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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
Jonathan svould say , first-rate , and svhich did not very favourably impress a retired Deputy Grand Master , took occasion to question the legality of the appointment , by reason that the Grand Lodge had no evidence before it of the resignation hy Bro . R . L . Wilson of the office of Representative of the Grand Lodge of Texas , previously held by him ; nothing but positive evidence svould satisfy him . The matter svas
debated , and nearly an hour of the modicum of time , allosved for the consideration of business svas lost ; and svhat might have rcssilted had not the Grand Secretary svho had retired to search for the letter of the Grand Secretary of Texas , at length returned with that document , it svould be difficult to guess . The oligarchy however , gained by delay ; for much important business svas altogether burked .
Thus much for one of our legal authorities . The next case svas the confirmation of the grant of 50 / ., to a svidosv lady , voted at the previous Grand Lodge ; and here sve must enter a protest altogether against the propriety of reading a letter from the Grand Registrar on the subject . If such course becomes a precedent Grand Lodge may at once give in , and read proxy letters , counting
them as ayes or nays . The sending of such a letter svas assuming a position not intended by the lasv . But svhat shall sve say of the writer of such a letter being himself too ill to attend Grand Lodge—sve are somesvhat in error , he could only sign the letter ; svhat a moment this
to entreat Grand Lodge not to confirm the grant to the widow ! Alas ! for our second legal authority , he gained nothing by the letter . The third legal Brother , fortunately for himself , could scarcel y be heard ; his object as a lasvyer svas clearly to construe the lasv strictly , himself forgetting the maxim of Terence— " Jus summum stepe summa est injuria . "
There svas , moreover , a singular contrast during the debate ss'hich conveys a great moral lesson ; a Brother had the courage to state that his misconception ofthe case had led him into error , and that he should vote for the grant from conviction of its perfect propriety ; svhile the mover of the amendment to the grant , svho had previously voted for inquiry on the information given hy such Brother , remained unconvinced , and
persisted in going to a division ! He did not bear in mind that " there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , more than over ninetynine just men , "—but having put himself clean out of court sve have no desire to follosv him . One speaker on this interesting question stated truly that there had existed an improper threat of rivalry in certain quarters . It svill hardly
be believed that , out of Lodge , great exertions svere made to oppose the confirmation of this vote , and even decency svas scarcely observed by a certain functionary svho observed of a supporter of thesvidosv ' s case , that he svas " a mischievous fellow . " Such conduct is highly rq > rchensiblc , and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
Jonathan svould say , first-rate , and svhich did not very favourably impress a retired Deputy Grand Master , took occasion to question the legality of the appointment , by reason that the Grand Lodge had no evidence before it of the resignation hy Bro . R . L . Wilson of the office of Representative of the Grand Lodge of Texas , previously held by him ; nothing but positive evidence svould satisfy him . The matter svas
debated , and nearly an hour of the modicum of time , allosved for the consideration of business svas lost ; and svhat might have rcssilted had not the Grand Secretary svho had retired to search for the letter of the Grand Secretary of Texas , at length returned with that document , it svould be difficult to guess . The oligarchy however , gained by delay ; for much important business svas altogether burked .
Thus much for one of our legal authorities . The next case svas the confirmation of the grant of 50 / ., to a svidosv lady , voted at the previous Grand Lodge ; and here sve must enter a protest altogether against the propriety of reading a letter from the Grand Registrar on the subject . If such course becomes a precedent Grand Lodge may at once give in , and read proxy letters , counting
them as ayes or nays . The sending of such a letter svas assuming a position not intended by the lasv . But svhat shall sve say of the writer of such a letter being himself too ill to attend Grand Lodge—sve are somesvhat in error , he could only sign the letter ; svhat a moment this
to entreat Grand Lodge not to confirm the grant to the widow ! Alas ! for our second legal authority , he gained nothing by the letter . The third legal Brother , fortunately for himself , could scarcel y be heard ; his object as a lasvyer svas clearly to construe the lasv strictly , himself forgetting the maxim of Terence— " Jus summum stepe summa est injuria . "
There svas , moreover , a singular contrast during the debate ss'hich conveys a great moral lesson ; a Brother had the courage to state that his misconception ofthe case had led him into error , and that he should vote for the grant from conviction of its perfect propriety ; svhile the mover of the amendment to the grant , svho had previously voted for inquiry on the information given hy such Brother , remained unconvinced , and
persisted in going to a division ! He did not bear in mind that " there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , more than over ninetynine just men , "—but having put himself clean out of court sve have no desire to follosv him . One speaker on this interesting question stated truly that there had existed an improper threat of rivalry in certain quarters . It svill hardly
be believed that , out of Lodge , great exertions svere made to oppose the confirmation of this vote , and even decency svas scarcely observed by a certain functionary svho observed of a supporter of thesvidosv ' s case , that he svas " a mischievous fellow . " Such conduct is highly rq > rchensiblc , and