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Article PERSECUTION ← Page 5 of 21 →
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Persecution
Highness , all Resolutions founded on such misunderstanding , are and shall be null and void . " That this Meeting agrees with His Royal Highness , that the erection of an Asylum will be a wasteful and useless expenditure . " That His Royal Highness be respectfully requested to develope his plan for granting Annuities to worthy , aged , and decayed Masons . " CAVEAC , 205 . [ Then follows the letter ofthe Grand Master , which has already appeared , vide p . 462 . ]
This letter I wrote and published as a commentary upon the circular calling the meeting , because , as Brother J . C . M'Mullen told them in his own case , the temper of their former meetings was such , that adverse statements could not obtain a fair hearing . And , therefore , the fair and manly , and almost the only course to be pursued was , to print and circulate that letter , that it might he read . This course of procedure excessively annoyed tbe Workhouse advocates , and caused Dr . Crucefix and Aid . Thos . Wood to bullthe waiter most
y grossly , asking him how he dared to distribute those papers ? As I found them disposed to treat the paper as an anonymous production , although it is subscribed with the name of my parent Lodge , which Aid . Thos . Wood ignorantly misrepresented as a " Law Term , " I forthwith avowed myself its author , which several persons in the room well knew I came on purpose to do .
Whereupon Mr . Sangster , an attorney , moved , and , I believe , Mr . Stevens , a reporter and Secretary to the Masonic Life Assurance Scheme , seconded , a resolution , to the effect that the contents of that paper were scurrilous and false . Upon which I requested permission both to read and jiistify that letter , confessing I would cheerfully withdraw any errors I might have committed , but that from my soul I firmly believed the truth of every statement in that letter . These lovers of fair play permitted me to commence reading , but
the instant I was inclined to argue and justify the statements made , I was charged with garbling the letter , and not allowed to proceed . The meeting called upon Dr . Crucefix to read the letter , which he did most admirably , and appeared to feel every word of it .
Although I avowed myself the author , Messrs . Aid . Thos . Wood , Bell , and Stevens , insisted upon treating it as an " Anonymoiis" letter ; and , perhaps believing they ivere reviling some friend and acquaintance of their own , designated the writer as a lying , scurrilous person , 'bred in Billingsgate , a lawyer's clerk , and no gentleman . I pointed out to the meeting that the vulgar , absurd , and untrue observations of these men did not touch the real questions at issue raised in that vizthe utility of the annuity lan ( which even their impudence
paper ; ., p , cannot deny ) ; thc useless expenditure aud waste of money which would be caused by building the Workhouse ; and , above all , the gross disgusting insults heaped upon His Royal Highness , the Duke of Sussex . Aid . Thos . Wood again interrupted me , and in a most vulgar , brutal , foulmouthed speech , which received every countenance from the Chairman , attempted , as he said , to prove ( but as we only had his assertions , his word with me weighed for
nothing)—That His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex is a grossly selnsn man , and an enemy to the Craft ; That His Royal Highness always endeavoured to destroy every plan proposed for tlie good of Masonry , unless it emanated from himself ; That His Royal Highness is a tyrant , wanting to ride roughshod over the Craft ; That His Royal Highness would if he could crush the building scheme , but he defied him , and would defy him to his face ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Persecution
Highness , all Resolutions founded on such misunderstanding , are and shall be null and void . " That this Meeting agrees with His Royal Highness , that the erection of an Asylum will be a wasteful and useless expenditure . " That His Royal Highness be respectfully requested to develope his plan for granting Annuities to worthy , aged , and decayed Masons . " CAVEAC , 205 . [ Then follows the letter ofthe Grand Master , which has already appeared , vide p . 462 . ]
This letter I wrote and published as a commentary upon the circular calling the meeting , because , as Brother J . C . M'Mullen told them in his own case , the temper of their former meetings was such , that adverse statements could not obtain a fair hearing . And , therefore , the fair and manly , and almost the only course to be pursued was , to print and circulate that letter , that it might he read . This course of procedure excessively annoyed tbe Workhouse advocates , and caused Dr . Crucefix and Aid . Thos . Wood to bullthe waiter most
y grossly , asking him how he dared to distribute those papers ? As I found them disposed to treat the paper as an anonymous production , although it is subscribed with the name of my parent Lodge , which Aid . Thos . Wood ignorantly misrepresented as a " Law Term , " I forthwith avowed myself its author , which several persons in the room well knew I came on purpose to do .
Whereupon Mr . Sangster , an attorney , moved , and , I believe , Mr . Stevens , a reporter and Secretary to the Masonic Life Assurance Scheme , seconded , a resolution , to the effect that the contents of that paper were scurrilous and false . Upon which I requested permission both to read and jiistify that letter , confessing I would cheerfully withdraw any errors I might have committed , but that from my soul I firmly believed the truth of every statement in that letter . These lovers of fair play permitted me to commence reading , but
the instant I was inclined to argue and justify the statements made , I was charged with garbling the letter , and not allowed to proceed . The meeting called upon Dr . Crucefix to read the letter , which he did most admirably , and appeared to feel every word of it .
Although I avowed myself the author , Messrs . Aid . Thos . Wood , Bell , and Stevens , insisted upon treating it as an " Anonymoiis" letter ; and , perhaps believing they ivere reviling some friend and acquaintance of their own , designated the writer as a lying , scurrilous person , 'bred in Billingsgate , a lawyer's clerk , and no gentleman . I pointed out to the meeting that the vulgar , absurd , and untrue observations of these men did not touch the real questions at issue raised in that vizthe utility of the annuity lan ( which even their impudence
paper ; ., p , cannot deny ) ; thc useless expenditure aud waste of money which would be caused by building the Workhouse ; and , above all , the gross disgusting insults heaped upon His Royal Highness , the Duke of Sussex . Aid . Thos . Wood again interrupted me , and in a most vulgar , brutal , foulmouthed speech , which received every countenance from the Chairman , attempted , as he said , to prove ( but as we only had his assertions , his word with me weighed for
nothing)—That His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex is a grossly selnsn man , and an enemy to the Craft ; That His Royal Highness always endeavoured to destroy every plan proposed for tlie good of Masonry , unless it emanated from himself ; That His Royal Highness is a tyrant , wanting to ride roughshod over the Craft ; That His Royal Highness would if he could crush the building scheme , but he defied him , and would defy him to his face ;