CHAPTER XTi

‘PARTICULAR’ OR PRIVATE LODGES
No Lodge may be held without a Charter or Warrant of constitution from the Grand Master. Every Lodge must be regularly constituted and consecrated; and no counte- nance ought to be given to any irregular Lodge.
Lodges rank in precedence in the order of their numbers as registered in the books of the Grand Lodge.
The Grand Steward’s Lodge does not have a number, but is registered in the books of the Grand Lodge; and placed in the printed list, at the head of all other Lodges, and ranks accordingly.
The Warrant of the Lodge is specially entrusted to the Master for the time being at his installation. He is responsible for its safe custody, and must produce it at every meeting of the Lodge. The Lodge of An- tiquity, No. 2, and the Royal Somerset
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House and Inverness Lodge, No. 4, act under immemorial constitutions.
If a warrant be lost, the Lodge must suspend its meetings until a warrant of con- firmation has been applied for and granted by the Grand Master. |
Every Lodge is distinguished by a name or title, as well as a number.
The regular Officers of a Lodge consist of the Master and his two Wardens, a Treasurer, a Secretary, two. Deacons, an Inner Guard,
and a Tyler.
The Master may also appoint a Chaplain, a Director of Ceremonies, an Assistant Director of Ceremonies, an Almoner, an Organist, an Assistant Secretary, and Stewards.
No Brother can hold more than one vegulay office in the Lodge at one and the same time.
In cases where Officers other than Regular Officers are appointed, the order of appoint- ment is as follows: Worshipful Master, Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Chaplain, Treasurer, Secretary, Senior Deacon, Junior Deacon, Director of Ceremonies, Assistant Director of Ceremonies, Almoner, Organist, Assistant Secretary, Inner Guard, Stewards, Tyler.
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*Pasticular’ or Private Ledges
As ‘all preferment among Masons is grounded upon real worth and _ personal merit only,’ the foregoing order of appoint- ment and investiture gives no Brother the right to claim advancement by rotation, “that so the lords mav be well served, the brethren not put to shame, nor the Royal Craft despised.’ The appointment of all Officers except the Treasurer. and: Tyler is in the sole discretion and power of the Wor- shipful Master.
Every Lodge must, annually, on the day named in its by-laws for that purpose, elect its Master by ballot.
“No Master is chosen by seniority, but for his merit.’
At the next regular meeting, immediately after the confirmation of the Minutes, he is duly installed.
No Master Elect may assume the Chair until he has been regularly installed. No Warden can be installed as Master of a _ Lodge (except by Dispensation from the Grand Master) unless he has served the office as an Invested Warden for a full year— that is to say, from one regular Installation Meeting until the next regular Installaticn Meeting. (See p. 342.)
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Freemasonry and its Etiquette
No Installing Master may proceed un- less satisfied of such service or Dispensa- tion.
Every Master Elect, before being. placed in the chair, must solemnly pledge himself to "preserve the Landmarks* of the Order; to observe its ancient usages and established customs; and strictly to enforce them within his own Lodge.
The Master is responsible for the due observance of the laws by the Lodge over which he presides.
No Brother may be Master of more than one Lodge at the same time, without a Dispensation.
No Brother may continue Master for more than two years in succession, unless by a Dispensation.
No Brother can be a Grand Warden until he has been Master of a Lodge.
N.B.—In antient times no Brother, however skilled in the Craft, was called a Master-Mason until he had been elected into the Chair of a Lodge. \
Upon his installation the Master appoints and invests his Wardens and other Officers, and invests the Treasurer.
* See pp. 66, 67, 68, 69. 100
* Particular’ or Private Lodges
No Brother can be a Warden until he has passed the part of a Fellow Craft.
No Warden is chosen by seniority, but for his merit.
The Treasurer is annually elected by ballot on the regular day of election of Master.
The Tyler is to be chosen by show of hands.
No proprietor or manager of the tavern or house at which the Lodge meets may hold any office in the Lodge without a Dispensa- tion from the Grand Master or the Provincial or District Grand Master.
Should the Master be dissatisfied with the conduct of any of the Officers, he may lay the cause of complaint before the Lodge at a regular meeting (seven days’ notice thereof in writing having been previously sent to the Brother complained of), and if it appears to the majority of the Brethren present that the complaint is well founded, the Master has power to displace such Officer, and to ap- point another.
If a vacancy occurs in any office other than that of Treasurer or Tyler, the Master appoints a Brother to serve such office for the remainder of the year; and if the vacancy
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Freemasonry and its Etiquette
be in the office of Treasurer or Tyler the Lodge may, after due notice in the summons, elect a successor for the remainder of the year.
If the Master dies, is removed, or is ren- dered incapable of discharging the duties of his office, the Senior Warden,.and in the absence of the Senior Warden, the Junior Warden, and.in the absence of both War- dens, the Immediate Past Master, or in his absence the Senior Past Master, acts as’ Master in summoning the Lodge, until the next installation of Master.
In the Master’s absence, the Immediate Past Master, or, if he be absent, the Senior Past Master of the Lodge present, or if no Past Master of the Lodge be present, then, the Senior Past Master who is a subscribing member of the Lodge takes the chair. And. if no Past Master who is a member of the: Lodge be present, then the Senior Warden,, or in his absence the Junior Warden, rules. the Lodge. When a Warden rule. the. Lodge, he may not occupy the Master’s. chair; nor can initiations take place or degrees be conferred unless the chair be occupied by a Brother who is a Master or Past Master in the Craft.
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‘Particular’ or Private Lodges
The Master and Wardens of a Lodge are enjoined to visit other Lodges as often as they conveniently can, in order that the same usages and customs may be observed throughout the Craft, and a good under- standing cultivated amongst Freemasons.
No visitor may be admitted into a Lodge unless he be personally known to, or well vouched for, after due examination, by one of the Brethren present, or until he has
_ produced the certificate of the Grand Lodge.
to which he claims to belong, and has givem satisfactory proof that he is: the Brother named in the certificate, or other proper vouchers of his having been initiated in a. regular Lodge. Every visitor during his presence in the Lodge is subject to its by- laws. (See p. 332.)
No Brother who has ceased to be a sub- scribing member of a Lodge is permitted to visit any one Lodge more than once until he again becomes a subscribing member of some Lodge, but this does not apply to the visits of a Brother to any Lodge of which he has been elected a non-subscribing or hon- orary member.
All Lodges held within ten miles ot Free- masons’ Hall, London, are London Lodges.
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Freemasonry and its Etiquette
Every Lodge has the power of framing by-laws for its government, provided they are not inconsistent with the regulations of the Grand Lodge. The by-laws must be submitted to the Grand Secretary for the approval of the Grand Master. When finally approved, a printed copy must be sent to the Grand Secretary; and when any altera- tion is made, such alteration must, in like manner, be submitted. No law or alteration is valid until so submitted and approved. The by-laws of the Lodge must be printed, and a copy delivered to the Master on his installation, who by his acceptance thereof is deemed to solemnly pledge himself to observe and enforce them.
Every Brother must be supplied with a printed copy of the by-laws of the Lodge when he becomes a member, and his accept- ance thereof is deemed to be a declaration of his submission to them.
The regular days of meeting of the Lodge and its place of meeting are specified in the by-laws, and no meeting of the Lodge may be held elsewhere, except by Dispensation. The by-laws also specify the regular meeting for the election of the Master, fi csoeee and Tyler.
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‘Particular’ or Private Lodges
A Lodge of Emergency may at any time be called by the authority of the Master, ot in his absence, of the Senior Warden, or, in his absence, of the Junior Warden, but on no pretence without such authority. The _ business to be transacted at such Lodge of Emergency must be expressed in the sum- mons, and no other business may be entered 7apon.
The jewels and furniture of every Lodge belong to, and are the property of, the Master and Wardens for the time being, in trust for the members of the Lodge.
Every Lodge must keep a minute-book, in which the Master, or the Brother appointed by him as Secretary, must regularly enter from time to time—
First—The names of all persons initiated, passed, or raised in the Lodge, or who shall become members thereof, with the dates of their proposal, initiation, passing, and raising or admission respectively, together with their ages, addresses, titles, professions, or occupations.
Secondly—The names of all members present at each meeting of the Lodge, to- gether with those of all visiting Brethren, with their Lodges and Masonic rank.
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Freemasonry and its Etiquette
Thirdly—Minutes of all such transactions _
of the Lodge as are proper to be written.
The minutes can only be confirmed at a
subsequent regular meeting of the Lodge. Secretaries who, by the by-laws of their
Lodges, are exempted from the payment of
subscription, shall be considered in all
respects as regular subscribing members of © their Lodges, their services being equivalent _ to subscription, provided their dues to the —
Grand Lodge have been paid.
All money received, or paid for, or on |
account of a Lodge, must be from time to time regularly entered in proper books, which are the property of the Lodge. Theaccounts of the Lodge must be audited, at least once in every year, by a committee appointed by the Lodge.
The majority of the members present at any Lodge duly summoned have an un- doubted right to regulate their own proceed- ings, provided that they are consistent with the general laws and regulations of the Craft; no member, therefore, is permitted to enter in the minute-book of his Lodge a protest against any resolution or proceeding which: may have taken place, except on the ground of its being contrary to the laws and usages.
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* Particular’ or Private Lodges
of the Craft, and for the purpose of com- plaining or appealing to a higher Masonic authority.
Whenever it happens that the votes are equal upon any question to be decided by a - majority, either by ballot or otherwise, the Master in the chair is entitled to give a second or casting vote.
Great discredit and injury having been brought upon our antient and honourable Fraternity from admitting members and receiving candidates without due notice being given or inquiry made into their characters and qualifications, and from passing and raising Masons without due instruction* in the respective degrees, it is declared to be specially incumbent on all members of Lodges to see that particular attention be paid to these several points.
_No person may be made a Mason without having been proposed and seconded at one regular Lodge, and balloted for at the next. regular Lodge.
No person may be made a Mason under the age of twenty-one years, unless by Dis- pensation.
A Lewis is entitled to the ‘ privilege’ of
* See Lodges of Instruction, Chapter XIII. tO.
Freemasonry and its Etiquette
‘being made a Freemason in precedence of his fellow Candidates. Thus, his name stands first upon the Summons, and is the first men- tioned at the door of the Lodge, and he is the foremost in the perambulation. The privilege of a Lewis has this extent—no more.
On the occasion of the Initiation of one of the sons of H.R.H. the Grand Master, a short account of the event was given in one of the London daily papers. | The writer of that description, evidently a Free- mason, added: ‘The young Prince had not availed himself of the privilege which, as a Lewis (7.e., the eldest son of a Free- mason), he might have claimed, that of being made a Freemason before he had attained the full age of twenty-one years.’
This is a wrong idea altogether: no Lewis, be he Prince or peasant, can successfully claim such a privilege. Rule 186 in the Book of Constitutions is clear and emphatic upon the subject. Only by dispensation can any person be made a Freemason under the age of twenty-one years. The whole extent of the ‘ privilege’ of a Lewis is, that it gives him precedence at his Initiation f over any other person, however dignified by rank or fortune.’
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* Particular’ or Private Lodges
Every candidate must be a free man, and at the time of initiation in reputable circum- stances.
Previously to his initiation, every candi- date must subscribe his name at full length to a declaration. (See p. 460.)
N.B.—A person who cannot write is conse- quently ineligible to be admitted into the Order.
No Brother may be admitted a joining
member of a Lodge without being proposed and seconded in open Lodge at a regular meeting. (See p. 360.) _ No person may be made a Mason in, or admitted a member of, a Lodge, if, on the ballot, three black balls appear against him.
No Lodge may initiate into Masonry more than five persons on the same day, unless by a Dispensation. ;
_ No person may be made a Mason for less than five guineas, in England.
No Lodge may confer a higher degree on any Brother at a less interval than four weeks from his receiving a previous degree, nor until he has passed an examination * in open Lodge in that degree.
* See Lodges of Instruction, Chapter XIII.
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Freemasonry and its Etiquette
No Brother may appear clothed in any of the jewels, collars, or badges of the Craft, in any procession, or at any funeral, ball, theatre, public assembly, or meeting, or at any place of public resort, unless the Grand ‘Master, Provincial Grand Master, or District Grand Master, as the case may be, shall have previously given a dispensation for Brethren to be there present in Masonic clothing.
Should a Lodge fail to meet for one year | it is liable to be erased.
When a Lodge can prove an uninterrupted working existence of one hundred years, it may, by Petition, and on payment of the © prescribed Fee, obtain from the M.W. Grand . Master, a Centenary Warrant. (See p. 204.)
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