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Article THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. Page 1 of 2 Article THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. Page 1 of 2 →
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The Past And The Future.
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE .
IN opening ouv THIRTY-EIGHTH VOLUME we must first acknowledge the severe loss sustained by the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE in the death of its
founder and chief , which is ot too recent a date to have allowed full arrangements to have been made in regard to the future . Although the long illness of Bro . Morgan had really precluded him from taking an
active part in the business of the paper for some months past , he retained his energy to the last , and never gave up the command and control of the work until his strength absolutely failed him—less than ten
hours before his death . On the morning of his decease the principal members of his family were early summoned to his bedside , and having expressed surprise at their appearance so soon , our chief at once asked for the proofs of the paper to be issued that
day , and proceeded to read them , as was ins custombut the task was too much for him , and for the first time in his long career , he had to acknowledge himself unable to proceed with his work . This was the
last effort of our leader , and though he remained fully conscious till within half an hour of his passing away , and discussed with his family tho arrangements in connection with the publication of that day ' s issue
of the CHRONICLE , he was quite unable to do anything for himself , and appeared to fully recognise that the control must pass into other hands . The friendship that has so long existed between the proprietor and
the readers of this paper is ol too general a character to necessitate any apology on our part for again referring to the last hours of our chief ; his friends will be gratified to know that he laboured for the cause to the end , and really died , as he had often expressed
Ins desire to do , with his harness on his back , and his work cleared up to the last , so far as his strength allowed it . Looking back over the eighteen and a half years of the CHRONICLE ' S existence , there is but one opinion
possible as to the fearlessness with which it has been conducted . No matter who or what was involved the editor never shrinked what he deemed to be his duty in the position he had assumed in the Masonic world ,
and his candid outspokenness perhaps cost him the good opinion of some of those who are not always ready to sacrifice themselves to the calls of duty . But he kept on his course , and won the respect if he
did not always secure the co-operation of those around him , and in doing that he did what he most desired . It had always been his effort to make the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE a power for good in the Craft , but he fully
recognised that to do good personal sacrifices must be made , and was always averse to the silly fulsome flattery which finds favour among some of those who occupy similar positions in the journalistic world .
But to carry out such a programme brings little reward , save that of a clear conscience , and the CHRONICLE ' S experience in this direction is no
The Past And The Future.
exception to the rule . Still , we should be very sorry to even hint that a change will be made in this directionf . in the future . The colours of the
CHRONICLE were nailed to the mast years sin ce by its founder , and we hope so long as we are associated with the paper it will be conducted on the same lines
as has marked its progress thus lar . We can look back to reforms that have been brought about through its means , and we venture to think there are questions sure to arise in the future which will
require equal consideration at the hands of the Craft as any that have gone before , and we hope we may always be found ready to carry out what we may consider to be our duty in connection with them .
We are content to be judged by our labours , and in starting our THIRTY-EIGHTH VOLUME do so with the determination of making it , as far as lies in our power , a worthy successor to those that have gone before .
The present moment is a particularly opportune one for addressing a few words to the Craft at large as to the support given to the Masonic press . Not only do we refer to the papers of this country , but to
those of other Jurisdictions as well , and it is safe to say they do not receive the encouragement they deserve , and which , from the array of talent associated with them , and the amount of time and
money spent upon their production , they appear to us to merit . We do not specially refer to the CHRONICLE in this connection ; we have already explained that this paper is conducted on somewhat different lines
to others associated with Freemasonry , and we have always recognized that its eccentricities might cost it the support of the unthinking section of the Craftthose who are only to be bought by smooth words and senseless compliments ; but we have the satisfaction
of knowing that if we have tailed to wm universal support in consequence of our outspokenness , others have met with no better success , though they have exhausted all the powers of the sycophant and by the meanest and most servile flattery have perhaps
assisted in bringing Masonic Journalism into contempt and disrepute , rather than help to raise it to its proper place , which , in our estimation , should be a position of independence in all matters , with no
necessity or call for complimentary utterances at every turn and opportunity , as would seem to be the general accepted idea among our contemporaries . Not only is the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE independent
as regards its own views , but it has always desired to encourage independence in others , by opening its columns to every section of the Craft , and endeavouring to give the critics of our system as much liberty
as its stauuchest supporters in all matters having a public interest . We have invited correspondence in the past , and we do so now , assuring our readers that onr space is always open to them for the discussion
of Masonic topics , or the advocacy of Masonic work , and whenever we find ourselves able to support the views of those who may address us they may rely on
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Past And The Future.
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE .
IN opening ouv THIRTY-EIGHTH VOLUME we must first acknowledge the severe loss sustained by the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE in the death of its
founder and chief , which is ot too recent a date to have allowed full arrangements to have been made in regard to the future . Although the long illness of Bro . Morgan had really precluded him from taking an
active part in the business of the paper for some months past , he retained his energy to the last , and never gave up the command and control of the work until his strength absolutely failed him—less than ten
hours before his death . On the morning of his decease the principal members of his family were early summoned to his bedside , and having expressed surprise at their appearance so soon , our chief at once asked for the proofs of the paper to be issued that
day , and proceeded to read them , as was ins custombut the task was too much for him , and for the first time in his long career , he had to acknowledge himself unable to proceed with his work . This was the
last effort of our leader , and though he remained fully conscious till within half an hour of his passing away , and discussed with his family tho arrangements in connection with the publication of that day ' s issue
of the CHRONICLE , he was quite unable to do anything for himself , and appeared to fully recognise that the control must pass into other hands . The friendship that has so long existed between the proprietor and
the readers of this paper is ol too general a character to necessitate any apology on our part for again referring to the last hours of our chief ; his friends will be gratified to know that he laboured for the cause to the end , and really died , as he had often expressed
Ins desire to do , with his harness on his back , and his work cleared up to the last , so far as his strength allowed it . Looking back over the eighteen and a half years of the CHRONICLE ' S existence , there is but one opinion
possible as to the fearlessness with which it has been conducted . No matter who or what was involved the editor never shrinked what he deemed to be his duty in the position he had assumed in the Masonic world ,
and his candid outspokenness perhaps cost him the good opinion of some of those who are not always ready to sacrifice themselves to the calls of duty . But he kept on his course , and won the respect if he
did not always secure the co-operation of those around him , and in doing that he did what he most desired . It had always been his effort to make the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE a power for good in the Craft , but he fully
recognised that to do good personal sacrifices must be made , and was always averse to the silly fulsome flattery which finds favour among some of those who occupy similar positions in the journalistic world .
But to carry out such a programme brings little reward , save that of a clear conscience , and the CHRONICLE ' S experience in this direction is no
The Past And The Future.
exception to the rule . Still , we should be very sorry to even hint that a change will be made in this directionf . in the future . The colours of the
CHRONICLE were nailed to the mast years sin ce by its founder , and we hope so long as we are associated with the paper it will be conducted on the same lines
as has marked its progress thus lar . We can look back to reforms that have been brought about through its means , and we venture to think there are questions sure to arise in the future which will
require equal consideration at the hands of the Craft as any that have gone before , and we hope we may always be found ready to carry out what we may consider to be our duty in connection with them .
We are content to be judged by our labours , and in starting our THIRTY-EIGHTH VOLUME do so with the determination of making it , as far as lies in our power , a worthy successor to those that have gone before .
The present moment is a particularly opportune one for addressing a few words to the Craft at large as to the support given to the Masonic press . Not only do we refer to the papers of this country , but to
those of other Jurisdictions as well , and it is safe to say they do not receive the encouragement they deserve , and which , from the array of talent associated with them , and the amount of time and
money spent upon their production , they appear to us to merit . We do not specially refer to the CHRONICLE in this connection ; we have already explained that this paper is conducted on somewhat different lines
to others associated with Freemasonry , and we have always recognized that its eccentricities might cost it the support of the unthinking section of the Craftthose who are only to be bought by smooth words and senseless compliments ; but we have the satisfaction
of knowing that if we have tailed to wm universal support in consequence of our outspokenness , others have met with no better success , though they have exhausted all the powers of the sycophant and by the meanest and most servile flattery have perhaps
assisted in bringing Masonic Journalism into contempt and disrepute , rather than help to raise it to its proper place , which , in our estimation , should be a position of independence in all matters , with no
necessity or call for complimentary utterances at every turn and opportunity , as would seem to be the general accepted idea among our contemporaries . Not only is the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE independent
as regards its own views , but it has always desired to encourage independence in others , by opening its columns to every section of the Craft , and endeavouring to give the critics of our system as much liberty
as its stauuchest supporters in all matters having a public interest . We have invited correspondence in the past , and we do so now , assuring our readers that onr space is always open to them for the discussion
of Masonic topics , or the advocacy of Masonic work , and whenever we find ourselves able to support the views of those who may address us they may rely on