Lodge La Cæsaree And The Prov. Grand Master Of Jersey.

LODGE LA C ? SAREE AND THE PROV . GRAND MASTER OF JERSEY .

The circumstances of the case of appeal by Lodge La Cassaree , No . 590 , against the sentence of suspension passed upon it by the Provincial Grand Master of Jersey , which was dismissed by Grand Lodge at its Quarterly Communication on the 2 nd instant , are so simple that one is inclined to wonder

with Bro . the Hon . Justice rRINSEP how they could have excited so great a stir . A Bro . WALTER DURELL , a former member of the lodge , now in Mashonaland , and about to join , with others , in founding a lodge in that remote country , was anxious to

obtain the usual clearance certificate required by Article 213 , Book of Constitutions . Accordingly , and no doubt in the belief that by so doing he would expedite matters , the said brother wrote to his father , who he knew was a member of the same

lodge of upwards of 20 years standing , had thrice presided over it as Worshipful Master , and was , or had been , its Treasurer , requesting him to obtain the document . for him . The father—Bro . JOHN DURELL—appears to have

done his best to carry out his son ' s wishes . When , however , the application for the certificate came before Lodge La Csesaree , it was decided that the application must be made by the son himself , and the W . M . wrote Bro . DURELL , SEN ., to this effect ,

and added that , if this were done , the certificate would be granted . It is just possible , and even probable , that the members of Lodge La Csesaree may never have heard of Mashonaland , and in that supposition they may be forgiven for assuming that

communication with a person residing in that distant country was as speedy as communication with London , Edinburgh , or Dublin , As a matter of fact , however , the exaction of this condition would have involved a delay of about six months , and Bro . DURELL , SEN .,

wrote a second letter , in which , while declining to ask as a favour for what he claimed , in his son ' s behalf as a right , he drew the attention of the lodge to Article 213 , Book of Constitutions : " Whenever a member of any lodge

shall resign , or shall be excluded , or whenever , at a subsequent time , he may require it , he shall be furnished with a certificate stating the circumstances under which he left the lodge , and such certificate is to be required by , and to be produced to ,

any other lodge of which he is proposed to be admitted a member , previously to the ballot being taken . " But the lodge stood firm to its first determination . It had nailed its colours" personal application or no certificate "—to the mast , and nothing

in the nature of difficulty of communication , still less of kindl y and fraternal consideration for their former member in Mashonaland , was able to move them from their purpose . In these circumstances , the father appears to have had no alternative but to

bring the case to the notice ofthe Prov . G . Master , and the latter , in his desire that everythingshould go smoothly and harmoniously , proposed a course which , if it had been followed , would have broug ht the difficulty to an end . Bro . DURELL , SEN ., was to

attend the lodge and produce his son ' s letter authorising him ( the father ) to apply for the certificate , and the latter would at once be granted . Bro . DURELL , however , did not attend , because he was given to understand—whether authoritatively or not is

not shown—that if he did , he would not be admitted , and the Provincial Grand Master ' s well-meant effort to bring about a solution of the difficulty was all in vain . The case was again broug ht before him , and he passed upon the lodge a sentence

Lodge La Cæsaree And The Prov. Grand Master Of Jersey.

of suspension from all its functions for its contumacious conduct towards him in its treatment of the Brothers DURELL , father and son . Against this sentence the lodge appealed to

Grand Lodge , but Grand Lodge has upheld the judgment of the Provincial Grand Master , and Lodge La Csesaree must obey the law or remain in its present unsatisfactory state .

It is almost necessary to apologise for pointing out that Grand Lodge does not enact laws in order that they may be broken ; nor does the Grand Master appoint distinguished brethren to administer those laws just to show how readily their

authority may be set at defiance . Even in these days of general laxity of discipline and absence of respect for constituted authority , it is seriously intended that the laws and ordinances of Grand Lodge shall be obeyed , while those whose duty it is to

see them administered are apt to insist on their orders being obeyed . Moreover , in this particular case the law is so very clearly laid down that , with all deference to Bro . J AMES STEVENS , he who runs may read and understand it

thoroughly—provided always that his understanding is not wilfully blinded against the common sense of plain English . The law prescribes that " Whenever a member of any lodge shall resign or whenever

he may require it , he shall be furnished with a certificate , " which , in ordinary parlance , is known as a " clearance certificate . " It does not prescribe , that he shall apply for it in person , or in writing under his own hand

and seal , but that when he has resigned or been excluded his lodge , or whenever he may require it , he shall be furnished with one ; and in the event of his being desirous of joining another lodge , the same law requires that such certificate must be

produced and exhibited before the ballot is taken . Of course , or perhaps we should say almost as a matter of course , in gg out of every 100 cases the brother who wants this certificate applies for it himself either personally or by letter ; but the law does

not require that he shall so apply for it . On the contrary , whil it is silent as to the means which a brother may adopt for making known his desire to have such a certificate , it is absolute in its

declaration that "he shall be furnished with ' one by the lodge , and , therefore , it is clear that Lodge La Caesaree was in the wrong in refusing the certificate because it was not applied for in what it conceived to be the proper or the usual manner .

But setting aside this question as to the right interpretation of Article 213 what shall , what can be said for a lodge which set itself to interpose difficulties in the way of granting this necessary certificate to a brother living thousands of miles from

home and in an uncivilised , and till quite recently an utterly unknown land ; to a brother , too , whose father had been not only one of its members for upwards of 20 years , but had thrice occupied its chair , and been likewise its Treasurer ? What kind

of an illustration is this of the kindness and goodwill which the princip les of Freemasonry are designed to inculcate in the minds of its followers ? Bro . PRINSEP put the case very neatly when he said— " One would think that the matter was one

between Bro . JOHN DURELL ( the father ) and the lodge . But where was the poor son all the time ? " While the lodge was quibbling about the manner in which a request should be preferred , the " poor son " was being rendered "unable to assist the

cause of Freemasonry by joining in starting a new lodge / ' for the want of that certificate with which the law required him to be furnished . This may be the pharisaic idea of Freemasonry , but it is not Freemasonry pure and simple .