The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1879-01-24

London. It may be observed, before pro-
ceeding TO CLEAN from this work the nsrrs.
tive Of her initiation, that the authenticity
Of all the circumstances vas confirmed on
their first publication by an eye witness 10
the Transaction.
The Hon. Elizabeth st. Leger was born
about l7l3, and was the Youngest child
and only daughter Of the Right Hon. Arthur
st. Leger, first viscount Doneraile, of Ire
land, who died in l727, and was succeeded
by his eldest son, the brother of our heroine.
Subsequently to her initiation into the mys-
teries of Freemasonry she married Richard
Aldworth, ESQ, Of Newmarket, In the coun-
ty Of Cork.
Lodge No. A, in which she was Unlisted,
was In some sort, an aristocrstic Lodge, con.
sisting principally of tbs gentry and most
| respectable and wealthy inhabitants Of the
country around Doneraile. The communities
tions were usually held in the town, but du-
ring the Mastership Of Lord Doneraile, un.
Ger whom his sister was initiated, the meet
ings were often held at his Lordships resi-
dence.
1t was during one Of these meetings at
Doneraile House. that this female initiation
took place, the story of which Spencer, in
the memoir to which we have referred, re-
lates in the following words:
1t happened on this particular occasion
that the Lodge was held In room separate
from another, as is often the case, by studd
and brickwork. The young lady, being gid
,dy and thoughtless, and determined to graf.
ify her curiosity, made her arrangements &C.
cordingly, and, with pair Of scissors, les
she herself related to the mother Of our in.
formsnt,) removed portion of brick from
the wall, and placed herself 90 as to COM
mand full view Of everything which oc-
CURED in the next room SO placed, she wit.
messed the t,oo first degrees in Masonry,
which was the extent of the proceedings Of
the Lodge on that night. Becoming aware,
from what she heard, that the brethren were
about 10 separate, for the first time she felt
tremblingly alive to the swkwardness and
danger of her situation, and began TO con-
slider how she could retire without observa.
tion. She became nervous and agitated, and
nearly tainted, but so far recovered herself
as to be fully aware Of the necessity Of with
drawing as quickly as possible In the act
of doing SO, being in the dark, she stumbled
against and overthrow something, said to bs
Q chair or some ornamental piece Of furni-
ture. The crash was loud and the Tyler
who was on the lobby or landing on which
the doors OF both the Lodge room and that
where the Honorable Miss St. Leger vas
opened, gave the alarm, burnt open the door.
and with q light In one hand and drawn
sword in the other, appeared to the nov ter
rifisd and fainting lady. He va soon join
ed by the members of the Lodge present.
and luckily for it is asserted but for the
prompt appearance of her brother. Lord
Doneraile, and other steady member, her
life would have fallen sacrifice 10 wAsS
was then esteemed her crime. The first csro
OF his Lordship was to resuscitate the unfor.
tunate lady without alarming the house sra
endeavor to learn from her an explanstioG
of what had occurred; having done 20, o,raany
of the members being furious at the trsuznc.
ton, she was placed under guard Of the II.
Ter and q member in the room Tb1ss pf>
was found. The members re-egse-c5.sa ID
delibersted % to what, under t..s circu.s-
stances, was to be done and over .t-o log. !,
hours she could hear the angry di7srssioa
and death deliberately proposed END sesor =
ed. At length the good seaae OF tts i-s..or
ty succeeded in calming, in core .7c-7S-e,
the angry and irritated f:s,,-.. 9. t,.a,r,-i
of the members, when, aftsT rlucs rsd be =,
said and many things proposed, itvss =
solved to give her the option OF cuLnittias.
to the Masonic ordeal to the extent Cd .sa
witnessed, Fellow Crah,) and IL sbs ref,as;l
: the brethren were again to conrult. Be;
waited on to decide, Miss St. Leger, cSh-,f.
ted and terrified by the storminess o. tso d.
, bate, which she could not eyoid prrti-ilJ
hearing, and yet, notwithatsr1i'y az, WITH
secret pleasure, gladly sad ruheN iint,y
accepted the offer. She wa socordisgiy IL
itiated.' aHf
i Mrs., or ~ she Was appropriately called
> Sister Aldworth, lived many ye--s rfte-, bnt
= does not seem ever to hoye forgotten tn.
n lessons Of charity and frsternsl lore which
she received on her unexpoctod initi.t,o-
!. into the esoteric doctrines of tic Ordsr
i Placed As she was,' says the memoir We bav,
: quoted, by her marriage With Aldworth, 4.
4 the head of . very large fortune, the poo!
1 in general, and the Masonic poor in partic
n lular, had good reason to record her numer
Gus and boan,ifll acts Of kindness nor wer
these accompanied with ostentation-fsr from
it. 1t has been remsrke of her, that he
=, custom was to seek out bashful misery an
,o retiring poverty, and with well-directs
n liberslity, sooths many bleeding heart
" "A writer in the London Freemason'
., Quarterly Review 1880, p. S22,) says this
she WA concealed In clock case in the reg
'- ulsr Lodge room ini iMsybery's house of en-
tertainment ct York. But the locus in gu
~. 10 not material. n
~ To Measure Corn In the Ear.
be Multiply the length by the breadth An
lit this product by the depth of corn In thu ne,