The So-Called German Question.

partiality , if in proportion to the relative magnitude of the offences we are not equally urgent in our endeavours to uphold the integrity of Freemasonry . We admit no harm

will he clone by waiting somo little time longer , and we trust that what is done will bo worthy of our high position in the Masonic world ; but when the appointed time is come , we trust that somo resolute action will be taken .

Masonic Portraits, No. 53.

MASONIC PORTRAITS , No . 53 .

ACHILLES . ULYSSES . —Time hath , my Lord , a wallet at hia back , "Wherein he puts alma for oblivion : Those scraps are pood deeds past ; forgot as soon

As clone The cry went once on thee , And still it might ; and yet it may again , If thou wonld ' st not entomb thyself alive , And case thy reputation in thy tent .

ACHILLES . Of this my privacy I have strong reasons .

Inde fit , nt raro , qui se vixisso beatutn Dicat , et exacto contentna tempore vitas Cedat , uti conviva satur , reperire queamns . IT is remarkable to note how the virtues by which the good old heroes of antiquity were distinguished are

again and again reproduced in men of modern times . Those who figure in the poems of Homer may have been real or ideal personages ; but , as he has described them , they are all perfect pictures of men , such as history tells us have flourished in different ages and countries . If we scan

the records of any nation , we shall find that at some epoch or other in its career it was able to boast of its Agamemnon , the primus inter pares , who generally , if not invariably , displayed consummate skill and tact in ruling men . Equally certain are we to discover among its worthies a wise TJlysses ,

ever ready with some sage counsel , ever fertile in expedient ; a venerable Nestor , looked up to and respected of all men for the deeds and events associated with his youth and manhood ; an Ajax Telamon , of giant strength , and with the courage of a lion , but intellectually dull ; a valiant Hector

on whose skill and prowess the safety of all depends ; an Achilles , terrible in warfare , so that none may withstand him , hot-tempered and imperious , resentful of the slightest affront , yet generous and high-souled withal . Even in the narrow circle to which the personal experience of each

among us is necessarily limited , there will be found those who , if not exactly possessing the attributes of a hero , are nevertheless distinguished by many sterling qualities , little short of heroic ; and these folk being very human have in them likewise some of the weaknesses of humanity .

They labour steadfastly in the station of life in which they are placed ; they accomplish great things , and Avin for themselves golden opinions from all classes of men . Tet are they , at the same time , too retired or too sensitive , too impetuous or too exacting ; hence the world in which they

move and have their being gets occasionally a little out of gear . Trifling differences , generally begotten of the imagination rather than having a real existence , occur , and there is a break in the continuity of its happiness , which is remediable Avhen found , but which , like the fault in a

telegraphic cable , must be found before it can be remedied . However , all is soon set straight again . The differences aro removed and forgotten , or , if remembered , it is only that people may smile over the trifling impatience of each other which had momentaril y disturbed the general equanimity . The brother whom we are about to introduce to our

readers we have named Achilles , because , like that valiant and impetuous Greek , he is , we regret to say , spending his time just now in comparative retirement . Into the cause of such retirement it is no business of ours to inquire . Suffice it to say that , like " Great Thetis' son , " he has

done great things in Freemasonry , and unless we have formed a most erroneous estimate of the man , he will , if his life is spared , render if possible still more signal services to the Royal Art . His is , indeed , a career of which any

Craftsman mi ght well be proud , and which not a few among us mi ght find it difficult to parallel . He was initiated in the Indefatigable Lodge—a most appropriate name , having regard to such a brother—No . 288 , Swansea ,

Masonic Portraits, No. 53.

on the 27 th May 185 G , and in the following December Avas appointed Secretary of his Lodge . So ably did he perform the onerous duties of that office that in due course ho becamo Junior , and then Senior Warden ; and in December 1859 he was elected Worshipful Master of the

largest and most influential Lodge in South Wales . Truly a result of which even an " Indefatigable" has every reason to bo proud ! But great as were these exploits , he has again and again surpassed them since . His administration of the Lodge was so remarkably successful that in 1864

wo find him again occupying the same exalted position , and his second year of office was still more profitable . Not only were the ceremonial workings performed with an exactitude , a fidelity , and an ability seldom surpassed , but for the first time in the history of the Province lectures

were given , Lodges of Instruction held , and the working of the sections introduced . Repeatedly during the term of his second Mastership Avere the three Lectures gone carefully and conscientiously through ; and on the concluding evening of the series , with our brother in the chair and

ably assisted by his staff of officers , the whole fifteen sections weve worked to the great delight and edification of a Lodge crowded with members and visitors from all parts of the Principality . On retiring from the Mastership , such had been tho zeal and ability of our Avorthy brother that

he was able to say , with becoming pride , that the Lodge had not only increased in numbers , but likewise in popularity and importance , and that every one of his officers was well qualified to fill the chair . The exact value of this statement may not be appreciated perhaps just now ; but

there are those living Avho can remember a far different state of things , when the Avork of this Lodge , and indeed of most of the Lodges in the Province , was done by one brother , to whom by long usage it had been invariably entrusted . Under these circumstances our readers will hardly need to

be told that at the close of his second year of office tho members of the Lodge took the opportunity of presenting to him , not only a costly Past Master ' s jewel , but likewise a massive silver claret jug and a beautifully illuminated address , expressive of their admiration of the valuable

services he had rendered . He has also filled the chair of the Talbot Lodge , No . 1323 , Swansea , of which , indeed , he was founder ; and it may be mentioned incidentally , ag showing his popularity aud the respect in which he was held , that in this case all his officers were Past Masters

and had obtained Provincial honours . He is likewise an honorary member of the " Cambrian , " No . 364 , Neath ; "Afan , " No . 833 , Aberavon ; "Caradoc , " No . 1573 , Swansea ; and " Merlin , " No . 1578 , Pontypridd—all in his own Province—and of St . Peter ' s , No . 4 : 76 , Carmarthen , in the Western Province of S . Wales .

In Royal Arch Masonry our respected brother has been equally active , and has achieved equal success . Exalted in the Virtue and Hope Chapter , No . 237 , SAvansea , he held

successively the office of P . S ., Scribe N . and Scribe E ., and in due course the chairs of J ., H . and Z ., the last for a period of two years , and again a second time after a brief interval . He also founded and was first M . E . Z . of the

St . David ' s Chapter , No . 364 , Neath , and of the Talbot , No . 1323 , Swansea ; and rendered valuable assistance to his friends and companions in the Western Division in resuscitating the Merlin Chapter , No . 476 , Carmarthen , of which he is a P . Z . He is further an honorary member of the

St . Elliw Chapter , No . 671 , Llanelly , Avhich he had the privilege of consecrating . He is the oldest Mark Master Mason in South Wales , having been advanced in the Bon Accord Lodge , London , in October 1858 . He Avas , also , founder and first Worshipful Master of the Mansel Mark Lodge , Neath ,

and of the Talbot , Swansea . He was installed a Knight Templar in the St . George ' s , formerly the " Cross of Christ , " Encampment , London , in December 1857 ; is founder and Past E . Commander of the Palatine Encampment , Swansea , and has filled the office of Grand Captain

of Lines and Grand Chamberlain , as well as that of Prov . Sub-Prior of South Wales . He was admitted to the Rose Croix , 18 ° , in the Metropolitan Chapter in July 1858 , and received the 30 ° in October of the same year . We may add that he was installed a Knight of Malta in the Cceur de Lion Encampment , Oxford , in March 1868 .

But many and great as are the distinctions we have thus far recorded , Ave are far from having completed the list of his achievements . We have , indeed , as is usually done in writing such sketches as this , reserved the crowning triumphs till the very last , so that they may stand out in boldest relief . As far back as the year 1859 our esteemed