-
Articles/Ads
Article THE CONDUCT OF LODGES Page 1 of 2 Article THE CONDUCT OF LODGES Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Conduct Of Lodges
THE CONDUCT OF LODGES
ON more than one occasion during the past few "weeks have we thought it worth while to draw the attentiou of our readers to what , in our opinion , constitute either grave departures from the laws aud regulations of Freemasonry or serious blots on the conduct of Lodges or members . We began by treating of the important
question of " Proposing Candidates . " We then passed to the "Ballot , " and commented on sundry abuses which are rumoured , on good authority , to have taken place . Last week , we referred at some length to a series of difficulties which had occurred in a Lodge in one of the remoter
Districts subordinate to our Grand Lodge . We do not care to be always harping on one string ; but the fact that not one , but several irregularities , varying of course in degree and kind , have latterl y occurred , and that , in more than one instance , they have been severely condemned by high
Masonic dignitaries is a sufficient justification for our touching once again on the conduct of Lodges , while there is a likelihood of the circumstances being well within the recollection of our readers . Two principal reasons impel us to adopt this course . If the present rate of increase in
the number of our Lodges is maintained , there will be an addition to our Eoll of something like a hundred Lodges per annum . It is , therefore , the more important that proper caution should be exercised , so as to prevent unworthy persons being admitted into our ranks , while it
becomes more necessary than ever that the laws which govern our Society should be strictly enforced . Where the admission of new members is so laxly regarded as to amount almost to a matter of form , it is certain that some persons will be received as members who will give trouble
to the rulers of their Lodges and foment endless discords . The necessity for this caution is obvious to all who have the real interests of the Craft at heart , and none are more earnest in impressing this necessity on the minds of Craftsmen than the different brethren to whom
is most commonly entrusted the duty of consecrating new Lodges . These are invariably members of great ability and experience , and , therefore , the advice they tender carries , or ought to carry , all the greater weight . Unfortunately , there is an old saying to the effect that
wisdom cries aloud in the streets , and no one heedeth her ; and this is found to hold good in Masonic as well as in other communities . The sage counsels of our ablest authorities do not receive that degree of attention to which they are justly entitled , and sooner or later it will happen
that the interests of the Craft will suffer . With a greater number of Lodges there is , of course , a prospect of more differences and disputes arising , though there is no reason why this should follow as of course . The laws which have
been enacted for the government of the Craft are clear , precise , and sufficient ; and the exhortations to observe them , if strictly heeded , as they deserve to be , shonld have a deterrent effect , and make it well nigh impossible for any peril to overtake us .
What , for instance , can be clearer than the law as to the proposal of candidates either for initiation or joining ? And yet , as we made it manifest in our article on the subject , it is continuall y being set at naught or evaded .
Seven days' notice is , in too many instances , all that members have that Mr . A . B . C ., of whom personally he knows nothing , is a candidate for initiation , or Bro . X . Y . Z . will be proposed for election as a joining member . Inquiry under these circumstances is out of the question , or
The Conduct Of Lodges
becomes a mere farce . The recommendation of the pro * posing members is taken as sufficient , and a Lodge finds itself plus a brace of members , who may , or who may not , prove worthy of the honour conferred upon them . As wa 9 well remarked the other day at the consecration of the
Evening Star Lodge , it is not enough to know that a candidate is ia reputable circumstances . Something , likewise , should be known of his temperament and habits , which may or may not be commendable . Mr . A . B . C . may be honourable in his business and well-circumstanced , but
he may likewise be morose or spiteful in his nature ; he may be of a querulous or even quarrelsome disposition , and his admission into a society , which is nothing if not harmonious in its acts and feelings , becomes an unmitigated evil . Had proper time been allowed for making the needful inquiries ,
the Lodge would have been spared the intrusion—for election at that short notice is nothing more—of one with whom it was difficult , or it may be impossible to agree . There is a well known proverb about certain people who marry in haste and repent of the unfortunate step they have
taken at leisure . Here we have the hasty admission of a troublesome member , and there is no option but to repent at leisure of the mistake we have committed . If one unworthy brother , who will not permit himself to be repressed , can work unspeakable mischief to a Lodge , it is surely not
too much to ask that the provisions of this law , which are sufficient for all purposes , should be rigidly observed . Were this done , were there no hasty propulsion , as from a catapult , of candidates into our midst , we should be spared much unpleasantness . We do not say there would be
absolutely no disagreements , no quarrels , no malice , but we should certainly escape many which now occur . For instance , the P . M . who declared publicly , with all the foulmouthed emphasis of which he was master , that he would black-ball every candidate for admission into his Lodge ,
should have undergone a closer inspection into his character and antecedents ; had the necessary care been taken when he himself was proposed as a candidate , the chances are some evidence of his vicious temper would have come to light . In such case , there is little doubt the requisite
number of black-balls would have been cast , and that the Lodge of which he is now a member would have known him not . Similarly , had due caution been exercised in other Lodges , we should have been spared the record of much unseemly conduct , of schisms existing in
comparatively young Lodges , of spiteful inuendoes , uttered in direct violation of our precepts , behind a brother ' s back . There would be comparatively little , or no cliquism , whereas we are afraid to say how much of it now prevails , and in how many quarters . We are by no means of
opinion that our present rate of increase is an unmixed good . On the contrary , we are fully persuaded that , unless the letter and the spirit of our Constitutions are more readil y and more generally obeyed , this increase , of which some speak so boastfully , will be very detrimental to the Fraternity .
One other point , of which the circumstances described to us last week by a correspondent are an illustration , must be noted . We allude to the ignorance of our laws which prevails so commonly among those to whom we are expected to look for enlightenment . Can it for one
moment be imagined that such a concatenation of deplorable events could have happened in any Lodge , no matter how remotely situated from head-quarters , had the officers of Victoria in Burmah possessed a reasonable acquaintance with the Constitutions ? What were the circumstances on
which we commented ? A brother was appointed Warden
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Conduct Of Lodges
THE CONDUCT OF LODGES
ON more than one occasion during the past few "weeks have we thought it worth while to draw the attentiou of our readers to what , in our opinion , constitute either grave departures from the laws aud regulations of Freemasonry or serious blots on the conduct of Lodges or members . We began by treating of the important
question of " Proposing Candidates . " We then passed to the "Ballot , " and commented on sundry abuses which are rumoured , on good authority , to have taken place . Last week , we referred at some length to a series of difficulties which had occurred in a Lodge in one of the remoter
Districts subordinate to our Grand Lodge . We do not care to be always harping on one string ; but the fact that not one , but several irregularities , varying of course in degree and kind , have latterl y occurred , and that , in more than one instance , they have been severely condemned by high
Masonic dignitaries is a sufficient justification for our touching once again on the conduct of Lodges , while there is a likelihood of the circumstances being well within the recollection of our readers . Two principal reasons impel us to adopt this course . If the present rate of increase in
the number of our Lodges is maintained , there will be an addition to our Eoll of something like a hundred Lodges per annum . It is , therefore , the more important that proper caution should be exercised , so as to prevent unworthy persons being admitted into our ranks , while it
becomes more necessary than ever that the laws which govern our Society should be strictly enforced . Where the admission of new members is so laxly regarded as to amount almost to a matter of form , it is certain that some persons will be received as members who will give trouble
to the rulers of their Lodges and foment endless discords . The necessity for this caution is obvious to all who have the real interests of the Craft at heart , and none are more earnest in impressing this necessity on the minds of Craftsmen than the different brethren to whom
is most commonly entrusted the duty of consecrating new Lodges . These are invariably members of great ability and experience , and , therefore , the advice they tender carries , or ought to carry , all the greater weight . Unfortunately , there is an old saying to the effect that
wisdom cries aloud in the streets , and no one heedeth her ; and this is found to hold good in Masonic as well as in other communities . The sage counsels of our ablest authorities do not receive that degree of attention to which they are justly entitled , and sooner or later it will happen
that the interests of the Craft will suffer . With a greater number of Lodges there is , of course , a prospect of more differences and disputes arising , though there is no reason why this should follow as of course . The laws which have
been enacted for the government of the Craft are clear , precise , and sufficient ; and the exhortations to observe them , if strictly heeded , as they deserve to be , shonld have a deterrent effect , and make it well nigh impossible for any peril to overtake us .
What , for instance , can be clearer than the law as to the proposal of candidates either for initiation or joining ? And yet , as we made it manifest in our article on the subject , it is continuall y being set at naught or evaded .
Seven days' notice is , in too many instances , all that members have that Mr . A . B . C ., of whom personally he knows nothing , is a candidate for initiation , or Bro . X . Y . Z . will be proposed for election as a joining member . Inquiry under these circumstances is out of the question , or
The Conduct Of Lodges
becomes a mere farce . The recommendation of the pro * posing members is taken as sufficient , and a Lodge finds itself plus a brace of members , who may , or who may not , prove worthy of the honour conferred upon them . As wa 9 well remarked the other day at the consecration of the
Evening Star Lodge , it is not enough to know that a candidate is ia reputable circumstances . Something , likewise , should be known of his temperament and habits , which may or may not be commendable . Mr . A . B . C . may be honourable in his business and well-circumstanced , but
he may likewise be morose or spiteful in his nature ; he may be of a querulous or even quarrelsome disposition , and his admission into a society , which is nothing if not harmonious in its acts and feelings , becomes an unmitigated evil . Had proper time been allowed for making the needful inquiries ,
the Lodge would have been spared the intrusion—for election at that short notice is nothing more—of one with whom it was difficult , or it may be impossible to agree . There is a well known proverb about certain people who marry in haste and repent of the unfortunate step they have
taken at leisure . Here we have the hasty admission of a troublesome member , and there is no option but to repent at leisure of the mistake we have committed . If one unworthy brother , who will not permit himself to be repressed , can work unspeakable mischief to a Lodge , it is surely not
too much to ask that the provisions of this law , which are sufficient for all purposes , should be rigidly observed . Were this done , were there no hasty propulsion , as from a catapult , of candidates into our midst , we should be spared much unpleasantness . We do not say there would be
absolutely no disagreements , no quarrels , no malice , but we should certainly escape many which now occur . For instance , the P . M . who declared publicly , with all the foulmouthed emphasis of which he was master , that he would black-ball every candidate for admission into his Lodge ,
should have undergone a closer inspection into his character and antecedents ; had the necessary care been taken when he himself was proposed as a candidate , the chances are some evidence of his vicious temper would have come to light . In such case , there is little doubt the requisite
number of black-balls would have been cast , and that the Lodge of which he is now a member would have known him not . Similarly , had due caution been exercised in other Lodges , we should have been spared the record of much unseemly conduct , of schisms existing in
comparatively young Lodges , of spiteful inuendoes , uttered in direct violation of our precepts , behind a brother ' s back . There would be comparatively little , or no cliquism , whereas we are afraid to say how much of it now prevails , and in how many quarters . We are by no means of
opinion that our present rate of increase is an unmixed good . On the contrary , we are fully persuaded that , unless the letter and the spirit of our Constitutions are more readil y and more generally obeyed , this increase , of which some speak so boastfully , will be very detrimental to the Fraternity .
One other point , of which the circumstances described to us last week by a correspondent are an illustration , must be noted . We allude to the ignorance of our laws which prevails so commonly among those to whom we are expected to look for enlightenment . Can it for one
moment be imagined that such a concatenation of deplorable events could have happened in any Lodge , no matter how remotely situated from head-quarters , had the officers of Victoria in Burmah possessed a reasonable acquaintance with the Constitutions ? What were the circumstances on
which we commented ? A brother was appointed Warden