Iwlfli ■ ft Lm'is -I' ‘^'l * -"S \\ r? lSt» ■'" »'r H. - I - p- ;'h(qfij.. . w ■,M^ra> ,'i-i# - lit .’.‘jiffi- . T* , , Of V ’' ‘’t-i« 1 li ' I** -si " v’;M ,-.; THE MASONIC JOURNAL THE MASONIC JOURNAL GREENSBOEO, N. C. Friday, July 14, J876. E. A. WILSON, Editor & Pioprietor TERMS: 1 copy One Year 1 copj' Six Mouths $ 2 00 1 00 ' Xo club ratcs.“19a Any person sending us 5 or more year ly subscriptions, with the CASH, will re ceive the paper one year free of charge, i ITnUssrmeiued, allpapet'S will be \ promptly stopped at the exp>iration of the term of subscription, of which due notice j will be (fiven by a cross, X mark. i Canvassing Agents; M'. K. Edwards. • Elmnwowl T.oclg^, 2iG | .r. B. J)avis, Gn-eiisboixi T>D;{^e. 76. | Our Commissionetl (.Hinvassini; Ag:ents arc j autliorizcd lf> receive ami receipt for sub- j seriptions and atWertisiug. Local Agents will luive their saliscriptions receipted from tills ottice. Con’o.sroiulenis desiring a reply must enclose a Stamp for return Postage, and all matter desired to be seen only by the Editor shonM be marked “Pbivate" on the lower left-hand corner of the envolope. The Masonic Journal wliicli is published :tt Greensboro is worthy of oui support. It is ably edited. po-'SC^si's a high degree of mer it and contains. besides Masonic Literature, well selected matter which is calculated to make its visit.s desirable ard instructive. Thos. S Kenan, Grand High .Priest. Tiie enterprise ought to succeed. "We need a means n'hercby a more general I^Iasonic com munication may be had : a mcan.s for the more gxmoral diffusion of Masonic intelligence. I liope every !Mason will take the Journal —every Lodge endorse it. and at once make it the Organ of Masonry in Korth Carolina. With such encouragement and support I am satisfied you can make it of incah-ulahle ^corth to ike .Frateriiittj. Geo. "W. 3L>ount, Grand Master. All of which is endorsed by ry the Grand Lodge and Grand“©8 Iry' Chapter. "©a Avouchal. Qukstion.—It' a man comes to me and says he is a lilaster Mason (of course I am one) 1 examine and find liim wortliy and well qiiali- fleil Can I not vouch for him in my Lodge witiiout liaving sat in a Lodge with him pre vious to my examination. I tiold, according to my obligation, I can. My opponents older and lictter posted Masons than I am, take tlieop- s'te view, which is that you must sit in a Lodge wntli, to enable you to voneli fora broth r. Axswer.—Tlie older brethren are right. Von n\ay t'xaniine a strange brother so far as satisfy your.-clf, Init yon can only voucli foi- him by having previously sat with him in a i-egular I.odge or having examined him at Hie lodge VO 111 by or.'.er of tlie Ma.ster. The above question and answer clip- ped from the Snspen.slori Bridge (N. Y ) Journal contains some strange doctrine to us. We have before ruled against it, atiel do so still. There are several rules by which the right of recognition and free Masonic- intercourse are to be gov erned, among which are due examinatio'”. or legal Masonic information. These are landmarks that cannot be altered or abridged. But there are several points that must also be considered, among which is, the Brother who vouches for another by examination must be suffi ciently skilled in the work to make a thorough examination of the party for whom he proposes to vouch. An exami nation tlui,s made, and under all the re- qiii.site tests and safeguards, is ail that can possibly' be required when done at the Lodge room and by order of the Worshipful Master. Due examination by a Brother, whether at a Lodge and in the presence of many, or in a wilderness with none present but the two, is the same in the light of law and reason, and should always be accepted. Will our good Brother please tell us what strength is added to the examiua tion by its being done at the Lodge and by order of the Master, over that of any other place ? We confess we are unable to see it. Of course, having previously sat in a Lodge with him is the very best evidence, but must not be made the inexorable rule, or you debar many a worthy and bright Mason from visiting your Lodge, and abridge the Masonic rights of your beat and brightest membeis, for, we hold, a test that is not sufficient to secure an avouchal will not justify ,a Brother in holding Masonic intercourse with a stranger. To be sure we advocate.great prudence and caution in such matters, hut must oppose ail such unreasonable and, to us, unwarrantable requirements. We think if our good Brother will look over the law on this subject he will be convinced that we are right and he wrong. “Ought the World to Kno-vv It.” Under this heading we published, last week, a communication from an esteem ed correspondent, over the signature of “Omega," which was written in answer to an article of ours published a few weeks since. “Omega'’ has evidently persuaded himself that there is a wide difference in our views on tbi.s subject, whereas, if he will carefully read our article over again, he will at once see there is not as great a conflict in our views as he imagines there is. Before proceeding further, we will state that there is a wide ditfereiice be tween revealing the transactions of a Lodge, and the result of those transac tions, a distinction which seems to have been overlooked by “Omega.” lie says “in these latter days, the transactions of our Lodges are spoken of too heedlessly before the world.” In this we agree, and we go further and say, that this heedless speaking of the ironsaciions of Lodges before the world should be punished. It is a great evil, especially'in some locali ties, and has led to much harm. Indeed it is pointedly against the written law of the Grand Lodge. Art. 18, Sec. 9, of the Masonic Code, says: “Disclosures to others than Masons, of important trans actions within a Lodge,” are regarded as puni.«b.able offenses, &c., &c. This refers especially to transactions in the Lodge— to the proceedings, business, discussions, &c., &c, It cannot refer to the result of the transactions, because in the same Article, Sec. 7, (5), it is made the duty of the Secretary to “report to each An- nu.-it'Gommuiiication of the Grand Lodge, a list of the members suspended or ex pelled, during the year, which shall be published in the proceedings,” and which proceeding.s may be re-ad by any one. “0 mega” says; “If publicity is the sliielil by .vliicli Masonry is to be protected I would ask tin! Hrollior Ed itor wiiy lias not the Institution long ago sunk into disliouor and oblivion ? To iidinit this would be to destroy one of tl:e principal source s of its vitality and success; it would be iilaeiiig a canker-wonn at its tap-root, wbicli wonlil destroy the life of this beautiful tree, under whose wide-spreading brniiclies, so many forlorn and wea-y travelei-s have found slicUer and repose We did not say all that, good Brother. We said there were cases where it would be proper to publish. We say so still. Desperate cases require desperate reme- ! dies, and these remedies are being ap- j plied all over the country. Take up the i Masonic Journals of the country, and it will be seen that rogues and rascals are' frequently published and the Fraternity warned against them. And this is right. For the benefit of our correspondent, we will relate-an incident that occurred in this State, a few years since, and which came under our personal observation. Names are fictitious of course. . Bro. Jones was a prominent Miyson in j the town of Borough in this State, and : was a reader of two or three Mason-ic Journals. One day he read an account of one Lieut. Rogers, who had perpetra ted several rascalities, had left his Stats- and had gone South, &o., &o, As it I happened, on the evening of the very j day that Bro. Jones read this notice of ! Lieut. Rogers, his Lodge met. Going to- j the LoHge that night, he found in the ante-room .a stranger, who wished to visit the Lodge, as he confessed, for the pur pose of asking assi.stance ; stating that he had lost lUis purse, &o., and only want ed funds to enable him to reach his home, in an adjoin’ng State. Bro. Jones heard his story, and when he had (i-nisb- ed,he looked at him with- a pienetraliing eye, and said : “Lieut. Sogers, I have heard of you before,” at the same time taking the paper from his pocket and pointing to the notice. “You can get no assistance here.” The Lieut, did not re main to hear the last words, but hastily retreated, and has not been seen since. But for the publication of this man’s vil lainies, the Fraternity would doubtles-s have been imposed upon, because the Lieut, was represented .as being very sharp, and a bright Mason. But it raav be arg'ued, that this was an extreme c-,ise. True, -and it is only extreme cases that we would publish to the world, Mitchell, the highest Masonic au thority in this country says that secrecy should be observed until final action, af ter which the world may know of the expulsion or siispension. Thus it will be seen that this distinguished author more than sustains our po.sition. We only took the ground that extreme cases of expulsion might be published. The error "Omega” has fallen into is confounding the transactions of a Lodge with the final action, or result of the transactions. When he comes to view the matter in its proper light, we feel sure that "Omega’ will be convinced that there is not as wide a difference in our opinions as he seems to Biif>()Ose. Elections of Officers. ORE LODGE, 104—WASHIKGTON. Seth Bridgemar.,—-W. M. J. G. Bragaw—S. W. D. B Wharton—J. W. J. F. Randolph — Treas. E. S. Hoyt—Sec. Adam Warner—S. D. G. J. Lookyer—J. D. R. W. Minor and Wm. Bayr.or—Stew ards. Jos. A. Farrow—Tiler. Time of Regular Communications; First and Third Tuesday in each month. JOSEPH WAEREN LODGE, 93—STAKTOKS- BUEG. F, M. Moye—W. M. D. G. W, Ward-S. W. W. H. Applewhite—J. W. S. FI. Tyson—Treas. W. L. Grimmer—Sec. J. W. Peacock—3. D. J. H. Morgan—J. D. A.. S. Eason and J. ilinshew Stewards. Wiley Smith—Tiler. Time of Regular Communications: Thursday in each month. The fnn-ral of Bro. B. B. Saii].s will t-ake place at his residence near Saul’s X Roads on the third Sunday in -July. All Masons in good standing are invited. First Lovion Fnemasm. iEe Vicar of Brigg and the Ereemasons. The following letter was addressed'to. the editor of the “Hull and, Linoolnshire Times”; Sib,—You gave b. your ket issue an accurate report of- the proceedings of the Freemasons-at Brigg on the Gth mst. at the Lincolnshire provincial meetinv It is generally understood that the objacto of the fr-a-teriiity are the (iromotion of be- ' iievolence, m.®iali,ty—in a- word, every charitable feeling and practice, and eve ry Christian and moral virtue. On this occasion, as several clergymen belong to the Order, it was desired by some of the members, as wa.s the case at Peterbor- ' f-ugli Cathedral the week prior to the last, and some time since at York Mins ter, to have a service at Brigg Church- but the Vicar, the Rev. W. J. Wylie, A M,, claiming a gift of penetration beyond his clerical brethren, discovered such infidelity or e.xpansion of religions views among Freemasons as to refuse them the privilege of the worst of sinners—yicsri, mi smitium—to j.oin, as Freemasons, in his Church at Brigg (which by the bye, isaNatioiial Churchjs ii» the serviceof prayer and praise, an.I declined to allow one of the Grand Chaplains of tlieirOr der, a duly ordained Hiini,ster of the Church of England, as well as Mr. Wylie, and wlio.se te-achiug must conform to the articles and liiurgy of the Church of En gland, to address Freemasons on their religious and moral duties in his church, or rather the Church of England, at Brigg. Fuithermore, it may be stated as authentic that one of the sidesmen of Brigg Church,, an influential resident m that town, aided the vicar by his influ ence and purse, very recently, to place a peal of bells in the tower of Brigg Church, and this gentleman is well known to be the lead.ing Freemason in the town of Brigg; ami Die Master of the Freema sons' lodge at Brigg, at the present time, - is a neighboi'i.ng clergyman, Mr. Wylie's equal in 'ibility, moral conduct, ortho doxy, and piety. Now, can there bea more wanton exhibition of the absence of brotherly love, or a more tyrannical ag gression on the rights of the laity, than to e.xclude them from the service of com mon prayer, the prescribed ritual of our National Church ? Such an assumption of power as to exclude, or ratl-er excom municate, both priest and people from the services of the Cliurch of Engl.ind is to reach the acme of petty popedom in England, and to set up a capricious cler ical test as the condition of public wor- .ship. As a beiieficed clergyman of the Church of England, and a doctor of di vinity of both English Universities, I record my protest against this audacious yet puerile aggression on the rights of conscience and the principles of civil and religious liberty. Such drivelling senti mentalism, evinced in .action by tyran,- nical authority, only rouses the laity to personal indignation, and leads some to argue, however illogically, tor the dis establishment of the Anglican Church, which, in common with others, I so strongly deprecate. Let the Pope ot Rome, if his Holiness please, place Free masonry, as he does the Church of Eng land, under his ban. Wto require not, but rather protest against, any mawkish imitation of the decrees of the Vatican, with respect to Masonry or other mat ters, from any clergyman who eats the bread, and ministers in the cluircli, of the British Reformation.—I am, Sir, yours obediently. Da.mel Ace, D. D- I One of our exchanges contains an .ad vertisement: “Masonic jewelry made and engrave,1 fiee ol chai’ge. ’ Ihat sounds liberal.

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view