-
Articles/Ads
Article Untitled Article ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
I am authorized by them to express their hope that Lodges generally will unite in lending a helping hand in this good and righteous cause ; in furtherance of which I am to request the favour of your publishing this letter in the next number of the Freemasons' Magazine arid Masonic Mirror . —I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , Faithfully and fraternally yours , Samuel Aldrich , W . M ., JIampstead , fan . 24 , 1856 . St . John ' s Lodge , No . 196 .
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEEOR . Dear Sir and Brother , —A letter appearing in the Journal of the present month has come under my notice , and if not trespassing on your valuable space , I shall he glad of the opportunity of remarking upon it in your columns , in as brief a manner as may-be consistent with the subject of which it treats . It must
be presumed that our Brother , signing " M . M ., " has good grounds for his sweeping charges , or he would scarcely have dared to make them ; and yet a closer scrutiny of his letter leads me to the conviction that there is much in it betraying the disappointment of ambition , if not the virulence of faction , rather than any real desire to benefit Masonry in general , or any Lodge in particular .
The existence , much less the absolute domination , of a clique ( properly so called ) , in a Freemason ' s Lodge , seems to me to border on the impossible ; and he must have very little of the true spirit of Masonry that " thinketh no evil , " who can deliberately spread to the four quarters of the Masonic world , statements so general in their terms and so mischievous in their tendency . Either Masonry has not that inherent strength and purity which we love to think it possesses in no small degree , or its members must very much have degenerated from their professed principles , to give to the charges under consideration the least colouring of truth .
, Admitting the * difficulty of combating statements of so general a character , I cannot but regret that our Brother had not the courage to make them definite by giving them the special reference they are evidently intended to have to some particular Lodge , of which he has the misfortune to be a member . Surely c < spirit and boldness " would have been better exemplified by such a course , and he would at least have had the satisfaction of having done his duty manfully ; whilst it would also have reflected infinite credit on his character as a Mason , deeply anxious to preserve inviolate the privileges of himself and Brethren .
Our friend has chosen his own method , and if it cannot be considered the most straightforward and candid , we will , for the present at least , hope that modest timidity is his only fault . But is it really come to this , that to obtain honours in his mother Lodge , a man must act the parasite and sycophant ? Surely not . A charge like this ought to call forth the indignant reply from every W . M . who
values his position , or the integrity of his Lodge , and I am convinced that a reply thus evoked , would consign so gross a libel to merited contempt . What follows is simply absurd . No one will ever believe that a W . M . would be so stupidly infatuated as to select Brethren for his officers whose ignorance is their greatest qualification . The WM . has too much at heart the honour and credit of his own position , even were he incapable of being influenced by any higher motives , than to act on a plan so sure to bring disgrace on his mastership , and the Fraternity over which he presides . It may happen , and perhaps often does , that a Brother of undoubted working abilities , may be excluded , or overlooked ; but if
so , that can never give him the right to denounce as tyranny the undeniable privilege of the W . M . to appoint whom he pleases . Besides , it is usual in most Lodges to consult the wishes and judgment of the Past Masters in the selection of officers ; and our Bro . " M . M . " forgets , or overlooks the fact , that he brands with infamy , not only the W . M ., whose position is the result of the esteem and confidence in which be is held by his Brethren , but those also who before him have filled the same chair , and gone through the routine of its important duties . I trust your correspondent will see that it is only fair justice to the Craft , either to withdraw his charges , or distinctly state the " Lodge or Lodges" to which he
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
I am authorized by them to express their hope that Lodges generally will unite in lending a helping hand in this good and righteous cause ; in furtherance of which I am to request the favour of your publishing this letter in the next number of the Freemasons' Magazine arid Masonic Mirror . —I remain , Dear Sir and Brother , Faithfully and fraternally yours , Samuel Aldrich , W . M ., JIampstead , fan . 24 , 1856 . St . John ' s Lodge , No . 196 .
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEEOR . Dear Sir and Brother , —A letter appearing in the Journal of the present month has come under my notice , and if not trespassing on your valuable space , I shall he glad of the opportunity of remarking upon it in your columns , in as brief a manner as may-be consistent with the subject of which it treats . It must
be presumed that our Brother , signing " M . M ., " has good grounds for his sweeping charges , or he would scarcely have dared to make them ; and yet a closer scrutiny of his letter leads me to the conviction that there is much in it betraying the disappointment of ambition , if not the virulence of faction , rather than any real desire to benefit Masonry in general , or any Lodge in particular .
The existence , much less the absolute domination , of a clique ( properly so called ) , in a Freemason ' s Lodge , seems to me to border on the impossible ; and he must have very little of the true spirit of Masonry that " thinketh no evil , " who can deliberately spread to the four quarters of the Masonic world , statements so general in their terms and so mischievous in their tendency . Either Masonry has not that inherent strength and purity which we love to think it possesses in no small degree , or its members must very much have degenerated from their professed principles , to give to the charges under consideration the least colouring of truth .
, Admitting the * difficulty of combating statements of so general a character , I cannot but regret that our Brother had not the courage to make them definite by giving them the special reference they are evidently intended to have to some particular Lodge , of which he has the misfortune to be a member . Surely c < spirit and boldness " would have been better exemplified by such a course , and he would at least have had the satisfaction of having done his duty manfully ; whilst it would also have reflected infinite credit on his character as a Mason , deeply anxious to preserve inviolate the privileges of himself and Brethren .
Our friend has chosen his own method , and if it cannot be considered the most straightforward and candid , we will , for the present at least , hope that modest timidity is his only fault . But is it really come to this , that to obtain honours in his mother Lodge , a man must act the parasite and sycophant ? Surely not . A charge like this ought to call forth the indignant reply from every W . M . who
values his position , or the integrity of his Lodge , and I am convinced that a reply thus evoked , would consign so gross a libel to merited contempt . What follows is simply absurd . No one will ever believe that a W . M . would be so stupidly infatuated as to select Brethren for his officers whose ignorance is their greatest qualification . The WM . has too much at heart the honour and credit of his own position , even were he incapable of being influenced by any higher motives , than to act on a plan so sure to bring disgrace on his mastership , and the Fraternity over which he presides . It may happen , and perhaps often does , that a Brother of undoubted working abilities , may be excluded , or overlooked ; but if
so , that can never give him the right to denounce as tyranny the undeniable privilege of the W . M . to appoint whom he pleases . Besides , it is usual in most Lodges to consult the wishes and judgment of the Past Masters in the selection of officers ; and our Bro . " M . M . " forgets , or overlooks the fact , that he brands with infamy , not only the W . M ., whose position is the result of the esteem and confidence in which be is held by his Brethren , but those also who before him have filled the same chair , and gone through the routine of its important duties . I trust your correspondent will see that it is only fair justice to the Craft , either to withdraw his charges , or distinctly state the " Lodge or Lodges" to which he