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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. ← Page 8 of 12 →
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United Grand Lodge Of England.
thanks of Grand Lodge last year for the way in which he performed them . He ( Bro . A . ) was not satisfied that Bro . Biggs' motion should be negatived—they ought to go much further , and he trusted they would support him in an amendment— "That the Grand Registrar was deserving the praise of Grand Lodge for his conduct . " Bro . HENDERSON seconded the amendment . Bro . LEE STEVENS regretted very much that the Brother who had
moved the amendment upon Bro . Bigg ' s motion should have adopted the extraordinary course of asking Grand Lodge to substitute a vote of compliment for a vote of censure . It would , he thought , have been more prudent on the part of Bro . Alston , and less likely to provoke comparison , if be had merely moved the previous question . For there were many iu that Grand Lotlge who , agreeing in all that had been said in testimony of Bro . Dobie ' s integrity , could not subscribe to the
opinions that had been expressed of his ability and judgment . And on this account , too , it was a pity that the President of the Board of General Purposes should have retired from the discussion . If he had remained , it would have afforded him an opportunity of hearing that , although respected and honoured as a man and a Mason , there was anything hut universal faith in his official capability or discretion . He ( Bro . S . ) was , however , as desirous as any one could be of complimenting Bro . Alston on the talent he had displayed in the address he had delivered to Grand Lodge , although it was nothing uncommon to that Brother to speak eloquently ; but he must at the same time contend that he had
not argued the question fairly . Bro . Alston had so put , and reasoned upon , the question , as if the eighteen private lodges , who have now the exclusive right to return Grand Stewards , would have been disfranchised if Bro . Bigg ' s original motion had been entertained by the Board . And then he had gone on to argue as if Bro . Bigg were obliged , as a matter of course , to wait the ultimate convenience of the Grand Master , and to submit to the shelving of the subject by the President of the Board of General Purposes for an indefinite period . The Brother had kept
the power of Grand Lotlge , and tbe privileges of its members , quite out of consideration . Why , what was there from the first moment to prevent Bro . Bigg from exercising the right he was driven to have recourse to at the last ?—Nothing but that brother ' s unappreciated deference to the feelings of the Grand Master , and the wishes of the President of the Board of General Purposes—tbe exercise of a courtesy unrequited by either—for which nobody thanked him ! Abiding simply
by the regulations of the Book of Constitutions , Bro . Bigg might have contented himself with giving the requisite notice to the Committee of Masters a week before the Quarterly Communication . And he ( Bro . S . ) therefore thought those he addressed would agree with him , that instead of the reproof conveyed in tbe perfectly gratuitous assumption of Bro . Alston towards Bro . Bigg , for an attempt to disfranchise the eighteeu lodges of their exclusive right to nominate Grand Stewards
by an act of the Board of General Purposes—an act which could alone be performed by the Grand Lodge—the Brother ought to have applauded Bro . Bigg for having taken so much trouble to make the Grand Master and the President and members of the Board of General Purposes acquainted with his intention . Having done the contrary of this—having led away the attention of Grand Lodge from the real merits of tlie case—the address of the mover of the amendment was as deficient in justice as it was remarkable for iis elcqucncc . Again , the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge Of England.
thanks of Grand Lodge last year for the way in which he performed them . He ( Bro . A . ) was not satisfied that Bro . Biggs' motion should be negatived—they ought to go much further , and he trusted they would support him in an amendment— "That the Grand Registrar was deserving the praise of Grand Lodge for his conduct . " Bro . HENDERSON seconded the amendment . Bro . LEE STEVENS regretted very much that the Brother who had
moved the amendment upon Bro . Bigg ' s motion should have adopted the extraordinary course of asking Grand Lodge to substitute a vote of compliment for a vote of censure . It would , he thought , have been more prudent on the part of Bro . Alston , and less likely to provoke comparison , if be had merely moved the previous question . For there were many iu that Grand Lotlge who , agreeing in all that had been said in testimony of Bro . Dobie ' s integrity , could not subscribe to the
opinions that had been expressed of his ability and judgment . And on this account , too , it was a pity that the President of the Board of General Purposes should have retired from the discussion . If he had remained , it would have afforded him an opportunity of hearing that , although respected and honoured as a man and a Mason , there was anything hut universal faith in his official capability or discretion . He ( Bro . S . ) was , however , as desirous as any one could be of complimenting Bro . Alston on the talent he had displayed in the address he had delivered to Grand Lodge , although it was nothing uncommon to that Brother to speak eloquently ; but he must at the same time contend that he had
not argued the question fairly . Bro . Alston had so put , and reasoned upon , the question , as if the eighteen private lodges , who have now the exclusive right to return Grand Stewards , would have been disfranchised if Bro . Bigg ' s original motion had been entertained by the Board . And then he had gone on to argue as if Bro . Bigg were obliged , as a matter of course , to wait the ultimate convenience of the Grand Master , and to submit to the shelving of the subject by the President of the Board of General Purposes for an indefinite period . The Brother had kept
the power of Grand Lotlge , and tbe privileges of its members , quite out of consideration . Why , what was there from the first moment to prevent Bro . Bigg from exercising the right he was driven to have recourse to at the last ?—Nothing but that brother ' s unappreciated deference to the feelings of the Grand Master , and the wishes of the President of the Board of General Purposes—tbe exercise of a courtesy unrequited by either—for which nobody thanked him ! Abiding simply
by the regulations of the Book of Constitutions , Bro . Bigg might have contented himself with giving the requisite notice to the Committee of Masters a week before the Quarterly Communication . And he ( Bro . S . ) therefore thought those he addressed would agree with him , that instead of the reproof conveyed in tbe perfectly gratuitous assumption of Bro . Alston towards Bro . Bigg , for an attempt to disfranchise the eighteeu lodges of their exclusive right to nominate Grand Stewards
by an act of the Board of General Purposes—an act which could alone be performed by the Grand Lodge—the Brother ought to have applauded Bro . Bigg for having taken so much trouble to make the Grand Master and the President and members of the Board of General Purposes acquainted with his intention . Having done the contrary of this—having led away the attention of Grand Lodge from the real merits of tlie case—the address of the mover of the amendment was as deficient in justice as it was remarkable for iis elcqucncc . Again , the