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Article ON FREEMASONRY, ← Page 3 of 6 →
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On Freemasonry,
may gather from some recent disclosures , a most lamentable ignorance on this important point . Such a course would have a tendency to silence some of those worthy brethren who plume themselves on their want of masonic knowledge . ' Not Fortune ' s worshipper—' I am now quoting a poet who was greatly esteemed in my youthful days , although not much read at the present
time' Not Fortune's worshipper , nor Fashion ' s fool , Not Lucre's madman , nor Ambition's tool , Not proud nor servile ; be one poet ' s praise , That , if he pleas'd , he pleas'd by manly ways ; That flattery , even 10 kiue . s , he held a shame , And thought a lie in verse or prose the same . ' "—POPE .
And our friend James , having delivered himself of this sententious conclusion , chuckled inwardly , as though he had achieved some wonderful and unexpected discovery . "And , " he continued , " there is another notable circumstance , which may be called a purple mystery , for it exceeds my comprehension altogether . How is it possible that the brethren who are in the habit of denouncing the ' Freemasons' Quarterly Review , ' from their places in Grand Lodge , in language which is neither masonic nor gentlemanly , on the plea that its reports are garbled and consequently false , ( for
they are too prudent to advance any other objection to a periodical which has i-endered such abundant services to the holy cause of Masonry , )—after repeated declarations that they have never read a single number—should be so intimately acquainted with the contents ? And one excellent brother , in proof of bis assertion that the reports are garbled and false , candidly confesses that although he had never read it , he had once or twice seen the cover ! What a wonderful versatility of intellect a man must possess who is capable of pronouncing an opinion on the merits or demerits of a
publication by an inspection of the cover ! It is a sort of moral mesmerism , and would well become a follower of Joseph Balsamo . And our intelligent brother is not a solitary instance of this amazing perspicacity . We fortunately possess many others , who , strange to tell , after all their denunciations of a book they never read , arrive at the sapient conclusion , under a new phasis , that the reports on the whole are tolerably correct . " See F . Q . R ., 1847 , p . 184 , and 1 S 48 , p . 17 S . )
James now took the F . Q . R . for 1848 , and turning to page 250 , read the following passage from a speech in Grand Lodge , which is quite refreshing , after the above avowals of helpless ignorance : — " W . Bro . Whitmore 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 be had been in the 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 been principally produced by 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 have denounced a publication which he believed was of vast importance to the whole masonic world . He had ample opportunities of knowing that the Masons of the provinces were highly indebted to the publication . " James was now in his element ; for if ever there was an enthusiastic
admirer of a periodical work , it was this excellent man in his predeliction for the F . Q . R ., which he was wont to say , he considered , in its sphere , the most useful journal ever published ; an opinion with which we cordially agree . He went on : — " Hear what Bro . Nash adds to the above ( p . 249)—' It was not to be denied that propositions took place in Grand Lodge which should be made known to the Masons of the provinces ; but were such always made known to them ? How was the subject of the proposed
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry,
may gather from some recent disclosures , a most lamentable ignorance on this important point . Such a course would have a tendency to silence some of those worthy brethren who plume themselves on their want of masonic knowledge . ' Not Fortune ' s worshipper—' I am now quoting a poet who was greatly esteemed in my youthful days , although not much read at the present
time' Not Fortune's worshipper , nor Fashion ' s fool , Not Lucre's madman , nor Ambition's tool , Not proud nor servile ; be one poet ' s praise , That , if he pleas'd , he pleas'd by manly ways ; That flattery , even 10 kiue . s , he held a shame , And thought a lie in verse or prose the same . ' "—POPE .
And our friend James , having delivered himself of this sententious conclusion , chuckled inwardly , as though he had achieved some wonderful and unexpected discovery . "And , " he continued , " there is another notable circumstance , which may be called a purple mystery , for it exceeds my comprehension altogether . How is it possible that the brethren who are in the habit of denouncing the ' Freemasons' Quarterly Review , ' from their places in Grand Lodge , in language which is neither masonic nor gentlemanly , on the plea that its reports are garbled and consequently false , ( for
they are too prudent to advance any other objection to a periodical which has i-endered such abundant services to the holy cause of Masonry , )—after repeated declarations that they have never read a single number—should be so intimately acquainted with the contents ? And one excellent brother , in proof of bis assertion that the reports are garbled and false , candidly confesses that although he had never read it , he had once or twice seen the cover ! What a wonderful versatility of intellect a man must possess who is capable of pronouncing an opinion on the merits or demerits of a
publication by an inspection of the cover ! It is a sort of moral mesmerism , and would well become a follower of Joseph Balsamo . And our intelligent brother is not a solitary instance of this amazing perspicacity . We fortunately possess many others , who , strange to tell , after all their denunciations of a book they never read , arrive at the sapient conclusion , under a new phasis , that the reports on the whole are tolerably correct . " See F . Q . R ., 1847 , p . 184 , and 1 S 48 , p . 17 S . )
James now took the F . Q . R . for 1848 , and turning to page 250 , read the following passage from a speech in Grand Lodge , which is quite refreshing , after the above avowals of helpless ignorance : — " W . Bro . Whitmore 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 be had been in the 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 been principally produced by 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 have denounced a publication which he believed was of vast importance to the whole masonic world . He had ample opportunities of knowing that the Masons of the provinces were highly indebted to the publication . " James was now in his element ; for if ever there was an enthusiastic
admirer of a periodical work , it was this excellent man in his predeliction for the F . Q . R ., which he was wont to say , he considered , in its sphere , the most useful journal ever published ; an opinion with which we cordially agree . He went on : — " Hear what Bro . Nash adds to the above ( p . 249)—' It was not to be denied that propositions took place in Grand Lodge which should be made known to the Masons of the provinces ; but were such always made known to them ? How was the subject of the proposed