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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. ← Page 9 of 12 →
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United Grand Lodge Of England.
Brother was almost as unfortunate with reference to the privileges of the Grand Master . Practically speaking , the original motion of Bro . Bigg to no extent lessened those privileges—it would rather have tended to increase them . Indeed the Grand Master had himself sanctioned the discussion of the question in Grand Lodge , although Bro . Dobie had refused to allow it to be discussed in the Board of General Purposes ! No Grand Master could well have done otherwisewithout running the
, risk of being opposetl on a subsequent election to the hi gh honour of the presidency of the Craft , for such an improper refusal . If it were asked why Bro . Bigg wished to have his motion first submitted to the Board of General Purposes , the reply would suggest itself to all who were experienced in discussing the tactics of Grand Lodge . If approved by a majority of that Board , the subject , forming part of the report made by the Board to Grand Lodge , would take precedence of other business ;
and come on , not merely at an earlier meeting of Grand Lodge than if left to take its chance on the list of motions , but , at an early hour in the evening , before the time had been frittered away by some such expedients as had been observable that night . Who better entitled to the advantage of such priority than a member of the Board , as Bro . Bigg was ? But it would seem that Bro . Alston valued an imaginary lessening of privilegeor loss of franchisebeyond the actual sacrifice
, , of an unquestionable right . And why did not Bro . Dobie put the question to the Board of General Purposes ? No satisfactory answer had been given . It might be accounted for on the assumption , that , he believed a majority of the members present would vote in its favour , and so give Bro . Bigg the advantage of a recommendation of the measure
to Grand Lodge . He would in conclusion contend that Bro . Dobie was bound to put the question ; and if his masonic probity were not affected by his refusal , his ability was . And , as sound judgment , with something even above common ability , as well as perfect honesty , were requisite to the office of President of the Board of General Purposes ; and , as Bro . Dobie had evinced his deficiency in the matter under consideration , and had shown his ignorance of the masonic law as laid down in the Book of Constitutionsmore than once that evening ; if the affair should terminate
, in his resigning that presidency , he ( Bro . S . ) should not deem it an occasion for regret , but for congratulation . Bro . SCARBOROUGH supported the original motion . There had been an attempt to stifle all discussion , which was already sufficiently curtailed ; for no sooner was it supposed that a member below tbe dais intended to speak against a motion supported by the brethren on the dais , than he was met by every kind of quibble or interruption ; not only was such the
fact , but every impediment was thrown in his way to prevent him bringing on any motion at all ; petitions were read at length , reports were drawn out to enormous volumes , and everything else resorted to , to prevent an independent brother bringing a motion forward for discussion ; and when at length he manage' ) , by perseverance and patience , to get it on the paper of business , impediments were renewed until it was eleven o ' clockwhen of course fresh notice must be given , and another chance
, of tiring him out presented itself . Was it to be wondered at , then , that the proposer of this motion had been desirous of getting the question before the Board of General Purposes ? Not in the least ; if he had been fairly dealt by , his motion woultl have been put at the Board , and if it was a bad one , the Board could and would have rejected it . What necessity , then , was there for the unheard-of stretch of power of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge Of England.
Brother was almost as unfortunate with reference to the privileges of the Grand Master . Practically speaking , the original motion of Bro . Bigg to no extent lessened those privileges—it would rather have tended to increase them . Indeed the Grand Master had himself sanctioned the discussion of the question in Grand Lodge , although Bro . Dobie had refused to allow it to be discussed in the Board of General Purposes ! No Grand Master could well have done otherwisewithout running the
, risk of being opposetl on a subsequent election to the hi gh honour of the presidency of the Craft , for such an improper refusal . If it were asked why Bro . Bigg wished to have his motion first submitted to the Board of General Purposes , the reply would suggest itself to all who were experienced in discussing the tactics of Grand Lodge . If approved by a majority of that Board , the subject , forming part of the report made by the Board to Grand Lodge , would take precedence of other business ;
and come on , not merely at an earlier meeting of Grand Lodge than if left to take its chance on the list of motions , but , at an early hour in the evening , before the time had been frittered away by some such expedients as had been observable that night . Who better entitled to the advantage of such priority than a member of the Board , as Bro . Bigg was ? But it would seem that Bro . Alston valued an imaginary lessening of privilegeor loss of franchisebeyond the actual sacrifice
, , of an unquestionable right . And why did not Bro . Dobie put the question to the Board of General Purposes ? No satisfactory answer had been given . It might be accounted for on the assumption , that , he believed a majority of the members present would vote in its favour , and so give Bro . Bigg the advantage of a recommendation of the measure
to Grand Lodge . He would in conclusion contend that Bro . Dobie was bound to put the question ; and if his masonic probity were not affected by his refusal , his ability was . And , as sound judgment , with something even above common ability , as well as perfect honesty , were requisite to the office of President of the Board of General Purposes ; and , as Bro . Dobie had evinced his deficiency in the matter under consideration , and had shown his ignorance of the masonic law as laid down in the Book of Constitutionsmore than once that evening ; if the affair should terminate
, in his resigning that presidency , he ( Bro . S . ) should not deem it an occasion for regret , but for congratulation . Bro . SCARBOROUGH supported the original motion . There had been an attempt to stifle all discussion , which was already sufficiently curtailed ; for no sooner was it supposed that a member below tbe dais intended to speak against a motion supported by the brethren on the dais , than he was met by every kind of quibble or interruption ; not only was such the
fact , but every impediment was thrown in his way to prevent him bringing on any motion at all ; petitions were read at length , reports were drawn out to enormous volumes , and everything else resorted to , to prevent an independent brother bringing a motion forward for discussion ; and when at length he manage' ) , by perseverance and patience , to get it on the paper of business , impediments were renewed until it was eleven o ' clockwhen of course fresh notice must be given , and another chance
, of tiring him out presented itself . Was it to be wondered at , then , that the proposer of this motion had been desirous of getting the question before the Board of General Purposes ? Not in the least ; if he had been fairly dealt by , his motion woultl have been put at the Board , and if it was a bad one , the Board could and would have rejected it . What necessity , then , was there for the unheard-of stretch of power of the