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Article UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. ← Page 6 of 10 →
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United Grand Lodge Of England.
Bro . C . WILSON would submit a few words , not as an amendment but as an addition to the motion now before the chair . Much had been said of the lodge of which he was a member , the St . Paul ' s , for admitting Bro . Cooke ; but he saw nothing irregular , and knew of nothing irregular about it ; the brother had been named as the representative of the Grand Master in the Grand Lodge of New York ; but had the Grand Master made the proper enquiries of the fitness of Major-general Cooke to be
his representative ? the General ' s character , station , and capabilities should have been enquired into , not after he was appointed , and raised to dignities ancl honours ; and if that had been done , why now wish to expel him ? if that had not been done , it was a disgrace to those who had recommended the brother for such preferment ; on them , and on them only , the blame and entire disgrace of this affair should rest . He was not now giving an opinion of what course should be takenbut the
, course that had been neglected was very evident ; or if the proper enquiry had been made , the misrepresentation and deception emanated from those who introduced and recommended Major-general Cooke to tiie Grand Master . He ( Bro . W . ) was no friend ofthe General ' s , and opposed his admission to the St . Paul ' s Lodge ; it was not , therefore , from any intimacy with him that induced him to present himself before Grand Lodgebut a sense of justice only . He moved thatin addition
, , to the motion , the words be added— " that this Grand Lodge considers the . officers , whose duty it was to enquire into the character of Majorgeneral Cooke before recommending him to the Grand Master , as extremely negligent and improper , and deserving the censure of the Grand Lodge . "
Bro . SCARBOROUGH saw but one of two ways with this unpleasant affair—Bro . Cooke had been found on the floor , and had been raised to the dais—Bro . Cooke had been declared unfit for the dais , and was proposed to be returned to keep company with those below the dais . This could not be tolerated , keep him where he is ; or if unfit for such company , let him go out of the society ; if not proper company for the officers of a society , he must ba equally unfit for the other members of it- He had proposed that he be expelled upon those groundsand for
, the same reasons he persisted in it ; but he could not think of not keeping him and yet keeping his money , which he had given , he must confess , with a bountiful hand ; he trusted , therefore , if the brother was expelled , his money would be returned to him also . Bro . R . G . ALSTON rose to order—notice of a motion had been given at the Committee of Masters , that if this motion was carried , it would be followed by one proposing to return the money Major-general Cooke
had actually given to the masonic charities ; and it was Bro . Scarborough ' s place to have made himself acquainted with such notice . The GRAND MASTER admitted the state of the case to be as Bro . Dobie had put it ; but to the last brother who had spoken he would say , that no one had recommended Bro . Cooke to be appointed to the office of representative at New York , the facts were these—Major -general Cooke was introduced to him ba most respectable brothera member
y , of the Prince of Wales' Lodge , and believing that the Major-general was what he had represented himself to be , he ( the G . M . ) appointed him as his representative at the Grand Lodge of New York on his , the Major-general ' s , own application . He ( the G . M . ) may have been wrong in doing so ; but why should he have doubted the propriety for one moment—what was to induce him to think that Bro . Cooke was
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge Of England.
Bro . C . WILSON would submit a few words , not as an amendment but as an addition to the motion now before the chair . Much had been said of the lodge of which he was a member , the St . Paul ' s , for admitting Bro . Cooke ; but he saw nothing irregular , and knew of nothing irregular about it ; the brother had been named as the representative of the Grand Master in the Grand Lodge of New York ; but had the Grand Master made the proper enquiries of the fitness of Major-general Cooke to be
his representative ? the General ' s character , station , and capabilities should have been enquired into , not after he was appointed , and raised to dignities ancl honours ; and if that had been done , why now wish to expel him ? if that had not been done , it was a disgrace to those who had recommended the brother for such preferment ; on them , and on them only , the blame and entire disgrace of this affair should rest . He was not now giving an opinion of what course should be takenbut the
, course that had been neglected was very evident ; or if the proper enquiry had been made , the misrepresentation and deception emanated from those who introduced and recommended Major-general Cooke to tiie Grand Master . He ( Bro . W . ) was no friend ofthe General ' s , and opposed his admission to the St . Paul ' s Lodge ; it was not , therefore , from any intimacy with him that induced him to present himself before Grand Lodgebut a sense of justice only . He moved thatin addition
, , to the motion , the words be added— " that this Grand Lodge considers the . officers , whose duty it was to enquire into the character of Majorgeneral Cooke before recommending him to the Grand Master , as extremely negligent and improper , and deserving the censure of the Grand Lodge . "
Bro . SCARBOROUGH saw but one of two ways with this unpleasant affair—Bro . Cooke had been found on the floor , and had been raised to the dais—Bro . Cooke had been declared unfit for the dais , and was proposed to be returned to keep company with those below the dais . This could not be tolerated , keep him where he is ; or if unfit for such company , let him go out of the society ; if not proper company for the officers of a society , he must ba equally unfit for the other members of it- He had proposed that he be expelled upon those groundsand for
, the same reasons he persisted in it ; but he could not think of not keeping him and yet keeping his money , which he had given , he must confess , with a bountiful hand ; he trusted , therefore , if the brother was expelled , his money would be returned to him also . Bro . R . G . ALSTON rose to order—notice of a motion had been given at the Committee of Masters , that if this motion was carried , it would be followed by one proposing to return the money Major-general Cooke
had actually given to the masonic charities ; and it was Bro . Scarborough ' s place to have made himself acquainted with such notice . The GRAND MASTER admitted the state of the case to be as Bro . Dobie had put it ; but to the last brother who had spoken he would say , that no one had recommended Bro . Cooke to be appointed to the office of representative at New York , the facts were these—Major -general Cooke was introduced to him ba most respectable brothera member
y , of the Prince of Wales' Lodge , and believing that the Major-general was what he had represented himself to be , he ( the G . M . ) appointed him as his representative at the Grand Lodge of New York on his , the Major-general ' s , own application . He ( the G . M . ) may have been wrong in doing so ; but why should he have doubted the propriety for one moment—what was to induce him to think that Bro . Cooke was