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Article THE REVELATIONS OF A SQUARE. ← Page 10 of 14 →
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The Revelations Of A Square.
" Indeed , if the wandering Jew had appeared among them in propria persona , they would scarcely have exhibited a more urgent demand for his summary expulsion than was implied in the loud and universal murmur of disapprobation which was heard from every part of the Lodge . The intruder was perplexed ; he saw his errorbut knew not the remedy : and
, when the R . W . M . quietly observed : ' Now , sir , will you be kind enough to favour us with your version of the story , ' he replied , in the language of Canning ' s Knife Grinder : —¦ " ' Story !—Lord bless you !—I have none to tell ! I was anxious to see a Lodge of Brethren at work ; and one of your seceding Members furnished me with answers to a few
ques tions which he said would be proposed in the Tyler ' s room , and for a frolic I was determined to test their truth , as , at the very worst , I could only be rejected , which I did not conceive would be either a disappointment or a disgrace ; for , to say the truth , I scarcely expected to gain admittance into the
Lodge . ' " What was to be done ? The dilemma was pressing , and various opinions Avere proposed and discussed , while the delinquent was securely locked up in the preparing-room , and left in darkness to his own agreeable reflections . The confusion in King Agramante ' s camp , so well described by Ariosto ,
where one said one thing and another the reverse , may convey some idea of the consternation which ensued . All spoke together , and the reins of authority seemed to have been unnaturally snapped asunder ; for the R . W . M . had retired with his Wardens behind the pedestal , leaving the Brethren in the body of the room to denounce or threaten at their
pleasure ; and their objurgations were rather amusing than otherwise . One or two young Members , in the exuberance of their zeal , thoughtless and ill-judging , like sailors at the prospect of a wreck breaking open the spirit-room , jumped upon the benches , like Victor Hugo ' s scholars in Notre Dame , * vociferating , — ' Out with him ! Down with the intruder ! Turn him out !'
" Others were more moderate . One Brother observed , in a deprecatory tone of voice : ' He ought not to have been admitted . ' A fat Brother , with a red face peering from under a periwig and queue , who had not taken the trouble , amidst
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Revelations Of A Square.
" Indeed , if the wandering Jew had appeared among them in propria persona , they would scarcely have exhibited a more urgent demand for his summary expulsion than was implied in the loud and universal murmur of disapprobation which was heard from every part of the Lodge . The intruder was perplexed ; he saw his errorbut knew not the remedy : and
, when the R . W . M . quietly observed : ' Now , sir , will you be kind enough to favour us with your version of the story , ' he replied , in the language of Canning ' s Knife Grinder : —¦ " ' Story !—Lord bless you !—I have none to tell ! I was anxious to see a Lodge of Brethren at work ; and one of your seceding Members furnished me with answers to a few
ques tions which he said would be proposed in the Tyler ' s room , and for a frolic I was determined to test their truth , as , at the very worst , I could only be rejected , which I did not conceive would be either a disappointment or a disgrace ; for , to say the truth , I scarcely expected to gain admittance into the
Lodge . ' " What was to be done ? The dilemma was pressing , and various opinions Avere proposed and discussed , while the delinquent was securely locked up in the preparing-room , and left in darkness to his own agreeable reflections . The confusion in King Agramante ' s camp , so well described by Ariosto ,
where one said one thing and another the reverse , may convey some idea of the consternation which ensued . All spoke together , and the reins of authority seemed to have been unnaturally snapped asunder ; for the R . W . M . had retired with his Wardens behind the pedestal , leaving the Brethren in the body of the room to denounce or threaten at their
pleasure ; and their objurgations were rather amusing than otherwise . One or two young Members , in the exuberance of their zeal , thoughtless and ill-judging , like sailors at the prospect of a wreck breaking open the spirit-room , jumped upon the benches , like Victor Hugo ' s scholars in Notre Dame , * vociferating , — ' Out with him ! Down with the intruder ! Turn him out !'
" Others were more moderate . One Brother observed , in a deprecatory tone of voice : ' He ought not to have been admitted . ' A fat Brother , with a red face peering from under a periwig and queue , who had not taken the trouble , amidst