Installation Of Successors.

INSTALLATION OF SUCCESSORS .

HOWEVER excellent and instructive a good precept or maxim may be , it becomes a little ludicrous at times when it is harped npon ad nattseam , and flourished about with as much dexterity as a Hibernian would wield his shillalagb . Is their a man amongst us who , whilst attending an

Installation meeting , has not heard the sentiment expressed that each successive Wor . Master shonld , and ought to be , installed by the former occupant of the chair , who should have so profited by the experience of his year in office as to have mastered the Ritual sufficiently to enable

him to dispense with the services of an independent Installing Officer ? This is a sentiment which , good as it is in itself , has been so often reiterated in our hearing , that we naturally anticipate what the Installing Officer will say when the toast of his health is proposed at the festive

board . There can be no question whatever that it is desirable—most desirable—that every man who aspires to , and attains the dignified position of Master of a Lodge , should study to make himself perfect in all his work , amongst which is , that he shall be able to instal his

successor when the time arrives , when he must , in the conrse of the changes that are inevitable in Masonic Lodges , retire , and take his place amongst the ranks of the Past Masters . Nobody will deny that this is a task to whicb every Master who is competent , and has the time to

spare for it , should devote himself with all the zeal and assiduity at his command . It not only lends additional eclat to a ceremony which in itself is impressive and sublime , but it also gives pre-eminence , and a more lofty status to the brother who has devoted his efforts , and that

successfully , to the acquirement of a complete mastery of his duties . It is the keystone to the archway of his year ' s labour , the last round in the ladder of his achievements while in the possession of the gavel . But there are occasions in which a Worshipful Master is unable to

devote the time to that mental labour which is required to discharge so onerous a duty . He may be engaged in professional or commercial pursuits , in which case time is the very bread he has to win for himself and those dependent upon him 5 and in such a case he must feel unequal ,

much as he would desire to do so , to the somewhat formidable-task of performing the Installation rite . Again , he might be possessed of the requisite tact and ability , with the assistance of his Past Masters and Officers / to discbarge the ordinary dnties of his Lodge , and to acquit

himself passably in the three degrees ; and yet he may be entitled to indulgence if he feels at last unequal to fulfil a function which—if the axiom that every retiring Master shall instal his successor were rigidly insisted on—would come to him only once in his Masonic career . To upbraid

such a brother , therefore , and to cast an imputation on either his intelligence or zeal , is , to say the least , unkind . Many a man in such a case would reason to himself and say , that amongst his Past Masters he knows of one who ,

by constant reiteration of the part , having a love for elocution , a more tban ordinarily quick memory—and perhaps a slight penchant for popularity—lias mastered the whole subject thoroughly , and is able to deliver the charges with

Installation Of Successors.

telling effect and accuracy . He has installed incoming Masters over and over again , and likes the work , as well as the expressions of approbation which follow his execution of it . What more natural , let us ask , under such

circumstances , than to request that prominent Past Master to step on to a platform , where he feels so much at home , aud to officiate in the room of him who , properly speaking , shonld have done the duty himself ? Yet we know of instances in which brethren have undertaken this

responsibility with readiness , and with every appearance of good faith , turn round when their health has been given at the banquet table , and lament that the practice of " every Master installing his successor " is not universal , and that the aid of " an outsider " had been found necessary in that

particular case . Not long ago a very striking example of this assumption of the virtue of modesty , —which we fear our brother had not , —came under our notice , and suggested to our mind the opportunity of saying a few words upon this oft-repeated precept . Our brother , whose breast

glittered with jewels , and whose countenance beamed with infinite self-complacency , feigned regret at having been called upon to discharge a duty which , easy and pleasant as it was , should not have been left in the bands of an " outsider , " but have been discharged by the newly-fledged

Immediate Past Master . It so happened that the lastnamed brother has under his personal care and supervision a large and important branch of commerce , which so absorbed his time as to render him capable , with great difficulty only , to sustain the responsibilities he undertook at

his elevation to the rank of Master . He had , however , rendered a better account of himself to his Lodge than the brethren had a right to expect , who knew the multifarious duties which crowded daily upon the object of their choice . The Lodge had flourished more than ordinarily , thanks to

his tact , urbanity , and business-like capacity ; the working had been praised np to the hilt for its excellence and perfection ; the Charities had been liberally upheld ; and every good work in and connected with the Lodgo had been duly and diligently performed . Yet , forsooth ,

because onr brother relegated his prerogative of working the Installation ceremony to one of his Past Masters , who by constant practice had the whole of the Ritual at his fingers end , —aud doing it more as a graceful compliment to a senior officer than from any wish to shirk the responsibility

—the latter must needs turn round and build up his own vain glory by imputing , by inference , that the Immediate Past Master was deficient in intelligence and power of grasp , and that being unable to perform the

ceremony himself , had shifted the saddle on to the shoulders of another , —an unwilling horse . There is a smack of the Uriah Heap in such conduct which does not " go down" among brethren who have sufficient sagacity to read between the lines . The brother to whom we allude

is able to perform the ceremony perfectly , —and he knows it . He admits he is fond of the job , and as a consequence courts , and obtains it whenever he has the opportunity . He loves to pose before his less-favoured comrades below

the chair , and seems to say , " Behold your superior in intellectual capacity and confidence in his powers . " All this is very well , but for such a brother to feign regret that he has been compelled , unwillingly , to step into the shoes

Ar00101

-CJX _ C fe fe ( COMFOR SG ) OOOOA ..