Masonic Jurisprudence.

but it is clearly used with the meaning sanction or " permission . " The only document that has come to light bearing on the " constitution " of a lodge is a copy of a petition dated London , January 31 , 1725 , which also contains the Grand Master's orders thereupon , and a minute of the actual constitution on February 2 . The Lodge of Felicity , No . 58 , possesses

a similar document , and we believe it is the onl y charter possessed by that lodge . It is a copy of the original petition , endorsed with a minute or certificate of the actual constitution on St . Bartholomew ' s Day , 1737 . Lodge Peace and Harmon } -, No . 60 , possess a similar certificate , but do not work under it , as it was superseded by a warrant of confirmation dated January IS , 1 SS 4 .

This is all very well for London lodges , in actual touch with the Grand Master . But a century ago communication was not easy m the provinces , and accordingly there was a different procedure . A sort of power of attorney was forwarded to some local brother of eminence entrusting him with the specific power of

constitution . This power of attorney was called a " Deputation . " The constituting brother forwarded a report or certificate of his proceedings to Grand Lodge , and there it ended . Six are known to exist in this country , and we believe that the lodges named still work under them . They belong to Lodge

Anchor and Hope , No . 37 , Bolton ; St . John Baptist Lodge , No . 39 , Exeter ; Royal Cumberland Lodge , No . 41 , Bath ; Lodge of Relief , No . 42 , Bury ; Lodge Faithful , No . 8 5 , Harleston ; and Lodge Loyalty , No . S 6 , Prescot . Three of the six , it will be observed , are in Lancashire . As these documents are interesting we transcribe the Bolton one .

MO . VT . VOUE G . M Whereas a petition has been presented unto ns and . signed by several brethren residing in . mil about the town of Bolton le Moors in the County Palatine of Lancashire humbly praying that they may be constituted into a regular Lodge

These are therefore to Impowcr and authorise our M Worshipful Brother Mr EDWARD EMWI . STI . E to convene our Brethren at Bolton le Moors aforesaid who have signed the said petition And that he do in our place and stead constitute them into a regular Lodge ( He the said M Entvvistle taking especial care that you admit none but what have been

regularly made masons ) with like Privilcdges as all other duly Constituted Lodges , and that they be reijnircd to conform themselves to all and every the Rules and Regulations in the Printed Book of Constitutions and observe such other rules and regulations as shall from time to time be transmitted to them bv us or'lhomas Batson the Deputy Grand Master or the Grand

Master or Ins deputy for the time being And shall forward to our deputy a list of the members of their lodge together with a copy of the regulations to be observed to the end that they may be entered in the Grand Lodge Book and upon the due execution of this , our DEPUTATION the said M Edward Enlwistle is hereby required to transmit to us or our Said

Deputy a certificate under his hand of the time ami place of such Constitution in order that it may be entered on Ihe Book of the Roll of Lodges . Given under our hand and seal of office this 25 day of October 1732 and in the year ol Masonry 5732 . By the Grand Masters Command

Tnos . BATSON-, Dy . G . M . G . ROOKE , S . G . W . J . M . S . MYTIIE , J . G . W . The earliest Athol warrant in existence was issued to the Enoch Lodge , and bears date 1755 . At the present date there

are about 10 lodges , including the six above-mentioned , working under an orig inal document of some kind or another , and four working under none at all . It may be argued that some of the documents referred to were practically warrants . They were so

in so far as by them the lodge concerned acquired a corporate existence for the first time . But they conferred no specific powers . The Master and Wardens were not even named . The power to make bye-laws was not specified , nor the right to make and pass and raise Masons .

We must refer the student who cares to pursue this interesting subject to the Transactions of Lodge Oualtior Coronali , 18 95 , p . 195 , for a paper by the late Bro . Lane , P . A . ( J . D . C , than whom , probably , no more reliable authority is to be found . We will now discuss the warrant of to-day , and lirst of all briefly describe how it comes into existence .

All warrants issue from the Grand Master , and subject to certain time immemorial and other privileges conceded to certain antient lodges , no lodge can meet without one . Any seven Master Masons may agree to form themselves into a new lod ge . Their lirst act is to draw up a petition in the form set forth in

Article 119 . This petition must nominate three brethren ( whether signatories or not is not made clear ) for the offices of Master and Wardens . If the proposed new lodge is to meet in England one of the three , the W . M . designate must be a Past Warden . If in foreign parts this qualification is not necessary . All the signatories must lie Masons of good standing in their

respective lodges , and if at the time unattached , must possess certificates ol the prescribed nature from the lodges of which tlu-y we're last members . When prepared , this petition must be supported by the Master and Wardens of a regular lodge . If in a town where there are already lodges meeting , it is highl y desirable , though not expressly required , that the recommending

Masonic Jurisprudence.

lodge should be one of them . One of the principal points considered when a petition is sent in , is whether there are not already sufficient lodges in the town , and evidence on this point can only be supplied by another lodge , and if this latter is , say , a hundred miles away , the evidence is not worth much .

Moreover , a new lodge in a town is bound to have some effect , for a time at all events , upon the membership of neighbouring lodges . The papers are then to be sent to the Provincial or District Grand Master , who will send them , with his opinion thereupon , to the Grand Master .

At this stage of the proceedings there is an important difference in procedure . The Grand Master may empower such District Grand Masters abroad as he may think lit , to issue provisional warrants . This right may be revoked without interfering with a District Grand Master ' s other functions , and is

given for this especial reason . In certain places abroad three months might elapse between the forwarding of the petition and the reception of the warrant . In that time the seven brethren who signed the petition might have separated with little chance

of their re-umting , and thus when the actual warrant should arrive , it might possibly be useless . In England , this possibility is too remote to be considered , but abroad where men ' s occupations cause them to travel and often to remove their homes at frequent intervals the consideration is a very real one .

I he provisional warrant is , as its name implies , only a temporary makeshift . But , as it never happens—at all events , to the writer ' s knowledge—that the Grand Master refuses to exchange the provisional warrant under the District Grand

Master ' s hand and seal for OIK ; under his own , it will be seen that the Grand Master virtually surrenders a very important part of his prerogative to his foreign representative . Hence the concluding part of Article 117 , which infers the recall of this power without notice piven .

The permanent warrant , when it arrives , states the lodge ' s number on the rolls of Grand Lodge . Many lodges abroad possessed two numbers—one showing local precedence , the other the Grand Lodge number . Many Indian lodges , before the

union , worked entirely under the local warrant , with the local number , and Bro . Maiden ' s "History of Freemasonry on the Coromandel Coast" contains much interesting information about these early lodges , most of them extinct .

When transferred lo the Grand Lodge register , years perhaps after their constitution , the attempt used to be made to get the number also transferred , which attempt generally failed ignominiously , and several lodges got an actually lower number in the reo-ister than the date of their constitution entitled them to ,

With regard to numbers , it may be remarked that thev do not alwaj-s indicate actual order of priority , although they do that of precedence . A lodge already named Anchor and Hope , Boltonle-Moors , is numbered 37 ; its date of constitution is 1732 . Now

on the register there are two 1 . 1 . lodges , and there are 14 other lodges of earlier date , all but one ( meeting at Chatham ) London lodges . The Bolton lodge , therefore , should be No . 17 . The reason of this is . of course that a lot of Athol lodges got on the register in 1751 , and retained their original Athol numbers . ( To he continued . )

The King And The Craft.

THE KING AND THE CRAFT .

On Wednesday his Majesty the King , who was accompanied by H . R . H . Prince Charles of Denmark , drove from Marlborough House to St . James ' s Palace for the purpose of receiving loyal addresses from the representatives of a number of privileged and general bodies , among the former being a deputation of members of the United Grand Lodge , who were deputed to

present the Address of sympathy with his Majesty on the death of the late Queen , and of congratulation to him on his accession to the throne , which was voted at the Special Grand Lodge held at the Queen ' s Hall , Langham-place , on Friday , the 15 th February . The address , which was read and presented by H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught , K . G ., who has been elected to succeed his M : \ jesty as M . W . Grand Master , was as follows :

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY . MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY , We , the members of the Fraternity known as the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England ( including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch ) , by our Representatives in Especial Grand Lodge assembled , do venture humbly to express our respectful and profound sympathy with Your Majesty in the sorrow caused by the death of her late Majesty Queen Victoria , whose memory is cherished in our hearts .

We further tender our dutiful and fraternal congratulations to your Majesty on your accession to the Throne ; and beg tj express our fervent hope that Your -Majesty may be long spared to reign over the Kingdom and Empire under Divine Providence confided to Your Majesty . It is with much thankfulness that we have received your Majesty ' s gracious intimation that you will be pleased to assume the position and title of Protector of English Freemasons and we feel assured that under such auspices the Fra-