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Article THE CANADAS. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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The Canadas.
Sir Allan MacNab , in common-with the Brethren at large , could only understand by your Lordship ' s address to the Grand Lodge of England , that after a declaration of "independence , the retention of your warrants specially constituted an act of rebellion ; and it was with direct allusion to jour Lordship ' s own words , that the Proy . G . M . addressed the meeting as he did . "
After taunting the M . W . Gr . M ., with bis readiness to appoint a successor to him ( Bro . Harington ) as Provincial Grand Master for Quebec ^ as contrasting with the fact that , "the nomination of a Provincial Grand Superintendent for Canada West has been urged upon you , time after time , without success , " the writer proceeds to refer to the fact , that the Independent Grand Lodge was acknowledged by the Grand Lodge of Ireland without protest from England , and pertinently remarks : —
" Why has not the course adopted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland been solemnly protested against , and why , when that sovereign body upheld and encouraged , by recognition , those English Lodges which first withdrew from allegiance to you , did you continue on the same terms of intimacy as before , when you could not be blind to the serious importance of the
proceedings of Ireland , and must have been conscious that half a victory was thereby gained by those your Lordship simply styled " rebellious" ? It is asserted that the Grand Lodge of Ireland did seek information from England ; but , like other correspondents , it met with no notice , and therefore acted as it thought best . "
Bro . Harington next proceeds to show that the two Canadian Grand Lodges must unite in bonds of friendship , and look rather to support from the LTnited States than from England—thus" The only true course for the two separate Independent Grand Lodges now to adopt , is to unite closely , and trust that no harassing impediments may be thrown in their path , so as to prevent their working harmoniously
and resolutely for the good of our Order . My Lord , the chief Masonic connection that this province must cultivate , is , with our neighbours in the United States , because with them our intercourse is constant ; and it is an ominous fact , that the Grand Lodge of nearly every state has already acknowledged the independent organization , or is prepared to do so . In affairs of state , Canada is virtually independent , for no British statesman would attempt to interfere with her local legislation . In church affairs she
is the same , for the right to elect bishops of the established church of England and Ireland is accorded . Why not , then , the same thing as regards Masonry ? I think the propriety of it is more obvious in the latter case , because in the two first named , the sovereign is the undoubted and sole head ; but the Grand Lodge of England only holds a divided authority in the colonies , in conjunction with Scotland and Ireland , and she could not complain if every Lodge working under her warrant chose to return it , and determine to hold under one of the others . "
We cannot regard the reasons for electing Sir Allan MacNab as Grand Master of the Antient Grand Lodge of Canada as at all flattering to him , nor do we think Sir Allan will be ~ over-pleased with Bro . Harington ' s testimonial . "The deductions your Lordship draws from the election of Sir Allan 2 s 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Canadas.
Sir Allan MacNab , in common-with the Brethren at large , could only understand by your Lordship ' s address to the Grand Lodge of England , that after a declaration of "independence , the retention of your warrants specially constituted an act of rebellion ; and it was with direct allusion to jour Lordship ' s own words , that the Proy . G . M . addressed the meeting as he did . "
After taunting the M . W . Gr . M ., with bis readiness to appoint a successor to him ( Bro . Harington ) as Provincial Grand Master for Quebec ^ as contrasting with the fact that , "the nomination of a Provincial Grand Superintendent for Canada West has been urged upon you , time after time , without success , " the writer proceeds to refer to the fact , that the Independent Grand Lodge was acknowledged by the Grand Lodge of Ireland without protest from England , and pertinently remarks : —
" Why has not the course adopted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland been solemnly protested against , and why , when that sovereign body upheld and encouraged , by recognition , those English Lodges which first withdrew from allegiance to you , did you continue on the same terms of intimacy as before , when you could not be blind to the serious importance of the
proceedings of Ireland , and must have been conscious that half a victory was thereby gained by those your Lordship simply styled " rebellious" ? It is asserted that the Grand Lodge of Ireland did seek information from England ; but , like other correspondents , it met with no notice , and therefore acted as it thought best . "
Bro . Harington next proceeds to show that the two Canadian Grand Lodges must unite in bonds of friendship , and look rather to support from the LTnited States than from England—thus" The only true course for the two separate Independent Grand Lodges now to adopt , is to unite closely , and trust that no harassing impediments may be thrown in their path , so as to prevent their working harmoniously
and resolutely for the good of our Order . My Lord , the chief Masonic connection that this province must cultivate , is , with our neighbours in the United States , because with them our intercourse is constant ; and it is an ominous fact , that the Grand Lodge of nearly every state has already acknowledged the independent organization , or is prepared to do so . In affairs of state , Canada is virtually independent , for no British statesman would attempt to interfere with her local legislation . In church affairs she
is the same , for the right to elect bishops of the established church of England and Ireland is accorded . Why not , then , the same thing as regards Masonry ? I think the propriety of it is more obvious in the latter case , because in the two first named , the sovereign is the undoubted and sole head ; but the Grand Lodge of England only holds a divided authority in the colonies , in conjunction with Scotland and Ireland , and she could not complain if every Lodge working under her warrant chose to return it , and determine to hold under one of the others . "
We cannot regard the reasons for electing Sir Allan MacNab as Grand Master of the Antient Grand Lodge of Canada as at all flattering to him , nor do we think Sir Allan will be ~ over-pleased with Bro . Harington ' s testimonial . "The deductions your Lordship draws from the election of Sir Allan 2 s 2