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Article CORRESPONDENCE. ← Page 2 of 8 →
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Correspondence.
that he is fully qualified to sit therein , as in the interval he has been duly installed by a Lodge of Chair-Masters ! As to the third system , the W . M . elect takes the Chair , and that is all . Every Brother , who has been elected W . M . of a Lodge , and has served his twelve months of office , has been placed in the Chair in either of these three methods , and can append to his signature the expressive symbols , P . M .
The true value of this distinction will best be shown by an examination of the ceremonies ; the first and third systems explain themselves ; they do " little ill and little good" to the W . M . elect ; if they confer no honour ujion him , they certainly do not add much to his Masonic knowledge ; they are , however , not very much in use amongst the Lodges , the second system being acted upon by the greater number of them . And this deserves more especial mention , from
the circumstance , that careless , slovenly , indifferent , and ignorant as Scotch Masons are , in many respects , they maintain this point , and act upon it , as a great principle , not allowing a Master to preside over them , unless he has been duly installed ; whilst some of the Lodges , hy their rules , insist that the W . M . must he a Royal Arch Mason . It is curious , that in the midst of so much indifference and want of precision on many and important pointson this so
, much strictness obtains . The name given to this ceremony is varied apparently according to circumstances . It is called " Past Master ; " " Chiiir Master ;" " Passing the Chair in due form ; " " Installed Master ; '' " Chairing Installation ; " but , whatever be its name , the ceremony is one and
the same ; it is , in fact , the same as the Installation of a W . M . into the chair of an English Lodge , with a slight difference , which is quite immaterial , and of little consequence to be remarked upon ; as it is rather with the working of the Lodges that we have in the mean time to do . It might naturally he supposed , that the Lodges , which are so particular in maintaining this principle , would be equally so in choosing their " Pillar of Wisdom , " inasmuch as it is on this support that the stability of the Lodge mainly rests ; hut while we
must honestly and sincerely accord all due credit for the maintenance of this principle , we fear that we cannot express our praise or admiration in the same terms for their selection of that Pillar , upon which the prosperity of their Lodges depend . Dr . Oliver has given a beautiful sketch of what character " the Pillar of Wisdom" should he , and an idea of what it very frequently is . The latter descriptionI regret to saybut too frequently applies
, , to " the Pillars of Wisdom" in this quarter . If the Brethren were at all careful to select their candidates for this office , —those alone who are best qualified to carry on the Masonic work , —there would be far less reason to complain of the working , and there would be a prospect of speedy improvement . With Dr . Oliver ' s " Hail-fellow-well-met " W . Master , it is not to he expected ; the pleasures of " refreshment " are of more importance to him than the working of the Lodge ; he
is a most persevering and industrious canvasser for candidates for Masonry ; none can escarie his importunities ; the " means , " hy which they are initiated , I have already shown , whilst the pleasure and amusement of refreshment is the end . In such Lodges there is very little hope of improvement . If we take the case of a " Pillar of Wisdom , " who is anxious to carry on the work as it ought to be performed ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
that he is fully qualified to sit therein , as in the interval he has been duly installed by a Lodge of Chair-Masters ! As to the third system , the W . M . elect takes the Chair , and that is all . Every Brother , who has been elected W . M . of a Lodge , and has served his twelve months of office , has been placed in the Chair in either of these three methods , and can append to his signature the expressive symbols , P . M .
The true value of this distinction will best be shown by an examination of the ceremonies ; the first and third systems explain themselves ; they do " little ill and little good" to the W . M . elect ; if they confer no honour ujion him , they certainly do not add much to his Masonic knowledge ; they are , however , not very much in use amongst the Lodges , the second system being acted upon by the greater number of them . And this deserves more especial mention , from
the circumstance , that careless , slovenly , indifferent , and ignorant as Scotch Masons are , in many respects , they maintain this point , and act upon it , as a great principle , not allowing a Master to preside over them , unless he has been duly installed ; whilst some of the Lodges , hy their rules , insist that the W . M . must he a Royal Arch Mason . It is curious , that in the midst of so much indifference and want of precision on many and important pointson this so
, much strictness obtains . The name given to this ceremony is varied apparently according to circumstances . It is called " Past Master ; " " Chiiir Master ;" " Passing the Chair in due form ; " " Installed Master ; '' " Chairing Installation ; " but , whatever be its name , the ceremony is one and
the same ; it is , in fact , the same as the Installation of a W . M . into the chair of an English Lodge , with a slight difference , which is quite immaterial , and of little consequence to be remarked upon ; as it is rather with the working of the Lodges that we have in the mean time to do . It might naturally he supposed , that the Lodges , which are so particular in maintaining this principle , would be equally so in choosing their " Pillar of Wisdom , " inasmuch as it is on this support that the stability of the Lodge mainly rests ; hut while we
must honestly and sincerely accord all due credit for the maintenance of this principle , we fear that we cannot express our praise or admiration in the same terms for their selection of that Pillar , upon which the prosperity of their Lodges depend . Dr . Oliver has given a beautiful sketch of what character " the Pillar of Wisdom" should he , and an idea of what it very frequently is . The latter descriptionI regret to saybut too frequently applies
, , to " the Pillars of Wisdom" in this quarter . If the Brethren were at all careful to select their candidates for this office , —those alone who are best qualified to carry on the Masonic work , —there would be far less reason to complain of the working , and there would be a prospect of speedy improvement . With Dr . Oliver ' s " Hail-fellow-well-met " W . Master , it is not to he expected ; the pleasures of " refreshment " are of more importance to him than the working of the Lodge ; he
is a most persevering and industrious canvasser for candidates for Masonry ; none can escarie his importunities ; the " means , " hy which they are initiated , I have already shown , whilst the pleasure and amusement of refreshment is the end . In such Lodges there is very little hope of improvement . If we take the case of a " Pillar of Wisdom , " who is anxious to carry on the work as it ought to be performed ,