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of things . "We write now to tbose good men and true who feel for Masonry , abroad and at home , as for some high delegated trust , some really important responsibility , some conscientious privilege to help the Brethren of all " people and languages ; " and we think that , as
to tbe season at which their strenuous exertions are required , when they peruse the following consideration of what our home abuses have led to in Canada , and the statement of persecution endured by the Maltese and West Indian Brethren , they will admit "it . is high time . We find , then , that as to Canada , forty-one Lodges , more than double the number ever associated to erect a new Grand Lodge , have united in the establishment of a Grand Lodge of Canada ; and
whilst we admit both the reasonableness of their act , and the decorum which characterizes its declaration , we think all must acknowledge , notwithstanding the potent argument of distance pperating to produce a necessary severance , that the latter would not have occurred had common courtesy been exhibited towards the primary representations of their condition , by their English parent . It is astonishing how much inconvenience men will readily submit to , if they are only
treated with civility , and their requirements candidly and promptly considered ; and how soon , on the other hand , evils , hitherto quietly endured , grow intolerable when inattention to their existence is manifested by those who have the means of cure . Granted , therefore , the inconvenience of distance ; the diversity of interests , resulting from Lodges hailing from no centre of union ; the injustice of distant provinces being mulcted to support a parent Lodge , from which they
are substantially alienated ; the unreasonableness of nomination of officers being vested in those who were ignorant of peculiar local requirements , which are the grievances set forth in the Canadian manifesto ; yet it is evident the head and front of the offence—that which broke down the last remnant of affinity to England—was the discourteous apathy , or unbusiness-like disregard , with which repeated communications from Canada were treated by the Grand Lodge , its
Secretary and Registrar . A short method of judging conduct in communities is simply to place them as man and man . Should we wonder at all loss of respect towards that person who , though respectfully addressed and repeatedly invited , could not even recollect the common rules of poJiteness so far as to answer a letter ? And if grievances were the subject to which sympathy was in the mildest terms solicited , who allowed them to exist , whilst he persevered in
stolid indifference or lofty inattention ? If the offices of Grand Master and other members of Grand Lodge are to become a mere sinecure , and to be perpetually maintained as vehicles of patronage for a few , we may rely upon it that not Canada only , but the West
Indies , and every other foreign Lodge hailing from us , will soon mark their proper contempt of oto inefficiency and neglect by getting rid of allegiance to what must in that case prove an incubus , not a benefit . It is impossible to read the Canadian address without a feeling of indignation that those who exemplify , in every line of their manifesto , the most true Masonic forbearance , should have been so
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
of things . "We write now to tbose good men and true who feel for Masonry , abroad and at home , as for some high delegated trust , some really important responsibility , some conscientious privilege to help the Brethren of all " people and languages ; " and we think that , as
to tbe season at which their strenuous exertions are required , when they peruse the following consideration of what our home abuses have led to in Canada , and the statement of persecution endured by the Maltese and West Indian Brethren , they will admit "it . is high time . We find , then , that as to Canada , forty-one Lodges , more than double the number ever associated to erect a new Grand Lodge , have united in the establishment of a Grand Lodge of Canada ; and
whilst we admit both the reasonableness of their act , and the decorum which characterizes its declaration , we think all must acknowledge , notwithstanding the potent argument of distance pperating to produce a necessary severance , that the latter would not have occurred had common courtesy been exhibited towards the primary representations of their condition , by their English parent . It is astonishing how much inconvenience men will readily submit to , if they are only
treated with civility , and their requirements candidly and promptly considered ; and how soon , on the other hand , evils , hitherto quietly endured , grow intolerable when inattention to their existence is manifested by those who have the means of cure . Granted , therefore , the inconvenience of distance ; the diversity of interests , resulting from Lodges hailing from no centre of union ; the injustice of distant provinces being mulcted to support a parent Lodge , from which they
are substantially alienated ; the unreasonableness of nomination of officers being vested in those who were ignorant of peculiar local requirements , which are the grievances set forth in the Canadian manifesto ; yet it is evident the head and front of the offence—that which broke down the last remnant of affinity to England—was the discourteous apathy , or unbusiness-like disregard , with which repeated communications from Canada were treated by the Grand Lodge , its
Secretary and Registrar . A short method of judging conduct in communities is simply to place them as man and man . Should we wonder at all loss of respect towards that person who , though respectfully addressed and repeatedly invited , could not even recollect the common rules of poJiteness so far as to answer a letter ? And if grievances were the subject to which sympathy was in the mildest terms solicited , who allowed them to exist , whilst he persevered in
stolid indifference or lofty inattention ? If the offices of Grand Master and other members of Grand Lodge are to become a mere sinecure , and to be perpetually maintained as vehicles of patronage for a few , we may rely upon it that not Canada only , but the West
Indies , and every other foreign Lodge hailing from us , will soon mark their proper contempt of oto inefficiency and neglect by getting rid of allegiance to what must in that case prove an incubus , not a benefit . It is impossible to read the Canadian address without a feeling of indignation that those who exemplify , in every line of their manifesto , the most true Masonic forbearance , should have been so