Eights Of The Wardens Of Private Lodges.

our stated meetings is essentially necessary ; as , in my absence , you are to rule the lodge . " So also , in the usual Installation ceremony , the Installing Master , delivering his address to the Wardens , charges them to assiduously assist the

Worship ful Master in the discharge of his duties , and carefully to instruct those he may place under their care , for , he tells them , "in his absence you Avill succeed to higher duties . "

Thus far it is evident all these before-mentioned authorities unequivocally maintain the ri g ht of the Wardens in some cases , but that of the Senior Warden in all , to do the duty of the Master , when he is absent , and part of those duties are to make , pass , and raise Masons .

In our present Bool ; of Constitutions , p . / I , it is declared , Section I ., " and no Master elect shall assume the Master ' s chair until he shall have been regularl y installed , though , he may in the interim rule the lodge . " At page 72 , section 6 , it states : —

" 6 . If the master shall die , be removed , or be incapable of discharging the duties of bis office , tbe Senior Warden , and in tbe absence of tbe Senior AVarden , tbe Junior Warden , and in the absence of both Wardens , then the immediate Past Master , or in bis absence the Senior Past Master , shall act as Master in summoning tho

lodge , until the next election of officers . In tho Master ' s absence , the immediate Past Master ; or , if he be absent , the Senior Past Master of the lodgo present shall take the chair . And if no Past Master of tbe lodge be present , then the Senior Warden , or in his absence tho Junior Warden , shall rule the lodge . "

NOAV in these two extracts he the whole gist of the matter . From the XVth . Century to A . D . 1813 , the Wardens were , ccderis paribns , 'h \ possession of the Master ' s authority , not as his deputies , but in their own unalienable right .

The ambiguity of the expression " rules the lodge" is the cause of all the mischief , aud if we look at the expression in a fair spirit , it appears that the Master always rules his lodge so long as it is open . During the time he p erforms any

ceremony of the three degrees he is still ruling , and the ruler of his lodge , and if the AVardens are to rule the lodge in the absence of the Worship ful Master , it surel y must be conceded that they have the same prerogatives as the AV . M .

to rule the lodge and transact its necessary business . Against the narrow view taken by our Booh of Constitutions , is the practice of the whole

Eights Of The Wardens Of Private Lodges.

civilised Avorld , and some few citations will show that ruling and performing all the functions of the AV . M . are synonymous . In Mackey ' s Lexicon , sub voce , " Wardens , " we are told , —

"In case of the death , removal from the State , or expulson of tbe Master , the Senior Warden presides over the lodge for the remainder of his term of office . During the temporary absence of the Master , the Senior AVarden will sometimes , through courtesy , resign the chair to a

former Past Master ; yet , in this case , the latter officer derives bis authority from the Warden , and cannot act until this officer has congregated the lodge . The same thing is applicable to the Junior Warden , in case of the absence both of the Master and the Senior Warden . This rule arises from the fact that the warrant of constitution

is granted to the Master , Wardens , and their successors in office , and not to the members of the lodge . . . . The Junior AVarden presides over the Graft during refreshment , and in tbe absence of the AVorshipful Master and Senior Warden he performs the duties of presiding officer .... But no election can be had to supply

the place ad ¦ interim , of either the Master or Wardens , while one of the three remains . If two of them , as , for example , the Master and Senior AVarden , have died or been deposed , the Junior Warden must occupy the chair during the remainder of the term , and appoint his Wardens pro tempore afc each communication , until the regular constitutional night of election . "

In the above it is strongly set forth , that , even the Junior AVarden , in the absence of his two superior officers , " performs the duties of presiding officer , " and the duties of the presiding officer of a lodge must be to act , in all things , as the W . M .

Therefore , the Junior AVarden , when placed in this position , must be held to be able to make , pass , ancl raise Freemasons .

In the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of California for 1856 , its Committee report and say : — '' 'There can bo no AVorshipful Master -pro tern . ; no one can open tbe lodge but the Master , or , in his absence , the Wardens , or a Past Master , if he been trusted ivith the

Charter ; but they do so in thoir official capacity , and not as -pro tern , of tho AVorshipful Master . The' Senior AVarden is not a pro tern . Master when ho govez'ns ihe lodge , but is Senior Warden acting as Master . The brother whom he scats in the west , to fill his own place for the time , is Senior Warden pro ton ., and so are the

other officers he may appoint ; but he sits in the Orient in his own rigid , and governs the Craffc as Senior Warden , and not as AVorshipful Master pro tern . "

Here the dictum is clearly laid clown that the Senior AVarden is , by his own ri g ht , ex officio AVorship ful Master , and is "acting as Master , " which includes , to our mind , the rig ht , or poAver ,