Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Magazine, And Cabinet Of Universal Literature.
What is there new , that is not innovative ? What fanciful , that is not corrupt ? If then one general system comprehends all that is valuable , all that is genuine , and that system is to be attained , in its primitive purity and perfection , in one lodge , whence results the need of attending others ? I will whisper to your ear , that your attending more than one , under these circumstances , is an impeachment either of unders
your tanding , or of your virtue ; it savours too much of sensuality on the one hand , and of vanity on the other . The world , I mean those who know you not so well as I do , would be apt to attribute such motives to such a conduct . Turn for a moment your mind ' s eye on a man , who , without suffering any emergencies of business to impede him , obeys the call of perhaps ei ght ° or ten ' different lod if he be member
ges or chapters : a of so many , he has a twofold inducement to attend regularly ; in the first place , as a yearly or quarterly subscriber , he considers ' that he must pay his share of the expences of the evening , whether he attend or not ; and he thinks if he must pay , he may as well partake ; again , he considers regularity of attendance on the duties of the society ( particularlif he be in
y office ) as praiseworthy , indeed as indispensable to his farther promotion . We see him , then , devoting to one or other of them , four or five evenings , sometimes whole afternoons , in a week : for , though the regular meetings may not amount to so many on the aver .. ge ° ofthe year , yet when committees , councils , lodges of emergency , of instruction , visits , & e . & rc . are taken into the calculationthe account I
, , believe , will not be found very much exaggerated . To return to a point before under consideration : when a set of workmen see . their employer periodically ( perhaps dail y ) quit his post of observation , they adopt his example , and profit by the opportunity afforded them , to relax from their labour , and most likely to indulge in the pleasures of the tankard ; in the measuring of which seldom has
. recess , prudence much concern . After this indulgence it becomes necessary to redeem in some measure their lost time , and ' in the hurry consequent on this attempt , the work generally suffers by being slightly or negligently performed . Now it cannot be supposed , that the master tradesman can inspect ( at least in many professions he cannot inspect ) all the work that is sent out of his house
- and when the purchaser , or original employer , finds bad materials ' used , or an ill use made of good materials , or that his work is detained onger in hand than he can reasonably account for , where does the blame fall ? Who is ultimatel y the sufferer by the neglect ? Not the journeyman , who actually has done the wrong , but the master by Whose absence , or negligence , he has been enabled to do it . " ' these
Are things not so ? Is any part of this picture extravagantly heig htened ? Have I not stated probable facts , and deducecf from those facts the natural consequences ? If any thing I have writte n ' appear harsh , its truth , and the sincerity of friendshi p by which " ij : is dictated , must be my apology . I saw a serious case before me and I have only treated it with fidelity ; stern fidelity indeed ; but f have my hope that it may be salutary . I have not animadverted upon J C 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Magazine, And Cabinet Of Universal Literature.
What is there new , that is not innovative ? What fanciful , that is not corrupt ? If then one general system comprehends all that is valuable , all that is genuine , and that system is to be attained , in its primitive purity and perfection , in one lodge , whence results the need of attending others ? I will whisper to your ear , that your attending more than one , under these circumstances , is an impeachment either of unders
your tanding , or of your virtue ; it savours too much of sensuality on the one hand , and of vanity on the other . The world , I mean those who know you not so well as I do , would be apt to attribute such motives to such a conduct . Turn for a moment your mind ' s eye on a man , who , without suffering any emergencies of business to impede him , obeys the call of perhaps ei ght ° or ten ' different lod if he be member
ges or chapters : a of so many , he has a twofold inducement to attend regularly ; in the first place , as a yearly or quarterly subscriber , he considers ' that he must pay his share of the expences of the evening , whether he attend or not ; and he thinks if he must pay , he may as well partake ; again , he considers regularity of attendance on the duties of the society ( particularlif he be in
y office ) as praiseworthy , indeed as indispensable to his farther promotion . We see him , then , devoting to one or other of them , four or five evenings , sometimes whole afternoons , in a week : for , though the regular meetings may not amount to so many on the aver .. ge ° ofthe year , yet when committees , councils , lodges of emergency , of instruction , visits , & e . & rc . are taken into the calculationthe account I
, , believe , will not be found very much exaggerated . To return to a point before under consideration : when a set of workmen see . their employer periodically ( perhaps dail y ) quit his post of observation , they adopt his example , and profit by the opportunity afforded them , to relax from their labour , and most likely to indulge in the pleasures of the tankard ; in the measuring of which seldom has
. recess , prudence much concern . After this indulgence it becomes necessary to redeem in some measure their lost time , and ' in the hurry consequent on this attempt , the work generally suffers by being slightly or negligently performed . Now it cannot be supposed , that the master tradesman can inspect ( at least in many professions he cannot inspect ) all the work that is sent out of his house
- and when the purchaser , or original employer , finds bad materials ' used , or an ill use made of good materials , or that his work is detained onger in hand than he can reasonably account for , where does the blame fall ? Who is ultimatel y the sufferer by the neglect ? Not the journeyman , who actually has done the wrong , but the master by Whose absence , or negligence , he has been enabled to do it . " ' these
Are things not so ? Is any part of this picture extravagantly heig htened ? Have I not stated probable facts , and deducecf from those facts the natural consequences ? If any thing I have writte n ' appear harsh , its truth , and the sincerity of friendshi p by which " ij : is dictated , must be my apology . I saw a serious case before me and I have only treated it with fidelity ; stern fidelity indeed ; but f have my hope that it may be salutary . I have not animadverted upon J C 2