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Article QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION. ← Page 4 of 12 →
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Quarterly Communication.
have suffered himself to he retained on a mere legal quibble against the vital existence of the Order itself . For once more he ( Dr . C . ) warned the Grancl Lodge that it would become non-existent if it did not prove itself to be based essentially on charity ; ancl he further warned them that their tenure under the act of parliament had been rendered altogether insecure . Were they to be disgraced by mere sophisms and fallaciesinstead of consistent investigation into the causes and effects
, of their moral position . They owed a duty to the popular or profane world—the latter a most ridiculous phrase ; and the popular world would , erelong , take their case into consideration , ancl would be no longer imposed upon by special pleading . Again , he was further unfairly dealt by , by having the widow ' s grant picked out for an obnoxious debate . Why not have moved for the non-confirmation of both grants ? was it intended to pass the other after defeating the widow ? At any
rate the widow ' s case being the second , should not have been put first . The mode now proposed was selfish , unfeeling , unmanly . He ( Dr . C . ) had not thought it possible that any opposition could have been taken to the vote , and he was certain that so many excellent brethren who had supported it at the last Grand Lodge thought so too , or they would not have been absent on the present occasion ; and nothing was clearer to him than that the opponents felt their weakness in a moral viewor
, they would not have found it necessary to call in from his retirement the aid of a special pleader , who , however talented and learned , must feel his position to be after all but an equivocal one . There was a want of generosity in the mode of treating this case . Be it borne in mind that at the last Grand Lodge the question would have been carried , but that
it was thought more honourable to give a little time for consideration ; but the case now became one of most unhallowed precedent , ancl woulcl guide his ( Dr . C . ' s ) views in future . He should ever bear the present course in mind ; and as to the law itself , in spite of special pleading , he firmly declared that it admitted the widow ' s claim . Bro . LANE hacl never heard so weak an argument against so strong a claim , nor seen documents which refuted so completely what they were intended to establish . He had never yet heard that the grant should
not be made , nor that the widows of Masons were not fully entitled to their best consideration . Their relief was as much a matter of importance as relief to their own sex ; their charity , which professed to be universal , was evidently selfish , for when they were gone they seemed to care but little for those who were left behind . It must be a source of grief to all , as it certainly was to him , to find such a feeling exist as had been evinced against the Mason ' s widow . Shethe first entitled to their
, support—the first thought of by every other society , was only mentioned when annuities had been granted to themselves , schools and other sources of relief , of comfort and improvement established for their offspring , but when the widow was at last brought before them , her claims were met firstly by legal objections , then by financial statements . He solicited the brethren to confirm the vote almost unanimously passed on a former occasion .
A Grand Steward on the dais ( the name escaped us ) had not heard that any member of Grand Lodge had proved that they could afford to grant any relief ; if they had not thought of the widow before it was to be regretted , but if they brought her case forward when they had nothing to give her , they must not complain that they did not
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Quarterly Communication.
have suffered himself to he retained on a mere legal quibble against the vital existence of the Order itself . For once more he ( Dr . C . ) warned the Grancl Lodge that it would become non-existent if it did not prove itself to be based essentially on charity ; ancl he further warned them that their tenure under the act of parliament had been rendered altogether insecure . Were they to be disgraced by mere sophisms and fallaciesinstead of consistent investigation into the causes and effects
, of their moral position . They owed a duty to the popular or profane world—the latter a most ridiculous phrase ; and the popular world would , erelong , take their case into consideration , ancl would be no longer imposed upon by special pleading . Again , he was further unfairly dealt by , by having the widow ' s grant picked out for an obnoxious debate . Why not have moved for the non-confirmation of both grants ? was it intended to pass the other after defeating the widow ? At any
rate the widow ' s case being the second , should not have been put first . The mode now proposed was selfish , unfeeling , unmanly . He ( Dr . C . ) had not thought it possible that any opposition could have been taken to the vote , and he was certain that so many excellent brethren who had supported it at the last Grand Lodge thought so too , or they would not have been absent on the present occasion ; and nothing was clearer to him than that the opponents felt their weakness in a moral viewor
, they would not have found it necessary to call in from his retirement the aid of a special pleader , who , however talented and learned , must feel his position to be after all but an equivocal one . There was a want of generosity in the mode of treating this case . Be it borne in mind that at the last Grand Lodge the question would have been carried , but that
it was thought more honourable to give a little time for consideration ; but the case now became one of most unhallowed precedent , ancl woulcl guide his ( Dr . C . ' s ) views in future . He should ever bear the present course in mind ; and as to the law itself , in spite of special pleading , he firmly declared that it admitted the widow ' s claim . Bro . LANE hacl never heard so weak an argument against so strong a claim , nor seen documents which refuted so completely what they were intended to establish . He had never yet heard that the grant should
not be made , nor that the widows of Masons were not fully entitled to their best consideration . Their relief was as much a matter of importance as relief to their own sex ; their charity , which professed to be universal , was evidently selfish , for when they were gone they seemed to care but little for those who were left behind . It must be a source of grief to all , as it certainly was to him , to find such a feeling exist as had been evinced against the Mason ' s widow . Shethe first entitled to their
, support—the first thought of by every other society , was only mentioned when annuities had been granted to themselves , schools and other sources of relief , of comfort and improvement established for their offspring , but when the widow was at last brought before them , her claims were met firstly by legal objections , then by financial statements . He solicited the brethren to confirm the vote almost unanimously passed on a former occasion .
A Grand Steward on the dais ( the name escaped us ) had not heard that any member of Grand Lodge had proved that they could afford to grant any relief ; if they had not thought of the widow before it was to be regretted , but if they brought her case forward when they had nothing to give her , they must not complain that they did not