Part 5 (2/2)
It is evident, from what has already been said, that there are two kinds of lodges, each regular in itself, but each peculiar and distinct in its character. There are lodges working under a dispensation, and lodges working under a warrant of const.i.tution. Each of these will require a separate consideration. The former will be the subject of the present chapter.
A lodge working under a dispensation is a merely temporary body, originated for a special purpose, and is therefore possessed of very circ.u.mscribed powers. The dispensation, or authority under which it acts, expressly specifies that the persons to whom it is given are allowed to congregate that they may ”admit, enter, pa.s.s, and raise Freemasons;” no other powers are conferred either by words or implication, and, indeed, sometimes the dispensation states, that that congregation is to be ”with the sole intent and view, that the Brethren so congregated, admitted, entered, and made, when they become a sufficient number, may be duly warranted and const.i.tuted for being and holding a regular lodge.”[33]
A lodge under dispensation is simply the creature of the Grand Master. To him it is indebted for its existence, and on his will depends the duration of that existence. He may at any time revoke the dispensation, and the dissolution of the lodge would be the instant result. Hence a lodge working under a dispensation can scarcely, with strict technical propriety, be called a lodge; it is, more properly speaking, a congregation of Masons, acting as the proxy of the Grand Master.
With these views of the origin and character of lodges under dispensation, we will be better prepared to understand the nature and extent of the powers which they possess.
A lodge under dispensation can make no bye-laws. It is governed, during its temporary existence, by the general Const.i.tutions of the Order and the rules and regulations of the Grand Lodge in whose jurisdiction it is situated. In fact, as the bye-laws of no lodge are operative until they are confirmed by the Grand Lodge, and as a lodge working under a dispensation ceases to exist as such as soon as the Grand Lodge meets, it is evident that it would be absurd to frame a code of laws which would have no efficacy, for want of proper confirmation, and which, when the time and opportunity for confirmation had arrived, would be needless, as the society for which they were framed would then have no legal existence--a new body (the warranted lodge) having taken its place.
A lodge under dispensation cannot elect officers. The Master and Wardens are nominated by the Brethren, and, if this nomination is approved, they are appointed by the Grand Master. In giving them permission to meet and make Masons, he gave them no power to do anything else. A dispensation is itself a setting aside of the law, and an exception to a general principle; it must, therefore, be construed literally. What is not granted in express terms, is not granted at all. And, therefore, as nothing is said of the election of officers, no such election can be held. The Master may, however, and always does for convenience, appoint a competent Brother to keep a record of the proceedings; but this is a temporary appointment, at the pleasure of the Master, whose deputy or a.s.sistant he is; for the Grand Lodge looks only to the Master for the records, and the office is not legally recognized. In like manner, he may depute a trusty Brother to take charge of the funds, and must, of course, from time to time, appoint the deacons and tiler for the necessary working of the lodge.
As there can be no election, neither can there be any installation, which, of course, always presumes a previous election for a determinate period.
Besides, the installation of officers is a part of the ceremony of const.i.tution, and therefore not even the Master and Wardens of a lodge under dispensation are ent.i.tled to be thus solemnly inducted into office.
A lodge under dispensation can elect no members. The Master and Wardens, who are named in the dispensation, are, in point of fact, the only persons recognized as const.i.tuting the lodge. To them is granted the privilege, as proxies of the Grand Master, of making Masons; and for this purpose they are authorized to congregate a sufficient number of Brethren to a.s.sist them in the ceremonies. But neither the Master and Wardens, nor the Brethren, thus congregated have received any power of electing members.
Nor are the persons made in a lodge under dispensation, to be considered as members of the lodge; for, as has already been shown, they have none of the rights and privileges which attach to members.h.i.+p--they can neither make bye-laws nor elect officers. They, however, become members of the lodge as soon as it receives its warrant of const.i.tution.
Chapter III.
Of Lodges Working under a Warrant of Const.i.tution.
Section I.
_Of the Powers and Rights of a Lodge._
In respect to the powers and privileges possessed by a lodge working under a warrant of const.i.tution, we may say, as a general principle, that whatever it does possess is inherent in it--nothing has been delegated by either the Grand Master or the Grand Lodge--but that all its rights and powers are derived originally from the ancient regulations, made before the existence of Grand Lodges, and that what it does not possess, are the powers which were conceded by its predecessors to the Grand Lodge. This is evident from the history of warrants of const.i.tution, the authority under which subordinate lodges act. The practice of applying by pet.i.tion to the Grand Master or the Grand Lodge, for a warrant to meet as a regular lodge, commenced in the year 1718. Previous to that time, Freemasons were empowered by inherent privileges, vested, from time immemorial, in the whole fraternity, to meet as occasion might require, under the direction of some able architect; and the proceedings of these meetings, being approved by a majority of the Brethren convened at another lodge in the same district, were deemed const.i.tutional.[34] But in 1718, a year after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, this power of meeting _ad libitum_ was resigned into the hands of that body, and it was then agreed that no lodges should thereafter meet, unless authorized so to do by a warrant from the Grand Master, and with the consent of the Grand Lodge.
But as a memorial that this abandonment of the ancient right was entirely voluntary, it was at the same time resolved that this inherent privilege should continue to be enjoyed by the four old lodges who formed the Grand Lodge. And, still more effectually to secure the reserved rights of the lodges, it was also solemnly determined, that while the Grand Lodge possesses the inherent right of making new regulations for the good of the fraternity, provided that the _old landmarks be carefully preserved_, yet that these regulations, to be of force, must be proposed and agreed to at the third quarterly communication preceding the annual grand feast, and submitted to the perusal of all the Brethren, in writing, even of the youngest entered apprentice; ”_the approbation and consent of the majority of all the Brethren present being absolutely necessary, to make the same binding and obligatory_.”[35]
The corollary from all this is clear. All the rights, powers, and privileges, not conceded, by express enactment of the fraternity, to the Grand Lodge, have been reserved to themselves. Subordinate lodges are the a.s.semblies of the craft in their primary capacity, and the Grand Lodge is the Supreme Masonic Tribunal, only because it consists of and is const.i.tuted by a representation of these primary a.s.semblies. And, therefore, as every act of the Grand Lodge is an act of the whole fraternity thus represented, each new regulation that may be made is not an a.s.sumption of authority on the part of the Grand Lodge, but a new concession on the part of the subordinate lodges.
This doctrine of the reserved rights of the lodges is very important, and should never be forgotten, because it affords much aid in the decision of many obscure points of masonic jurisprudence. The rule is, that any doubtful power exists and is inherent in the subordinate lodges, unless there is an express regulation conferring it on the Grand Lodge. With this preliminary view, we may proceed to investigate the nature and extent of these reserved powers of the subordinate lodges.
A lodge has the right of selecting its own members, with which the Grand Lodge cannot interfere. This is a right that the lodges have expressly reserved to themselves, and the stipulation is inserted in the ”general regulations” in the following words:
”No man can be entered a Brother in any particular lodge, or admitted a member thereof, without the unanimous consent of all the members of that lodge then present, when the candidate is proposed, and when their consent is formally asked by the Master. They are to give their consent in their own prudent way, either virtually or in form, but with unanimity. Nor is this inherent privilege subject to a dispensation, because the members of a particular lodge are the best judges of it; and because, if a turbulent member should be imposed upon them, it might spoil their harmony, or hinder the freedom of their communication; or even break and disperse the lodge, which ought to be avoided by all true and faithful.”[36]
But although a lodge has the inherent right to require unanimity in the election of a candidate, it is not necessarily restricted to such a degree of rigor.
A lodge has the right to elect its own officers. This right is guaranteed to it by the words of the Warrant of Const.i.tution. Still the right is subject to certain restraining regulations. The election must be held at the proper time, which, according to the usage of Masonry, in most parts of the world, is on or immediately before the festival of St. John the Evangelist. The proper qualifications must be regarded. A member cannot be elected as Master, unless he has previously served as a Warden, except in the instance of a new lodge, or other case of emergency. Where both of the Wardens refuse promotion, where the presiding Master will not permit himself to be reelected, and where there is no Past Master who will consent to take the office, then, and then only, can a member be elected from the floor to preside over the lodge.
By the Const.i.tutions of England, only the Master and Treasurer are elected officers.[37] The Wardens and all the other officers are appointed by the Master, who has not, however, the power of removal after appointment, except by consent of the lodge;[38] but American usage gives the election of all the officers, except the deacons, stewards, and, in some instances, the tiler, to the lodge.
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