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Article GOEEESPOIDENCE. y ← Page 3 of 8 →
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Goeeespoidence. Y
be made right I What had we to encourage us in the fact of the G . M ' s saying- ^ " I beg it to be clearly understood , that I only announce niy own intention , and do not propose or consent to any alteration of the laws ; " and again ,. " though I will set an example , I will not consent to bind my successor . " "Why , next year the whole of the so-called concessions , which were at best only promised to be taken into consideration , if they even were carried into effect , of which there was no guarantee , might be done a way with should a new Grand Master be in the
chair or the present one change his mind . Moreover I must confess I do not see how the Grand Master can make good his assertion that " the maintenance of their allegiance by the Canadian Masons "is quite as much for their advantage as ours . " To use an Americanism , I have never perceived the first thing the Grand Master or the Grand Lodge of England has done to foster and encourage Canadian Masonry ; nor do I believe that , judging from the past , we would have had any talk of concession now , unless it had been forced upon their notice . My previous communications to you , if referred to , will show some and only some of the neglect
we have received for more than fifty years , in the face of respectful remonstrance of every kind . The fact is / we are too far off , and English Masons know very little about us . I do not mean to speak disrespectfully of either the Most Worshipful the Grand Master or of . the Grand Lodge ; but it is well enough known that there are very few indeed in the Grand Lodge of England who take any interest in us or have any knowledge of pur affairs . Of course , from what has
taken place , matters have been so far forced on their attention that they cannot help knowing a little of what is going on ; but when has there ever been a calm and intelligent discussion or consideration of our matters ? I believe the whole Canadian question is looked on by the great majority as a bore ; and were it even possible that the affair could be smoothed over for the present , in a very short time no more would be heard of us in the Grand Lodge than if we did not exist .
There appears to be a belief on your part , and on that of some of your correspondents , that there are a number of Lodges—by some called a majority—still faithful to the Grand Lodge of England , and it was so stated in Grand Lodge . I have pretty good means of knowing the state of affairs in Canada West , and I have not yet heard of more than one , viz ., the Corinthian , of Peterborough . There may be another , but if so I do not know it . As to the " outrageous" means said
to have been used to extort their warrants from some of the Lodges , I content myself with simply denying the fact ; it exists only in the brains of him who made the assertion . It is stated by one of your correspondents that the warrant of St . George ' s Lodge No . 895 , had been given up contrary to the resolution of the Lodge . All I know of that matter is , that St . George ' s Lodge is , and has been in active existence under the Ancient Grand Lodge of Canada . Who your correspondent is I know not—perhaps a disappointed member of that Lodge .
But leaving minor matters , let me draw your attention to the main question . Have the Canadian Lodges , or have they not , a right to throw off their allegiance to the Grand Lodges in Great Britain , and form an independent Grand Lodge of their own ? I hold it to be a self-evident truth that when Lodges in any country become sufficiently numerous to render it necessary to the convenience and prosperity of the Craft , they may constitute a Grand . Lodge , and adopt a code of laws for their own government , in accordance with the ancient constitution of the Order , without the consent of the Grand Lodges from whence they derive their existence .
"An Old Mason , " in your December number , says , and his opinion is held by many , that " the sway of one G . M . over every part of countries politically united has ever been maintained as the bond , and in early days the only bond , of corporate unity among the Brethren of those countries . " This doctrine is correct to a certain extent only , but not in every case and under all circumstances ; neither has it been carried out when circumstances arose which showed that a
different course would be beneficial . It is no doubt convenient , and generally for the interest of the Craft , that a country , united by the same political tie , and the parts of which lie contiguous to each other , should be under one and the same Masonic sway ; and even remote dependenciefl of a country may be also beneficially ruled over by the parent body , so long an they are not in a state
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Goeeespoidence. Y
be made right I What had we to encourage us in the fact of the G . M ' s saying- ^ " I beg it to be clearly understood , that I only announce niy own intention , and do not propose or consent to any alteration of the laws ; " and again ,. " though I will set an example , I will not consent to bind my successor . " "Why , next year the whole of the so-called concessions , which were at best only promised to be taken into consideration , if they even were carried into effect , of which there was no guarantee , might be done a way with should a new Grand Master be in the
chair or the present one change his mind . Moreover I must confess I do not see how the Grand Master can make good his assertion that " the maintenance of their allegiance by the Canadian Masons "is quite as much for their advantage as ours . " To use an Americanism , I have never perceived the first thing the Grand Master or the Grand Lodge of England has done to foster and encourage Canadian Masonry ; nor do I believe that , judging from the past , we would have had any talk of concession now , unless it had been forced upon their notice . My previous communications to you , if referred to , will show some and only some of the neglect
we have received for more than fifty years , in the face of respectful remonstrance of every kind . The fact is / we are too far off , and English Masons know very little about us . I do not mean to speak disrespectfully of either the Most Worshipful the Grand Master or of . the Grand Lodge ; but it is well enough known that there are very few indeed in the Grand Lodge of England who take any interest in us or have any knowledge of pur affairs . Of course , from what has
taken place , matters have been so far forced on their attention that they cannot help knowing a little of what is going on ; but when has there ever been a calm and intelligent discussion or consideration of our matters ? I believe the whole Canadian question is looked on by the great majority as a bore ; and were it even possible that the affair could be smoothed over for the present , in a very short time no more would be heard of us in the Grand Lodge than if we did not exist .
There appears to be a belief on your part , and on that of some of your correspondents , that there are a number of Lodges—by some called a majority—still faithful to the Grand Lodge of England , and it was so stated in Grand Lodge . I have pretty good means of knowing the state of affairs in Canada West , and I have not yet heard of more than one , viz ., the Corinthian , of Peterborough . There may be another , but if so I do not know it . As to the " outrageous" means said
to have been used to extort their warrants from some of the Lodges , I content myself with simply denying the fact ; it exists only in the brains of him who made the assertion . It is stated by one of your correspondents that the warrant of St . George ' s Lodge No . 895 , had been given up contrary to the resolution of the Lodge . All I know of that matter is , that St . George ' s Lodge is , and has been in active existence under the Ancient Grand Lodge of Canada . Who your correspondent is I know not—perhaps a disappointed member of that Lodge .
But leaving minor matters , let me draw your attention to the main question . Have the Canadian Lodges , or have they not , a right to throw off their allegiance to the Grand Lodges in Great Britain , and form an independent Grand Lodge of their own ? I hold it to be a self-evident truth that when Lodges in any country become sufficiently numerous to render it necessary to the convenience and prosperity of the Craft , they may constitute a Grand . Lodge , and adopt a code of laws for their own government , in accordance with the ancient constitution of the Order , without the consent of the Grand Lodges from whence they derive their existence .
"An Old Mason , " in your December number , says , and his opinion is held by many , that " the sway of one G . M . over every part of countries politically united has ever been maintained as the bond , and in early days the only bond , of corporate unity among the Brethren of those countries . " This doctrine is correct to a certain extent only , but not in every case and under all circumstances ; neither has it been carried out when circumstances arose which showed that a
different course would be beneficial . It is no doubt convenient , and generally for the interest of the Craft , that a country , united by the same political tie , and the parts of which lie contiguous to each other , should be under one and the same Masonic sway ; and even remote dependenciefl of a country may be also beneficially ruled over by the parent body , so long an they are not in a state