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Article A MODEL ADDRESS. Page 1 of 1 Article A MODEL ADDRESS. Page 1 of 1 Article PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND. Page 1 of 2 →
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A Model Address.
A MODEL ADDRESS .
The address which Bro . R . G . PFIKLI'S delivered at the 50 th animal communication in June last of the Grand Lodge of Iowa , of which he w . is at the time M . W . Grand Master , is meritorious beyond the average of similar addresses , and above all is characterised by sound common sense , such as is not always exhibited in these documents . It is of considerable
but having" regard ( o the number and importance of the subjects' it deals- with , not extravagant length . Though there arc many inducements on such an occasion to refer to past events , Bro . PHELPS appears to have contented himself with recording the fact that the Grand Lodge of Iowa was inaugurated in January , 1844 , with a roll of four lodges and a total
membership of about 100 brethren . Leaving his audience to form their own estimate of the progress which Freemasonry in the jurisdiction had made in the interim , he passed on at once to deal with those matters which had been brought under his cognisance during the past 12 months . He congratulated the brethren on the prosperity and peace which
prevailed throughout the lodges generally . 1 here had been , lie said , few complaints against lodge officers , and on investigating such complaints as had been referred to him , he discovered cither that no offence had been committed , oratmost that the officer complained of had been iniilly of some slight error of judgment . No lodge charter had been
arrested , and in the very few cases in which he had been appealed to to arrest a charter , it turned out that misunderstandings had arisen among the members , and hence the election of candidates for membership had become impossible . ' On this the Grand Master offers the following remark's : " A brother is disappointed because a friend is not received into the lodge , and
he straightway forgets the brothers he has in bis desire to obtain another ; forgets his vows and duty to his lodge ; forgets that every brother has the same rig ht of individual choice that he has , and his hear ! turns to revenge , and he decides that there shall none join that lodge until he has forced in the one rejected . Such a brother ought to do . "Masonic penance until lie feels
the ingrowing of a truer spirit , one that respects his own rights by recognising the rights of others , one that remembers ( here is no one person who is essential to the existence or welfare of Masonry , and that while others ma } -have faults which he should forgive , he himself is mortal and needs constant self
restraint . " it lias before now happened in our Knglish lodges that the same cause has produced the same effect in the shape of serious dissensions among the members , and it is because nearly all cases of indiscriminate blackballing or rejection of candidates have been invariably attended with disastrous results that we commend these remarks of Bro . Piim . i's to the
serious consideration of our readers . It is useless lor Provincial Grand Masters , the Grand . Secretary , or other exalted ollicers to be continually urging upon brethren the necessity for exercising caution in the acceptance of candidates if the moment any brethren act upon that advice and reject one whom they conscientiously consider undesirable or unwortlvy , the friends
of the rejected cand . date turn round and retaliate by blackballing all subsequent applicants for the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry . As regards lodges that have become so reduced in numbers as to be scarcel y able to fulfil their . appointed duties , Bro . Pinars offers two very reasonable suggestions —( 1 ) That a decaying lodge , seeing that at all
events it has the advantage of being already corisiituteu , should move to a nei ghbourhood which is without a lodge , but is desirous of becoming 'nc head-quarters of one . This he considers is far belter than that the new locality should be provided with a new lodge and the old one left to "ie . Or ( 2 ) That a weak lodge should unite with its nearest neighbour ,
both lod ges becoming stronger by the amalgamation . In Iowa it seems tlwt new lodges are not sanctioned , even by dispensation " for temporary work , " unless it can be shown that they have or will have at least 15 members on the roll , and Bro . Pui'Li's argues , with considerable force from the American point of view , that what is not sanctioned in the case of a
pro-Posed new lodge should not be sanctioned in that of an old lodge . I T nder 0 ,, r constitution wc manage things differently . A proposed lodge must consist of at least seven members , and when the number is less than three he Warrant becomes , ipso facto , void and must be relumed to the Grand ' ' tster . Hut the princip le for which Bro . PIIHI . I-S contends is the same ,
" wc dare say that it would be a great advantage to the Craft 111 Iowa il lc weaker lodges in that jurisdiction were given the option on the one intl of removing to some new locality or uniting u-ith some neighbouring
, «< - ' . or on the other of surrendering their warrants in the . event of theii ' K unable to recover a portion of their lost strength within a certain ^ onable interval of time . Ml , "K the other matters to which Bro . Pnr . i . i's pointedly refers arc several 11 cl 1 would not be likely to evoke any strong feelings among Knglish Masons
A Model Address.
in favour or against the suggestions he offers , the most prominent amongst these being the question of non-affiliates , about which we of the English Constitution do not concern ourselves . We hold that a man is as free to leave our ranks as he is to join them , and with the exception that the Bool ; of Constitutions resolves that a non-subscribing Mason shall not
visit a lodge more than once in 12 months , there the matter ends . There is , however , one point which is fully as interesting to us as to the : American brethren . Bro . PHELPS would advise "each lodge to form a lodge history , in which shall be gathered together and reported , and kept , the story of the lodge and its members . The older and larger bodies
of the hast are now trying to write their chronicles with difficulty and surmises . Many are the queries which mi ght have once been made and kept plain if only they who were of us in the earlier days , and whose voices were a part of the melody of the past , were not now voiceless . " And he adds : " I would recommend that each lodge shall provide itself
with a book in which shall be recorded the principal events in the lodge history and transactions . " We presume by this that he intends something ' beyond the ordinary minutes , which are the official records of a lodge ' s history , but which do not as a rule contain much beyond the bare details of
the work done and the members constituting the lodge from year to year . But whatever his meaning nnd intent may be , Bro . PIIKU ' . S is on the right ' track when he suggests that every encouragement should be given to the compilation and preservation of lodge histories , provided always that the privacy of private lodges is respected .
Provincial Grand Lodge Of Leicestershire And Rutland.
PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND .
A special meeting of the above Provincial Grand Lodge was held at the Freemasons Mali , Leicester , on the 3 rd instant , for the purpose ol resolving upon an address of congratulation to H . R . H . the Grand Master on the marriage of H . R . H . the Duke of York with H . R . H . the Princess Victoria
of Teck ; and also to present a complimentary address and purse to Bro . the Rev . Charles Hcnton Wood , M . A ., P . P . S . G . W ., 011 his retirement from the ollice of Prov . Grand Secretary , the duties of which he had most faithfully discharged during the past eight years .
In the unavoidable absence of the P . G . M ., Bro . Karl Ferrers , Bro . S . S . Partridge , the D . P . G . M ., presided , and was supported b y Bros . G . Toller , P . D . P . G . M ., as D . P . G . M . ; the Hon . Paulyn F . C . Rawdon Hastings , P . S . G . W . ; K . P . Steeds , P . J . G . W . ; Rev . H . S . Biggs , P . G . Chap . ; G .
Oliver , P . G . Treas . ; W . J . Freer , P . G . Reg . ; E . Holmes , P . G . Sec . ; K . I . Wilkinson , P . G . D . C ; W . G . S . Rolleston , P . G . S . B . ; T . S . H . Ashwcll , P . G . Sid . Br . ; and R . R . Blackwell and W . Bramley , P . G . Stewards .
The following were also present—¦ Bros . Rev . C . Henton Wood , P . P . S . G . W . ; J . T . Thorpe , P . P . S . G . W . ; C . E . Strctton , P . P . S . G . W . ; j . Young , P . P . J . G . W . ; G . jessop , P . P . j . G . W . ; T . Coltman ; P . I ' . G . R ., W . M . Williams , P . P . G . R . ; W . W . Vincent , P . P . S . G . D . ; R . Taylor , P . P . G . Supt . Wks . ; F . B . Wilmer , P . P . G . Supt . Wks . ; C . K . Morris , P . P . G . Supt . Wks . ; ] . Harrison , P . P . G . S ; B . ; S . Knight , P . P . A . G . P . ; T . B . Neal , W . M .
523 ; A . Fergusson , W . M . 1391 ; A . Lawrence , I . P . M . 523 ; H . Howe , I . P . M . 1-391 : W . H . Scott , P . G . O . Lincolnshire ; J . Clifton , S . D . 279 ; S . F . M . Stone , J . \ V . 1560 ; R . Pratt , M . D ., J . D . 1560 ; J . J . W . Knoivles , J . W . 1007 ; R . P . Kuates , S . W . 242 S ; H . J . Blakesley , F . R . C . S ., l . G . 1560 ; J . Bond , 279 ; S . P . Pick , 279 ; W . Hunt , 279 , J . Hallam , 1391 ; G . Tovey , 1391 ; E . R . Fox , 20 S 1 ; J . Smith , 202 S ; and others .
Numerous apologies for absence were received , including one from Bro . W . Kelly , P . P . G . M . The Prov . Grand Lodge was opened by the ACTING PROV . GRAND MASTER , who expressed the regret of himself and the brethren at the enforced absence of t he Prov . Grand Master .
The following address to the M . W . Grand Master was most heartil y and unanimously approved , and the Prov . Grand Secretary requested to forward it in due course :
" To his Royal Highness Albert hdward Prince of Wales , K . G ., & c , & c , iSrc , iVc , Most Worshipful Grand Master . " May it please your Royal Highness , " The Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Leicestershire and Rutland , the Right Worshipful Past Provincial Grand
Master , the Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master , the Provincial Grand Officers , Past and Present , and the Worshi pful Masters , Acting Wardens , and Brethren of the several lodges in the province , in Provincial Grand Lodge assembled , desire humbly to express to your Royal Highness the delight all feel as brethren of the Order in the approaching nuptials of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Model Address.
A MODEL ADDRESS .
The address which Bro . R . G . PFIKLI'S delivered at the 50 th animal communication in June last of the Grand Lodge of Iowa , of which he w . is at the time M . W . Grand Master , is meritorious beyond the average of similar addresses , and above all is characterised by sound common sense , such as is not always exhibited in these documents . It is of considerable
but having" regard ( o the number and importance of the subjects' it deals- with , not extravagant length . Though there arc many inducements on such an occasion to refer to past events , Bro . PHELPS appears to have contented himself with recording the fact that the Grand Lodge of Iowa was inaugurated in January , 1844 , with a roll of four lodges and a total
membership of about 100 brethren . Leaving his audience to form their own estimate of the progress which Freemasonry in the jurisdiction had made in the interim , he passed on at once to deal with those matters which had been brought under his cognisance during the past 12 months . He congratulated the brethren on the prosperity and peace which
prevailed throughout the lodges generally . 1 here had been , lie said , few complaints against lodge officers , and on investigating such complaints as had been referred to him , he discovered cither that no offence had been committed , oratmost that the officer complained of had been iniilly of some slight error of judgment . No lodge charter had been
arrested , and in the very few cases in which he had been appealed to to arrest a charter , it turned out that misunderstandings had arisen among the members , and hence the election of candidates for membership had become impossible . ' On this the Grand Master offers the following remark's : " A brother is disappointed because a friend is not received into the lodge , and
he straightway forgets the brothers he has in bis desire to obtain another ; forgets his vows and duty to his lodge ; forgets that every brother has the same rig ht of individual choice that he has , and his hear ! turns to revenge , and he decides that there shall none join that lodge until he has forced in the one rejected . Such a brother ought to do . "Masonic penance until lie feels
the ingrowing of a truer spirit , one that respects his own rights by recognising the rights of others , one that remembers ( here is no one person who is essential to the existence or welfare of Masonry , and that while others ma } -have faults which he should forgive , he himself is mortal and needs constant self
restraint . " it lias before now happened in our Knglish lodges that the same cause has produced the same effect in the shape of serious dissensions among the members , and it is because nearly all cases of indiscriminate blackballing or rejection of candidates have been invariably attended with disastrous results that we commend these remarks of Bro . Piim . i's to the
serious consideration of our readers . It is useless lor Provincial Grand Masters , the Grand . Secretary , or other exalted ollicers to be continually urging upon brethren the necessity for exercising caution in the acceptance of candidates if the moment any brethren act upon that advice and reject one whom they conscientiously consider undesirable or unwortlvy , the friends
of the rejected cand . date turn round and retaliate by blackballing all subsequent applicants for the mysteries and privileges of Freemasonry . As regards lodges that have become so reduced in numbers as to be scarcel y able to fulfil their . appointed duties , Bro . Pinars offers two very reasonable suggestions —( 1 ) That a decaying lodge , seeing that at all
events it has the advantage of being already corisiituteu , should move to a nei ghbourhood which is without a lodge , but is desirous of becoming 'nc head-quarters of one . This he considers is far belter than that the new locality should be provided with a new lodge and the old one left to "ie . Or ( 2 ) That a weak lodge should unite with its nearest neighbour ,
both lod ges becoming stronger by the amalgamation . In Iowa it seems tlwt new lodges are not sanctioned , even by dispensation " for temporary work , " unless it can be shown that they have or will have at least 15 members on the roll , and Bro . Pui'Li's argues , with considerable force from the American point of view , that what is not sanctioned in the case of a
pro-Posed new lodge should not be sanctioned in that of an old lodge . I T nder 0 ,, r constitution wc manage things differently . A proposed lodge must consist of at least seven members , and when the number is less than three he Warrant becomes , ipso facto , void and must be relumed to the Grand ' ' tster . Hut the princip le for which Bro . PIIHI . I-S contends is the same ,
" wc dare say that it would be a great advantage to the Craft 111 Iowa il lc weaker lodges in that jurisdiction were given the option on the one intl of removing to some new locality or uniting u-ith some neighbouring
, «< - ' . or on the other of surrendering their warrants in the . event of theii ' K unable to recover a portion of their lost strength within a certain ^ onable interval of time . Ml , "K the other matters to which Bro . Pnr . i . i's pointedly refers arc several 11 cl 1 would not be likely to evoke any strong feelings among Knglish Masons
A Model Address.
in favour or against the suggestions he offers , the most prominent amongst these being the question of non-affiliates , about which we of the English Constitution do not concern ourselves . We hold that a man is as free to leave our ranks as he is to join them , and with the exception that the Bool ; of Constitutions resolves that a non-subscribing Mason shall not
visit a lodge more than once in 12 months , there the matter ends . There is , however , one point which is fully as interesting to us as to the : American brethren . Bro . PHELPS would advise "each lodge to form a lodge history , in which shall be gathered together and reported , and kept , the story of the lodge and its members . The older and larger bodies
of the hast are now trying to write their chronicles with difficulty and surmises . Many are the queries which mi ght have once been made and kept plain if only they who were of us in the earlier days , and whose voices were a part of the melody of the past , were not now voiceless . " And he adds : " I would recommend that each lodge shall provide itself
with a book in which shall be recorded the principal events in the lodge history and transactions . " We presume by this that he intends something ' beyond the ordinary minutes , which are the official records of a lodge ' s history , but which do not as a rule contain much beyond the bare details of
the work done and the members constituting the lodge from year to year . But whatever his meaning nnd intent may be , Bro . PIIKU ' . S is on the right ' track when he suggests that every encouragement should be given to the compilation and preservation of lodge histories , provided always that the privacy of private lodges is respected .
Provincial Grand Lodge Of Leicestershire And Rutland.
PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND .
A special meeting of the above Provincial Grand Lodge was held at the Freemasons Mali , Leicester , on the 3 rd instant , for the purpose ol resolving upon an address of congratulation to H . R . H . the Grand Master on the marriage of H . R . H . the Duke of York with H . R . H . the Princess Victoria
of Teck ; and also to present a complimentary address and purse to Bro . the Rev . Charles Hcnton Wood , M . A ., P . P . S . G . W ., 011 his retirement from the ollice of Prov . Grand Secretary , the duties of which he had most faithfully discharged during the past eight years .
In the unavoidable absence of the P . G . M ., Bro . Karl Ferrers , Bro . S . S . Partridge , the D . P . G . M ., presided , and was supported b y Bros . G . Toller , P . D . P . G . M ., as D . P . G . M . ; the Hon . Paulyn F . C . Rawdon Hastings , P . S . G . W . ; K . P . Steeds , P . J . G . W . ; Rev . H . S . Biggs , P . G . Chap . ; G .
Oliver , P . G . Treas . ; W . J . Freer , P . G . Reg . ; E . Holmes , P . G . Sec . ; K . I . Wilkinson , P . G . D . C ; W . G . S . Rolleston , P . G . S . B . ; T . S . H . Ashwcll , P . G . Sid . Br . ; and R . R . Blackwell and W . Bramley , P . G . Stewards .
The following were also present—¦ Bros . Rev . C . Henton Wood , P . P . S . G . W . ; J . T . Thorpe , P . P . S . G . W . ; C . E . Strctton , P . P . S . G . W . ; j . Young , P . P . J . G . W . ; G . jessop , P . P . j . G . W . ; T . Coltman ; P . I ' . G . R ., W . M . Williams , P . P . G . R . ; W . W . Vincent , P . P . S . G . D . ; R . Taylor , P . P . G . Supt . Wks . ; F . B . Wilmer , P . P . G . Supt . Wks . ; C . K . Morris , P . P . G . Supt . Wks . ; ] . Harrison , P . P . G . S ; B . ; S . Knight , P . P . A . G . P . ; T . B . Neal , W . M .
523 ; A . Fergusson , W . M . 1391 ; A . Lawrence , I . P . M . 523 ; H . Howe , I . P . M . 1-391 : W . H . Scott , P . G . O . Lincolnshire ; J . Clifton , S . D . 279 ; S . F . M . Stone , J . \ V . 1560 ; R . Pratt , M . D ., J . D . 1560 ; J . J . W . Knoivles , J . W . 1007 ; R . P . Kuates , S . W . 242 S ; H . J . Blakesley , F . R . C . S ., l . G . 1560 ; J . Bond , 279 ; S . P . Pick , 279 ; W . Hunt , 279 , J . Hallam , 1391 ; G . Tovey , 1391 ; E . R . Fox , 20 S 1 ; J . Smith , 202 S ; and others .
Numerous apologies for absence were received , including one from Bro . W . Kelly , P . P . G . M . The Prov . Grand Lodge was opened by the ACTING PROV . GRAND MASTER , who expressed the regret of himself and the brethren at the enforced absence of t he Prov . Grand Master .
The following address to the M . W . Grand Master was most heartil y and unanimously approved , and the Prov . Grand Secretary requested to forward it in due course :
" To his Royal Highness Albert hdward Prince of Wales , K . G ., & c , & c , iSrc , iVc , Most Worshipful Grand Master . " May it please your Royal Highness , " The Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Leicestershire and Rutland , the Right Worshipful Past Provincial Grand
Master , the Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master , the Provincial Grand Officers , Past and Present , and the Worshi pful Masters , Acting Wardens , and Brethren of the several lodges in the province , in Provincial Grand Lodge assembled , desire humbly to express to your Royal Highness the delight all feel as brethren of the Order in the approaching nuptials of