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Article OTTE ARCHITEGTURAL CHAPTER, ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Otte Architegtural Chapter,
In the time of our Grand Master Wren , in the beginning likewise of the last century , and even later , coffeehouses were places of social assembly an literary resort , answering rather to the casino of the continent , than to our present notions of coffeehouses or taverns . 4 Ehe places that the first statesmen and wits of the day frequented could be attended by men engaged in the promotion of morals and
philosophy without derogation ; and hence Grand Lodge could , as of a matter of course ^ in those days , place itself in connection with a tavern . It must , however , be observed that Grand Lodge ^ on very many occasions , as we lately pointed out , met in the halls of the great city companies , and their subsequent adaptation of their property to the Freemasons' Tavern was not , even then , a salutary step ; for it was a period of transition in social arrangements , and many of the coffee and chocolate houses , as White ' s and
Brooks ' s for instance , and even mercantile coffeehouses , as Lloyd ' s were taking the organization of a club , and thereby throwing the trading coffeehouses into a lower scale . The necessities of Grand Lodge , however , assisted to promote the tavern scheme , for members were more willing to trust the supply of banquets to a tavern keeper
than to undertake the necessary organization for their own entertainment , which was not then so well understood as now ; and there was ^ th e Mlacious idea of obtaining a settled rent , though the rent in fact was to be paid by their own members , and only filtered through the hands of the tavern keeper , subject to his toll and his failures .
Thus a policy of temporizing and a partial sacrifice to necessity have been converted into a precedent , which has saddled us with a tavern and made it a matter of consideration , which it never ought to have been , how we ought to get rid of it . Our view is a clear onelooking to the consecrated policy of the Craft , in selecting from an early period special temples for the performances of our rites—looking
to the solemn and religious character of those rites—we have never hesitated in recommending metropolitan and provincial Brethren to provide suitable temples for the celebration of our mysteries . Necessity may reconcile us to the temporary adornment of some common room ; but a reverential feeling is not thereby cultivated , nor can the solemnity of a place dedicated to the worship of the Most High
A . O . T . U . be so conferred . We hope , therefore , we have prepared the minds of Brethren for the careful consideration of the subject of the subject of the central temple ; and that by the feeling we have treated , we have made some impression on Grand Lodge , and have convinced the Board of General Purposes that the time has now come when suitable arrangements must be made , and that with any
regard to the dignity of the Order , they cannot be deferred . Had the Board of General Purposes further postponed the discussion of this matter it was the determination of many zealous members of Grand Lodge to press it forward for decision ; ao that we are not surprised to find | the Board of General Purposes has now taken the initiative , S q 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Otte Architegtural Chapter,
In the time of our Grand Master Wren , in the beginning likewise of the last century , and even later , coffeehouses were places of social assembly an literary resort , answering rather to the casino of the continent , than to our present notions of coffeehouses or taverns . 4 Ehe places that the first statesmen and wits of the day frequented could be attended by men engaged in the promotion of morals and
philosophy without derogation ; and hence Grand Lodge could , as of a matter of course ^ in those days , place itself in connection with a tavern . It must , however , be observed that Grand Lodge ^ on very many occasions , as we lately pointed out , met in the halls of the great city companies , and their subsequent adaptation of their property to the Freemasons' Tavern was not , even then , a salutary step ; for it was a period of transition in social arrangements , and many of the coffee and chocolate houses , as White ' s and
Brooks ' s for instance , and even mercantile coffeehouses , as Lloyd ' s were taking the organization of a club , and thereby throwing the trading coffeehouses into a lower scale . The necessities of Grand Lodge , however , assisted to promote the tavern scheme , for members were more willing to trust the supply of banquets to a tavern keeper
than to undertake the necessary organization for their own entertainment , which was not then so well understood as now ; and there was ^ th e Mlacious idea of obtaining a settled rent , though the rent in fact was to be paid by their own members , and only filtered through the hands of the tavern keeper , subject to his toll and his failures .
Thus a policy of temporizing and a partial sacrifice to necessity have been converted into a precedent , which has saddled us with a tavern and made it a matter of consideration , which it never ought to have been , how we ought to get rid of it . Our view is a clear onelooking to the consecrated policy of the Craft , in selecting from an early period special temples for the performances of our rites—looking
to the solemn and religious character of those rites—we have never hesitated in recommending metropolitan and provincial Brethren to provide suitable temples for the celebration of our mysteries . Necessity may reconcile us to the temporary adornment of some common room ; but a reverential feeling is not thereby cultivated , nor can the solemnity of a place dedicated to the worship of the Most High
A . O . T . U . be so conferred . We hope , therefore , we have prepared the minds of Brethren for the careful consideration of the subject of the subject of the central temple ; and that by the feeling we have treated , we have made some impression on Grand Lodge , and have convinced the Board of General Purposes that the time has now come when suitable arrangements must be made , and that with any
regard to the dignity of the Order , they cannot be deferred . Had the Board of General Purposes further postponed the discussion of this matter it was the determination of many zealous members of Grand Lodge to press it forward for decision ; ao that we are not surprised to find | the Board of General Purposes has now taken the initiative , S q 2