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The Master's Obligations.

The Master ' s Obligations .

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UU / 5 TEATED

.f PHl _ Master of a Lodge is the subject of a considerable y amount of attention , not onl y in the Constitutions , but in the Antient Charges , and his conduct both in the chair , and in public , is circumscribed with a precision of

regulation that he has not before met wilh in his Masonic career . It is quite right that such should be the case , for by this accession to the chair , he enters upon a much wider area of Masonic privilege than he has hitherto enjoyed , and not only

the welfare and the honour of his own lodge are committed to him , but to some extent those of the whole Craft . He has been subject to close scrutiny before he reaches the goal of his ambition , but even when that arrives he is called upon to ' give a threefold guarantee as to his future conduct , that is , as

a member of an antient and honourable order whose traditions he is bound to maintain unimpaired , as the ruler of a lodge whose welfare he is speciall y bound to make his chief stud \ - , and as a future member of the hierarchy of Past Masters . In addition to these safeguards there used to be another

which has unhappily fallen into desuetude , the examination by a Board of Installed Masters to prove his Masonic fitness to occupy the post to which he aspires . And there might be with advantage yet another qualification . The year ' s service as Warden does not necessaril y give ihe Master ( hat knowledge

of the lodge ' s affairs thai is so desirable . A secretarial qualification would not be without its advantages . When the Secretary is more or less a permanent officer , the Master , as

regards many things , is bound to become his mouthpiece , and the lodge 'loses the advantage , which it might gain if the Master ' s individuality could be impressed upon it . When a brother has occupied the post of secretary for ten or twelve years , it is only human nature that he comes to regard the Worshipful Master as one of a succession of annual incidents ,

and the Worshipful Master finds it adds considerably to his comfort to acquiesce in that view . But it should be remembered that the lodge has a rig ht to be considered . It did not elect the secretary , and it did elect the Master , and this is a distinction , which involves a great difference . Grand Lodge

holds the Master responsible for returns , and , in fact for all that goes on . In addition therefore to the written obligations of the Master , there are a good many unwritten ones , and these not least important . The written ones we may well assume he is well acquainted with , in the letter even if he has not caught their spirit . The unwritten ones he is

often left to pick up , and only succeeds in grasping their inwardness when the time comes for him to elect his successor . Seeing for instance that the summons is issued in his name , and by his command , it follows that he is responsible for all that is in it , and should insist upon seeing it in the first place . His membership of Grand Lodge is a possession of the Lodge . There are practical difficulties in the way of everv one of the } , oco W . M . ' s under the English

Constitution , asserting in ii practical form , their right to sit and speak in Grand Lodge , but this right was conferred before there were any similar Provincial assemblies , and therefore the W . M . may reasonably claim to have discharged this part of his unwritten obligation when he has been regular in his attendance at Provincial Grand Lodge . The

Lodge may properly hold him responsible for the new members attracted during his year of office . It is only by his permission that any name goes to the ballot , and for the most part brethren are content to leave it at that , feeling confident that their Master has satisfied himself that the candidate would most likely be a credit to the Order The

Master would add much to his comfort during his year , by an unrelaxing adherence to the Constitutions , Article 150 in particular . That article deals with the admission of visitors , -and might with advantage be somewhat less ambiguous in its phraseology . Does " vouching" dispense with the examination or not ? And does either of them dispense with the

production of a certificate . A . "due" examination , means one conducted by a brother qualified to conduct one , and " vouching " should convey more than the bare fact of having met the visitor in a lodge . Unless , that is , the lodge in question were the visitor ' s own . It is far less trouble to have the visitor examined , and no right minded visiting brother will resent , but rather welcome , this opportunity of being put through his Masonic facings . But of course the

procedure adopted in one case will have to be adopted in all , and if the Lodge acquires the reputation of being a " hard " one to get into , it will not suffer on that account , but rather its Masonic standing will be enhanced In this connection the last of the Antient Charges is unmistakable . We have referred to the Master ' s individuality as a tiling the Lodge

ought to profit by . But side b y side with this it has to be remembered that the Master is but cue link in a chain . The Lodge has traditions perhaps , and traditional ways of doing things , and so long as these do not transgress the landmarks , the entity of the lodge may well impress itself on the whole Order for its good The Master is under au unwritten obliga

tion to hold by such traditions , and his individuality will never be displayed to more advantage than when he has inspired them with the breath of a new life . In no respect will the Master more conform with unwritten obligation than when he pays due respect and deference to his predecessors in the chair . It is true he cannot divest himself of

the ultimate responsibility h . r all that goes on , but the occasions are inconceivably few when he is right and all the rest of the brethren in the east , wrong . His decisions will command all the greater confidence and respect when it is known that all the weight of the lodge ' s most esteemed brethren are behind them . Again , il may serve to show the brethren ou the floor what a very clever Master they have , to behold him conferring one degree after another without