Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Foreign.
FOREIGN .
BAHAMAS . —Sayings and Doings ; or the Three Black Balls . —Something less than five hundred years ago , the Union Lodge met one evening for the special purpose of receiving the application of a most respectable gentleman , of unimpeachable character , holding her Majesty ' s commission in the army , and he a " Lewis " to boot , desirous of being initiated into Freemasonry . You can easil y imagine the surprise of the Brethren , when at the close of the
ballot , three black balls were found against the candidate ! " It must be a mistake . It must certainl y be a mistake , " resounded round the room ; after some deliberation , a second ballot was determined upon by the unanimous consent of the Brethren , ancl what do you think was the result ? Guess . Cannot you guess ? Then I will tell you . On examination of the ballot-box , three black balls again appeared—astonishmentdisappointmentand regretwas depicted in
, , , , every countenance , except three young Masons , whose visages bore rather the appearance of triumph . It is to be hoped that the ballot-box of the Union Lodge will never again be used as a weapon , to gratify private pique , was the expression of many of the Brethren . The next morning , the suspected three went to the W . Master , clothed in innocence as regards the charge of private pique , and made a voluntary confession of the part they had acted on the previous evening
, at-the same time stating their reasons , ivhich were briefly as follows : That the aspirant had often , in their presence , uttered sentiments in ridicule of the Institution , tending to bring the Craft in general , and the Union Lodge in particular , into disrepute . That he was therefore blackballed by them to prove to him the incorrectness of his assertion , that any scoundrel could become a Mason on paying tbe initiating fee ! The greatest praise was then bestowed on the Three Blackballed .
They were right said one . They deserve the thanks of the Lodge , said another , and he deserve to be , said a third . It is said that the gentleman afterwards acknowledged having expressed sentiments as above stated ; but that it was all in jest . Did he merit the treatment he received for his " joke ?"
NASSAU , May 10 , 1844 . — 1 o the Editor . —Dear Sir and Brother , — We have experienced another disappointment in not having received by a recent arrival from London , a supply of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review . By the non-receipt of that , the only source of Masonic information known to us , as a periodical , ive have been kept in total ignorance of the proceedings of the Masonic world for upwards of a year . If I knew the name of the gentleman who so kindly undertook to procure ancl forward the Freemasons' Quarterly Review for our Library , I
certainly would request the favour of you , to inform me whether he be dead or alive , and if alive , and a Brother Mason , I would invoke the powers that be , to cause the Masonic Attorney-General to institute proceedings against him for his sins of omission ; but as he is beyond the reach of the parties concerned , he must of course escape , even prosecution . If he is still among thc living ( I fear he is not ) may he repent , and make amends by being more attentive to his engagements in future ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Foreign.
FOREIGN .
BAHAMAS . —Sayings and Doings ; or the Three Black Balls . —Something less than five hundred years ago , the Union Lodge met one evening for the special purpose of receiving the application of a most respectable gentleman , of unimpeachable character , holding her Majesty ' s commission in the army , and he a " Lewis " to boot , desirous of being initiated into Freemasonry . You can easil y imagine the surprise of the Brethren , when at the close of the
ballot , three black balls were found against the candidate ! " It must be a mistake . It must certainl y be a mistake , " resounded round the room ; after some deliberation , a second ballot was determined upon by the unanimous consent of the Brethren , ancl what do you think was the result ? Guess . Cannot you guess ? Then I will tell you . On examination of the ballot-box , three black balls again appeared—astonishmentdisappointmentand regretwas depicted in
, , , , every countenance , except three young Masons , whose visages bore rather the appearance of triumph . It is to be hoped that the ballot-box of the Union Lodge will never again be used as a weapon , to gratify private pique , was the expression of many of the Brethren . The next morning , the suspected three went to the W . Master , clothed in innocence as regards the charge of private pique , and made a voluntary confession of the part they had acted on the previous evening
, at-the same time stating their reasons , ivhich were briefly as follows : That the aspirant had often , in their presence , uttered sentiments in ridicule of the Institution , tending to bring the Craft in general , and the Union Lodge in particular , into disrepute . That he was therefore blackballed by them to prove to him the incorrectness of his assertion , that any scoundrel could become a Mason on paying tbe initiating fee ! The greatest praise was then bestowed on the Three Blackballed .
They were right said one . They deserve the thanks of the Lodge , said another , and he deserve to be , said a third . It is said that the gentleman afterwards acknowledged having expressed sentiments as above stated ; but that it was all in jest . Did he merit the treatment he received for his " joke ?"
NASSAU , May 10 , 1844 . — 1 o the Editor . —Dear Sir and Brother , — We have experienced another disappointment in not having received by a recent arrival from London , a supply of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review . By the non-receipt of that , the only source of Masonic information known to us , as a periodical , ive have been kept in total ignorance of the proceedings of the Masonic world for upwards of a year . If I knew the name of the gentleman who so kindly undertook to procure ancl forward the Freemasons' Quarterly Review for our Library , I
certainly would request the favour of you , to inform me whether he be dead or alive , and if alive , and a Brother Mason , I would invoke the powers that be , to cause the Masonic Attorney-General to institute proceedings against him for his sins of omission ; but as he is beyond the reach of the parties concerned , he must of course escape , even prosecution . If he is still among thc living ( I fear he is not ) may he repent , and make amends by being more attentive to his engagements in future ,