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Article FREEMASONRY IN KENT. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Kent.
attend , how are these vacancies you have assured us will occur , to take place ? " To which he replied in a similar strain of assurance to that in which he first expressed himself . But then another question was asked— " Why summon them at all , specially ? they can attend and rank as Past Officers . " That , it appeared , was too great an indignity to offer them . Why should not those gentlemen share their promotion with othersmore especially as they themselves lose no rank by retiring
, from active duties ? If they love Masonry , and feel an interest in its spread by advancement , is the fact of keeping the palm in their own hands a proof of such love ancl interest ? I call on them as Masons , to reflect , and not to persevere in encouraging such feelings and desires so opposed in their effects to the object we all have in view . Does our M . W . G . Master retain his Officers in the Grand Lodge in such a manner ? The question needs no answer . Surely then the D . P . G . M . would not
depart from the right path , were he to follow the R . oyal Duke ' s example , and thus widen and extend his intercourse and communications with the Lodges in the country , a step that would not fail to be highly beneficial in its consequences , and be a means of harmonizing the system of working throughout the province , an object , I know , that is highly to be desired . I would , in accordance with the feelings that have prompted me to write these observationsnot leave the work where I found itbut would
, , humbly suggest means whereby this state of things might be remedied . It cannot be supposed that the clay of the Festival is the fittest day to transact business that coulcl be thought of ; no one who has attended a Festival of that kind , will contend for a moment that it is . I should think , therefore , that a meeting at some convenient time before the
festival would ( under existing circumstances ) be very beneficial ; there deputations from each Lodge could attend and organize a uniform mode of working , and by comparing their several systems , construct , under the able superintendence of such an efficient and talented Brother as Bro . Key , W . M . of Gravesend Loclge , such a plan for the future conduct of the Lodges , as would effect such improvements , as would raise Masonry in Kent to its proper place among the Masonic bodies in the United Kingdom . The Provincial Officers could be
nominatedavoid-, ing all the confusion created by deferring such nomination to the day of the Festival , and removing the difficulty complained of by the P . G . Secretary , that he could not always find enough to fill the Provincial Offices , especially if the D . P . G . M . would direct the P . G . Secretary to add to the summons for the meeting , a request that the W . M . of each Lodge would furnish the P . G . S . with the names of those in his Lodge who were qualified ancl disposed to fill a Provincial Office ; there would
then be no lack of candidates for the offices , because the advancing Mason would see something before him , to stimulate him to further progress ; under the present system there is no prospect , no encouragement , ancl no wonder that Masonry is on the deline in Kent , as the "W . M . from Margate , writes , when such proceedings are countenanced and promoted by those in authority . So much as to the preparatory meeting ; but what shall I say to the
Festival day ; a day that should be characterized by order and decorum , —a clay on which all that coulcl be should be clone to impress the minds of the spectators in favour of the Craft , —a day on which the splendid clothing of the Provincial Officers should have been displayed to the eye of the young Mason ( for human nature must and will be acted on by such displays ) , to prompt him to bestir himself , and press forward
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Kent.
attend , how are these vacancies you have assured us will occur , to take place ? " To which he replied in a similar strain of assurance to that in which he first expressed himself . But then another question was asked— " Why summon them at all , specially ? they can attend and rank as Past Officers . " That , it appeared , was too great an indignity to offer them . Why should not those gentlemen share their promotion with othersmore especially as they themselves lose no rank by retiring
, from active duties ? If they love Masonry , and feel an interest in its spread by advancement , is the fact of keeping the palm in their own hands a proof of such love ancl interest ? I call on them as Masons , to reflect , and not to persevere in encouraging such feelings and desires so opposed in their effects to the object we all have in view . Does our M . W . G . Master retain his Officers in the Grand Lodge in such a manner ? The question needs no answer . Surely then the D . P . G . M . would not
depart from the right path , were he to follow the R . oyal Duke ' s example , and thus widen and extend his intercourse and communications with the Lodges in the country , a step that would not fail to be highly beneficial in its consequences , and be a means of harmonizing the system of working throughout the province , an object , I know , that is highly to be desired . I would , in accordance with the feelings that have prompted me to write these observationsnot leave the work where I found itbut would
, , humbly suggest means whereby this state of things might be remedied . It cannot be supposed that the clay of the Festival is the fittest day to transact business that coulcl be thought of ; no one who has attended a Festival of that kind , will contend for a moment that it is . I should think , therefore , that a meeting at some convenient time before the
festival would ( under existing circumstances ) be very beneficial ; there deputations from each Lodge could attend and organize a uniform mode of working , and by comparing their several systems , construct , under the able superintendence of such an efficient and talented Brother as Bro . Key , W . M . of Gravesend Loclge , such a plan for the future conduct of the Lodges , as would effect such improvements , as would raise Masonry in Kent to its proper place among the Masonic bodies in the United Kingdom . The Provincial Officers could be
nominatedavoid-, ing all the confusion created by deferring such nomination to the day of the Festival , and removing the difficulty complained of by the P . G . Secretary , that he could not always find enough to fill the Provincial Offices , especially if the D . P . G . M . would direct the P . G . Secretary to add to the summons for the meeting , a request that the W . M . of each Lodge would furnish the P . G . S . with the names of those in his Lodge who were qualified ancl disposed to fill a Provincial Office ; there would
then be no lack of candidates for the offices , because the advancing Mason would see something before him , to stimulate him to further progress ; under the present system there is no prospect , no encouragement , ancl no wonder that Masonry is on the deline in Kent , as the "W . M . from Margate , writes , when such proceedings are countenanced and promoted by those in authority . So much as to the preparatory meeting ; but what shall I say to the
Festival day ; a day that should be characterized by order and decorum , —a clay on which all that coulcl be should be clone to impress the minds of the spectators in favour of the Craft , —a day on which the splendid clothing of the Provincial Officers should have been displayed to the eye of the young Mason ( for human nature must and will be acted on by such displays ) , to prompt him to bestir himself , and press forward