Modern Writers Upon Freemasonry.—Iv.

not an actual AVarden or an installed Master . And as all actual Wardens and installed Masters sit and vote in Grand Lodge in their own right ( as we have been obliged to lay clown as the interpretation of the Book of Constitutions several times already , in consequence of statements of Dr . Oliver ' s , which , like this , aro calculated to mislead

those who have not given much attention to that work ancl the customs of the Craft ) , they cannot , when there in their own ri ght , be representing Past Grand Officers who aro themselves there in their own places , in their own right , their own representatives , In fact , Dr . Oliver has here only done what he has done in a score of other places , contradicted what he has said a dozen lines before . Here the contradiction

is , that at thc top of the page ho has said that no one can have two qualifications for a vote in Grand Lodge , and that in thc middle ofthe same page he gives us an instance of persons who have two qualifications . The others arc of a similar character , and the "law" of the work therefore , is clearly not to be depended upon , notwithstanding the author ' s own strong recommendation in the preface , to which wc shall

presently allude more particularly . "Absence of thc Deputy Grand Master" ( p . 379 ) . Here Dr . Oliver says , that in thc absence of the Deputy Grand Master , the Grand Officer next in rank and seniority shall , according to the present laws , act as Deputy Grand Master for the evening , but at page 376 , he says that the Grand Master , "to prevent confusion , usually gives a special commission

under his hand and seal , countersigned by the Grand Secretary , to the Senior Grand AVarden ; or , in his absence , to the Junior , to act as Deputy Grand Master , when thc immediate Deputy is not in town . " Which does Dr . Oliver mean ? And which is right ? Practically the Grand AVardens , if present , usually keep their own seats , and if the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master aro absent , their places are taken ly Provincial Grand Masters ; the Grand

Master ' s ( if ho alone is absent ) b y the Deputy , and the Deputy ' s place , if he is either acting as Grand Master , or absent as well as thc Grand Master , by a Provincial Grand Master . " The Deputy Grand Master is competent to preside , but not , we presume , to occupy the throne . " Does he not do so 1 Yes ; wc have seen him do so ourselves fifty times at least . At

p . 401 the necessity of AVorshipful Masters to attend board meetings in London , is qualified . At page 179 , a touching picture was drawn of the misery of a brother petitioning for relief at the . Board of Benevolence , on being dismissed unassisted because the AVorshipful Master of his Lodge did not appear to support his petition ; now this is qualified by thc words "And even then its success " i the

( . e ., success of the application , ) "will be doubtful , unless the Master , Past Muster , or one of the AVardens except it be a country petition , shall attend the hoard , to affirm the truth of the statement ; ' Sec . " Except it be a country petition ; " but this makes all the difference in the world , and should have been stated in p . 179 , where the duties of Masters of Lodges aro so stringentlv laid down .