-
Articles/Ads
Article OLD MOSELEY HALL; ← Page 3 of 3 Article MASONIC ANECDOTE. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Moseley Hall;
house ; shewed us the very bedstead ( fact !) in which the king lay , and the extraordinary hole in which he took refuge when an alarm was signalled . AVords cannot describe its strange position ; but it undoubtedly was a complete security to the persecuted priests of the Roman church , for whose safety it was originally designed . The most curious spectacle was to come . AYe ascended another flight of the ample ancient staircase , to where would the reader
suppose ?—a chapel in a garret!—actually , a Roman Catholic chapel in a garret . '—where , for concealment , its priests had fled to perform , by stealth , the rites of their religion , in the time that Rome was retaliated upon in something like the spirit of her own bigotry , and where , actually , up to these last few years , her religious services have been celebrated . Our worth y Brother and Companion—the publican and papist—literally pointed out the spot where he had often knelt , in his less sinful days , to
be shriven of his venalities of the flesh . The one P . devoutly crossed himself ; the great P . made a great exclamation ; and the other P . thus moralised : " O tempora mutantur ! that the lofty , arrogant , ambitious , truculent , and persecuting Church of Rome should have been thus humiliated , and reduced to the miserable shift of performing high mass in a cock-loft . " Verily , there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous ; and here it was literally exemplified .
Masonic Anecdote.
MASONIC ANECDOTE .
FREEMASONRY IN THE ARMY . To THE EDITOR , —Yon have , with such praiseworthy zeal , published several anecdotes that reflect the highest honour on the Masonic soldier , as to lead me to hope you will not refuse admission to the following proof of the generous and noble sentiments by which the soldier caii be influenced ; and , as this anecdote expresses the powerful impression which Freemasonry exercises even over the uninitiatedit willI
con-, , sider , be still more acceptable to you . The annals of the Peninsular AVar have furnished many Masonic illustrations , and the Sixth Dragoon Guards , on one occasion , afforded an especial one . The regiment , after a severe engagement , lost its baggage , among which was the chest containing the Lodge furniture , jewels , & c . The commander of the capturing party , when he saw the Masonic emblems on the chest , immediately sent for one of the
prisoners , and demanded the meaning of the marks , which the soldier , as far as was prudent , explained . The French officer , on finding the chest belonged to a Freemasons' Lodge , directed it to be returned to the English regiment , with a flag of truce , AND A GUARD OP HONOUR ! forwarding , at the same time , a letter , stating that , although no Freemason himself , yet he respected the society , and that his brother officers who were Freemasons would never forgive himif he did not treat the
, misfortunes of their Brethren with the utmost possible kindness . All honour to the Masonic soldier ! Finus . The anecdote was related on a recent occasion , when the presentation of a testimonial to a Masonic clergyman created an intense interest .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Moseley Hall;
house ; shewed us the very bedstead ( fact !) in which the king lay , and the extraordinary hole in which he took refuge when an alarm was signalled . AVords cannot describe its strange position ; but it undoubtedly was a complete security to the persecuted priests of the Roman church , for whose safety it was originally designed . The most curious spectacle was to come . AYe ascended another flight of the ample ancient staircase , to where would the reader
suppose ?—a chapel in a garret!—actually , a Roman Catholic chapel in a garret . '—where , for concealment , its priests had fled to perform , by stealth , the rites of their religion , in the time that Rome was retaliated upon in something like the spirit of her own bigotry , and where , actually , up to these last few years , her religious services have been celebrated . Our worth y Brother and Companion—the publican and papist—literally pointed out the spot where he had often knelt , in his less sinful days , to
be shriven of his venalities of the flesh . The one P . devoutly crossed himself ; the great P . made a great exclamation ; and the other P . thus moralised : " O tempora mutantur ! that the lofty , arrogant , ambitious , truculent , and persecuting Church of Rome should have been thus humiliated , and reduced to the miserable shift of performing high mass in a cock-loft . " Verily , there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous ; and here it was literally exemplified .
Masonic Anecdote.
MASONIC ANECDOTE .
FREEMASONRY IN THE ARMY . To THE EDITOR , —Yon have , with such praiseworthy zeal , published several anecdotes that reflect the highest honour on the Masonic soldier , as to lead me to hope you will not refuse admission to the following proof of the generous and noble sentiments by which the soldier caii be influenced ; and , as this anecdote expresses the powerful impression which Freemasonry exercises even over the uninitiatedit willI
con-, , sider , be still more acceptable to you . The annals of the Peninsular AVar have furnished many Masonic illustrations , and the Sixth Dragoon Guards , on one occasion , afforded an especial one . The regiment , after a severe engagement , lost its baggage , among which was the chest containing the Lodge furniture , jewels , & c . The commander of the capturing party , when he saw the Masonic emblems on the chest , immediately sent for one of the
prisoners , and demanded the meaning of the marks , which the soldier , as far as was prudent , explained . The French officer , on finding the chest belonged to a Freemasons' Lodge , directed it to be returned to the English regiment , with a flag of truce , AND A GUARD OP HONOUR ! forwarding , at the same time , a letter , stating that , although no Freemason himself , yet he respected the society , and that his brother officers who were Freemasons would never forgive himif he did not treat the
, misfortunes of their Brethren with the utmost possible kindness . All honour to the Masonic soldier ! Finus . The anecdote was related on a recent occasion , when the presentation of a testimonial to a Masonic clergyman created an intense interest .