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Article TO THE EDITOR. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
TO THE EDITOR .
DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Very soon after I first was made a Mason , and you , sir , and every Brother knows , or ought to know , where this was , you gave the circumstance to the world , and your columns fanned that feeling of fraternal regard , begetting in me that leavening process , which 1 hope will continue till the whole mass shall become trul y Masonic . Now , it has been my lot to be frequently resident in the country , ancl occasionally visiting your city ; yet I know not among my relations or
familiar friends , any member of a Lodge in London , and although I feel to belong to the Brotherhood , and cannot doubt but that if I knock , the door would be opened to me , still , sir , beyond all this universally land feeling , there will arise the particular fact , that to a certain extent such an individual is unknown , or a sort of intruder , in any Lodge into which he might work his admission , or show his credentials . These are circumstances which affect manyand there is another connected with
, it which I have peculiarly experienced , viz . that I never feel so comfortable , when absent from my own family , as when I am received into the bosom of a more extensive fraternity , where , if there be neither our father , nor our mother , nor our children , yet still there is the Master , pointing to the Great Architect , the Father of all . Sir , excuse digression , for who does not warm in the presence of the Master of a Masonic
Lodge ? where else in this vast universe can a man experience that comfort , that peace , that subduing calm , or that exhilarating freshness , which breathes throughout these assemblies , to the pervading of all minds and the communion of all hearts ?—let me answer , as I value my obligation—NO WHERE . But to return , or rather , to come to the point . I wish to suggest , through the columns of your ( qy . our ) Review ( which I possess from its beginning ) , whether it would not be possible
to make arrangements for a visitor ' s Lodge , by which I mean , a Lodge intended principally to embrace commercial gentlemen ancl others visiting London , but not generally resident , except the Master , and such other officers as mi ght be necessary , with the opportunity for visitors , who may have passed certain offices , to officiate , as they wish , and the interests of the Lodge might require ; also with a practice of holding the meetings of the said Lodge , say twice a week at least . Perhaps every
Master or Past Master of a Lodge ( resident in London ) might advantageously have a particular liberty of attending , or they might perhaps arrange to officiate occasionall y in such Lodge , in order to relieve the Master .
My ideas are only crude—the thing might not be attainable , however desirable ; yet it struck me that the great number of commercial gentlemen always in town , and their known disposition for meeting together , would be thus offered a means by which many of the best feelings of our nature might delightfully and usefully entwine , and a door might thus be opened that would be instructive to such Masons in the duties and benefits of their Order , and discovering a fountain in a weary land ,
where no doubt many would flock to be refreshed . Dear sir , it is written , and unfinished as the idea is , it is submitted for you to consider , and then to use as you think best . Begging to remain , as I demand to be considered , affectionately attached to Freemasonry—Fraternall y and respectfully your Brother , Chelmsford , Aug .. 9 , 1836 . ' 24 . [ The above letter speaks out very intelligibly , both as to the wants of a great body of the Craft , anil docs not unaptly touch upon a very likely means to remedy them . We shall be glad to hear from others on the subject ; our own good wishes attend the suggestion . —ED ] VOL . m . 2 T
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
TO THE EDITOR .
DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Very soon after I first was made a Mason , and you , sir , and every Brother knows , or ought to know , where this was , you gave the circumstance to the world , and your columns fanned that feeling of fraternal regard , begetting in me that leavening process , which 1 hope will continue till the whole mass shall become trul y Masonic . Now , it has been my lot to be frequently resident in the country , ancl occasionally visiting your city ; yet I know not among my relations or
familiar friends , any member of a Lodge in London , and although I feel to belong to the Brotherhood , and cannot doubt but that if I knock , the door would be opened to me , still , sir , beyond all this universally land feeling , there will arise the particular fact , that to a certain extent such an individual is unknown , or a sort of intruder , in any Lodge into which he might work his admission , or show his credentials . These are circumstances which affect manyand there is another connected with
, it which I have peculiarly experienced , viz . that I never feel so comfortable , when absent from my own family , as when I am received into the bosom of a more extensive fraternity , where , if there be neither our father , nor our mother , nor our children , yet still there is the Master , pointing to the Great Architect , the Father of all . Sir , excuse digression , for who does not warm in the presence of the Master of a Masonic
Lodge ? where else in this vast universe can a man experience that comfort , that peace , that subduing calm , or that exhilarating freshness , which breathes throughout these assemblies , to the pervading of all minds and the communion of all hearts ?—let me answer , as I value my obligation—NO WHERE . But to return , or rather , to come to the point . I wish to suggest , through the columns of your ( qy . our ) Review ( which I possess from its beginning ) , whether it would not be possible
to make arrangements for a visitor ' s Lodge , by which I mean , a Lodge intended principally to embrace commercial gentlemen ancl others visiting London , but not generally resident , except the Master , and such other officers as mi ght be necessary , with the opportunity for visitors , who may have passed certain offices , to officiate , as they wish , and the interests of the Lodge might require ; also with a practice of holding the meetings of the said Lodge , say twice a week at least . Perhaps every
Master or Past Master of a Lodge ( resident in London ) might advantageously have a particular liberty of attending , or they might perhaps arrange to officiate occasionall y in such Lodge , in order to relieve the Master .
My ideas are only crude—the thing might not be attainable , however desirable ; yet it struck me that the great number of commercial gentlemen always in town , and their known disposition for meeting together , would be thus offered a means by which many of the best feelings of our nature might delightfully and usefully entwine , and a door might thus be opened that would be instructive to such Masons in the duties and benefits of their Order , and discovering a fountain in a weary land ,
where no doubt many would flock to be refreshed . Dear sir , it is written , and unfinished as the idea is , it is submitted for you to consider , and then to use as you think best . Begging to remain , as I demand to be considered , affectionately attached to Freemasonry—Fraternall y and respectfully your Brother , Chelmsford , Aug .. 9 , 1836 . ' 24 . [ The above letter speaks out very intelligibly , both as to the wants of a great body of the Craft , anil docs not unaptly touch upon a very likely means to remedy them . We shall be glad to hear from others on the subject ; our own good wishes attend the suggestion . —ED ] VOL . m . 2 T