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Article THE GRAND MASTER AND THE "MASONIC OBSERV... ← Page 4 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Master And The "Masonic Observ...
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRBOR . Dear Sir and Brother . —Bro . Binckes must , I presume , be supposed to admit the accuracy of my statements , inasmuch as in his letter of the ! 6 th instant he states that , "it would be worse than useless to attempt to reply
argumentatively . " I would be content there to leave him , but he ventures upon one or two observations which I cannot pass by , arid although I must not aspire to his classical elegance , nor hope to repay him with any of his numerous polysyllables—I trust you will grant me a brief space for these remarks :
Bro . Binckes distinctly charges the powers that be , with having pursued u policy fraught with danger to the best interests of Freemasonry . " Now , these are the sort of general charges uniformly brought by Bro . Binckes and the Brethren with whom it is his privilege to act . Will Bro . Binckes favour us by distinctly and clearly stating what was this policy against which he and his friends protested ; we can then test the truth of his proud boast . As it stands at present it may sound very heroic—but it is not very intelligible .
The next point is question of fact . Bro . Binckes while " guilty , " on the 15 th | of September stated in his letter that " a stem silence was observed by a very large portion of the members of Grand Lodge , " on the memorable 1 st of September . It would appear that this was denied by one of your correspondents , and I for one , venture not to stigmatise Bro . Binckes ' s assertion , as he did not
hesitate to do that of your correspondent , but to declare that Bro . Binckes must have been under some hallucination . I gave particular attention to this matter , and could only discover two hands not held up in favour of Sir L . Curtis ' s motion , and those two Brethren have figured in the correspondence which has raised the anger—I beg his pardon , the poetry—of Bro . Binckes . The Magnus Apollo " of the Observer party voted for the motion , which was carried by acclamation , amid the cheers of Grand Lodge .
As regards the charge of bad language , I am sure that many will agree with me in the pleasure with which I find that Bro . Binckes has arrived at the conclusion that it is to be condemned . I don't think that he can mean to include me in that condemnation . He will not , I think , find in any of my letters any objectionable adjective , adverb or noun * ( or as he calls them , u expletives" ) . My charges against him and his party are distinct and clear , and do
not need the aid of such adornment . But while he objects to the invective of your correspondents , I must also object to his claiming for his party the title of " simple-minded , honest , and earnest Brethren , " and I must take the liberty of asserting that the result , of ^ heir labours , instead of imparting something like efficiency to the executive , has , on the contrary tended—and been purposely made to tend—to harass and impede its efficiency .
As regards the Colonial Board , the less Bro . Binckes says about that the better . His friends on that board 'had better do something to prove their utility before he chants poeans in their praise . Bro . Binckes next concludes that , the influence of the party with whom it is his privilege to act , is feared . " So far as I am concerned , he is right ;
but I do not fear them in the sense meant by him . I do fear that , in carrying out their factious schemes , they will , while not advancing their own views , do great mischief to the cause of Freemasonry ; and hence I believe it to be the duty of every true Mason to crush them , and I hope and believe that they will either sec the error of their ways—or submit to the otherwise inevitable result .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Master And The "Masonic Observ...
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRBOR . Dear Sir and Brother . —Bro . Binckes must , I presume , be supposed to admit the accuracy of my statements , inasmuch as in his letter of the ! 6 th instant he states that , "it would be worse than useless to attempt to reply
argumentatively . " I would be content there to leave him , but he ventures upon one or two observations which I cannot pass by , arid although I must not aspire to his classical elegance , nor hope to repay him with any of his numerous polysyllables—I trust you will grant me a brief space for these remarks :
Bro . Binckes distinctly charges the powers that be , with having pursued u policy fraught with danger to the best interests of Freemasonry . " Now , these are the sort of general charges uniformly brought by Bro . Binckes and the Brethren with whom it is his privilege to act . Will Bro . Binckes favour us by distinctly and clearly stating what was this policy against which he and his friends protested ; we can then test the truth of his proud boast . As it stands at present it may sound very heroic—but it is not very intelligible .
The next point is question of fact . Bro . Binckes while " guilty , " on the 15 th | of September stated in his letter that " a stem silence was observed by a very large portion of the members of Grand Lodge , " on the memorable 1 st of September . It would appear that this was denied by one of your correspondents , and I for one , venture not to stigmatise Bro . Binckes ' s assertion , as he did not
hesitate to do that of your correspondent , but to declare that Bro . Binckes must have been under some hallucination . I gave particular attention to this matter , and could only discover two hands not held up in favour of Sir L . Curtis ' s motion , and those two Brethren have figured in the correspondence which has raised the anger—I beg his pardon , the poetry—of Bro . Binckes . The Magnus Apollo " of the Observer party voted for the motion , which was carried by acclamation , amid the cheers of Grand Lodge .
As regards the charge of bad language , I am sure that many will agree with me in the pleasure with which I find that Bro . Binckes has arrived at the conclusion that it is to be condemned . I don't think that he can mean to include me in that condemnation . He will not , I think , find in any of my letters any objectionable adjective , adverb or noun * ( or as he calls them , u expletives" ) . My charges against him and his party are distinct and clear , and do
not need the aid of such adornment . But while he objects to the invective of your correspondents , I must also object to his claiming for his party the title of " simple-minded , honest , and earnest Brethren , " and I must take the liberty of asserting that the result , of ^ heir labours , instead of imparting something like efficiency to the executive , has , on the contrary tended—and been purposely made to tend—to harass and impede its efficiency .
As regards the Colonial Board , the less Bro . Binckes says about that the better . His friends on that board 'had better do something to prove their utility before he chants poeans in their praise . Bro . Binckes next concludes that , the influence of the party with whom it is his privilege to act , is feared . " So far as I am concerned , he is right ;
but I do not fear them in the sense meant by him . I do fear that , in carrying out their factious schemes , they will , while not advancing their own views , do great mischief to the cause of Freemasonry ; and hence I believe it to be the duty of every true Mason to crush them , and I hope and believe that they will either sec the error of their ways—or submit to the otherwise inevitable result .