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Article FREEMASONRY VINDICATED. ← Page 6 of 7 →
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Freemasonry Vindicated.
cutting head of " The Masonic Nuisance . " A dearth of news , combined with severe indigestion , suggest themselves to our minds on the perusal of this remarkahle document , as the motive powers which have caused it to be given to the world . Paving-board discussions , parish meetings , local literature and theology , kirk sessions , and the enormous gooseberry were all used up . An article must be had—if a grievance offer .
so much the better . If there be no grievance—make one . Following up this train of thought , we presume , the editor of the Edinburgh News dipped his pen in gall , and astonished Auld Reekie the next morning with this stupendous production . The grand Masonic ceremonial in George Street had occupied the attention of the whole city , and the columns of his contemporaries were filled with the details . But it would not do to give these details twice over— -to use that text again it was obviQus that a new view
of the subject must be taken . Accordingly he laments over the stoppage of business , and the congregating of tens of thousands of spectators , which , saith he , endangered thereby the lives of properly and peaceably disposed , persons , " and it therefore becomes the duty of every citizen to resist such unjustifiable and tyrannical proceedings . " No doubt the Masons' hair : stood on end to see their harmless proceedings depicted in these alarming colours —let us hope that the citizens , male and female , of the royal city did not
participate in the sentiments of this fiery knight of the pen . Indeed , from what we have heard ^ the gathering of Craftsmen does not appear to have caused any very great alarm , or indeed to have had the effect of causing any less money to be expended on that day in Edinburgh shops . Our editor proposes to the tailors of the metropolis that they should also walk in procession , and having thus drawn a parallel which cannot fail to overwhelm the hapless Masons with ridicule , he proceeds to remark upon the
costume of the brethren , and challenges any one of them to perambulate the streets singly in his paraphernalia . Next he falls foul of the Grand Master , and reminds him , that though he being a Mason is also a dukethat the Prince Consort is higher in rank than he and yet is not a Mason . After this last profound observation one would naturally think that there was no more to be said ; not so—there remains to our author his peroration , in which he drops the Masons as such , and belabours the government and
the public authorities . "By whose authority , " he demands , " was the military called out on that day , and the public money squandered in firing volleys on the occasion ? " We believe the commander-in-chief in Scotland has survived this terrific onslaught—indeed we do not think that he has even resigned his office . It was of course necessary to rush forward and protect the tottering fabric of Masonry , shattered as it was by the Edinburgh
News , and "Lapicida" threw himself into the breach to defend the nearly overthrown fortress . Our Brother , we must confess , has bestowed more pains upon his reply than such a worthless attack demanded his letter is , though long , not tedious—on the contrary , it is both wise and witty . With regard to the News and its editor , we are told that this abusive style of writing is no novelty in his pages : —
" Some of the numerous attacks which tho editor of the News has mado on public men and puhlie institutions , and which have given his journal an unenviable notoriety , may have done some good ; but , in this case , like the viper with the file , he has only injured himself , and benefited nobody . " We have already far exceeded our space , and must again refer our readers to the pamphlet itself for the very satisfactory dressing which the writer in the News has received at the hands of Lapicida ;¦ " but wc cannot refrain from quoting two passages . In reply to the charge of stopping the business of the metropolis , he says : —
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry Vindicated.
cutting head of " The Masonic Nuisance . " A dearth of news , combined with severe indigestion , suggest themselves to our minds on the perusal of this remarkahle document , as the motive powers which have caused it to be given to the world . Paving-board discussions , parish meetings , local literature and theology , kirk sessions , and the enormous gooseberry were all used up . An article must be had—if a grievance offer .
so much the better . If there be no grievance—make one . Following up this train of thought , we presume , the editor of the Edinburgh News dipped his pen in gall , and astonished Auld Reekie the next morning with this stupendous production . The grand Masonic ceremonial in George Street had occupied the attention of the whole city , and the columns of his contemporaries were filled with the details . But it would not do to give these details twice over— -to use that text again it was obviQus that a new view
of the subject must be taken . Accordingly he laments over the stoppage of business , and the congregating of tens of thousands of spectators , which , saith he , endangered thereby the lives of properly and peaceably disposed , persons , " and it therefore becomes the duty of every citizen to resist such unjustifiable and tyrannical proceedings . " No doubt the Masons' hair : stood on end to see their harmless proceedings depicted in these alarming colours —let us hope that the citizens , male and female , of the royal city did not
participate in the sentiments of this fiery knight of the pen . Indeed , from what we have heard ^ the gathering of Craftsmen does not appear to have caused any very great alarm , or indeed to have had the effect of causing any less money to be expended on that day in Edinburgh shops . Our editor proposes to the tailors of the metropolis that they should also walk in procession , and having thus drawn a parallel which cannot fail to overwhelm the hapless Masons with ridicule , he proceeds to remark upon the
costume of the brethren , and challenges any one of them to perambulate the streets singly in his paraphernalia . Next he falls foul of the Grand Master , and reminds him , that though he being a Mason is also a dukethat the Prince Consort is higher in rank than he and yet is not a Mason . After this last profound observation one would naturally think that there was no more to be said ; not so—there remains to our author his peroration , in which he drops the Masons as such , and belabours the government and
the public authorities . "By whose authority , " he demands , " was the military called out on that day , and the public money squandered in firing volleys on the occasion ? " We believe the commander-in-chief in Scotland has survived this terrific onslaught—indeed we do not think that he has even resigned his office . It was of course necessary to rush forward and protect the tottering fabric of Masonry , shattered as it was by the Edinburgh
News , and "Lapicida" threw himself into the breach to defend the nearly overthrown fortress . Our Brother , we must confess , has bestowed more pains upon his reply than such a worthless attack demanded his letter is , though long , not tedious—on the contrary , it is both wise and witty . With regard to the News and its editor , we are told that this abusive style of writing is no novelty in his pages : —
" Some of the numerous attacks which tho editor of the News has mado on public men and puhlie institutions , and which have given his journal an unenviable notoriety , may have done some good ; but , in this case , like the viper with the file , he has only injured himself , and benefited nobody . " We have already far exceeded our space , and must again refer our readers to the pamphlet itself for the very satisfactory dressing which the writer in the News has received at the hands of Lapicida ;¦ " but wc cannot refrain from quoting two passages . In reply to the charge of stopping the business of the metropolis , he says : —