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Article THE REVELATIONS OF A SQUARE. ← Page 12 of 17 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Revelations Of A Square.
stem the tide , and the debate became so stormy , that he had great difficulty in keeping order . At length the question was put from the Chair , and it was negatived by a majority of eighteen against four . " This decision was so unpalatable to tho accusing Brethren , that at the ensuing Grand Lod a Memorial signed b
ge , y John Bottomley , John Smith , William Pugg , and John Noorthouck , was presented , stating that a flagrant outrage had been committed against the Institution by the Masters , Wardens , and some of the Brethren of the Lodge of Antiquity , principally instigated by the persuasion and example of Bro .. Preston , its Past Masterwhoat a recent Lodgeviolated his duty as
, , , a Mason , by justifying public processions and claiming for that Lodge an inherent right to act in such affairs without the authority of the Grand Lodge , and questioning the power of that Body to interfere in the private concerns of a Lodge which was alleged to possess a prescriptive immunity from
its jurisdiction . " In consequence of the above charges , Bro . Preston was summoned to appear before the Committee of Charity , to answer any complaint which might be preferred against him . In the intermediate period , however , " the Square continued , " the Grand Secretary was implored by several Brethren , who
were personally uninterested in the dispute , to use his influence with the memorialists , for the peace and reputation of the Order , to induce them to withdraw their charges , as he must see that it was simply a frivolous and vexatious attack on an individual who had rendered great services to Masonry . Unfortunately the application was disregarded .
" Bro . Preston attended the Committee on the 80 th of January , 1778 , and was charged with asserting that the Lodge of Antiquity possessed exclusive privileges of its own , independent of the Grand Lodge ; and he was called on to retract that opinion publicly , and to declare that it was equally untrue and inadmissible .
" In reply to this demand , Bro . Preston rose and said , — ' Right Worshipful Sir , —in answer to the charge which you have now preferred against me , I beg leave respectfully to declare that whatever private opinions I may entertain on the prescriptive immunities of the Lodge of Antiquity , they have always been inoperative ; and I have never attempted to
prejudice the Brethren against their obedience to the Grand Master . As to the abstract question of retracting an opinion , I cannot understand how that is possible , unless I am con-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Revelations Of A Square.
stem the tide , and the debate became so stormy , that he had great difficulty in keeping order . At length the question was put from the Chair , and it was negatived by a majority of eighteen against four . " This decision was so unpalatable to tho accusing Brethren , that at the ensuing Grand Lod a Memorial signed b
ge , y John Bottomley , John Smith , William Pugg , and John Noorthouck , was presented , stating that a flagrant outrage had been committed against the Institution by the Masters , Wardens , and some of the Brethren of the Lodge of Antiquity , principally instigated by the persuasion and example of Bro .. Preston , its Past Masterwhoat a recent Lodgeviolated his duty as
, , , a Mason , by justifying public processions and claiming for that Lodge an inherent right to act in such affairs without the authority of the Grand Lodge , and questioning the power of that Body to interfere in the private concerns of a Lodge which was alleged to possess a prescriptive immunity from
its jurisdiction . " In consequence of the above charges , Bro . Preston was summoned to appear before the Committee of Charity , to answer any complaint which might be preferred against him . In the intermediate period , however , " the Square continued , " the Grand Secretary was implored by several Brethren , who
were personally uninterested in the dispute , to use his influence with the memorialists , for the peace and reputation of the Order , to induce them to withdraw their charges , as he must see that it was simply a frivolous and vexatious attack on an individual who had rendered great services to Masonry . Unfortunately the application was disregarded .
" Bro . Preston attended the Committee on the 80 th of January , 1778 , and was charged with asserting that the Lodge of Antiquity possessed exclusive privileges of its own , independent of the Grand Lodge ; and he was called on to retract that opinion publicly , and to declare that it was equally untrue and inadmissible .
" In reply to this demand , Bro . Preston rose and said , — ' Right Worshipful Sir , —in answer to the charge which you have now preferred against me , I beg leave respectfully to declare that whatever private opinions I may entertain on the prescriptive immunities of the Lodge of Antiquity , they have always been inoperative ; and I have never attempted to
prejudice the Brethren against their obedience to the Grand Master . As to the abstract question of retracting an opinion , I cannot understand how that is possible , unless I am con-