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Article PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGES. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Provincial Grand Lodges.
believe , held after the appearance of our article , that of Kent , our worthy and Right Worshipful Bro . Charles Purton Cooper , than whom there is ho man more distinguished in his profession at the bar , frankly admitted it to be so , and at once proceeded to apply the constitutional remedy by following , as far as may be , the practice of the
Grand Lodge of England . Bro . Fleming , in the Isle of Wight , followed in his wake j and from that day forth it became well understood and acknowledged throughout the kingdom , that every Provincial Grand Lodge was to be opened as a separate , body , distinct from private Lodges , though the manner in , which that has been carried out , has somewhat differed . In some cases the private Lodge has been opened ,
and the members of Prov . Grand Lodge received with honours , and the private Lodge being then closed , the Grand Lodge has been opened ; whilst in others the , in our opinion , more strictly legal course has been adopted of opening the Prov . Grand Lodge as an to
entirely independent body ; and this ^ we rejoice know , has received the sanction by their acts , of three Grand Registrars , Bros . Dobie , Henderson , and only a week or two since , Bro . Roxburgh . The course adopted by Bro . Hall , in Cambridgeshire , we have not had the opportunity of testing . Of the three Grand Officers we have mentioned , it is but fair to say , that two , Bros . Dobie and Henderson
acted on the principle we have laid down prior to our writing our first article on the subject ; and the third , Bro . Roxburgh , has only recently entered upon the duties of his office . With regard to our second point—that of the non-admission of
brethren other than those being actually members of Prov . Grand Lodge—we admit our opinions have not been so generally followed , though acknowledged to be right in the abstract , from a fear that if the brethren are not permitted to be present in Prov . Grand Lodge , it will lessen their interest in those most useful and interesting
gatherings ; and perhaps , from the want of more general intercourse with their brethren , than can be obtained in their private Lodges , their interest in the Craft itself . We do not deny that to some triflingthough we believe very trifling—extent it would do so j but the Prov . Grand Master has it in his power to prevent this , by the exercise oi his authority to admit visitors ; and it then becomes to be considered
how they can best be admitted , so as to interfere as little as possible with general business . We would suggost that the Grand Lodge should be opened in'the presence of the members only , and the minutes read ; after which all Master Masons might be admitted to seats specially provided for them at the sides or bottom of the Lodge , to witness the bestowal of honours , and listen to the proceedings 3 so that instead of
being intermixed -with the members of Prov . Grand Lodge as heretofore , their position may be so defined and distinct , that the Prov . Grand Master , or other presiding officer , may at once be enabled to see and determine who has a right to vote , should a division of opinion arise—happily a very rare circumstance in Prov . Grand Lodge . There was a third point to whiqh we raised an objection , as bein g con-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial Grand Lodges.
believe , held after the appearance of our article , that of Kent , our worthy and Right Worshipful Bro . Charles Purton Cooper , than whom there is ho man more distinguished in his profession at the bar , frankly admitted it to be so , and at once proceeded to apply the constitutional remedy by following , as far as may be , the practice of the
Grand Lodge of England . Bro . Fleming , in the Isle of Wight , followed in his wake j and from that day forth it became well understood and acknowledged throughout the kingdom , that every Provincial Grand Lodge was to be opened as a separate , body , distinct from private Lodges , though the manner in , which that has been carried out , has somewhat differed . In some cases the private Lodge has been opened ,
and the members of Prov . Grand Lodge received with honours , and the private Lodge being then closed , the Grand Lodge has been opened ; whilst in others the , in our opinion , more strictly legal course has been adopted of opening the Prov . Grand Lodge as an to
entirely independent body ; and this ^ we rejoice know , has received the sanction by their acts , of three Grand Registrars , Bros . Dobie , Henderson , and only a week or two since , Bro . Roxburgh . The course adopted by Bro . Hall , in Cambridgeshire , we have not had the opportunity of testing . Of the three Grand Officers we have mentioned , it is but fair to say , that two , Bros . Dobie and Henderson
acted on the principle we have laid down prior to our writing our first article on the subject ; and the third , Bro . Roxburgh , has only recently entered upon the duties of his office . With regard to our second point—that of the non-admission of
brethren other than those being actually members of Prov . Grand Lodge—we admit our opinions have not been so generally followed , though acknowledged to be right in the abstract , from a fear that if the brethren are not permitted to be present in Prov . Grand Lodge , it will lessen their interest in those most useful and interesting
gatherings ; and perhaps , from the want of more general intercourse with their brethren , than can be obtained in their private Lodges , their interest in the Craft itself . We do not deny that to some triflingthough we believe very trifling—extent it would do so j but the Prov . Grand Master has it in his power to prevent this , by the exercise oi his authority to admit visitors ; and it then becomes to be considered
how they can best be admitted , so as to interfere as little as possible with general business . We would suggost that the Grand Lodge should be opened in'the presence of the members only , and the minutes read ; after which all Master Masons might be admitted to seats specially provided for them at the sides or bottom of the Lodge , to witness the bestowal of honours , and listen to the proceedings 3 so that instead of
being intermixed -with the members of Prov . Grand Lodge as heretofore , their position may be so defined and distinct , that the Prov . Grand Master , or other presiding officer , may at once be enabled to see and determine who has a right to vote , should a division of opinion arise—happily a very rare circumstance in Prov . Grand Lodge . There was a third point to whiqh we raised an objection , as bein g con-