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Article THE CANADAS. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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The Canadas.
MacNab are hardly generous or correct . Although he seldom attended to the duties of his office , and was not possessed of much Masonic knowledge , as he will readily acknowledge , yet he was not the less personally popular , and had excuses to offer which many Prov . G . Ms , in England had not , viz ., very many and urgent affairs to keep him continually busy , and for some time past very indifferent health ; and he had appointed a Deputy
who never neglected his , duty , It was the principle , not the man , the Brethren objected to . If your Lordship will refer to the accompanying memorial , you will at once see that the main object of the insertion of Sir Allan's name was not to speak prejudicially of him , but to defend the Deputy , Bro . Ridout , frdin your own remarks of his having exercised undue authority hi carrying on the affairs of his district . When it was finally resolved that nothing but entire independence would allay the excitement
here , the Prov . Grand Lodge determined to make choice of Sir Allan MacNab for the following reasons . First : they knew that he was on the point of leaving this province for England , never probably to return , and as he was much respected and personally regarded , the Brethren neither could or would take their farewell of him , by making their last formal act a personal slight . Secondly : his tenure of office was only to last for a broken period , when another election would take place . And thirdly : the Ancient Grand Lodge was anxious to show all the respect
it could to your Lordship and the Grand Lodge of England ; and by adopting your nominee for first G . M ., as well as your constitution for its law , to make the change not so much a rending asunder of a close connection , as a transition from one description of government to another ; and had your Lordship been present when all this was done , you would have heard warm expressions of regard and anxious prayers that the Grand Lodge of England would meet us in the same spirit , and understand the fraternal feelings by which we were guided . "
We pass over the remainder of Bro . Harington ' s letter , because we do not consider it altogether pertinent to the question , nor do we agree in the assertion , that " nearly all of the Grand Lodge malcontents" were present at the greeting given to the Most Worshipful Grand Master at the Apollo Lodge , Oxford . That there was much of over-laudation of the Most Worshipful Grand Master we cordially admit ; and that his lordship must have felt it so , after the scenes
which had but a short time previously taken place in Grand Lodge , we have no doubt . If there were any Grand Lodge malcontents present at that meeting , they certainly took no part in the proceedings ; and , as visitors to a Lodge , had they shown any feeling hostile to the opinions of the Worshipful Master in the chair , or the special guest of the day , they would have been guilty of disrespect , not only
to the Grand Master , but to their hosts . We deny the " revolutionary tone" of t \\ Q Freemason ' s Magazine , conceiving ourselves to be amongst the truest of conservatives—those who are not afraid to tell the truth , and who , apart from favour or applause , will ever condemn a system of over-haste in the conducting of business as of neglect and
supineness . We regret the publication of the letter in some respects , because , though it contains a great many wholesome truths , it is written in a spirit which we can scarcely regard as altogether Masonic ; but Bro . Harington and the Canadians generally are suffering under the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Canadas.
MacNab are hardly generous or correct . Although he seldom attended to the duties of his office , and was not possessed of much Masonic knowledge , as he will readily acknowledge , yet he was not the less personally popular , and had excuses to offer which many Prov . G . Ms , in England had not , viz ., very many and urgent affairs to keep him continually busy , and for some time past very indifferent health ; and he had appointed a Deputy
who never neglected his , duty , It was the principle , not the man , the Brethren objected to . If your Lordship will refer to the accompanying memorial , you will at once see that the main object of the insertion of Sir Allan's name was not to speak prejudicially of him , but to defend the Deputy , Bro . Ridout , frdin your own remarks of his having exercised undue authority hi carrying on the affairs of his district . When it was finally resolved that nothing but entire independence would allay the excitement
here , the Prov . Grand Lodge determined to make choice of Sir Allan MacNab for the following reasons . First : they knew that he was on the point of leaving this province for England , never probably to return , and as he was much respected and personally regarded , the Brethren neither could or would take their farewell of him , by making their last formal act a personal slight . Secondly : his tenure of office was only to last for a broken period , when another election would take place . And thirdly : the Ancient Grand Lodge was anxious to show all the respect
it could to your Lordship and the Grand Lodge of England ; and by adopting your nominee for first G . M ., as well as your constitution for its law , to make the change not so much a rending asunder of a close connection , as a transition from one description of government to another ; and had your Lordship been present when all this was done , you would have heard warm expressions of regard and anxious prayers that the Grand Lodge of England would meet us in the same spirit , and understand the fraternal feelings by which we were guided . "
We pass over the remainder of Bro . Harington ' s letter , because we do not consider it altogether pertinent to the question , nor do we agree in the assertion , that " nearly all of the Grand Lodge malcontents" were present at the greeting given to the Most Worshipful Grand Master at the Apollo Lodge , Oxford . That there was much of over-laudation of the Most Worshipful Grand Master we cordially admit ; and that his lordship must have felt it so , after the scenes
which had but a short time previously taken place in Grand Lodge , we have no doubt . If there were any Grand Lodge malcontents present at that meeting , they certainly took no part in the proceedings ; and , as visitors to a Lodge , had they shown any feeling hostile to the opinions of the Worshipful Master in the chair , or the special guest of the day , they would have been guilty of disrespect , not only
to the Grand Master , but to their hosts . We deny the " revolutionary tone" of t \\ Q Freemason ' s Magazine , conceiving ourselves to be amongst the truest of conservatives—those who are not afraid to tell the truth , and who , apart from favour or applause , will ever condemn a system of over-haste in the conducting of business as of neglect and
supineness . We regret the publication of the letter in some respects , because , though it contains a great many wholesome truths , it is written in a spirit which we can scarcely regard as altogether Masonic ; but Bro . Harington and the Canadians generally are suffering under the