Membership Of The Grand Lodge Of Scotland ; What It Is And What It Ought To Be.

ancient landmarks and the essential principles of Freemasonry . But the question of greatest inrportance now is , What is to be done at the Quarterly Communication in February , when , in all probability , the future of Scottish Freemasonry for a long time Avill be

decided 1 It may be taken for granted that many brethren holding proxy commissions will then present themselves to be received as members of the Grand Lodge ; and it is to be expected , also , that many actual Masters and Wardens of lodges will

present themselves , claiming to be so received , although , in consequence of the motion of May , 1873 , then- lodges have not thought it necessary to cancel previously existing proxy commissions ; also that many Past Masters will claim their right in terms of

that resolution , —real Past Masters , I mean , to whom alone the resolution can be understood to refer , and not brethren Avho never were Masters at all , but Avho have been raised to that Masonic honour , known onl y to Scotland , of the Past Master ' s degree . Which of thesi are to be received , —the men Avhose claim ' is founded on the motion of last Mav . or the

men Avhose . claim rests entirely on its nullity as ultra vires of the Grand Lodge t And how is this to be decided 1 When a neiv House of ¦ Commons meets after a dissolution of Parliament , all men Avho have-been returned in the ordinary form received

are as members , even although there may be some of them whose election is disputed , and Avho may be unseated Avhen the question is tried ; but in the meantime they take their seats and give their votesandAvhen of them is

, , any unseated , there is no going back on Avhat has taken place in Parliament to inquire whether any disputed question has been decided by their votes , but these votes haying been given , are for ever good and valid , as much as if their election had

been confirmed . But this mode of procedure does not seem to yield even a hint that might be useful for guidance in the case we are considering . If the brethren whose right to be received as members of the Grand Lodge is undoubted on all

hands were alone to be enrolled as members , and the rights of others to be tried by them , then all Proxy Masters and Wardens , and all Masters and Wardens of lodges having uncancelled proxy

commissions , and all Past Masters not holding proxy commissions , would be left out , and everything Avould be left to the decision of a comparatively small number of brethren ; Avhereas the House of Commons evidently proceeds on the assumption that the disputed and doubtful elections will be few

in comparison Avith the indisputable , AvMch would here be far from being the case . Nor can the motion be entertained that the decision of the Most Worshipful Grand Master , or of the presiding office-bearer on the occasion , should determine any

question of this kind ; for this Avould be a renunciation of the rights and privileges of Freemasons , and a concession of power to office-bearers which it Avas never meant that any , even the most exalted of them , should possess , and which it Avould be

inconsistent Avith the most essential principles of Freemasonry that they should possess . Here , then , Ave seem to come to a dead-lock , or to this , that one or other of the parties must give up their claims and their cause , if no separation is to take place . The strongly manifested opinion of the general body of the Freemasons of Scotland might possibly lead to such a

result , and I think I know on which side that opinion is . But I am afraid it is too much to expect it to be expressed in such a way before next February—so generally , so unmistakeably , so convincingly , —that the present dominant clique of the Grand Lodge would give way before

it , and give up their cause as hopeless . It is rather to be expected that both parties will meet resolved tp try their powers . And what then is to be done 1 For the moment , but only for the moment , the voice of the presiding office-bearer—the

Grand Master , the Depute Grand Master , or the Substitute Grand Master , or whoever else may fill that place—may outweigh all other considerations , in so far as at least to determine the question as to present occupacy of the Freemasons' Hall .

Who could resist his authority ? Nobody would attempt it , in regard to the mere place of meeting . But if the reforming party are to be driven to extremities , and the claims of their members are to be rejected by the then apparent authorities

of the Grand Lodge , or if those whom they hold to be no members are received as such , they must AvithdraAV themselves , not waiting for a resolution of the so-