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Article CORRESPONDENCE. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Correspondence.
duced in a slovenly and careless manner , —he was not made aware that it was a serious , as well as a solemn matter . No ; it was for the fun of the thing , as has often been remarked by careless and thoughtless Brethren ; and when one enters in such a way , he continues to think light of the subject afterwards . Masons thus made stumble at the threshold , and they cannot he made to see their progress clearly afterwards . If they joined for fun , they willas a matter of courseinduce others to
, , join for the same reason ; they fill the offices without knowing the duties of the situations which they accept ; and the appearance which they cut in the eyes of Brethren who are better informed , is at once absurd and humiliating . I do not mean to say that this is the case in every Lodge , —that every Brother is so ignorant and incapable , but I do say that in general it is the case ; indeed it is very generally so with Lodges , and much more so with individuals . When it is the case that they are so
ignorant on Masonic matters strictly speaking , we need not be astonished at the slight knowledge which they possess on Grand Lodge affairs , and that the Proxy Masterships are filled by the friends of the rulers of the Craft in this city . We advanced our candidate to be Worshipful Master in a Lodge ; but we will raise him still higher without half the trouble we have supposed him to be at , if he is at all ambitious of Masonic honours ; he does not require to fill a single office in a Lodge , and he may obtain office if he has a fancy for being a Provincial ' Grand Master .
I hope your readers will not be impatient if we make the candidate anew ; we will just give him the three degrees at once : he has a pretty full pocket , —it is suggested that he will , with a little interest ( a very little indeed ) , get a Provincial Grand Master ' s Commission ; it only costs 10 / . 10 s . ; the money is paid , and five pounds pocketed by the Grand Secretary , and five pounds by the Grand Clerk : in due time the Grand Lodge reporter reports the Prov . G . M . for such and such a province , while it is
quite possible he may never have been at a Lodge meeting , save and except the one where he was done out of his initiation fee ; for I hold that every Brother who receives the three degrees in one night is regularly swindled ; and I think that he has a good ri ght to bring an action against the Lodge and officers where he was so made , for obtaining money by false pretences ; as it is impossible for any one to receive a knowledge of them in such a manner ; it is a swindle—the expression
is strong , but it is a true one . The newly-commissioned Prov . G . M . may hold a Prov . G . L . or not , as he pleases ; it matters not , when or how , for there is no further ceremony required . And he has the pleasing satisfaction to think , if he ever heard of , or read the Laws , that the commission may be recalled whenever the Grand Lodge or Grand Committee think proper to clear the field for some other candidate for Masonic honour ; but this last contingency I do not think often happens ; there is nothing ,
however , to prevent it being recalled the very day after the 10 / . 10 s . has been so willingly—so softly , paid . I leave any one to jud ge how any Brother can be expected to rule and govern a Lodge with such a slight amount of Masonic knowledge as our candidate could obtain in the short period of time here stated . Some may ask , is this a fact ? I say , read the Grand Lodge Laws , and you will find nothing to prevent it being done . Some of my legal friends here may say , shew us a case in the least like what you have stated . They will , like some more of my Brethren in this quarter , think twice before they do so ; and second thoughts are often best . I supposed the case of a young Mason being elected to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
duced in a slovenly and careless manner , —he was not made aware that it was a serious , as well as a solemn matter . No ; it was for the fun of the thing , as has often been remarked by careless and thoughtless Brethren ; and when one enters in such a way , he continues to think light of the subject afterwards . Masons thus made stumble at the threshold , and they cannot he made to see their progress clearly afterwards . If they joined for fun , they willas a matter of courseinduce others to
, , join for the same reason ; they fill the offices without knowing the duties of the situations which they accept ; and the appearance which they cut in the eyes of Brethren who are better informed , is at once absurd and humiliating . I do not mean to say that this is the case in every Lodge , —that every Brother is so ignorant and incapable , but I do say that in general it is the case ; indeed it is very generally so with Lodges , and much more so with individuals . When it is the case that they are so
ignorant on Masonic matters strictly speaking , we need not be astonished at the slight knowledge which they possess on Grand Lodge affairs , and that the Proxy Masterships are filled by the friends of the rulers of the Craft in this city . We advanced our candidate to be Worshipful Master in a Lodge ; but we will raise him still higher without half the trouble we have supposed him to be at , if he is at all ambitious of Masonic honours ; he does not require to fill a single office in a Lodge , and he may obtain office if he has a fancy for being a Provincial ' Grand Master .
I hope your readers will not be impatient if we make the candidate anew ; we will just give him the three degrees at once : he has a pretty full pocket , —it is suggested that he will , with a little interest ( a very little indeed ) , get a Provincial Grand Master ' s Commission ; it only costs 10 / . 10 s . ; the money is paid , and five pounds pocketed by the Grand Secretary , and five pounds by the Grand Clerk : in due time the Grand Lodge reporter reports the Prov . G . M . for such and such a province , while it is
quite possible he may never have been at a Lodge meeting , save and except the one where he was done out of his initiation fee ; for I hold that every Brother who receives the three degrees in one night is regularly swindled ; and I think that he has a good ri ght to bring an action against the Lodge and officers where he was so made , for obtaining money by false pretences ; as it is impossible for any one to receive a knowledge of them in such a manner ; it is a swindle—the expression
is strong , but it is a true one . The newly-commissioned Prov . G . M . may hold a Prov . G . L . or not , as he pleases ; it matters not , when or how , for there is no further ceremony required . And he has the pleasing satisfaction to think , if he ever heard of , or read the Laws , that the commission may be recalled whenever the Grand Lodge or Grand Committee think proper to clear the field for some other candidate for Masonic honour ; but this last contingency I do not think often happens ; there is nothing ,
however , to prevent it being recalled the very day after the 10 / . 10 s . has been so willingly—so softly , paid . I leave any one to jud ge how any Brother can be expected to rule and govern a Lodge with such a slight amount of Masonic knowledge as our candidate could obtain in the short period of time here stated . Some may ask , is this a fact ? I say , read the Grand Lodge Laws , and you will find nothing to prevent it being done . Some of my legal friends here may say , shew us a case in the least like what you have stated . They will , like some more of my Brethren in this quarter , think twice before they do so ; and second thoughts are often best . I supposed the case of a young Mason being elected to