-
Articles/Ads
Article THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. ← Page 3 of 12 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
DEAR Sm AND BROTHER , —No one has read with greater concern than myself your intimation in the last number but one of the Freemasons Quarterl y Review , that , " with the close of the year it was more than probable your labours would terminate , " From that notice I could not possibly glean or have anticipated the real cause for such an announcement—an announcement which must have given a terrible shock to the Masonic edifice in generalbut to the English portion of it in particular
, . With the last number of your excellent and well-directed periodical the whole truth came out ; and it must be pretty evident to all your readers , that you have for years been the untiring advocate of Masonry and its Charitable Institutions , to your no small pecuniary sacrifice , and still greater mental anxieties for the success of your undertaking . Although bound to believe this is the status of affairs , I cannot help saying I was more than astonishednaythunderstruckto find that the Craft was so
, , , apathetic as to its best interests , and so heedless of " the ways and means" by which the Review was to be maintained ; especially after the statement in the valedictory address for the year 1839 . I should rather have thought that our Masonic Review was one of the . most widely and extensively circulated periodicals of the day ; and that every zealous Mason , who could afford it , was possessing himself of it , if only to have had a record on his own shelvesof the events and occurrencesthe
, , literature and transactions of the Fraternity , from the time he first saw the light , and became a branch of the goodly tree . But it seems my surmises have been incorrect , the larger part of the Brethren have not given this proof of their zeal ; only a small portion of the Masonic body ( and that , perhaps , not the most affluent ) , have shown theirintellectuality and their spirit of inquiry : their desire of knowledge appears to have been forgotten , much more . the » iean « by which this
handmaid to such knowledge ( the Review ) is to be fostered and supported . I cannot , however , think or believe that the Craft , containing as it does , so many great minds , and so much rank , opulence , and talent , does not possess the disposition to support a vehicle for its news . It can only be , either that it remains latent or dormant . One or two active memhers in
every Lodge , if they would put their shoulder to the wheel , would soon arouse the Brethren from this lethargy . They should instil into the minds of their members , that every Brother who has the means ( and , it is evident , the will requires stimulating more than the way ) , should take a copy , not only for the above purpose , which would always afford him information . and amusement , at those times when the mind , by previous close occupation , has become unfitted for heavier reading , but for the support of the work ; forif strength be not called into requisition to
sup-, port the great organ of Brotherly love , relief and truth , the Fraternity will , necessarily , it appears , be robbed of the wisdom and the beauty which have contrived and adorned—have ever illumined its pages . The strength , in this instance , resides in the supply to , the individual members of Lodges , and not in the meagre supply to the Lodge only ; indeed , it is to the intelligent and thinking portion of the Brethren generallthat such a work looks for a pillar of support for its means of
y , existence . Every Lodge should , nevertheless , take a copy , but the object of this copy should be to afford the poorer Brethren of the Lodge the same advantages which the Brethren , who are placed on the higher spokes of fortune ' s wheel enjoy , and afterwards to be deposited in the Lodge as archives of the Order .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Quarterly Review.
DEAR Sm AND BROTHER , —No one has read with greater concern than myself your intimation in the last number but one of the Freemasons Quarterl y Review , that , " with the close of the year it was more than probable your labours would terminate , " From that notice I could not possibly glean or have anticipated the real cause for such an announcement—an announcement which must have given a terrible shock to the Masonic edifice in generalbut to the English portion of it in particular
, . With the last number of your excellent and well-directed periodical the whole truth came out ; and it must be pretty evident to all your readers , that you have for years been the untiring advocate of Masonry and its Charitable Institutions , to your no small pecuniary sacrifice , and still greater mental anxieties for the success of your undertaking . Although bound to believe this is the status of affairs , I cannot help saying I was more than astonishednaythunderstruckto find that the Craft was so
, , , apathetic as to its best interests , and so heedless of " the ways and means" by which the Review was to be maintained ; especially after the statement in the valedictory address for the year 1839 . I should rather have thought that our Masonic Review was one of the . most widely and extensively circulated periodicals of the day ; and that every zealous Mason , who could afford it , was possessing himself of it , if only to have had a record on his own shelvesof the events and occurrencesthe
, , literature and transactions of the Fraternity , from the time he first saw the light , and became a branch of the goodly tree . But it seems my surmises have been incorrect , the larger part of the Brethren have not given this proof of their zeal ; only a small portion of the Masonic body ( and that , perhaps , not the most affluent ) , have shown theirintellectuality and their spirit of inquiry : their desire of knowledge appears to have been forgotten , much more . the » iean « by which this
handmaid to such knowledge ( the Review ) is to be fostered and supported . I cannot , however , think or believe that the Craft , containing as it does , so many great minds , and so much rank , opulence , and talent , does not possess the disposition to support a vehicle for its news . It can only be , either that it remains latent or dormant . One or two active memhers in
every Lodge , if they would put their shoulder to the wheel , would soon arouse the Brethren from this lethargy . They should instil into the minds of their members , that every Brother who has the means ( and , it is evident , the will requires stimulating more than the way ) , should take a copy , not only for the above purpose , which would always afford him information . and amusement , at those times when the mind , by previous close occupation , has become unfitted for heavier reading , but for the support of the work ; forif strength be not called into requisition to
sup-, port the great organ of Brotherly love , relief and truth , the Fraternity will , necessarily , it appears , be robbed of the wisdom and the beauty which have contrived and adorned—have ever illumined its pages . The strength , in this instance , resides in the supply to , the individual members of Lodges , and not in the meagre supply to the Lodge only ; indeed , it is to the intelligent and thinking portion of the Brethren generallthat such a work looks for a pillar of support for its means of
y , existence . Every Lodge should , nevertheless , take a copy , but the object of this copy should be to afford the poorer Brethren of the Lodge the same advantages which the Brethren , who are placed on the higher spokes of fortune ' s wheel enjoy , and afterwards to be deposited in the Lodge as archives of the Order .