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Article THE BOYS' SCHOOL INQUIRY. Page 1 of 2 Article THE BOYS' SCHOOL INQUIRY. Page 1 of 2 →
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The Boys' School Inquiry.
THE BOYS' SCHOOL INQUIRY .
" There are no fits of caprice so hasty and so violent as those of society . Society , indeed , is all passions and no heart . . . . Tho public , without waiting to think or oven to inquire after tho truth , selected as genuine the most false and tho most flagrant of the
libellous narratives that were circulated The public , in short , fell into a passion with their darling , and , ashamed of their past idolatry , nothing would satisfy them but knocking the divinity on the head . "
nPHE Boyal Masonic Institution for Boys may Le JL said to rest at the present time under a cloud , and it is only on tbe basis of tbe above remarksquoted from one of England's most gifted noveliststhat we can understand tbe action which is being taken in regard to its management . Truly the members of Masonic society may be said to have recently shown—and are still showing—to what extent they can carry their fits of caprice . The darling of a short time since seems to be assailed on all sides ; while some of the foremost of its supporters appear to have fallen into a passion , and , ashamed of their past idolatry , they are seeking satisfaction by knocking their divinity on the head . We need not ask if such procedure is anything like wise ; if we did , we should not expect a satisfactory answer , for , in the words given above , society is all passions and no heart . On this account , then , it would be absurd just now to argue as to tbe desirability of all that is being said or done , while it would be equally useless to anneal to
the better feelings of those who are taking the lead . All we can do is patiently to wait until the passion is over , and then , perhaps , some good may result from the severe and heartless measures which now appear to be in favour . In the meantime , however , we should not be fulfilling our duty if Ave did not refer to the various actions which come under our notice . We need hardly repeat the already well-known account of the origin and progress of the opposition which has sprung up within the last few months against the Boyal Masonic Institution for Boys . Suffice it to say that at the present moment there appears to be a strong , wide-spread feeling of discontent in regard to its management , and more particularly the management of its finances , and until this feeling is removed or the expenditure
satisfactorily explained we feel the Institution will lose much of its regular share of support , a result which would be both disastrous and very much to be regretted at the present time , when the claims on the resources of the Charity are most severe , and the need for its extension is generally admitted . On Friday of last week the regular Quarterly General Court of the Governors and Subscribers of the Institution was held at Freemasons' Hall , and on that occasion reference was made to the grievances which are being urged against the management ; indeed , that may be said to have been the principal topic touched upon at the meeting , and it formed the principal item considered . We have already referred to the proposition which Bro . A . F . Godson , M . P .,
The Boys' School Inquiry.
gave notice of for this Court ; his object was to secure , on behalf of the House Committee , a Committee of Inquiry to thoroughly search into the complaints raised against the Institution . Bro . Godson regularly brought the matter forward , and after the arrangement of some details in regard to the constitution , & c . of the Committee , his proposition was agreed to . For the sake of the Institution , and to satisfy those who feel aggrieved , we hope this Committee will speedily get to work , and that the members of it may not be long in arriving at a decision ; for it is evident that very little will now be done on behalf of the Boys ' School , at least in many quarters , until the inquiry is brought to an end , and its recommendations , if any , are taken advantage of by those at the head of the Institution . Before proceeding further we may devote a few lines to a consideration of our own position in respect to the difference of opinion that exists . On the one hand wo arc accused by those who are strongest in their attacks on the Institution of refusing to publish whatever they choose to send us ; on the other hand there are some who express surprise that we should throw our columns open , and that we should havo published as much as we have already done bearing on the controversy . In answer to both these sides
we may say , as we have often said before , that our columns are open to any fair discussion or expression of opinion , but at the same time we reserve the right to exclude anything couched in improper language , or which is based on an improper foundation . On this ground we recently excluded a communication which was sent us for publication , but which in itself was of no moment whatever . It was based on the anonymous circular to which we have frequently referred of late , and as the statements therein contained are not authenticated , or vouched for in any way , it is absurd to pass resolutions or to frame opinions based solely upon them . We are sorry the brother who sent us the communication cannot see the matter in a proper light , and also that he is of opinion he cannot get justice from the Masonic press , bnt we have no hesitation in savin *? he is altogether wron . r fivstlv . in n .
sko o o o > . / > * ^ v ^*^ ing his Lodge to take notice of an anonymous libel , secondly in expecting the press to encourage him in so doing , and thirdly in doubting the sincerity of those who conduct the journals associated with the Craft . For ourselves , —and we believe our contemporary and those associated with the Institutions
agree with us , —we thmk the more complete and thorough the inquiry which is undertaken the better will be the result which will ultimately accrue . We have said this before , and in repeating it we hope to remove any impression which may exist that we are desirous of hushing or ignoring any complaint put forward in a legitimate manner . Such being the case , we hope we shall hear no more of the charge that the Masonic press is biassed , or that letters or other communications opposing the Institutions
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Boys' School Inquiry.
THE BOYS' SCHOOL INQUIRY .
" There are no fits of caprice so hasty and so violent as those of society . Society , indeed , is all passions and no heart . . . . Tho public , without waiting to think or oven to inquire after tho truth , selected as genuine the most false and tho most flagrant of the
libellous narratives that were circulated The public , in short , fell into a passion with their darling , and , ashamed of their past idolatry , nothing would satisfy them but knocking the divinity on the head . "
nPHE Boyal Masonic Institution for Boys may Le JL said to rest at the present time under a cloud , and it is only on tbe basis of tbe above remarksquoted from one of England's most gifted noveliststhat we can understand tbe action which is being taken in regard to its management . Truly the members of Masonic society may be said to have recently shown—and are still showing—to what extent they can carry their fits of caprice . The darling of a short time since seems to be assailed on all sides ; while some of the foremost of its supporters appear to have fallen into a passion , and , ashamed of their past idolatry , they are seeking satisfaction by knocking their divinity on the head . We need not ask if such procedure is anything like wise ; if we did , we should not expect a satisfactory answer , for , in the words given above , society is all passions and no heart . On this account , then , it would be absurd just now to argue as to tbe desirability of all that is being said or done , while it would be equally useless to anneal to
the better feelings of those who are taking the lead . All we can do is patiently to wait until the passion is over , and then , perhaps , some good may result from the severe and heartless measures which now appear to be in favour . In the meantime , however , we should not be fulfilling our duty if Ave did not refer to the various actions which come under our notice . We need hardly repeat the already well-known account of the origin and progress of the opposition which has sprung up within the last few months against the Boyal Masonic Institution for Boys . Suffice it to say that at the present moment there appears to be a strong , wide-spread feeling of discontent in regard to its management , and more particularly the management of its finances , and until this feeling is removed or the expenditure
satisfactorily explained we feel the Institution will lose much of its regular share of support , a result which would be both disastrous and very much to be regretted at the present time , when the claims on the resources of the Charity are most severe , and the need for its extension is generally admitted . On Friday of last week the regular Quarterly General Court of the Governors and Subscribers of the Institution was held at Freemasons' Hall , and on that occasion reference was made to the grievances which are being urged against the management ; indeed , that may be said to have been the principal topic touched upon at the meeting , and it formed the principal item considered . We have already referred to the proposition which Bro . A . F . Godson , M . P .,
The Boys' School Inquiry.
gave notice of for this Court ; his object was to secure , on behalf of the House Committee , a Committee of Inquiry to thoroughly search into the complaints raised against the Institution . Bro . Godson regularly brought the matter forward , and after the arrangement of some details in regard to the constitution , & c . of the Committee , his proposition was agreed to . For the sake of the Institution , and to satisfy those who feel aggrieved , we hope this Committee will speedily get to work , and that the members of it may not be long in arriving at a decision ; for it is evident that very little will now be done on behalf of the Boys ' School , at least in many quarters , until the inquiry is brought to an end , and its recommendations , if any , are taken advantage of by those at the head of the Institution . Before proceeding further we may devote a few lines to a consideration of our own position in respect to the difference of opinion that exists . On the one hand wo arc accused by those who are strongest in their attacks on the Institution of refusing to publish whatever they choose to send us ; on the other hand there are some who express surprise that we should throw our columns open , and that we should havo published as much as we have already done bearing on the controversy . In answer to both these sides
we may say , as we have often said before , that our columns are open to any fair discussion or expression of opinion , but at the same time we reserve the right to exclude anything couched in improper language , or which is based on an improper foundation . On this ground we recently excluded a communication which was sent us for publication , but which in itself was of no moment whatever . It was based on the anonymous circular to which we have frequently referred of late , and as the statements therein contained are not authenticated , or vouched for in any way , it is absurd to pass resolutions or to frame opinions based solely upon them . We are sorry the brother who sent us the communication cannot see the matter in a proper light , and also that he is of opinion he cannot get justice from the Masonic press , bnt we have no hesitation in savin *? he is altogether wron . r fivstlv . in n .
sko o o o > . / > * ^ v ^*^ ing his Lodge to take notice of an anonymous libel , secondly in expecting the press to encourage him in so doing , and thirdly in doubting the sincerity of those who conduct the journals associated with the Craft . For ourselves , —and we believe our contemporary and those associated with the Institutions
agree with us , —we thmk the more complete and thorough the inquiry which is undertaken the better will be the result which will ultimately accrue . We have said this before , and in repeating it we hope to remove any impression which may exist that we are desirous of hushing or ignoring any complaint put forward in a legitimate manner . Such being the case , we hope we shall hear no more of the charge that the Masonic press is biassed , or that letters or other communications opposing the Institutions