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Article THE FREEMASON'S QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 8 of 11 →
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The Freemason's Quarterly Review.
the same ratio will his neglect of those charges endanger both its happiness and its prosperity . We speak advisedly . But there is one especial obligation , which if neglected , the Master becomes unfit for his office , and should resign it altogether ; namely , the absenting himself from the Board of
Benevolence ; his absence may cause expenditure which his presence mi ght check , or his presence might be the means of dispensing more liberally , which his absence prevents ; in either case there is evil ; in the one , the funds are abused ; in the other , an unfortunate Brother is the sufferer ; and in both cases , the Master is the cause .
Yet is all this venial , bad as it is , when compared with the heartless conduct of the absentee-Master , who fails to attend to answer to a petition recommended by his Lodge . The unhappy Brother , whose feelings have been lacerated even by the simple process of preparing his petition , attends for
examination into his case ; a consciousness that he has not forfeited his claim to the liberal sympathy of his Brethren , nerves him to the trial , and he awaits the summons . Each of the petitioners one b y one are called in , they return with a cheerful countenance , and then depart . There is a pause for an hour , during which country petitions are disposed of ,
tue Board is adjourned , and the Secretary informs the expectant petitioner—what?—why , that the MASTER of the Lodge has not attended to support the petition , and therefore it is deferred until the next meeting . The unhappy man departs in sorrow , attends again the following month ,
and again meets the same disappointment . Charity , and thy sister Mercy , how are your highest attributes outraged ! We may , however , truly declare , that instances of the above are rare ; but still they have happened , and even lately such have been referred to the Board of General Purposes . Should these observations reach the eye of the parties to whom they apply , we trust they will not be disregarded :
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemason's Quarterly Review.
the same ratio will his neglect of those charges endanger both its happiness and its prosperity . We speak advisedly . But there is one especial obligation , which if neglected , the Master becomes unfit for his office , and should resign it altogether ; namely , the absenting himself from the Board of
Benevolence ; his absence may cause expenditure which his presence mi ght check , or his presence might be the means of dispensing more liberally , which his absence prevents ; in either case there is evil ; in the one , the funds are abused ; in the other , an unfortunate Brother is the sufferer ; and in both cases , the Master is the cause .
Yet is all this venial , bad as it is , when compared with the heartless conduct of the absentee-Master , who fails to attend to answer to a petition recommended by his Lodge . The unhappy Brother , whose feelings have been lacerated even by the simple process of preparing his petition , attends for
examination into his case ; a consciousness that he has not forfeited his claim to the liberal sympathy of his Brethren , nerves him to the trial , and he awaits the summons . Each of the petitioners one b y one are called in , they return with a cheerful countenance , and then depart . There is a pause for an hour , during which country petitions are disposed of ,
tue Board is adjourned , and the Secretary informs the expectant petitioner—what?—why , that the MASTER of the Lodge has not attended to support the petition , and therefore it is deferred until the next meeting . The unhappy man departs in sorrow , attends again the following month ,
and again meets the same disappointment . Charity , and thy sister Mercy , how are your highest attributes outraged ! We may , however , truly declare , that instances of the above are rare ; but still they have happened , and even lately such have been referred to the Board of General Purposes . Should these observations reach the eye of the parties to whom they apply , we trust they will not be disregarded :