Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketch Of The Late Brother Peter Gilkes.
Lntry he felt for the fair sex . In opening a new lodge he would place the ladies in the chair before commencing the solemnities , complimenting them upon their sanction to the furtherance of our mystical rites , hy their precedence on the throne . In early life he lost the sight of his ri ght eye , in consequence ,
of a severe attack of fever . His features Were handsome , his countenace intelligent and expressive , —his habits , as we before observed , unobtrusive and ., land . He was in a manner something Johnsonian in regard to . Masonry , —no advantage could ; be taken of him in lodge , — he would not allow the slightest deviation in word , or manner , or matter , to please the most learned or the most
accomplished in other subjects : we have observed him correct many men of rank ancl influence for deviations from the standard of Masonic illustration , and who , to their credit , acknowledged the reproof with all the courtesy which became their allegiance to the craft . He resembled the great lexiogvapher in his personal appearance , being somewhat slovenly in his habits , which no doubt was owing to his inordinate addiction to smoking , and a privation
from the happier and more joyous comforts of wedded life . In his habits he was abstemious , never taking at dinner more than a boiled potatoe if about to attend a supper lodge . His memory was extraordinary : he hacl an excellent small library , and could repeat the whole of Scott ' s and Byron ' s poetry , —a fact well known to several of the hrethren . He was a great smoker , and used to
declare , that for the last thirty years of his life , he averaged thirty pipes of tobacco and coltsfoot per clay ; he generally used the same pipe for three months , and when completely black would g ive it to some brother , —one of them is at present to be seen in the museum of brother A . L , Thiselton , who was present at his decease . In bis youth he must have been an extremely powerful man ; for when in
his 67 th year , on his return from the Blackfriars Lodge , he was attacked in Lincoln ' s-Inn-Fields by four men , three of whom he knocked down ; he generally earned a cook ' s knife to defend himself with in case of an attack , hut fortunately he had left it at home on the night of the attack . Although universally held in esteem amongst Masons , his conduct was always characterised by good sense : he never aspired beyond his station in life , and declined lhe honour of an office in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketch Of The Late Brother Peter Gilkes.
Lntry he felt for the fair sex . In opening a new lodge he would place the ladies in the chair before commencing the solemnities , complimenting them upon their sanction to the furtherance of our mystical rites , hy their precedence on the throne . In early life he lost the sight of his ri ght eye , in consequence ,
of a severe attack of fever . His features Were handsome , his countenace intelligent and expressive , —his habits , as we before observed , unobtrusive and ., land . He was in a manner something Johnsonian in regard to . Masonry , —no advantage could ; be taken of him in lodge , — he would not allow the slightest deviation in word , or manner , or matter , to please the most learned or the most
accomplished in other subjects : we have observed him correct many men of rank ancl influence for deviations from the standard of Masonic illustration , and who , to their credit , acknowledged the reproof with all the courtesy which became their allegiance to the craft . He resembled the great lexiogvapher in his personal appearance , being somewhat slovenly in his habits , which no doubt was owing to his inordinate addiction to smoking , and a privation
from the happier and more joyous comforts of wedded life . In his habits he was abstemious , never taking at dinner more than a boiled potatoe if about to attend a supper lodge . His memory was extraordinary : he hacl an excellent small library , and could repeat the whole of Scott ' s and Byron ' s poetry , —a fact well known to several of the hrethren . He was a great smoker , and used to
declare , that for the last thirty years of his life , he averaged thirty pipes of tobacco and coltsfoot per clay ; he generally used the same pipe for three months , and when completely black would g ive it to some brother , —one of them is at present to be seen in the museum of brother A . L , Thiselton , who was present at his decease . In bis youth he must have been an extremely powerful man ; for when in
his 67 th year , on his return from the Blackfriars Lodge , he was attacked in Lincoln ' s-Inn-Fields by four men , three of whom he knocked down ; he generally earned a cook ' s knife to defend himself with in case of an attack , hut fortunately he had left it at home on the night of the attack . Although universally held in esteem amongst Masons , his conduct was always characterised by good sense : he never aspired beyond his station in life , and declined lhe honour of an office in