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Article SUPPRESSED LOYALTY. Page 1 of 3 Article SUPPRESSED LOYALTY. Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Suppressed Loyalty.
SUPPRESSED LOYALTY .
DISAPPOINTMENT has been expressed in many quarters at the action of the authorities of the Craft , in virtually suppressing the outburst of loyalty on the part of the Freemasons of the United Kingdom which would have
certainly followed the accession to the throne of the Most Worshipful the Grand Master of England and Patron of Irish , Scottish , and Colonial Freemasonry ; and we can only hope that His Majesty has been made acquainted with the facts of the case , so that he may understand why his . Brother
Freemasons have not appeared in the place they certainly deserve and wish to occupy—foremost among the loyal supporters of the Throne , and heartiest among the many who have welcomed the King as their Sovereign ; and in saying this we distinctly wish to make it clear that we , and those
members of the Craft who think with us , intend no disrespect to the memory of the late Queen . Freemasons have too long enjoyed the reputation of being foremost among the loyal supporters of Queen Victoria to allow of any charge of lack of respect to her memory in these days of national
mourning ; but it should be distinctly recognised that it is possible to pay homage to the memory of the departed monarch , and at the same time express loyalty to the present
occupant of the Throne ; and we can but think that someone has blundered in putting an official stop on what we are convinced would have been one of the most unanimous and loyal greetings tendered to His Majesty on his accession .
We fully recognise that etiquette is a most necessary factor in any consideration of this question , and that as a mere matter of form the representative gathering of Freemasons held last week to pass resolutions of sympathy and congratulation covered the entire ground ; but we should
have thought expressions of Fraternal respect and hearty goodwill from the individual Lodges of Freemasonry would have been far more desirable ; and by no means out of place , as they have been officially pronounced ; and we certainly sympathise with the many Lodges and individual
Brethren who wished to express their loyalty on this special occasion , but were prevented from doing so by official form and ceremony . We cannot believe that the cold formality of official resolutions could ever have the same effect , either on the Sovereign or the loyal members of the Craft , as the
long series of enthusiastic outbursts of respect and esteem which would have flown from the Masonic Lodges had they been allowed that perfect freedom of inclination which is the legitimate right and qualification of every member of the Order ; and not only do we feel thus , but we fail to discover
any legitimate reason for the official stop , unless it is that we are expected to bow down to the Masonic representative of Bumbledom , and banish our personal feelings in favour of red-tape and legal formality—factors which should most certainly never be allowed to check expressions of loyalty to
the Throne , or respect and regard for the most distinguished Grand Master known in the history of modern Freemasonry . We have seen it stated that the loyal expressions of the Craft were '" suppressed , " because the task of acknowledgment would fall on already hard worked officials ; but that
seems to us so absurd an argument that we can imagine the Brethren on whom the duty would have devolved exclaiming with the poet , save us from our friends . We can hardly imagine anyone in the Grand Secretary ' s Office being so disloyal as to regret the small amount of extra work which
would have devolved upon them in connection with any expressions of loyalty which emanated in regular order from the Lodges and Chapters of Freemasonry . We have seen copies of acknowledgments sent by the Grand Secretary of England to Irish and other Lodges , and no doubt they are
Suppressed Loyalty.
prized as they deserve to be by the members who received them ; we do not know whether they were written or printed —the acknowledgment of our greetings we received from Buckingham Palace was printed—out in either form they
would be valued , and , preserved in the Minute book of the Lodge , would be available in after years as proof of Fraternal sympathy efxisting between the Sovereign and the local members of the Masonic Brotherhood .
Happily some of the Provincial Grand Masters have acted independently of the official circular , notably the chief of Cornwall , who it must be remembered occupied the important position of Deputy Grand Master of England for
some years , and as a result his Province is able to send up to His Majesty a loyal address , signed or agreed to by some two or three thousand Comis'h Brethren—and the same unanimity would have been shown in London and all other divisions of the Craft had the Brethren been allowed to act
as their hearts dictated . It is certainly most surprising that anyone should have thought it necessary or desirable to check enthusiastic expressions of loyalty to the Throne on the part of the Craft , but it is certainly too late now to remedy what we regard as a very grave error of judgment .
We can only repeat what we have already said—we hope His Majesty the King has been , or will be , made acquainted with the facts of the case , otherwise he may regard the mucri talked of loyalty of the Craft as less genuine than it really is , and we hope will always continue to be .
To show what might have been done in this direction we append copy of a resolution sent to His Majesty by an Irish Lodge , and the reply of our Grand Secretary in acknowledgment of it :
" The Worshipful Master , Wardens , and Brethren of Masonic Lodge 76 ( Ireland ) most humbly desire to convey their deep sorrow at the death of their beloved and honoured Queen , and their sympathy with the Royal Family in this their hour of sad bereavement . —SAMUEL WILSON , P . P ., J . P ., Secretary . "
" United Grand Lodge of England , 30 th January 1901 . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I have received the commands of
the King- to ask you to be so good as to convey to the members of your Lodee His Majesty ' s grateful thanks for their kind and fraternal expression of sympathy with him in his great sorrow . I am , dear Sir and Brother ,
Yours fraternally , E . LETCHWORTH , Grand Secretary . " Why should not every Lodge in the Kingdom possess such a memento of the auspicious event of the last month ?
It is certainly not from any lack of desire on the part of the ordinary members , or from want of loving respect for the late Queen , or loyalty to the present occupant of the Throne , but simply from a mistaken idea of propriety on the part of someone in authority—more ' s the pity !
Having thus expressed ourselves in regard to the past we may turn for a moment and regard the future—the immediate future , we mean , the period during which the Craft will remain in mourning for her late Majesty ; and in doing so we first refer our readers to our report of the installation
meeting of the Lodge of Regularity , No . 91 , held last week at Freemasons' Hall . On that occasion a very energetic and very enterprising Past Grand Officer of England stopped the usual " firing " after the toasts , because the Craft was in mourning for the late Queen , but Where he got his ruling as
to what constitutes Masonic mourning we are at a loss to say . We venture to think he was carried away by his great zeal , and that he had no authority for interfering as he did —being but a visitor to the Lodge—in the regular course of Masonic procedure . It is , however , difficult to know what to do when those who happen to wear the insignia of Gra , nd .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Suppressed Loyalty.
SUPPRESSED LOYALTY .
DISAPPOINTMENT has been expressed in many quarters at the action of the authorities of the Craft , in virtually suppressing the outburst of loyalty on the part of the Freemasons of the United Kingdom which would have
certainly followed the accession to the throne of the Most Worshipful the Grand Master of England and Patron of Irish , Scottish , and Colonial Freemasonry ; and we can only hope that His Majesty has been made acquainted with the facts of the case , so that he may understand why his . Brother
Freemasons have not appeared in the place they certainly deserve and wish to occupy—foremost among the loyal supporters of the Throne , and heartiest among the many who have welcomed the King as their Sovereign ; and in saying this we distinctly wish to make it clear that we , and those
members of the Craft who think with us , intend no disrespect to the memory of the late Queen . Freemasons have too long enjoyed the reputation of being foremost among the loyal supporters of Queen Victoria to allow of any charge of lack of respect to her memory in these days of national
mourning ; but it should be distinctly recognised that it is possible to pay homage to the memory of the departed monarch , and at the same time express loyalty to the present
occupant of the Throne ; and we can but think that someone has blundered in putting an official stop on what we are convinced would have been one of the most unanimous and loyal greetings tendered to His Majesty on his accession .
We fully recognise that etiquette is a most necessary factor in any consideration of this question , and that as a mere matter of form the representative gathering of Freemasons held last week to pass resolutions of sympathy and congratulation covered the entire ground ; but we should
have thought expressions of Fraternal respect and hearty goodwill from the individual Lodges of Freemasonry would have been far more desirable ; and by no means out of place , as they have been officially pronounced ; and we certainly sympathise with the many Lodges and individual
Brethren who wished to express their loyalty on this special occasion , but were prevented from doing so by official form and ceremony . We cannot believe that the cold formality of official resolutions could ever have the same effect , either on the Sovereign or the loyal members of the Craft , as the
long series of enthusiastic outbursts of respect and esteem which would have flown from the Masonic Lodges had they been allowed that perfect freedom of inclination which is the legitimate right and qualification of every member of the Order ; and not only do we feel thus , but we fail to discover
any legitimate reason for the official stop , unless it is that we are expected to bow down to the Masonic representative of Bumbledom , and banish our personal feelings in favour of red-tape and legal formality—factors which should most certainly never be allowed to check expressions of loyalty to
the Throne , or respect and regard for the most distinguished Grand Master known in the history of modern Freemasonry . We have seen it stated that the loyal expressions of the Craft were '" suppressed , " because the task of acknowledgment would fall on already hard worked officials ; but that
seems to us so absurd an argument that we can imagine the Brethren on whom the duty would have devolved exclaiming with the poet , save us from our friends . We can hardly imagine anyone in the Grand Secretary ' s Office being so disloyal as to regret the small amount of extra work which
would have devolved upon them in connection with any expressions of loyalty which emanated in regular order from the Lodges and Chapters of Freemasonry . We have seen copies of acknowledgments sent by the Grand Secretary of England to Irish and other Lodges , and no doubt they are
Suppressed Loyalty.
prized as they deserve to be by the members who received them ; we do not know whether they were written or printed —the acknowledgment of our greetings we received from Buckingham Palace was printed—out in either form they
would be valued , and , preserved in the Minute book of the Lodge , would be available in after years as proof of Fraternal sympathy efxisting between the Sovereign and the local members of the Masonic Brotherhood .
Happily some of the Provincial Grand Masters have acted independently of the official circular , notably the chief of Cornwall , who it must be remembered occupied the important position of Deputy Grand Master of England for
some years , and as a result his Province is able to send up to His Majesty a loyal address , signed or agreed to by some two or three thousand Comis'h Brethren—and the same unanimity would have been shown in London and all other divisions of the Craft had the Brethren been allowed to act
as their hearts dictated . It is certainly most surprising that anyone should have thought it necessary or desirable to check enthusiastic expressions of loyalty to the Throne on the part of the Craft , but it is certainly too late now to remedy what we regard as a very grave error of judgment .
We can only repeat what we have already said—we hope His Majesty the King has been , or will be , made acquainted with the facts of the case , otherwise he may regard the mucri talked of loyalty of the Craft as less genuine than it really is , and we hope will always continue to be .
To show what might have been done in this direction we append copy of a resolution sent to His Majesty by an Irish Lodge , and the reply of our Grand Secretary in acknowledgment of it :
" The Worshipful Master , Wardens , and Brethren of Masonic Lodge 76 ( Ireland ) most humbly desire to convey their deep sorrow at the death of their beloved and honoured Queen , and their sympathy with the Royal Family in this their hour of sad bereavement . —SAMUEL WILSON , P . P ., J . P ., Secretary . "
" United Grand Lodge of England , 30 th January 1901 . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I have received the commands of
the King- to ask you to be so good as to convey to the members of your Lodee His Majesty ' s grateful thanks for their kind and fraternal expression of sympathy with him in his great sorrow . I am , dear Sir and Brother ,
Yours fraternally , E . LETCHWORTH , Grand Secretary . " Why should not every Lodge in the Kingdom possess such a memento of the auspicious event of the last month ?
It is certainly not from any lack of desire on the part of the ordinary members , or from want of loving respect for the late Queen , or loyalty to the present occupant of the Throne , but simply from a mistaken idea of propriety on the part of someone in authority—more ' s the pity !
Having thus expressed ourselves in regard to the past we may turn for a moment and regard the future—the immediate future , we mean , the period during which the Craft will remain in mourning for her late Majesty ; and in doing so we first refer our readers to our report of the installation
meeting of the Lodge of Regularity , No . 91 , held last week at Freemasons' Hall . On that occasion a very energetic and very enterprising Past Grand Officer of England stopped the usual " firing " after the toasts , because the Craft was in mourning for the late Queen , but Where he got his ruling as
to what constitutes Masonic mourning we are at a loss to say . We venture to think he was carried away by his great zeal , and that he had no authority for interfering as he did —being but a visitor to the Lodge—in the regular course of Masonic procedure . It is , however , difficult to know what to do when those who happen to wear the insignia of Gra , nd .