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Article Untitled Article ← Page 2 of 2 Article TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZIN AND MASONIC MIRROR. Page 1 of 3 →
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Untitled Article
F . G-. M . of his Province . It was notorious that to hold office in that Lodge , you must belong to the party or clique of which this Brother was the head . Merit was a secondary consideration ; and in proof of this , I am prepared to give the Masonic antecedents of the Brethren chosen , and of those passed over , if necessary . Several brethren left the Lodge in consequence of this unjust appropriation of office , and it is stated , as " Justitia" says , that disappointed ambition caused the retirement . After this , let " Justitia" for ever hold his peace about the prostitution of Masonry .
With respect to the Provincial Grand Lodge , "Justitia" has told only half the truth . The Brother named shut himself out from provincial honours ; he was not excluded by the Prov . G . M . Provincial grand honours were offered him in open Lodge , and in open Lodge he refused them , and in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of the offer being repeated ; and why , forsooth ? because the collar of Grand Reg . was not of sufficient importance for the dignity of his position . And I may here add , that he was only a Mason of two years' standing . In common fairness "Justitia" ought not to have suppressed this fact . He says that the same Brother is shut out from provincial grand honours for having done his duty . I ask you , sir , whether it was his duty in the chair of his Lodge , repeatedly to throw odium and discredit upon the Prov . & . M ., and thus attempt to weaken that officer ' s authority by teaching the Brethren to regard him with disrespect ? If it was , I
will do him the credit to say , he did it to the letter . The venerable Prov . G . M . of the province , after a lengthened career in the service of Masonry , is far too much respected , and far too well known for his zeal for the real good of the Craft to be in any way affected by the insidious attacks of one who not only is , but ever desires to be , surrounded by a clique ; and I would strongly recommend " Justitia" to advise his friend , when he talks of cliques , to remove the beam from his own eye , before he perceives the moat in that of his Brother .
Your readers have no opportunity of knowing the real animus of <( Justitia . ' " I would be the last to detract from the Masonic virtues of any Brother ; but I will say this much , that it is to be regretted that one , who might have been of great service to the Craft , should have allowed his Masonic ambition to utterly destroy his usefulness . —I am , Sir and Brother , Yours truly , Bath , March , 1856 . A . Z .
To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazin And Masonic Mirror.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR .
Sir and Brother , —I have read Justitia ' s letter in your last number , and request permission to allude to some points mentioned in it . But first let me say , on the general question of " merit" as the ground of promotion in Masonry , that I should much like to have the meaning of the word " merit" well , that is , Masonically , defined . I imagine the brethren will not deny that there is some merit in heing able to perform Masonic ceremonies correctly and in a becoming
manner . One word , however , correctly , which I have used , seems to require itself explanation . What is it to perform a ceremony correctly ? Is it to adhere verbatim to an orally-delivered text , or is it merely to adhere to the Masonic landmarks , rejecting verbal accuracy . The former is a mere effort of technical memory , while the latter requires knowledge , and a power of communicating it , in intelligible and precise terras . Now , Sir , you must , from experience , be well aware that two opinions on this question divide the Masonic Fraternity . The mere technical
memory , as I myself know , produces sometimes ridiculous mist ; ikes . Again , as connected with these considerations , is there uniformity in the working of Lodges ? I think few brethren will be so bold as to assert there is . To remedy this discrepancy I long ago suggested a method , which received favourable notice from correspondents in the pages of your publication previous to its being issued monthly . Jy Sir , have heard from a Brother , whose opinions you have been pleased to notice favourably more than once , when performing the ceremonies , a mixture of matter derived from Claret , Carlisle , the American Trestle Board , and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
F . G-. M . of his Province . It was notorious that to hold office in that Lodge , you must belong to the party or clique of which this Brother was the head . Merit was a secondary consideration ; and in proof of this , I am prepared to give the Masonic antecedents of the Brethren chosen , and of those passed over , if necessary . Several brethren left the Lodge in consequence of this unjust appropriation of office , and it is stated , as " Justitia" says , that disappointed ambition caused the retirement . After this , let " Justitia" for ever hold his peace about the prostitution of Masonry .
With respect to the Provincial Grand Lodge , "Justitia" has told only half the truth . The Brother named shut himself out from provincial honours ; he was not excluded by the Prov . G . M . Provincial grand honours were offered him in open Lodge , and in open Lodge he refused them , and in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of the offer being repeated ; and why , forsooth ? because the collar of Grand Reg . was not of sufficient importance for the dignity of his position . And I may here add , that he was only a Mason of two years' standing . In common fairness "Justitia" ought not to have suppressed this fact . He says that the same Brother is shut out from provincial grand honours for having done his duty . I ask you , sir , whether it was his duty in the chair of his Lodge , repeatedly to throw odium and discredit upon the Prov . & . M ., and thus attempt to weaken that officer ' s authority by teaching the Brethren to regard him with disrespect ? If it was , I
will do him the credit to say , he did it to the letter . The venerable Prov . G . M . of the province , after a lengthened career in the service of Masonry , is far too much respected , and far too well known for his zeal for the real good of the Craft to be in any way affected by the insidious attacks of one who not only is , but ever desires to be , surrounded by a clique ; and I would strongly recommend " Justitia" to advise his friend , when he talks of cliques , to remove the beam from his own eye , before he perceives the moat in that of his Brother .
Your readers have no opportunity of knowing the real animus of <( Justitia . ' " I would be the last to detract from the Masonic virtues of any Brother ; but I will say this much , that it is to be regretted that one , who might have been of great service to the Craft , should have allowed his Masonic ambition to utterly destroy his usefulness . —I am , Sir and Brother , Yours truly , Bath , March , 1856 . A . Z .
To The Editor Of The Freemasons' Magazin And Masonic Mirror.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR .
Sir and Brother , —I have read Justitia ' s letter in your last number , and request permission to allude to some points mentioned in it . But first let me say , on the general question of " merit" as the ground of promotion in Masonry , that I should much like to have the meaning of the word " merit" well , that is , Masonically , defined . I imagine the brethren will not deny that there is some merit in heing able to perform Masonic ceremonies correctly and in a becoming
manner . One word , however , correctly , which I have used , seems to require itself explanation . What is it to perform a ceremony correctly ? Is it to adhere verbatim to an orally-delivered text , or is it merely to adhere to the Masonic landmarks , rejecting verbal accuracy . The former is a mere effort of technical memory , while the latter requires knowledge , and a power of communicating it , in intelligible and precise terras . Now , Sir , you must , from experience , be well aware that two opinions on this question divide the Masonic Fraternity . The mere technical
memory , as I myself know , produces sometimes ridiculous mist ; ikes . Again , as connected with these considerations , is there uniformity in the working of Lodges ? I think few brethren will be so bold as to assert there is . To remedy this discrepancy I long ago suggested a method , which received favourable notice from correspondents in the pages of your publication previous to its being issued monthly . Jy Sir , have heard from a Brother , whose opinions you have been pleased to notice favourably more than once , when performing the ceremonies , a mixture of matter derived from Claret , Carlisle , the American Trestle Board , and