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Article PERSECUTION ← Page 21 of 21 Article BROTHER J. LEE STEVENS. Page 1 of 23 →
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Persecution
13 . The conduct of the Board unbecoming a court of honour . 14 . The fact of a member of the Board being allowed to amend his evidence . 15 . The insolent and unreproved attack of one of the prosecutors during the proceedings of the Board . 16 . Scandalous attack upon the Pro-Grand Master in the Circular .
Brother J. Lee Stevens.
BROTHER J . LEE STEVENS .
AVhen Brother STEVENS ' case was proceeded with , he first asked the ' President of the Board if the Complainants , of any Members of the Board would be admitted as witnesses against him ; and being answered in the affirmative , he put in the following protest : —
" I hereby protest against any evidence being given by the Complainants " in this case , or by any Members of the Board , because the former in " their character of Prosecutors , and the latter in the character of Judges , " cannot be witnesses also without violating the principles of justice , and I " respectfully request that this my Protest maybe entered upon the minutes " of proceedings . "
When this had been received he tendered another , which was at first objected to , and the room cleared to have the point discussed . On his return the Protest was accepted in these terms : — " I am cited before your Worshipful Board to answer certain charges or " complaints founded upon a printed publication issued b y William Jackson , " of the Caveac Lodge , No . 205 , and dated from No . 14 , Bucklersbury , " November 26 , 1839 , especially with reference to certain alleged proceedings " at a meeting held on the 13 th day of that month . °
" I am informed and believe , that on the 4 th day of December last , two " members of your AVorshipful Board , namely , Bros . Bossy and M'Mullen , " did severally declare , at the Grand Officers' Mess , that the contents of the " said publication were true ; that to the veracity of those declarations they " pledged their fidelity as Masons ; and that Brother Bossy added , that the " said alleged account of the proceedings of the ISth November , was as " accurate as if it had been taken by a short-hand writer . " As it is the manifest duty of your AVorshiful Board to render strict
p " justice to all parties , without favour or prejudice towards any , and as it is " not possible that justice can be truly administered by those who have " already prejudged the case I take exception to the sitting of Bros . Bossy " and M'Mullen at your AVorshipful Board during the present proceedings ; " and I respectfully request that this my exception to their exercise of " judicial functions , for the reasons assigned , may be inserted in the minutes ' " of the proceedings of your Worshipful Board . "
And this he followed up by a third Protest , as follows : — " I deny the power of your AVorshipful Board to call upon me to answer " charges on complaints founded upon the belief , and not upon the declared " knowledge of the Complainants , because it partly relieves them from the " onus of proof and the consequences of disproof . " I also deny the power of your Worshipful Board to call upon me to " answer charges or complaints founded upon an alleged account of proceed" ingsin which account the writer mereldraws his own inferences of the
, y " meaning or intention of certain expressions used , but does not give the " precise words assumed to have been uttered ; because , in all cases of libel , " the words actually declared to have been used should be set out , that they " may be literally proved or disproved , and if proved , their meaning be " determined in court .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Persecution
13 . The conduct of the Board unbecoming a court of honour . 14 . The fact of a member of the Board being allowed to amend his evidence . 15 . The insolent and unreproved attack of one of the prosecutors during the proceedings of the Board . 16 . Scandalous attack upon the Pro-Grand Master in the Circular .
Brother J. Lee Stevens.
BROTHER J . LEE STEVENS .
AVhen Brother STEVENS ' case was proceeded with , he first asked the ' President of the Board if the Complainants , of any Members of the Board would be admitted as witnesses against him ; and being answered in the affirmative , he put in the following protest : —
" I hereby protest against any evidence being given by the Complainants " in this case , or by any Members of the Board , because the former in " their character of Prosecutors , and the latter in the character of Judges , " cannot be witnesses also without violating the principles of justice , and I " respectfully request that this my Protest maybe entered upon the minutes " of proceedings . "
When this had been received he tendered another , which was at first objected to , and the room cleared to have the point discussed . On his return the Protest was accepted in these terms : — " I am cited before your Worshipful Board to answer certain charges or " complaints founded upon a printed publication issued b y William Jackson , " of the Caveac Lodge , No . 205 , and dated from No . 14 , Bucklersbury , " November 26 , 1839 , especially with reference to certain alleged proceedings " at a meeting held on the 13 th day of that month . °
" I am informed and believe , that on the 4 th day of December last , two " members of your AVorshipful Board , namely , Bros . Bossy and M'Mullen , " did severally declare , at the Grand Officers' Mess , that the contents of the " said publication were true ; that to the veracity of those declarations they " pledged their fidelity as Masons ; and that Brother Bossy added , that the " said alleged account of the proceedings of the ISth November , was as " accurate as if it had been taken by a short-hand writer . " As it is the manifest duty of your AVorshiful Board to render strict
p " justice to all parties , without favour or prejudice towards any , and as it is " not possible that justice can be truly administered by those who have " already prejudged the case I take exception to the sitting of Bros . Bossy " and M'Mullen at your AVorshipful Board during the present proceedings ; " and I respectfully request that this my exception to their exercise of " judicial functions , for the reasons assigned , may be inserted in the minutes ' " of the proceedings of your Worshipful Board . "
And this he followed up by a third Protest , as follows : — " I deny the power of your AVorshipful Board to call upon me to answer " charges on complaints founded upon the belief , and not upon the declared " knowledge of the Complainants , because it partly relieves them from the " onus of proof and the consequences of disproof . " I also deny the power of your Worshipful Board to call upon me to " answer charges or complaints founded upon an alleged account of proceed" ingsin which account the writer mereldraws his own inferences of the
, y " meaning or intention of certain expressions used , but does not give the " precise words assumed to have been uttered ; because , in all cases of libel , " the words actually declared to have been used should be set out , that they " may be literally proved or disproved , and if proved , their meaning be " determined in court .