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Article QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION. ← Page 11 of 12 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Quarterly Communication.
then want any alteration at all . The same mi ght be asked , and it applied as strougly to the other part of the subject . If a man have the first degree , is he not to all intents and purposes a Mason ? If either of those questions could be gainsayed , then some reasons for altering the present laws might be brought forward , but if not , it would bebetter to leave them as they are . Bro . HAVERS did not see the necessity of answering the question at
present . If a Scotch or Irish Mason was a Mason at all , he believed advantages would be gained b y the alteration as far as the colonies were concerned , and when the alteration was proposed for England , it would be time enough to deal with it . Bro . CRUCEFIX having on a former occasion entered very fully into the subject , and expressed his entire dissent from tlie proposed alteration in the Masonic ritual , woulcl take up but little of the time of the Grand Lod and would
ge , confine himself to such points as had arisen from his correspondence with the provinces since , and he stated that while he had received very many letters bearing out his own view that the proposed alteration was a violation of masonic principle , he had received not one single opinion in favour of the Grand Master ' s ruling . He might again be deemed unbecoming in conduct and dictatorial in mannerbut he had also a public duty to dischargeand would not shrink
, , from its performance . It was his duty to inform the Grand Lodge that in Liverpool so little reliance was placed on the Scottish mode of " initiation , passing , and raising , that when brethren with Scottish diplomas were desirous to join , it was customary to repeat the ceremonies ; ancl in Durham the number of mendicants with Scottish certificates were so numerous , that English Lodges required some protection for their disciplinenot a relaxation in its vital pointsand lastlin conference
, ; y , with some colonial gentlemen , members of the Order , it was their opinion that an extension of time would have been the more dignified course . If this outwork was carried by the delinquency of internal discord , what would protect the " holy of holies , " the citadel of Masonry ! Alas , he shuddered while contemplating its inevitable fate—a fate which even the Grand Master was not careful to avert . Bro . DOBIE must intrude before them to state that this was the
evening appointed by law for electing a Grand Master ; it now wanted but five minutes to eleven o ' clock , and if not clone within that time it could not legally be done at all . Bro . SAVAGIO wished one thing finished before another was began , particularly so important a one as that alread y under discussion , but he would conclude within the prescribed limits ; he had but little to say , as no answer was required where no argument had been advanced . We asked to the
were commence alteration of that which had been stated by the opponents was an improvement , and had been inserted after mature reflection and consideration , when the constitutions were established on their present footing ; we should pause before we sacrificed what had been handed to us by our wise and enlightened predecessors . The GRAND MASTKR repeated his former opinion on the expediency of the alteration—that the half of land approved of itBefore
Eng . finally putting the question , he stated that he would call an especial Grand Lod ge to finish the arrears of business , about a week before the Grand Festival , as one brother had a motion on the paper which it was not advisable should be left in doubt while another subject would come before them affecting the character of a brother of hi gh standing in tho
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Quarterly Communication.
then want any alteration at all . The same mi ght be asked , and it applied as strougly to the other part of the subject . If a man have the first degree , is he not to all intents and purposes a Mason ? If either of those questions could be gainsayed , then some reasons for altering the present laws might be brought forward , but if not , it would bebetter to leave them as they are . Bro . HAVERS did not see the necessity of answering the question at
present . If a Scotch or Irish Mason was a Mason at all , he believed advantages would be gained b y the alteration as far as the colonies were concerned , and when the alteration was proposed for England , it would be time enough to deal with it . Bro . CRUCEFIX having on a former occasion entered very fully into the subject , and expressed his entire dissent from tlie proposed alteration in the Masonic ritual , woulcl take up but little of the time of the Grand Lod and would
ge , confine himself to such points as had arisen from his correspondence with the provinces since , and he stated that while he had received very many letters bearing out his own view that the proposed alteration was a violation of masonic principle , he had received not one single opinion in favour of the Grand Master ' s ruling . He might again be deemed unbecoming in conduct and dictatorial in mannerbut he had also a public duty to dischargeand would not shrink
, , from its performance . It was his duty to inform the Grand Lodge that in Liverpool so little reliance was placed on the Scottish mode of " initiation , passing , and raising , that when brethren with Scottish diplomas were desirous to join , it was customary to repeat the ceremonies ; ancl in Durham the number of mendicants with Scottish certificates were so numerous , that English Lodges required some protection for their disciplinenot a relaxation in its vital pointsand lastlin conference
, ; y , with some colonial gentlemen , members of the Order , it was their opinion that an extension of time would have been the more dignified course . If this outwork was carried by the delinquency of internal discord , what would protect the " holy of holies , " the citadel of Masonry ! Alas , he shuddered while contemplating its inevitable fate—a fate which even the Grand Master was not careful to avert . Bro . DOBIE must intrude before them to state that this was the
evening appointed by law for electing a Grand Master ; it now wanted but five minutes to eleven o ' clock , and if not clone within that time it could not legally be done at all . Bro . SAVAGIO wished one thing finished before another was began , particularly so important a one as that alread y under discussion , but he would conclude within the prescribed limits ; he had but little to say , as no answer was required where no argument had been advanced . We asked to the
were commence alteration of that which had been stated by the opponents was an improvement , and had been inserted after mature reflection and consideration , when the constitutions were established on their present footing ; we should pause before we sacrificed what had been handed to us by our wise and enlightened predecessors . The GRAND MASTKR repeated his former opinion on the expediency of the alteration—that the half of land approved of itBefore
Eng . finally putting the question , he stated that he would call an especial Grand Lod ge to finish the arrears of business , about a week before the Grand Festival , as one brother had a motion on the paper which it was not advisable should be left in doubt while another subject would come before them affecting the character of a brother of hi gh standing in tho