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Article STATE OF MASONRY IN IRELAND. ← Page 2 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
State Of Masonry In Ireland.
our Grand Master— "faithful are the wounds of ;[ a ; frierid , '' Ai ahd they will also bear in mind that it is the misconduct of the governing authbri ^ ties which we arraign—not the character of the Irish Brotherhbpd / ftseff ; many of whose members have long' arid ineffectually struggled for trie reform of abuses which ought never to bave existed ; arid which , in fact , never could have existed had the Grand Lodge of Ireland Been Wen moderately alive to the discharge of its hih responsibilities . ¦? ! V ' [" ' - '
g There never yet has been an institution calculated'in an equal [ degree with Freeriiasonry to break down the artificial barriers which caste , creed ; priestly ambition , and political rivalry , have created between different classes of the human family ; and never , perhaps , did there on the face of this globe exist a country in which the purifying influencespf the fraternizing principle were more needed than they are in Ireland . The unhallowed spirit of party in that country rules all things ; the i elt and
the Saxon , the Protestant and the Roman Catholic , are ready to draw against each other the exterminating sword of Gideon , —while all the unholy appliances of priestcraft are in active operation for extending , on all sides , the dominion of intolerant sectarianism . ySuchismodern ; Ireland—a-living contrast to all that is pure aridholy . and , philanthrqpic-in the system of Freemasonry , and yet in no country . in [ Europe , is / that system practically exhibited before the . community incoloursjess
,, , attractive than it is in Ireland . We have here intentionally used a mitigated expression , but , were we required to speak out , we would say that Masonry , as generally exhibited before the Irish public , has been rendered not only unattractive but positively repulsive to the moral sympathies of the respectable classes of society , in consequence of the
unchecked irregularities by which its administration has been habituall y disfigured . The Lodges in-large towns -may be properly enough conducted , but throughout the provinces generally the laxity which prevails , and the utter want of moral discipline by which that laxity is specially accompanied , are of a character to be trrily deplored by every lover of our benevolent institute . The country Lodges , for example , almost universally hold their meetings in low , obscure public houses , and these , we regret to sayare not always exceptionable on other accounts , though
, . , in relation to the social respectability of the order itself , tfie mere circumstance of a / house being a public one is an almost insuperable pbjeetiori ' to its selection as a place for the habitual assemblage of a Freemaso ' n ' s Lodge . In the first place respectable men will not go to a Lodge that is regularly held in a common public house , because ; there is something
aisreputapJe in tne very name ot tne . thing , and hence tne membership of Lodges of this description becomes /[ necessarily limited , in a ' great : degree ,, ; b a : class ; of men who have no . very ' exalted ppsition'to'beinain ^ tained in pubh ' c ; qpiriiori , —a , serious disadvantage'in' relation to' the extension of the ' , Order , and / especially to 'ifs'beneficiai '/ pp ' eratibri iri ^ e ' - firiing the characters of hurhblef Brethren by means of a free intercourse ' with [ others iyhpse educational and social ; advantages have been supenpr to ' thei The [ object of tavernkeepersinthe' establishment ' of
r . own . - . . Masonic , Lodges in their / nouses , is trie promotion [ of' their , ' bwtr daily business , and this can be done ' . only by encouraging "the '" ' Brethren to in ,- duige'i . ri [ hearty potations after Lodge hours ' , arid , if we /' arb iibt [ gfeatry [ misinformed ,, sometimeseven' during hMgfhows ^—Mie ^ s ^ i ^ fic ^ jed so . riot , mariy / years ' siric ' e , ''' . / Now , ' the effect [ of [ all this . is [ tb / assbciSte /'_ fcgether [[ iiri [ the -public ' , mind ; t [ he ideas of Freemasonry and pe ™ di [& I ' . iffiiiikciiiiussy'if riot ' tliaf of ulterior dissipation ; and , 'if the' 6 raiitll 3 oIlKe '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
State Of Masonry In Ireland.
our Grand Master— "faithful are the wounds of ;[ a ; frierid , '' Ai ahd they will also bear in mind that it is the misconduct of the governing authbri ^ ties which we arraign—not the character of the Irish Brotherhbpd / ftseff ; many of whose members have long' arid ineffectually struggled for trie reform of abuses which ought never to bave existed ; arid which , in fact , never could have existed had the Grand Lodge of Ireland Been Wen moderately alive to the discharge of its hih responsibilities . ¦? ! V ' [" ' - '
g There never yet has been an institution calculated'in an equal [ degree with Freeriiasonry to break down the artificial barriers which caste , creed ; priestly ambition , and political rivalry , have created between different classes of the human family ; and never , perhaps , did there on the face of this globe exist a country in which the purifying influencespf the fraternizing principle were more needed than they are in Ireland . The unhallowed spirit of party in that country rules all things ; the i elt and
the Saxon , the Protestant and the Roman Catholic , are ready to draw against each other the exterminating sword of Gideon , —while all the unholy appliances of priestcraft are in active operation for extending , on all sides , the dominion of intolerant sectarianism . ySuchismodern ; Ireland—a-living contrast to all that is pure aridholy . and , philanthrqpic-in the system of Freemasonry , and yet in no country . in [ Europe , is / that system practically exhibited before the . community incoloursjess
,, , attractive than it is in Ireland . We have here intentionally used a mitigated expression , but , were we required to speak out , we would say that Masonry , as generally exhibited before the Irish public , has been rendered not only unattractive but positively repulsive to the moral sympathies of the respectable classes of society , in consequence of the
unchecked irregularities by which its administration has been habituall y disfigured . The Lodges in-large towns -may be properly enough conducted , but throughout the provinces generally the laxity which prevails , and the utter want of moral discipline by which that laxity is specially accompanied , are of a character to be trrily deplored by every lover of our benevolent institute . The country Lodges , for example , almost universally hold their meetings in low , obscure public houses , and these , we regret to sayare not always exceptionable on other accounts , though
, . , in relation to the social respectability of the order itself , tfie mere circumstance of a / house being a public one is an almost insuperable pbjeetiori ' to its selection as a place for the habitual assemblage of a Freemaso ' n ' s Lodge . In the first place respectable men will not go to a Lodge that is regularly held in a common public house , because ; there is something
aisreputapJe in tne very name ot tne . thing , and hence tne membership of Lodges of this description becomes /[ necessarily limited , in a ' great : degree ,, ; b a : class ; of men who have no . very ' exalted ppsition'to'beinain ^ tained in pubh ' c ; qpiriiori , —a , serious disadvantage'in' relation to' the extension of the ' , Order , and / especially to 'ifs'beneficiai '/ pp ' eratibri iri ^ e ' - firiing the characters of hurhblef Brethren by means of a free intercourse ' with [ others iyhpse educational and social ; advantages have been supenpr to ' thei The [ object of tavernkeepersinthe' establishment ' of
r . own . - . . Masonic , Lodges in their / nouses , is trie promotion [ of' their , ' bwtr daily business , and this can be done ' . only by encouraging "the '" ' Brethren to in ,- duige'i . ri [ hearty potations after Lodge hours ' , arid , if we /' arb iibt [ gfeatry [ misinformed ,, sometimeseven' during hMgfhows ^—Mie ^ s ^ i ^ fic ^ jed so . riot , mariy / years ' siric ' e , ''' . / Now , ' the effect [ of [ all this . is [ tb / assbciSte /'_ fcgether [[ iiri [ the -public ' , mind ; t [ he ideas of Freemasonry and pe ™ di [& I ' . iffiiiikciiiiussy'if riot ' tliaf of ulterior dissipation ; and , 'if the' 6 raiitll 3 oIlKe '