SECTION I.

THE RIGHTS OF LODGES UNDER DISPENSATION.
It follows, as a necessary deduction, from what has already been said of the organization of Lodges under a dispensation, that such bodies are merely temporary in their nature, subject to the will of the Grand Master for their continuance, and acting during their existence simply as his proxies, for the
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purpose of exercising a right which is inherent in him by the ancient Landmarks, that,namely,of con- gregating Masons to confer degrees.* The ancient records do not throw any light on this subject of Lodges under dispensation. It appears from the Old Regulations that the power of constituting a Lodge at once, without any probationary dispensa- tion, was originally vested in the Grand Master ; and the brief ceremony of constituting a new Lodge, to be found in the first edition of the Book of Con- stitutions, as well as that more enlarged one con- tained in the second edition of the same work,t was drawn up in accordance with the principle that the power of original constitution was vested in the Grand Master. But in this country the law has been differently interpreted, and the power of con- stituting Lodges having been taken from, or rather tacitly surrendered, by Grand Masters, it has been assumed by Grand Lodges alone. Hence Grand Masters, in exercising the power of granting dis- pensations to open and hold Lodges, have fallen back for their authority to do so on that ancient Landmark which makes it the prerogative of the Grand Master to summon any legal number of brethren together, and with them to make Masons. A Lodge under dispensation is therefore simply the creature or proxy of the Grand Master — congrega-
* I have fully discussed this Landmark in the present work — Book L, p 22-23 — to which I refer the reader.
t See Anderson's Constitutions, first edit.,l??3i p, TO ; and second edit 1738 p. U9
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ted for a temporary and special purpose (for it is admitted that the dispensation may be revoked the next day), or if intended to continue until a war- rant is granted, then only an inchoate Lodge — an assemblage of Masons in the state or condition pre- paratory to the formation of a regular Lodge.* But as the Landmarks give the Grand Master the rio'ht or prerogative of congregating his brethren for the purpose of making Masons only, and as it confers on him no power of making laws, or per- forming any other acts which exclusively reside in a perfect and complete Lodge, it is evident that his creature, the Lodge which derives its existence from bis dispensation, can possess no prerogatives which did not originally vest in its creation. The Grand Master cannot give to others that which he does not himself possess. The prerogatives of a Lodge under dispensation are therefore very limited in their nature, as will appear from the following summary :
1. A Lodge under dispensation cannot be repre- sented in the Grand Lodge.f The twelfth of the
* The Committee of Foreign Correspondence of the Grand Lodge of New York, in 1851, gave the Mowing definition of Lodges under dispensation : " They are not considered ' Lodges' within the meaning of that clause, until warranted. They are only in the incipient stage of forming a Lodge. The officers do not receive installation under dispensation. They are not con- sidered ' members of the Grand Lodge' within the meaning of our constitution, until they have received a warrant, and their Lodge has been regularly cor> stituted, and its officers regularly installed." — Proc. G. L.of New York^ 1851, p. 149.
f It will be unnecessary to cite any authorities in support of this principle, as the uniform usage of every Grand Lodge has always been in accordance with it,
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Regulations of 1721 defines the Grand Lodge as consisting of the " Masters and Wardens of all the particular Lodges upon record" -and. the seventh of the same Regulations intimates that no Lodge was to be registered or recorded until a warrant for it had been issued by the Grand Master. But it has already been shown that the old power of granting warrants by the Grand Master is now vested solely in the Grand Lodge ; and hence all that is said in these or an}^ other ancient Regulations, concerning Lodges under warrant by the Grand Master, must now be applied to Lodges warranted by the Grand Lodge, and therefore the twelfth Regulation is to be interpreted, under our modern law, as defining the Grand Lodge to consist only of the Masters and Wardens of Lodges which have received warrants from the Grand Lodge. Lodges working under the dispensation of the Grand Master constitute, there- fore, no part of the Grand Lodge, and are conse- quently not entitled to a representation in it.
2. A Lodge under dispensation cannot make by- laws. This is a power vested only in those Lodges which, being of a permanent nature, constitute a part of the Masonic authority of the jurisdiction. Lodges under dispensation being of a temporary nature, liable at any moment to be arrested in their progress, and to have their very existence annulled at the mandate of a single man, are incapable of exercising the high prerogative of making by-laws or a constitution, the very enactment of which im- plies a permanency of organization. But, it may be
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asked, are such bodies then to be without any code or system of regulations for their government ? I answer, by no means. Like all other assemblies of Masons, congregated for a temporary period, and for the performance of a special Masonic duty, they are to be governed by the Ancient Landmarks, the General Regulations of the Order, and the specific constitutions of the Grand Lodge under whose juris- diction they are placed. I have noticed, it is true, in the proceedings of some Grand Lodges, that the by-laws of Lodges under dispensation have been submitted for approval, but such is not the general usage of the fraternity ; nor can I understand how a body, admitted not to be a Lodge, but only a quasi, or inchoate Lodge, can, during its temporary and indefinite existence, enact a code of by-laws which, if of any value, must necessarily be intended for a permanent constitution. I have never yet happened to examine the by-laws of a lodge under dispensation, but it is evident that unless such a body has transcended the powers delegated to it by the Grand Master, and assumed for itself a perma- nent organization, these by-laws must be entirely confined to the mode of making Masons, for this is the only prerogative which the dispensation vests in such a body.
3. A Lodge under dispensation cannot elect offi oers. The very instrument of dispensation to which it is indebted for its existence, has nominated the officers who are to govern it as the agents of the Grand Master. From him alone they derive their
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authority, and by him alone can they be displaced, or others substituted in their stead.-' The Grand Master has delegated certain powers to the persons named in the dispensation, but they cannot in turn delegate these powers of acting as Master and Wardens to any other persons ; for it is an estab- lished principle of law that a delegated authority cannot be re-delegated — delegata potestas non potest delegari. But for the Master and Wardens to re- sign their offices to others who had been elected by the Lodge, would be just such a re-delegation as is forbidden by the law, and hence a Lodge under dis- pensation cannot elect its officers. They are the appointees of the Grand Master.
4. It follows, from the nature of the organization of a Lodge under dispensation, that it cannot install its officers. This is indeed a ritualistic law, for the installation of officers is an inherent and indivisible part of the ceremony of constitution,'}* &nd it is self- evident that a Lodge under dispensation cannot,
* " Lodges under dispensation cannot change their officers without the special approbation and appointment of the Grand Lodge." — Webb, Free- mason's Monitor, p. 97, ed. 1808. He should have said, " Grand Master." But in Webb's day, if his authority is to be depended on, dispensations were in most jurisdictions issued only by the Grand Lodge, a usage that has now been universally abandoned, if it ever existed, of which I have some doubt. The principle, however, so far as it affects the text, is the same. The offi- cers can only be changed by the power that grants the dispensation.
t The petition sent to the Grand Master by the members of the new Lodge which is to be constituted, as it is contained in Webb, states that "they have obtained a charter of constitution, and are desirous that their Lodge should be consecrated and their officers installed, agreeably to the ancient usages and customs of the craft." — Webb, Hon., p. 99. The constitution and consecration are
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while in this inchoate condition, be constituted ; for a constituted Lodge under dispensation would be a contradiction in terms ; besides, no officer can be installed unless he has been elected or appointed for a definite period. But the Master and Wardens of a Lodge under dispensation are appointed for an indefinite period, that is, during the pleasure of the Grand Master, and are not, therefore, qualified for installation.
5. A Lodge under dispensation cannot elect mem- bers. Candidates may be elected to receive the degrees, but the conferring of the third degree in a Lodge under dispensation does not at the same time confer membership, or a right to membership, as occurs, under similar circumstances, in a Lodge working under a warrant of constitution. This arises from the inchoate and imperfect nature of such a Lodge. It is simply a temporary organiza- tion of Masons for a specific purpose. A Lodge under dispensation is, in every sense of the word, what the old records of England call an " occasional Lodge," convened by the Grand Master for one pur- pose, and no other. There is no authority in the instrument that convened them to do anything else except to make Masons. They are brought to- gether under the mandate of the Grand Master for this purpose only, so expressed, definitely and posi- tively, in the plainest and most unequivocal lan- guage. They are not congregated to make by-laws, to elect members, to frame laAVS — in short, to do anything except " to enter, pass, and raise Free-
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masons."* If they proceed to the transaction of any other business than this, or what is strictly in- cidental to it, they transcend the authority that has been delegated to them. Hence, as a Lodge under dispensation derives all its prerogatives from the dispensation only, and as that instrument confers no other power than that of making Masons, it follows that the prerogative of electing members is not con- ferred upon it. The candidates who have received the degrees in such a Lodge, partake of its imperfect and preliminary character. If the Lodge at the proper time receives its warrant of constitution, they then become members of the completed Lodge. If the dispensation, on the contrary, is revoked, and the Lodge dissolved, they are Masons in good standing, but unaffiliated, and are not only permit- ted, but it becomes their duty, to apply to some regular Lodge for affiliation.
6. This power of electing candidates to take the degrees in a Lodge under dispensation, is, however, confined to the Master and Wardens. These offi- cers only are named in the dispensation — they only are the proxies or representatives of the Grand Master — they only are responsible to him for the faithful execution of the power temporarily vested
* Webb does not give the form of the dispensation, but it will be found in Cole, {Freemasons Library, p. 9, 1817,) where it is issued to the Master only, authorizing him to congregate a sufficient number of brethren for the purpose of opening a Lodge, "and in the said Lodge, while thus open, ta admit, enter and make Freemasons." More recently the dispensations bava been issued to a Master and tw: Wardens, but the intent of the instrument still remains the same.
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in them. All Masons who aid and assist them in conferring the degrees are extraneous to the dispen- sation, and act, in thus assisting, precisely as the visitors to a constituted Lodge might do, who should be called upon to aid the regular officers and mem- bers in the discharge of their duties. The corollary from all this is, that in a Lodge under dispensation, none but the Master and Wardens have a right to elect candidates.
I say a rigid, because I believe that such is the law, as a necessary and unavoidable inference from the peculiar organization of Lodges under dispensa- tion. But it is not always proper or courteous for us to put ourselves on our reserved rights, and to push the law with rigor to its utmost limit. When a certain number of brethren have united themselves together under a Master and Wardens acting by dispensation, with the ulterior design of applying for a warrant of constitution and forming them- selves into a regular Lodge, although they have no legal right to ballot for candidates, the selection of whom has been intrusted by the Grand Master to the three officers named in the dispensation for that especial purpose ; yet as the choice of those who are hereafter to be their associates in the future Lodge, must be a matter of interest to them, ordi- nary courtesy, to say nothing of Masonic kindness, should prompt the Master and Yfarclens to consult- the feelings of their brethren, and to ask their opinions of the eligibility of the candidates wIig apply to be made Masons. Perhaps the most expe*
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ditious and convenient mode of obtaining this ex- pression of their opinions is to have recourse to a ballot, and to do so, as an act of courtesy, is of course unobjectionable.
I am perfectly aware that it is the general rule for all the brethren present to ballot for candidates in Lodges under dispensation ; but the question is not, what is the usage, but what is the law which should govern the usage ? The balloting may take place in such a Lodge, but it must be remembered, if we are to be governed by the principles and in- ferences of law, that each brother, when he deposits his ball, does so, not by any legal right that he pos- sesses., but simply by the courtesy of the Master and Wardens, who have adopted this convenient method of consulting the opinions and obtaining the counsel of their brethren, for their own satisfaction. All ballots held in a Lodge under dispensation are, except as regards the votes of the Master and Wardens, informal.