Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Testimonial To Brother Robert Thomas Crucefix , M.D.
The gems that grace the wreath of joy Above our heads suspended , Were found by Truth on Friendshi p ' s shrine , Ancl in one cluster blended ! So we , beneath their rays , unite In bright masonic splendour , To honour him whom Truth and Faith
Have proved their best defender ! May length of days be given him , With health , life ' s greatest blessing-Domestic love—unnumber'd friends—And all that ' s worth possessing ! And when , to other care , he leaves The fatherless and friendless , May he , in Heaven ' s Grand Lodge , partake Of joy and glory endless !
Bro . J . LEE STEVENS , the W . M . of the Bank of England Lodge , who sat on the left of the Rev . Chairman , then claimed the attention of the Brethren to a duty ancl an object which must give them unmingled pleasure—he meant the proposition and the fruition of a gratifying toast— " The health of their excellent Chairman "—( loud cheers ) , jfe would first thank that reverend , learned , and right worshipful Brother for the favour conferred upon every subscriber to the Testimonial , by filling the chair that
day —( cheers ) . How ably , how kindlv , how full y imbued with Masonic aspirations and fraternal feelings , he hacl performed the duties assigned to him , need not be repeated to those who hacl witnessed them ; indeed , it was an undoubted act of supererogation to say aught in his praise . But whilst thus valuing his worth according to that ample display of his merits , it remained to be told , that he had cheerfully and promptly accepted the invitation made to him to
preside over them that day , and hacl travelled many a score of miles to meet them—( renewed cheers ); and most welcome was he to his London Brethren . All knew him , through the tongue of good report , to be one of the ablest practical Masons of the day , and , without any exception , either past or present , the most deeply versed in the ancient lore of the Craft ; and all were , therefore , anxious to know him personally , and to make to him a common tender of respect and affectionate
regard—( cries of hear , hear ) . Wherever his name was mentioned , it was greeted with the utmost deference ; for he was a good son , a good parent , a good pastor , and could not , therefore , be otherwise than a good Mason- ( cheers ) . He ( Bro . Stevens ) should be thanked , he felt assured , by that meeting , when he stated that the very venerable father of the Chairman , now at the patriarchal age of fourscore-and-ten , was nearly
as erudite a iVlason as his son —( hear , hear ) . Of this the Fraternity would bave known more , but that , being cotemporary with the learned and revered Preston , there existed not the same necessity for his literary labours ; and after the death of that worth y Brother in the Craft , his son , their Chairman , had so profited by the instruction of his parent , as to be the only meet successor—because infinitel y the best—to the departed Preston—( cheers ) . How well he had supplied his place would be best learnt by reference to his Masonic works . His History of Initiation , his Signs and Symbols , his Antiquities of Freemasonry , his
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Testimonial To Brother Robert Thomas Crucefix , M.D.
The gems that grace the wreath of joy Above our heads suspended , Were found by Truth on Friendshi p ' s shrine , Ancl in one cluster blended ! So we , beneath their rays , unite In bright masonic splendour , To honour him whom Truth and Faith
Have proved their best defender ! May length of days be given him , With health , life ' s greatest blessing-Domestic love—unnumber'd friends—And all that ' s worth possessing ! And when , to other care , he leaves The fatherless and friendless , May he , in Heaven ' s Grand Lodge , partake Of joy and glory endless !
Bro . J . LEE STEVENS , the W . M . of the Bank of England Lodge , who sat on the left of the Rev . Chairman , then claimed the attention of the Brethren to a duty ancl an object which must give them unmingled pleasure—he meant the proposition and the fruition of a gratifying toast— " The health of their excellent Chairman "—( loud cheers ) , jfe would first thank that reverend , learned , and right worshipful Brother for the favour conferred upon every subscriber to the Testimonial , by filling the chair that
day —( cheers ) . How ably , how kindlv , how full y imbued with Masonic aspirations and fraternal feelings , he hacl performed the duties assigned to him , need not be repeated to those who hacl witnessed them ; indeed , it was an undoubted act of supererogation to say aught in his praise . But whilst thus valuing his worth according to that ample display of his merits , it remained to be told , that he had cheerfully and promptly accepted the invitation made to him to
preside over them that day , and hacl travelled many a score of miles to meet them—( renewed cheers ); and most welcome was he to his London Brethren . All knew him , through the tongue of good report , to be one of the ablest practical Masons of the day , and , without any exception , either past or present , the most deeply versed in the ancient lore of the Craft ; and all were , therefore , anxious to know him personally , and to make to him a common tender of respect and affectionate
regard—( cries of hear , hear ) . Wherever his name was mentioned , it was greeted with the utmost deference ; for he was a good son , a good parent , a good pastor , and could not , therefore , be otherwise than a good Mason- ( cheers ) . He ( Bro . Stevens ) should be thanked , he felt assured , by that meeting , when he stated that the very venerable father of the Chairman , now at the patriarchal age of fourscore-and-ten , was nearly
as erudite a iVlason as his son —( hear , hear ) . Of this the Fraternity would bave known more , but that , being cotemporary with the learned and revered Preston , there existed not the same necessity for his literary labours ; and after the death of that worth y Brother in the Craft , his son , their Chairman , had so profited by the instruction of his parent , as to be the only meet successor—because infinitel y the best—to the departed Preston—( cheers ) . How well he had supplied his place would be best learnt by reference to his Masonic works . His History of Initiation , his Signs and Symbols , his Antiquities of Freemasonry , his