Masonic Portraits (No. 25). An Able Preceptor.

Fatherland . He was born in Prussian Poland , in tho yoa ; 1821 , and was educated in the district school of Fraustatli . on the borders of Silesia . On leaving school , he entered a merchant's counting-house , but disliking his position 01 his employment , ho came to England with tho view of

pushing his fortune , and landed at Blackwall , in lb'w . friendless , aud with little of this world ' s goods to spare . Happily , he fell in with friends , and was soon engaged in tho

warehouse of a wholesale dealer . By steady industry and attention to business , he managed to rise in tho estimation of his superiors , and was speedily transferred to a position of trust aud confidence in the counting-house . When he

arrived in this country , he did not understand a word of English , and during his studies he never had a master ; yet his knowledge of our language would shamo many a native . His letters and papers on Masonry are admirably

and lucidly written , and bear all the marks of a powerful and comprehensive mind . During his career in the mercantile house to which we have referred , he married , and has now three daughters . But he was not fated to

remain long in a condition of servitude . It was his ambition to be his own master , and at a timo when the new art of " sun painting" was beginning to attract popular notice he ventured to turn his attention to it , and started like a brave , courageous man as ho is , as a professor

of tho art of photography . At this time he knew little of the technical portion of the business , but his steady determination helped him to conquer all tho difficulties of the art , and at the present time he is the master of a good business , and is second to none of his contemporaries in artistic skill or conscientious attention to his clients .

Our brother ' s Masonic career commenced in the year 1861 , when he was initiated in the Lodge of Faith . He became Master in 186 G but resigned his connection with the Lodge in 1873 , and is now a member of No . 185 . In 1868 he was exalted , in Victoria Chapter ; and was

advanced , in Mark Lodge , Newport , Isle of Wight , in 1871 . He was one of the founders of Faith Chapter , and became -Z . designate in 1873 . He was also one of the original Projectors of the Temple Mark Lodge , No . 173 , and is at the present time its S . W . He has served as Secretary of the

Confidence Lodge of Instruction , and , upon the retirement of Bro . T . Foulger from the offioe of Preceptor , he succeeded him in that office , which he has held with high distinction for several years . He has been Preceptor of other Lodges of Instruction , and has , we need scarcely say , rendered

eminent services to the Craft . He was one of the promoters of the fund for the establishment of a Freemasons ' Life Boat , and acted as secretary during the period of incubation , but , although a testimonial was proposed , with a view of marking the universal appreciation of his valuable

services in connection with the fund , it was refused by oui hero , who accounted himself sufficiently ' rewarded for his laborious services by the brilliant results achieved . Tho boat was stationed at North Berwick , and has , we believe , rendered signal service on more than one occasion to distressed mariners .

Our brother is regarded by those who are capable of forming an opinion on the subject as a profoundly learned Mason . He is perfect in ritual to the very letter , and , indeed , there is no portion of Craft or Arch Masonry , whether it be ceremony , sections or installation , of which he is not

a perfect master . His fame , indeed , as an able Preceptor has been sounded far and wide in the Masonic World , and it has been his fortune to instruct many brothers who have since risen to high distinction in the Craft . If our hero ' s life has been uneventful , it is not wanting in lessons , which aro valuable , indeed , to thoso who can read them .

Industry , integrity and earnestness aro his characteristics , and with these weapons , and no others , he has conquered . He is a member of that grand old race which , from the days of Abraham to the present time , has been remarkable for its God-fearing , virtue-loving propensities . Our opinion of

the Jews has already . been expressed in these columns , and we need merely say of our brother that his charities in connection with his people are princely . While wc are writing , we have before us a scrap of paper which eloquently speaks of his munificence in this respect . It is a

subscription sheet , and has reference to the building fund of the East London Synagogue . It came into our hands by the merest chanco , yet on glancing our eve over it we find that our

generous brother has placed his name against two figures which represent a considerable sum in hard cash . He has always a coin and a pleasant word for a distressed Mason , be he Christian or Deist ; but he does not forget

Masonic Portraits (No. 25). An Able Preceptor.

his own people , and possibly if we could search his heart we should find that where the relig ion of his fathers is concerned , the joy of giving is immeasurably superior to tho pleasure of receiving . Loved at homo , responded abroad , a pillar of Masonry , and a pious man , who really believes

that God punishes the unjust man iu this world ( would to Heaven that this belief wero imiversal !) He has littlo occasion to sigh over unrealised dreams of ambition . His genius might have helped him to great things , but he has preferred the path of quiet virtue , the straight and narrow road which leads to social , domestic , and religions peace .

Odds And Ends.

ODDS AND ENDS .

By Waiter Spencer , F . B . G . S . IN last week ' s news we read , that General Kirkham . ( said to be the bearer of a letter from King John of Abyssinia , to Earl Derby ) remains a prisoner in Massowah . It may not be generally known that this officer served in

the " river Victorious Army , " under Gordon , was twice dangerously wounded , and distinguished himself throughout that campaign . In tho attack on Soochow , a bullet fractured his skull , and the portion of bone which had

been depressed upon the brain was removed by trepanning ; this he afterwards had mounted into a small model of a skull , which lie wore as a breastpin . The last night I spent at Shanghai was in Kirkham ' s quarters , and little

could either of us imagine that twelve years afterwards he and his old commander would be engaged on opposite sides , Gordon again pressing forward to conquest , and himself a prisoner of the Khedive .

Well I remember a pleasant sojourn during that troublous time of Taipingdom , in company with another officer and a guard of green turbans , at the old Buddhist monastery of Tien-tang-. I , a wretched invalid with dysentery , had to

nurse and watch my comrade most carefully to prevent his turning his head or straining his neck , for he was wounded in dangerous proximity to the jugular . The vast Temple , with its echoing pavements , the cool forest glades in which

it is embowered , in strong contrast to past scenes of turmoil , made it to us indeed an abode of peace . Yet even to this sacred spot , and in those early times , the foreign snob was not unknown . Young England and

America would occasionally break in npon its solitudes in the shape of a shooting or exploring party from one of the foreign settlements : and only they who have witnessed the reckless and contemptuous behaviour of somo of the

younger , aud ( let me hope ) the less refined of Europeans in the East , can understand the shock which the inoffensive natives must frequently experience . The banging of firearms would then resouud iu the Temple precincts , the fish

be stirred up in the sacred tank , over painted wall and sculptured plinth doggrel obscenity and cockney ' s autographs record the inroad . In condemnation of this latter ,

I affixed a document like the usual Chinese porch-texts , by the door of the apartments allotted to visitors , with the following inscription : —¦

" The modern fool derides tho Gods of old Triumphant iu the worship of his idol—GOLDWith nose in air , aud scorn in addled brain , Struts through tho cloisters with supremo disdain . Here—mids ' t tho mom ' ries of a by-gone time ,

The last frail remnants of the once sublime—Barbariau bullies crack their silly jest , Spurn the meek priest , intrude upon his rest ,

And , with loud laughter at his looks averse , Putt' their cheroots and leave him with a curse j Whilst placid idols on their massive thrones Hollowly echo tho unwonted tones .

But you and I , my reader , who in peace Have come in quest of health and grateful ease , Good taste and feeling , iu their strong coutrol , Would keep from outragiug tho meanest soul .

And so I leave these lines ; the record poor May yet reprove the base , and check the boor . Keluctaut though I be to write at all , Where wretched rhymesters leave their ribald scrawl , And idiots scratch their namea upon tho wall , "