SECTION II.

THE DEPUTY GFAXD MASTER.
The office of Deputy Grand Master is neither so important nor so ancient as that of Grand Master,
470 DEPUTY GRAND MASTER.
and seems originally to have been established for the purpose of relieving the latter officer of much of the labor which the proper discharge of his duties would demand. Hence, in the first four years of the history of the Order, after the reorganization of the Grand Lodge, in the beginning of the last century . while the chair was occupied by Commoners, there was no Deputy ; and it was not until the elec- tion of the Duke of Montagu, as Grand Master, in 1721, that the appointment was made.* The Six- teenth of the Regulations, adopted in that year, very distinctly shows that the object of the creation of the office of Deputy was, that that officer should relieve the Grand Master from the inconvenience of attending to the details of business. t Nor does that officer appear, from anything that we find in the old Constitutions, to have exercised or posses- sed any other prerogatives than those which he claimed in the Grand Master's right, whose assist-
* December 27, 1720, the Regulation was adopted, that in future the new Grand Master shall have the sole power of appointing a Deputy Grand Mas- ter, " now proved," says Anderson, " as necessary as formerly, according to ancient custom, when noble brothers were Grand Masters." — Book of Const, second edit. p. 111. In the historical statement made by Andersgn^ I place no confidence, for Prince Edwin had no Deputy ; but; he evidently assigns the true reason for the modern appointment, that noblemen might be relieved of the burdens of a laborious office.
f " The Grand Wardens or any others are first to advise with the Deputy about the affairs of the Lodge, or of the brethren, and not to apply to the Grand Master, without the knowledge of the Deputy, unless he refuse his concurrence in any certain necessary affair." — Beg. of 1721, art. xvi. And again : " The Grand Master should receive no intimation of business con cerning Masonry, but from his Deputy first, except in such cases as his Wor ship can well judge of." — Ibid.
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ant lie was. The usage in this country generally still continues to assign to him that subordinate po- sition ; and, except in a few jurisdictions, where additional powers have been specially granted by constitutional enactment, he exercises the preroga- tive of presiding over the craft only in the absence of the Grand Master from the jurisdiction, while during his presence he simply assists him with his counsel and advice.
To this, however, there are exceptions, and the Deputy is in some States invested with the preroga- tive of establishing Lodges and of granting dispen- sations.* Such powers are not derived from either the ancient usages or Constitutions, and the Regu- lations conferring them must be considered as wholly of a local nature : and in so far as they in- terfere with the exclusive inherent prerogatives of the Grand Master, I cannot but believe them to be inexpedient and unconstitutional. By the ancient Landmarks of Masonry, the dispensing power could be exercised only by the Grand Master, and to con- fer it on others is to divest him of his prerogative, which it is clearly not in the power of any Grand Lodge to do.
The Provincial Grand Master is an officer known only to the English Constitutions. The first ap- pointment of one recorded in the Book of Consti- tutions is that of Bro. Winter, as Provincial Grand
* Thus, ia Ohio, he grants dispensations, and in New York, in addition to this prerogative, suspends warrants, visits Lodges, and exercises many other rights which the Old Constitutions had confined to the Grand Master.
£72 DEPUTY GRAND MASTER.
Master of East India, which was made in 1730, by the Duke of Norfolk. The modern Constitutions of England invest him with powers in his own pro- vince very similar to those of the Grand Master, to whom, however, or to 'the Grand Lodge, an appeal always lies from his decisions.
In this country the office of District Deputy Grand Master appears to have taken the place, in many jurisdictions, of the English Provincial Grand Mas- ters ; but as the office has been created by a special enactment in every case, the Regulations which re- fer to it must be considered as strictly local in their character. Hence the duties and prerogatives of these officers widely differ in different jurisdictions, and a consideration of them can find no place in a treatise on the general principles of Masonic law. Individually, I confess that I am opposed to the creation of the office, as infringing on the simplicity of the Masonic system of government, although it cannot be denied that a Grand Lodge has the right to create such an office, so long as the powers con- ferred on the officer do not affect the inherent prero- gatives of the Grand Master; with which, of course, no modern Constitutions can interfere.
In England, the Deputy Grand Master has always been appointed by the Grand Master. The same rule has been followed by a few Grand Lodges in this country : but the more general custom is foi the Grand Lc dge to elect hi n.
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