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Article TO THE EDITOR. Page 1 of 4 →
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To The Editor.
TO THE EDITOR .
BREACH OF PRIVILEGE . SIR AKD BROTHER , —While so much has been said on the subject of privilege , and allusions made to the proceedings of parliament , to show that a precise notion of an intended motion not called for bcustom
was y and analogy , I am somewhat surprised that the analogy has not been carried a little further , and declared that the publication of the proceedings of Grand Lodge was as much a breach of privilege as the publication of the proceedings of parliament . To see the elaborate reports of those proceedings , which are published every morning during the meeting of parliament , one would hardly think it was a breach of privilege ; or that if any honourable member should rise and inform the speaker that he observed
strangers in the house , it would be the imperative duty of that honourable functionary to order every person to withdraw who was not a member—the object being especially to exclude the reporters , and prevent the proceedings from being published . So justly , however , is this privilege estimated as being " more honoured in the breach than in the observance , " that I only recollect one instance of its being acted upon—and then a report of what took place was furnished bv some member of the house , and appeared in the morning papers ; though not , of course , so fully nor so accurately done as it would have been by the usual means .
As t ° the proceedings of " a certain assembly , " so long as you can find Woodfalls to furnish reports , so accurate and impartial as those of your last number , you may feel assured of the support of the great body of the fraternity , particularly of those who cannot attend ; whether at home or in the provinces and colonies , where they have no means of knowing what is going on in the Masonic world , except through your excellent work , or the imperfect and long delayed reports of the Grand
Secretary . The former , almost universally preferred , are certainly beyond all comparison superior . For myself I can only say , that though I have the means of hearing for myself , and knowing what is going on , I like to have what I know and see and hear , in such a shape as to be able to refer to it hereafter . You may therefore continue to reckon upon my subscription , and upon my stimulated recommendations . But it appears to me that certain folks are wide of the mark altothatin fact
gether— , , it was no breach of privilege—but a direct violation of the law , if any thing at all ! Whether this is the case or not , rests between you and the Grand Master ; and this one Brother clearly proved on a late occasion , when not a syllable was uttered in refutation of his explanation of facts—on which the blame is not put on the proper party . I shall consider , therefore , that you have his authority , either direct or implied , and support the work , as I have stated , with my best efforts .
As to a declaratory resolution , will it furnish one particle of information to any Brother , three months a Mason , and taking sufficient interest in the subject , to have read Preston and the Book of Constitutions ? For my part , I would not vote at all upon such a nonentity ; I would
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
TO THE EDITOR .
BREACH OF PRIVILEGE . SIR AKD BROTHER , —While so much has been said on the subject of privilege , and allusions made to the proceedings of parliament , to show that a precise notion of an intended motion not called for bcustom
was y and analogy , I am somewhat surprised that the analogy has not been carried a little further , and declared that the publication of the proceedings of Grand Lodge was as much a breach of privilege as the publication of the proceedings of parliament . To see the elaborate reports of those proceedings , which are published every morning during the meeting of parliament , one would hardly think it was a breach of privilege ; or that if any honourable member should rise and inform the speaker that he observed
strangers in the house , it would be the imperative duty of that honourable functionary to order every person to withdraw who was not a member—the object being especially to exclude the reporters , and prevent the proceedings from being published . So justly , however , is this privilege estimated as being " more honoured in the breach than in the observance , " that I only recollect one instance of its being acted upon—and then a report of what took place was furnished bv some member of the house , and appeared in the morning papers ; though not , of course , so fully nor so accurately done as it would have been by the usual means .
As t ° the proceedings of " a certain assembly , " so long as you can find Woodfalls to furnish reports , so accurate and impartial as those of your last number , you may feel assured of the support of the great body of the fraternity , particularly of those who cannot attend ; whether at home or in the provinces and colonies , where they have no means of knowing what is going on in the Masonic world , except through your excellent work , or the imperfect and long delayed reports of the Grand
Secretary . The former , almost universally preferred , are certainly beyond all comparison superior . For myself I can only say , that though I have the means of hearing for myself , and knowing what is going on , I like to have what I know and see and hear , in such a shape as to be able to refer to it hereafter . You may therefore continue to reckon upon my subscription , and upon my stimulated recommendations . But it appears to me that certain folks are wide of the mark altothatin fact
gether— , , it was no breach of privilege—but a direct violation of the law , if any thing at all ! Whether this is the case or not , rests between you and the Grand Master ; and this one Brother clearly proved on a late occasion , when not a syllable was uttered in refutation of his explanation of facts—on which the blame is not put on the proper party . I shall consider , therefore , that you have his authority , either direct or implied , and support the work , as I have stated , with my best efforts .
As to a declaratory resolution , will it furnish one particle of information to any Brother , three months a Mason , and taking sufficient interest in the subject , to have read Preston and the Book of Constitutions ? For my part , I would not vote at all upon such a nonentity ; I would