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  • Aug. 1, 1855
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Aug. 1, 1855: Page 4

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Untitled Article

and lower classes Ito desire influence , which she denies them attainment of ; has qualified them for offices , which she forbids them to fill ; and if some be allowed to rise , yet they attain their ends , as it were , surreptitiously- — almost " on the sly "— -by crawling rather than by climbing , and when placed at the top of the ladder , develop their imbibed or natural meanness by extending their hands to none but their immediate friends , interest , or faction .

The wonder would be if , under these circumstances , we had not lofty incompetency , social disunion , strife , bitterness , and clamour ; yet the remedy is easy , and , as usual , to be applied by the middle class ¦ >—the medicine-vendors to the pride of the peer and to the poverty of the peasant ! Let each one to whom patronage belongs , however small , look out for desert , not consanguinity , to fill it ; and

remember that a vacant , nominal , or ill-supplied office is as much a robbery to the great storehouse of a people ' s greatness , as the introduction of water , into the veins , instead of blood , would be an impoverishment to the physical system . Most of our corporations have offices almost sinecures , to their disgrace be it spoken ; even their very chaplains are expected to eat rather than to preach ; yet how many great and

gifted ecclesiastics are there to whom such offices would afford the opportunity of becoming known to the world , bringing fame to their promoters , beyond the coop of rustic barbarism , where , aloof from society , their only relaxation from pastoral duty or learned study is to watch a cow brush flies with her tail off her glowing hide in thundery weather . Yet these -corporations are formed of individuals who perpetually cry out that the best men be put into the best places ,

which means as surely that an alderman ' s son , thrice plucked * should be installed into some sinecure , as that so many nights at the opera constitute a proper secretary in the Home Office , if relationship to Lord Yawner be added ; or , in a word , that the best man is always Number 1 , with an indefinite number of O ' s annexed , in the shape of high relations , whose discernment and intelligence , taken in the aggregate , " signify nothing . "

The circulation of this paper , widely diifused through our colonies , and , indeed , in every quarter of the globe , will cause these thoughts to be received , and , we trust , pondered upon , before the suppressed storm break forth and alarm the world . They are penned in a spirit

of philanthropy so entirely removed from political partizanship , that , short of an interest in our common country , their adoption , or indeed reception , is to us a matter of utter indifference . We feel for the oppressed—for those whose glowing genius , lofty spirit , and grand intellects nurse thoughts " which turn to thunder , scorch , and burst , "

and whose sensitiveness , the very element of noble minds , nurses the steel of disappointment which quivers in their breast , as they drivel out their years of doom " in cold oblivion ; " whilst , to their loss and their country ' s , selfish patrons foster fools ! Let each influential Mason , therefore , however limited his power , seek out fit genius for promotion ; the country wants it much now , Heaven knows ; she will perish without such aid , to a certainty ! What chance has mind

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1855-08-01, Page 4” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 3 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_01081855/page/4/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
VOICES FROM DEAD NATIONS. Article 15
TRAVELS BY A FREEMASON. Article 11
ANASTATIC INK. Article 28
THE OUTCAST EMPIRE. Article 1
MASONIC SONGS.-N0. 2. Article 29
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. Article 30
A GREEK FUNERAL. Article 39
FEMALE EDUCATION. Article 40
CORRESPONDENCE Article 41
NOTES ON ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCH. Article 21
ANSWER TO ENIGMA IN LAST NUMBER. Article 36
MUSIC. Article 37
A CORSICAN DIRGE. Article 38
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS MONTHLY MAGAZINE. Article 42
MADAME DE POMPADOUR AT HOME. Article 43
NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 44
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 46
MASONIC CHARITIES. Article 46
METROPOLITAN. Article 47
PROVINCIAL. Article 50
LIFE AND ITS MACHINERY. Article 5
COLONIAL Article 60
LONDON BON-ACCORD MARK MASTERS' LODGE. Article 60
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Article 61
Obituary Article 63
NOTICE. Article 63
TO MASONIC TRAVELLERS. Article 63
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 63
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Untitled Article

and lower classes Ito desire influence , which she denies them attainment of ; has qualified them for offices , which she forbids them to fill ; and if some be allowed to rise , yet they attain their ends , as it were , surreptitiously- — almost " on the sly "— -by crawling rather than by climbing , and when placed at the top of the ladder , develop their imbibed or natural meanness by extending their hands to none but their immediate friends , interest , or faction .

The wonder would be if , under these circumstances , we had not lofty incompetency , social disunion , strife , bitterness , and clamour ; yet the remedy is easy , and , as usual , to be applied by the middle class ¦ >—the medicine-vendors to the pride of the peer and to the poverty of the peasant ! Let each one to whom patronage belongs , however small , look out for desert , not consanguinity , to fill it ; and

remember that a vacant , nominal , or ill-supplied office is as much a robbery to the great storehouse of a people ' s greatness , as the introduction of water , into the veins , instead of blood , would be an impoverishment to the physical system . Most of our corporations have offices almost sinecures , to their disgrace be it spoken ; even their very chaplains are expected to eat rather than to preach ; yet how many great and

gifted ecclesiastics are there to whom such offices would afford the opportunity of becoming known to the world , bringing fame to their promoters , beyond the coop of rustic barbarism , where , aloof from society , their only relaxation from pastoral duty or learned study is to watch a cow brush flies with her tail off her glowing hide in thundery weather . Yet these -corporations are formed of individuals who perpetually cry out that the best men be put into the best places ,

which means as surely that an alderman ' s son , thrice plucked * should be installed into some sinecure , as that so many nights at the opera constitute a proper secretary in the Home Office , if relationship to Lord Yawner be added ; or , in a word , that the best man is always Number 1 , with an indefinite number of O ' s annexed , in the shape of high relations , whose discernment and intelligence , taken in the aggregate , " signify nothing . "

The circulation of this paper , widely diifused through our colonies , and , indeed , in every quarter of the globe , will cause these thoughts to be received , and , we trust , pondered upon , before the suppressed storm break forth and alarm the world . They are penned in a spirit

of philanthropy so entirely removed from political partizanship , that , short of an interest in our common country , their adoption , or indeed reception , is to us a matter of utter indifference . We feel for the oppressed—for those whose glowing genius , lofty spirit , and grand intellects nurse thoughts " which turn to thunder , scorch , and burst , "

and whose sensitiveness , the very element of noble minds , nurses the steel of disappointment which quivers in their breast , as they drivel out their years of doom " in cold oblivion ; " whilst , to their loss and their country ' s , selfish patrons foster fools ! Let each influential Mason , therefore , however limited his power , seek out fit genius for promotion ; the country wants it much now , Heaven knows ; she will perish without such aid , to a certainty ! What chance has mind

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