Note 31 — Chapter III · EARLY PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 1820-1829.
Reading edition
An amusing incident occurred on this occasion. The freemasons of the parish claimed the right of laying the stone, which the clergy not unnaturally contested. After the ceremony began, music was heard in the distance, and down came a body of freemasons in full costume, ready to take all by storm. The workmen were prepared to resist; but a parley ensued, and the freemasons allowed the ceremony to go on without disturbance, on condition of performing their own mystic rites afterwards.