Skip to main content
Museum of Freemasonry

Masonic Periodicals Online

  • Explore
  • Advanced Search
  • Home
  • Explore
  • The Freemason
  • Dec. 16, 1871
  • Page 7
Current:

The Freemason, Dec. 16, 1871: Page 7

  • Back to The Freemason, Dec. 16, 1871
  • Print image
  • 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 →
Page 7

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

“The Freemason: 1871-12-16, Page 7” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 3 Sept. 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fvl/issues/fvl_16121871/page/7/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
TABLE OF CONTENTS. Article 1
THE FUTURE OF FREEMASONRY IN IRELAND. Article 1
"A BODY WITHOUT A HEAD." Article 1
JUBILEE of the "CELTIC LODGE, EDINBURGH, No. 291. Article 2
GRAND MASONIC BANQUET AT ALEXANDRIA, DUMBARTONSHIRE. Article 4
Untitled Article 6
Untitled Article 6
Births, Marriages, and Deaths. Article 6
Answers to Correspondents. Article 6
Untitled Article 6
H.R.H. the PRINCE of WALES. Article 6
LIBERTY versus LICENCE. Article 7
Obituary. Article 8
Original Correspondence. Article 8
TESTIMONIAL TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ZETLAND. Article 9
PRESENTATION TO BRO.DR. LORY MARSH. Article 9
PRESENTATION TO BRO. JOHN FRENCH. Article 10
Reports of Masonic Meetings. Article 10
ROYAL ARCH. Article 11
CONSECRATION OF A MARK LODGE (S. C.) AT MARYPORT. Article 12
METROPOLITAN MASONIC MEETINGS Article 12
Untitled Ad 13
Untitled Ad 13
Untitled Ad 13
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Untitled Ad 14
Page 1

Page 1

5 Articles
Page 2

Page 2

3 Articles
Page 3

Page 3

3 Articles
Page 4

Page 4

3 Articles
Page 5

Page 5

3 Articles
Page 6

Page 6

8 Articles
Page 7

Page 7

3 Articles
Page 8

Page 8

5 Articles
Page 9

Page 9

4 Articles
Page 10

Page 10

4 Articles
Page 11

Page 11

4 Articles
Page 12

Page 12

4 Articles
Page 13

Page 13

4 Articles
Page 14

Page 14

17 Articles
Page 7

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

  • Prev page
  • 1
  • 6
  • You're on page7
  • 8
  • 14
  • Next page
  • Accredited Museum Designated Outstanding Collection
  • LIBRARY AND MUSEUM CHARITABLE TRUST OF THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1058497 / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2025

  • Accessibility statement

  • Designed, developed, and maintained by King's Digital Lab

We use cookies to track usage and preferences.

Privacy & cookie policy