Lodge Victoria In Burmah.

LODGE VICTORIA IN BURMAH .

THE letter we published last week from " A Looker-on , " indicates a state of things in Lodge " Victoria in Burmah" which is the reverse of creditable . We are aware our correspondent ' s statement is an ex parte one , and it is our duty , therefore , to wait and hear what the other

side can urge in its behalf before passing judgment on the whole of the merits . Unfortunately , there is enough to show that the Lodge in question has been guilty of a flagrant dereliction of duty in not yielding unqualified obedience to the edict of Grand Lodge . We need not go

over the circumstances again ; they must be fresh in the memory of our readers . It is enough that at the December Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge , the appeal

of Bro . Vaillant and others against the sentence of exclusion from Lodge " Victoria in Burmah , " passed upon them some time previously , was sustained , ancl , in consequence , directions were sent to the W . M . of the Lode c to the

effect that the excluded brethren should be re-instated in all their Masonic privileges . The regular meeting of the Lodge , as luck would have it , fell on the day immediately following that on which the instructions were received . Bro . Vaillant and his fellows in misfortune accordingly

attended , m high glee at the prospect of being again in the enjoyment of their rights ; but , alas ! for the vanity of human wishes . They were doomed to sore disappointment . The directions of our Grand Lodge were set at nought , and the five brethren returned to their

several homes in a disconsolate state , the Lodge authorities having declined to re-admit them . Since then we are given to understand that the District Grand Master has given orders that they should be received , but these orders have not vet been complied with . The Worshipful Master

is reported to have been seized with certain conscientious scruples about the validity of his election , and has closed his Lodge . No one , it seems , has challenged his election , but so the case stands . Lodge Victoria in Burmah is in abeyance by reason of its Master ' s conduct , and the

brethren who should have been restored to their Masonic privileges nearly four months ago are , Ave presume , still out in the cold . We imagine it will be the duty of the Board of General Purposes to take cognisance of these proceedings , unless , in the meantime , the District

Grand Master has insisted on his orders , as well as the edict of our Grand Lodge , being obeyed , and has succeeded in vindicating the dignity of his office , as well as that of the Grand Master , whose representative he is in Burmah . Obedience to the Masonic laws is one

of the first duties of a Freemason . Bro . Baxendale , who is the present W . M . of this Lodge , cannot thus earl y in his career have forgotten that among the " Antient Charges and Begulations " which , prior to his installation , he agreed to submit to and support , is the following , " You

promise to pay homage to the grand Master for the time being , and to his officers when duly installed , and strictl y to conform to every Edict of Grand Lodge . " It strikes us as moro than passing strange that a brother of so conscientious a mind as Bro . Baxendale appears to possess , should ,

as it were , strain at the gnat of perplexity as to the validity of his election , while he swallows the camel of authority by exercising the functions of Master , ancl in doing so declines

to obey an edict of Grand Lodge , and orders the issue of a circular letter with the title of W . M . appended to his name . Bro . Baxendale will have no one but himself to blame if , sooner or later , ho should find he is in n somewhat serious

Lodge Victoria In Burmah.

difficulty . Bro . Baxendale must bear in mind that he cannot be Master and not Master at one and the same time . It is a flagrantly inconsistent act for him , on the one hand , as Master , to exercise on this occasion the functions of thafc office , as he has unquestionably done by refusing to obey

the orders of Grand Lodge to reinstate certain brethren , by closing his Lodge , and by directing the issue of a circular letter ; and , on the other , to pretend that his election is invalid , and therefore that he is not in a position to exercise those functions . If Lodge " Victoria in Burmah " ia

at the present time , by reason of previous irregularities , without a head , then , in our opinion , its case is provided for at page 78 of the Constitutions , the first part of clause six on which is as follows : — " If the master shall die , be removed , or be incapable of discharging the duties of his office ,

the senior warden , and in the absence of the senior warden , the junior warden , and in the absence of both wardens then the immediate past master , or in his absence the senior past master , shall act as master in summoning the lodge , until the next election of officers . " If , then , Bro .

Baxendale is not legitimately the Master of his Lodge , then it becomes the duty of the Senior Warden to call it together , or in his absence that of the Junior Warden , and so forth . Then , as to working the Lodge in the Master ' s absence , or , as it would be in this case , in the absence of any Master ,

the second part of this same clause 6 reads thus : — " In the master ' s absence , the immediate past master , or , if he be absent , the senior past master of the lodge present shall take the chair . And if no past master of the lodge be present , then the senior warden , or in his absence the

junior warden shall rule the Lodge . " Here , then , is ample provision for carrying on the duties of the Lodge without a Master , and it will be the duty of Lodge Victoria in Burmah . to see that these regulations are observed . There is another point to be considered . In clause 5 , p 63 , of

the Constitutions , it is laid down that" The by-laws of the lodge shall be fairly written in a book , which shall be delivered to the master on his installation , when he shall solemnly pledge himself to observe and enforce them . " Now , we presume the by-laws of Victoria in Burmah , like

the by-laws of other Lodges , fix the days for the regular meetings to be held . How can so scrupulous a Mason as Bro . Baxendale have the hardihood to set at nought the laws of his Lodge , when " he has solemnly pledged himself to observe ancl enforce them ? " He is , indeed , in this predicament .

If he is W . M ., he is violating the by-laws he has sworn to uphold . If he is not W . M ., he has no locus standi , and his order suspending themeetingsof the Lodge is void and of no effect . In the latter case , therefore , we revert to the position as indicated in the aforementioned clause 6 , p 78 , of the

Constitutions , and the Senior Warden must summon the Lodge . We know that a W . Master has great power , and if he is disposed to behave arbitrarily can do much mischief , but we do not think he is in a position above the laws , which he has pledged himself to " observe and enforce . " Perhaps

Bro . Baxendale Avill enlighten us , and show us the way out of some of these difficulties . Our columns will be open to him for any explanation he may desire to offer , and if we

find we have stated anything which is not warranted by the circumstances , we shall willingly retract it , and make him and any others it may concern tho amende honorable .

We conclude these remarks by a reference to the invalidity of Rev . Bro . Marks's election and installation as W . M . of this Lodge , and what , in our opinion , are the simple consequences of that invalidity . His position is affected to this extent . He cannot be deprived of his status of a Past