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Article QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION. ← Page 3 of 12 →
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Quarterly Communication.
—he held opinions completely at variance with such an assertion , and could not therefore have uttered one word in support of such sentiments . The circulation of such views in the authorized publication was injurious . The GIIANI ) MASTER had understood Bro . Philipe to have expressed such opinions , and was not singular in that supposition ; but as Bro . Philipe hacl given an explanation it would no doubt be satisfactory . ""'
Bro . HENDERSON , P . G . R ., rose to move that tlie grant of 300 / . per annum towards a fund for the relief of the widows of Masons which had been passed at the Especial Grand Lodge in November last , be not confirmed . He undertook to move that , because the masonic body were not in a position to grant so large a sum out of their revenues . If any one would look at the sums received and distributed , they would find the sums that they already stood pledged to give , and their casual
charity , amounted to all they could afford—last year , indeed , the balance was against them , and from the badness of the times a like unfortunate result might be again anticipated . Taking the years from 1842 to tbe present time , only 335 *! . per annum remained over ; with this sum they proposed to grant 300 / . to widows , ancl 200 / . more to annuitants : it exceeded his powers of calculation to know how that was to be accomplished—but he woulcl deal with one item at a time . If they passed
this vote , ten-elevenths of their average increase was at once disposed of , and must of necessity considerably curtail their capability of granting casual relief . One other weighty consideration was , this proposition was not for a temporary purpose , but , if passed and acted upon , was for
perpetuity ; if they once made the contract they were bound at all risks to fulfil it — and where was the money to come from ? They hatl but 11 , 000 / . funded , and that was required to meet the engagements alread y made , and increased contributions were vjith difficulty obtained , as a repugnance to increased quarterage had been shown to exist on a former occasion . To vote away 500 / . per annum they should be sure of its receipt ; but such not being the case he hoped Grand Lodge would not confirm the grant .
Bro . GIBBINS seconded the proposition . Bro . STEVENS wished to enquire if the order was quite regular ; two propositions were mixed into one , both were blended together , and yet one only proposed . We might be dealing with shadows ; did the worshipful brother mean to move that tlie one or the two grants be not confirmed ; he had argued upon both ? Bro . HENDERSON had moved for the non-confirmation of but one .
Bro . CRUCEFIX could not refrain from expressing his surprise , regret , and bitter disappointment at the course permitted to be taken by the learned brother who had moved the non-confirmation of the charitable grants ; in fact he looked on the course now taken to be altogether a breach of masonic faith—neither more nor less . What ! after suffering such a period of time to elapse , before the question to aid the widow could be brought forwardancl then after the question had been decided
, in her favour by an almost unanimous and numerous Grancl Lodge , to turn round , and by the side-wind of special pleading to get rid of the matter by stating the law would not permit the exercise of charity . ' It was monstrous and unholy ; he did not believe that the learned brother could be aware of the real facts of the case , or he would not
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Quarterly Communication.
—he held opinions completely at variance with such an assertion , and could not therefore have uttered one word in support of such sentiments . The circulation of such views in the authorized publication was injurious . The GIIANI ) MASTER had understood Bro . Philipe to have expressed such opinions , and was not singular in that supposition ; but as Bro . Philipe hacl given an explanation it would no doubt be satisfactory . ""'
Bro . HENDERSON , P . G . R ., rose to move that tlie grant of 300 / . per annum towards a fund for the relief of the widows of Masons which had been passed at the Especial Grand Lodge in November last , be not confirmed . He undertook to move that , because the masonic body were not in a position to grant so large a sum out of their revenues . If any one would look at the sums received and distributed , they would find the sums that they already stood pledged to give , and their casual
charity , amounted to all they could afford—last year , indeed , the balance was against them , and from the badness of the times a like unfortunate result might be again anticipated . Taking the years from 1842 to tbe present time , only 335 *! . per annum remained over ; with this sum they proposed to grant 300 / . to widows , ancl 200 / . more to annuitants : it exceeded his powers of calculation to know how that was to be accomplished—but he woulcl deal with one item at a time . If they passed
this vote , ten-elevenths of their average increase was at once disposed of , and must of necessity considerably curtail their capability of granting casual relief . One other weighty consideration was , this proposition was not for a temporary purpose , but , if passed and acted upon , was for
perpetuity ; if they once made the contract they were bound at all risks to fulfil it — and where was the money to come from ? They hatl but 11 , 000 / . funded , and that was required to meet the engagements alread y made , and increased contributions were vjith difficulty obtained , as a repugnance to increased quarterage had been shown to exist on a former occasion . To vote away 500 / . per annum they should be sure of its receipt ; but such not being the case he hoped Grand Lodge would not confirm the grant .
Bro . GIBBINS seconded the proposition . Bro . STEVENS wished to enquire if the order was quite regular ; two propositions were mixed into one , both were blended together , and yet one only proposed . We might be dealing with shadows ; did the worshipful brother mean to move that tlie one or the two grants be not confirmed ; he had argued upon both ? Bro . HENDERSON had moved for the non-confirmation of but one .
Bro . CRUCEFIX could not refrain from expressing his surprise , regret , and bitter disappointment at the course permitted to be taken by the learned brother who had moved the non-confirmation of the charitable grants ; in fact he looked on the course now taken to be altogether a breach of masonic faith—neither more nor less . What ! after suffering such a period of time to elapse , before the question to aid the widow could be brought forwardancl then after the question had been decided
, in her favour by an almost unanimous and numerous Grancl Lodge , to turn round , and by the side-wind of special pleading to get rid of the matter by stating the law would not permit the exercise of charity . ' It was monstrous and unholy ; he did not believe that the learned brother could be aware of the real facts of the case , or he would not