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  • March 20, 1859
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The Masonic Observer, March 20, 1859: Page 2

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Ar00200

the correspondence , being prohibited from doing so in consequence of notice of motion not having been given at the Board of Masters , though just previously , on the very same evening , a vote of confidence in the G . M . was pressed and allowed to be put , of which no such notice had been given , and which arose out of a subject not even alluded to in the paper of business .

On the Agenda Paper for Grand Lodge of the 2 nd inst , appeared the following notice : — " The M . W . GRAND MASTER will lay before G . L . the communications that have passed between himself and the Grand Lodge of Canada since the last Quarterly Communication , and -will state his views thereon . " These communications ,

unlike those referred to in September , which were in print and in the hands of every member of G . L ., were read in MS . by the Grand Sec , and their purport therefore could only be imperfectly gathered ; and yet , will it be believed that without the ( as previously ruled , and previously neglected ) required notice at the Board of

Masters , a motion was proposed and carried with reference to these communications , though the attention of the G . M . was specially directed to his ruling on the former occasion ? We must however in fairness mention , that in the first instance the motion was made by the opponents of the Executive , while in the last , it was

brought forward by their own partizans . Now we would humbly ask , under such circumstances as these , who is to blame for the scenes so pathetically deplored , which take place from time to time in G . L . ? A despotism conducted on a fixed system may be submitted to , but a capricious tyranny is unendurable . It fosters faction ; and is directly chargeable with , and responsible for , whatever vices or crimes may be committed under its rule .

We do most unfeignedly believe that the G . M . deeply regrets the present dissensions , and for their existence is only to be considered liable , inasmuch as to the pain and regret of hundreds of the brethren whose loyalty to his office is unquestioned , his lordship appears to have wholly resigned himself to the influence of a Camarilla , from whose trammels he has but to free himself , and to

act by the dictates of his own generous nature , in order to restore peace and harmony , and , by imparting unity , promote efficiency . Our duty has often been a painful one , and in discharging it we may occasionall y have rendered ourselves amenable to censure . Happy shall we be , if , for the future , duty and inclination may be harmoniously blended .

Ar00201

SUFFOLK again ; usque ad nauseam SUFFOLK ; vide the Magazine passim . An ambitious young man of olden time , stole , we are informed in story , fire from heaven , andwas fettered to a barren rock in perpetuity as an expiation of his theft . But what crime have our

friends of the Magazine committed , that they are so remorselessly tied to the sands of Suffolk ? Thenreaders , at least , will acquit them of any recent importation of celestial fire into their hebdomadal lucubrations .

And yet they cannot break the bonds that link them to Suffolk and its mpst loyal Prov . G . L . The Magazine of Feb . 23 rd is before us : we learn that the county renowned for Punches , has been up and doing again . As the Trojan horse was pregnant with mailed men , so groans the White Horse at Ipswich in the parturition of orators . This last Prov . G . L . was

convened in obedience to a clause of the by-laws which enables such to be done whenever special circumstances or the good of the Craft may require it . So said the D . Prov . G . M . at its close : " and what more crying exigency ( he might have proceeded to ask ) could there be , than the opportunity it has offered of reviving last

summer ' s contention and singling out a brother for abuse ? " So two resolutions were passed to testify to the M . W . the EARL OF ZETLAND the sentiments of sympathy which seven long months of thoughtful incubation had hatched within them ; and one to repudiate the term of " sickly sycophancy" as applied to

their demonstration last autumn . We hope that for the former resolutions his lordship will be duly grateful . Sera nunquam est , & a . As regards the latter one , if Bro . BINCKES used the epithet " sickly , " as depreciating the intensity of their feelings , we own it appears to have been misapplied .

What if these brethren call another meeting to throw more dirt at us ? Well , we shall be used to it pretty well by then , but the Society for the prevention of cruelty must really look after the poor old White Horse at Loswich .

Pass we to the Prov . G . L . of Cambridgeshire , which is reported to have been convened on the 10 th of January . The gratuitous absurdity of these sympathy meetings could hardly be more typically personified than it is by the chief spokesman on this occasion . From no less oracular lips than those of a Grand Chaplain of England , the despotism of the press has immortalized

a farrago of the most imprudent nonsense that ever degraded an adulator or the innocent victim of his homage . We leave to the contempt of honest men the gross want of candour evinced in quoting from our pages an article antagonistic to the M . W . G . M ., while the hearers are referred to " that excellent publication the

Freemason ' s Magazine" for his lordship ' s answer to it , the insinuation being that we denied to that reply the accuracy of report and fair publicity which the words of the M . W . G . M . merit , and have always obtained at our hands . But , when we find Bro . Ward abandoning , as if untenablethe high ground of public riht or wrong

, g , and calling upon his hearers to afford a blind and undiscriminating support to theExecutive , asLoRDZETLAND ' privatefriends , because forsooth he once attended a lodge meeting at Cambridge and appointed to a G . Warden ' s chair in violation of the Constitutions , a young and noble brother initiated in that Lodge ; we are not more

amazed at the unblushing effrontery of the advocate , than at the toleration extended to him by the court before whom he held his brief . These arguments are hardly worthy of Cambridge . The M . W . G . M . and common sense share between them the insults they

“The Masonic Observer: 1859-03-20, Page 2” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 15 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mob/issues/mob_20031859/page/2/.
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Mark Masonry. Article 14
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ADDRESS Article 18
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Ar00200

the correspondence , being prohibited from doing so in consequence of notice of motion not having been given at the Board of Masters , though just previously , on the very same evening , a vote of confidence in the G . M . was pressed and allowed to be put , of which no such notice had been given , and which arose out of a subject not even alluded to in the paper of business .

On the Agenda Paper for Grand Lodge of the 2 nd inst , appeared the following notice : — " The M . W . GRAND MASTER will lay before G . L . the communications that have passed between himself and the Grand Lodge of Canada since the last Quarterly Communication , and -will state his views thereon . " These communications ,

unlike those referred to in September , which were in print and in the hands of every member of G . L ., were read in MS . by the Grand Sec , and their purport therefore could only be imperfectly gathered ; and yet , will it be believed that without the ( as previously ruled , and previously neglected ) required notice at the Board of

Masters , a motion was proposed and carried with reference to these communications , though the attention of the G . M . was specially directed to his ruling on the former occasion ? We must however in fairness mention , that in the first instance the motion was made by the opponents of the Executive , while in the last , it was

brought forward by their own partizans . Now we would humbly ask , under such circumstances as these , who is to blame for the scenes so pathetically deplored , which take place from time to time in G . L . ? A despotism conducted on a fixed system may be submitted to , but a capricious tyranny is unendurable . It fosters faction ; and is directly chargeable with , and responsible for , whatever vices or crimes may be committed under its rule .

We do most unfeignedly believe that the G . M . deeply regrets the present dissensions , and for their existence is only to be considered liable , inasmuch as to the pain and regret of hundreds of the brethren whose loyalty to his office is unquestioned , his lordship appears to have wholly resigned himself to the influence of a Camarilla , from whose trammels he has but to free himself , and to

act by the dictates of his own generous nature , in order to restore peace and harmony , and , by imparting unity , promote efficiency . Our duty has often been a painful one , and in discharging it we may occasionall y have rendered ourselves amenable to censure . Happy shall we be , if , for the future , duty and inclination may be harmoniously blended .

Ar00201

SUFFOLK again ; usque ad nauseam SUFFOLK ; vide the Magazine passim . An ambitious young man of olden time , stole , we are informed in story , fire from heaven , andwas fettered to a barren rock in perpetuity as an expiation of his theft . But what crime have our

friends of the Magazine committed , that they are so remorselessly tied to the sands of Suffolk ? Thenreaders , at least , will acquit them of any recent importation of celestial fire into their hebdomadal lucubrations .

And yet they cannot break the bonds that link them to Suffolk and its mpst loyal Prov . G . L . The Magazine of Feb . 23 rd is before us : we learn that the county renowned for Punches , has been up and doing again . As the Trojan horse was pregnant with mailed men , so groans the White Horse at Ipswich in the parturition of orators . This last Prov . G . L . was

convened in obedience to a clause of the by-laws which enables such to be done whenever special circumstances or the good of the Craft may require it . So said the D . Prov . G . M . at its close : " and what more crying exigency ( he might have proceeded to ask ) could there be , than the opportunity it has offered of reviving last

summer ' s contention and singling out a brother for abuse ? " So two resolutions were passed to testify to the M . W . the EARL OF ZETLAND the sentiments of sympathy which seven long months of thoughtful incubation had hatched within them ; and one to repudiate the term of " sickly sycophancy" as applied to

their demonstration last autumn . We hope that for the former resolutions his lordship will be duly grateful . Sera nunquam est , & a . As regards the latter one , if Bro . BINCKES used the epithet " sickly , " as depreciating the intensity of their feelings , we own it appears to have been misapplied .

What if these brethren call another meeting to throw more dirt at us ? Well , we shall be used to it pretty well by then , but the Society for the prevention of cruelty must really look after the poor old White Horse at Loswich .

Pass we to the Prov . G . L . of Cambridgeshire , which is reported to have been convened on the 10 th of January . The gratuitous absurdity of these sympathy meetings could hardly be more typically personified than it is by the chief spokesman on this occasion . From no less oracular lips than those of a Grand Chaplain of England , the despotism of the press has immortalized

a farrago of the most imprudent nonsense that ever degraded an adulator or the innocent victim of his homage . We leave to the contempt of honest men the gross want of candour evinced in quoting from our pages an article antagonistic to the M . W . G . M ., while the hearers are referred to " that excellent publication the

Freemason ' s Magazine" for his lordship ' s answer to it , the insinuation being that we denied to that reply the accuracy of report and fair publicity which the words of the M . W . G . M . merit , and have always obtained at our hands . But , when we find Bro . Ward abandoning , as if untenablethe high ground of public riht or wrong

, g , and calling upon his hearers to afford a blind and undiscriminating support to theExecutive , asLoRDZETLAND ' privatefriends , because forsooth he once attended a lodge meeting at Cambridge and appointed to a G . Warden ' s chair in violation of the Constitutions , a young and noble brother initiated in that Lodge ; we are not more

amazed at the unblushing effrontery of the advocate , than at the toleration extended to him by the court before whom he held his brief . These arguments are hardly worthy of Cambridge . The M . W . G . M . and common sense share between them the insults they

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