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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. ← Page 4 of 4
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Our Architectural Chapter.
more solemn an & respectful than the association of the Masonic body with the general class of institutions indiscriminately . To those who know what the condition of feeling was in New York a few years ago Avith regard to Masonry , and the large body of hostile foreigners resident in that city and Brooklyn , it must be a matter of
gratification , as proving the growing influence of Masonry , to see its functionaries so Called upon to dedicate a municipal edifice on a great national anniversary . We trust our Brethren may so labour in New York in the maintenance of the great principles of the Order , that they may not in ceremonials merely , but in morals , extend their beneficial influence over the public mind .
The chief architectural proceedings now in progress are the meetings and excursions of the provincial architectural and archaeological societies , and these will from time to time afford us matter for comment , though we prefer those subjects which are more nearly connected with the Craft ,
Military Lodges . — The warrants for Military Lodges are necessarily erratic , travelling from place to place with every removal ofthe regiment to which they are attached ; and instances have occurred where they have been abstracted by the Tyler , or other serving brother , to whose custody they have been entrusted en route ; and under their presumed sanction , Lodges have been surreptitiously opened in unauthorized places , as Avas the case in 1783 , when an irregular meeting was convened under the warrant of the Royal Military Lodge ( stationed at Woolwich ) in the King ' s Bench prison , where the Worshipful Master , being incarcerated
for debt , raised some Brethren to the third degree ; and , being called on by the Grand Lodge to answer for his conduct , he replied that , as the Lodge was held under the authority of one of those itinerant warrants which move with the regiment , he judged that wherever he might be , as the Worshipful Master , he had a right to hold Lodges and make Masons ; but he further pleaded , that ho had been recently convinced of his error by a hint that the Grand Lodge might take umbrage at such a proceeding , and therefore ho had not called another Lodge , nor was it his intention so to do . The Grand Lodge , however , in order to show that
such irregular Lodges were illegal , and totally discountenanced by the rulers of the Craft , " refused to accept the apology , and not only erased the offending Lodge from the list , but resolved , " that it is inconsistent with the principles of the Order for any Freemason's Lodge to beheld for the purposes of making , passing , or raising Brothers in any prison or place of confinement . " By such desultory and unauthorized practices , for which those itinerant warrants appear to offer great facilities , unqualified persons would be enabled to procure initiation for unworthy considerations , and a door be thus opened to every species of irregularity . The Grand Lodge , therefore , impressed with a correct idea ofthe great abuses to Avhich
the indiscriminate concession of such itinerant warrants may lead , has wisely ordained that , in future , the Military Lodges shall be strictly limited to the purposes for which the warrants were professedly granted ; and no new Lodge shall , under any circumstances , be established in a regiment without the concurrence , in writing , of the commanding officer . And further , the Worshipful Master of any such Lodge is prohibited from initiating any person whatever into Masonry except he be a military man , and have attained some rank in the army above that of a private soldier ; for the latter can only be admitted ( as serving Brethren ) by an especial licence from the Grand Master , —Oliver ' s ffmonw Jurisprudence .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chapter.
more solemn an & respectful than the association of the Masonic body with the general class of institutions indiscriminately . To those who know what the condition of feeling was in New York a few years ago Avith regard to Masonry , and the large body of hostile foreigners resident in that city and Brooklyn , it must be a matter of
gratification , as proving the growing influence of Masonry , to see its functionaries so Called upon to dedicate a municipal edifice on a great national anniversary . We trust our Brethren may so labour in New York in the maintenance of the great principles of the Order , that they may not in ceremonials merely , but in morals , extend their beneficial influence over the public mind .
The chief architectural proceedings now in progress are the meetings and excursions of the provincial architectural and archaeological societies , and these will from time to time afford us matter for comment , though we prefer those subjects which are more nearly connected with the Craft ,
Military Lodges . — The warrants for Military Lodges are necessarily erratic , travelling from place to place with every removal ofthe regiment to which they are attached ; and instances have occurred where they have been abstracted by the Tyler , or other serving brother , to whose custody they have been entrusted en route ; and under their presumed sanction , Lodges have been surreptitiously opened in unauthorized places , as Avas the case in 1783 , when an irregular meeting was convened under the warrant of the Royal Military Lodge ( stationed at Woolwich ) in the King ' s Bench prison , where the Worshipful Master , being incarcerated
for debt , raised some Brethren to the third degree ; and , being called on by the Grand Lodge to answer for his conduct , he replied that , as the Lodge was held under the authority of one of those itinerant warrants which move with the regiment , he judged that wherever he might be , as the Worshipful Master , he had a right to hold Lodges and make Masons ; but he further pleaded , that ho had been recently convinced of his error by a hint that the Grand Lodge might take umbrage at such a proceeding , and therefore ho had not called another Lodge , nor was it his intention so to do . The Grand Lodge , however , in order to show that
such irregular Lodges were illegal , and totally discountenanced by the rulers of the Craft , " refused to accept the apology , and not only erased the offending Lodge from the list , but resolved , " that it is inconsistent with the principles of the Order for any Freemason's Lodge to beheld for the purposes of making , passing , or raising Brothers in any prison or place of confinement . " By such desultory and unauthorized practices , for which those itinerant warrants appear to offer great facilities , unqualified persons would be enabled to procure initiation for unworthy considerations , and a door be thus opened to every species of irregularity . The Grand Lodge , therefore , impressed with a correct idea ofthe great abuses to Avhich
the indiscriminate concession of such itinerant warrants may lead , has wisely ordained that , in future , the Military Lodges shall be strictly limited to the purposes for which the warrants were professedly granted ; and no new Lodge shall , under any circumstances , be established in a regiment without the concurrence , in writing , of the commanding officer . And further , the Worshipful Master of any such Lodge is prohibited from initiating any person whatever into Masonry except he be a military man , and have attained some rank in the army above that of a private soldier ; for the latter can only be admitted ( as serving Brethren ) by an especial licence from the Grand Master , —Oliver ' s ffmonw Jurisprudence .