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Article A MASON'S ADVENTURE; ← Page 3 of 4 →
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A Mason's Adventure;
My questions to the waiter as to the whereabout ofthe church I was to officiate in on the morrow , soon made my errand known in the house , and the evening had not closed in bef > re I received a polite message from the landlord , offering to drive me over in the morning to Wednesfield , in his own poney chaise . Something whispered to me that possibly mine host was a Brother Mason , and so he turned out . On the Sabbath morning he introduced himselfand having time to
, spare , volunteered to shew me the collegiate church . Just as we were entering the vestry porch I observed , " surely you are a Mason ? "" I am so taken and accepted , " he replied : and in a moment all the diffidence of strangers was dissipated by fraternal conference . In the collegiate church , which partakes of the character of an abbey , there is a superb stone pulpit ancl staircase of great antiquity , said to have been hewn out of blockand the reading deskalthough of modem
one ; , workmanship , is of carved oak , particularly chaste and unique . There is also a very fine statue in brass , representing one of the Dudley family , in half-armour . So curious and rare is it considered , that casts have been taken from it by the Dukes of Sutherland and Cleveland , and other great proprietors of land in those parts , to be placed in their several seats . The velocity with which I had been transported from London to
Wolverhampton had rather bewildered my senses , and I had not come to my right perception of things when I asked my cicerone , on quitting the church , whether our eminent Brother , Dr . Oliver , was not located somewhere in that neig hbourhood—not recollecting that he was incumbent of the very church I had been inspecting—and to my extreme delight he informed me that the doctor was then in residence , and would , no
doubt , be glad to see me . That pleasure I determined to give myself before I quitted . The village church to which I had been so suddenly dispatched to exercise ministerial functions , I found in a melancholy state of dirt and delapidation , which sadly contrasted with the admirable state of care and cleanliness I had observed in my visit to the town churches during the early part of the morning . The congregation were very attentive ht
and respectful , and in the afternoon , the report of a stranger , broug a greater number of hearers . The good feeling manifested at a funeral , the next day , convinced me that , though neglected , the soil was worthy the sowing of the good seed . I wish I could say as much for places nearer the metropolis . The hospitable attention of the churchwarden , Mr . Stanley , was worthy the imitation of all similar functionaries . A better example of the substantial English yeoman with his comfortable
faim residence , well-spread board , and fine looking family around him , could not well be found . My orig inal intention was to have returned home the following day , hut a funeral intervening , I deferred my departure till the Tuesday ; resolving , at alt hazards , not to omit being present at the Asylum Festival on the Wednesday following , for which the Stewards had honoured me with a ticketOtherwiseI believe Staffordshire friends would
. , , my have kept me the w ' nole week among them . In the evening I addressed a note from my hotel to Dr . Oliver , expressing how gratified I should feel to avail myself of the opportunity , so fortuitously offered , of introducing myself to him . The doctor ' s answer , replete with compliments to my position in Masonry , invited me to breakfast with him the following morning .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Mason's Adventure;
My questions to the waiter as to the whereabout ofthe church I was to officiate in on the morrow , soon made my errand known in the house , and the evening had not closed in bef > re I received a polite message from the landlord , offering to drive me over in the morning to Wednesfield , in his own poney chaise . Something whispered to me that possibly mine host was a Brother Mason , and so he turned out . On the Sabbath morning he introduced himselfand having time to
, spare , volunteered to shew me the collegiate church . Just as we were entering the vestry porch I observed , " surely you are a Mason ? "" I am so taken and accepted , " he replied : and in a moment all the diffidence of strangers was dissipated by fraternal conference . In the collegiate church , which partakes of the character of an abbey , there is a superb stone pulpit ancl staircase of great antiquity , said to have been hewn out of blockand the reading deskalthough of modem
one ; , workmanship , is of carved oak , particularly chaste and unique . There is also a very fine statue in brass , representing one of the Dudley family , in half-armour . So curious and rare is it considered , that casts have been taken from it by the Dukes of Sutherland and Cleveland , and other great proprietors of land in those parts , to be placed in their several seats . The velocity with which I had been transported from London to
Wolverhampton had rather bewildered my senses , and I had not come to my right perception of things when I asked my cicerone , on quitting the church , whether our eminent Brother , Dr . Oliver , was not located somewhere in that neig hbourhood—not recollecting that he was incumbent of the very church I had been inspecting—and to my extreme delight he informed me that the doctor was then in residence , and would , no
doubt , be glad to see me . That pleasure I determined to give myself before I quitted . The village church to which I had been so suddenly dispatched to exercise ministerial functions , I found in a melancholy state of dirt and delapidation , which sadly contrasted with the admirable state of care and cleanliness I had observed in my visit to the town churches during the early part of the morning . The congregation were very attentive ht
and respectful , and in the afternoon , the report of a stranger , broug a greater number of hearers . The good feeling manifested at a funeral , the next day , convinced me that , though neglected , the soil was worthy the sowing of the good seed . I wish I could say as much for places nearer the metropolis . The hospitable attention of the churchwarden , Mr . Stanley , was worthy the imitation of all similar functionaries . A better example of the substantial English yeoman with his comfortable
faim residence , well-spread board , and fine looking family around him , could not well be found . My orig inal intention was to have returned home the following day , hut a funeral intervening , I deferred my departure till the Tuesday ; resolving , at alt hazards , not to omit being present at the Asylum Festival on the Wednesday following , for which the Stewards had honoured me with a ticketOtherwiseI believe Staffordshire friends would
. , , my have kept me the w ' nole week among them . In the evening I addressed a note from my hotel to Dr . Oliver , expressing how gratified I should feel to avail myself of the opportunity , so fortuitously offered , of introducing myself to him . The doctor ' s answer , replete with compliments to my position in Masonry , invited me to breakfast with him the following morning .