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Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 2 of 2 Article TO THE EDITOR . Page 1 of 2 →
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To The Editor.
Under these circumstances , a new Lodge , desirous of acting in strict conformity with the instructions of the Grand Lodge , requires advice . 1 st . To admit men without a certificate is to violate a G . L . command . 2 nd . Not to admit them , is to exclude good Masons , and to wound the feelings of the Brother who proposes them as members . In this dilemma is there no mid-course by which foreign members may have the right of entree to Lodges under a British charter , without
being admitted as members , subscribing or honorary ? A few weeks since , a Mason of high and long standing ( a refugee ) , was rejected as an honorary member for the simple reason that he had done nothing to the knowledge of the members to entitle him to such a mark of distinction ; yet his proposer was advised to introduce him in that capacity , since by the order above alluded to , he could not , unprovided with a certificate , have been admitted as a member . The Brother proposing him of course felt chagrined at his rejectionunpleasant discussion followed—hence this demand by A MEMBER OF THE ZETLAND .
[ There may he some difficulty in the case , but in the sense of honesty , not an insurmountable one . The Grand Lodge of England itself is not infallible . Some five years since , by a sudden and disgraceful ruse , it actually denounced a Masonic periodical as traitorous—for speaking the TRUTH !—yet , thank God , that periodical exists , and , we hope , with some advantage to FREEMASONRY UNIVERSAL . In the case of the spurious Lodge at Bristolthe Grand Lodge was quite en regienor
, , could it well direct that Italian refugees should be received . But in the case of "A Mason of high and long standing ( a refugee ) , " ive certainly are of opinion that an exception should be made in his favour . The course frequently adopted , where certificates cannot be introduced , is by testing the Brother on the Sacred Volume . Let the Brother take a moral obligation thereon , and if , after occasionally visiting the Lodge , his general demeanour as a Mason should be such as to entitle
him to be ballotted for as an honorary member , an exception might be made in his favour , and with advantage to the Order . Such a course is purely within the construction of Masonic courtesy , for even the English Masonic constitution , generally tolerant as it is , could hardly refuse admission to a Brother where allegiance to Freemasonry in his own country exposed him to the fearful penalty of DEATH ! A virtuous Freemason thus circumstanced , is a beacon-light—a test of purity—and should be respected accordingly . —ED . ]
To The Editor .
TO THE EDITOR .
30 , New llroail Street , City , 28 tli May , 1840 ' . SIR AND BROTHER , —In your last number , under the head of " The Reporter , " page 79 , an article is inserted " Old King ' s Arms Lodge , No . 30 , Feb . 25 th , " and proceeds with a copy of a circular sent from the Worshipful Master of that Lodge to its members , in which it is stated the Board of General Purposes decided " that the charges brought against various members b y Bro . Gibbins , P . M ., Bro . A . U . Thiselton , P . M ., and others , were not proved . " But it omits to state a very important portion of the decision of the Board , viz . — "That Bro . VOL . IV . B B
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
Under these circumstances , a new Lodge , desirous of acting in strict conformity with the instructions of the Grand Lodge , requires advice . 1 st . To admit men without a certificate is to violate a G . L . command . 2 nd . Not to admit them , is to exclude good Masons , and to wound the feelings of the Brother who proposes them as members . In this dilemma is there no mid-course by which foreign members may have the right of entree to Lodges under a British charter , without
being admitted as members , subscribing or honorary ? A few weeks since , a Mason of high and long standing ( a refugee ) , was rejected as an honorary member for the simple reason that he had done nothing to the knowledge of the members to entitle him to such a mark of distinction ; yet his proposer was advised to introduce him in that capacity , since by the order above alluded to , he could not , unprovided with a certificate , have been admitted as a member . The Brother proposing him of course felt chagrined at his rejectionunpleasant discussion followed—hence this demand by A MEMBER OF THE ZETLAND .
[ There may he some difficulty in the case , but in the sense of honesty , not an insurmountable one . The Grand Lodge of England itself is not infallible . Some five years since , by a sudden and disgraceful ruse , it actually denounced a Masonic periodical as traitorous—for speaking the TRUTH !—yet , thank God , that periodical exists , and , we hope , with some advantage to FREEMASONRY UNIVERSAL . In the case of the spurious Lodge at Bristolthe Grand Lodge was quite en regienor
, , could it well direct that Italian refugees should be received . But in the case of "A Mason of high and long standing ( a refugee ) , " ive certainly are of opinion that an exception should be made in his favour . The course frequently adopted , where certificates cannot be introduced , is by testing the Brother on the Sacred Volume . Let the Brother take a moral obligation thereon , and if , after occasionally visiting the Lodge , his general demeanour as a Mason should be such as to entitle
him to be ballotted for as an honorary member , an exception might be made in his favour , and with advantage to the Order . Such a course is purely within the construction of Masonic courtesy , for even the English Masonic constitution , generally tolerant as it is , could hardly refuse admission to a Brother where allegiance to Freemasonry in his own country exposed him to the fearful penalty of DEATH ! A virtuous Freemason thus circumstanced , is a beacon-light—a test of purity—and should be respected accordingly . —ED . ]
To The Editor .
TO THE EDITOR .
30 , New llroail Street , City , 28 tli May , 1840 ' . SIR AND BROTHER , —In your last number , under the head of " The Reporter , " page 79 , an article is inserted " Old King ' s Arms Lodge , No . 30 , Feb . 25 th , " and proceeds with a copy of a circular sent from the Worshipful Master of that Lodge to its members , in which it is stated the Board of General Purposes decided " that the charges brought against various members b y Bro . Gibbins , P . M ., Bro . A . U . Thiselton , P . M ., and others , were not proved . " But it omits to state a very important portion of the decision of the Board , viz . — "That Bro . VOL . IV . B B