My Recent Tussle With Bro. Lane.

grounded on the seniority of their Constitution , " was ever knowingly and wilfully violated with the sanction of the Grand Lodge . BOSTON , U . S ., 5 th August 1887 .

Past Master's Degree.

PAST MASTER'S DEGREE .

AMONG the ancient regulations of Masonry that have come down to us of the present day is one requiring

the investiture of a Worship ful Master-elect with an official degree known as the Past Master ' s Degree , at or previous to his installation as Worship ful Master of a Lodge . This regulation is still adhered to and maintained by Grand

Lodges generally , although a few have discarded it . It seems to be therefore , an open question whether this ceremony of formally seating a Worship ful Master-elect in the " Oriental chair " should be continued or not . That

there should be uniformity of practice in this regard all will readily admit , and also that there should be no departure from long-established usage unless for good reasons . There must have been some cause for making

this degree a prerequisite to the installation of a Worshipful Master in the first place , and for the continuance of such a regulation through so many successive generations . Is

that cause now removed , so that a necessity for this ceremony no longer exists ? Is it removed in certain localities and not in others , so that Illinois may discard this ceremony , while Indiana retains it ?

For one , we must confess that we never gave any serious thought to the importance of the Past Master ' s Degree , or as to the necessity for it as a prerequisite to installation as Worshipful Master until recently , and we presume the same

may be said of Masons generally . We found it among other things as we advanced in Masonry and took it for granted that it was all ri ght and essential in its place . Being recognised and made essential b y the Grand Lodge

of Indiana , we have during the last twenty-five years frequently conferred it in the usual manner , thus enabling brethren to comply with the law . With this experience our opportunities for estimating its value , in a practical

way , have been numerous , and have demonstrated to our satisfaction that but little , if any , benefit is derived from it . The object of this degree , it is generally understood , is to better qualify a Worshipful Master-elect for the responsible

position he is about to assume , as the presiding Officer of a Lodge . If this be the purpose it is certainly a laudable one ; but who is charged with this important trust ? While recognising the degree , the Grand Lodge nor any subordinate

Lodge has any control over the conferring of it . Any three Past Masters may meet at any time or place that may suit their convenience , and confer it . They are not required to report their action to any Masonic body , and the brother

upon whom the degree is conferred has no knowledge that they are authorised to administer the obligations that he is required to take , or to impart such instruction as he then receives . What binding force is thera in an nhlio-nf . ' rm

thus administered without official authority ? There is none that we can discover . More than that , every Worshi pful Ma iter at his installation is required to give his assent to the Ancient Regulations , which point out his

whole duty as Master of a Lodge , and to pledge himself in open Lodge that he will faithfull y support them . In addition to this he takes a solemn obligation , administered b y official authority , that he will , to the best of his ability .

discharge the duties of the office with which he is about to be invested . There is a binding force in this obligation which covers the whole ground of his duties , and makes the unauthorised obligations of the Past Master ' s Degree superfluous .

So far as regards tho instructions given in the Past Master ' s Degree , they are onl y such information as should be communicated to every member of a Lodge . A know , kd ge of the proper use of the gavel is no benefit to the

paster , unless equally understood by all tho members . Ihese instructions should be given him fully at his installation in the presence of the Lodge . The Master would then not only know how and when to use the cavel ub

" ine Umcers and members would also know how and ^ hen to obey . There are no secrets connected with the ^ e of the gav el that every Mason should not fully understand . We might present , as a final objection to this degree , the

Past Master's Degree.

usual mode of conferring it . Of course , we cannot here particularize this point , but every Past Master will understand to what we allude . A convocation of Past Masters , responsible to no one but themselves , is not always tho

dignified Masonic body that a Mason would expect to enter . A Worshi p ful Master-elect is often compelled to

travel a long distance , at a sacrifice of time and money , to obtain the degree , and is thus put to a needless expense for what is of no benefit to him . In view of all these facts

we are inclined to the opinion that the Past Masters Degree is not essential in Masonry , and that Grand Lodges which have discarded it have acted wisely . —Masonic Advocate .

Labour And Refreshment.

LABOUR AND REFRESHMENT .

THAT was a most happy and yet natural thought which orig inall y associated labour and refreshment as constituent elements of all formal Masonic meetings . As Past Grand Master Bro . Rob Morris has remarked : '' Ltbour and refreshment elegantly express the whole course of Masonic action . " It is not difficult to trace back the

history of this association . Our operative brethren of ancient fame intermitted their manual labour each day at the hour of high twelve , and enjoyed au hour of S"cial intercourse while partaking of their noontide meal . The

Freemasons of to-day follow as nearl y as they can the example of their ancestors , the cathedral builders of the middle ages , and intermit their work for the purpose of

enjoying Masonic refreshment . Our illustrious predecessors laboured with their minds and hands—we labour with our minds only ; but we both of us adopt the suggestion of nature itself , to have refreshment follow labour .

In the old English guilds there was a common mealevery month the members assembled at a banquet . In the early days of our speculative Masonry , it seems that this common meal , with smoking and song accompanying it ,

was had in the Lodge room itself , so that the calling off from labour to refreshment was then iu every respect literally true ; while now the Lodge room is employed only for actual labour and technical refreshment , while the

adjacent banquet-room is set apart for the observance of actual refreshment . We think the setting apart of separate rooms for the observance of actual labour and

actual refreshment a decided advantage for all Masonic purposes . Labour can best be performed in au apartment from which the odour of viands and the fumes of tobacco

are excluded , and refreshment can be best enjoyed " around the mahogany , " when the labour of the evening has been concluded , and naught remains to be done except to " harmonise in the light" of the banquet hall , and then " part upon the square . "

The Masonic bodies which habituall y exclude the banquet from their curriculum make a serious mistake . Of course it is possible to abuse the banquet , but it is not usual , and such arrangements should be made as to

assuredly guard against every form of excess . To our view the lav : of hospitality demands that Freemasons should statedly welcome their visiting brethren to the banquet-board . We are all of us brethren , and hence all

friends . We are members of one family . We have no private Lodge labour or refreshment . All are welcome , or should be , and there is no place where sociability can be so

readily developed or enjoyed as at refreshment around the social board . When banquets become antiquated ia Masonry , Masonry itself will be antiquated , and nearl y ready for sepulture .

We said it was a happy thought which associated refreshment with labour . It was more than that—it was a philosophic thought . Labour and refreshment represent respectively the head and the heart—intellect and feeling ,

sobriety and hilarity , work and res ' . The law of nature indicates that the two should be joined together , never to be put asunder . They are complements of each other . One supplies the deficiencies of the other . When the two arc united nothing is wan tin sr .

Masonic tradition attributes to Tubal Cain the invention of the Plumb , the Level and the Square . The First Great Li ght in Masonry attributes to him also the invention of musical instruments , and Alahoinmedan tradition the art

of expressing the juice of the grape and making wine . Another tradition makes him the inventor of the fishing hook and line . May not this ancient Masonic worth y well be styled the patron of Masons while they are at Refresh-