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Article BROTHER J. LEE STEVENS. ← Page 20 of 23 →
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Brother J. Lee Stevens.
" I am of opinion , that the parties under sentence of suspension , may " ( pending the appeal ) exercise their Masonic rights and privileges , until " the final decision on their respective appeals has pronounced them either " innocent or guilty . By the Sth Constitution an appeal is given . It is of " the essence of an appeal that it should stay the execution of the judgment " appealed against ; and this may be supported by analogy from every exist" ing code of laws . In many cases , a contrary doctrine would lead to the " greatest injusticeand the grossest absurdityas if a judgment affected
, , " life or limb . The case of Mr . L . Stevens , in an inferior degree , is a spe" cimen of the same sort . The punishment will have been suffered before " the justice of it can be enquired into , unless it be held that the appeal " suspends all proceedings under the judgment ; ivhich , in my opinion , it " docs . " Temple . " FREDERICK POLLOCK . "
That this step became absolutely necessary for the protection of their Masonic honour will appear by the following startling facts : — The sentence of the board was passed at ten o ' clock on Tuesday night , the 10 th March . Did the Board wait to confirm their own minutes ?—Oh no . Did they wait until the sentence was approved at the " Masonic Plorse Guards ? " —Let us see . On the following day , AVednesday the llth , the Boys' School Festival was announced to take place : a double quick movement was therefore
necessary to give to the affair a kind of Drum-head Court Martial ; for , on one of the " suspended" calling at the Grand Secretary ' s office to confer with the Grand Secretary , that official was not in attendance , whereon the " suspended" made for the Masonic Plorse Guards aforesaid , and using a little of the Craft-royal , enquired if he could see Mr . White , and was told that he
was then with plis Royal Highness . Again , at FIVE o'clock on this very day , the official messenger delivered the sentence in the most obnoxious manner to one of the Brethren ; and at the door of the Festival of Charity , another was actually refused admission to eat with his fellows , and was thereby prevented from contributing to the funds of the institution . Shortly after this , the natal-day of the Grand Master ( who was bom January 27 th , 1776 ) was celebrated , and the Board of Stewards were driven to the necessity of passing a vote of exclusionbecause their President (!) had declared
, in their name that such had previously taken place , which in fact was not the case ! The next complimentary tribute was passed at the Grand Festival , from which they were also excluded . But as evidence of the true character of this persecution , we must give the following episodical description . The reader may be incredulous , for the facts are startling .
AVEDNESDAY , APRIL 29 , 1840 . Time , half-past four—Scene , Grand Secretary's Office . Dr . Crucefix having requested of the Treasurer to the Grand Officers ' Club to give him the customary admission ticket to the Grand Festival , ( as a member ofthe Grand Officers' Club ) , was informed that" they had told him , that Dr . Crucefix was not to have a ticket ; " and on Dr . Crucefix ' s inquiry who were meant by the word theycould get no satisfactory answer
, ; upon pressing the party more closely , he then stated to Dr . Crucefix that he was ' ' suspended . " Dr . Crucefix replied , that he had appealed against such suspension , and that pending the appeal he was free to enter Grand Lodge . Dr , Crucefix was at this moment expressing his indignation at the discourtesy , when the Grand Master came out of his room , and in a very excited manner addressed Dr . Crucefix , stating—
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brother J. Lee Stevens.
" I am of opinion , that the parties under sentence of suspension , may " ( pending the appeal ) exercise their Masonic rights and privileges , until " the final decision on their respective appeals has pronounced them either " innocent or guilty . By the Sth Constitution an appeal is given . It is of " the essence of an appeal that it should stay the execution of the judgment " appealed against ; and this may be supported by analogy from every exist" ing code of laws . In many cases , a contrary doctrine would lead to the " greatest injusticeand the grossest absurdityas if a judgment affected
, , " life or limb . The case of Mr . L . Stevens , in an inferior degree , is a spe" cimen of the same sort . The punishment will have been suffered before " the justice of it can be enquired into , unless it be held that the appeal " suspends all proceedings under the judgment ; ivhich , in my opinion , it " docs . " Temple . " FREDERICK POLLOCK . "
That this step became absolutely necessary for the protection of their Masonic honour will appear by the following startling facts : — The sentence of the board was passed at ten o ' clock on Tuesday night , the 10 th March . Did the Board wait to confirm their own minutes ?—Oh no . Did they wait until the sentence was approved at the " Masonic Plorse Guards ? " —Let us see . On the following day , AVednesday the llth , the Boys' School Festival was announced to take place : a double quick movement was therefore
necessary to give to the affair a kind of Drum-head Court Martial ; for , on one of the " suspended" calling at the Grand Secretary ' s office to confer with the Grand Secretary , that official was not in attendance , whereon the " suspended" made for the Masonic Plorse Guards aforesaid , and using a little of the Craft-royal , enquired if he could see Mr . White , and was told that he
was then with plis Royal Highness . Again , at FIVE o'clock on this very day , the official messenger delivered the sentence in the most obnoxious manner to one of the Brethren ; and at the door of the Festival of Charity , another was actually refused admission to eat with his fellows , and was thereby prevented from contributing to the funds of the institution . Shortly after this , the natal-day of the Grand Master ( who was bom January 27 th , 1776 ) was celebrated , and the Board of Stewards were driven to the necessity of passing a vote of exclusionbecause their President (!) had declared
, in their name that such had previously taken place , which in fact was not the case ! The next complimentary tribute was passed at the Grand Festival , from which they were also excluded . But as evidence of the true character of this persecution , we must give the following episodical description . The reader may be incredulous , for the facts are startling .
AVEDNESDAY , APRIL 29 , 1840 . Time , half-past four—Scene , Grand Secretary's Office . Dr . Crucefix having requested of the Treasurer to the Grand Officers ' Club to give him the customary admission ticket to the Grand Festival , ( as a member ofthe Grand Officers' Club ) , was informed that" they had told him , that Dr . Crucefix was not to have a ticket ; " and on Dr . Crucefix ' s inquiry who were meant by the word theycould get no satisfactory answer
, ; upon pressing the party more closely , he then stated to Dr . Crucefix that he was ' ' suspended . " Dr . Crucefix replied , that he had appealed against such suspension , and that pending the appeal he was free to enter Grand Lodge . Dr , Crucefix was at this moment expressing his indignation at the discourtesy , when the Grand Master came out of his room , and in a very excited manner addressed Dr . Crucefix , stating—