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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 4 of 8 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
as if the grave had given up the dead , purified as it were by resurrection , to appear for the time amongst those with whom , when living , he had passed so much of his useful and eventful life . Yet scarcel y had the silence in which his sacred memory was received passed away , than a tumult arose and some Freemasons , for none other were present , forgot their dignity in the social scaleand converted the Temple of Friendshi
, p into a chaos of indiscipline ! The Grand Master , his Grand Officers and Grand Stewards had no authority ; mischief presided , and the scene was disgraceful ; perhaps what was the most to be regretted was , that the gallery was filled with elegantly dressed ladies , the wives , daughters , sisters and friends of the assembled Brethren . The subject has been taken up by the Board of General Purposes , * and their censure has been passed on the late Board of General Purposes
in very unqualified terms . Owing to the alarm of fire in the Hall at the last Quarterly Communication , which rendered it necessary on the instant to close the Grand Lodge , the report of the Board could not come under consideration , and tlie members of the late Board have to endure their penance without the opportunity of public explanation or appeal . On referring to our copy of the report of the Board of General Purposes , we find that the following words ( in italics " ) have been
inadvertently omitted ; and as they are most important to the case , as affecting the conduct of the late Grand Stewards , we now supply them : — " That it is the opinion of this Board , that the arrangements by the Board of Grand Stewards at thc late Festival , were totally inefficient for the purpose of preserving order , " & c . It is with the previous arrangements made , and their probable power to meet the serious difficulty of the moment that the Board had to deal ;
and while thus adverting to the power , we may enquire whether , as by Art . 17 , page 108 , they , as a Board , being directed to cause necessary preparations to be made for the days of Festival , did they themselves actually perform such duty ? If they did not , surely they themselves incur a portion of the censure they have so largely inflicted on others . But the case has not been met . Better that the members of the late Board of Grand Stewards had been altogether suspended from their Masonic functions
pending examination into their conduct ; which examination having ended , they might either have been amerced in Masonic punishment or have been honourably acquitted . Such is the course adopted in the profane world . When will Masons cease to be wise in their own conceit . At the Grand Festival in 1845 , the President of the Board of Grand Stewards felt it necessary to speak out strongly against the want of order ; in 1846 , the evil has come to the worst ; let us hope that in 1847 , things may mend . We postpone further observations until after the next Grand Lodge .
THE NEW GRAND OFFICERS . —On the appointment of the higher grades it may be unwise to enter either protest or approbation . The Brethren filling them do not come sufficiently in contact with the general body to excite much attention ; and from the recent resignations of two successive Deputy Grand Masters , it may be that the office of Deputy
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
as if the grave had given up the dead , purified as it were by resurrection , to appear for the time amongst those with whom , when living , he had passed so much of his useful and eventful life . Yet scarcel y had the silence in which his sacred memory was received passed away , than a tumult arose and some Freemasons , for none other were present , forgot their dignity in the social scaleand converted the Temple of Friendshi
, p into a chaos of indiscipline ! The Grand Master , his Grand Officers and Grand Stewards had no authority ; mischief presided , and the scene was disgraceful ; perhaps what was the most to be regretted was , that the gallery was filled with elegantly dressed ladies , the wives , daughters , sisters and friends of the assembled Brethren . The subject has been taken up by the Board of General Purposes , * and their censure has been passed on the late Board of General Purposes
in very unqualified terms . Owing to the alarm of fire in the Hall at the last Quarterly Communication , which rendered it necessary on the instant to close the Grand Lodge , the report of the Board could not come under consideration , and tlie members of the late Board have to endure their penance without the opportunity of public explanation or appeal . On referring to our copy of the report of the Board of General Purposes , we find that the following words ( in italics " ) have been
inadvertently omitted ; and as they are most important to the case , as affecting the conduct of the late Grand Stewards , we now supply them : — " That it is the opinion of this Board , that the arrangements by the Board of Grand Stewards at thc late Festival , were totally inefficient for the purpose of preserving order , " & c . It is with the previous arrangements made , and their probable power to meet the serious difficulty of the moment that the Board had to deal ;
and while thus adverting to the power , we may enquire whether , as by Art . 17 , page 108 , they , as a Board , being directed to cause necessary preparations to be made for the days of Festival , did they themselves actually perform such duty ? If they did not , surely they themselves incur a portion of the censure they have so largely inflicted on others . But the case has not been met . Better that the members of the late Board of Grand Stewards had been altogether suspended from their Masonic functions
pending examination into their conduct ; which examination having ended , they might either have been amerced in Masonic punishment or have been honourably acquitted . Such is the course adopted in the profane world . When will Masons cease to be wise in their own conceit . At the Grand Festival in 1845 , the President of the Board of Grand Stewards felt it necessary to speak out strongly against the want of order ; in 1846 , the evil has come to the worst ; let us hope that in 1847 , things may mend . We postpone further observations until after the next Grand Lodge .
THE NEW GRAND OFFICERS . —On the appointment of the higher grades it may be unwise to enter either protest or approbation . The Brethren filling them do not come sufficiently in contact with the general body to excite much attention ; and from the recent resignations of two successive Deputy Grand Masters , it may be that the office of Deputy