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Article BROTHER J. LEE STEVENS. ← Page 7 of 23 →
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Brother J. Lee Stevens.
Brother STEVENS . —When did you resign the Secretaryship ? Brother FARNFIELD . —In the course ofthe evening's proceedings I resigned the Secretaryship . Brother STEVENS . —At what period of the evening ? Brother FARNFIELD . —Previously to your resolution having been handed in . Brother STEVENS How long previously ? Brother FARNFIELD . —IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CONFIRMATION OF '
MINUTES OF THE PRECEDING EVENING . Evidence so strong and conclusive as this , from a Brother , who , either as the party most intimately concerned in that portion of the proceedings , or as the Secretary keeping the minutes of those proceedings as they occurred , should have been considered fatal to the case ,- seeing that it falsified , in tlie minutest particular , the testimony of the other three witnesses upon this part of the subject . But if a single doubt existed as to the veracity of Brother Farnfield ( none could surelremain as to the WANT of veracity on
y the parts _ of Bros . Barnard , Jackson , and Truman ) , that doubt must havo been dissipated by the confirmation of Brother Farnfield in every detail , afterwards given by Brother Field , who was present at the meeting , and as Secretary to the Institution has charge of the minutes of proceedings of the I 3 th of November , in the handwriting of Brother Farnfield ; proving , in sliort , that three distinct motions were put and carried after Brother P ' ARNFIELD ' S resignation I
Why it was left to Brother Stevens to draw out evidence touching thc correctness of the paper upon which the charges were founded , by a crossexamination of the witnesses for the complainants , our readers will readily infer ; by considering a question that arises still more naturally ; which is , why the complainants did not examine their own witnesses upon that point ? No other answer can suggest itself than this—the complainants dared not test , the correctness of the very foundation of their charges ; they already knew that it was as false as they had been anxious to have it considered to be true ; but then they possessed not sufficient candour , they cherished not a sufficient love of justice , to achnoivledge their error , and thus partly to make amends . Yet , after all , they were perhaps the best judges of the case , and in the
course they pursued evinced the soundness of their judgment ; themselves the mere instruments ofthe more designing , they performed the task allotted to thern without either fear or compunction , relying , as tlie result proved they might safely do , that however imperfect , contradictory , or impossible the evidence might be , their employers would obtain for them , or give a decision in their favour .
But on the mind of Brother Stevens no such impression appeared to be made ; he still looked at the proceedings , hostile as they had hitherto been conducted towards him , not less on the part of the Board than on that of the complainants , as being likely to be influenced by some considerations of justice , however small ; and when the evidence for the complainants was closed , he good-humouredly , but with evident sincerity and confidence , asked if it would be necessary for him to call any evidence to rebut the inconclusive and contradictory testimony that had been given ? In any other court , he observed
, the presiding officer would declare that no case had been made out , and that it would be a wanton waste of time to call witnesses for the defence . But he addressed a tribunal that had predetermined to sacrifice him , and if possible his brother respondents , without the slightest regard to either truth or justice , to what they assumed to be the honour ofthe Grand Master ; as if his Masonic character could be alone sustained by sacrificing the characters of others ! Finding , then , that the Board was not accessible to any just or honourable feelings and being unwilling to leave its members the remotest shadow of an excuse for the perversion of their functions , which he began to think would ensue , Brother Stevens proceeded to call witnesses for the defence . VOL . VII . A A
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brother J. Lee Stevens.
Brother STEVENS . —When did you resign the Secretaryship ? Brother FARNFIELD . —In the course ofthe evening's proceedings I resigned the Secretaryship . Brother STEVENS . —At what period of the evening ? Brother FARNFIELD . —Previously to your resolution having been handed in . Brother STEVENS How long previously ? Brother FARNFIELD . —IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CONFIRMATION OF '
MINUTES OF THE PRECEDING EVENING . Evidence so strong and conclusive as this , from a Brother , who , either as the party most intimately concerned in that portion of the proceedings , or as the Secretary keeping the minutes of those proceedings as they occurred , should have been considered fatal to the case ,- seeing that it falsified , in tlie minutest particular , the testimony of the other three witnesses upon this part of the subject . But if a single doubt existed as to the veracity of Brother Farnfield ( none could surelremain as to the WANT of veracity on
y the parts _ of Bros . Barnard , Jackson , and Truman ) , that doubt must havo been dissipated by the confirmation of Brother Farnfield in every detail , afterwards given by Brother Field , who was present at the meeting , and as Secretary to the Institution has charge of the minutes of proceedings of the I 3 th of November , in the handwriting of Brother Farnfield ; proving , in sliort , that three distinct motions were put and carried after Brother P ' ARNFIELD ' S resignation I
Why it was left to Brother Stevens to draw out evidence touching thc correctness of the paper upon which the charges were founded , by a crossexamination of the witnesses for the complainants , our readers will readily infer ; by considering a question that arises still more naturally ; which is , why the complainants did not examine their own witnesses upon that point ? No other answer can suggest itself than this—the complainants dared not test , the correctness of the very foundation of their charges ; they already knew that it was as false as they had been anxious to have it considered to be true ; but then they possessed not sufficient candour , they cherished not a sufficient love of justice , to achnoivledge their error , and thus partly to make amends . Yet , after all , they were perhaps the best judges of the case , and in the
course they pursued evinced the soundness of their judgment ; themselves the mere instruments ofthe more designing , they performed the task allotted to thern without either fear or compunction , relying , as tlie result proved they might safely do , that however imperfect , contradictory , or impossible the evidence might be , their employers would obtain for them , or give a decision in their favour .
But on the mind of Brother Stevens no such impression appeared to be made ; he still looked at the proceedings , hostile as they had hitherto been conducted towards him , not less on the part of the Board than on that of the complainants , as being likely to be influenced by some considerations of justice , however small ; and when the evidence for the complainants was closed , he good-humouredly , but with evident sincerity and confidence , asked if it would be necessary for him to call any evidence to rebut the inconclusive and contradictory testimony that had been given ? In any other court , he observed
, the presiding officer would declare that no case had been made out , and that it would be a wanton waste of time to call witnesses for the defence . But he addressed a tribunal that had predetermined to sacrifice him , and if possible his brother respondents , without the slightest regard to either truth or justice , to what they assumed to be the honour ofthe Grand Master ; as if his Masonic character could be alone sustained by sacrificing the characters of others ! Finding , then , that the Board was not accessible to any just or honourable feelings and being unwilling to leave its members the remotest shadow of an excuse for the perversion of their functions , which he began to think would ensue , Brother Stevens proceeded to call witnesses for the defence . VOL . VII . A A