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Article CORRESPONDENCE. ← Page 6 of 8 →
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Correspondence.
clubs had broken , or any landmark which they had infringed ; vague assertions or statements of a bombastic character , having the intention of frightening weak Brethren , whether made by a Grand Secretary , or a Grand Committee , are to be despised , and as a matter of course , will bring those who use them into contempt , particularly " when there is no law pointed out , that has been broken , and no landmark shown , that has heen violated . " The clubs have actetl in a perfectly legal manner ; they
wish certain alterations to be made in the laws , or rather in the practice * of Grand Lodge ; and they agitate the Lodges , because there is no law against it;—such a course is carried on every tlay in the political world , and those who do so cannot be found fault with . Had the clubs first broken a law , and then agitated for the repeal or reformation of that law , tbey would have been in the proper position for punishment , either by expulsion or suspension , and , like some of the political people in the
present day , make themselves amenable to the law whicli they had intentionally violated . A judge before he condemns , points out the law or laws that have been broken , that all may see the justice of the sentence . Not . so our Masonic legislators and judges : they condemn without reference to the law ; they judge without being at the trouble to hear the accused , —so much more for the morality of the Grand Lodge ! " Thus Masonry is forgotten . "
I have , however , engaged too much of your space in the remarks I have made , and must hasten to bring them to conclusion . My intention was to have given an account of the last Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge ; a glance at the business will , however , be quite sufficient for all the good that ivas done . Proxy
commissions came first , and among those sustained was one in favour of an English Brother , one as I understood who came from London to attend the Grand Lodge , to represent some Lodge in the north . This is a new phasis , and from the knowledge which he evinced of the business , it is evident that he must have studied ihe laws of the Grand Lodge to some purpose , and has taken a warm interest in the subject . I hail the advent of any good active Mason into the Lodge , ( we have lost some whose knowledge certainly was not gained here ) , as we think
that they may have the chance of doing some good towards improvement , in the cleansing of this Auga ? an stable . The minutes of the last meetingwere read , and a slight tliscussion upon the meaning of " confirmation of minutes" took place , without any sort of satisfactory explanation being agreed upon ; some strange opinions ou the subject were expressed , — but time and space both ran short ; Grand Committee minutes , and various reports from the same were then read . One of the reports was
upon a motion that a suite of apartments be rented as offices for transacting the business of the Craft for the greater convenience of the Brethren , & c . ; the Committee reported that the funds of the Grand Lodge could not afford- this !! ! but ( mark the consistency ) a subcommittee had a motion on the table that evening , " that a sum not exceeding five pounds be allowed for each badge to Honorary Members of this Grand Lodge . " The useful expenditure for what has been very
much wanted for a length of time , offices of our own , could not be afforded ; but the useless expenditure for badges to honorary members could be sanctioned , who , I am sure if they knew the way things are managed here , would " much rather not" receive the decoration , or it they did receive it , could not as faithful Masons , considering the character of the Craft it came from , wear it . This motion was however
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
clubs had broken , or any landmark which they had infringed ; vague assertions or statements of a bombastic character , having the intention of frightening weak Brethren , whether made by a Grand Secretary , or a Grand Committee , are to be despised , and as a matter of course , will bring those who use them into contempt , particularly " when there is no law pointed out , that has been broken , and no landmark shown , that has heen violated . " The clubs have actetl in a perfectly legal manner ; they
wish certain alterations to be made in the laws , or rather in the practice * of Grand Lodge ; and they agitate the Lodges , because there is no law against it;—such a course is carried on every tlay in the political world , and those who do so cannot be found fault with . Had the clubs first broken a law , and then agitated for the repeal or reformation of that law , tbey would have been in the proper position for punishment , either by expulsion or suspension , and , like some of the political people in the
present day , make themselves amenable to the law whicli they had intentionally violated . A judge before he condemns , points out the law or laws that have been broken , that all may see the justice of the sentence . Not . so our Masonic legislators and judges : they condemn without reference to the law ; they judge without being at the trouble to hear the accused , —so much more for the morality of the Grand Lodge ! " Thus Masonry is forgotten . "
I have , however , engaged too much of your space in the remarks I have made , and must hasten to bring them to conclusion . My intention was to have given an account of the last Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge ; a glance at the business will , however , be quite sufficient for all the good that ivas done . Proxy
commissions came first , and among those sustained was one in favour of an English Brother , one as I understood who came from London to attend the Grand Lodge , to represent some Lodge in the north . This is a new phasis , and from the knowledge which he evinced of the business , it is evident that he must have studied ihe laws of the Grand Lodge to some purpose , and has taken a warm interest in the subject . I hail the advent of any good active Mason into the Lodge , ( we have lost some whose knowledge certainly was not gained here ) , as we think
that they may have the chance of doing some good towards improvement , in the cleansing of this Auga ? an stable . The minutes of the last meetingwere read , and a slight tliscussion upon the meaning of " confirmation of minutes" took place , without any sort of satisfactory explanation being agreed upon ; some strange opinions ou the subject were expressed , — but time and space both ran short ; Grand Committee minutes , and various reports from the same were then read . One of the reports was
upon a motion that a suite of apartments be rented as offices for transacting the business of the Craft for the greater convenience of the Brethren , & c . ; the Committee reported that the funds of the Grand Lodge could not afford- this !! ! but ( mark the consistency ) a subcommittee had a motion on the table that evening , " that a sum not exceeding five pounds be allowed for each badge to Honorary Members of this Grand Lodge . " The useful expenditure for what has been very
much wanted for a length of time , offices of our own , could not be afforded ; but the useless expenditure for badges to honorary members could be sanctioned , who , I am sure if they knew the way things are managed here , would " much rather not" receive the decoration , or it they did receive it , could not as faithful Masons , considering the character of the Craft it came from , wear it . This motion was however