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Article STATE OF MASONRY IN IRELAND. ← Page 4 of 9 →
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State Of Masonry In Ireland.
Ireland can never rise to a condition of large , much less of really lasting prosperity . But , it may be asked , if this picture of the Masonic state of Ireland be correct , what have the Grand Lodge been about during the many revolving years which it must have taken to bring about all this systematic disorganization ? We fervently wish that truth would permit us to answer that they had been doing anything at all beyond sitting down
in cool apathy and contented indifference to everything , —except indeed to the regular collection of their official dues , in regard to which their 7 , c ; d has not suffered any observable relaxation . In almost every other respect they seem inclined to let Masonry in Ireland take its fate , as they manifest na special interest in its extension amongst those ranks in society whose accession to its membership woultl be a real benefit ; while substantial reforms , when suggested by othersare either neutralized b
, y petty jealousy , or thrown out by direct hostility . Every man who knows anything of the working of public institutions in the state , whether those institutions be of a moral , political , economical , or religious character , is abundantly aware of the fact that , without a vigilant and unceasing system of local superintendence , they will inevitabl y degenerate into established abuses ; and Masonry , in its administrative'details , is not divinely exempted from this inherent tendency cf all things human . In
Ireland there is , properly speaking , no system of local superintendence at all ; but , on the contrary , all things pertaining to the good of Masonry , so far as general expediencies and circumstantial contingencies are concerned , are left to be regulated by the passing " chapter of accidents . " There seems , moreover , to be , on the part of the Grand Lodge , a natural
repugnance to the appointment of district . superintendents , as well as to the establishment of any fixed system of local government whatever . It is now four long years since the Lodges of Derry and Donegal addressed to the Grand Lodge a memorial , praying for the nomination of a district Grand Master , whose authority could be made available on the spot for the removal of abuses which might imperatively require correction , and which could not possibly be , in the first instance , adjudicated upon by the Grand Lodge . After numerous delays of the most frivolous and
even , to some extent , of the most vexatious character , it is only within the last few weeks that Sir James Stewart , Bart ., of Fortstewart , has been appointed to the high office in question 1 What the intellectual capacities of the Grand Lodge are we know not , and consequently we are not iira position for taking any proper measure of their ideas ; but , in relation to every other social institute except Masonry , a wise man would conclude
that , if left without a local government for four years , it must inevitably go to wreck . What would have been the social condition of Derry arid Donegal , if , during the time mentioned , their inhabitants had been left without an assistant barrister or a judge of assize , and had been obliged either to submit to every description of anarchy , or yield to the expensive and frequently impracticable alternation of a resort to the superior courts in Dublin ? No society could possibly exist under a continuance of the regimen supposed ; andhad not Masonry possessed a principle of nearly
, indestructible vitality , it must have long since perished under the influence of , a jSystem of misgovernment which , it is manifest , would , if realized in , the state , quickly overturn the British empire itself . What , we ask ; as , men and as Masons , is the use of a Grand Lodge at all , if it is not to . provide an , d to carry into effect wholesome regulations . for [ the advancement of Masonry , by all the rational agencies which" prudericb
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
State Of Masonry In Ireland.
Ireland can never rise to a condition of large , much less of really lasting prosperity . But , it may be asked , if this picture of the Masonic state of Ireland be correct , what have the Grand Lodge been about during the many revolving years which it must have taken to bring about all this systematic disorganization ? We fervently wish that truth would permit us to answer that they had been doing anything at all beyond sitting down
in cool apathy and contented indifference to everything , —except indeed to the regular collection of their official dues , in regard to which their 7 , c ; d has not suffered any observable relaxation . In almost every other respect they seem inclined to let Masonry in Ireland take its fate , as they manifest na special interest in its extension amongst those ranks in society whose accession to its membership woultl be a real benefit ; while substantial reforms , when suggested by othersare either neutralized b
, y petty jealousy , or thrown out by direct hostility . Every man who knows anything of the working of public institutions in the state , whether those institutions be of a moral , political , economical , or religious character , is abundantly aware of the fact that , without a vigilant and unceasing system of local superintendence , they will inevitabl y degenerate into established abuses ; and Masonry , in its administrative'details , is not divinely exempted from this inherent tendency cf all things human . In
Ireland there is , properly speaking , no system of local superintendence at all ; but , on the contrary , all things pertaining to the good of Masonry , so far as general expediencies and circumstantial contingencies are concerned , are left to be regulated by the passing " chapter of accidents . " There seems , moreover , to be , on the part of the Grand Lodge , a natural
repugnance to the appointment of district . superintendents , as well as to the establishment of any fixed system of local government whatever . It is now four long years since the Lodges of Derry and Donegal addressed to the Grand Lodge a memorial , praying for the nomination of a district Grand Master , whose authority could be made available on the spot for the removal of abuses which might imperatively require correction , and which could not possibly be , in the first instance , adjudicated upon by the Grand Lodge . After numerous delays of the most frivolous and
even , to some extent , of the most vexatious character , it is only within the last few weeks that Sir James Stewart , Bart ., of Fortstewart , has been appointed to the high office in question 1 What the intellectual capacities of the Grand Lodge are we know not , and consequently we are not iira position for taking any proper measure of their ideas ; but , in relation to every other social institute except Masonry , a wise man would conclude
that , if left without a local government for four years , it must inevitably go to wreck . What would have been the social condition of Derry arid Donegal , if , during the time mentioned , their inhabitants had been left without an assistant barrister or a judge of assize , and had been obliged either to submit to every description of anarchy , or yield to the expensive and frequently impracticable alternation of a resort to the superior courts in Dublin ? No society could possibly exist under a continuance of the regimen supposed ; andhad not Masonry possessed a principle of nearly
, indestructible vitality , it must have long since perished under the influence of , a jSystem of misgovernment which , it is manifest , would , if realized in , the state , quickly overturn the British empire itself . What , we ask ; as , men and as Masons , is the use of a Grand Lodge at all , if it is not to . provide an , d to carry into effect wholesome regulations . for [ the advancement of Masonry , by all the rational agencies which" prudericb