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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 6 of 10 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
should bo denounced because he had been concerned in any way on a work which was believed by many to be a valuable work . It was as much a breach of privilege to make such an assertion as had been made without proof , as to denounce a Mason without proof . Thc " Freemasons' Quarterly " bad been now for upwards of fifteen years in existence , during which period it had been in the practice of reporting all thc proceedings of Grand Lodge ; yet how few complaints had been made of its want of accuracy ! Was not this in itself a proof of the general
correctness of the periodical ? For otherwise the complaints of its reports being garbled and unfair would have been more frequent . It was for these reasons he presumed to offer an opinion on the subject , and he hoped the Grand Lodge would have further proofj and lay the same before Grand Lodge , previous to denouncing the " Freemasons' Quarterly" as having given for sixteen years past spurious reports of the proceedings of Grand Lodge . \ V . Brother " YTHITHORE thought every Mason bound to express an opinion on such a subject . He held the proud position of Secretary to an institution , ( The
Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons , ) which had often been named in Grand Lodge , and in that capacity he had been in thc habit of receiving from Australia , India , China , and other parts , letters and donations on behalf of this Charity , and could state that these donations had heen principally produced hy the perusal of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Review . " He thought that the Brother who commanded the authors to stand forth , might have spared his satire , and not havo denounced a publication which he ( Brother AVhitmore ) believed was of vast importance to the whole Masonic world . He had had ample
opportunities of knowing that the Masons of the Provinces were highly indebted to the publication . He had had also opportunity of knowing that the statements made : in that publication were fair statements . AV . Brother HAVERS said , it had never been denied that the publication in
question contained some useful matter , for it must indeed be an infamous one that did not . But even allowing the "Freemasons' Quarterly" had given some good information , and had done some good , it could not be denied that its reports were not true . He believed he had read every matter that had been published in that Review for several years past ; he had never bought it , but had borrowed , and as far as his own judgment went , he could take upon himself to assert that there never . were greater falsehoods published ( hear , hear ) . He for one concurred most heartily in the boon which the Grand Master had conferred on the Craft
that evening . AV . Brother BIGG thought the spirit of the debate had ceased , but when he heard the Brother opposite ( Brother Havers ) say what he had , he could not join with him in coming to that conclusion . He would allow that many statements had been made in the " Freemasons' Quarterly " not in consonance with the facts , ( hear , and laughter ) . The author had been desired to stand forth , but for obvious reasons he could not do so , and he had hoped that the learned Brother ( Humfrey ) in his speech would have thrown aside the character of an advocate , and not have stigmatized that Brother in the way in which he had . Brother HUMFREY . —AVho ? who . stigmatized whom ?
Brother BIGG . —Would the learned Brother , as a lawyer , ask any Brother to stand forward and criminate himself ? ( Laughter ) . Brother HUMFREY . ^—Good , good , very good ( continued laughter ) . Brother BIGQ had been in Masonry thirty years , during which time ho had read and studied the Book of Constitutions , which condemns any Brother , who publishes Masonic proceedings , without authority to expulsion , and therefore considered it too much for any one to ask a Brother to stand forward and criminate himself ( hearand laughter ) . He would allow that there were some false reports
, in the publication , yet it had been the cause of producing one great good , viz ., an , authentic , report of what took place in Grand Lodge . The M . W . the GRAUD MASTER . —I wish to call the attention ofthe Brethren to the purport of the debate , and not allow them to waste time in discussing the merits of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Review" and its articles . AVhat the pub-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
should bo denounced because he had been concerned in any way on a work which was believed by many to be a valuable work . It was as much a breach of privilege to make such an assertion as had been made without proof , as to denounce a Mason without proof . Thc " Freemasons' Quarterly " bad been now for upwards of fifteen years in existence , during which period it had been in the practice of reporting all thc proceedings of Grand Lodge ; yet how few complaints had been made of its want of accuracy ! Was not this in itself a proof of the general
correctness of the periodical ? For otherwise the complaints of its reports being garbled and unfair would have been more frequent . It was for these reasons he presumed to offer an opinion on the subject , and he hoped the Grand Lodge would have further proofj and lay the same before Grand Lodge , previous to denouncing the " Freemasons' Quarterly" as having given for sixteen years past spurious reports of the proceedings of Grand Lodge . \ V . Brother " YTHITHORE thought every Mason bound to express an opinion on such a subject . He held the proud position of Secretary to an institution , ( The
Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons , ) which had often been named in Grand Lodge , and in that capacity he had been in thc habit of receiving from Australia , India , China , and other parts , letters and donations on behalf of this Charity , and could state that these donations had heen principally produced hy the perusal of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Review . " He thought that the Brother who commanded the authors to stand forth , might have spared his satire , and not havo denounced a publication which he ( Brother AVhitmore ) believed was of vast importance to the whole Masonic world . He had had ample
opportunities of knowing that the Masons of the Provinces were highly indebted to the publication . He had had also opportunity of knowing that the statements made : in that publication were fair statements . AV . Brother HAVERS said , it had never been denied that the publication in
question contained some useful matter , for it must indeed be an infamous one that did not . But even allowing the "Freemasons' Quarterly" had given some good information , and had done some good , it could not be denied that its reports were not true . He believed he had read every matter that had been published in that Review for several years past ; he had never bought it , but had borrowed , and as far as his own judgment went , he could take upon himself to assert that there never . were greater falsehoods published ( hear , hear ) . He for one concurred most heartily in the boon which the Grand Master had conferred on the Craft
that evening . AV . Brother BIGG thought the spirit of the debate had ceased , but when he heard the Brother opposite ( Brother Havers ) say what he had , he could not join with him in coming to that conclusion . He would allow that many statements had been made in the " Freemasons' Quarterly " not in consonance with the facts , ( hear , and laughter ) . The author had been desired to stand forth , but for obvious reasons he could not do so , and he had hoped that the learned Brother ( Humfrey ) in his speech would have thrown aside the character of an advocate , and not have stigmatized that Brother in the way in which he had . Brother HUMFREY . —AVho ? who . stigmatized whom ?
Brother BIGG . —Would the learned Brother , as a lawyer , ask any Brother to stand forward and criminate himself ? ( Laughter ) . Brother HUMFREY . ^—Good , good , very good ( continued laughter ) . Brother BIGQ had been in Masonry thirty years , during which time ho had read and studied the Book of Constitutions , which condemns any Brother , who publishes Masonic proceedings , without authority to expulsion , and therefore considered it too much for any one to ask a Brother to stand forward and criminate himself ( hearand laughter ) . He would allow that there were some false reports
, in the publication , yet it had been the cause of producing one great good , viz ., an , authentic , report of what took place in Grand Lodge . The M . W . the GRAUD MASTER . —I wish to call the attention ofthe Brethren to the purport of the debate , and not allow them to waste time in discussing the merits of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Review" and its articles . AVhat the pub-