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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLYREVIEW, ← Page 2 of 8 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterlyreview,
lively applied to him , may be found in the article referred to , and upon which the vote of confidence in his Lordship was carried at the recent Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge . Clearly and distinctly , we wish it to be understood , that our regret is , at least , equal to the occasion . Andactuated by the same love of justice , whether the mandate be
, for or against us , we feel that we are as imperatively called upon to assert , that neither the vote of Grand Lodge , nor the admissions and apology made by us , can possibly affect the real question , out of which the more recent circumstances have arisen . That vote was not taken
or passed upon the abstract merits of the Grand Master , but upon our own demerits . And , having now amply atoned for those demeritsfor faults of attributive expression , and not of masonic principle—we once more stand on the same level with all parties , with every member of the fraternity , from the last certified Mason up to the Grand Master himself .
It is a remarkable feature of the proceedings at the last meeting of the Grand Lodge , and one that strictly carries out the distinction we have drawn , between the truthfulness of our general exception to the conduct of the Grand Master , and the inappropriate nature of certain words and phrases which occurred here and there , in the article
brought under the consideration of the assembly , that the reading of that article , entire , from end to end , was studiously avoided by the brother who brought the subject before the Grand Lodge , and by all who followed him ! His course was to pick out isolated words , or parts of a sentence ; but , beyond that which was indispensable to the support of " his case , " the context was invariably omitted . Hence we now
deliberately say , our retractation , ample as it is , does not cover the context ; nor can be supposed , even , to apply to the more wholesale omissions . Neither the special pleading of our opponents , nor the vote of Grand Lodge , can take from us the conviction that the Grand Master does
not rule the Craft with discriminative sympathy—that he utterly misconceives the charitable disposition of the fraternity , when he stands between their declared wishes and their fruition—that it was his influence , whether self-created or prompted , that caused a further delay in the allocation of benevolence to the Mason ' s widow—and that it is high time that the brethren should look about them , and see if there
be not in the ranks of the nobility some worthy Mason , of higher attainments , more personal generosity , greater grasp of mind , better qualified , by perspicacity and judgment , to fill an office so honourable and important . Surely the warmest eulogist of the present Grand Master is not prepared to say that Freemasonry was instituted for him ! That his coronet is to be the received symbol of the Ruler of the Craft ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterlyreview,
lively applied to him , may be found in the article referred to , and upon which the vote of confidence in his Lordship was carried at the recent Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge . Clearly and distinctly , we wish it to be understood , that our regret is , at least , equal to the occasion . Andactuated by the same love of justice , whether the mandate be
, for or against us , we feel that we are as imperatively called upon to assert , that neither the vote of Grand Lodge , nor the admissions and apology made by us , can possibly affect the real question , out of which the more recent circumstances have arisen . That vote was not taken
or passed upon the abstract merits of the Grand Master , but upon our own demerits . And , having now amply atoned for those demeritsfor faults of attributive expression , and not of masonic principle—we once more stand on the same level with all parties , with every member of the fraternity , from the last certified Mason up to the Grand Master himself .
It is a remarkable feature of the proceedings at the last meeting of the Grand Lodge , and one that strictly carries out the distinction we have drawn , between the truthfulness of our general exception to the conduct of the Grand Master , and the inappropriate nature of certain words and phrases which occurred here and there , in the article
brought under the consideration of the assembly , that the reading of that article , entire , from end to end , was studiously avoided by the brother who brought the subject before the Grand Lodge , and by all who followed him ! His course was to pick out isolated words , or parts of a sentence ; but , beyond that which was indispensable to the support of " his case , " the context was invariably omitted . Hence we now
deliberately say , our retractation , ample as it is , does not cover the context ; nor can be supposed , even , to apply to the more wholesale omissions . Neither the special pleading of our opponents , nor the vote of Grand Lodge , can take from us the conviction that the Grand Master does
not rule the Craft with discriminative sympathy—that he utterly misconceives the charitable disposition of the fraternity , when he stands between their declared wishes and their fruition—that it was his influence , whether self-created or prompted , that caused a further delay in the allocation of benevolence to the Mason ' s widow—and that it is high time that the brethren should look about them , and see if there
be not in the ranks of the nobility some worthy Mason , of higher attainments , more personal generosity , greater grasp of mind , better qualified , by perspicacity and judgment , to fill an office so honourable and important . Surely the warmest eulogist of the present Grand Master is not prepared to say that Freemasonry was instituted for him ! That his coronet is to be the received symbol of the Ruler of the Craft ,