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Article THE FREEMASONS ' QUARTERLY REVIEW, ← Page 2 of 3 →
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The Freemasons ' Quarterly Review,
though occasionally in their zeal they may expose themselves to the taunt of indiscretion—agreeing with Archbishop Leighton , who preferred an erroneous honest man before tlie most orthodox knave in the world . The recent attack on the F . Q . R ., however well-meant by the leader of the perilous onslaught—for it was perilous to the leader himself , perilous to his followers , perilous to all , even to the Order—was
converted into the most insidious and dastardly attack on one brother , who has , for nearly a quarter of a century , sustained , with the most unflinching courage , a position that would make any man giddy , and from which I believe nothing but the most dreadful calamity that can befal man will ever remove him—no , not even death , which is the best friend to man . It was , I find , seriously intended to found charges
against this brother , on the result of the evening ' s debate , and expulsion was hopefully relied on . Proh pudor ! ¦ I feel assured of the impracticability of this attempt ; but were it possible , what would result ?—There would no longer be that spirited check upon secret workings ;
for , without manly opposition , there is no knowing the extent of the iniquity which would be practised ; this is evident from the nervous yet imbecile attempts to prevent reporting ; and it is to this brother that we are all so deeply indebted for a knowledge of our masonic law , and of ourselves . His masonic life has been a continual ovation—costly enough to his feelings , but honourable to his character . I cast my eye around
at the last Grand Lodge , when the vast assembly rose to pass its vote of confidence to the Grand Master ; two only were seated—the Grand Master , and the brother I allude to ! The one receiving a compliment most truly needed , the other stoically indifferent to what construction might be put upon his keeping his seat ; yet he possibly felt that , having proved superior to the cunning devices that would have entrapped
him into dishonour , he was resting himself in thoughtful consideration of the scene in which he formed so prominent a figure . He , and such as he , belong to Freemasonry , for they know that ' the chief properties of wisdom are , to be mindful of things past , careful of things present , and provident of things to come . '"
Thus much for one correspondent—turn we now to the other . " I was present at our Scottish Grand Lodge when the ' puddle in the storm' was raised ; it was clearly the idle effort of the misguided few who had been gained over by the officious meddling of some three or four . You may be assured of this—the majority were really indifferent , and are generally disposed to leave matters in the hands of
certain parties . We know well that English lodges are beset by Scotch masonic mendicants ; and here no secretary or acting officer of lodges but feels how much they are annoyed by masonic paupers—men who , perhaps , pay but little to be initiated , and far less afterwards , if , indeed ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons ' Quarterly Review,
though occasionally in their zeal they may expose themselves to the taunt of indiscretion—agreeing with Archbishop Leighton , who preferred an erroneous honest man before tlie most orthodox knave in the world . The recent attack on the F . Q . R ., however well-meant by the leader of the perilous onslaught—for it was perilous to the leader himself , perilous to his followers , perilous to all , even to the Order—was
converted into the most insidious and dastardly attack on one brother , who has , for nearly a quarter of a century , sustained , with the most unflinching courage , a position that would make any man giddy , and from which I believe nothing but the most dreadful calamity that can befal man will ever remove him—no , not even death , which is the best friend to man . It was , I find , seriously intended to found charges
against this brother , on the result of the evening ' s debate , and expulsion was hopefully relied on . Proh pudor ! ¦ I feel assured of the impracticability of this attempt ; but were it possible , what would result ?—There would no longer be that spirited check upon secret workings ;
for , without manly opposition , there is no knowing the extent of the iniquity which would be practised ; this is evident from the nervous yet imbecile attempts to prevent reporting ; and it is to this brother that we are all so deeply indebted for a knowledge of our masonic law , and of ourselves . His masonic life has been a continual ovation—costly enough to his feelings , but honourable to his character . I cast my eye around
at the last Grand Lodge , when the vast assembly rose to pass its vote of confidence to the Grand Master ; two only were seated—the Grand Master , and the brother I allude to ! The one receiving a compliment most truly needed , the other stoically indifferent to what construction might be put upon his keeping his seat ; yet he possibly felt that , having proved superior to the cunning devices that would have entrapped
him into dishonour , he was resting himself in thoughtful consideration of the scene in which he formed so prominent a figure . He , and such as he , belong to Freemasonry , for they know that ' the chief properties of wisdom are , to be mindful of things past , careful of things present , and provident of things to come . '"
Thus much for one correspondent—turn we now to the other . " I was present at our Scottish Grand Lodge when the ' puddle in the storm' was raised ; it was clearly the idle effort of the misguided few who had been gained over by the officious meddling of some three or four . You may be assured of this—the majority were really indifferent , and are generally disposed to leave matters in the hands of
certain parties . We know well that English lodges are beset by Scotch masonic mendicants ; and here no secretary or acting officer of lodges but feels how much they are annoyed by masonic paupers—men who , perhaps , pay but little to be initiated , and far less afterwards , if , indeed ,