Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The V. W. Bro. W. H. White, Grand Secretary.
regret to be obliged to represent our Brother with impaired hearing and eyesight ; but the fact is so , and no wonder , when it is considered that Brother White has passed the term of years allotted to man by Holy Writ . He is said , —and we believe truly—to be at times , deaf on one side , and rather blind on the other . His articulation is thick and indistinct , and at large assemblies of the Grand Lodge , many members
cannot hear one half that he mumbles . But it is said " faith comes by hearing , " and it being so , accounts in a great measure , for the misapprehension of much that our worthy functionary utters , but which is not believed , because it is not heard .
The manner of Bro . White is apparently frank , his qualities social , and his intercourse agreeable . He is somewhat below the middle stature , has a venerable physiognomy , and an easy but not elegant demeanour . His merits as a Mason are of a negative character , unless we are to rate ordinary abilities as exalted gifts , and the absence of positive evil as equivalent to qualified good . In the mere practice of the manual of
Masonry we do not hold Bro . White in very high repute for his recollection of the ritual , nor for his manner of performing the duties . We should say at no period could our Brother lay claim to any masonic excellence : plodding mediocrity seems to be the extent of his pretensions .
Whatever benefits our Grand Secretary may have conferred on the interests of the Craft ( and we do not say he has not ) we leave others to discover and determine . It may however , be now said of him , les eaux sont basses dies lui . As the most graceful thing Ceasar did was on his retirement from the capitol , so in like manner may our modern Ceasar earn a compliment by speedily seceding from an office , for the retention of which , neither his years nor his abilities can plead an excuse .
Brother White has been , and continues to be , a subscriber to all the masonic charities , except the Aged Masons' Asylum ; of which institution , like some others of the clique Imperial , he seems to have an instinctive aversion . Not satisfied with the 500 / . a year paid to Brother White as Grand
Secretary , his friends and dependants ( including all the expectants for office in futuro ) are now engaged in carrying about the begging-box ! In the language of Sir Oliver Surface in the " School for Scandal , " we will give them a sentiment , — " Here ' s all the success which begging deserves . " ITHURIEL .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The V. W. Bro. W. H. White, Grand Secretary.
regret to be obliged to represent our Brother with impaired hearing and eyesight ; but the fact is so , and no wonder , when it is considered that Brother White has passed the term of years allotted to man by Holy Writ . He is said , —and we believe truly—to be at times , deaf on one side , and rather blind on the other . His articulation is thick and indistinct , and at large assemblies of the Grand Lodge , many members
cannot hear one half that he mumbles . But it is said " faith comes by hearing , " and it being so , accounts in a great measure , for the misapprehension of much that our worthy functionary utters , but which is not believed , because it is not heard .
The manner of Bro . White is apparently frank , his qualities social , and his intercourse agreeable . He is somewhat below the middle stature , has a venerable physiognomy , and an easy but not elegant demeanour . His merits as a Mason are of a negative character , unless we are to rate ordinary abilities as exalted gifts , and the absence of positive evil as equivalent to qualified good . In the mere practice of the manual of
Masonry we do not hold Bro . White in very high repute for his recollection of the ritual , nor for his manner of performing the duties . We should say at no period could our Brother lay claim to any masonic excellence : plodding mediocrity seems to be the extent of his pretensions .
Whatever benefits our Grand Secretary may have conferred on the interests of the Craft ( and we do not say he has not ) we leave others to discover and determine . It may however , be now said of him , les eaux sont basses dies lui . As the most graceful thing Ceasar did was on his retirement from the capitol , so in like manner may our modern Ceasar earn a compliment by speedily seceding from an office , for the retention of which , neither his years nor his abilities can plead an excuse .
Brother White has been , and continues to be , a subscriber to all the masonic charities , except the Aged Masons' Asylum ; of which institution , like some others of the clique Imperial , he seems to have an instinctive aversion . Not satisfied with the 500 / . a year paid to Brother White as Grand
Secretary , his friends and dependants ( including all the expectants for office in futuro ) are now engaged in carrying about the begging-box ! In the language of Sir Oliver Surface in the " School for Scandal , " we will give them a sentiment , — " Here ' s all the success which begging deserves . " ITHURIEL .