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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 5 of 8 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
to this " robbing Peter to pay Paul" system—for consenting parties they were—inasmuch as notice was very generally given to them on this point—and the project was unopposed by them . It is true , this abstraction clid not increase their taxation , it only limited their poiver to do goocl , by leaving the casual appeals to the mouthly Board of Benevolence , to contend always with the evident difficulty of au impoverished
exchequer . But , now that the necessity for increased dues is clear and obvious , the Provincial Brethren , forsooth , cry out that the necessity was unjust , and even arbitrary ! Even ivhile we write thus , we cannot be brought to consider that the Provincial Brethren have acted from a sordid view ; we know that they have many claims on their sympathy , ancl that they may not generally
have the advantage of systematic arrangement to conduct their transactions . But that is no reason why they should be exempted from participating in the honour of sharing the heat ancl burden of the day
Indeed , we considered that the proposition was but just , that they should do so . And we now know that a vast number of Provincial Brethren are of this opinion . It would have been a libel on them had the mover of the case reflected so unjustly on the provinces—whilst any remark on their poverty would have been still move improper , if it really were not ridiculous . Look at the last Grand Lodge—count the noblemen and
gentlemen , add the Deputy Provincial Grand Masters ; and then include the hundreds who come up for the purpose of opposing this motion ! Apparently for such purpose alone . But was there no other motive ? All the speakers against the motion could find it in their hearts , or , at least , encourage by their silence , the vociferous discord of their followers , to - prevent fair discussion . They called those who had
acted according to the law " arbitrary and unjust , " but of the law itself they lacked the moral courage to complain ; whilst they practically illustrated their own rallying cry of " arbitrary ancl unjust , " hy drowning the words of others who spoke adversely to them , by mere animal violence .
At the preceding Grand Lodge in March , it was recommended that the provinces should he apprised of the resolution having been passed ; but they received no communication until May . On the 24 th April , the Prov . Grand Lodge of Devon pass certain resolutions to oppose the measure , which had been casually notified to them by their Devon D . P . Grancl Master , who " , although present when it passed , made not
the slightest opposition ; but , that Provincial Lodge uttered no complaint against the lateness of the information from the Grand Secretary —that , we suppose , would have been " arbitrary and unjust . " The provinces have not , in fact , made out their case ; they were not , by any evasion of the law , or from any act of the promoter , taken by
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
to this " robbing Peter to pay Paul" system—for consenting parties they were—inasmuch as notice was very generally given to them on this point—and the project was unopposed by them . It is true , this abstraction clid not increase their taxation , it only limited their poiver to do goocl , by leaving the casual appeals to the mouthly Board of Benevolence , to contend always with the evident difficulty of au impoverished
exchequer . But , now that the necessity for increased dues is clear and obvious , the Provincial Brethren , forsooth , cry out that the necessity was unjust , and even arbitrary ! Even ivhile we write thus , we cannot be brought to consider that the Provincial Brethren have acted from a sordid view ; we know that they have many claims on their sympathy , ancl that they may not generally
have the advantage of systematic arrangement to conduct their transactions . But that is no reason why they should be exempted from participating in the honour of sharing the heat ancl burden of the day
Indeed , we considered that the proposition was but just , that they should do so . And we now know that a vast number of Provincial Brethren are of this opinion . It would have been a libel on them had the mover of the case reflected so unjustly on the provinces—whilst any remark on their poverty would have been still move improper , if it really were not ridiculous . Look at the last Grand Lodge—count the noblemen and
gentlemen , add the Deputy Provincial Grand Masters ; and then include the hundreds who come up for the purpose of opposing this motion ! Apparently for such purpose alone . But was there no other motive ? All the speakers against the motion could find it in their hearts , or , at least , encourage by their silence , the vociferous discord of their followers , to - prevent fair discussion . They called those who had
acted according to the law " arbitrary and unjust , " but of the law itself they lacked the moral courage to complain ; whilst they practically illustrated their own rallying cry of " arbitrary ancl unjust , " hy drowning the words of others who spoke adversely to them , by mere animal violence .
At the preceding Grand Lodge in March , it was recommended that the provinces should he apprised of the resolution having been passed ; but they received no communication until May . On the 24 th April , the Prov . Grand Lodge of Devon pass certain resolutions to oppose the measure , which had been casually notified to them by their Devon D . P . Grancl Master , who " , although present when it passed , made not
the slightest opposition ; but , that Provincial Lodge uttered no complaint against the lateness of the information from the Grand Secretary —that , we suppose , would have been " arbitrary and unjust . " The provinces have not , in fact , made out their case ; they were not , by any evasion of the law , or from any act of the promoter , taken by