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Article CORRESPONDENCE. Page 1 of 5 →
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Correspondence.
CORRESPONDENCE .
[ T HE EDITOE does not hold himself responsible for any opinions entertained oy Correspondents . ' ]
TO TEE EDITOE 01 ? THE FREEMASONS' QUAUTEELY MAGAZINE . DEAR SIB AND BEOTHEB , — I BEG to trespass on your pages , in order to direct the attention of the Craft to a point which I consider of no small importance . Without further preamble I Avill go at once in medias resand state
, that the point to which I wish to caU attention is the manner in Avhich the Lodges of Instruction in London are conducted . I do not hesitate to say that their conduct is disgraceful and degrading to the Craft ; and moreover affords a handle , which the enemies of Freemasonry are only too glad to use against it . Before stating the cause of complaintI must name as an honourable exception the Emulation
, Lodge of Improvement , Avorking under the sanction of the Lodge of Unions , No . 318 ; the numerous merits and excellent order of which Lodge are , I believe , known and appreciated throughout the kingdom ; and also , I believe , the Lodge of Instruction , which works under the sanction of the Lodge of Stability , No . 264 . There are , besides these two , twenty-seven other Lodges of
Instruction in London and the London district ; and it is these that I wish to mention . I write , in part from personal observation , in part from general and uncontradicted report . I will describe to you what I myself experienced on visiting one of these Lodges of Instruction . After satisfactory proof that I was a Mason , I Avas proceeding to clothe mj'self as usual , ivhen to my surprise I was informed that Masonic clothing- was unnecessary . I was then requested to enter
the Lodge and salute the Worshipful Master ; but as _ he was not distinguishable through the dense and almost suffocating cloud of tobacco-smoke which filled the room , I found some difficulty in saluting in the proper direction . However , as I wished to hear the Avork , I took my seat , especially as the sections of the second degree were being workedwhich are difficultaud therefore not usually so well
, , managed as the others . I must do them the justice to say that the work was really well done ; hut its concomitants were anything but Masonic . When I was able to look about me a little , I perceived that the Worshipful Master and Wardens wore aprons and collars , and the Inner Gruard an apron ; no one else had on any Masonic clothing whatever , and some not even all their ordinary clothing , for I counted
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
CORRESPONDENCE .
[ T HE EDITOE does not hold himself responsible for any opinions entertained oy Correspondents . ' ]
TO TEE EDITOE 01 ? THE FREEMASONS' QUAUTEELY MAGAZINE . DEAR SIB AND BEOTHEB , — I BEG to trespass on your pages , in order to direct the attention of the Craft to a point which I consider of no small importance . Without further preamble I Avill go at once in medias resand state
, that the point to which I wish to caU attention is the manner in Avhich the Lodges of Instruction in London are conducted . I do not hesitate to say that their conduct is disgraceful and degrading to the Craft ; and moreover affords a handle , which the enemies of Freemasonry are only too glad to use against it . Before stating the cause of complaintI must name as an honourable exception the Emulation
, Lodge of Improvement , Avorking under the sanction of the Lodge of Unions , No . 318 ; the numerous merits and excellent order of which Lodge are , I believe , known and appreciated throughout the kingdom ; and also , I believe , the Lodge of Instruction , which works under the sanction of the Lodge of Stability , No . 264 . There are , besides these two , twenty-seven other Lodges of
Instruction in London and the London district ; and it is these that I wish to mention . I write , in part from personal observation , in part from general and uncontradicted report . I will describe to you what I myself experienced on visiting one of these Lodges of Instruction . After satisfactory proof that I was a Mason , I Avas proceeding to clothe mj'self as usual , ivhen to my surprise I was informed that Masonic clothing- was unnecessary . I was then requested to enter
the Lodge and salute the Worshipful Master ; but as _ he was not distinguishable through the dense and almost suffocating cloud of tobacco-smoke which filled the room , I found some difficulty in saluting in the proper direction . However , as I wished to hear the Avork , I took my seat , especially as the sections of the second degree were being workedwhich are difficultaud therefore not usually so well
, , managed as the others . I must do them the justice to say that the work was really well done ; hut its concomitants were anything but Masonic . When I was able to look about me a little , I perceived that the Worshipful Master and Wardens wore aprons and collars , and the Inner Gruard an apron ; no one else had on any Masonic clothing whatever , and some not even all their ordinary clothing , for I counted