Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
presided , was got up for thc purpose of affording my friends an opportunity of insulting the Duke of Sussex ! ! ! No one will be more surprised at this than yourself . The utter absurdity and falsehood of the report displays its vindictive character . But surely no person possessing the feeling of a gentleman will credit an assertion so perfectly groundless . Of this I am morally certain , that it will not be
accredited at head-quarters . If any one should entertain a doubt on the subject , let him refer to the report in the F . Q . R ., and his doubts will be removed . But , n'importe , my dear friend ; fear not for Masonry itself ; the same generous feelings that have once rescued it from degradation , will rally round the Ark of the Covenant , and purify it still more . Ever faithfully yours , " R . T . CRUCEFIX . "
This slander , like all others which are not founded on truth , doubtless originated with a single individual , and having been set afloat , passed rapidly from hand to hand , till it reached the ear for which it was intended . However , we are happy to say it reflected no discredit on Dr . Crucefix , in that , or any other quarter ; for what motive could the Doctor have strong enough to induce him , in his
present position , to insult the Grand Master ? He had barely escaped the highest penalty which Masonry could inflict ; and that , too , with the privity and concurrence of His Royal Highness . AVhy , then , should Dr . Crucefix , or any of his friends , wish to insult him 1 The idea is too ridiculous to be seriously entertained ; and none but the most simple ever suffered themselves to be deluded by it .
Still the very suspicion was unfavourable to a certain extent , or at least it was made the excuse for further hostilities . He shared the fate of poor Gay , who , like Dr . Crucefix , " lay under the suspicion of having written a libel against Sir Robert Walpole . It is true that great minister was demonstratively convinced , ancl publicly owned his conviction , that Mr . Gay was not the author ; but having lain
under the suspicion , it seemed very just that he should suffer the punishment ; because , in this most reformed age , the virtues of a prime minister are no more to be suspected than the chastity of Ccesar's wife . " * Tho Doctor still continued to use his most active and benevolent exertions in the behalf of Masonic charity . He was delighted to
find that his projected plan of an Asylum for Worthy Aged and Decayed Freemasons had stimulated the Grand Lodge to an experiment founded on the same principles , which would operate to the benefit of the poor and aged members of the Fraternity . He made proposals for an amalgamation of the two institutions , which were submitted to the consideration of the Board of General Purposes , which , as Dr . Crucefix informed the author by letter , dated Feb . 9 , 1842 , " finally declined to entertain any proposition from the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
presided , was got up for thc purpose of affording my friends an opportunity of insulting the Duke of Sussex ! ! ! No one will be more surprised at this than yourself . The utter absurdity and falsehood of the report displays its vindictive character . But surely no person possessing the feeling of a gentleman will credit an assertion so perfectly groundless . Of this I am morally certain , that it will not be
accredited at head-quarters . If any one should entertain a doubt on the subject , let him refer to the report in the F . Q . R ., and his doubts will be removed . But , n'importe , my dear friend ; fear not for Masonry itself ; the same generous feelings that have once rescued it from degradation , will rally round the Ark of the Covenant , and purify it still more . Ever faithfully yours , " R . T . CRUCEFIX . "
This slander , like all others which are not founded on truth , doubtless originated with a single individual , and having been set afloat , passed rapidly from hand to hand , till it reached the ear for which it was intended . However , we are happy to say it reflected no discredit on Dr . Crucefix , in that , or any other quarter ; for what motive could the Doctor have strong enough to induce him , in his
present position , to insult the Grand Master ? He had barely escaped the highest penalty which Masonry could inflict ; and that , too , with the privity and concurrence of His Royal Highness . AVhy , then , should Dr . Crucefix , or any of his friends , wish to insult him 1 The idea is too ridiculous to be seriously entertained ; and none but the most simple ever suffered themselves to be deluded by it .
Still the very suspicion was unfavourable to a certain extent , or at least it was made the excuse for further hostilities . He shared the fate of poor Gay , who , like Dr . Crucefix , " lay under the suspicion of having written a libel against Sir Robert Walpole . It is true that great minister was demonstratively convinced , ancl publicly owned his conviction , that Mr . Gay was not the author ; but having lain
under the suspicion , it seemed very just that he should suffer the punishment ; because , in this most reformed age , the virtues of a prime minister are no more to be suspected than the chastity of Ccesar's wife . " * Tho Doctor still continued to use his most active and benevolent exertions in the behalf of Masonic charity . He was delighted to
find that his projected plan of an Asylum for Worthy Aged and Decayed Freemasons had stimulated the Grand Lodge to an experiment founded on the same principles , which would operate to the benefit of the poor and aged members of the Fraternity . He made proposals for an amalgamation of the two institutions , which were submitted to the consideration of the Board of General Purposes , which , as Dr . Crucefix informed the author by letter , dated Feb . 9 , 1842 , " finally declined to entertain any proposition from the