Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland. No. Iii.
tion for disjunction of Ayrshire had nothing whatever to do with the seizure of the books of Chapter No . SO—that Chapter not being a petitioner . 4 . The fourth reason given by the Committee is a most flimsy one . The extract referred to was stated , and correctly so , to be from minutes of the Supreme Chapter . The Committee ought to have known that all the minutes both of the Grand Chapter and Grand Committee are inserted in one minute-book—and the
minutes of the Committee , being confirmed by Supreme Chapter , became part and parcel of its acts and records . 5 . The fifth reason is also absurd . Here it is : — Because in the finding of Supreme Committee none of the prayers of the petition and complaint were found revelantthus no distinct redress was claimedfor the
, , 1 st and . 2 nd and part of 4 th articles of said petition and complaint—which were all the Supreme Committee sustained—contained no petition for redress , therefore the Supreme Committee had no right to take them up , the Law of Supreme Chapter , cha 23 . xiii ., sec . 1 st , not having been complied with .
In reply to the Committee , we beg to say that the petition and complaint prayed most specially for redress , as the following extract from that document will show : —¦ beg most humbly but earnestly to pray that the Supreme Grand Eoyal Arch Chapter of Scotland
may order the immediate restitution of your Petitioners ' minute and cash books , accompanied with a suitable apology for the insult offered to your Petitioners by the highly offensive and vexatious manner in which the said books were demanded and taken possession of by Provincial Grand Scribe E . ; and also that the Supreme Grand Chapter may protect your Petitioners , and all others , from being subjected to similar summary , unjust , and harassingly annoying treatment at the hands of jury Provincial Grand Official .
It is not , we think , usual to sustain the relevancy of the prayer of a petition , which is merely a deduction from the preceding statement of facts . If the statement is held to be irrelevant , the prayer is refused de piano ; if the relevancy is sustained , and afterwards proceedsthen the prayer is granted . We never
, recollect hearing of the relevancy of the prayer of a petition being sustained . " Such a mode of procedure , " " Our own Correspondent" thinks , " would he somewhat novel . "
6 . The sixth objection is similar to the first , and has already been replied to . _ Having , then , with as much brevity as it was possible for us to follow , endeavoured to show the unreasonableness and utter illegality of the powers claimed by the Committee on behalf of Provincial Grand
Chapter—and in so doing having also defended our report from the charge of untruthfulness which the said Committee do not scruple to prefer against itwe shall , for the present at least , content ourselves with a mere glance at certain supplementary " reasons " for dissent now , for the first time authoritatively published
to " the world . " In their peroration the Committee express then ? exceeding regret " that they are forced to take this decided protest against the proceedings of the Supreme Chapter and Supreme Committee . " Agreed . We have no doubt whatever that the ex-Provincial Grand Chapter of Glasgow , and its minions , bitterly dejdore the circumstances which have forced them into their humiliating position . Their conceit has been considerably lowered through the
The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland. No. Iii.
opposition successfully offered to their tyranny by the spirited little chapter in the West known as the "Ayr Kilwinning ( No . SO ) , " whose office-bearers have , in the interpretation of the law , shown themselves superior to any or all of the learned clique lately standing at the head of the Royal Arch Order in the Western District . But while there is little doubt of
their being mortified at their defeat , the " decisions " complained against have only had a secondary influence in bringing matters to their present state . It will be in the recollection of the readers of the MAGAZINE , that in one of our recent communications , in speaking of the motives influencing the
secessionists , we ventured to express ourselves in the following terms : — " Sympathy for any one , or a sincere regard to the peace , harmony , and prosperity of Masonry , have little to do in the movement now under consideration . Indeed , it is pretty generally believed that the result of the last election of Grand Royal
Arch Office-bearers , and the merited censure which the unjustifiable suspension of the Lodge Glasgow Kilwinning brought down upon certain parties in Glasgow , have had more influence in shaping their present insane course than anything arising out of the late case . "
These are still our views , and the concluding sentences of the Committee ' s Report seem but the echo of what we have quoted . They cannot conceal the true motive for secession ; hence the cry they now raise against the " system of centralisation" which the Committee say obtains at head quarters , and which they never discovered until the exclusion from office
in Grand Chapter of one of their magnates dissipated the darkness iu which they had for so long a time been enveloped . Great offence is taken by the Committee that the Glasgow element should not predominate in the appointment of Supreme Grand officebearers . They are thus , say they , " trampled upon " and made a " bye-word and laughing-stock throughout the world . "
There may be some room for improvement in the filling up of Grand Offices , but to threaten to secede from Grand Chapter is not the legitimate way to work out that or any other to be desired improvement . We beg to ask those who now so loudl y and intemperately condemn the Grand Chapter for its choice of office-bearerselected annually according to the
con-, stitution of the Order , what amount of liberality they and those acting with them have ever shown in the distribution of Provincial Grand honours ? How many Ayrshire companions have held office in Provincial Grand Chapter since that province was annexed to the Western District ? It is notorious that
the principal , if not the whole of the Provincial Grand Offices have been held by members of Glasgow chapters , to the exclusion of their provincial brethren . The protest of the Committee against" centralisation , " then , comes with peculiarly bad grace from such a corps of monopolisers as the leaders in this crusade against the Supreme Chapter have ever shown themselves to be .
The Committee , in concluding their report , seem to be sensible of the impotence of the arguments by which they have sought to justify the rebellious attitude they have assumed , and now seek to overawe Supreme Grand Chapter by an exhibition of the physical force which the rebels , not only in the Western
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland. No. Iii.
tion for disjunction of Ayrshire had nothing whatever to do with the seizure of the books of Chapter No . SO—that Chapter not being a petitioner . 4 . The fourth reason given by the Committee is a most flimsy one . The extract referred to was stated , and correctly so , to be from minutes of the Supreme Chapter . The Committee ought to have known that all the minutes both of the Grand Chapter and Grand Committee are inserted in one minute-book—and the
minutes of the Committee , being confirmed by Supreme Chapter , became part and parcel of its acts and records . 5 . The fifth reason is also absurd . Here it is : — Because in the finding of Supreme Committee none of the prayers of the petition and complaint were found revelantthus no distinct redress was claimedfor the
, , 1 st and . 2 nd and part of 4 th articles of said petition and complaint—which were all the Supreme Committee sustained—contained no petition for redress , therefore the Supreme Committee had no right to take them up , the Law of Supreme Chapter , cha 23 . xiii ., sec . 1 st , not having been complied with .
In reply to the Committee , we beg to say that the petition and complaint prayed most specially for redress , as the following extract from that document will show : —¦ beg most humbly but earnestly to pray that the Supreme Grand Eoyal Arch Chapter of Scotland
may order the immediate restitution of your Petitioners ' minute and cash books , accompanied with a suitable apology for the insult offered to your Petitioners by the highly offensive and vexatious manner in which the said books were demanded and taken possession of by Provincial Grand Scribe E . ; and also that the Supreme Grand Chapter may protect your Petitioners , and all others , from being subjected to similar summary , unjust , and harassingly annoying treatment at the hands of jury Provincial Grand Official .
It is not , we think , usual to sustain the relevancy of the prayer of a petition , which is merely a deduction from the preceding statement of facts . If the statement is held to be irrelevant , the prayer is refused de piano ; if the relevancy is sustained , and afterwards proceedsthen the prayer is granted . We never
, recollect hearing of the relevancy of the prayer of a petition being sustained . " Such a mode of procedure , " " Our own Correspondent" thinks , " would he somewhat novel . "
6 . The sixth objection is similar to the first , and has already been replied to . _ Having , then , with as much brevity as it was possible for us to follow , endeavoured to show the unreasonableness and utter illegality of the powers claimed by the Committee on behalf of Provincial Grand
Chapter—and in so doing having also defended our report from the charge of untruthfulness which the said Committee do not scruple to prefer against itwe shall , for the present at least , content ourselves with a mere glance at certain supplementary " reasons " for dissent now , for the first time authoritatively published
to " the world . " In their peroration the Committee express then ? exceeding regret " that they are forced to take this decided protest against the proceedings of the Supreme Chapter and Supreme Committee . " Agreed . We have no doubt whatever that the ex-Provincial Grand Chapter of Glasgow , and its minions , bitterly dejdore the circumstances which have forced them into their humiliating position . Their conceit has been considerably lowered through the
The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland. No. Iii.
opposition successfully offered to their tyranny by the spirited little chapter in the West known as the "Ayr Kilwinning ( No . SO ) , " whose office-bearers have , in the interpretation of the law , shown themselves superior to any or all of the learned clique lately standing at the head of the Royal Arch Order in the Western District . But while there is little doubt of
their being mortified at their defeat , the " decisions " complained against have only had a secondary influence in bringing matters to their present state . It will be in the recollection of the readers of the MAGAZINE , that in one of our recent communications , in speaking of the motives influencing the
secessionists , we ventured to express ourselves in the following terms : — " Sympathy for any one , or a sincere regard to the peace , harmony , and prosperity of Masonry , have little to do in the movement now under consideration . Indeed , it is pretty generally believed that the result of the last election of Grand Royal
Arch Office-bearers , and the merited censure which the unjustifiable suspension of the Lodge Glasgow Kilwinning brought down upon certain parties in Glasgow , have had more influence in shaping their present insane course than anything arising out of the late case . "
These are still our views , and the concluding sentences of the Committee ' s Report seem but the echo of what we have quoted . They cannot conceal the true motive for secession ; hence the cry they now raise against the " system of centralisation" which the Committee say obtains at head quarters , and which they never discovered until the exclusion from office
in Grand Chapter of one of their magnates dissipated the darkness iu which they had for so long a time been enveloped . Great offence is taken by the Committee that the Glasgow element should not predominate in the appointment of Supreme Grand officebearers . They are thus , say they , " trampled upon " and made a " bye-word and laughing-stock throughout the world . "
There may be some room for improvement in the filling up of Grand Offices , but to threaten to secede from Grand Chapter is not the legitimate way to work out that or any other to be desired improvement . We beg to ask those who now so loudl y and intemperately condemn the Grand Chapter for its choice of office-bearerselected annually according to the
con-, stitution of the Order , what amount of liberality they and those acting with them have ever shown in the distribution of Provincial Grand honours ? How many Ayrshire companions have held office in Provincial Grand Chapter since that province was annexed to the Western District ? It is notorious that
the principal , if not the whole of the Provincial Grand Offices have been held by members of Glasgow chapters , to the exclusion of their provincial brethren . The protest of the Committee against" centralisation , " then , comes with peculiarly bad grace from such a corps of monopolisers as the leaders in this crusade against the Supreme Chapter have ever shown themselves to be .
The Committee , in concluding their report , seem to be sensible of the impotence of the arguments by which they have sought to justify the rebellious attitude they have assumed , and now seek to overawe Supreme Grand Chapter by an exhibition of the physical force which the rebels , not only in the Western