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Article THE REVELATIONS OF A SQUARE. ← Page 10 of 12 →
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The Revelations Of A Square.
practice at Thurium , the office was scarcel y ever conferred twice on the same person , because if such a practice had been admitted , it was thought that other persons of equal worth would have been excluded from an honour which
ought to be equally accessible to all . " The general laws of Masonry , however , were but loosely administered . It was provided * that no Brother should belong to more than one Loclge within the bills of mortality ; ' but little notice was taken ef that absurd law , for it was violated with impunity by D . G . Masters
Desaguliers and Martin Clare , ancl many others . And again instances occasionally occurred where a Grancl Master continued in office for more than a year , but the society generally suffered by substituting the exception for the rule , as in the case of Lord Byron , who was Grand Master from 1747 to 1752 and never attended a Grand Lodge
, between those periods , which caused Masonry to languish for want of an active and attentive patron . " Again , with reference to private Lodges ; no candidate can be admitted as a Mason , nor can any one become a member without the secrutiny of the ballot-box , and so
imperative were the laws respecting secret votes , that it was provided * ' that when any Brother is proposed to become a member , and any jnerson to be made a Mason , if it appears , upon casting up the ballot , that they are rejected , no member or visiting Brother shall discover , by any means whatever , who those members were that opposed his
election , under the penalty of such Brothers being for everexpelled the Lodge , ( if members , ) and if a visiting Brother , of his being never more admitted as a visitor , or becoming a member ; and immediately after a negative passes on any person being proposed , the Master shall cause this law to be read , that no Brother may plead ignorance .
" After all—I speak from experience , " the Square continued , " the real exercise of power was generally in the hands of a few individuals , and sometimes of a single person , who , by his influence , was able , to dispose of every motion at pleasure . This superiority was exercised in succession , during the eighteenth century , by Brothers Desaguliers , Manningham , Dunckerley , Hesletine , and White .
" In these happy times— they were times of real enjoyment— labour was conducted with great seriousness ; and perhaps you will be surprised when I tell you—and if you
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Revelations Of A Square.
practice at Thurium , the office was scarcel y ever conferred twice on the same person , because if such a practice had been admitted , it was thought that other persons of equal worth would have been excluded from an honour which
ought to be equally accessible to all . " The general laws of Masonry , however , were but loosely administered . It was provided * that no Brother should belong to more than one Loclge within the bills of mortality ; ' but little notice was taken ef that absurd law , for it was violated with impunity by D . G . Masters
Desaguliers and Martin Clare , ancl many others . And again instances occasionally occurred where a Grancl Master continued in office for more than a year , but the society generally suffered by substituting the exception for the rule , as in the case of Lord Byron , who was Grand Master from 1747 to 1752 and never attended a Grand Lodge
, between those periods , which caused Masonry to languish for want of an active and attentive patron . " Again , with reference to private Lodges ; no candidate can be admitted as a Mason , nor can any one become a member without the secrutiny of the ballot-box , and so
imperative were the laws respecting secret votes , that it was provided * ' that when any Brother is proposed to become a member , and any jnerson to be made a Mason , if it appears , upon casting up the ballot , that they are rejected , no member or visiting Brother shall discover , by any means whatever , who those members were that opposed his
election , under the penalty of such Brothers being for everexpelled the Lodge , ( if members , ) and if a visiting Brother , of his being never more admitted as a visitor , or becoming a member ; and immediately after a negative passes on any person being proposed , the Master shall cause this law to be read , that no Brother may plead ignorance .
" After all—I speak from experience , " the Square continued , " the real exercise of power was generally in the hands of a few individuals , and sometimes of a single person , who , by his influence , was able , to dispose of every motion at pleasure . This superiority was exercised in succession , during the eighteenth century , by Brothers Desaguliers , Manningham , Dunckerley , Hesletine , and White .
" In these happy times— they were times of real enjoyment— labour was conducted with great seriousness ; and perhaps you will be surprised when I tell you—and if you