Concordia Discors

have attended the Lodge till August . Owing to cirenmstui . Cf whioh then occurred , Bro . Marks appears to have become more regnlar . These circumstances are as follow : —Bro . Marks ' s absence having been made the subject of comment , the W . M . called upon him to show cause why he

should not be removed from his office . Bro . Marks ' s answer to this query was the resignation of his membership . At this moment a D . G . Officer intervened , the correspondence was withdrawn , mutual apologies were made , and Bro . Senior Warden attended Lodge " with somo approach

to regularity . " In December 1876 , a Bro . T . N . Seymour , a Past Warden , raised the question of Bro . Marks ' s eligibility as W . M ., on the ground that he had not served the office for a wholo year . The W . M . ruled that ho was eligible , and on a ballot taking place , Bro . Marks was

elected by a majority of 13 to 11 votes cast for Bro . A . L . Vaillant , another Past Warden . Six members , including Bros . Seymour and Vaillant , thereupon appealed to the Deputy District G . M . against the election of Bro . Marks as W . M ., but the appeal was dismissed for " alleged

disrespectful language . " A second appeal was submitted , and pending this , Bro . Marks was installed . The retiring Master then made certain charges against the six appellants " for using insulting expressions regarding the officers of the Lodge , in ideality for having dared to

appeal ; '''' the charges are heard , and "nine members of the Lodge " excluded "five of the six appellants for un-Masonic conduct . " As soon as this sentence had been passed , the Deputy D . G . M . decided adversely on the second

appeal , thus supporting the action of the Lodge . The excluded five appealed to the Deputy D . G M . against their sentence , but were informed by him " that he cannot interfere with the economy of a private Lodge . "

This is a resume of the circumstances , as detailed in " A Looker On ' s " letter , and . it will naturally occur to our readers , as it did to us , on a careful study of the case , that Lodge " Victoria in Burmah " is not in a state of perfect harmony . There must be a lamentable want of tact and

judgment somewhere , for a Lodge to be so unfortunately circumstanced . But to proceed with our comments . The initial mistake was clearl y the appointment of Bro . Marks to be the Senior Warden , when he was absent in England , and when , by reason of that absence , it was impossible he

could exercise his powers aud privileges as Warden for the complete period of a year , as required by law . Whatever may have been Bro . Marks ' s fitness for the office , ifc was obviously a farce to elect him when absent . So far , no blame attaches to Bro . Marks ; but though he returned to Rangoon

in April , it is stated that he did not attend the Lodge till August ; and unless such absence were the result of illness or equally valid reason , we must pronounce him to have been guilty of great disrespect towards the Lodge and its Master . We should hardly think that any valid excuse

wns forthr . oming , or , when called upon to show cause " why he should not be removed from office , " Bro . Marks would not have tendered his resignation as member . Subsequently , matters were set straight for a time , and all went well . But in December , when the Master for the ensuing year was

to be elected , the question as to Bro . Marks ' s eligibility to serve , was very properly raised . The law , which is very precise , lays ifc down that "Every Lodge shall annuall y elect its Master and Treasurer by ballot , such Master having regularly served as a Warden of a Warranted

Lodge for one year" ( the italics are ours ) . Now , if plain English has any moaning in ifc , it must ; be obvious to our readers that Bra . Marks had nofc " regularly served" ns Senior Warden "for ono year" in the "Victoria in Burmah . " Though appointed in January ,

he did not enter upon his duties till August . But he may have served as Junior Warden for a whole year ; or he may have served as Senior or Junior Warden for a whole year in some other "Warranted Lodge , " iu either of which cases he was eligible to the Mastership . A third case , in

which we might suppose him to have served as Junior Warden for a part of the year and as Senior for the remainder of that term , will not apply in this instance , for by reason of his absence in England there must havo been a break in the continuity of his service . Otherwise , in this

case also he would have been eligible . However , until we know the grounds on which the W . M . based his ruling that Bro . Marks was eligible , we are unable to estimate the

merits of such decision . At all events six members of the Lodge , and among them two Past Warden-, appea ' ed agaiiiht ihe decision to the Deputy D . G . M . but their appeal was rejected " for alleged disrespectful language . "

Concordia Discors

Until wo have tho appeal itself before us it is clear we cannot offer any opinion on this point . But a second appeal was made , and pending this , Bro . Marks was installed , and the I . P . M . brought certain charges against tho appellants , tho result being the exclusion of five of them

from tho Lodge . Then came tho decision of the Dep . D . G . M . rejecting tho second appeal , and thus endorsing the action of tho Lodge . We presume under these circumstances , that the Dep . D . G . M . had fully satisfied himself as to the eligibility of Bro . Marks to serve as Master . Then the

five who had been excluded appealed against their sentence , but the Dep . D . G . M . " declined to interfere with the economy of a private Lodge . " With all due respect to the D . D . G . M . tho ground of this refusal will not hear a moment ' s

inspection . Tho Constitutions lay ifc down , —see p . 57 , § 4 —under the head of " District Grand Lodges , " that " complaints against Lodges or brethren may be preferred either to the District Grand Master or to tho District

Grand Lodge . In all cases an appeal lies from the decision of District Grand Lodges to the Grand Lodge of England . " Now the Dep . D . G . M . is the alter ego of the D . G . M ., and , moreover , in the case of Burmah it happens that the office of D . G M . is vacant , and thus the Dep .

D . G M . is momentarily the highest officer in the District . We feel a difficulty in offering any opinion on the later points as stated by our correspondent , as the means for arriving at a correct idea of tho case are wanting . In our judgment , however , the Dep . D . G . M . has formed an

imperfect estimate of his powers . However , the aggrieved brethren can still appeal to the D . G . Lodge , and if they are still dissatisfied , they may carry their case before the Grand Lodge of England . One point on which " A Looker On " seems to lay some stress is of no value . He says , Bro . Marks was never invested with his collar as Senior Warden .

On this point the Constitutions at p . G 2 , § 2 , remark merely as follows : — " N . B . —It is very desirable that a brother should be present when appointed to an office . "

The just inference is that his presence , though obviously desirable , is not necessary . However , we must pause for the present , aud reserve some further observations we feel it our duty to make for a future article .

Touting.

TOUTING .

OUR attention has been called to the following excerpt from an ordinary Lodge notice . " Brethren who desire to join the R . A . CHAPTER , and who have not sent me their names , are requested to do so afc their earliest convenience . " Now , we have a very strong opinion on tho

desirability of avoiding anything and everything which can by any possibility be interpreted as an invitation on the part of any brother to join this or that Masonic body . Ifc has ever been the boast of Freemasonry that those who join its ranks do so voluntarily . We all solemnly declare

that we seek admission into the Fraternity from no unworthy motive , and that no influence has been brought to bear upon us and so induced iu us a desire for initiation ; and the declaration which has been required of us will be required of all future candidates . Ifc may be argued that

when a man has become a Craft ; Mason , no great harm is done by inviting him to become a Royal Arch , seeing thafc the Royal Arch is regarded as the perfection of the Third Degree . We cannot say we think this idea is just . A brother may aspire to join the higher ranks of the

Fraternity , or he may not , but under no circumstances ought he to be invited , directly or indirectly , to take any of the higher degrees . We do not say the particular passage we are commenting upon is an invitation in so many words to the members of this Lodge to become Royal Arch Masons , but

it reads amazingly like a hint to them to lose no time in doing so . People who are in the habit of putting this and that together , are perfectly well aware that a simple announcement is oftentimes a most powerful hint . The man who was quietly looking at a crowd collected round a fellow who had misconducted himself , and remarked that

there was a horse-pond close at hand , certainly did not suggest that the fellow should be then and there ducked , but he struck the key-note which led to tho clucking .

Similarly , a Secretary may plead that m drawing attention to tho existence of a Chapter in connection with his Lodge he is not inviting his fellow members to become Royal Arch . Masons , but he is striking the key-note . He is sug-