-
Articles/Ads
Article MASONIC AFFAIES IN CANADA. ← Page 9 of 11 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Affaies In Canada.
Wilson , There is an editorial entitled , Severance of the Canadian Lodges from the Grand Lodge of England , ' The article is too long to insert at length ; but your lordship can doubtless procure it . It commences by saying , 'So important do we consider the step which has been taken , and we consider justly by our Brethren in Canada , & c . '—and concludes as follows : — " ' Not get an answer from the Grand Secretary ' s office , quotha !—bah !—as well get the Grand Master to attend upon any public Masonic occasion , except , indeed ,
the nomination to office of some Whig protege is mooted— -then indeed he is punctual . The presence of our excellent Bro . Dobie , with his sound practical head and talents for business , has been the shield of Ajax over and over again , behind which the incapables , Lord Zetland , Bro . White , and Co ., have been glad to cower . Their dulness it is which has lost us Canada , and for which the West Indies is , already threatening severance ; let the system go on , and the development of Masonry will shortly be reduced to two individuals , the placeman and the toady , whilst the Grand Lodge will in all probability be removed to Newmarket , the only place whence no plea operates to withhold our Grand Master . '
" ¦ I pass to the April number for 1856 , and refer you to the leading editorial , headed " Our Duty , "—a very lengthy one , and devoted to encouragement of independence , and condemnation of your lordship and the Grand Lodge , I quote one sentence : — u ¦/ Are we so stultified in our toadyism that nothing but rank in our Grand
Masters will serve our turn . Do we love the head of gold so much that we ignore altogether the tottering incapacity of the feet of clay ? If personal influence in society is needed for the benefit of the Craft , is it now so scant of noblemen that we are obliged , for the say of the thing , to put up year after year with the present Grand Master , who ( these very evils greatly prove , as it is notorious also ) never exertshimself for the Craft at all . ' ' 'i
I pass on to the May number for 1856 , and find in a leader , headed Toadyism , ' and calculated to bring into contempt the English Craft at large , the following words : — " 'Let palmam qui meruit ferat be the practice , as it is the principle of the Craft . We should then hear no more of large Lodges of scientific men , who meet to eat and drink , yet never devote an extra day to give in public the lucubrations of their studious hours , as if hospitality were the only Masonic virtue , ^—of
Provincial Grand Masters never visiting their Lodges , —of cliques in the latter , —of colonies alienating themselves from our banner on account of Grand Secretaries ' discourtesy or Grand Masters' inattention , —of the latter ' s fondness for quadrupeds absorbing his interest in Masonic bipeds ; in a word , of all those anomalous disorders which render the Craft at present a by-word to the world for convivial antiquarianism , instead of the synonyme for intellect and honour . ' "' I pass to the June number for 1856 , and there appears an editorial , entitled c Masonic Reform / as follows : — Ci (
We had hoped , indeed , that the sullen endurance which ill-concealed the ever and anon out-spoken dissatisfaction at his tenacity of office , would have induced Lord Zetland to have relinquished a charge which he is evidently incompetent to fill , ' & c . " Examine the October , November , and December numbers for 1856 , read the reports of the proceedings of Grand Lodge , and the accounts in detail of the disturbances and uproar that occurred , and your Lordship will agree with what is there said : — Here followed a scene such as has rarely , if ever , been witnessed within the solemn and ceremonial precincts of the Supreme Grand Lodge of
England . ' I will only mention , as a corollary , that W . Bro . Warren , the publisher , appears to have taken a leading part therein , and was consequently an eye-witness . Your Lordship ignored the Grand Lodge proceedings of the 1 st October , 1856 , although of vast importance to Canada , and no official record exists . Therefore , I would make special reference to page 789 of the November number for 1856 , for there your Lordship will find a memorable speech made by the Earl of Carnarvon on that occasion , in which he demonstrated to Grand Lodge that your proposals to Canada could not be satisfactory . In fact , my Lord , I could refer you to every number of the Magazine for some article calculated to give rise to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Affaies In Canada.
Wilson , There is an editorial entitled , Severance of the Canadian Lodges from the Grand Lodge of England , ' The article is too long to insert at length ; but your lordship can doubtless procure it . It commences by saying , 'So important do we consider the step which has been taken , and we consider justly by our Brethren in Canada , & c . '—and concludes as follows : — " ' Not get an answer from the Grand Secretary ' s office , quotha !—bah !—as well get the Grand Master to attend upon any public Masonic occasion , except , indeed ,
the nomination to office of some Whig protege is mooted— -then indeed he is punctual . The presence of our excellent Bro . Dobie , with his sound practical head and talents for business , has been the shield of Ajax over and over again , behind which the incapables , Lord Zetland , Bro . White , and Co ., have been glad to cower . Their dulness it is which has lost us Canada , and for which the West Indies is , already threatening severance ; let the system go on , and the development of Masonry will shortly be reduced to two individuals , the placeman and the toady , whilst the Grand Lodge will in all probability be removed to Newmarket , the only place whence no plea operates to withhold our Grand Master . '
" ¦ I pass to the April number for 1856 , and refer you to the leading editorial , headed " Our Duty , "—a very lengthy one , and devoted to encouragement of independence , and condemnation of your lordship and the Grand Lodge , I quote one sentence : — u ¦/ Are we so stultified in our toadyism that nothing but rank in our Grand
Masters will serve our turn . Do we love the head of gold so much that we ignore altogether the tottering incapacity of the feet of clay ? If personal influence in society is needed for the benefit of the Craft , is it now so scant of noblemen that we are obliged , for the say of the thing , to put up year after year with the present Grand Master , who ( these very evils greatly prove , as it is notorious also ) never exertshimself for the Craft at all . ' ' 'i
I pass on to the May number for 1856 , and find in a leader , headed Toadyism , ' and calculated to bring into contempt the English Craft at large , the following words : — " 'Let palmam qui meruit ferat be the practice , as it is the principle of the Craft . We should then hear no more of large Lodges of scientific men , who meet to eat and drink , yet never devote an extra day to give in public the lucubrations of their studious hours , as if hospitality were the only Masonic virtue , ^—of
Provincial Grand Masters never visiting their Lodges , —of cliques in the latter , —of colonies alienating themselves from our banner on account of Grand Secretaries ' discourtesy or Grand Masters' inattention , —of the latter ' s fondness for quadrupeds absorbing his interest in Masonic bipeds ; in a word , of all those anomalous disorders which render the Craft at present a by-word to the world for convivial antiquarianism , instead of the synonyme for intellect and honour . ' "' I pass to the June number for 1856 , and there appears an editorial , entitled c Masonic Reform / as follows : — Ci (
We had hoped , indeed , that the sullen endurance which ill-concealed the ever and anon out-spoken dissatisfaction at his tenacity of office , would have induced Lord Zetland to have relinquished a charge which he is evidently incompetent to fill , ' & c . " Examine the October , November , and December numbers for 1856 , read the reports of the proceedings of Grand Lodge , and the accounts in detail of the disturbances and uproar that occurred , and your Lordship will agree with what is there said : — Here followed a scene such as has rarely , if ever , been witnessed within the solemn and ceremonial precincts of the Supreme Grand Lodge of
England . ' I will only mention , as a corollary , that W . Bro . Warren , the publisher , appears to have taken a leading part therein , and was consequently an eye-witness . Your Lordship ignored the Grand Lodge proceedings of the 1 st October , 1856 , although of vast importance to Canada , and no official record exists . Therefore , I would make special reference to page 789 of the November number for 1856 , for there your Lordship will find a memorable speech made by the Earl of Carnarvon on that occasion , in which he demonstrated to Grand Lodge that your proposals to Canada could not be satisfactory . In fact , my Lord , I could refer you to every number of the Magazine for some article calculated to give rise to