Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. John Lee Stevens , P.M., P. G. S., &C.
BRO . JOHN LEE STEVENS , P . M ., P . G . S ., & c .
" Great universal Architect ! Our labours and our plans direct , Until , delighted , we complete This monument of art , Where Masons may securely meet . And mysteries impart . "
THE subject of our present sketch—a Mason of very long standingwas initiated at Plymouth , in the Lodge of Charity , No . 270 , of which lodge he afterwards became Master . He then partially retired from his duties as a craftsman , and , like many other well-disposed brethren , he contented himself with the stat nominis umbra , until he was roused from his apathy by the appearance of the " Freemasons' Quarterly
Review . " The preliminary number forcibly attracted his attention at the time he was editor of the " Morning News . " We will quote his own words : — " . JjL . is now fourteen years since we joined the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons . Many and strange have been the mutations of our
fortune since then , —pursued hy adversity , —chastened by affliction , — anon , cheered by brighter prospects , —sometimes even in the actual enjoyment of prosperity ' s ' all sunny sheen , '—again , perchance , ' sinking amid sorrows , '—yet , in each and all , our attachment to the Craft has always afforded either enjoyment or consolation . How can we , then , but feel exceeding gratification at beholding , within the mysterious
precincts of editorial location , this outward sign of the still more mysterious—this right hand , as it were , of Freemasonry , disarming ( because grasping ) the right hand of criticism ? Critical , in such a case , we could not be ; nor is there need , for this first , as we would fondly rely , of a vigorous and long-lived race , has in it so much deserving of praise , that to be critical would be unkind , not to say unjust . We commend
the whole design of the ' Freemasons' Quarterly : ' I it will go far to convince the uninitiated that the fraternity are bound together not less by sentiment and affection than by symbolical ties—that their aim is happiness—the means they use peace , truth , and brotherly lovexjand it will aid in the diffusion of instruction , and in drawing still more closel y together the bonds of amity among the Craft , by obtaining a place in
the library of every lodge in the united kingdom . " The writer of such sentiments was worthy of being wooed back to the Order . He speedily entered as a volunteer in the salient cohort—became
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. John Lee Stevens , P.M., P. G. S., &C.
BRO . JOHN LEE STEVENS , P . M ., P . G . S ., & c .
" Great universal Architect ! Our labours and our plans direct , Until , delighted , we complete This monument of art , Where Masons may securely meet . And mysteries impart . "
THE subject of our present sketch—a Mason of very long standingwas initiated at Plymouth , in the Lodge of Charity , No . 270 , of which lodge he afterwards became Master . He then partially retired from his duties as a craftsman , and , like many other well-disposed brethren , he contented himself with the stat nominis umbra , until he was roused from his apathy by the appearance of the " Freemasons' Quarterly
Review . " The preliminary number forcibly attracted his attention at the time he was editor of the " Morning News . " We will quote his own words : — " . JjL . is now fourteen years since we joined the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons . Many and strange have been the mutations of our
fortune since then , —pursued hy adversity , —chastened by affliction , — anon , cheered by brighter prospects , —sometimes even in the actual enjoyment of prosperity ' s ' all sunny sheen , '—again , perchance , ' sinking amid sorrows , '—yet , in each and all , our attachment to the Craft has always afforded either enjoyment or consolation . How can we , then , but feel exceeding gratification at beholding , within the mysterious
precincts of editorial location , this outward sign of the still more mysterious—this right hand , as it were , of Freemasonry , disarming ( because grasping ) the right hand of criticism ? Critical , in such a case , we could not be ; nor is there need , for this first , as we would fondly rely , of a vigorous and long-lived race , has in it so much deserving of praise , that to be critical would be unkind , not to say unjust . We commend
the whole design of the ' Freemasons' Quarterly : ' I it will go far to convince the uninitiated that the fraternity are bound together not less by sentiment and affection than by symbolical ties—that their aim is happiness—the means they use peace , truth , and brotherly lovexjand it will aid in the diffusion of instruction , and in drawing still more closel y together the bonds of amity among the Craft , by obtaining a place in
the library of every lodge in the united kingdom . " The writer of such sentiments was worthy of being wooed back to the Order . He speedily entered as a volunteer in the salient cohort—became