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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. ← Page 2 of 3 Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. Page 2 of 3 Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. Page 2 of 3 →
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United Grand Lodge.
seconded by Bro . S . Rawson , recommended the grant of ^" roo to a brother of the Caledonian Lodge No . 134 , which was put and carried unanimously .
The following Report of the Board of General Purposes , was taken as read , and afterwards received and ordered to be entered on the minutes : —
To the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England . The Board of General Purposes beg to report as follows : — 1 . That it having come to the knowledge of
the Board , that certain persons alleged to have been initiated into Masonry by parties connected with a spurious lodge , formerly working at Stratford in Essex , have sought and obtained admission to lodges working under the Grand
Lodge of England as joining members , the Board have thought it desirable as a warning to the Craft , to order the reissue of the circular of the 24 th October , 1859 , with a fac simile to the certificate issued by the spurious lodge in question .
2 . The Board have taken into their serious consideration the allegations made by Bro . Matthew Cooke in his speech at the last Quarterly Communication against the officers in the Grand Secretary ' s office , that they " on their
own account formulate , tabulate , and send abroad other degrees , and they make the office the place from whence they emanate ; " that " they give and sell information , they withhold information from certain channels and pour it into others , "
and that " they receive per centages on the information they obtain and bestow . " The Board have devoted the whole ofthe two special sittings to the reception of evidence and the consideration of the allegations so made
and they especially invited information at all bearing on such matters . No evidence was laid before them in proof of the allegation that information has been sold , or improperly withheld ,
or unduly given by any clerk or official m the Grand Secretary's office , and the Board consequently find that such allegation is without basis or foundation .
With reference to the unrecognized degrees the Board consider it proved , that , on one occasion a clerk in the Grand Secretary ' s ollice assisted , for twenty minutes or less , at a meeting held on the premises of the Craft for purposes
connected with a society not recognized by Grand Lodge , but whether or no such meeting took place in office hours is not certain . It also
appears that on several occasions payments have been made to and received by the clerk in question at the Grand Secretary's office for purposes not connected with the Craft .
No evidence has come before the Board to connect any of the other oflicers in the Grand Secretary's oflice with the allegations made by Bro . Matthew Cooke in his speech at the last
Quarterly Communication . The Grand Secretary has expressed himself entirely satisfied with the manner in which the duties of his office are carried on by all the clerks employed there .
3 . The Board beg to subjoin a statement of the Grand Lodge accounts at the last meeting of thc Finance Committee held on the 17 th November , 2871 , showing a balance in the hands of the Grand Treasurer of - £ 2 , 841 iu . qd . ; and
en the hands of the Grand Secretary , for petty ash , £ T $ . ( Signed ) J . LLEWELLYN EVANS , President .
Bro . LI . Evans then said : In moving , that thc Report of the Board of General Purposes to thc members of Grand Lodge be adopted , I inform Grand Lodge that this Report is but a sequence , or a following , of
the reference which the Grand Lodge at its last Quarterly Communication , had made to the Board of General Purposes with regard to a motion then brought forward by Bro . Matthew Cooke . It is my opinion , as
United Grand Lodge.
President of the Board , that this Report is made upon the discussion of the motion , and possibly might at this Quarterly Communication be rejected by a motion
that the minutes be not confirmed ; but the Board felt that certain allegations having been made in this Grand Lodge at last Quarterly Communication with reference to the conduct of officials in the Grand
Secretary s office , it was the duty of the Grand Lodge to inquire into those allegations . I may state to Grand Lodge that prior to the board acting upon these enquiries a complaint was made to the
Board by the Grand Secretary in reference to the allegations made against the officials in his office by Bro . Cooke . On that complaint Bro . Cooke was summoned to attend the Board . He did attend , and he
protested against the jurisdiction of the Board . Without going into the question of whether his protest was a protest that could be defended in Masonic law or not , it appeared to the Board that it was absolutely
necessary , whether such a protest was a right protest or not , that the allegations should be strictly and completely enquired into , and the accuracy or otherwise of them be determined . On this it was proposed
and agreed to , " that the charge be withdrawn , and Bro . Cooke be informed that the Board considered , in the interest of the
Craft and , in fact , in justice to the officials in the Grand Secretary ' s office , that the enquiry should be strictly proceeded with and determined . " Bro . Cooke was invited
to bring any evidence before the Board . Thc Board also devoted two special meetings to enquire into the truth , or otherwise , of the allegations brought forward by Bro . Cooke ; evidence was tendered and
enquired into ; and the result you have before you . The Board found that the charge was very serious and a very damaging allegation of Bro . Cooke against officials of Grand Secretary ' s office , of giving , or
selling information to certain persons , of withholding information from other persons , and of receiving , as it was stated , per centage for information so given or so withheld . There was no evidence whatever brought
before the Board . ( Hear , hear . ) The Board therefore found that thc allegations were without foundation ( Hear , hear ) , and I put it to thc Board , having heard thc evidence ,
which is in Grand Lodge—it was all taken down in writing—and I may state to Grand Lodge that I perfectly and absolutely concur in thc decision of the Board . I
consider the decision ol the Board was unanimous . With regard to the charges made by Bro . Cooke about the unrecognised degrees and thc part which officials in Grand Secretary ' s office had taken in
promulgating those degrees , the Board then considered them . It was proved to the satisfaction of the Board that one of the officials of Grand Secretary ' s office , who was specially appointed , on one occasion ,
as you will find it in thc report , conferred a degree in someway or other—wc could not find out—it was very difficult to ascertain how long it took—one said it occupied 5 minutes , another a quarter of an hour ,
another 20 minutes—while it was alleged that to confer thc degree it would occupy 2 hours—we found that on thc premises of thc Craft—one witness stating positively it was after * , o ' clock , after office hours—we
found it proved to a certain extent that a degree not recognised by Grand Lodge was given . It was also proved that money had
been at times received by the same official in reference to degrees not recognised by the Craft . It was not proved—on the contrary , there was no evidence brought for-
United Grand Lodge.
ward whatever to connect anybody else in in the Grand Secretary ' s office with any charge or allegation mentioned at the last Quarterly Communication by Bro . Cookenot one . We strictly enquired' into that .
There was not the slightest evidence to connect any one else with the allegation . Under these circumstances the board felt that it was their duty to report , in answer to the reference made at the last Quarterly
Communication in respect of charges made in this Grand Lodge against officials in the Grand Secretary ' s office for doing what , if proved , would render ' them unworthy to continue longer in the service of the Craft ,
that the matter had been enquired into , and you find in the report the result . They do not pass judgment ; they report the circumstance to Grand Lodge , and leave Grand Lodge to deal with it . I move that the report be adopted .
Bro . Col . Burdett seconded the motion . Bro . Matthew Cooke thereupon came forward and said : Most Worshipful Grand Master and brethren , it is rather an invidious thing to address you on a personal
subject like this , but it is a matter for every one of us . The right of forming an opinion , and the right of expressing that opinion , depend on the proceedings of last Grand Lodge . The President of the Board has
told you that I was summoned , first , to attend the Board of General Purposes to give an account of words I spoke here in a legislative capacity . That Board is chosen from you , brethren ; its members are your
substitutes ( hear , hear ) ; and every one of us that says a thing unpleasant to the Grand Secretary , or against Grand Secretary ' s office , is under the penalty , if we allow this to go forth now , of being dragged before that
Board as an offender . ( Cries of " No , no . " ) Who makes them ? ( Continued cries of " No , no . " ) It is the fact . ( " No , " " No . " ) I beg your pardon . ( " No . " ) Oh ! go on . I will wait as long as you please . The very
first thing that I get , is a summons from the Board . I think the duty of every Mason is to obey a constituted authority . I went up to the Board , and I tendered a proteston your behalf , ou my behalf , on the behalf
of every man . Why ? That we should not , if wc dared to say anything that did not exactly tally with thc official mind—that we should not be dragged up as offenders . That protest , whether it was received or whether it was not , I have no means of
telling—these things are conducted in secret . ( Cries of " No . " ) I think that it is time we had an open Board . ( Hear , hear . ) These arc thc times when thc law is administered in this country freely and openly ; when
there is no quiet burking oi the tiling . Now , after I had attended , I was asked whether if I withdrew the charge—for I beg to say that the President of the Board has kindly shifted it on my shoulders that
1 have two charges against thc office . In making my motion here I gave my reasons ; they are no charges ; I had no reason to be cited for a charge . But the Grand Secretary did cite mc before the Board , and made
charges against me . Now , what was the proceeding of the Board ? I was asked , ii the Grand Secretary withdrew his charge , would I withdraw my protest ? I said ,
" Yes , " and did so—loyally ; went to him tbe day after ; asked him how it should be done—what was to be done ? Wouldn ' t tell ; couldn ' t ; didn ' t know ; didn ' t care . I then
did another thing : 1 had given notice of a certain motion to come on at this meeting ; I thought it would not do to allow that to stand . I withdrew that . The day after , what do I get ? A repetition of thc sum-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge.
seconded by Bro . S . Rawson , recommended the grant of ^" roo to a brother of the Caledonian Lodge No . 134 , which was put and carried unanimously .
The following Report of the Board of General Purposes , was taken as read , and afterwards received and ordered to be entered on the minutes : —
To the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England . The Board of General Purposes beg to report as follows : — 1 . That it having come to the knowledge of
the Board , that certain persons alleged to have been initiated into Masonry by parties connected with a spurious lodge , formerly working at Stratford in Essex , have sought and obtained admission to lodges working under the Grand
Lodge of England as joining members , the Board have thought it desirable as a warning to the Craft , to order the reissue of the circular of the 24 th October , 1859 , with a fac simile to the certificate issued by the spurious lodge in question .
2 . The Board have taken into their serious consideration the allegations made by Bro . Matthew Cooke in his speech at the last Quarterly Communication against the officers in the Grand Secretary ' s office , that they " on their
own account formulate , tabulate , and send abroad other degrees , and they make the office the place from whence they emanate ; " that " they give and sell information , they withhold information from certain channels and pour it into others , "
and that " they receive per centages on the information they obtain and bestow . " The Board have devoted the whole ofthe two special sittings to the reception of evidence and the consideration of the allegations so made
and they especially invited information at all bearing on such matters . No evidence was laid before them in proof of the allegation that information has been sold , or improperly withheld ,
or unduly given by any clerk or official m the Grand Secretary's office , and the Board consequently find that such allegation is without basis or foundation .
With reference to the unrecognized degrees the Board consider it proved , that , on one occasion a clerk in the Grand Secretary ' s ollice assisted , for twenty minutes or less , at a meeting held on the premises of the Craft for purposes
connected with a society not recognized by Grand Lodge , but whether or no such meeting took place in office hours is not certain . It also
appears that on several occasions payments have been made to and received by the clerk in question at the Grand Secretary's office for purposes not connected with the Craft .
No evidence has come before the Board to connect any of the other oflicers in the Grand Secretary's oflice with the allegations made by Bro . Matthew Cooke in his speech at the last
Quarterly Communication . The Grand Secretary has expressed himself entirely satisfied with the manner in which the duties of his office are carried on by all the clerks employed there .
3 . The Board beg to subjoin a statement of the Grand Lodge accounts at the last meeting of thc Finance Committee held on the 17 th November , 2871 , showing a balance in the hands of the Grand Treasurer of - £ 2 , 841 iu . qd . ; and
en the hands of the Grand Secretary , for petty ash , £ T $ . ( Signed ) J . LLEWELLYN EVANS , President .
Bro . LI . Evans then said : In moving , that thc Report of the Board of General Purposes to thc members of Grand Lodge be adopted , I inform Grand Lodge that this Report is but a sequence , or a following , of
the reference which the Grand Lodge at its last Quarterly Communication , had made to the Board of General Purposes with regard to a motion then brought forward by Bro . Matthew Cooke . It is my opinion , as
United Grand Lodge.
President of the Board , that this Report is made upon the discussion of the motion , and possibly might at this Quarterly Communication be rejected by a motion
that the minutes be not confirmed ; but the Board felt that certain allegations having been made in this Grand Lodge at last Quarterly Communication with reference to the conduct of officials in the Grand
Secretary s office , it was the duty of the Grand Lodge to inquire into those allegations . I may state to Grand Lodge that prior to the board acting upon these enquiries a complaint was made to the
Board by the Grand Secretary in reference to the allegations made against the officials in his office by Bro . Cooke . On that complaint Bro . Cooke was summoned to attend the Board . He did attend , and he
protested against the jurisdiction of the Board . Without going into the question of whether his protest was a protest that could be defended in Masonic law or not , it appeared to the Board that it was absolutely
necessary , whether such a protest was a right protest or not , that the allegations should be strictly and completely enquired into , and the accuracy or otherwise of them be determined . On this it was proposed
and agreed to , " that the charge be withdrawn , and Bro . Cooke be informed that the Board considered , in the interest of the
Craft and , in fact , in justice to the officials in the Grand Secretary ' s office , that the enquiry should be strictly proceeded with and determined . " Bro . Cooke was invited
to bring any evidence before the Board . Thc Board also devoted two special meetings to enquire into the truth , or otherwise , of the allegations brought forward by Bro . Cooke ; evidence was tendered and
enquired into ; and the result you have before you . The Board found that the charge was very serious and a very damaging allegation of Bro . Cooke against officials of Grand Secretary ' s office , of giving , or
selling information to certain persons , of withholding information from other persons , and of receiving , as it was stated , per centage for information so given or so withheld . There was no evidence whatever brought
before the Board . ( Hear , hear . ) The Board therefore found that thc allegations were without foundation ( Hear , hear ) , and I put it to thc Board , having heard thc evidence ,
which is in Grand Lodge—it was all taken down in writing—and I may state to Grand Lodge that I perfectly and absolutely concur in thc decision of the Board . I
consider the decision ol the Board was unanimous . With regard to the charges made by Bro . Cooke about the unrecognised degrees and thc part which officials in Grand Secretary ' s office had taken in
promulgating those degrees , the Board then considered them . It was proved to the satisfaction of the Board that one of the officials of Grand Secretary ' s office , who was specially appointed , on one occasion ,
as you will find it in thc report , conferred a degree in someway or other—wc could not find out—it was very difficult to ascertain how long it took—one said it occupied 5 minutes , another a quarter of an hour ,
another 20 minutes—while it was alleged that to confer thc degree it would occupy 2 hours—we found that on thc premises of thc Craft—one witness stating positively it was after * , o ' clock , after office hours—we
found it proved to a certain extent that a degree not recognised by Grand Lodge was given . It was also proved that money had
been at times received by the same official in reference to degrees not recognised by the Craft . It was not proved—on the contrary , there was no evidence brought for-
United Grand Lodge.
ward whatever to connect anybody else in in the Grand Secretary ' s office with any charge or allegation mentioned at the last Quarterly Communication by Bro . Cookenot one . We strictly enquired' into that .
There was not the slightest evidence to connect any one else with the allegation . Under these circumstances the board felt that it was their duty to report , in answer to the reference made at the last Quarterly
Communication in respect of charges made in this Grand Lodge against officials in the Grand Secretary ' s office for doing what , if proved , would render ' them unworthy to continue longer in the service of the Craft ,
that the matter had been enquired into , and you find in the report the result . They do not pass judgment ; they report the circumstance to Grand Lodge , and leave Grand Lodge to deal with it . I move that the report be adopted .
Bro . Col . Burdett seconded the motion . Bro . Matthew Cooke thereupon came forward and said : Most Worshipful Grand Master and brethren , it is rather an invidious thing to address you on a personal
subject like this , but it is a matter for every one of us . The right of forming an opinion , and the right of expressing that opinion , depend on the proceedings of last Grand Lodge . The President of the Board has
told you that I was summoned , first , to attend the Board of General Purposes to give an account of words I spoke here in a legislative capacity . That Board is chosen from you , brethren ; its members are your
substitutes ( hear , hear ) ; and every one of us that says a thing unpleasant to the Grand Secretary , or against Grand Secretary ' s office , is under the penalty , if we allow this to go forth now , of being dragged before that
Board as an offender . ( Cries of " No , no . " ) Who makes them ? ( Continued cries of " No , no . " ) It is the fact . ( " No , " " No . " ) I beg your pardon . ( " No . " ) Oh ! go on . I will wait as long as you please . The very
first thing that I get , is a summons from the Board . I think the duty of every Mason is to obey a constituted authority . I went up to the Board , and I tendered a proteston your behalf , ou my behalf , on the behalf
of every man . Why ? That we should not , if wc dared to say anything that did not exactly tally with thc official mind—that we should not be dragged up as offenders . That protest , whether it was received or whether it was not , I have no means of
telling—these things are conducted in secret . ( Cries of " No . " ) I think that it is time we had an open Board . ( Hear , hear . ) These arc thc times when thc law is administered in this country freely and openly ; when
there is no quiet burking oi the tiling . Now , after I had attended , I was asked whether if I withdrew the charge—for I beg to say that the President of the Board has kindly shifted it on my shoulders that
1 have two charges against thc office . In making my motion here I gave my reasons ; they are no charges ; I had no reason to be cited for a charge . But the Grand Secretary did cite mc before the Board , and made
charges against me . Now , what was the proceeding of the Board ? I was asked , ii the Grand Secretary withdrew his charge , would I withdraw my protest ? I said ,
" Yes , " and did so—loyally ; went to him tbe day after ; asked him how it should be done—what was to be done ? Wouldn ' t tell ; couldn ' t ; didn ' t know ; didn ' t care . I then
did another thing : 1 had given notice of a certain motion to come on at this meeting ; I thought it would not do to allow that to stand . I withdrew that . The day after , what do I get ? A repetition of thc sum-