Modern Writers Upon Freemasonry.—I.

place , the purple as part of the ordinary decoration , the white as used by way of contrast to red to distinguish the ordinary Companion from one of thc rank of installed Principal ( so that red is here absolutely used for a distinction , and not a general purpose ) to " Lodge , " because " Chapter" is the word used in the Royal Arch regulations , and designates a body so differently constituted as to bear little , if any ,

resemblance to a Lodge . Nor can we quite agree with Dr . Oliver ' s idea of the " Dispensation" ( pp . 2 and 3 ) , ivhich precedes the warrant of a Lodge . Ho says that it is " a fleeting shadow of authority brought into existence by the breath of the Grand Master for some transient purpose , and dissolved by the same power like a bubble of froth whenever it -pleases

him to issue the warrant which deprives it of life . " Why for " somo transient purpose ? " There surely can bo but one purpose for which such a dispensation is issued , and as to the warrant depriving it of life , could not thc Grand Master himself do this without issuing the warrant—ancl would it not bo far better for the brethren to await the arrival of the warrantwhich empowers themat oncenot only to

, , , make Masons , & c , but to install their Worship ful Master and Officers , and work regularly . Practically , wo believe ( excepting in the colonies ) this is the case , and brethren about to form a new Lodge wait for their warrant , and then regularly constitute their Lodge with all due solemnity , install their iirst officers , ancl probably initiate spine

candidates at ono and the same time . The chief use qf thp dispensation is for the accommodation of the brethren in the colonies . In the interval between their petition for a warrant and the arrival of the -warrant from England , any number of Masons may , under a dispensation from their . Provincial Grand Master , meet in Lodges , transact the necessary business , initiate , pass , and raise candidates ,

and have validity secured for all their proceedings . A warrant cannot , by the constitutions , be issued from any other place than head quarters in London , otherwise—besides such a course being open to other objections—continual confusion would be liable to arise about the distinguishing numbers of the several Lodges , as half a dozen Provincial Grand Masters in different parts of the world mi ght ,

unknown to each other , grant the same number to half a dozen different Lodges . "Every candidate for the honours of Masonry , " says Dr . Oliver ( p . 24 ) , " as our ancient Grand Master , David , predicates in the fifteenth Psalm , ought to lead an uncorrupt life , & c . " Now , without going into tkevexata qiueslio of what good men we may , or may not , call our

ancient Grand Masters , what ri g ht has Dr . Oliver to say that David predicates thus of Masonry . The usually received tradition , according to what Dr . Oliver would call "blue Masonry , " is , that the origin of the Craft was at the building of Solomon ' s Temple . But with regard to the purport of the psalm ; on referring to the well known commentary of D'Oyly and Mant , we find that " in tins psalm the author describes a citizen of Zion , or what is necessary and requisite in the