Skip to main content
Museum of Freemasonry

Masonic Periodicals Online

  • Explore
  • Advanced Search
  • Home
  • Explore
  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • June 1, 1856
  • Page 30
  • Untitled Article
Current:

The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, June 1, 1856: Page 30

  • Back to The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, June 1, 1856
  • Print image
  • Articles/Ads
    Article Untitled Article ← Page 2 of 8 →
Page 30

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Untitled Article

lain dormant many years , certain Sir Knights of the Grand Encampment of Baldwyn , Bristol , assisted by the only surviving member of the dormant camp , agreed to revive it , as they were in possession of the warrant and all the ancient books , which prove without a shadow of doubt that this encampment is and ever was a free , grand , and independent one , it never having paid any dues to or

acknowledged the supremacy of any grand conclave , much less of one which is , like the present one , barely ten years old . After its revival , our acting P . M . and several others were installed , and he is now the Commander , and the latter end of last January our present S . W . was admitted into the Order . So much for the veracity of " A . Z . "

I admit that the Brother of whom I write , who is our P . M ., was offered the collar of G . Beg . and refused it ; but " A . Z . " and Sile" suppress this fact , which is well known , as it was told to our B . W . Prov . G . M . by the Brother himself , that the Prov . G . M . sent out his deputy from the ante-room to offer our P . M . this office , and he politely declined it twice ; and you may guess his astonishment

when he was called upon in open Prov . Grand Lodge , to take that which he not an hour before had refused . Was any other course left open to him ? I am instructed to deny the accusation made by " A . Z ., " that he did not deem it of sufficient importance for the dignity of his position . What right has he or any one else to attribute such motive to any one , much less to one who has laboured like this Brother ? Is this the Masonry of your correspondent ?

As to our acting P . M . having repeatedly thrown odium and discredit on our Prov . G . M ., and endeavoured to weaken his authority , this I can with truth emphatically deny . The circumstance to which your correspondents refer is as follows : —Just before the last Prov . Grand Lodge was held , this Brother called together his Lodge , and , as their representative , asked them for their instructions ,

which they gave to him ; and at the next Lodge which he held afterwards , he recapitulated what had occurred , and commented upon the fact that one of the highest offices in the province had been given to a Brother who made his application for the purple not to our Prov . G . M . or his deputy , but to the " Alter ego " of the former , whose boast is "that he can do what he likes with the Prov . G . M . "

He furthermore said , that it seemed very strange that his Lodge for the last three years had only received the collar of Organist on two occasions , while a highlyfavoured Lodge in this city , to which the Prov . G . M . belongs , received the highest honours . He also commented on the fact , that he was the only representative of a Lodge , out of all those present , who was not sent for to ask if any member would

receive the purple , and said , that it was a very great pity that dislike to himself for having done his duty should be visited on his Lodge as a body , but this he attributed entirely to the influence of a clique over the mind of our Prov . G . M ., who belong to a sister Lodge in this towu , two of whom sat , one on the one side and one on the other side of the Prov . G . M . during his interview with those

Brethren of the province they wished to be sent for . If doing a duty and speaking the truth be casting odium upon and endeavouring to weaken the authority of the head of our province , then our acting P . M . must plead guilty to the charge . I will now proceed to answer the lengthened letter signed " Sile ; " and in the first place I would call the attention of your readers to page 70 of the Book of the Constitutions , wherein it is expressly stated that " real worth and personal merit shall form the ground of all Masonic preferment , and that no Brother shall be nominated to any office merely on account of seniority or rank ; " and yet " Sile " would combine his ideas of zeal and integrity with rank , as forming a good claim for Masonic honour .

I regret to say that this parade of rank is carried , by a highly-favoured Lodge in this town , to a ridiculous extent , which will not admit any one who is in business ; but physicians , surgeons , architects , in fact any one who does not keep a shop , is by them called a gentleman , and entitled to the rare and exalted privilege of admission to this the youngest Lodge but one in the province . The present Prov . G . Treasurer , himself a member of this Lodge , has been known to say , that there ought to be Lodges for tradesmen , and Lodges for gentlemen , and that one ought not to associate with the other ; and yet this same Brother has been heard , in his post-prandial speeches , to dilate at length upon all hanks meeting on the

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1856-06-01, Page 30” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 5 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/frm_01061856/page/30/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
MASONIC REFOEM. Article 1
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CELBREATBD FREEMASONS. Article 3
THE SIGNS OV ENGLAND; Article 13
NOTES OF A YACHT'S CRUISE TO BALAKLAVA. Article 17
THE ANTIQUITY OF FREEMASONRY. Article 24
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS, Article 25
MUSIC. Article 27
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 29
THE PRINTERS' ALMSHOUSES. Article 36
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 37
METROPOLITAN. Article 46
INSTRUCTION. Article 52
PROVINCIAL. Article 57
ROYAL ARCH. Article 74
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 78
SCOTLAND Article 80
COLONIAL Article 81
AMERICA. Article 81
SUMMARY OF NEWS FOR MAY. Article 83
Obituary. Article 87
NOTICE. Article 88
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 88
Page 1

Page 1

1 Article
Page 2

Page 2

1 Article
Page 3

Page 3

2 Articles
Page 4

Page 4

1 Article
Page 5

Page 5

1 Article
Page 6

Page 6

1 Article
Page 7

Page 7

1 Article
Page 8

Page 8

1 Article
Page 9

Page 9

1 Article
Page 10

Page 10

1 Article
Page 11

Page 11

1 Article
Page 12

Page 12

1 Article
Page 13

Page 13

2 Articles
Page 14

Page 14

1 Article
Page 15

Page 15

1 Article
Page 16

Page 16

1 Article
Page 17

Page 17

2 Articles
Page 18

Page 18

1 Article
Page 19

Page 19

1 Article
Page 20

Page 20

1 Article
Page 21

Page 21

1 Article
Page 22

Page 22

1 Article
Page 23

Page 23

1 Article
Page 24

Page 24

1 Article
Page 25

Page 25

1 Article
Page 26

Page 26

1 Article
Page 27

Page 27

1 Article
Page 28

Page 28

1 Article
Page 29

Page 29

1 Article
Page 30

Page 30

1 Article
Page 31

Page 31

1 Article
Page 32

Page 32

1 Article
Page 33

Page 33

1 Article
Page 34

Page 34

1 Article
Page 35

Page 35

1 Article
Page 36

Page 36

2 Articles
Page 37

Page 37

1 Article
Page 38

Page 38

1 Article
Page 39

Page 39

1 Article
Page 40

Page 40

1 Article
Page 41

Page 41

1 Article
Page 42

Page 42

1 Article
Page 43

Page 43

1 Article
Page 44

Page 44

1 Article
Page 45

Page 45

1 Article
Page 46

Page 46

1 Article
Page 47

Page 47

1 Article
Page 48

Page 48

1 Article
Page 49

Page 49

1 Article
Page 50

Page 50

1 Article
Page 51

Page 51

1 Article
Page 52

Page 52

2 Articles
Page 53

Page 53

1 Article
Page 54

Page 54

1 Article
Page 55

Page 55

1 Article
Page 56

Page 56

1 Article
Page 57

Page 57

2 Articles
Page 58

Page 58

1 Article
Page 59

Page 59

1 Article
Page 60

Page 60

1 Article
Page 61

Page 61

1 Article
Page 62

Page 62

1 Article
Page 63

Page 63

1 Article
Page 64

Page 64

1 Article
Page 65

Page 65

1 Article
Page 66

Page 66

1 Article
Page 67

Page 67

1 Article
Page 68

Page 68

1 Article
Page 69

Page 69

1 Article
Page 70

Page 70

1 Article
Page 71

Page 71

1 Article
Page 72

Page 72

1 Article
Page 73

Page 73

1 Article
Page 74

Page 74

2 Articles
Page 75

Page 75

1 Article
Page 76

Page 76

1 Article
Page 77

Page 77

1 Article
Page 78

Page 78

1 Article
Page 79

Page 79

1 Article
Page 80

Page 80

2 Articles
Page 81

Page 81

3 Articles
Page 82

Page 82

1 Article
Page 83

Page 83

1 Article
Page 84

Page 84

1 Article
Page 85

Page 85

1 Article
Page 86

Page 86

1 Article
Page 87

Page 87

2 Articles
Page 88

Page 88

2 Articles
Page 30

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Untitled Article

lain dormant many years , certain Sir Knights of the Grand Encampment of Baldwyn , Bristol , assisted by the only surviving member of the dormant camp , agreed to revive it , as they were in possession of the warrant and all the ancient books , which prove without a shadow of doubt that this encampment is and ever was a free , grand , and independent one , it never having paid any dues to or

acknowledged the supremacy of any grand conclave , much less of one which is , like the present one , barely ten years old . After its revival , our acting P . M . and several others were installed , and he is now the Commander , and the latter end of last January our present S . W . was admitted into the Order . So much for the veracity of " A . Z . "

I admit that the Brother of whom I write , who is our P . M ., was offered the collar of G . Beg . and refused it ; but " A . Z . " and Sile" suppress this fact , which is well known , as it was told to our B . W . Prov . G . M . by the Brother himself , that the Prov . G . M . sent out his deputy from the ante-room to offer our P . M . this office , and he politely declined it twice ; and you may guess his astonishment

when he was called upon in open Prov . Grand Lodge , to take that which he not an hour before had refused . Was any other course left open to him ? I am instructed to deny the accusation made by " A . Z ., " that he did not deem it of sufficient importance for the dignity of his position . What right has he or any one else to attribute such motive to any one , much less to one who has laboured like this Brother ? Is this the Masonry of your correspondent ?

As to our acting P . M . having repeatedly thrown odium and discredit on our Prov . G . M ., and endeavoured to weaken his authority , this I can with truth emphatically deny . The circumstance to which your correspondents refer is as follows : —Just before the last Prov . Grand Lodge was held , this Brother called together his Lodge , and , as their representative , asked them for their instructions ,

which they gave to him ; and at the next Lodge which he held afterwards , he recapitulated what had occurred , and commented upon the fact that one of the highest offices in the province had been given to a Brother who made his application for the purple not to our Prov . G . M . or his deputy , but to the " Alter ego " of the former , whose boast is "that he can do what he likes with the Prov . G . M . "

He furthermore said , that it seemed very strange that his Lodge for the last three years had only received the collar of Organist on two occasions , while a highlyfavoured Lodge in this city , to which the Prov . G . M . belongs , received the highest honours . He also commented on the fact , that he was the only representative of a Lodge , out of all those present , who was not sent for to ask if any member would

receive the purple , and said , that it was a very great pity that dislike to himself for having done his duty should be visited on his Lodge as a body , but this he attributed entirely to the influence of a clique over the mind of our Prov . G . M ., who belong to a sister Lodge in this towu , two of whom sat , one on the one side and one on the other side of the Prov . G . M . during his interview with those

Brethren of the province they wished to be sent for . If doing a duty and speaking the truth be casting odium upon and endeavouring to weaken the authority of the head of our province , then our acting P . M . must plead guilty to the charge . I will now proceed to answer the lengthened letter signed " Sile ; " and in the first place I would call the attention of your readers to page 70 of the Book of the Constitutions , wherein it is expressly stated that " real worth and personal merit shall form the ground of all Masonic preferment , and that no Brother shall be nominated to any office merely on account of seniority or rank ; " and yet " Sile " would combine his ideas of zeal and integrity with rank , as forming a good claim for Masonic honour .

I regret to say that this parade of rank is carried , by a highly-favoured Lodge in this town , to a ridiculous extent , which will not admit any one who is in business ; but physicians , surgeons , architects , in fact any one who does not keep a shop , is by them called a gentleman , and entitled to the rare and exalted privilege of admission to this the youngest Lodge but one in the province . The present Prov . G . Treasurer , himself a member of this Lodge , has been known to say , that there ought to be Lodges for tradesmen , and Lodges for gentlemen , and that one ought not to associate with the other ; and yet this same Brother has been heard , in his post-prandial speeches , to dilate at length upon all hanks meeting on the

  • Prev page
  • 1
  • 29
  • You're on page30
  • 31
  • 88
  • Next page
  • Accredited Museum Designated Outstanding Collection
  • LIBRARY AND MUSEUM CHARITABLE TRUST OF THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1058497 / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2025

  • Accessibility statement

  • Designed, developed, and maintained by King's Digital Lab

We use cookies to track usage and preferences.

Privacy & cookie policy