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Article OUR THIRTY-FOURTH VOLUME. Page 1 of 1 Article THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN. Page 1 of 2 Article THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Thirty-Fourth Volume.
OUR THIRTY-FOURTH VOLUME .
OUR current issue marks the termination of a further stage in our journey , and gives to the Masonic World another completed volume of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . In closing our labours for 1891 we take the opportunity of again thanking our patrons for their support , and at the same time express a hope that our efforts in the work we have set ourselves to perform have not been wholly thrown
away . Looking back , we find many causes for regret ; we have had to mourn the death of dear old friends who have been associated with us in Freemasonry , and have taken an interest in our work , during the seventeen years of our existence , but we are happy to say others have sprung up around us who are cheering us to future action by the kindness of their support , and the enthusiasm with which they second our efforts to promote the general welfare of the Masonic Order .
We are too old to be expected to make a periodical publication of our future programme . What we have done in the past we hope to improve upon in the future , and the best assurance we can give is that our whole efforts will continue to be devoted to making the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE a representative journal
for the Craft , and the means ot improving its surroundings wherever improvement is needed , or supporting the members of the Order in all their laudable undertakings . We shall start on the coming year with bright Masonic prospects , and there is ample evidence that 1892 will not be behind any of its predecessors in matters of general interest . We hope our readers will one and all enjoy prosperity during its progress , and cordially send them the heartiest of good wishes for its opening day .
The Prodigal's Return.
THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN .
AT this season of the year , when those around us vie with each other in promoting peace and goodwill towards their neighbours , it would be strange indeed if Freemasons , whose special mission on earth is to promote Brotherly Love and Fraternity , should stand aloof , deaf to the needs of their fellows , and unmindful of the principles on which the Brotherhood is founded . The Masonic World ,
boundless as it seems , is in reality very small , limited within narrow bounds , and subject to all the troubles and trials of a very restricted community . As might be expected , the members of the Masonic family are on terms of true friendship with most of their fellowsit would be strange indeed if with such principles as
ours to work on it were otherwise—but , as is often the case in the best regulated families , there are one or two of the members not on the best of terms with the others , and , hard though it is for the stronger section to stand out against the proceedings
The Prodigal's Return.
of their erring brethren , principle compels an estrangement when grave questions of principle aro concerned , or differences of importance arise . Such has been the case for some years past in regard to the Grand Orient of France , tho members of which , acting under a mistaken sense of the precept of
equality , adopted practices that shut them out irora commune with their neighbours , and created a schism which not only threatened most disastrous consequences to themselves , but which actually caused trouble and anxiety beyond the sphere of their actual control .
Urance is proverbially a land oi surprises , and tho peace of to-day may be broken at any time by a violent outburst of revolution , upsetting all existing institutions and leading to changes both unexpected and far reaching . Freemasonry suffers in Franco as do other institutions , and the same national spirit of uncertainty holds good in its midst as ontside of it . On this account it would cause little surprise to hear
that grave changes bad been brought about , and that a large section of the members of the Grand Orient of France had returned to their old allegiance , and had thereby won the official recognition which is now denied them by England and others in consequence of their no longer compelling an allegiance to the first principles of the Order . We are aware that in
writing as we are doing on the subject ol French Freemasonry we may be accused of speaking of something which has no real existence , but there are yet many true members of the Order in France , men who joined- the ranks of Freemasonry under the old system , when obligations as binding on the conscience
as any we impose were entered into by the candidate for initiation , and why should the rest of the Masonic World refuse to recognise them solely because others in their midst have inaugurated a new system , and made use of the time honoured name of Freemasonry for political or party ends ? Of course the difficulty
of recognising the true members of our Order lies in the fact that the loyal body of Freemasons in France are in the minority , or at least they have allowed their more turbulent and scheming members to push them into the background . Were they able to assert themselves there is little doubt but that we should
soon hnd the matter placed on a different footing , and although it would be very difficult to deal with the large number of so-called Freemasons who have joined the French Orient under its altered rules , some satisfactory means could be devised to welcome back the prodigal of the Masonic family if the matter were broached in a proper spirit . In this sense we
may regard the peculiar temperament of our French neighbours as somewhat in the light of a blessing , and if we are to believe some of the French writers who have recently devoted attention to the subject , something in the form of a Masonic Revolution is not wholly impossible in the near future . Rightly or wrongly Freemasonry in France is accused of most outrageous actions , and as a consequence the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Thirty-Fourth Volume.
OUR THIRTY-FOURTH VOLUME .
OUR current issue marks the termination of a further stage in our journey , and gives to the Masonic World another completed volume of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . In closing our labours for 1891 we take the opportunity of again thanking our patrons for their support , and at the same time express a hope that our efforts in the work we have set ourselves to perform have not been wholly thrown
away . Looking back , we find many causes for regret ; we have had to mourn the death of dear old friends who have been associated with us in Freemasonry , and have taken an interest in our work , during the seventeen years of our existence , but we are happy to say others have sprung up around us who are cheering us to future action by the kindness of their support , and the enthusiasm with which they second our efforts to promote the general welfare of the Masonic Order .
We are too old to be expected to make a periodical publication of our future programme . What we have done in the past we hope to improve upon in the future , and the best assurance we can give is that our whole efforts will continue to be devoted to making the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE a representative journal
for the Craft , and the means ot improving its surroundings wherever improvement is needed , or supporting the members of the Order in all their laudable undertakings . We shall start on the coming year with bright Masonic prospects , and there is ample evidence that 1892 will not be behind any of its predecessors in matters of general interest . We hope our readers will one and all enjoy prosperity during its progress , and cordially send them the heartiest of good wishes for its opening day .
The Prodigal's Return.
THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN .
AT this season of the year , when those around us vie with each other in promoting peace and goodwill towards their neighbours , it would be strange indeed if Freemasons , whose special mission on earth is to promote Brotherly Love and Fraternity , should stand aloof , deaf to the needs of their fellows , and unmindful of the principles on which the Brotherhood is founded . The Masonic World ,
boundless as it seems , is in reality very small , limited within narrow bounds , and subject to all the troubles and trials of a very restricted community . As might be expected , the members of the Masonic family are on terms of true friendship with most of their fellowsit would be strange indeed if with such principles as
ours to work on it were otherwise—but , as is often the case in the best regulated families , there are one or two of the members not on the best of terms with the others , and , hard though it is for the stronger section to stand out against the proceedings
The Prodigal's Return.
of their erring brethren , principle compels an estrangement when grave questions of principle aro concerned , or differences of importance arise . Such has been the case for some years past in regard to the Grand Orient of France , tho members of which , acting under a mistaken sense of the precept of
equality , adopted practices that shut them out irora commune with their neighbours , and created a schism which not only threatened most disastrous consequences to themselves , but which actually caused trouble and anxiety beyond the sphere of their actual control .
Urance is proverbially a land oi surprises , and tho peace of to-day may be broken at any time by a violent outburst of revolution , upsetting all existing institutions and leading to changes both unexpected and far reaching . Freemasonry suffers in Franco as do other institutions , and the same national spirit of uncertainty holds good in its midst as ontside of it . On this account it would cause little surprise to hear
that grave changes bad been brought about , and that a large section of the members of the Grand Orient of France had returned to their old allegiance , and had thereby won the official recognition which is now denied them by England and others in consequence of their no longer compelling an allegiance to the first principles of the Order . We are aware that in
writing as we are doing on the subject ol French Freemasonry we may be accused of speaking of something which has no real existence , but there are yet many true members of the Order in France , men who joined- the ranks of Freemasonry under the old system , when obligations as binding on the conscience
as any we impose were entered into by the candidate for initiation , and why should the rest of the Masonic World refuse to recognise them solely because others in their midst have inaugurated a new system , and made use of the time honoured name of Freemasonry for political or party ends ? Of course the difficulty
of recognising the true members of our Order lies in the fact that the loyal body of Freemasons in France are in the minority , or at least they have allowed their more turbulent and scheming members to push them into the background . Were they able to assert themselves there is little doubt but that we should
soon hnd the matter placed on a different footing , and although it would be very difficult to deal with the large number of so-called Freemasons who have joined the French Orient under its altered rules , some satisfactory means could be devised to welcome back the prodigal of the Masonic family if the matter were broached in a proper spirit . In this sense we
may regard the peculiar temperament of our French neighbours as somewhat in the light of a blessing , and if we are to believe some of the French writers who have recently devoted attention to the subject , something in the form of a Masonic Revolution is not wholly impossible in the near future . Rightly or wrongly Freemasonry in France is accused of most outrageous actions , and as a consequence the