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Article THE -MASONIC MIEEOlt. ← Page 7 of 10 →
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The -Masonic Mieeolt.
named Prov . G . M ., and prior to his being installed , he exercised the powers of his office , before being authorized to do so . What was the exercise of this power which has been complained of ? Bro . Ewing , on obtaining the patent of his office , called for certain returns from No . 781 , but which returns Bro . Toby refused to furnish him with , and on this ground : fie said , ' You are not yet installed as Brov . G . M ., and therefore you have no right to call for these returns / In taking this line of argument I conceive Bro . Toby made a grave mistake . If the Brethren will refer to the Book of Constitutions they will find , at page 44 , the folio wing with respect to the appointment of Prov . G . M . : — -
" ' The appointment of this officer is a prerogative of the G . M ,, by whom a patent may be granted , during pleasure , to any Brother of eminence and ability in the Craft who may be thought worthy of the appointment . By this patent the Brother is invested with a rank and power , in his particular district , similar to those possessed by the G . M . He shall be installed at the first Prov . Grand Lodge which he may hold after his appointment , ' —It thus appears that a Brother is , in the first instance , appointed to the office
of Prov . G . M . by patent ; and it is quite evident that it is the patent which creates the power , for if it did not , it would be in the power of any Brother , by refusing to acknowledge it , to make null and void the appointments made by the G . M . What does Bro . Ewing do ! To constitute his Grand Lodge he must know who are the members of the Lodges in his Brovince , and he cannot know that unless he asks for returns from the several Lodges , and if they refuse to furnish them when he calls for them , for the pure purpose of doing his best in the selection of Grand Officers , what is he to do ¦? If he has not these returns , how is he
to constitute his Lodge I Common sense will point out that his patent gives him that power . That was all Bro . Ewing did . He called on No . 781 to make certain returns , and that Lodge refused to do so . It is said that the Prov . G . M . did not give the Brethren of No . 781 sufficient notice of his intention to hold the Grand Lodge of his Province . He gave notice , as the correspondence shows , of his being appointed Prov . G . M ., and that he had l'eceived the patent of his appointment . He next called on them himself ; and then , failing to obtain from them the returns which he required , he , thirdly , issued to them his peremptory summons . I do not say that it was one in what we call peremptory terms . ' Even after that summons
the Brethren of No . 781 persevered in their refusal . It will therefore be seen by Grand Lodge that the Brethren of No . 781 exhibited contumacy in that refusal . Under these circumstances , Bro . Ewing proceeded to his installation . By the refusal of Bro . Toby and the other Officers of No . 781 to make the required returns , great injustice was , I think , done to the other members of that Lodge , because for want of those returns they were excluded from Grand office . As I before observed , Bro . Ewing proceeded to his installation , and it is now urged by Bro . Toby and the other Brethren who signed the memorial , that because the Prov . G . M . sent them an invitation to attend the ceremony , he condoned their
offence , and admitted that there was no contumacy in the resistance offered to his authority prior to his being installed . That was not so . All the Prov . G . M . did was this—wishing to preserve peace and good feeling between the Brethren , as was his duty both as a clergyman and a Mason , he held out to them the right hand of fellowship , thereby giving them a locus pwnitent ' uc , which locus jumileiitite
they declined to avail themselves of . Under these circumstances Bro . Ewing , by the advice of the Brov , Grand Lodge—under whose advice he has all along acted —proceeded , " <> t hastily but deliberately , for these misunderstandings had continued from March to May , to suspend Lodge No . 781 from its Masonic functions . But even after that Bro . Ewing did not stand upon the dignity of his office , but went himself down to Hobart Town and invited the contumacious Brethren to
meet him , not as their G . M ., but privately , and try to arrange the points at issue between them . In consequence of his paying them that visit , Bro . Toby and other members of No . 781 met him , and for some time , as it appears from the correspondence , very high , very improper , and very umnasonic altercations took place between them . Afterwards , however , they came to see matters in a better light . Harmony came over thoin , and they agreed that some arrangements should
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The -Masonic Mieeolt.
named Prov . G . M ., and prior to his being installed , he exercised the powers of his office , before being authorized to do so . What was the exercise of this power which has been complained of ? Bro . Ewing , on obtaining the patent of his office , called for certain returns from No . 781 , but which returns Bro . Toby refused to furnish him with , and on this ground : fie said , ' You are not yet installed as Brov . G . M ., and therefore you have no right to call for these returns / In taking this line of argument I conceive Bro . Toby made a grave mistake . If the Brethren will refer to the Book of Constitutions they will find , at page 44 , the folio wing with respect to the appointment of Prov . G . M . : — -
" ' The appointment of this officer is a prerogative of the G . M ,, by whom a patent may be granted , during pleasure , to any Brother of eminence and ability in the Craft who may be thought worthy of the appointment . By this patent the Brother is invested with a rank and power , in his particular district , similar to those possessed by the G . M . He shall be installed at the first Prov . Grand Lodge which he may hold after his appointment , ' —It thus appears that a Brother is , in the first instance , appointed to the office
of Prov . G . M . by patent ; and it is quite evident that it is the patent which creates the power , for if it did not , it would be in the power of any Brother , by refusing to acknowledge it , to make null and void the appointments made by the G . M . What does Bro . Ewing do ! To constitute his Grand Lodge he must know who are the members of the Lodges in his Brovince , and he cannot know that unless he asks for returns from the several Lodges , and if they refuse to furnish them when he calls for them , for the pure purpose of doing his best in the selection of Grand Officers , what is he to do ¦? If he has not these returns , how is he
to constitute his Lodge I Common sense will point out that his patent gives him that power . That was all Bro . Ewing did . He called on No . 781 to make certain returns , and that Lodge refused to do so . It is said that the Prov . G . M . did not give the Brethren of No . 781 sufficient notice of his intention to hold the Grand Lodge of his Province . He gave notice , as the correspondence shows , of his being appointed Prov . G . M ., and that he had l'eceived the patent of his appointment . He next called on them himself ; and then , failing to obtain from them the returns which he required , he , thirdly , issued to them his peremptory summons . I do not say that it was one in what we call peremptory terms . ' Even after that summons
the Brethren of No . 781 persevered in their refusal . It will therefore be seen by Grand Lodge that the Brethren of No . 781 exhibited contumacy in that refusal . Under these circumstances , Bro . Ewing proceeded to his installation . By the refusal of Bro . Toby and the other Officers of No . 781 to make the required returns , great injustice was , I think , done to the other members of that Lodge , because for want of those returns they were excluded from Grand office . As I before observed , Bro . Ewing proceeded to his installation , and it is now urged by Bro . Toby and the other Brethren who signed the memorial , that because the Prov . G . M . sent them an invitation to attend the ceremony , he condoned their
offence , and admitted that there was no contumacy in the resistance offered to his authority prior to his being installed . That was not so . All the Prov . G . M . did was this—wishing to preserve peace and good feeling between the Brethren , as was his duty both as a clergyman and a Mason , he held out to them the right hand of fellowship , thereby giving them a locus pwnitent ' uc , which locus jumileiitite
they declined to avail themselves of . Under these circumstances Bro . Ewing , by the advice of the Brov , Grand Lodge—under whose advice he has all along acted —proceeded , " <> t hastily but deliberately , for these misunderstandings had continued from March to May , to suspend Lodge No . 781 from its Masonic functions . But even after that Bro . Ewing did not stand upon the dignity of his office , but went himself down to Hobart Town and invited the contumacious Brethren to
meet him , not as their G . M ., but privately , and try to arrange the points at issue between them . In consequence of his paying them that visit , Bro . Toby and other members of No . 781 met him , and for some time , as it appears from the correspondence , very high , very improper , and very umnasonic altercations took place between them . Afterwards , however , they came to see matters in a better light . Harmony came over thoin , and they agreed that some arrangements should