The Ostensible object is religious Benefit clubs not acknowledged. Additional Rules 7 & 8, p. 138. App. No. 18. Qualification of an Patronage. p. 36. Metropolitan Warrant, member of the grand committee, deputy grand master of London, acting deputy grand treasurer, and deputy grand secretary of the institution, is hereby nominated, constituted, delegated and appointed to undertake the said visitation or tour of inspection, in order to examine the accounts and ascertain the actual state and condition of the respective warrants, to conciliate and arrange all controversies and misunderstandings, and to perform, settle and terminate every matter of business in anywise connected with the society or its affairs, or tending to promote its prosperity and welfare, and in short, to do, execute and transact all such things appertaining thereto, as in the exercise of a prudent and sound discretion he shall deem to be judicious, expedient and fitting: For these objects and general purposes, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Grand Master of the Empire, by the code of laws and ordinances of the 30th day of March 1826, I have hereby granted this my special commission, with a dispensation to empower and enable the dignitary and officer hereinbefore named to admit and initiate members into the institution, to communicate to the brotherhood the signs and pass-words of the new system, to teach the lectures in both orders, to open new lodges, and to set them in full operation on the payment of such dues and fees to the grand lodges, through the medium of the said dignitary and officer, as have been already agreed on by the grand committee; and finally, to suspend or expel contumacious and refractory members, subject to a ratification of his proceedings and adjudications by the grand lodge, at its next meeting, in the event of any appeals being made thereunto, but whose orders and decisions are in the mean while to be obeyed and held conclusive. Given under my seal, at St. James's, this 13th day of August 1832. ERNEST, G. M. The ostensible object of the institution, is to support the Protestant religion and Protestant ascendancy, and to protect, what they consider, the rights of Protestants. Lord Kenyon declares the institution to be essentially religious; although he admits that its acts have not always strictly preserved that character. In Lancashire and other places funds have been collected for the assistance of decayed brethren, and thereby given, in some degree, the character of benefit, or benevolent societies to Orange Lodges. The Imperial Grand Lodge, however, has never sanctioned such an object; having stated in the ordinances of 1834, that benefit clubs are excrescences which the institution takes no notice of whatever, and will not recognize; but they will not prohibit them, provided they do not interfere with any of the rules of the institution. 66 If the objects of Orange Lodges were to be judged of by the moral qualification required by any person before he can be admitted a member, there would be little objection to them. The qualifications are stated in the rules and ordinances; and the following are some of the chief requisites: Every person to be qualified "to be an Orangeman, should love rational and improving society: regarding with "affection the Protestant established religion, and sincerely desiring to propagate "its precepts. Wisdom and prudence should guide his actions; temperance and "sobriety, honesty and integrity, direct his conduct; and the honour and glory of "his King and country, be the motives of his exertions." But Your Committee are of opinion, that the character and proceedings of the Orange Society ought not to be tried by a mere reference to their professions, inasmuch as the conduct of that society, and the results which have ensued from their measures, are at variance with the ostensible objects held out by their rules and ordinances. Your Committee find that the Orange Lodges have a decidedly political character; and that almost all their proceedings have had some political object in view. It appears by the correspondence that the institution has been considered by some Orangemen a source of patronage; and there are various applications from the brethren for the influence and assistance of the dignitaries of the Imperial Grand Lodge (which influence and assistance appear frequently to have been used) to procure licenses for public-houses, pensions in the artillery, and situations in the police and in the docks; and these applications appear to have increased to such an extent, that the deputy grand secretary intimates in the printed circular of the Appendix, No. 2. proceedings of the Imperial Lodge, held on the 16th April 1833, "That the duties "of the deputy grand secretary are so irksome and onerous, as compels him to notify, "that his labours will not admit of the additional toils imposed by applications for "patronage and places, which are pouring in upon him daily. To so oppressive "an extent have such importunities been carried, as to be sufficient to engross the "whole attention of one individual to read, (far less to investigate the merits of) "memorials and petitions, with the prayers of which, neither the illustrious grand "master of the empire, nor the deputy grand master, has the power of complying." "The deputy grand secretary has to remind the brotherhood, that it never was "intended the institution should be rendered thus subservient to the personal "views and private ends of the interested." The ORANGE INSTITUTIONS in GREAT BRITAIN and COLONIES. xi Extent. The Committee have found considerable difficulty in ascertaining the number No. of Lodges of Orange Lodges holding under the Loyal Orange Institution of Great Britain, as under the Loyal Lieutenant-colonel Fairman, the deputy grand secretary, declared that he had no Orange Institution. register of the lodges made up to the present time: he stated that there were " about (1) 300 lodges in activity, although he had kept no general register; but had () Q. 449 " a printed list of 287 lodges, corrected (2), in manuscript, up to 1830-30 of which, (2) Q. 185. as afterwards stated in this Report, were lodges held in the army and artillery; with the number of the regiment or corps printed in the list opposite the number of the lodge. The Committee directed Mr.Colwill, the assistant secretary to Lieutenant colonel Fairman, to make out a register of the existing lodges, as far as they appear Appendix, No. 20. to be now entered in the books of the institution, amounting, as will be seen by the Appendix, to 381 warrants, of which 288 are belonging to 47 districts, and 93 warrants, are unattached to any districts. It appears by reference to the books of the secretary of the Grand Lodge laid before the Committee, and from which the assistant secretary made out the list, that there are 47 districts, with a deputy grand master appointed to each, viz. in the AVR district 10 lodges are entered on Appendix, No. 20. the books, in BRADFORD 18, in CAMBRIDGE 3, in GLASGOW 12, in LIVERPOOL 13, in LEEDS 14, in ROCHDALE 12, in WOOLWICH 9, &c.; the 93 lodges unattached, are in the army, in the Colonies, and in isolated places. Britain. There is no correct list of the number of Orangemen belonging to the London Number of OrangeOrange Institution; and it is impossible for the Committee to form a correct opinion men in Great thereon, from the contradictory statements before them. The deputy grand secretary would not, or could not, state any specific number. Mr. Cooper, a member of the grand committee, who had taken an active part in the affairs of the institution, stated that he had met in a lodge in Cockspur-street 200 masters holding warrants; that the number of Orangemen in London might be 40,000, and that Q. 1336. these, if any emergency should occur, might be assembled by the grand lodge: Q. 1337that if all the dormant lodges were called into activity, there might be 120,000 to 140,000 Orangemen in Great Britain. Other witnesses could give no estimate, and Your Committee can hardly believe, from all the evidence before them, that the numbers are so great as have been stated by Mr. Cooper. Q. 1357. Any number of brethren, not less than five, may meet and transact Orange business App. 18. Rule 18. in any part of Great Britain, under the authority of a master's warrant, provided that a dignitary, or a deputy master, or a committee-man, be amongst them. No. of members. In the earlier years the applications to the Loyal Orange Institution, from the Lodges in the militia, and the other regiments which had been in Ireland, were chiefly for the Army. exchange of Irish warrants, which they had received in Dublin, for English warrants; and the letters will show that they were very numerous. In the circular of the proceedings of the Imperial Grand Lodge of the 4th June 1833, there is the following notice: "All Irish warrants now in operation in Great Britain should See Appendix, "be immediately exchanged for English warrants, by an application to the deputy No. 2, p. 44. "grand secretary, to whose office the former ought to be sent without delay." And Q. 276 to Q. 284. Mr. Chetwoode informed the Committee, that he never hesitated to exchange English, for Irish warrants to regiments, or to any part of the army, and never made any inquiry or hesitated to grant them. It is, however, stated by him that he had an impression that all the military warrants had been granted in Ireland, to non-commissioned officers and privates, with the previous sanction of the commanding officers, although he never saw any note or certificate to that purport to warrant that belief. Your Committee have selected some letters received from non-commissioned Letters. officers and privates in the army, and also the answers to them, which will satisfy The House that the grand officers of the Loyal Orange Institution have given assistance and encouragement to keep up, and to establish lodges in the army, although these officers were made acquainted with the orders of the Commanderin-Chief, forbidding the attending or holding them in regiments; and notwithstanding Appendix, No. 21. they were informed that some commanding officers had actually suppressed the Qy. 550. lodges in conformity with the General Orders. Major Anderson, commanding the 50th regiment, destroyed warrant No. 53, which was held in that corps, and, thereon, a letter was written by Henry Nichols, of the light company, dated May 27, 1830, requesting a new warrant. Major Middleton, of the 42d regiment, also prohibited the holding of the lodge in that regiment at Malta. It will also be seen by the letters from New South Wales, and the letters to Corfu and other places, that the General Orders of the Commander-in-Chief were explained, by the deputy grand secretary, to the soldiers with whom he corresponded, as being intended, not really to suppress the lodges, but merely, to hold out only a semblance of doing so. Your Committee inserts a list of military warrants issued to the following regiments to hold lodges under the Loyal Orange Institution, and which was extracted from the printed register of 1830 presented by Mr. Chetwoode; and, if the regiments and military corps holding warrants under the Grand Lodge of Dublin, as stated in the evidence before The House, are taken into account, it will be seen how large a portion of the army has been at different times imbued with Orangeism. No. 30. 13th Light Dragoons. 16th Light Dragoons. 31. Royal Sappers and Miners, 7th No. 131. 165. 51st Light Infantry. 181. 6th Foot. 190. 6th Dragoon Guards. 204. 5th ditto ditto. 205. Royal Artillery, 4th batt. 238. 67th Foot, 241. 29th Foot. 243. Royal Sappers and Miners. 248. Royal Artillery, 5th batt. 254. Ditto ditto, 6th ditto. 258. 94th Foot. 260. 17th Foot. 269. 1st Royal Dragoons. The following are Extracts from the Account Book, intituled, "The GRAND "ORANGE LODGE TREASURER" of Monies received from Military Lodges; viz. WARRANT, No. 260. 17th Regiment, Sydney, New South Wales. 1832. WARRANT, No. 269. 1st Royal Dragoons, Canterbury Barracks, issued 4th June 1831. (Dorchester Barracks in September 1833.) W. M. Serjeant Wm. Burton, Brighton Barracks. 1832. 1 4 7 6 WARRANT, No. 258, in the 94th Regiment, Malta, dated 1st Dec. 1829. Sept. 28. By Letter recd, No. of Members, 36. WARRANT, WARRANT, No. 30. Old Warrant, 13 Lt Dragoons, Madras. 1825. WARRANT, No. 31. Royal Sappers and Miners (Br Suter.) 1832. WARRANT, No. 33. 4th Regt Foot. WARRANT, No. 58. 95th Rifle Brigade. Old Warrant (Ireland.) 1833. WARRANT, No. 64. Willm McLaughlin, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. July 15. New Warrant, date 4th June. 1833. WARRANT, No. 135. Gibraltar, 53d Regiment. £. s. d. June. Cash recd by order on Cox & Greenwood, Army Agents, London, 1 11 6 1833. WARRANT, No. 136. Sydney, New South Wales. 63d Regiment. WARRANT, No. 165. 51st Light Infantry (Corfu.) WARRANT, No. 181. 6th Foot. Cape of Good Hope. No. 205. 6th Bat. Royal Artillery. 1833. WARRANT, No. 218. Malta, Isola Barracks, 7th R1 Fusileers. 1832. WARRANT, No. 225. 37th Regiment Foot, Jamaica. Cop1 Jno Moss, W. M. Oct. 29. By Letter recd, Amount of Members, 40. Dec. 4. Dues to this date, 40 Members: 1833. 12 Months Dues, Arrears Dec. 4. By cash for dues, said to be for two years, 1832 and 1833 WARRANT, No. 231. Royal Artillery. WARRANT, No. 232. 7th Batln Royal Artillery, Jersey. : 1833. WARRANT, No. 233. 9th Batin Royal Artillery, Woolwich. £. s. d. £. S. d. September. WARRANT granted. 231, Royal Artillery. This Account brought from the long Book of Lodges. 1833. No. 269. 1st Royal Dragoons Ditto from Gibraltar, N. W. 53d Regiment Ditto from Malta, N. W. and Certificates, 7th Royal Fusileers Sept. 11. An Order on Collyer, from Corporal R. Inglis, of the 24th Foot, Nov. 20. Relief to Serjeant Kenyon, of 15th Regiment, Warrant 564, bringing returns from Warrant 33, Canada 1834. Feb. 4. Received of Warrant 233, Woolwich 8 March 4. Received dues from Warrant, No. 47 Lodge, Portsmouth · 2 15 8 20 1 1 12 1834. To Captain M'Dougall, No. 196, Z. 42d Highlanders |