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Correspondence
taking place , he was raised to the order or Degree of Master in Grand Lodge , and always continued to hold that rank . " He knowing-. ' himself to be able of cunning , shall undertake the Lord ' s work as reasonable as possible , and truly dispend his goods as if they were his own , nor to give more wages to any Brother or Apprentice than he really may deserve . " Thus there was one Master who ruled over all the Brethren and Fellows , who appointed Wardens under nim to oversee the various parts of the work , ' and to instruct the Apprentices . The Master alone was chosen by his Fellows , he chose the others to assist him ; they were liable when not in office to resume their former station of Fellows ; and thus the
position they had occupied did not confer a lasting rank ( except that it was from among them that the Master was chosen ) . It was not so with the elected ruler , or Master , he having been installed and received as an equal in Grand Lodge ; and even when having no Lodge under him , or , in other words , wLen out of office , he still retained his rank . This is more clearly seen in the installation ceremony and the charges as now delivered to a Master on installation ; he is very solemnly bound to his charges , first among bis Fellows , and afterwards among those who have already ruled ; he is individually held responsible by the Grand Lodge ( of
which he is a member not only in virtue of his office , but by right of installation ) for the safe keeping of the warrant which is delivered into his personal charge ; he is also responsible for all acts done by virtue of its presence , and for the proper and safe keeping of the Minutes and Book of Register , and is allowed to appoint a Brother to perform that office for him ; and indeed , so far as the Grand Lodge is concerned , we may almost say that he is the Lodge j and so long as he remains in affiliation with the Craft , he retains his full rank and membership in Grand Lodge . Is this so with the Warden?—in what way can Grand Lodge call him to account for anything he may . do ? Only as a private Mason he is appointed
hy the Master to assist him , and the Grand Lodge looks to the Master , and not to him ; to be sure , as long as he is Warden , but no longer , be is allowed a voice in Grand Lodge ; , and after his term of office expires , he falls back among his Fellows . We are mostly all speculative Masons now , and are often apt to forget the close connection that once subsisted between operative and speculative Masonry ; not that I would assert that speculative sprung from operative , —this would be a very grave mistake ; but from it w e borrow a great deal of our language , and much of our framework ; and it is necessary to keep this connection ever in view to see the force of the argument I have so feebly been endeavouring to establish ; and if we look higher in the Order , this is still more clearly seen .
Under the English Constitution , a Master Mason ( as we have before said , anciently the Master of a Lodge ) is eligible for the Chapter after having been a Master for a certain length of time ; and the Royal Arch is considered as the perfection or completion of the Master Mason , that thus every ruler in the Craft , but none others , might by regular gradation arrive at the rank of per f ect Master . This is still partially carried out under the English working , where , although any Master Mason may be made a Royal Arch Mason , none but installed
Masters are eligible to the chair of Principal , nor , consequently , can any other arrive at the dignity of perfect Master . The force of this reasoning has been felt in other jurisdictions ; for instance , in the United States , wliere , among other Degrees intermediate between the MM . and R . A ., they have one which is called Past Master , given to qualify for Companionship under the Arch ; and proving still further that none but installed Masters were ever made Companions of the
Koyal Arch . I trust this matter will not he allowed to drop here ; it is of the utmost importance that both sides should be brought out fully , and argued "upon philosophical principles . - I have also another question I wish to see some discussion on , —What is meant
by Confirmation * of Minutes 1 ia it only a declaration that the Secretary has transcribed them properly in his hook , or is it an adoption and indorsement at ono meeting of the Lodge of what was done at a previous meeting ? If the former , why does the Constitution declare that no Master shall be installed until the minutes of his election are confirmed \ and if the latter , in what way will it affect votes and resolutions on which action has been , or may have been , taken during
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence
taking place , he was raised to the order or Degree of Master in Grand Lodge , and always continued to hold that rank . " He knowing-. ' himself to be able of cunning , shall undertake the Lord ' s work as reasonable as possible , and truly dispend his goods as if they were his own , nor to give more wages to any Brother or Apprentice than he really may deserve . " Thus there was one Master who ruled over all the Brethren and Fellows , who appointed Wardens under nim to oversee the various parts of the work , ' and to instruct the Apprentices . The Master alone was chosen by his Fellows , he chose the others to assist him ; they were liable when not in office to resume their former station of Fellows ; and thus the
position they had occupied did not confer a lasting rank ( except that it was from among them that the Master was chosen ) . It was not so with the elected ruler , or Master , he having been installed and received as an equal in Grand Lodge ; and even when having no Lodge under him , or , in other words , wLen out of office , he still retained his rank . This is more clearly seen in the installation ceremony and the charges as now delivered to a Master on installation ; he is very solemnly bound to his charges , first among bis Fellows , and afterwards among those who have already ruled ; he is individually held responsible by the Grand Lodge ( of
which he is a member not only in virtue of his office , but by right of installation ) for the safe keeping of the warrant which is delivered into his personal charge ; he is also responsible for all acts done by virtue of its presence , and for the proper and safe keeping of the Minutes and Book of Register , and is allowed to appoint a Brother to perform that office for him ; and indeed , so far as the Grand Lodge is concerned , we may almost say that he is the Lodge j and so long as he remains in affiliation with the Craft , he retains his full rank and membership in Grand Lodge . Is this so with the Warden?—in what way can Grand Lodge call him to account for anything he may . do ? Only as a private Mason he is appointed
hy the Master to assist him , and the Grand Lodge looks to the Master , and not to him ; to be sure , as long as he is Warden , but no longer , be is allowed a voice in Grand Lodge ; , and after his term of office expires , he falls back among his Fellows . We are mostly all speculative Masons now , and are often apt to forget the close connection that once subsisted between operative and speculative Masonry ; not that I would assert that speculative sprung from operative , —this would be a very grave mistake ; but from it w e borrow a great deal of our language , and much of our framework ; and it is necessary to keep this connection ever in view to see the force of the argument I have so feebly been endeavouring to establish ; and if we look higher in the Order , this is still more clearly seen .
Under the English Constitution , a Master Mason ( as we have before said , anciently the Master of a Lodge ) is eligible for the Chapter after having been a Master for a certain length of time ; and the Royal Arch is considered as the perfection or completion of the Master Mason , that thus every ruler in the Craft , but none others , might by regular gradation arrive at the rank of per f ect Master . This is still partially carried out under the English working , where , although any Master Mason may be made a Royal Arch Mason , none but installed
Masters are eligible to the chair of Principal , nor , consequently , can any other arrive at the dignity of perfect Master . The force of this reasoning has been felt in other jurisdictions ; for instance , in the United States , wliere , among other Degrees intermediate between the MM . and R . A ., they have one which is called Past Master , given to qualify for Companionship under the Arch ; and proving still further that none but installed Masters were ever made Companions of the
Koyal Arch . I trust this matter will not he allowed to drop here ; it is of the utmost importance that both sides should be brought out fully , and argued "upon philosophical principles . - I have also another question I wish to see some discussion on , —What is meant
by Confirmation * of Minutes 1 ia it only a declaration that the Secretary has transcribed them properly in his hook , or is it an adoption and indorsement at ono meeting of the Lodge of what was done at a previous meeting ? If the former , why does the Constitution declare that no Master shall be installed until the minutes of his election are confirmed \ and if the latter , in what way will it affect votes and resolutions on which action has been , or may have been , taken during