-
Articles/Ads
Article LIBERTY versus LICENCE. Page 1 of 2 Article LIBERTY versus LICENCE. Page 1 of 2 Article LIBERTY versus LICENCE. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Liberty Versus Licence.
LIBERTY versus LICENCE .
UNDER ordinary circumstances , -we should pass over , with deserved contempt , the utterances of Bro . Matthew Cooke upon any question affecting Freemasonry ; but ,
in the interests of truth and justice , we are compelled—although with loathing and disgust—to analyse the mass of verbiage , yclept his " speech " at the last Quarterly Communication .
In the first place , we confess to a feeling of astonishment at the extraordinary and preposterous doctrine propounded by Bro . Cooke : that a Mason ought to be allowed
to talk libel in Grand Lodge with perfect impunity , so far as Masonic jurisdiction is concerned . And we are still more amazed to find that this atrocious opinion was not only
not at once repelled with horror and indignation , but heard with complacency , and even endorsed with approval , by two or three brethren who certainly ought to know better .
It is unnecessary to do otherwise than recall to the memories of our readers that Bro . Cooke made charges in Grand Lodge which affected the honour and reputation of every
official employed in the Grand Secretary s department ; and it is equally unnecessary to dwell upon the fact , that not one charge of venality or corruption was substantiated
against those officials . The only allegation respecting which there was any basis of truth , referred to an occurrence which , from even a straight-laccd point of view ,
represents nothing more than an error of judgment , or want of caution , on the part of the brother implicated . This will be apparent from the following statement of the facts .
The " meeting of the " unrecognised degree , " upon which so much stress has been laid , consisted of three persons , who , without any preconcerted arrangement ,
and simply acting under the exigency of the moment , entered the Coffee Room , or Library , connected with the premises at Freemasons' Hall . This meeting was held
between five and six o ' clock in the evening ; there was no formality used , nor were any of the parties presentattiredin " unrecognised " paraphernalia . There was nothing , in fact ,
to shock the sensibilities of the tutelary deity popularly supposed to guard the purity of the building . The offence consisted in handing over a ritual of one of the
chivalric grades to a distinguished Mason , Bro . Samuel B . Harman , the Mayor of Toronto , after requiring him to pledge the usual vow of secrecy—the chivalric grade
in question being considered a honorarium for Masonic services , and its meetings being expressly permitted by the Articles of Union adopted by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813 , which are still in force .
But there is another phase of this question , to which we desire to direct special attention . Bro . Cooke distinctly asserted that the officers of Grand Lodge , " on their
own account , formulate , tabulate , and send abroad other degrees . " How does this agree with the facts elicited ? No employe ' in the Grand Secretary ' s office has ever
Liberty Versus Licence.
received one shilling " on his ozvn account , " nor , in the particular instance cited , was any charge whatever made to Bro . Harman for the grade conferred upon him . If
it could have been proved , in the slightest degree , that any one of our officers made a market of the unrecognised degrees for his own special profit , we should join in the
just outcry of indignation which such conduct would provoke ; but when it is found that the very reverse is the case , we say that
Bro . Cooke s charges have failed as signally and disgracefully upon this point as in the grosser allegations he so unscrupulously made .
What , then , is to be said of such a man , when he raises a bulwark of " privilege " to escape the just punishment of his unmasonic deeds ? Nay , more , when he sets himself
up as a champion of " freedom of speech , and a defender of the right to abuse and defame ? We say deliberately , that , but for the tacit encouragement this man has received from brethren whose intolerance
of " unrecognised degrees " reconciles them to strange alliances , the Craft would not have been burdened much longer with the membership of Matthew Cooke . Allowing ,
even , that a trumpery charge had been proved against one official , how is it that no member of Grand Lodge commented upon the utter groundlessness of the charges
against other officers ? How is it that , except in the manly and eloquent speech of Bro . Philbrick , no voice of censure was uplifted against the slanderer ? "Freedom
of speech" imperilled , indeed ! We say that men ' s characters and reputations are imperilled , while such a man is permitted to pursue his noisome path unchecked and
unpunished . The' " liberty of Masons " compromised , forsooth , because men whose honour is impeached endeavour to obtain justice ! Never were more preposterous
doctrmesbroached to an intelligent Masonic assembly ; never were sophisms more shamelessly veiled in the disguise of candour and truth . There is not , we believe , one member of the Craft in London who
imagines that Cooke s charges were made in the interests of Freemasonry ; nay more , we feel convinced there arc few who are not persuaded that their origin may be
traced to some personal animus . Even if it were otherwise , every true man in the Craft would strenuously decline the proffered services of an obscure pamphleteer as the
champion of genuine r recmasonry . The language recently used by this individual , in a sheet which he had the temerity to circulate even at the last Grand Lodge , is sufficient to reveal his intellectual and
moral calibre to every decent mind , for , verily , out of his own mouth he stands condemned . We trust , however , that we shall not
again have occasion to refer in these columns cither to him or to the person who , contrary to every canon of good
tasteleaving honour out of the question—furnished him with the scanty information upon which he erected a gigantic superstructure
Liberty Versus Licence.
of fallacy and misrepresentation . Although we feel it our duty as a journalist to uphold what we conceive to be right and just , it is with sincere satisfaction we relinquish the
contemplation of a subject with which we are heartily disgusted , and of which , we assert , every honest man may well feel ashamed . .
We regret having been unable to insert the following able speech of Bro . Philbrick , at Grand Lodge , in our last impression :- — Bro . Philbrick , AV . M . of No . 18 , rose and said :
As one of the Board of General Purposes who attended the investigation , I wish to say one word , with the permission of Grand Lodge , and am quite satisfied of this , that no member of that Board would desire for one moment to
curtail the fullest liberty of speech in this Grand Lodge —( hear , hear )—but I hold , for one , that that liberty of speech has certain responsibilities , and that , if any brother makes charges of a grave and serious nature in this Grand
Lodge , where he has a right to make them , he ought to weigh well before he impugns the character or the conduct of any individual . Charges ought not to be lightly made , or upon insufficient grounds , and every brother who
makes them has a right to bear , if these charges fail him , the obloquy which a brother ought to bear who makes an utterly false and ungrounded statement . It is all very well for Bro . Matthew Cooke to represent that he stands as the
champion of liberty of speech . Allow me to say that so far as any proceedings in Grand Lodge are concerned , no allegation that he made , or sentence that dropped from his lips , was the subject of any charge against him , or investigation
against him , by the Board of General Purposes . The Board , I venture to say , and say without fear of contradiction , never thought of arraigning Bro . Cooke before them on a charge of any word he uttered in Grand Lodge , and it is utterly
misleading Grand Lodge to suggest anything of the kind . AV'hat we investigated was this—that which we understood you , in your wisdom , had referred to us as a more convenient tribunal to investigate charges against individuals than a
numerous assemblage like this—we understood that certain individuals had been pointed at , that certain practices had been denounced ; and , in the presence of Bro . Cooke , who was present all the time , and in the presence of every individual
whose conduct was impugned and questioned , every person who was a witness before us , in the fullest and most open way that could have been done in any court of justice in the country , those charges were deliberately investigated ,
one by one , and no witness left that room without being asked by a brother , " Can you inform us of any such malpractices pointed at by Bro . Cooke , or any shadow of foundation for them ?" And , except in the matter in which we find that .
a charge was proved against one of the officers , there was not a shadow of foundation for any charge ( Great cheering ) . AVe believe the board deserves your confidence , but we had the assistance of the Grand Registrar , whose great
experience in judicial procedure renders him a most desirable assistant in such enquiries ; we had Bro . Horace Lloyd , one of Her Majesty's counsel , whose experience is well known by those who know him , and I venture to say that
a more plain statement or a fuller enquiry never took place ; and it is with feelings , I confess , of something like indignation I heard it said that " the Report is the Report of the President of the Board watered down by the Grand
Secretary . Can you endure such words ? I tell you , from motives of delicacy when the room was cleared , the Grand Secretary , of his own will , left the room , in order that the board might be utterly unfettered in their deliberations about
which we were concerned . And I tell you further , brethren , that in the whole conduct of that enquiry there was not a question—although Bro . Cooke said there were over a hundred , while only thirteen were put—the questions were put to the clerks , and the questions
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Liberty Versus Licence.
LIBERTY versus LICENCE .
UNDER ordinary circumstances , -we should pass over , with deserved contempt , the utterances of Bro . Matthew Cooke upon any question affecting Freemasonry ; but ,
in the interests of truth and justice , we are compelled—although with loathing and disgust—to analyse the mass of verbiage , yclept his " speech " at the last Quarterly Communication .
In the first place , we confess to a feeling of astonishment at the extraordinary and preposterous doctrine propounded by Bro . Cooke : that a Mason ought to be allowed
to talk libel in Grand Lodge with perfect impunity , so far as Masonic jurisdiction is concerned . And we are still more amazed to find that this atrocious opinion was not only
not at once repelled with horror and indignation , but heard with complacency , and even endorsed with approval , by two or three brethren who certainly ought to know better .
It is unnecessary to do otherwise than recall to the memories of our readers that Bro . Cooke made charges in Grand Lodge which affected the honour and reputation of every
official employed in the Grand Secretary s department ; and it is equally unnecessary to dwell upon the fact , that not one charge of venality or corruption was substantiated
against those officials . The only allegation respecting which there was any basis of truth , referred to an occurrence which , from even a straight-laccd point of view ,
represents nothing more than an error of judgment , or want of caution , on the part of the brother implicated . This will be apparent from the following statement of the facts .
The " meeting of the " unrecognised degree , " upon which so much stress has been laid , consisted of three persons , who , without any preconcerted arrangement ,
and simply acting under the exigency of the moment , entered the Coffee Room , or Library , connected with the premises at Freemasons' Hall . This meeting was held
between five and six o ' clock in the evening ; there was no formality used , nor were any of the parties presentattiredin " unrecognised " paraphernalia . There was nothing , in fact ,
to shock the sensibilities of the tutelary deity popularly supposed to guard the purity of the building . The offence consisted in handing over a ritual of one of the
chivalric grades to a distinguished Mason , Bro . Samuel B . Harman , the Mayor of Toronto , after requiring him to pledge the usual vow of secrecy—the chivalric grade
in question being considered a honorarium for Masonic services , and its meetings being expressly permitted by the Articles of Union adopted by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813 , which are still in force .
But there is another phase of this question , to which we desire to direct special attention . Bro . Cooke distinctly asserted that the officers of Grand Lodge , " on their
own account , formulate , tabulate , and send abroad other degrees . " How does this agree with the facts elicited ? No employe ' in the Grand Secretary ' s office has ever
Liberty Versus Licence.
received one shilling " on his ozvn account , " nor , in the particular instance cited , was any charge whatever made to Bro . Harman for the grade conferred upon him . If
it could have been proved , in the slightest degree , that any one of our officers made a market of the unrecognised degrees for his own special profit , we should join in the
just outcry of indignation which such conduct would provoke ; but when it is found that the very reverse is the case , we say that
Bro . Cooke s charges have failed as signally and disgracefully upon this point as in the grosser allegations he so unscrupulously made .
What , then , is to be said of such a man , when he raises a bulwark of " privilege " to escape the just punishment of his unmasonic deeds ? Nay , more , when he sets himself
up as a champion of " freedom of speech , and a defender of the right to abuse and defame ? We say deliberately , that , but for the tacit encouragement this man has received from brethren whose intolerance
of " unrecognised degrees " reconciles them to strange alliances , the Craft would not have been burdened much longer with the membership of Matthew Cooke . Allowing ,
even , that a trumpery charge had been proved against one official , how is it that no member of Grand Lodge commented upon the utter groundlessness of the charges
against other officers ? How is it that , except in the manly and eloquent speech of Bro . Philbrick , no voice of censure was uplifted against the slanderer ? "Freedom
of speech" imperilled , indeed ! We say that men ' s characters and reputations are imperilled , while such a man is permitted to pursue his noisome path unchecked and
unpunished . The' " liberty of Masons " compromised , forsooth , because men whose honour is impeached endeavour to obtain justice ! Never were more preposterous
doctrmesbroached to an intelligent Masonic assembly ; never were sophisms more shamelessly veiled in the disguise of candour and truth . There is not , we believe , one member of the Craft in London who
imagines that Cooke s charges were made in the interests of Freemasonry ; nay more , we feel convinced there arc few who are not persuaded that their origin may be
traced to some personal animus . Even if it were otherwise , every true man in the Craft would strenuously decline the proffered services of an obscure pamphleteer as the
champion of genuine r recmasonry . The language recently used by this individual , in a sheet which he had the temerity to circulate even at the last Grand Lodge , is sufficient to reveal his intellectual and
moral calibre to every decent mind , for , verily , out of his own mouth he stands condemned . We trust , however , that we shall not
again have occasion to refer in these columns cither to him or to the person who , contrary to every canon of good
tasteleaving honour out of the question—furnished him with the scanty information upon which he erected a gigantic superstructure
Liberty Versus Licence.
of fallacy and misrepresentation . Although we feel it our duty as a journalist to uphold what we conceive to be right and just , it is with sincere satisfaction we relinquish the
contemplation of a subject with which we are heartily disgusted , and of which , we assert , every honest man may well feel ashamed . .
We regret having been unable to insert the following able speech of Bro . Philbrick , at Grand Lodge , in our last impression :- — Bro . Philbrick , AV . M . of No . 18 , rose and said :
As one of the Board of General Purposes who attended the investigation , I wish to say one word , with the permission of Grand Lodge , and am quite satisfied of this , that no member of that Board would desire for one moment to
curtail the fullest liberty of speech in this Grand Lodge —( hear , hear )—but I hold , for one , that that liberty of speech has certain responsibilities , and that , if any brother makes charges of a grave and serious nature in this Grand
Lodge , where he has a right to make them , he ought to weigh well before he impugns the character or the conduct of any individual . Charges ought not to be lightly made , or upon insufficient grounds , and every brother who
makes them has a right to bear , if these charges fail him , the obloquy which a brother ought to bear who makes an utterly false and ungrounded statement . It is all very well for Bro . Matthew Cooke to represent that he stands as the
champion of liberty of speech . Allow me to say that so far as any proceedings in Grand Lodge are concerned , no allegation that he made , or sentence that dropped from his lips , was the subject of any charge against him , or investigation
against him , by the Board of General Purposes . The Board , I venture to say , and say without fear of contradiction , never thought of arraigning Bro . Cooke before them on a charge of any word he uttered in Grand Lodge , and it is utterly
misleading Grand Lodge to suggest anything of the kind . AV'hat we investigated was this—that which we understood you , in your wisdom , had referred to us as a more convenient tribunal to investigate charges against individuals than a
numerous assemblage like this—we understood that certain individuals had been pointed at , that certain practices had been denounced ; and , in the presence of Bro . Cooke , who was present all the time , and in the presence of every individual
whose conduct was impugned and questioned , every person who was a witness before us , in the fullest and most open way that could have been done in any court of justice in the country , those charges were deliberately investigated ,
one by one , and no witness left that room without being asked by a brother , " Can you inform us of any such malpractices pointed at by Bro . Cooke , or any shadow of foundation for them ?" And , except in the matter in which we find that .
a charge was proved against one of the officers , there was not a shadow of foundation for any charge ( Great cheering ) . AVe believe the board deserves your confidence , but we had the assistance of the Grand Registrar , whose great
experience in judicial procedure renders him a most desirable assistant in such enquiries ; we had Bro . Horace Lloyd , one of Her Majesty's counsel , whose experience is well known by those who know him , and I venture to say that
a more plain statement or a fuller enquiry never took place ; and it is with feelings , I confess , of something like indignation I heard it said that " the Report is the Report of the President of the Board watered down by the Grand
Secretary . Can you endure such words ? I tell you , from motives of delicacy when the room was cleared , the Grand Secretary , of his own will , left the room , in order that the board might be utterly unfettered in their deliberations about
which we were concerned . And I tell you further , brethren , that in the whole conduct of that enquiry there was not a question—although Bro . Cooke said there were over a hundred , while only thirteen were put—the questions were put to the clerks , and the questions