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Article MASONIC HALLS. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Masonic Halls.
TO T ^ E EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Sin and Brother , — -In your comments , in your number of June 30 , upon the report of proceedings at Upper Mill , in Saddleworth , on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the new Mechanics' Institution , you makeit appear that the R . W . D . Prov . G . M . of West Yorkshire , Bro . Fearnley , considered it desirable to offer an apology to that part of the popular world , " then assembled , for the practice of some of our ceremonies . Now , although
PROVINCE OF WEST YORKSHIRE
I Avas near to the R . W . D . Prov . G . M . during the Avhole of his address , it did not appear to my mind that any portion of it could he construed as apologetic . If the ILW . D . Prov . G . M . saw fit to offer such general symbolic illustrations of the Avorking tools used in the ceremony , as might legitimately be done before a mixecp . auclience , it was perfectly in good order and correct taste to do so , the circumstances and occasion harmonizing Avith such an address and rendering it appropriate . But it certainly is someAvhat surprising that you should favour us with an editorial comment condemnatory of
some portions of tne address , wh £ ia a cursory perusal only is suxhcient to satisfy any person that those portions have been inaccurately reported . The reporter not being a Mason might readily mistake the purport of some of the laiiffuas ; e made use of , and thus fall into ail error Avhich a little Masonic knowledge would have prevented ' . ; -added to which , the wet from dripping umbrellas and the crushing of the croAvd upon the reporter , to whom no suitable place had been assigned , made it matter of sui ^ fise that any report Avhatever could have been taken on the ground . I do not , therefore , AA ^ onder that the in accuracies upon which you comment should have
crept in . I have not the newspaper at hand , therefore cannot say whether the quotation at page 1192 , line 4-8 , & c , of the Mirror , June 23 , be a correct reprint from the paper or not ; but to the Brethren of this province , at least , it certainly is a novel piece of intelligence that u Bro . Dewsbury , D . Ptoa ^ . G . M ., & c , of West Yorkshire , Avas present on this interesting occasion , our impression having been up to this time that Bro . Fearnley held this office ; but I merely give this as an instance taken from the same report upon which you comment , to sIioav the interpolation of even a single word-may interfere with the sense of an expression , and the true meaning
be still apparent to anyone avIio understands the subject . With this in vieAv ,, I may safely leave it to any Mason acquainted with our ritual , to put the correct interpretation upon the two following misquotations from Bro . Fearnley ' s address as it appears in your comment ; he will then have the correct version of what Bro . Fearnley did say . I can only add , from the excellent opportunity I had of hearing all that passed , that Bro , Fearnley , Avho is perhaps second to none in this province as a Avorking Mason , did not tell his audience that u the level Avas necessary for good government , and
for the purpose of preserving order amongst all ranks and conditions of men ; " neither did he tell them , that " the square taught humility "—the true version is obvious . And if it be , as you . affirm , a strange lesson , for a level to teach , that all are descended from the same stock , then surely many other lessons taught in Masonry arc even more strange than tins . The gentleman , who proposed , three cheers for . the various Orders who had taken part in the proceedings , not being him self a Mason , could not understand or appreciate the very Avide distinction between our ancient Craft and that ( if I may so term it ) , of the various other orders , mimics , and imitators , as you style them , and therefore made the unsatisfactory grouping of the Avhole ' into one of which you complain ; but if the . intended compliment
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Halls.
TO T ^ E EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Sin and Brother , — -In your comments , in your number of June 30 , upon the report of proceedings at Upper Mill , in Saddleworth , on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the new Mechanics' Institution , you makeit appear that the R . W . D . Prov . G . M . of West Yorkshire , Bro . Fearnley , considered it desirable to offer an apology to that part of the popular world , " then assembled , for the practice of some of our ceremonies . Now , although
PROVINCE OF WEST YORKSHIRE
I Avas near to the R . W . D . Prov . G . M . during the Avhole of his address , it did not appear to my mind that any portion of it could he construed as apologetic . If the ILW . D . Prov . G . M . saw fit to offer such general symbolic illustrations of the Avorking tools used in the ceremony , as might legitimately be done before a mixecp . auclience , it was perfectly in good order and correct taste to do so , the circumstances and occasion harmonizing Avith such an address and rendering it appropriate . But it certainly is someAvhat surprising that you should favour us with an editorial comment condemnatory of
some portions of tne address , wh £ ia a cursory perusal only is suxhcient to satisfy any person that those portions have been inaccurately reported . The reporter not being a Mason might readily mistake the purport of some of the laiiffuas ; e made use of , and thus fall into ail error Avhich a little Masonic knowledge would have prevented ' . ; -added to which , the wet from dripping umbrellas and the crushing of the croAvd upon the reporter , to whom no suitable place had been assigned , made it matter of sui ^ fise that any report Avhatever could have been taken on the ground . I do not , therefore , AA ^ onder that the in accuracies upon which you comment should have
crept in . I have not the newspaper at hand , therefore cannot say whether the quotation at page 1192 , line 4-8 , & c , of the Mirror , June 23 , be a correct reprint from the paper or not ; but to the Brethren of this province , at least , it certainly is a novel piece of intelligence that u Bro . Dewsbury , D . Ptoa ^ . G . M ., & c , of West Yorkshire , Avas present on this interesting occasion , our impression having been up to this time that Bro . Fearnley held this office ; but I merely give this as an instance taken from the same report upon which you comment , to sIioav the interpolation of even a single word-may interfere with the sense of an expression , and the true meaning
be still apparent to anyone avIio understands the subject . With this in vieAv ,, I may safely leave it to any Mason acquainted with our ritual , to put the correct interpretation upon the two following misquotations from Bro . Fearnley ' s address as it appears in your comment ; he will then have the correct version of what Bro . Fearnley did say . I can only add , from the excellent opportunity I had of hearing all that passed , that Bro , Fearnley , Avho is perhaps second to none in this province as a Avorking Mason , did not tell his audience that u the level Avas necessary for good government , and
for the purpose of preserving order amongst all ranks and conditions of men ; " neither did he tell them , that " the square taught humility "—the true version is obvious . And if it be , as you . affirm , a strange lesson , for a level to teach , that all are descended from the same stock , then surely many other lessons taught in Masonry arc even more strange than tins . The gentleman , who proposed , three cheers for . the various Orders who had taken part in the proceedings , not being him self a Mason , could not understand or appreciate the very Avide distinction between our ancient Craft and that ( if I may so term it ) , of the various other orders , mimics , and imitators , as you style them , and therefore made the unsatisfactory grouping of the Avhole ' into one of which you complain ; but if the . intended compliment