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Article MASONIC REMINISCENCES. ← Page 5 of 8 →
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Masonic Reminiscences.
tears , entreating to be sent any where rather than there , as it was near killing his respected parent . "Am I to understand , my young ' covey' that your father was n Botany Bay ? " . " 0 yes , " blubbered Phil , "for several years . " " Tunther and turf , " shouted the constable , have I been all this time
palavering with the son of a returned convict : Hollo , there , Dooley , where did you pick up this chap ? we must see how he came by this watch , chain , and purse—judging from them thought he could be nothing less than a , fellow-commoner . " After some explanation and a long cross-examination of Phil , the constable added to his stock of local knowledge by discovering , much to his
amusement , that there was " Abotany Bay " nearer than the antipodes , and after dividing the contents of the purse between himself and Dooley , poor Phil was ushered into court before the sitting magistrate , Alder—n F g , who discharged him in consideration of its being his first offence , with a little wholesome advice . How vividly does our mind ' s eye , through the long vista of years , rest upon the form of that portly and dignified functionary , with his paragon of a wig , whose colour , —¦
"To shame might bring The blackness of the raven ' s wing . " And whose spotless neckcloth might in whiteness vie with Alpine snows , he felt a conscientious sympathy with the foibles of hot blood , and boyhood ; in the wisdom of his ripened years he forgot not the weaknesses of youthhe was the pink of Justices , blessings on him , many a time lie
, let us down easy ! No antiquated gentleman of the feline kind ever made his way more cautiously , or stealthily to the " trysting place" on the tiles , than did our hero as he stole slyly through unfrequented places to " cousin Jack ' s " rooms in college , where he found several of his companions of the previous evening imbibing brandy , and soda water , as merry , and as mischevious
as ever . Phil ' s eye attracted universal notice and attention , and they at once decided to make it the instrument of a practical joke , despite the protests of one or two good natured dissentients . At this period there dwelt in the neighbourhood of Grafton Street , a grim looking ogress , "bearded like the pard , " whose temper was as ferocious as her rude masculine appearance indicated ; in her shop window
was exhibited a placard intimating that " Bofonging and Goofering were done there . " This placard became an intense puzzle to the young idlers who strolled about that locality , and who never passed without stopping to have a laugh at it , to the great chagrin and mortification of the tigress within . Etymologists were looked into , and divers consultations held as to what it could mean , or what was the lady ' s -calling . Some supposed her
to be an illegitimate medical practitioner , and that it had reference to mystic nostrums ; others contended that it was meant to convey the notion that she told fortunes , and sold abracadabras , —while mesmeric
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Reminiscences.
tears , entreating to be sent any where rather than there , as it was near killing his respected parent . "Am I to understand , my young ' covey' that your father was n Botany Bay ? " . " 0 yes , " blubbered Phil , "for several years . " " Tunther and turf , " shouted the constable , have I been all this time
palavering with the son of a returned convict : Hollo , there , Dooley , where did you pick up this chap ? we must see how he came by this watch , chain , and purse—judging from them thought he could be nothing less than a , fellow-commoner . " After some explanation and a long cross-examination of Phil , the constable added to his stock of local knowledge by discovering , much to his
amusement , that there was " Abotany Bay " nearer than the antipodes , and after dividing the contents of the purse between himself and Dooley , poor Phil was ushered into court before the sitting magistrate , Alder—n F g , who discharged him in consideration of its being his first offence , with a little wholesome advice . How vividly does our mind ' s eye , through the long vista of years , rest upon the form of that portly and dignified functionary , with his paragon of a wig , whose colour , —¦
"To shame might bring The blackness of the raven ' s wing . " And whose spotless neckcloth might in whiteness vie with Alpine snows , he felt a conscientious sympathy with the foibles of hot blood , and boyhood ; in the wisdom of his ripened years he forgot not the weaknesses of youthhe was the pink of Justices , blessings on him , many a time lie
, let us down easy ! No antiquated gentleman of the feline kind ever made his way more cautiously , or stealthily to the " trysting place" on the tiles , than did our hero as he stole slyly through unfrequented places to " cousin Jack ' s " rooms in college , where he found several of his companions of the previous evening imbibing brandy , and soda water , as merry , and as mischevious
as ever . Phil ' s eye attracted universal notice and attention , and they at once decided to make it the instrument of a practical joke , despite the protests of one or two good natured dissentients . At this period there dwelt in the neighbourhood of Grafton Street , a grim looking ogress , "bearded like the pard , " whose temper was as ferocious as her rude masculine appearance indicated ; in her shop window
was exhibited a placard intimating that " Bofonging and Goofering were done there . " This placard became an intense puzzle to the young idlers who strolled about that locality , and who never passed without stopping to have a laugh at it , to the great chagrin and mortification of the tigress within . Etymologists were looked into , and divers consultations held as to what it could mean , or what was the lady ' s -calling . Some supposed her
to be an illegitimate medical practitioner , and that it had reference to mystic nostrums ; others contended that it was meant to convey the notion that she told fortunes , and sold abracadabras , —while mesmeric