College , Oxford ,
and was rewarded for his pains with a place in the class lists in Uteris Jiumaniorilns . He had not quitted the University many years , when the present Ministry came into office , and our Warden of " Mark " was honoured with the
appointment of private secretary to the Colonial Secretary , whom we have already described in these columns under the title of " The Statesman . " This post he still continues to fill , and will doubtless fill while the present Government are in office , unless , perchance , some higher position should
be offered him . His father held an important office in the second administration of the late Earl of Derby , and we may fairly presume " , from his having likewise chosen an official career , that the son will follow in the father ' s
footsteps . Nor is it in the " vocation" only there appears to be so ' strong a resemblance between the tastes ancl inclinations and , we may add , the achievements of the two . A Warden of " Mark ' s " predecessor was himself , if not " a Warden of Mark '! in the sense in which wo have used
the term , unquestionably " A Warden of Eminence . " He was assigned the rank of Grand Senior Warden of Ireland , and had won many other positions of distinction in Freemasonry about the period 1846-47 ; ancl he had besides received the thirty-second degree under the Supreme
Council of the A . and A . Rite in Scotland . Thus , the lovo of Freemasonry would seem to be hereditary in the family , for the hero of this sketch was initiated into the mysteries of our Society while yet a minor , the first faint glimmerings of light being vouchsafed him in the Apollo University
Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford , in the early part of the year 1867 . Almost from the beginning he took an active part in the labours of the Lodge , and in a very few weeks was appointed one of its Stewards . The same year he became a joining member of the Churchill Lodge , No . 478 , Oxford .
In 1868 , he was appointed and invested as I . G . of the Apollo University , and a few months later was chosen Provincial Grand Secretary of Oxfordshire , by the R . W . Bro . Lieut .-Colonel H . A . Bowyer , the then P . G . Master . He is founder and first Worshipful Master of the United
Lodge , No . 1629 , held at Freemasons' Hall ancl warranted as recently as 1876 ; and , to crown all , at the Annual Communication of Grand Lodge in the same year , ho was appointed Grand Senior Warden , in succession to the Marquis of Hamilton . In April , in the unavoidable absence on
duty of H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught , our Warden of " Mark" acted as the proxy of his Royal Highness , and was formally invested with the collar and jewel of office . He is likewise a Royal Arch Mason , and at the present time occupies the chair of J . in the Friendship Chapter ,
No . 6 . He was advanced in the University Mark Lodge , No . 55 , and at the recent summer half-yearly communication of the Mark Grand Lodge of England and Wales was appointed and invested Senior Grand Warden of that flourishing Grand Body . We may add that he is a
Knight Templar , and a member of the Loudon Chapter of the Royal Order of Scotland , and , doubtless , in a few more years , we shall find the number of his Masonic dignities swelled to a still
greater extent . Enough , however , has been said to show that he is justly entitled to the designation we have bestowed upon him . His duties are not as serious as were those of the old Wardens of the Marks or Marches in the
Masonic Portraits. (No. 45.)
days when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms , when border-forays were made continually , and the rival Wardens saw thoir respective columns charged home to deadly purpose . Then , indeed , there was a constant registering of marks , but 'twas done on the cranium or other
part of tho body , with bow or spear , sword or battle-axe , at what time the gallant fellows " did confound , " as they wero in the habit of doing , " the best part of an hour in changing hardiment" with one another . There was hardly one amongst them , from the Wardens downwards , who did
not carry about with them indelible marks of their opponents' skill and gallantry . But now we have changed all this , so that a Warden of " Mark" need only bo
possessed of " all good grace to grace a gentleman , " and ho will earn for himself , as the subject of this portrait has earned long since , tho goodwill ancl respect of all his fellows .
But we are from having exhausted the sum of his claims upon tho consideration of tho Masonic community . Time has hardly yet allowed of his doing much in aid of our charitable Institutions , but twice , in tho course of this year , has he , to use a common expression , given us a taste
of his quality . On the first occasion , he served as President of tho Board of Stewards for the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and it will ever be a source of legitimate pride to him that , under his
Presidency , the efforts of the Stewards wero moro successful than at any previous Festival . The other occasion is more recent still . It is but a few days since ho took the chair at the annual Festival of the Mark
Masters' Benevolent Fund , and though the gathering was comparatively a small one , seeing that the Mark Grand Lodge is . a young body , and that its Benevolent Fund' has only been in existence some nine years , still the effort made in this instance eclipsed all
previous efforts , and the Fund has benefited to a greater extent than in any previous year . These are an earnest of his good will towards those Institutions of which we are all so justly proud , and we lay all the greater stress
upon them because , while we rejoice to say there is never any lack of subscribers , it is not always so easy a matter to find a President who possesses the necessary qualifications . Ancl this reminds us that there is one other lisrht
in which we are anxious to present him to our readers . Ifc has been said of the poet—nascihir , non fit . This certainly holds good of a chairman . It will sometimes happen that one man , after a tolerably long experience in presiding over different kinds of meetings , obtains a fair knowledge
of his duties , and , provided no unusual circumstance occur during his presidency , everything passes over satisfactorily . But , as there is a wide distinction to be drawn between the versifier and the poet , so there is an equally marked distinction between the chairman who is gifted by nature
to preside over an assembly , ancl him who has only acquired a certain amount of tact ancl ability in presiding . And ifc is , perhaps , in his capacity of a President , that our Warden of "Mark" will be most generally and deservedly appreciated . We have no wish to diminish the praise
which is due to him in other respects , but those who have had the opportunity of noting his bearing in the chair—as , for instance , when he presided at the speeches and prize distribution two days prior to the Boys' School Festival , at the banquet following the half-yearly Communication of
the Mark Grand Lodge , or afc the Mark Benevolent 1 unci Festival—all such , we feel certain , will justify our opinion that there are few , indeed , who surpass him in the ability to fulfil this particular function . It is by no means an easy thing to keep a mixed assembly well in hand , to please a variety
of different , and oftentimes opposing , tastes , ancl dismiss them in a general effervescence of good temper with everything- and everybody . But this is what he was successful in doing on the three occasions wo have enumerated .
There was no one but rose from the table pleased with his entertainment , ancl but too willing to have the opportunity of acknowledging that the pleasure of the evening was mainly attributable to the geniality and kindness of the Chairman . \
We have now dwelt briefly , or more circumstantiallyas circumstances seemed to demand—on the various incidents which have distinguished thus much of the career of a Warden of "Mark . " Wo have shown how
earnestly , and with what a deep sense of responsibility , ho has entered upon the business of life , how he hns already obtained some slight preferment in the political world , and how he may fairly look forward to attaining to some posi-