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  • Jan. 29, 1876
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    Article MASONIC PORTRAITS (No. 13.) FROM UNDER THE CROWN. ← Page 2 of 3
    Article MASONIC PORTRAITS (No. 13.) FROM UNDER THE CROWN. Page 2 of 3 →
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Portraits (No. 13.) From Under The Crown.

of this active interference with tho Service has been to make its last state worse than its first . Although some prizes are held up within the view of the candidate who is seeking to get his bread by official drudgery , the rank ancl file are but poorly paid , and the best men have been driven

to eke out their scanty salaries by literary or even scientific work . One of the greatest of the scientific lights of the present day was once a computer on the staff of the Ordnance Survey . Scores of journalists ancl authors of note are , or have been , " under the Crown , " ancl the hero of this sketch

has himself confessed that he wasted twenty years of his life at Somerset House . "Twenty years completely thrown away ! " Such were his words , which are full of eloquence , because they remind us—though , for our part , we need no such reminclei—that for great , or exceptional ability , there

is no scope in tho Civil Service . Yet our hero , amongst his colleagues , who are not always the most lenient judges , was held in high repute for professional knowledge and zeal . The popular voice proclaimed that he was fitted for the higher posts of his department , but when tho

opportunity for promotion came he was quietly passed over , ancl a gentleman , who did not possess a tithe of his talent or business capacity , was placed in tho vacant post . Promotion by merit had its usual effect . It simply kept the

man of merit down , with his nose to tho grindstone , while the man without the black mark of genius on his face was invited , like tho unworthy man of Scripture , to go up hisrher .

Our hero was early connected with literature , and his fame as a journalist was , doubtless , known to the authorities . He was on the staff of the Daily Neics when the Suez Canal was opened , ancl was commissioned b y the editor to act as special correspondent during the inaugural ceremony .

He , of course , obtained the proper leave of absence from his chiefs , ancl departed to the scene of his labours . Those who desire to know aught of his brilliant despatches from Port Said may turn over a file of our contemporary , and satisfy themselves . It is sufficient for us to say , that his

letters fully sustained the reputation of the great journal in which they appeared . His leave having expired , and our hero having further journalistic work in view , coolly telegraphed home ( Civil Servants are usually cool fellows ) that he was going on to Calcutta , ancl required extended leave . Our economical readers need not assume virtuous

airs , since this further holiday involved the curtailment of pay . Whether or not his pen was busily employed during his brief visit to India we do not remember , but there can be little doubt that the readers of the Daily News profited by his prolonged absence from his official stool of repentance .

But the longest holiday must have an end , ancl ono fine morning our hero quietly walked into his old department , " signed on , " hung his hat on its accustomed hook , and , after a pleasant chat with his old colleagues , went on for the rest of tho clay . His Chief , who , whatever his merit as

an official , has always failed to see merit in others , at once reported him for absence without leave ; but , before the report could be sent in to the authorities , our talented brother , with the lordly contempt of a man who has other irons in the fire , tendered his resignation . Thus ended his

long career in Her Majesty s Service—a career which mi ght have been eventful ancl brilliant if the authorities had had eyes to recognise the stuff of which he was made . It was absurd to expect such a man to drive a quill ancl cast

accounts during the whole of his life ; and the fact that he performed this distasteful work for so long a period , proves that the " square men " are wonderfully patient and resigned when the fates place them in the " round holes . " No man

is more fully competent to write upon the grievances of the Service than he , ancl , when he enters Parliament , we may expect that he will do something to ameliorate the condition of those with whose lot his own was cast . One recent shot

of his has , indeed , fallen like a bomb shell in the midst of the "bigwigs . " We allude to tho wonderful article on " The Board of Inland lievenue , " which appeared in the columns of the World , to which journal our hero occasionally contributes .

His Masonic career has been much more eventful than his official life , and , as a Mason , he is known throughout , the length ancl breadth of the land . He is a P . M . of the Universal Lodge , 181 , a Past Deputy Grand Master of

Middlesex , an office ho held for a period of two years . He is Vice Patron of each of the Charities , ancl P . G . D of England . So high a position as that which he holds in the ranks of the Order is rarel y achieved without merit , and our brother has , indeed . lthrown into the cause all

Masonic Portraits (No. 13.) From Under The Crown.

those great talents for which he is remarkable . Ho is an able speaker ; indeed , unlike most writers , he is as read y with his tongue as he is with his pen , but , like most literary men , he rarely airs his oratory without premeditation . Those who do not know him intimately are accustomed to

speak of his austerity ; ancl , doubtless , to thoso who see merely the external husk of his mind , ho may appear slightly " angular . " To those with whom he is intimate he is a most genial friend and companion . Austere manners are often unconsciously assumed by many of the most benevolent

ancl kindly of men . Austerity is undoubtedly an unpleasant trait of character , but we English are all more or less " angular " persons , although some of us manage to get the more acute edges of the mind rubbed down in our intercourse with the world . Some of the best natures , however ,

like the diamond , refuse to yield to ordinary friction ; ancl , with respect to our brother , if the facets of his intellect are sometimes unusually prominent , we should never forget that they indicate the high quality of the stuff of which his mental organisation is composed . His career since he has

left the Civil Service has been one of high success . He has entered keenly into commercial pursuits , and has acquired wealth ancl distinction in the world . He is Chairman of the Alexandra Dock Company at Newport , Monmouthshire , a Director of several other flourishing companies ,

and , lastly , he is Master of the Needlemakers , one of the Livery Companies of the City of London , which promises , under his rule , to regain its old position of influence in the Councils of the Common Hall . When at home , our brother dispenses a princely hospitality , and is always glad to be

surrounded with his friends . He would be equally glad of the society of some of the humbler members of the animal kingdom , but the rooks , notwithstanding his frequent negotiations , refuse to settle in the nests he has considerately built for them in the trees of his spacious park .

Wealth in this country can command much , but rooks appear to despise the blandishments of the rich ; and while we are all bowing down before the yellow idol , the independent attitude of this artful and unsnobbish bird almost inspires us with feelings of awe . Let it be said henceforth

that the rich man , although he may purchase fame , and the applause of his kind , cannot buy the homage of one poor bird . If the rooks would but condescend to tell us

what they think of human society as a whole , wo should all be grateful to them . This wise bird is , we believe , given to moralising , and at least he might compose us a satire upon the vanity of human wishes .

Our brother is an ardent collector , not of art treasures although we believe he possesses fine artistic taste , but of horse-shoes . The walls of one room in his house are covered

with these homely trophies , which he has picked in the course of his travels at home and abroad . When on horseback / ho has often dismounted for the purpose of adding a stray shoe to his collection . Perhaps he has a vague idea , in spite of his training and education , that a horse-shoe is

the talisman of good fortune . Many men of culture are not ashamed to confess that they hold theories at which all the schools and the professors of the " ologies " would laugh . But if the horse-shoes bring " luck , " perhaps they have the effect of keeping away the rooks . The family to

which this bird belongs ( Gorvidce ) has always had an evil reputation for its supposed alliance with the powers of darkness . The known virtues of a horse-shoe in keeping objectionable beings out of a house , will at once suggest to our brother that some mysterious connection exists between

that remarkable room of his ancl the empty nests in the trees of his park . If he sighs for rooks , Jet him throw away his horse-shoes , and then , perhaps , the knowing birds will forget his wealth , ancl condescend to become his o-uests .

We have referred to the possibility of a parliamentary career for our eminent brother , and we believe he was strongly inclined , at tho last general election , to contest a borough . Friends , upon whose judgment he relies , advised otherwise , but we believe it is settled that he is to try his

fortune at the hustings , and if merit , which is a drug in the Civil Service , has its clue weight with the constituencies , he will have no difficulty in winning a seat . In Parliament , on whatever side of the house he may sit , he will make his way ; but we may fairly assume , since he is a member of the

Reform Cinb , that he will be ambitious to sit for a Liberal borough . The party is depressed just now , but there are great questions looming in the distance , and in the discussion of them it may be his fortune to test his powers as a debater . But , wherever he goes , or to whatever work he

“The Freemason's Chronicle: 1876-01-29, Page 2” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 4 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fcn/issues/fcn_29011876/page/2/.
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Title Category Page
THE LATEST NEWS FROM PHILADELPHIA. Article 1
MASONIC PORTRAITS (No. 13.) FROM UNDER THE CROWN. Article 1
SPECULATIONS ON THE PYRAMIDS. Article 3
EAST, WEST AND SOUTH. Article 3
LODGE OF PRUDENT BRETHREN, No. 145. Article 4
PALATINE AND JERUSALEM CHAPTER OF ANTIQUITY (No. 2, A. AND P. RITE). Article 5
REVIEWS. Article 5
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON: Article 6
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OUR WEEKLY BUDGET. Article 8
STRANGE MASONIC INCIDENT. Article 11
PRESENTATION AT MULLINGAR. Article 11
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DIARY FOR THE WEEK. Article 12
NOTICES OF MEETINGS. Article 12
MASONIC CHARITY. A STORY OF THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS. Article 14
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Portraits (No. 13.) From Under The Crown.

of this active interference with tho Service has been to make its last state worse than its first . Although some prizes are held up within the view of the candidate who is seeking to get his bread by official drudgery , the rank ancl file are but poorly paid , and the best men have been driven

to eke out their scanty salaries by literary or even scientific work . One of the greatest of the scientific lights of the present day was once a computer on the staff of the Ordnance Survey . Scores of journalists ancl authors of note are , or have been , " under the Crown , " ancl the hero of this sketch

has himself confessed that he wasted twenty years of his life at Somerset House . "Twenty years completely thrown away ! " Such were his words , which are full of eloquence , because they remind us—though , for our part , we need no such reminclei—that for great , or exceptional ability , there

is no scope in tho Civil Service . Yet our hero , amongst his colleagues , who are not always the most lenient judges , was held in high repute for professional knowledge and zeal . The popular voice proclaimed that he was fitted for the higher posts of his department , but when tho

opportunity for promotion came he was quietly passed over , ancl a gentleman , who did not possess a tithe of his talent or business capacity , was placed in tho vacant post . Promotion by merit had its usual effect . It simply kept the

man of merit down , with his nose to tho grindstone , while the man without the black mark of genius on his face was invited , like tho unworthy man of Scripture , to go up hisrher .

Our hero was early connected with literature , and his fame as a journalist was , doubtless , known to the authorities . He was on the staff of the Daily Neics when the Suez Canal was opened , ancl was commissioned b y the editor to act as special correspondent during the inaugural ceremony .

He , of course , obtained the proper leave of absence from his chiefs , ancl departed to the scene of his labours . Those who desire to know aught of his brilliant despatches from Port Said may turn over a file of our contemporary , and satisfy themselves . It is sufficient for us to say , that his

letters fully sustained the reputation of the great journal in which they appeared . His leave having expired , and our hero having further journalistic work in view , coolly telegraphed home ( Civil Servants are usually cool fellows ) that he was going on to Calcutta , ancl required extended leave . Our economical readers need not assume virtuous

airs , since this further holiday involved the curtailment of pay . Whether or not his pen was busily employed during his brief visit to India we do not remember , but there can be little doubt that the readers of the Daily News profited by his prolonged absence from his official stool of repentance .

But the longest holiday must have an end , ancl ono fine morning our hero quietly walked into his old department , " signed on , " hung his hat on its accustomed hook , and , after a pleasant chat with his old colleagues , went on for the rest of tho clay . His Chief , who , whatever his merit as

an official , has always failed to see merit in others , at once reported him for absence without leave ; but , before the report could be sent in to the authorities , our talented brother , with the lordly contempt of a man who has other irons in the fire , tendered his resignation . Thus ended his

long career in Her Majesty s Service—a career which mi ght have been eventful ancl brilliant if the authorities had had eyes to recognise the stuff of which he was made . It was absurd to expect such a man to drive a quill ancl cast

accounts during the whole of his life ; and the fact that he performed this distasteful work for so long a period , proves that the " square men " are wonderfully patient and resigned when the fates place them in the " round holes . " No man

is more fully competent to write upon the grievances of the Service than he , ancl , when he enters Parliament , we may expect that he will do something to ameliorate the condition of those with whose lot his own was cast . One recent shot

of his has , indeed , fallen like a bomb shell in the midst of the "bigwigs . " We allude to tho wonderful article on " The Board of Inland lievenue , " which appeared in the columns of the World , to which journal our hero occasionally contributes .

His Masonic career has been much more eventful than his official life , and , as a Mason , he is known throughout , the length ancl breadth of the land . He is a P . M . of the Universal Lodge , 181 , a Past Deputy Grand Master of

Middlesex , an office ho held for a period of two years . He is Vice Patron of each of the Charities , ancl P . G . D of England . So high a position as that which he holds in the ranks of the Order is rarel y achieved without merit , and our brother has , indeed . lthrown into the cause all

Masonic Portraits (No. 13.) From Under The Crown.

those great talents for which he is remarkable . Ho is an able speaker ; indeed , unlike most writers , he is as read y with his tongue as he is with his pen , but , like most literary men , he rarely airs his oratory without premeditation . Those who do not know him intimately are accustomed to

speak of his austerity ; ancl , doubtless , to thoso who see merely the external husk of his mind , ho may appear slightly " angular . " To those with whom he is intimate he is a most genial friend and companion . Austere manners are often unconsciously assumed by many of the most benevolent

ancl kindly of men . Austerity is undoubtedly an unpleasant trait of character , but we English are all more or less " angular " persons , although some of us manage to get the more acute edges of the mind rubbed down in our intercourse with the world . Some of the best natures , however ,

like the diamond , refuse to yield to ordinary friction ; ancl , with respect to our brother , if the facets of his intellect are sometimes unusually prominent , we should never forget that they indicate the high quality of the stuff of which his mental organisation is composed . His career since he has

left the Civil Service has been one of high success . He has entered keenly into commercial pursuits , and has acquired wealth ancl distinction in the world . He is Chairman of the Alexandra Dock Company at Newport , Monmouthshire , a Director of several other flourishing companies ,

and , lastly , he is Master of the Needlemakers , one of the Livery Companies of the City of London , which promises , under his rule , to regain its old position of influence in the Councils of the Common Hall . When at home , our brother dispenses a princely hospitality , and is always glad to be

surrounded with his friends . He would be equally glad of the society of some of the humbler members of the animal kingdom , but the rooks , notwithstanding his frequent negotiations , refuse to settle in the nests he has considerately built for them in the trees of his spacious park .

Wealth in this country can command much , but rooks appear to despise the blandishments of the rich ; and while we are all bowing down before the yellow idol , the independent attitude of this artful and unsnobbish bird almost inspires us with feelings of awe . Let it be said henceforth

that the rich man , although he may purchase fame , and the applause of his kind , cannot buy the homage of one poor bird . If the rooks would but condescend to tell us

what they think of human society as a whole , wo should all be grateful to them . This wise bird is , we believe , given to moralising , and at least he might compose us a satire upon the vanity of human wishes .

Our brother is an ardent collector , not of art treasures although we believe he possesses fine artistic taste , but of horse-shoes . The walls of one room in his house are covered

with these homely trophies , which he has picked in the course of his travels at home and abroad . When on horseback / ho has often dismounted for the purpose of adding a stray shoe to his collection . Perhaps he has a vague idea , in spite of his training and education , that a horse-shoe is

the talisman of good fortune . Many men of culture are not ashamed to confess that they hold theories at which all the schools and the professors of the " ologies " would laugh . But if the horse-shoes bring " luck , " perhaps they have the effect of keeping away the rooks . The family to

which this bird belongs ( Gorvidce ) has always had an evil reputation for its supposed alliance with the powers of darkness . The known virtues of a horse-shoe in keeping objectionable beings out of a house , will at once suggest to our brother that some mysterious connection exists between

that remarkable room of his ancl the empty nests in the trees of his park . If he sighs for rooks , Jet him throw away his horse-shoes , and then , perhaps , the knowing birds will forget his wealth , ancl condescend to become his o-uests .

We have referred to the possibility of a parliamentary career for our eminent brother , and we believe he was strongly inclined , at tho last general election , to contest a borough . Friends , upon whose judgment he relies , advised otherwise , but we believe it is settled that he is to try his

fortune at the hustings , and if merit , which is a drug in the Civil Service , has its clue weight with the constituencies , he will have no difficulty in winning a seat . In Parliament , on whatever side of the house he may sit , he will make his way ; but we may fairly assume , since he is a member of the

Reform Cinb , that he will be ambitious to sit for a Liberal borough . The party is depressed just now , but there are great questions looming in the distance , and in the discussion of them it may be his fortune to test his powers as a debater . But , wherever he goes , or to whatever work he

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