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Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 10 of 12 →
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The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
previous practice , ¦ by private importunity ever and anon swelling into almost offensive enforcement . That the excellent Nobleman , our present Masonic Chief , is exempt ( ive almost believe entirely so ) , from those assailirigs to Avhich his Royal Predecessor was , alas ! too liable , is , so fara happy circumstance for the Craft . One of the
, most simple minded , and honest of men , the most unlike a courtier , and the least likely to be affected by deceitful sophistry , the M . W . Grand Master AA'I IO now presides over English Freemasonry , is free from the direct attacks of the insidious . But is he safe from their indirect efforts ? Is he
unassailable or unassailed through the quarter , to him , the very last to be suspected ? Is his adviser free from their advice ? Would that Ave could answer in the affirmative . The thirst for power , which , in the good man is restrained by humility , and the apprehension of his losing the quiet of conscientious rectitude in the contentions of rivalry , is , in
the unscrupulous , increased , instead of being satisfied , by success . And , Avhere this inordinate appetite is possessed by the imperfectly educated , the untalented , the meanlyvicious , —by those Avho have attained their respective positions through artfulness more than by desert—by those , in fact , ivho , with all their self-sufficiency have discovered that
they cannot publicly exercise poAver in their own personsthe alternate is to obtain Ai'hat they desire by the aid of undue influence with the credulous ; or Avith him w'hose natural energies have become impaired by age and long servitude . The Grand Master , therefore , being beyond their petty arts , in direct application , they seek to turn his
position to their adi'antage , by the influence they are enabled to exercise on the mind of his official adviser ; and the latter becomes their scarcely conscious instrument . It is ivith the utmost reluctance that Ave bring this subject before our readers . But it is imperatively demanded of us by our honest allegiance to the Grand Master ; bthe
y respect and veneration , ivhieh we would fain continue , for the Grand Secretary ; and by the duty Ave owe to the Craft , as unshrinking expositors of ivhatever may have a tendency to injure the Order .
And ivho are the sycophants—the power-loving men of little minds— -the detractors of their betters—the promoters of petty tools , to honours they tarnish , and to places they are unfitted to fill—who are they against Avhom the Grand Secretary should be cautioned , and of Avhom the Grand
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
previous practice , ¦ by private importunity ever and anon swelling into almost offensive enforcement . That the excellent Nobleman , our present Masonic Chief , is exempt ( ive almost believe entirely so ) , from those assailirigs to Avhich his Royal Predecessor was , alas ! too liable , is , so fara happy circumstance for the Craft . One of the
, most simple minded , and honest of men , the most unlike a courtier , and the least likely to be affected by deceitful sophistry , the M . W . Grand Master AA'I IO now presides over English Freemasonry , is free from the direct attacks of the insidious . But is he safe from their indirect efforts ? Is he
unassailable or unassailed through the quarter , to him , the very last to be suspected ? Is his adviser free from their advice ? Would that Ave could answer in the affirmative . The thirst for power , which , in the good man is restrained by humility , and the apprehension of his losing the quiet of conscientious rectitude in the contentions of rivalry , is , in
the unscrupulous , increased , instead of being satisfied , by success . And , Avhere this inordinate appetite is possessed by the imperfectly educated , the untalented , the meanlyvicious , —by those Avho have attained their respective positions through artfulness more than by desert—by those , in fact , ivho , with all their self-sufficiency have discovered that
they cannot publicly exercise poAver in their own personsthe alternate is to obtain Ai'hat they desire by the aid of undue influence with the credulous ; or Avith him w'hose natural energies have become impaired by age and long servitude . The Grand Master , therefore , being beyond their petty arts , in direct application , they seek to turn his
position to their adi'antage , by the influence they are enabled to exercise on the mind of his official adviser ; and the latter becomes their scarcely conscious instrument . It is ivith the utmost reluctance that Ave bring this subject before our readers . But it is imperatively demanded of us by our honest allegiance to the Grand Master ; bthe
y respect and veneration , ivhieh we would fain continue , for the Grand Secretary ; and by the duty Ave owe to the Craft , as unshrinking expositors of ivhatever may have a tendency to injure the Order .
And ivho are the sycophants—the power-loving men of little minds— -the detractors of their betters—the promoters of petty tools , to honours they tarnish , and to places they are unfitted to fill—who are they against Avhom the Grand Secretary should be cautioned , and of Avhom the Grand