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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. ← Page 11 of 12 →
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United Grand Lodge Of England.
It was not a communication from the Board , but of a personal nature , and he had not the patience to await a reply . He had brought the refusal to put the question entirely upon himself . Bro . CRUCEFIX should vote in favour of the motion : and he congratulated the Grand Lodge that the mover was not affrighted from his excellent purpose , by the loftiness of the quarry , at which he struck with such manldignity ; forexactlin proportion to the confidence
y , y reposed was a perfect rectitude hoped for . Bro . Dobie required no eulogy to be passed on his private character—it was surpassingly estimable . From that , however , the question was altogether separate ; it was with his duty as a President of the Board of General Purposes . A term had been used in the heat of debate not very complimentary , but it had been withdrawn in the most handsome manner . Still , it would not be denied , the President of the Board of General Purposes
was the nominee of the Grand Master ; and the Craft might well be jealous of the power thus delegated by the Grand Master , who possessed , according to the constitution a power altogether contrary to the principle of Freemasonry . The power was in itself most unwholesome , and by delegation , became unhealthy to the freedom of the Order . It was probable that the President acted from an error in judgment ; but errors in judgmenthowever pardonableare not
praise-, , worthy ; and , be it observed , that when called on to give reasons for not putting a motion constitutionall y prepared , and respectfully worded , what was the reply ? " I'll not do so ; I'll act on my own responsibility . " It was not too much to state , that had he given his reasons , the present motion would not have been agitated . The worst , however , was to come . Not only was it clearly proved that the President acted most improperly and unwisely , but because he hatl thus acted , the
amendment was made actually to praise him for such conduct—thus was one of the most active , intelligent , and useful members of the Craft , placed on the horns of a dilemma ; proving his case beyond the possibility of doubt , yet having the mortification of being made the indirect means of fixing a precedent for the future , that must prove subversive of our freedom . He should vote for the original motion , and most gratefully thanked Bro . Bigg for the manly fairness with
which his case was so characteristicly sustained . Bro . M'MULLEN supported the principle that the President of the Board , under peculiar circumstances , could refuse to put a motion . Bro . SAVAGE was in favour of the original motion , and entered into some forcible remarks on the power of the Grand Master and his socalled prerogative . Bro . JENNINGS was perfectly satisfied with the Grand Registrar , and '
thanked him for the course hehad taken . Bro . BIGG was at a loss to conceive how the Brother who had , as he always did , so ably and eloquently moved the amendment , making the most of his subject , in , he might say , poetic language , could ask them to praise what must be admitted to be a source of censure . It had been endeavoured to answer his argument that the President of the Board was like any other Chairman , but such was not the case . A chairman
was elected by either the body over which he presided , or an entire constituency . Even the Grand Master was subject to their election . But in the matter under debate it was entirely different . The Board did not elect their President ; neither did the masonic body . It was an
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge Of England.
It was not a communication from the Board , but of a personal nature , and he had not the patience to await a reply . He had brought the refusal to put the question entirely upon himself . Bro . CRUCEFIX should vote in favour of the motion : and he congratulated the Grand Lodge that the mover was not affrighted from his excellent purpose , by the loftiness of the quarry , at which he struck with such manldignity ; forexactlin proportion to the confidence
y , y reposed was a perfect rectitude hoped for . Bro . Dobie required no eulogy to be passed on his private character—it was surpassingly estimable . From that , however , the question was altogether separate ; it was with his duty as a President of the Board of General Purposes . A term had been used in the heat of debate not very complimentary , but it had been withdrawn in the most handsome manner . Still , it would not be denied , the President of the Board of General Purposes
was the nominee of the Grand Master ; and the Craft might well be jealous of the power thus delegated by the Grand Master , who possessed , according to the constitution a power altogether contrary to the principle of Freemasonry . The power was in itself most unwholesome , and by delegation , became unhealthy to the freedom of the Order . It was probable that the President acted from an error in judgment ; but errors in judgmenthowever pardonableare not
praise-, , worthy ; and , be it observed , that when called on to give reasons for not putting a motion constitutionall y prepared , and respectfully worded , what was the reply ? " I'll not do so ; I'll act on my own responsibility . " It was not too much to state , that had he given his reasons , the present motion would not have been agitated . The worst , however , was to come . Not only was it clearly proved that the President acted most improperly and unwisely , but because he hatl thus acted , the
amendment was made actually to praise him for such conduct—thus was one of the most active , intelligent , and useful members of the Craft , placed on the horns of a dilemma ; proving his case beyond the possibility of doubt , yet having the mortification of being made the indirect means of fixing a precedent for the future , that must prove subversive of our freedom . He should vote for the original motion , and most gratefully thanked Bro . Bigg for the manly fairness with
which his case was so characteristicly sustained . Bro . M'MULLEN supported the principle that the President of the Board , under peculiar circumstances , could refuse to put a motion . Bro . SAVAGE was in favour of the original motion , and entered into some forcible remarks on the power of the Grand Master and his socalled prerogative . Bro . JENNINGS was perfectly satisfied with the Grand Registrar , and '
thanked him for the course hehad taken . Bro . BIGG was at a loss to conceive how the Brother who had , as he always did , so ably and eloquently moved the amendment , making the most of his subject , in , he might say , poetic language , could ask them to praise what must be admitted to be a source of censure . It had been endeavoured to answer his argument that the President of the Board was like any other Chairman , but such was not the case . A chairman
was elected by either the body over which he presided , or an entire constituency . Even the Grand Master was subject to their election . But in the matter under debate it was entirely different . The Board did not elect their President ; neither did the masonic body . It was an