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Eminent Masons At Home.

Eminent Masons at Home .

No . 8 . —THE RIGHT HON . SIR HENRY A . ISAACS , LORD MAYOR , AT THE MANSION HOUSE . THEODORE HOOK was not impressed with the importance of the City ' s first magistrate , hut then Theodore Hook lived in peculiar times . He was content with a bench at the " Fossel

Hole" or the coffee-house which now is " Snow ' s , " off Piccadilly , where wits did gather together to ventilate their minds and set themselves a thinking , after the manner of their kind . To-day the Mayoralty is a post of much honor , arrived at only through years of careful wadeing , giving to the fortunate holder a status in Society

far in advance of what is generally and ignorantly supposed . Last year was the 700 th anniversary of the one during which Henry Fitz-Alwyne Fitz-Lifstane , of Londonstane—a member of the Goldsmiths' Company , was elected " Maior " of the City , a post which he held for twenty-three years in succession ; and not until 1319 was

the charter granted which ordained that the mayors of the City should remain in office but for one period of twelve months . The one central spot in this vast metropolis , that nightly sleeps millions of weary heads within the shadows of its boundaries , is that spot where no less than nine thoroughfares converge in front

of the Royal Exchange . For twelve hours out of the twenty-four which constitute a unit of existence , the traffic past this spot is as unceasing and as mighty as the ocean itself . For centuries Cheapside has guided its pedestrians past the portals of the Mansion House on their way to Tower-hill or through old

Finsbury-fields to the heights of Highgate . Lombard-street is the Lombard-street of the Charleses , only that the day of polished granite and stained glass has superseded the half timber and rough Cast of a former age . London Bridge " stands where it did "; it

is merely a London bridge of a later date ; and the Old Jewry , where the Lord Mayors had their official residence before the Mansion House was built , is but the Old Jewry still . It was on October 25 th , one hundred and fifty-six years ago , that Lord Mayor Perry laid the foundation-stone of the present Mansion House ; and not

until nearly fifteen years after did a Lord Mayor—Sir Crisp Gascoigne , in 1753—take up his regal abode within its walls . The original cost of the building , to put it exactly , was J £ 7 ° ^ 95- 13 s . 2 d ., which was principally collected by fining persons who were desirous of buying off their service of the office of Sheriff .

Strype says that the Mansion House stands on the site of the olel Stocks Market , built for the sale of fish and flesh by Lord Mayor Walls , in the tenth year of Edward I . ' s reign . Prior to this a pair of stocks was located there , and that Walls built the market for the maintenance of London Bridge , the keeper of which for some time

had the power of granting leases of the shops within it . The market was rebuilt in the reign of Henry IV ., and housed twentyfive fishmongers and eighteen butchers . It was , however , destroyed in the Great Fire of London , and upon its re-erection was converted into " a place for fruits , roots , and herbs , for which it is very

considerated and much resorted unto , being of note , for having the choicest in their kind of all sorts , surpassing all other markets in London . ' '

The Portland stone facade of the existing Mansion House , with its six lofty Corinthian pillars and massive rustic basement , stands prominently out at the head of Cheapside , and opposite the Royal Exchange and the dull , dank , and dismal exterior of the Bank of England . Myriads of human beings have passed it on

their hurried daily scramble for wealth , and as the years roll on , and the white-haired , trembling crawler picks his way from stone to stone , the generations which are hurrying on behind will pass it just as he has done , until they themselves are swept away in the current of eternity . The courteous monitor of the hall answers your ring

of the great City bell under the porch leading to the private entrance of the mansion , and ushers you into the great house of the Chief Magistrate of the City . A blazing fire is a blessing this miserable rainy day , so you ascend the staircase to the magnificent reception saloon above , with warm hands and a warm heart , ready for the

warm greeting you know you may expect from one of the smartest and most affable men in existence . Mr . Soulsby has held the post of private secretary to the Lord Mayors for many y-ears , and it is in no small measure due to his brilliant administrative faculties that so

many blessings emanate from the Mansion House from day to day . You will presently be admitted to the private room of Sir Henry Isaacs , and you find him seated at his table engaged in the details of some magnificent scheme of charity which has devolved upon him as the leader of all charitable undertakings . Sir Henry is a man of but medium height and build , and does not look his age

within ten years of it . He was born in the City , has lived in the City , and will probably die in it , for there is no firmer commercial undertaking at the present moment than that of Messrs . M . Isaacs & Sons , of whose establishments at Hull , Valencia , and London he is the head . In 1862 he was elected to the

Court of Common Council as representative of the Ward of Aldgate , and occupied the chairs of the Coal , Corn , and Finance , the City Lands and Markets Committees in succession . He laid the stone of the Leadenhall Market , and was Chairman of the Grand Markets Committee whilst the Fruit Market in the Farringdon-road was being built . In 18 S 3 he was advanced by

election to the position of Alderman of the Ward of Portsoken , and immediately became famous on the bench for his exemplary se tences upon persons brought before him for cruelty to animals . He served the post of Sheriff in 1886-7 , her Majesty ' s Jubilee year , and was knighted at the termination of his office . It needs no

inducement to turn the current of chat into the interesting groove of Masonry , and once startctl on a gentle declivity of discussion your host goes off with the grace of a racer , sure of his foothold and certain of success . It is p leasant to listen to his lordship