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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE . ← Page 4 of 5 →
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United Grand Lodge .
Purposes and the Grand Registrar , in whom they all placed the greatest confidence , should deem advisable . He therefore moved that the Trustees of the Society ' s property be authorised to execute a lease to Messrs . W . Watson , T . S . Coggin , and B . Banks , of the Freemasons' Tavern , and portions of the adjoining houses , as recommended by the Report of the Board of General Purposes ,
with such other Covenants as may be deemed necessary by the Grand Registrar and the Board . A very long appeal from Bro . W . Jackson , of the Lodge No . 185 , Devonport , against the decision of the R . W . the Prov . G . M . for Devon , was read . The allegations were , that the W . M . of that Lodge , on the 8 th of January , 1851 , exceeded the powers vested in him : first , by informing the complainant that he had determined ,
for the convenience of the Brethren , to hear no Brother for more than ten minutes , and on Bro . Jackson exceeding that time , the W . M . ordered him to sit down . Secondly , that the W . M . afterwards , when the Brother asked his permission to put a question of law to him , refused to allow it to be done . Thirdly , that when Bro . Jackson referred the W . M . to the Book of Constitutions , he , the W . M ., refused to look into it ; and Fourthly , that upon a division being taken the W . M . had refused to allow three of the Brethren to vote , because they were not Master Masons .
Two of these allegations were admitted by the W . M ., and two had not been denied . The Prov . G . M . for Devon , having heard the complaint , decided as follows : — "That the W . M . of Lodge No . 185 , did not misuse or exceed his proper authority on the occasion referred to , and that the complaint of Bro . Jackson against him is uncalled for and unjust . " Bro . R . G . ALSTON said , that often as it had been his duty to
address the Grand Lodge , he never recollected rising to address the Brethren with feelings of so much pain as at that moment . He had to address them on an apjieal against the decision of a Prov . G . M . —a nobleman , not only of high rank , but loved and respected by all ; but with very deep regret , he , ( Bro . Alston ) was bound to express his opinion , that the Grand Lodge could not sustain the decision of the Prov . G . M . for Devon . Ho ( Bro . Alston )
thought that no W . M . had the power of limiting any member of the Society as to the length at which he should address the meeting ; the only limits could be , that the Brother should use proper , and Masonic language , and speak to the question before the Lodge . He thought that at any time , when the Lodge was in -deliberation , it was competent for any Brother to ask a question of law ; he thought , moreover , that at any time , if the W . M . had
given an opinion , which any other Brother considered contrary to the " Constitutions , " it was competent for that Brother to ask the W . M . to refer thereto ; and if he did not do so , he committed a dereliction of duty . With regard to the fourth allegation , it was
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge .
Purposes and the Grand Registrar , in whom they all placed the greatest confidence , should deem advisable . He therefore moved that the Trustees of the Society ' s property be authorised to execute a lease to Messrs . W . Watson , T . S . Coggin , and B . Banks , of the Freemasons' Tavern , and portions of the adjoining houses , as recommended by the Report of the Board of General Purposes ,
with such other Covenants as may be deemed necessary by the Grand Registrar and the Board . A very long appeal from Bro . W . Jackson , of the Lodge No . 185 , Devonport , against the decision of the R . W . the Prov . G . M . for Devon , was read . The allegations were , that the W . M . of that Lodge , on the 8 th of January , 1851 , exceeded the powers vested in him : first , by informing the complainant that he had determined ,
for the convenience of the Brethren , to hear no Brother for more than ten minutes , and on Bro . Jackson exceeding that time , the W . M . ordered him to sit down . Secondly , that the W . M . afterwards , when the Brother asked his permission to put a question of law to him , refused to allow it to be done . Thirdly , that when Bro . Jackson referred the W . M . to the Book of Constitutions , he , the W . M ., refused to look into it ; and Fourthly , that upon a division being taken the W . M . had refused to allow three of the Brethren to vote , because they were not Master Masons .
Two of these allegations were admitted by the W . M ., and two had not been denied . The Prov . G . M . for Devon , having heard the complaint , decided as follows : — "That the W . M . of Lodge No . 185 , did not misuse or exceed his proper authority on the occasion referred to , and that the complaint of Bro . Jackson against him is uncalled for and unjust . " Bro . R . G . ALSTON said , that often as it had been his duty to
address the Grand Lodge , he never recollected rising to address the Brethren with feelings of so much pain as at that moment . He had to address them on an apjieal against the decision of a Prov . G . M . —a nobleman , not only of high rank , but loved and respected by all ; but with very deep regret , he , ( Bro . Alston ) was bound to express his opinion , that the Grand Lodge could not sustain the decision of the Prov . G . M . for Devon . Ho ( Bro . Alston )
thought that no W . M . had the power of limiting any member of the Society as to the length at which he should address the meeting ; the only limits could be , that the Brother should use proper , and Masonic language , and speak to the question before the Lodge . He thought that at any time , when the Lodge was in -deliberation , it was competent for any Brother to ask a question of law ; he thought , moreover , that at any time , if the W . M . had
given an opinion , which any other Brother considered contrary to the " Constitutions , " it was competent for that Brother to ask the W . M . to refer thereto ; and if he did not do so , he committed a dereliction of duty . With regard to the fourth allegation , it was