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Article PROVINCIAL. Page 1 of 14 →
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Provincial.
PROVINCIAL .
TO THE EDITOR . SIR AND BROTHER , —Persuaded as I am that the spirit of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Review" is to point out every thing likely to elevate masonry as a science and as a bond of brotherly love , and that even the slightest hint for such a purpose would find ready admission into its valuable pages , I have ventured to throw a few thoughts together to point outas I thinksome of the causes prejudicial to masonrybut
, , , particularly as masonry is practised in the western division of Lancashire . The love of distinction is a great component part of our nature ; it encourages the poor mechanic to hope that he may one day better his condition , and become a master ; it gives nerve and energy to the soldier and sailor ; without such hope , many of the world ' s best warriors , poets , orators and statesmen , would have died and left neither name nor fame .
It is the love and hope of distinction which braces the tired muscle , nerves the wearied and overtasked brain , ancl in fact developes good men and great . Deny this , and you stultify and paralyze the best and most glorious energies of our nature . If this is granted , and granted it must he , we have an all sufficient reason for many members retiring from lodges after completing their third degree , or even before ; and men too , who have hearts and heads capable ancl willing to contribute to the lustre of masonry ; but knowing that the highest offices are filled for so many years ( ad infinitum indeed it would appear ) by the same officers , and finding , moreover , that they are frequently undistinguished by any
peculiar mental or moral beauty—that possession ( or favouritism ) alone is their chief claim—that because they were , they are , and ever will remain the monopolists of distinguished chairs , it is a natural result that with the greatest devotion to masonic principle , they must object to the total banishment of all hope of distinction and recognized favour of their brethren . Such a mode of conducting masonry is highly destructive to its popularity ; certain to rob it of many intelligent men of an emulous
, just and noble spirit , who might one day become its prominent ornaments ancl pillars , and quite at variance with that spirit with which the initiated are taught to regard it , and with which its intrinsic essence is so thoroughly imbued . Young aspiring Masons should be taught to place implicit faith in tbe integrity of their rulers ; and something like the hope of reward should be held out to those who labour , or brethren capable of two syllogisms can never be expected to work in an active ,
positive spirit , with the sole view of being condemned to the ranks . According to the Book of Constitutions there should be an appointment of provincial grand officers annually ; of course a brother can be occasionally reappointed to the same office—and it is just that he should be , if in his year of office he has proved himself an able Mason , and possessed of the amiabilities which should grace the Order : but how is it that we find most of the officers retained without any reappointment ( such being looked upon , one would imagine , as a work of supererogation ) for six , and even twelve years . This is surely most irregular . And to whom , sir , are we to look for regularity , and sound constitu-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
PROVINCIAL .
TO THE EDITOR . SIR AND BROTHER , —Persuaded as I am that the spirit of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Review" is to point out every thing likely to elevate masonry as a science and as a bond of brotherly love , and that even the slightest hint for such a purpose would find ready admission into its valuable pages , I have ventured to throw a few thoughts together to point outas I thinksome of the causes prejudicial to masonrybut
, , , particularly as masonry is practised in the western division of Lancashire . The love of distinction is a great component part of our nature ; it encourages the poor mechanic to hope that he may one day better his condition , and become a master ; it gives nerve and energy to the soldier and sailor ; without such hope , many of the world ' s best warriors , poets , orators and statesmen , would have died and left neither name nor fame .
It is the love and hope of distinction which braces the tired muscle , nerves the wearied and overtasked brain , ancl in fact developes good men and great . Deny this , and you stultify and paralyze the best and most glorious energies of our nature . If this is granted , and granted it must he , we have an all sufficient reason for many members retiring from lodges after completing their third degree , or even before ; and men too , who have hearts and heads capable ancl willing to contribute to the lustre of masonry ; but knowing that the highest offices are filled for so many years ( ad infinitum indeed it would appear ) by the same officers , and finding , moreover , that they are frequently undistinguished by any
peculiar mental or moral beauty—that possession ( or favouritism ) alone is their chief claim—that because they were , they are , and ever will remain the monopolists of distinguished chairs , it is a natural result that with the greatest devotion to masonic principle , they must object to the total banishment of all hope of distinction and recognized favour of their brethren . Such a mode of conducting masonry is highly destructive to its popularity ; certain to rob it of many intelligent men of an emulous
, just and noble spirit , who might one day become its prominent ornaments ancl pillars , and quite at variance with that spirit with which the initiated are taught to regard it , and with which its intrinsic essence is so thoroughly imbued . Young aspiring Masons should be taught to place implicit faith in tbe integrity of their rulers ; and something like the hope of reward should be held out to those who labour , or brethren capable of two syllogisms can never be expected to work in an active ,
positive spirit , with the sole view of being condemned to the ranks . According to the Book of Constitutions there should be an appointment of provincial grand officers annually ; of course a brother can be occasionally reappointed to the same office—and it is just that he should be , if in his year of office he has proved himself an able Mason , and possessed of the amiabilities which should grace the Order : but how is it that we find most of the officers retained without any reappointment ( such being looked upon , one would imagine , as a work of supererogation ) for six , and even twelve years . This is surely most irregular . And to whom , sir , are we to look for regularity , and sound constitu-