-
Articles/Ads
Article CORRESPONDENCE. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
dejeuner , and ought to have had places reserved for them , can vouch that they were literally thrust out by the mob . No stronger instance can be given of the utter want of management that was displayed throughout than the fact that , notwithstanding the extraordinary efforts , which had been made to procure the attendance of the multitude , no other precautions to preserve places was thought requisite than simplto put cards in the lates ; and although this was done at
y p a very early period of the day , no members of the Building Committee , nor any persons appointed by them , were stationed in the tent to see that they were not removed . Is it at all to be wondered at , that when those , who had purchased seven-shilling-and-sixpenny tickets , entered the marquee and found all the chief places already appropriated , they were restrained b y no feelings of delicacy from removing the cards and taking possession of the seats ! Even Grand
Officers found their places occupied , and were driven from , the Grand Master ' s table to find accommodation for themselves as they best could at the very outskirtof the tent . Amongst them was the Reverend Brother , who had preached in the morning on behalf of the Charity , and who would positively have had no seat or refreshment , had it not been for the exertions of Brethren , who were not members of the Building Committee . It was probablin anticipation of the
y confusion at the dejeuner , and of the quality of the visitors , that every member of the Grand Lodge was furnished with a paper , signed by the Grand Director of Ceremonies , on which was printed , in conspicuous type , " No Brother will he admitted to the dejeuner in Masonic costume . "
I have been sorry to speak thus of Brethren for whom , individually , I entertain a high esteem , and whose zeal for the Charity no one can doubt ; but it cannot be denied that in their collective capacity they so mismanaged the Dedication Festival as to subject the Craft to ridicule . And unable to deny that there really was mismanagement , they now attempt to cast the blame on two Grand Officers , who merely arranged the actual ceremony of Dedication under the Grand Master ' s directionand on the " Stewards" who
, , had no part whatever in the arrangements . It is asserted that the reason the Stewards were never called together is , that it would have been impossible to summon so great a number . But there was manifestly no such impossibility . Is it not more probably the real reason , that the Building Committee , whose names were printed at the head of all the programmes , wished to keep the entire arrangements in their own handsand to have all the honours of the
occa-, sion ? Had they not invited Stewards , —or invited them only with the understanding that they would be merely nominal Stewards , and that the Committee " threw themselves on the generosity and good feelings of the Craft , " to get subscriptions of one guinea each towards the expenses of the day , —I should scarcely have blamed them for wishing to hf . ve that honour . They had superintended the progress of the building ; and I should be the last to deny the credit due to
a body of gentlemen , who gave their time to so excellent a work . But it is a reprehensible proceeding on then- parts , when , finding that the results did not redound to their honour , and that they could not manage the multitude they had attracted to the dejeuner , to cast the blame on the unfortunate " Stewards . " Let us hope that the lesson of this eventful day will not be entirely
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
dejeuner , and ought to have had places reserved for them , can vouch that they were literally thrust out by the mob . No stronger instance can be given of the utter want of management that was displayed throughout than the fact that , notwithstanding the extraordinary efforts , which had been made to procure the attendance of the multitude , no other precautions to preserve places was thought requisite than simplto put cards in the lates ; and although this was done at
y p a very early period of the day , no members of the Building Committee , nor any persons appointed by them , were stationed in the tent to see that they were not removed . Is it at all to be wondered at , that when those , who had purchased seven-shilling-and-sixpenny tickets , entered the marquee and found all the chief places already appropriated , they were restrained b y no feelings of delicacy from removing the cards and taking possession of the seats ! Even Grand
Officers found their places occupied , and were driven from , the Grand Master ' s table to find accommodation for themselves as they best could at the very outskirtof the tent . Amongst them was the Reverend Brother , who had preached in the morning on behalf of the Charity , and who would positively have had no seat or refreshment , had it not been for the exertions of Brethren , who were not members of the Building Committee . It was probablin anticipation of the
y confusion at the dejeuner , and of the quality of the visitors , that every member of the Grand Lodge was furnished with a paper , signed by the Grand Director of Ceremonies , on which was printed , in conspicuous type , " No Brother will he admitted to the dejeuner in Masonic costume . "
I have been sorry to speak thus of Brethren for whom , individually , I entertain a high esteem , and whose zeal for the Charity no one can doubt ; but it cannot be denied that in their collective capacity they so mismanaged the Dedication Festival as to subject the Craft to ridicule . And unable to deny that there really was mismanagement , they now attempt to cast the blame on two Grand Officers , who merely arranged the actual ceremony of Dedication under the Grand Master ' s directionand on the " Stewards" who
, , had no part whatever in the arrangements . It is asserted that the reason the Stewards were never called together is , that it would have been impossible to summon so great a number . But there was manifestly no such impossibility . Is it not more probably the real reason , that the Building Committee , whose names were printed at the head of all the programmes , wished to keep the entire arrangements in their own handsand to have all the honours of the
occa-, sion ? Had they not invited Stewards , —or invited them only with the understanding that they would be merely nominal Stewards , and that the Committee " threw themselves on the generosity and good feelings of the Craft , " to get subscriptions of one guinea each towards the expenses of the day , —I should scarcely have blamed them for wishing to hf . ve that honour . They had superintended the progress of the building ; and I should be the last to deny the credit due to
a body of gentlemen , who gave their time to so excellent a work . But it is a reprehensible proceeding on then- parts , when , finding that the results did not redound to their honour , and that they could not manage the multitude they had attracted to the dejeuner , to cast the blame on the unfortunate " Stewards . " Let us hope that the lesson of this eventful day will not be entirely