-
Articles/Ads
Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. ← Page 2 of 3 Article UNITED GRAND LODGE. Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge.
Sir Reginald Hanson , P . G . W . ; Bros . E . Letchworth , G . Sec ; Henry Smith , P . G . D . ; Joseph C . Parkinson , P . G . D . ; Dr . Strong , P . A . G . D . C ; J . H . Matthews , President of the Board of Benevolence ; Robert Grey , P . G . W . ; John Strachan , K . C ., G . Reg . ; Vesey Fitzgerald , K . C ., Dep . G . Reg . ; W . Lake . Asst . G . Sec ; T . Lean Wilkinson . P . G . Reg . ; Charles Beaumont , PD . G . Reg . ; Imre Kiralfy , P . A . G . D . C ; Daniel Mayer , P . G . D . ; W . Russell
P . A . G . D . C ; Henrj Lovegrove , P . G . S . B . ; Albert Lucking , P . G . P . ; Dr . Kiallmark , P . G . D . ; J . E . Le Feuvre , P . G . D . ; Baron de Ferrieres , P . G . D . ; Grorge Everett , P . G . T . ; Sheriff Horace Marshall , G . Treas . ; Major J . Word . ll Wordall , P . G . T . ; Ralph Cluilon , P . G . 7 ) . ; Rev . 1 . S . Brownrigg , P . G . C . ; Sir Borradaile Savory , G . C . ; Dr . Clement Godson , Alderman Vauphan
Morgan , P . G . T . ; Richard Clowrs , P . G . Std . Br . ; Major Honry Wright , P . G . S . B . ; Col . T . 6 avies Srwell , D . D . Mercer , P . G . P .: Henry Garrod , P . G . P . ; Thomas Jonrs , P . G . D ., P . Dep . Dist . G . M . Bengal ; R . Loveland Loveland , K . C ., Pres , Board of General Purposes ; T . H . Roberls , P . M . 2502 ; and John Glass , P . M . 453 . Some 800 brethren in all were in attendance .
Grand Lodge having been opened in form , the minutes of the meeting of September 4 th were read and confirmed . The Grand Secretary read the following letter from the M . W . Grand Master in reply to a vote of condolence passed by Grand Lodge on the
death of the Empress Frederick : Royal Hospital , Dublin , 18 / 11 / 01 . Dear Mr . Letchworth ,
Will you kindly be the medium of expressing my most grateful thanks to the Grand Lodge for their most kind expression of sympathy with me on the death of my beloved sister the Empress Frederick . Believe me , Yours sincerely , ARTHUR .
The ACTING GRAND MASTER then said he had to announce that the Most Worshipful Grand Master had been pleased to acquiesce in | the desire expressed by several Provincial and District Grand Masters , that the occasion of his Royal Highness ' s installation as Most Worshipful Grand Master should be commemorated by the bestowal of Past Provincial and District Grand Rank on a limited number of brethren within the several
provinces and districts , and that in the exercise of the power recently given the Grand Master by Rule S 7 , Book of Constitutions , His Royal Highness had been pleased to empower Provincial and District Grand Masters to confer the rank of Past Provincial or District Grand Officers in the following proportions : —One appointment for every twelve lodges in a province or district where the lodges do not exceed thirty in number , with one additional
if the broken number exceeds six ; and one appointment for every eight lodges in provinces and districts where the number of lodges is more than thirty , with one additional if the broken number exceeds four . ( Applause . ) He had further to announce that the Most Worshipful Grand Master had been pleased to appoint Col . George Dixon , Dep . G . S . B ., as Grand Sword Bearer , in place of Col . C . Molony , deceased . ( Bro . Col . Dixon then advanced to the throne , and was invested . ) . He had further to announce
that the Grand Master had been pleased to appoint Lieut .-Col . Stohwasser as Deputy Grand Sword Bearer , in the room of Col . George Dixon , promoled . ( Bro . Lieut .-Col . Stohwasser was then invested . ) Fie had further to announce that the M . W . G . Master had been graciousl y pleased to appoint Bro . Gotthelf Greiner as Assistant Grand Secretary for German Correspondence , in the room of Bro . C ; esar Kupferschmidt , deceased . ( Bro . Greiner was then invested . ) All these appointments were received with applause .
Bro . THOMAS WAKI . EY , W . M . Cheselden Lodge , next rose and said Right Worshipful Grand Master in the chair , Grand Officers , officers , and brethren , in the unavoidable absence of Bro . Manisty , who is detained on circuit at I . etds , I have the high honour and great pleasure to nominate his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn for election as Moit Worshipful Grand Master for the ensuing year . ( Applause . ) His
election for that high office is so fresh in our memories that I need not do more than say that during the time he has occupied the office of Grand Master he has fully shown the interest he takes in the Craft , and his sincere desire to promote its well being in every way . ( Applause . ) Perhaps I may be allowed to allude to the very gracious and kind interest he has shown in a locVe which hs intended to constitute if circumstances over which he
had no control had not prevented him—a lodge in connection with St . Thomas ' s Hospital , of which institution he is President , thus following in the illustrious s ' . eps of our King , who so long and ably ruled over the Craft , and I * m convinced that no better successor could possibly be found nny-Viere . I am confident that in nominating the Duke of Connaught as Most Worshipful Grand Master I am but the mouth piece of every I ' , giisii Frtcmason . ( Hear , hear , and applause . )
T he ACTING GRAND MASTER said he had to ask if there was any other nomination ?—a question which was not responded to . He had now to call for the nomination of a Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year . Bro . Col . T . DAVIES SEWELL , P . G . Stwd ., said he begged to nominate f jr the office of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year Bro . Captain John Barlow , who last vear was proposed for that important office , and who felt justified on this occasion in offering himself , seeing that some thousand of
the brethren kindly recorded their vole ; in his favour . He ( Col . Sewell ) would not weary Grand Lodge with the reiteration of Bro . Captain Barlow ' s Masonic virtues ; he infliclcd that penalty on them last year ; but for a moment he might say that 20 years Captain Barlow had been a Mason , and a very industrious one ; that he had filled every office in the Craft , and that he was Patron of all ihe Masonic Charities . ( Hear , hear . ) He would say •no more ; but he thought he could leave the matter safely in the hands of this Grand Lodge . ( Applause . )
Tne e was again loud applause when there was no reply to the Acting Grand Master ' s interrogatory if there was any other nomination to come Ltfore Grand Lor ' ge . The ACTING GRAND MASTER then said the next business was the appointment and investiture of the President of the Board of Benevolence . The Grand Master had been pleased to re-appoint Bro . James
Henry Matthews . Bro . Matthews was thereupon conducted by Bro . Frank Richardson , rcting G . D . C ., to Ihe chair , and the acting Grand Master re-invested him . The ACTING GRAND MASTER added that as no other brethren than Bros . David Dixon . Mercer and Henry Garrod were nominated for election as Senior and Junior Vice-Presidents of the Board of Benevqlence he should declar . t ' lose two brethren duly elected .
United Grand Lodge.
Bro . E . LETCHWORTH read the following names of 12 Past Masters who had been nominated to serve on the Board of Benevolence : Bros . James Block , P . M . 115 S ; John Ellinger , P . M , 2222 ; Simon H . Goldschmidt , P . M . 1329 ; Frederick W . Hancock , P . M . 548 ; Edward Nightingale , P . M . 87 ; Charles Henty Slone , P . M . 507 ; Robert Well , wood Ker , P . M . ^ 94 ; George M . E . Hamilton , P . M . 1446 ; Edward W . Pillinger ,. P . M . 902 ; Joseph S . Pointon , P . M . 1861 ; John Henry Cureton , P . M . 156 9 ; and Frederick William Colby , P . M . 22 .
The ACTING GRAND MASTER declared these brethren duly elected . On the motion of Bro . J . H . MATTHEWS , seconded by Bro . D . D . MERCER , the Report of the Board of Benevolence for September , October , and November was taken as read , and the following recommendations , of grants therein contained , with the exception of one where the brother had died , were confirmed :
The widow of a brother of the Loyal Hay Lodge , No . 23 S 2 , Hay , Brecon ... ... .,, £ 100 o o A brother of the One and All Lodge , No . 330 , Bodmin ... 100 o o The three orphan children of a brother of the Hemming Lodge , No . it 12 , Hampton Court ... ... 50 o o
A brother of the Ellesmere Lodge , No . 75 S , Runcorn ... 100 o o The widow of a brother of the Alfred Lodge , No . 340 , Oxford ... ... .,. ... ... 50 o o The widow of a brother of the Newton Lodge , No . 1661 , Newark-upon-Trent ... ... ... 50 o o A brother of the Wandsworth Lodge , No . 1044 , London so o o
The report of the Board of General Purposes , as printed in the Freemason last week , was , on the motion of Bro . R . I OVELAND LOVELAND , K . C ., President , seconded by the VICE-PRESIDENT , taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes . The appeal of the Regent ' s Park Lodge , No . 2202 , London , was then taken .
Bro . JOHN STRACHAN , K . C ., G . Reg .: Most Worshipful Grand Master in the chair , notices of five appeals to Grand Lodge were received , in one of which , from a province , I deemed it my duty to make certain representations to the parties concerned , with the result that the object of the appeal was accomplished , and the appeal itself withdrawn . The other , from a London lodge , now comes on for consideration , and is an appeal from the
Regent ' s Park Lodge , No . 2202 , against a decision of the Board of General Purposes at their meeting on the 15 th of October last , by which it was ruled that the election of Bro . Alfred William Sims as Worshipful Master was void ; and the question now raised is whether a brother who has not served the qualifying period in the office of Junior Warden and has not served the qualifying period in the further office of S . W ., can piece together two
broken periods in the two seperate offices , to form a perfect year , and thus render him eli gible for the chair . The Board , in accordance with all previous decisions , and the opinions of the Constitutional advisers of Grand Lodge for the last half century at least , has declared that this could not be done , and that he must have served for one year the office of Warden , which may be completed either in the office of
Junior Warden or in the office of Senior Warden . This having been challenged by the Regent ' s Park Lodge , it becomes advisable to point out to the appellants , and to other brethren who may not have understood the law , the strong grounds which exist for the ruling . I would first remind Grand Lodge of the necessary qualifications for the office of Master , which the Installing Master recites to the Master elect , before asking him if he is so qualified . Among other things he must duly have
served the office of Warden in a regular lodge . Now , what is the meaning of duly served ? Rule 130 explains that he shall have served for one year , and it becomes necessary to inquire from what time the year is to be computed . As early as April 16 th , 1861 , the Board of General Purposes adopted the opinion of the Grand Registrar , Bro . Sir Francis Roxburgh , that in the case of a Master it is from one regular installation to another .
Sir Francis at that time said , " The true construction of this language is , in my opinion , that if his installation was at the lodge meeting in the month of June he must rulethe lodge as W . Master until the installation of his successor at the regular lodge meeting in the month of June in the following year , and if he do not that , he cannot acquire the privilege rank of a Past Master . " That was so far as the term applied to the office of Master ; but
on the , ith December , 1875 , its applicability to the office of Warden was considered in Grand Lodge , when it was decided that the Warden must be invested on the day of installation , otherwise he would not be qualified by 12 months' service to occupy the chair of the lodge the next year . The Grand Registrar , Bro . Mclntyre , thus referred to the matter : "The Warden must serve the office for a year . . . It means regularly serving the office
for one year . " Again , in March , 1888 , Grand Lodge declared this to be the law ; and the Grand Registrar , Bro . Philbrick , said : " By the expression ' one year ' as given in Article 130 of the Book of Constitutions the law clearly means that the regular day of installation in a certain month , as laid down in the lodge by-laws to the corresponding day in the following year , although that period may comprise more or fewer than 365 days . The
words ' having served for a year the office of Warden ' were carefully considered when the Constitutions were revised , and have always been tak n in the sense I have stated . I ventuie to think , added Bro . Philbrick , that what we have always understood to be the law is really the law of the Craft , that the J . W . who has served a Masonic year , as I have just explained , reckoning up to the day he is put in
the chair inclusive , is qualified to be Mastar of the Lodge . " Bro . Thomas Fenn expressed his full concurrence in this view , and it is well-known how earnestly he combated the notion that two broken periods in the several chairs could be pieced together to make the qualifying year . As he tersely put it— " Two halfpennies won ' t do when you have to put a penny in the slot . " In other words , while two halfpennies may be equivalent to a penny
for some purposes , they are not " a penny piece " any more than two haltservices in separate offices are full service in what is termed " the office . ' Each Warden holds a separate and distinct office for the other , with a different situation in the lodge , and has his own peculiar duties ; and what is required by Rule 130 is clearly that the occupant of either the S . W . s chair or the J . W . ' s chair shall have served that office for one
year-It may be that when he comes to the Master ' s chair he has served a full year in each Warden ' s chair ; but either the one or the other would have been sufficient . I would advise Grand Lodge to abide by the uniform authorised practice in this respect , and to dismiss the appeal . At the same time it is impossible not to sympathise to some extent with Bro . Sims , who was prevented from being present to be invested on each occasion by reason of being engaged with his Yeomanry training . The installation on eac h
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge.
Sir Reginald Hanson , P . G . W . ; Bros . E . Letchworth , G . Sec ; Henry Smith , P . G . D . ; Joseph C . Parkinson , P . G . D . ; Dr . Strong , P . A . G . D . C ; J . H . Matthews , President of the Board of Benevolence ; Robert Grey , P . G . W . ; John Strachan , K . C ., G . Reg . ; Vesey Fitzgerald , K . C ., Dep . G . Reg . ; W . Lake . Asst . G . Sec ; T . Lean Wilkinson . P . G . Reg . ; Charles Beaumont , PD . G . Reg . ; Imre Kiralfy , P . A . G . D . C ; Daniel Mayer , P . G . D . ; W . Russell
P . A . G . D . C ; Henrj Lovegrove , P . G . S . B . ; Albert Lucking , P . G . P . ; Dr . Kiallmark , P . G . D . ; J . E . Le Feuvre , P . G . D . ; Baron de Ferrieres , P . G . D . ; Grorge Everett , P . G . T . ; Sheriff Horace Marshall , G . Treas . ; Major J . Word . ll Wordall , P . G . T . ; Ralph Cluilon , P . G . 7 ) . ; Rev . 1 . S . Brownrigg , P . G . C . ; Sir Borradaile Savory , G . C . ; Dr . Clement Godson , Alderman Vauphan
Morgan , P . G . T . ; Richard Clowrs , P . G . Std . Br . ; Major Honry Wright , P . G . S . B . ; Col . T . 6 avies Srwell , D . D . Mercer , P . G . P .: Henry Garrod , P . G . P . ; Thomas Jonrs , P . G . D ., P . Dep . Dist . G . M . Bengal ; R . Loveland Loveland , K . C ., Pres , Board of General Purposes ; T . H . Roberls , P . M . 2502 ; and John Glass , P . M . 453 . Some 800 brethren in all were in attendance .
Grand Lodge having been opened in form , the minutes of the meeting of September 4 th were read and confirmed . The Grand Secretary read the following letter from the M . W . Grand Master in reply to a vote of condolence passed by Grand Lodge on the
death of the Empress Frederick : Royal Hospital , Dublin , 18 / 11 / 01 . Dear Mr . Letchworth ,
Will you kindly be the medium of expressing my most grateful thanks to the Grand Lodge for their most kind expression of sympathy with me on the death of my beloved sister the Empress Frederick . Believe me , Yours sincerely , ARTHUR .
The ACTING GRAND MASTER then said he had to announce that the Most Worshipful Grand Master had been pleased to acquiesce in | the desire expressed by several Provincial and District Grand Masters , that the occasion of his Royal Highness ' s installation as Most Worshipful Grand Master should be commemorated by the bestowal of Past Provincial and District Grand Rank on a limited number of brethren within the several
provinces and districts , and that in the exercise of the power recently given the Grand Master by Rule S 7 , Book of Constitutions , His Royal Highness had been pleased to empower Provincial and District Grand Masters to confer the rank of Past Provincial or District Grand Officers in the following proportions : —One appointment for every twelve lodges in a province or district where the lodges do not exceed thirty in number , with one additional
if the broken number exceeds six ; and one appointment for every eight lodges in provinces and districts where the number of lodges is more than thirty , with one additional if the broken number exceeds four . ( Applause . ) He had further to announce that the Most Worshipful Grand Master had been pleased to appoint Col . George Dixon , Dep . G . S . B ., as Grand Sword Bearer , in place of Col . C . Molony , deceased . ( Bro . Col . Dixon then advanced to the throne , and was invested . ) . He had further to announce
that the Grand Master had been pleased to appoint Lieut .-Col . Stohwasser as Deputy Grand Sword Bearer , in the room of Col . George Dixon , promoled . ( Bro . Lieut .-Col . Stohwasser was then invested . ) Fie had further to announce that the M . W . G . Master had been graciousl y pleased to appoint Bro . Gotthelf Greiner as Assistant Grand Secretary for German Correspondence , in the room of Bro . C ; esar Kupferschmidt , deceased . ( Bro . Greiner was then invested . ) All these appointments were received with applause .
Bro . THOMAS WAKI . EY , W . M . Cheselden Lodge , next rose and said Right Worshipful Grand Master in the chair , Grand Officers , officers , and brethren , in the unavoidable absence of Bro . Manisty , who is detained on circuit at I . etds , I have the high honour and great pleasure to nominate his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn for election as Moit Worshipful Grand Master for the ensuing year . ( Applause . ) His
election for that high office is so fresh in our memories that I need not do more than say that during the time he has occupied the office of Grand Master he has fully shown the interest he takes in the Craft , and his sincere desire to promote its well being in every way . ( Applause . ) Perhaps I may be allowed to allude to the very gracious and kind interest he has shown in a locVe which hs intended to constitute if circumstances over which he
had no control had not prevented him—a lodge in connection with St . Thomas ' s Hospital , of which institution he is President , thus following in the illustrious s ' . eps of our King , who so long and ably ruled over the Craft , and I * m convinced that no better successor could possibly be found nny-Viere . I am confident that in nominating the Duke of Connaught as Most Worshipful Grand Master I am but the mouth piece of every I ' , giisii Frtcmason . ( Hear , hear , and applause . )
T he ACTING GRAND MASTER said he had to ask if there was any other nomination ?—a question which was not responded to . He had now to call for the nomination of a Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year . Bro . Col . T . DAVIES SEWELL , P . G . Stwd ., said he begged to nominate f jr the office of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year Bro . Captain John Barlow , who last vear was proposed for that important office , and who felt justified on this occasion in offering himself , seeing that some thousand of
the brethren kindly recorded their vole ; in his favour . He ( Col . Sewell ) would not weary Grand Lodge with the reiteration of Bro . Captain Barlow ' s Masonic virtues ; he infliclcd that penalty on them last year ; but for a moment he might say that 20 years Captain Barlow had been a Mason , and a very industrious one ; that he had filled every office in the Craft , and that he was Patron of all ihe Masonic Charities . ( Hear , hear . ) He would say •no more ; but he thought he could leave the matter safely in the hands of this Grand Lodge . ( Applause . )
Tne e was again loud applause when there was no reply to the Acting Grand Master ' s interrogatory if there was any other nomination to come Ltfore Grand Lor ' ge . The ACTING GRAND MASTER then said the next business was the appointment and investiture of the President of the Board of Benevolence . The Grand Master had been pleased to re-appoint Bro . James
Henry Matthews . Bro . Matthews was thereupon conducted by Bro . Frank Richardson , rcting G . D . C ., to Ihe chair , and the acting Grand Master re-invested him . The ACTING GRAND MASTER added that as no other brethren than Bros . David Dixon . Mercer and Henry Garrod were nominated for election as Senior and Junior Vice-Presidents of the Board of Benevqlence he should declar . t ' lose two brethren duly elected .
United Grand Lodge.
Bro . E . LETCHWORTH read the following names of 12 Past Masters who had been nominated to serve on the Board of Benevolence : Bros . James Block , P . M . 115 S ; John Ellinger , P . M , 2222 ; Simon H . Goldschmidt , P . M . 1329 ; Frederick W . Hancock , P . M . 548 ; Edward Nightingale , P . M . 87 ; Charles Henty Slone , P . M . 507 ; Robert Well , wood Ker , P . M . ^ 94 ; George M . E . Hamilton , P . M . 1446 ; Edward W . Pillinger ,. P . M . 902 ; Joseph S . Pointon , P . M . 1861 ; John Henry Cureton , P . M . 156 9 ; and Frederick William Colby , P . M . 22 .
The ACTING GRAND MASTER declared these brethren duly elected . On the motion of Bro . J . H . MATTHEWS , seconded by Bro . D . D . MERCER , the Report of the Board of Benevolence for September , October , and November was taken as read , and the following recommendations , of grants therein contained , with the exception of one where the brother had died , were confirmed :
The widow of a brother of the Loyal Hay Lodge , No . 23 S 2 , Hay , Brecon ... ... .,, £ 100 o o A brother of the One and All Lodge , No . 330 , Bodmin ... 100 o o The three orphan children of a brother of the Hemming Lodge , No . it 12 , Hampton Court ... ... 50 o o
A brother of the Ellesmere Lodge , No . 75 S , Runcorn ... 100 o o The widow of a brother of the Alfred Lodge , No . 340 , Oxford ... ... .,. ... ... 50 o o The widow of a brother of the Newton Lodge , No . 1661 , Newark-upon-Trent ... ... ... 50 o o A brother of the Wandsworth Lodge , No . 1044 , London so o o
The report of the Board of General Purposes , as printed in the Freemason last week , was , on the motion of Bro . R . I OVELAND LOVELAND , K . C ., President , seconded by the VICE-PRESIDENT , taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes . The appeal of the Regent ' s Park Lodge , No . 2202 , London , was then taken .
Bro . JOHN STRACHAN , K . C ., G . Reg .: Most Worshipful Grand Master in the chair , notices of five appeals to Grand Lodge were received , in one of which , from a province , I deemed it my duty to make certain representations to the parties concerned , with the result that the object of the appeal was accomplished , and the appeal itself withdrawn . The other , from a London lodge , now comes on for consideration , and is an appeal from the
Regent ' s Park Lodge , No . 2202 , against a decision of the Board of General Purposes at their meeting on the 15 th of October last , by which it was ruled that the election of Bro . Alfred William Sims as Worshipful Master was void ; and the question now raised is whether a brother who has not served the qualifying period in the office of Junior Warden and has not served the qualifying period in the further office of S . W ., can piece together two
broken periods in the two seperate offices , to form a perfect year , and thus render him eli gible for the chair . The Board , in accordance with all previous decisions , and the opinions of the Constitutional advisers of Grand Lodge for the last half century at least , has declared that this could not be done , and that he must have served for one year the office of Warden , which may be completed either in the office of
Junior Warden or in the office of Senior Warden . This having been challenged by the Regent ' s Park Lodge , it becomes advisable to point out to the appellants , and to other brethren who may not have understood the law , the strong grounds which exist for the ruling . I would first remind Grand Lodge of the necessary qualifications for the office of Master , which the Installing Master recites to the Master elect , before asking him if he is so qualified . Among other things he must duly have
served the office of Warden in a regular lodge . Now , what is the meaning of duly served ? Rule 130 explains that he shall have served for one year , and it becomes necessary to inquire from what time the year is to be computed . As early as April 16 th , 1861 , the Board of General Purposes adopted the opinion of the Grand Registrar , Bro . Sir Francis Roxburgh , that in the case of a Master it is from one regular installation to another .
Sir Francis at that time said , " The true construction of this language is , in my opinion , that if his installation was at the lodge meeting in the month of June he must rulethe lodge as W . Master until the installation of his successor at the regular lodge meeting in the month of June in the following year , and if he do not that , he cannot acquire the privilege rank of a Past Master . " That was so far as the term applied to the office of Master ; but
on the , ith December , 1875 , its applicability to the office of Warden was considered in Grand Lodge , when it was decided that the Warden must be invested on the day of installation , otherwise he would not be qualified by 12 months' service to occupy the chair of the lodge the next year . The Grand Registrar , Bro . Mclntyre , thus referred to the matter : "The Warden must serve the office for a year . . . It means regularly serving the office
for one year . " Again , in March , 1888 , Grand Lodge declared this to be the law ; and the Grand Registrar , Bro . Philbrick , said : " By the expression ' one year ' as given in Article 130 of the Book of Constitutions the law clearly means that the regular day of installation in a certain month , as laid down in the lodge by-laws to the corresponding day in the following year , although that period may comprise more or fewer than 365 days . The
words ' having served for a year the office of Warden ' were carefully considered when the Constitutions were revised , and have always been tak n in the sense I have stated . I ventuie to think , added Bro . Philbrick , that what we have always understood to be the law is really the law of the Craft , that the J . W . who has served a Masonic year , as I have just explained , reckoning up to the day he is put in
the chair inclusive , is qualified to be Mastar of the Lodge . " Bro . Thomas Fenn expressed his full concurrence in this view , and it is well-known how earnestly he combated the notion that two broken periods in the several chairs could be pieced together to make the qualifying year . As he tersely put it— " Two halfpennies won ' t do when you have to put a penny in the slot . " In other words , while two halfpennies may be equivalent to a penny
for some purposes , they are not " a penny piece " any more than two haltservices in separate offices are full service in what is termed " the office . ' Each Warden holds a separate and distinct office for the other , with a different situation in the lodge , and has his own peculiar duties ; and what is required by Rule 130 is clearly that the occupant of either the S . W . s chair or the J . W . ' s chair shall have served that office for one
year-It may be that when he comes to the Master ' s chair he has served a full year in each Warden ' s chair ; but either the one or the other would have been sufficient . I would advise Grand Lodge to abide by the uniform authorised practice in this respect , and to dismiss the appeal . At the same time it is impossible not to sympathise to some extent with Bro . Sims , who was prevented from being present to be invested on each occasion by reason of being engaged with his Yeomanry training . The installation on eac h