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Article THE -MASONIC MIEEOlt. ← Page 6 of 10 →
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The -Masonic Mieeolt.
' y THE COLONIAL BOARD . The report of the Colonial Board , which will also be found at p . 360 of the Freemasons Magazine , was taken as read , and approved without comment .
TASMANIA . . The "W W . Grand Secretary then read the memorial of " Members of the Ancient and Honourable Order of Free and Accepted Masons , residing in and near Hobart Town , in the Island of Tasmania , " complaining of the conduct of Bro . the Be v . B . K . Ewing , Prov . G . M . of Tasmania , in suspending the brethren of Lodge 781 > from the exercise of their Masonic duties , which will be found at for
length in the Freemasons Jfa ^ a ^ e Bebruary 10 , p . 281 . On the conclusion of the reading of the memorial , The R . W . D . G . M . rose and said : — VWe have just heard read at length the memorial of Bro . Toby and of several other Brethren resident in Hobart Town , many of whom , I understand , belong to Lodge No . 781 , but a great part of whom are not , as I am told , members of that Lodge , but belong to other bodies of Masons
m that town . It appears to me , Brethren , that an appeal of this kind , involving as it does very serious points of difference between those who have signed the memorial and the Prov . G . M ., should be disposed of at once . You , my lord , have referred this memorial and the voluminous documents which have been
received from the Brov . G . M . and Bro . Toby to myself , as your D . G . M ., to the G . Beg ., and to the G . Sec—and I have now to state that we have gone fully through the whole matter , and read all the correspondence connected with it , and with the permission of Grand Lodge , if it will kindly bear with me for some time , I shall endeavour to make clear all the circumstances of the case , Before doing so , however , it will be necessary that the attention of the Brethren should be drawn to the present position of the Craft in Tasmania . It consists of four Lodges ; three of these are held at Launceston , and one at Hobart Town . The
three held at Launceston ( I do not recollect their numbers ) are severally the Lodges of Faith , of Hope , and of Charity . The Lodge held at Hobart Town is No . 781 . In 1856 , as the memorial states , Bro . Ewing was , by the prerogative of the G . M ., and on the recommendation of three out of the four Lodges in the Province , named Prov . G . M . His character stands , as it ought to do , most high in that part of her Majesty ' s dominions . He is a clergyman , and as such he has the care of a vast number of souls . He is highly resj ^ ected as a man—we could expect nothing less from his profession , —and for five consecutive years he has been at the head of his own Lodge ; and I would especially wish you to recollect
that he has not in any manner shown himself zealous of attaining the honour of being Prov . G . M . Indeed he recommended another brother for that office . In that , however , he was overruled , and was himself recommended for the appointment . From that appointment the whole of this affair has its birth . It appears from the correspondence that this appointment of Bro . Ewing , to be Prov . G . M ., was extremely distasteful to Bro . Toby . In fact , from the papers placed before us , it appears that he had himself desired to fill that high station . Be that as it may , lie and those who have acted with him have thought proper to address to Grand
Lodge the memorial which we have heard read , hirst ot all they state that whereas they consider that the M . W . G . M .. has the authority to name who ever he may please , as Prov . G . M ., they yet complain that in this case that authority has not been properly exercised . Now I humbly conceive that it is not the province of Bro . Toby to question the prerogative of the G . M . At all events , if a Brother presumes to question the G . M . ' s authority , it should be done directly
imd diytmctly to the G . M . himselr , and to no other person or body ot brethren . In the next place , how , I ask , could Bro . Toby know that the G . M . had not , before making the appointment , ascertained the fitness of Bro . Ewing for the office ? ( Hear , hear . ) I simply ask what better test could the G . M . have of the fitness of a Mason for dignity in the Craft than the testimony of three out of four of the Lodges in the Province , and the fact that for five years he had hold the chair in his own Lodge , with credit to himself and with advantage to the Brethren ? ( Hear , hear . ) That , I think , disposes of the first point . We conic now to the next and simple point of the memorial . Bro . Toby asserts that after Bro . Ewing had been
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The -Masonic Mieeolt.
' y THE COLONIAL BOARD . The report of the Colonial Board , which will also be found at p . 360 of the Freemasons Magazine , was taken as read , and approved without comment .
TASMANIA . . The "W W . Grand Secretary then read the memorial of " Members of the Ancient and Honourable Order of Free and Accepted Masons , residing in and near Hobart Town , in the Island of Tasmania , " complaining of the conduct of Bro . the Be v . B . K . Ewing , Prov . G . M . of Tasmania , in suspending the brethren of Lodge 781 > from the exercise of their Masonic duties , which will be found at for
length in the Freemasons Jfa ^ a ^ e Bebruary 10 , p . 281 . On the conclusion of the reading of the memorial , The R . W . D . G . M . rose and said : — VWe have just heard read at length the memorial of Bro . Toby and of several other Brethren resident in Hobart Town , many of whom , I understand , belong to Lodge No . 781 , but a great part of whom are not , as I am told , members of that Lodge , but belong to other bodies of Masons
m that town . It appears to me , Brethren , that an appeal of this kind , involving as it does very serious points of difference between those who have signed the memorial and the Prov . G . M ., should be disposed of at once . You , my lord , have referred this memorial and the voluminous documents which have been
received from the Brov . G . M . and Bro . Toby to myself , as your D . G . M ., to the G . Beg ., and to the G . Sec—and I have now to state that we have gone fully through the whole matter , and read all the correspondence connected with it , and with the permission of Grand Lodge , if it will kindly bear with me for some time , I shall endeavour to make clear all the circumstances of the case , Before doing so , however , it will be necessary that the attention of the Brethren should be drawn to the present position of the Craft in Tasmania . It consists of four Lodges ; three of these are held at Launceston , and one at Hobart Town . The
three held at Launceston ( I do not recollect their numbers ) are severally the Lodges of Faith , of Hope , and of Charity . The Lodge held at Hobart Town is No . 781 . In 1856 , as the memorial states , Bro . Ewing was , by the prerogative of the G . M ., and on the recommendation of three out of the four Lodges in the Province , named Prov . G . M . His character stands , as it ought to do , most high in that part of her Majesty ' s dominions . He is a clergyman , and as such he has the care of a vast number of souls . He is highly resj ^ ected as a man—we could expect nothing less from his profession , —and for five consecutive years he has been at the head of his own Lodge ; and I would especially wish you to recollect
that he has not in any manner shown himself zealous of attaining the honour of being Prov . G . M . Indeed he recommended another brother for that office . In that , however , he was overruled , and was himself recommended for the appointment . From that appointment the whole of this affair has its birth . It appears from the correspondence that this appointment of Bro . Ewing , to be Prov . G . M ., was extremely distasteful to Bro . Toby . In fact , from the papers placed before us , it appears that he had himself desired to fill that high station . Be that as it may , lie and those who have acted with him have thought proper to address to Grand
Lodge the memorial which we have heard read , hirst ot all they state that whereas they consider that the M . W . G . M .. has the authority to name who ever he may please , as Prov . G . M ., they yet complain that in this case that authority has not been properly exercised . Now I humbly conceive that it is not the province of Bro . Toby to question the prerogative of the G . M . At all events , if a Brother presumes to question the G . M . ' s authority , it should be done directly
imd diytmctly to the G . M . himselr , and to no other person or body ot brethren . In the next place , how , I ask , could Bro . Toby know that the G . M . had not , before making the appointment , ascertained the fitness of Bro . Ewing for the office ? ( Hear , hear . ) I simply ask what better test could the G . M . have of the fitness of a Mason for dignity in the Craft than the testimony of three out of four of the Lodges in the Province , and the fact that for five years he had hold the chair in his own Lodge , with credit to himself and with advantage to the Brethren ? ( Hear , hear . ) That , I think , disposes of the first point . We conic now to the next and simple point of the memorial . Bro . Toby asserts that after Bro . Ewing had been