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  • March 22, 1884
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    Article THE MASTER'S OFFICE, DUTIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Page 1 of 2
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Master's Office, Duties, And Responsibilities.

THE MASTER'S OFFICE , DUTIES , AND RESPONSIBILITIES .

A MASTER of a Lodge is a constitutional monarch daring the time he occupies the chair . General principles of government are defined by the Constitutions , and each Lodge has its own Bye-Laws ; beyond these limitations , a Master is free to act according to his individual judgment . Practically he rules supreme , both by the laws of the Order and the customs of the Lodge . He is like a

judge , whose decisions are absolute in his own Court . His ruling may be subject to an appeal to the fountain-head of the Craft , but it is rarely , if ever , that his government of the Lodge over which he presides is made a matter of supervision by the higher powers . Even with regard to

his personal conduct , it must be very outrageous to impel a Lodge so far to depart from the practice of implicit obedience as to challenge his acts . Cases have occurred in which Masters have exhibited their personal unfitness for the office , and have provoked hostility in consequence .

These are so rare that practically they may be said not to exist , except to prove the rule of complete obedience . A Master sometimes loses touch of his Lodge , and it is to be feared that it is no uncommon thing for him to be partial in the selection of his Officers . When these results occur

the whole Lodge suffers , but the authority of the office still remains , although it may be morally impaired . Time and circumstances remove the greater evils , while the minor

ones are settled amicably . A Master , surrounded by Past Masters and an experienced Secretary , can rarely go far wrong if he accepts their counsel , and the spirit of a Lodge must indeed be bad when it resists the combined wisdom of

the chair and the Board of Past Masters . It cannot prevail in the end , and it soon fades away before the strength which rests with authority gained by knowledge and experience . A prudent Master will never unduly stretch his power ; he will rather attain his ends by appearing to

yield , by moral influence , and not by the exercise of an arbitrary will . To have the confidence of the Lodge he must be a good worker ; by this we mean that he should not only know the ceremonies , and perform them with dignity and solemnity , but he should be skilled in

government . Some there are who think they have done all that is necessary when they have mastered the verbal ritual of the Craft , and can repeat it parrot-like , and most Masters never seek to understand , much less to expound , the spiritual and moral teachings of the ceremonies . These are

left to do their own work without the guidance which a pastor of a flock or a wise schoolmaster never fails to give . The consequence is that much that is beautiful and ennobling sinks into a lifeless formality . It is as true of Masonry as it is of religion , that " the letter killetb , but

the spirit giveth life . " Take the religions element out of Freemasonry and it becomes a mere social institution , submissive to and controlled by the habits and customs of the world . Charity , under such circumstances , would lose its noble characteristics and be

adnnmstered alone upon commercial and utilitarian methods . The outward form of a grand Institution would exist , but all within would be as a whited sepulchre , full of dead men's bones . How necessary it is , then , that Masters should be chosen who are capable of realising the inward beauty of the ceremonies of the Craft , of inter-

The Master's Office, Duties, And Responsibilities.

preting them in however small a degree . It is not imperative that they should be learned in spiritual truths , although it would be better for themselves and the Fraternity at large were they versed in such matters ; it is essential that Masters of Lodges should be amenable to

their influence , and should try and make the ceremonies a reality , and not a merely cold verbal formality . The heart is more easily disciplined than the head ; the one has a universal basis of good , the other needs severe cultivation to develope . Few , therefore , become learned in the Craft ,

but all have a fountain of sympathy in their hearts of greater or less dimensions , which only needs piercing to let out the waters of brotherly love and charity . All have an inner consciousness of religious truth , and only need a touch of the spirit to awaken its dormant energies .

Freemasonry is full of spiritual fire , but it is too often concealed by an icy covering of forms that were meant to be life-giving furnaces . The ceremonies frequently fall dull and spiritless upon the initiate ' s ear and conscience , and seeing that so little is thought and taught of the spirit , he

naturally falls into the same habit of indifference to all else save the social enjoyment to which he becomes entitled . There are many exceptions among the brethren in Freemasonry , and these are the salt of the Craft . We would

there were more of them , and it is to this end that we would impress upon Lodges the desirability of care in the selection of rulers , and upon rulers the absolute necessity of realising their responsibility in a moral and spiritual as well as in a social sense .

Passing by what maybe termed the consideration of the soul of Freemasonry , there are other points that merit anxious thought . There is danger even with regard to the practice of outward forms and the observance of

safeguards . It is difficult to gain admission into some Lodges , while in others the discipline is so lax that a stranger might invade their precincts almost with impunity . Then some brethren are careless at times in their selection of

guests , and in their anxiety to be hospitable , forget the tests that the Craft enjoins , A short time ago an American was invited to a Lodge who had neither reference nor certificate . This imprudence of the brother who invited him is only one instance of many that occur , and shows

a laxity of regard for the security of our secrets and protection against the intrusion of cowans . A Master cannot always prevent such mistakes , but it is part of his duty ao to instruct the brethren as to make such a fault improbable , if not impossible . In another case he has command

over circumstances , and can modify , if not cure , the slovenliness that is always observable more or less in the way some brethren enter the Lodge . Forms have become as unmeaning as spiritual teaching to many brethren , and they either do not remember or care to practise the salutes that

are due both upon entering and leaving the Lodge . For the young Mason there is some excuse , but none- for Past Masters , and those who ought to be skilled in the very elements of the Order . We have great respect for Lodges of Instruction . Some of them have what is

termed " entrance drill , " a mode of teaching that is vei'y valuable , and which ought to form part of the duties of every Preceptor . The Master of the Lodge , however , ought to see that his Officers do their duty in this respect , and without being a martinet , should insist upon the performance of all the ceremonial with the strictness of a military officer , knowing as he ought to know thai there is

“The Freemason's Chronicle: 1884-03-22, Page 1” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 27 May 2022, masonicperiodicals.org/periodicals/fcn/issues/fcn_22031884/page/1/.
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THE MASTER'S OFFICE, DUTIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Article 1
ST. JOHN'S LODGE, PHILADELPHIA. Article 2
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES AND LIFEBOAT WORK. Article 4
THE CHESHIRE EDUCATIONAL MASONIC INSTITUTION. Article 4
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 5
REVIEWS. Article 6
ROYAL ARCH. Article 6
LEICESTER UNION LODGE OF INSTRUCTION. Article 7
INAUGURATION OF THE COBORN LODGE OF INSTRUCTION. Article 7
THE CHARGE OF THE " BLUE" BRIGADE. Article 7
Obituary. Article 7
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INSTALLATION MEETINGS, &c. Article 9
NEW ZEALAND. Article 10
DIARY FOR THE WEEK. Article 11
NOTICES OF MEETINGS. Article 12
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Master's Office, Duties, And Responsibilities.

THE MASTER'S OFFICE , DUTIES , AND RESPONSIBILITIES .

A MASTER of a Lodge is a constitutional monarch daring the time he occupies the chair . General principles of government are defined by the Constitutions , and each Lodge has its own Bye-Laws ; beyond these limitations , a Master is free to act according to his individual judgment . Practically he rules supreme , both by the laws of the Order and the customs of the Lodge . He is like a

judge , whose decisions are absolute in his own Court . His ruling may be subject to an appeal to the fountain-head of the Craft , but it is rarely , if ever , that his government of the Lodge over which he presides is made a matter of supervision by the higher powers . Even with regard to

his personal conduct , it must be very outrageous to impel a Lodge so far to depart from the practice of implicit obedience as to challenge his acts . Cases have occurred in which Masters have exhibited their personal unfitness for the office , and have provoked hostility in consequence .

These are so rare that practically they may be said not to exist , except to prove the rule of complete obedience . A Master sometimes loses touch of his Lodge , and it is to be feared that it is no uncommon thing for him to be partial in the selection of his Officers . When these results occur

the whole Lodge suffers , but the authority of the office still remains , although it may be morally impaired . Time and circumstances remove the greater evils , while the minor

ones are settled amicably . A Master , surrounded by Past Masters and an experienced Secretary , can rarely go far wrong if he accepts their counsel , and the spirit of a Lodge must indeed be bad when it resists the combined wisdom of

the chair and the Board of Past Masters . It cannot prevail in the end , and it soon fades away before the strength which rests with authority gained by knowledge and experience . A prudent Master will never unduly stretch his power ; he will rather attain his ends by appearing to

yield , by moral influence , and not by the exercise of an arbitrary will . To have the confidence of the Lodge he must be a good worker ; by this we mean that he should not only know the ceremonies , and perform them with dignity and solemnity , but he should be skilled in

government . Some there are who think they have done all that is necessary when they have mastered the verbal ritual of the Craft , and can repeat it parrot-like , and most Masters never seek to understand , much less to expound , the spiritual and moral teachings of the ceremonies . These are

left to do their own work without the guidance which a pastor of a flock or a wise schoolmaster never fails to give . The consequence is that much that is beautiful and ennobling sinks into a lifeless formality . It is as true of Masonry as it is of religion , that " the letter killetb , but

the spirit giveth life . " Take the religions element out of Freemasonry and it becomes a mere social institution , submissive to and controlled by the habits and customs of the world . Charity , under such circumstances , would lose its noble characteristics and be

adnnmstered alone upon commercial and utilitarian methods . The outward form of a grand Institution would exist , but all within would be as a whited sepulchre , full of dead men's bones . How necessary it is , then , that Masters should be chosen who are capable of realising the inward beauty of the ceremonies of the Craft , of inter-

The Master's Office, Duties, And Responsibilities.

preting them in however small a degree . It is not imperative that they should be learned in spiritual truths , although it would be better for themselves and the Fraternity at large were they versed in such matters ; it is essential that Masters of Lodges should be amenable to

their influence , and should try and make the ceremonies a reality , and not a merely cold verbal formality . The heart is more easily disciplined than the head ; the one has a universal basis of good , the other needs severe cultivation to develope . Few , therefore , become learned in the Craft ,

but all have a fountain of sympathy in their hearts of greater or less dimensions , which only needs piercing to let out the waters of brotherly love and charity . All have an inner consciousness of religious truth , and only need a touch of the spirit to awaken its dormant energies .

Freemasonry is full of spiritual fire , but it is too often concealed by an icy covering of forms that were meant to be life-giving furnaces . The ceremonies frequently fall dull and spiritless upon the initiate ' s ear and conscience , and seeing that so little is thought and taught of the spirit , he

naturally falls into the same habit of indifference to all else save the social enjoyment to which he becomes entitled . There are many exceptions among the brethren in Freemasonry , and these are the salt of the Craft . We would

there were more of them , and it is to this end that we would impress upon Lodges the desirability of care in the selection of rulers , and upon rulers the absolute necessity of realising their responsibility in a moral and spiritual as well as in a social sense .

Passing by what maybe termed the consideration of the soul of Freemasonry , there are other points that merit anxious thought . There is danger even with regard to the practice of outward forms and the observance of

safeguards . It is difficult to gain admission into some Lodges , while in others the discipline is so lax that a stranger might invade their precincts almost with impunity . Then some brethren are careless at times in their selection of

guests , and in their anxiety to be hospitable , forget the tests that the Craft enjoins , A short time ago an American was invited to a Lodge who had neither reference nor certificate . This imprudence of the brother who invited him is only one instance of many that occur , and shows

a laxity of regard for the security of our secrets and protection against the intrusion of cowans . A Master cannot always prevent such mistakes , but it is part of his duty ao to instruct the brethren as to make such a fault improbable , if not impossible . In another case he has command

over circumstances , and can modify , if not cure , the slovenliness that is always observable more or less in the way some brethren enter the Lodge . Forms have become as unmeaning as spiritual teaching to many brethren , and they either do not remember or care to practise the salutes that

are due both upon entering and leaving the Lodge . For the young Mason there is some excuse , but none- for Past Masters , and those who ought to be skilled in the very elements of the Order . We have great respect for Lodges of Instruction . Some of them have what is

termed " entrance drill , " a mode of teaching that is vei'y valuable , and which ought to form part of the duties of every Preceptor . The Master of the Lodge , however , ought to see that his Officers do their duty in this respect , and without being a martinet , should insist upon the performance of all the ceremonial with the strictness of a military officer , knowing as he ought to know thai there is

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