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Article ATTENDANCE AT LODGE BANQUETS. Page 1 of 1 Article ATTENDANCE AT LODGE BANQUETS. Page 1 of 1 Article "DESECRATION," OR SACRILEGE? Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Attendance At Lodge Banquets.
ATTENDANCE AT LODGE BANQUETS .
IN our report of tlie annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex , which appeared in our last issue , reference is made to a complaint of the Provincial Grand Secretary , concerning which he will receive , as he
is justly entitled to receive , the sympathy of a large number of his brother Masons . The complaint of the Provincial Grand Secretary of Middlesex was rendered necessary by the great trouble and difficulty in which the officials of the
Province , and himself especially , were placed by the neglect of attention to the request that intimation should be given in proper and stated time by those who desired to partake of the banquet . This cause of complaint is one
which has arisen , we may almost say , in every Lodge where a banquet has followed labour , and for which it has been necessary to give some prior notice . Of course the inconvenience to which the Provincial Grand Secretary of
Middlesex has drawn public attention is not so marked where meetings are held at one or other of the large establishments of the metropolis ,, or more important Provincial
towns , as in such cases an unexpected influx of visitors is usually met without any apparent difficulty , but even then we can form little idea of the trouble entailed on those
who have to provide , and it is questionable if some such cause does not account for the lack of comfort or attention of which members have occasionally to complain , at really the best establishments . At small , or even moderate
sized hostelries , however , it frequently happens that everything is upset by this neglect on the part of those who intend to be present to take any notice of the request that they will signify their intention a day or two before the
meeting , although we imagine there cannot be any reason to excuse them from complying with so modest a request . By their neglect they not only upset every arrangement , but they make themselves and every one else
uncomfortable , while they may even go so far as to inflict actual wrong on those who have been more observant of the regulations framed for the general comfort . A banquet at which it is expected some thirty or forty will sit down is
not usually intended to satisfy fifty or sixty , and the forty present who gave notice of their intention to attend have a just cause of complaint against their less careful brethren , who are really interlopers , if they
run short of what they consider their due . "We are afraid that little improvement will result from any words we can write on this point , but in directing attention thus pointedly to the subject , we would suggest that a
hard and fast line should be drawn as a means of creating an improvement . At the meeting to which we have specially referred , some thirty or forty brethren , who only made up their minds to dine within an hour or two of the
banqueting hour , had to depart unsatisfied , and so it shonld be with all who do not comply with the rules which they are asked to follow , not with the view of binding them to an unreasonable course , but simply in the interests of good
order- and regularity . We have often been present at meetings where a larger number of brethren have sat down to banquet than were provided for , and we can look back on some of these as the most uncomfortable hours we have
spent in Masonry . The opposite view of the question applies with equal force , only that in such cases the Lodge TM ? ften a ? ufferer ivom a s ^ ictly financial point of view , lhe officials of many of our Lodges have to name a
minimum number when they give the order for a banquet
Attendance At Lodge Banquets.
and as it has come to be recognised as almost impossible to get a definite reply from those likely to attend , they are
forced to make a guess at the number to be ordered for . The result is that perhaps six , ten , or more dinners have to be paid for than have been supplied , and although this may appear a hardship on the members of the Lodge , it 18
no worse , nor so bad , as throwing the loss on the caterer . If forty are ordered for , provision has to be made for forty , and the custom is to furnish so amply that if four or five more attend there shall be no lack of provisions , but if only
thirty-five set down there must be a positive loss , which in justice should be borne by those who cause it . Brethren would do well to remember , then , that if they have no consideration for their own comfort , they ought to show some
consideration- for the comfort of others ; further than this , they have no right to so far neglect their duty as to cause a loss , either to their Lodge , their friends , or the caterers . Most undoubtedly the neglect of brethren to notify their
intention to be present or otherwise , whenever properly requested , is productive of loss , and may well be considered as a grave neglect of duty . It is only by following the plan adopted at the recent Middlesex meeting that any
improvement can be hoped for . If brethren will not reply , no provision should be made for them , and they should not be allowed to attend the banquet to the inconvenience of others , and the creation of general confusion .
"Desecration," Or Sacrilege?
" DESECRATION , " OR SACRILEGE ?
IT is not often that we obtrude matters of a personal nature upon the attention of our readers , but there are times and circumstances which sometimes render it necessary that they should be brought into prominent
public notice , especially when , as appears to be the case in the present instance , vital principles are involved . We are prompted to this observation by the correspondence thafc has appeared recently in our own and other columns
respecting an act of Vandalism alleged to have been perpetrated at the Surrey Masonic Hall , which , if proved to be true , demands , and should receive , the most searching examination and inquiry . The history of the Surrey Masonic
Hall , and the inception of the movement which led to the erection of that useful and stately edifice in the Camberwell New Koad , may be here briefly reviewed in connection with an episode that has grown into serious , if nofc
scandalous , proportions . By reference to the files of the journals of the Craft we note that on the 29 th of May 1874 an interesting and imposing ceremony was witnessed , under the auspices of a Company that had been formed for the
purpose of providing a "local habitation" for many of the Lodges whose meetings were held in inconvenient rooms on the southern side of the Thames . We know the objection that many of the brethren entertain to the
assemblages of the Order being held at public houses—an objection which , by the way , is far more pronounced amongst the members of the Craft in America and the Colonies ; and with the view of obviating this necessity ,
and at the same time of organising a commercial enterprise which gave every promise of pecuniary success , the Surrey Masonic Hall Company was formed . It was reasonably assumed , after due . deliberation by the promoters , that such a building , if not confined exclusively to Masonio
purposes , might be made to pay a substantial return
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Attendance At Lodge Banquets.
ATTENDANCE AT LODGE BANQUETS .
IN our report of tlie annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex , which appeared in our last issue , reference is made to a complaint of the Provincial Grand Secretary , concerning which he will receive , as he
is justly entitled to receive , the sympathy of a large number of his brother Masons . The complaint of the Provincial Grand Secretary of Middlesex was rendered necessary by the great trouble and difficulty in which the officials of the
Province , and himself especially , were placed by the neglect of attention to the request that intimation should be given in proper and stated time by those who desired to partake of the banquet . This cause of complaint is one
which has arisen , we may almost say , in every Lodge where a banquet has followed labour , and for which it has been necessary to give some prior notice . Of course the inconvenience to which the Provincial Grand Secretary of
Middlesex has drawn public attention is not so marked where meetings are held at one or other of the large establishments of the metropolis ,, or more important Provincial
towns , as in such cases an unexpected influx of visitors is usually met without any apparent difficulty , but even then we can form little idea of the trouble entailed on those
who have to provide , and it is questionable if some such cause does not account for the lack of comfort or attention of which members have occasionally to complain , at really the best establishments . At small , or even moderate
sized hostelries , however , it frequently happens that everything is upset by this neglect on the part of those who intend to be present to take any notice of the request that they will signify their intention a day or two before the
meeting , although we imagine there cannot be any reason to excuse them from complying with so modest a request . By their neglect they not only upset every arrangement , but they make themselves and every one else
uncomfortable , while they may even go so far as to inflict actual wrong on those who have been more observant of the regulations framed for the general comfort . A banquet at which it is expected some thirty or forty will sit down is
not usually intended to satisfy fifty or sixty , and the forty present who gave notice of their intention to attend have a just cause of complaint against their less careful brethren , who are really interlopers , if they
run short of what they consider their due . "We are afraid that little improvement will result from any words we can write on this point , but in directing attention thus pointedly to the subject , we would suggest that a
hard and fast line should be drawn as a means of creating an improvement . At the meeting to which we have specially referred , some thirty or forty brethren , who only made up their minds to dine within an hour or two of the
banqueting hour , had to depart unsatisfied , and so it shonld be with all who do not comply with the rules which they are asked to follow , not with the view of binding them to an unreasonable course , but simply in the interests of good
order- and regularity . We have often been present at meetings where a larger number of brethren have sat down to banquet than were provided for , and we can look back on some of these as the most uncomfortable hours we have
spent in Masonry . The opposite view of the question applies with equal force , only that in such cases the Lodge TM ? ften a ? ufferer ivom a s ^ ictly financial point of view , lhe officials of many of our Lodges have to name a
minimum number when they give the order for a banquet
Attendance At Lodge Banquets.
and as it has come to be recognised as almost impossible to get a definite reply from those likely to attend , they are
forced to make a guess at the number to be ordered for . The result is that perhaps six , ten , or more dinners have to be paid for than have been supplied , and although this may appear a hardship on the members of the Lodge , it 18
no worse , nor so bad , as throwing the loss on the caterer . If forty are ordered for , provision has to be made for forty , and the custom is to furnish so amply that if four or five more attend there shall be no lack of provisions , but if only
thirty-five set down there must be a positive loss , which in justice should be borne by those who cause it . Brethren would do well to remember , then , that if they have no consideration for their own comfort , they ought to show some
consideration- for the comfort of others ; further than this , they have no right to so far neglect their duty as to cause a loss , either to their Lodge , their friends , or the caterers . Most undoubtedly the neglect of brethren to notify their
intention to be present or otherwise , whenever properly requested , is productive of loss , and may well be considered as a grave neglect of duty . It is only by following the plan adopted at the recent Middlesex meeting that any
improvement can be hoped for . If brethren will not reply , no provision should be made for them , and they should not be allowed to attend the banquet to the inconvenience of others , and the creation of general confusion .
"Desecration," Or Sacrilege?
" DESECRATION , " OR SACRILEGE ?
IT is not often that we obtrude matters of a personal nature upon the attention of our readers , but there are times and circumstances which sometimes render it necessary that they should be brought into prominent
public notice , especially when , as appears to be the case in the present instance , vital principles are involved . We are prompted to this observation by the correspondence thafc has appeared recently in our own and other columns
respecting an act of Vandalism alleged to have been perpetrated at the Surrey Masonic Hall , which , if proved to be true , demands , and should receive , the most searching examination and inquiry . The history of the Surrey Masonic
Hall , and the inception of the movement which led to the erection of that useful and stately edifice in the Camberwell New Koad , may be here briefly reviewed in connection with an episode that has grown into serious , if nofc
scandalous , proportions . By reference to the files of the journals of the Craft we note that on the 29 th of May 1874 an interesting and imposing ceremony was witnessed , under the auspices of a Company that had been formed for the
purpose of providing a "local habitation" for many of the Lodges whose meetings were held in inconvenient rooms on the southern side of the Thames . We know the objection that many of the brethren entertain to the
assemblages of the Order being held at public houses—an objection which , by the way , is far more pronounced amongst the members of the Craft in America and the Colonies ; and with the view of obviating this necessity ,
and at the same time of organising a commercial enterprise which gave every promise of pecuniary success , the Surrey Masonic Hall Company was formed . It was reasonably assumed , after due . deliberation by the promoters , that such a building , if not confined exclusively to Masonio
purposes , might be made to pay a substantial return