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Article THE CANADIAN MOVEMENT. ← Page 4 of 11 →
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The Canadian Movement.
of a Grand Master . Thirty-four Lodges appeared , or were represented by their proxies , and at this meeting the office of Grand Master in Scotland became , for the first time , elective . This Grand Lodge had the assent of the Grand Master of Masons of Scotland for its formation , differing , in this particular , from the Grand Lodge of England . " The entire history of the formation of these three Grand Lodges is overwhelming—! had almost said omnipotent---to prove , that they were all vohtntary
Masonic associations , growing naturally out of the necessities of the Order , and assuming , as associations , the power of proper organization as an inherent right . It was never claimed—a , nd it never can be truthfully elaimed—that any ancient constitution conferred the right which was exercised . Old constitutions and charges may he studied for that in vain . The right to form such bodies was assumed , and the extent oj-jurisdictionwas also assumed , and engrafted upon it , as well as / ' the form andmanner ' .-of Masonic government .
" Neither of the three Grand Lodges thus formed , went so far as to assume exclusive Masonic jurisdiction out of England , Ireland , and Scotland . The only exclusive power assumed was to their own respective territories . When those were passed at home they exercised a common power . Whenever any one of them -might- grant a warrant of constitution , or locate a Provincial Grand Master abroad , either of the others might do the same . The Grand Lodges of England and Scotland so understood the subject , and both of them created Provincial Grand Masters in the colonies antecedent to the revolution . The
subsequent history of the Masonic bodies established by these Provincial Grand Masters , is full of interest , as bearing upon the question under consideration , and I shall have cause to refer to it in the course of my examination of this subject . " One at least of the Provincial Grand Masters , appointed by the Grand Lodge of England , did not understand that the American revolution severed the Masonic connection between the parent power and the newly-created States upon this northern continent . In 1791 the R . W . John Johnson , then the English Provincial Grand Master of Lower Canada , granted a warrant of constitution to his
Excellency Thomas Chatterton , then Governor of the State of Vermont , and his associates , for the establishment of a Lodge at Vergennes , by the name of Dorchester Lodge . This Lodge was duly constituted under that warrant , and worked under it until October , 1794 , when , in connection with the other Lodges in the State , which had charters from the Grand Lodges of Massachusetts and New York , it aided in forming the present Grand Lodge of Vermont , and forcibly severing its connection with Canada , has ever since hailed under the new jurisdiction . The Provincial Grand Master of Canada never complained of this action , or denied the right of Dorchester Lodge , of its own motion , to make the severance and aid in establishing a new and independent jurisdiction .
"It was assumed by all the State Masonic institutions of this country , which existed before the revolutionary war , that the dissolution of the politiccd , necessarily involved a dissolution of the Masonic , tie , and they acted accordingly . This , in my judgment , was a farther stretch in the line of Masonic independence than anything which has happened since . I am not aware that a Masonic pen was ever raised to sustain this assumption as resting on authority , precedent , or principle : —and yet three out of four of the Grand Lodges of the United States , who shrink instinctively from the word independence when the stern north wind bears it to us from Canada , found no difficulty either in using the word , or carrying out the full force of its meaning practically in their own cases .
" Ever since the American revolution tbe Masonic practice in the United States has been , —that when three or more warranted Lodges are established in any State or Territory where no Grand Lodge exists , they possess the inherent right to meet together and form one themselves , and it is not and never was considered necessary to ask the consent of the Grand Lodge , or Grand Lodges , from which their respective warrants emanated , for this purpose . Most of the Grand Lodges in the United States have been formed in this way , and every Grand Lodge has sanctioned this mode of action , so that the practice and principle are beyond dispute . I need only name Iowa , Texas , California , Minnesota , Oregon , Kansas ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Canadian Movement.
of a Grand Master . Thirty-four Lodges appeared , or were represented by their proxies , and at this meeting the office of Grand Master in Scotland became , for the first time , elective . This Grand Lodge had the assent of the Grand Master of Masons of Scotland for its formation , differing , in this particular , from the Grand Lodge of England . " The entire history of the formation of these three Grand Lodges is overwhelming—! had almost said omnipotent---to prove , that they were all vohtntary
Masonic associations , growing naturally out of the necessities of the Order , and assuming , as associations , the power of proper organization as an inherent right . It was never claimed—a , nd it never can be truthfully elaimed—that any ancient constitution conferred the right which was exercised . Old constitutions and charges may he studied for that in vain . The right to form such bodies was assumed , and the extent oj-jurisdictionwas also assumed , and engrafted upon it , as well as / ' the form andmanner ' .-of Masonic government .
" Neither of the three Grand Lodges thus formed , went so far as to assume exclusive Masonic jurisdiction out of England , Ireland , and Scotland . The only exclusive power assumed was to their own respective territories . When those were passed at home they exercised a common power . Whenever any one of them -might- grant a warrant of constitution , or locate a Provincial Grand Master abroad , either of the others might do the same . The Grand Lodges of England and Scotland so understood the subject , and both of them created Provincial Grand Masters in the colonies antecedent to the revolution . The
subsequent history of the Masonic bodies established by these Provincial Grand Masters , is full of interest , as bearing upon the question under consideration , and I shall have cause to refer to it in the course of my examination of this subject . " One at least of the Provincial Grand Masters , appointed by the Grand Lodge of England , did not understand that the American revolution severed the Masonic connection between the parent power and the newly-created States upon this northern continent . In 1791 the R . W . John Johnson , then the English Provincial Grand Master of Lower Canada , granted a warrant of constitution to his
Excellency Thomas Chatterton , then Governor of the State of Vermont , and his associates , for the establishment of a Lodge at Vergennes , by the name of Dorchester Lodge . This Lodge was duly constituted under that warrant , and worked under it until October , 1794 , when , in connection with the other Lodges in the State , which had charters from the Grand Lodges of Massachusetts and New York , it aided in forming the present Grand Lodge of Vermont , and forcibly severing its connection with Canada , has ever since hailed under the new jurisdiction . The Provincial Grand Master of Canada never complained of this action , or denied the right of Dorchester Lodge , of its own motion , to make the severance and aid in establishing a new and independent jurisdiction .
"It was assumed by all the State Masonic institutions of this country , which existed before the revolutionary war , that the dissolution of the politiccd , necessarily involved a dissolution of the Masonic , tie , and they acted accordingly . This , in my judgment , was a farther stretch in the line of Masonic independence than anything which has happened since . I am not aware that a Masonic pen was ever raised to sustain this assumption as resting on authority , precedent , or principle : —and yet three out of four of the Grand Lodges of the United States , who shrink instinctively from the word independence when the stern north wind bears it to us from Canada , found no difficulty either in using the word , or carrying out the full force of its meaning practically in their own cases .
" Ever since the American revolution tbe Masonic practice in the United States has been , —that when three or more warranted Lodges are established in any State or Territory where no Grand Lodge exists , they possess the inherent right to meet together and form one themselves , and it is not and never was considered necessary to ask the consent of the Grand Lodge , or Grand Lodges , from which their respective warrants emanated , for this purpose . Most of the Grand Lodges in the United States have been formed in this way , and every Grand Lodge has sanctioned this mode of action , so that the practice and principle are beyond dispute . I need only name Iowa , Texas , California , Minnesota , Oregon , Kansas ,