French Prisoners' Lodges.*

any one of those lodges which Bro . TllORP lias lighted upon dates from the year 17 61 , and is taken from a Report made by the W . Master of a lodge in Leeds to our Grand Lodge . According to thc particulars contained in the Master ' s

Statement , the earliest was established at Basingstoke about 175 6 , where they carried out their 'Masonic duties , but without any warrant from our Grand Lodge . Subsequently , some of them were moved lo Petersfield , where , being in sufficient numbers , they

practised their Masonry . In or about 1759 some of them werc transferred to Leeds , where they set up a lodge which , owing to differences that arose among the members , was split into two lodges , whicii met at the Turk ' s I lead and Talbot respectively .

These brethren not onlv made Alasons of their own countrymen , but also of English residents , and to this circumstance is due the fact of the matter being brought to the notice of our Grand Lodge . In 17 62 the Grand

Lodge of All England at York granted a warrant of constitution to a number of French prisoners quartered in that city to meet as a lodge at the Punch Bowl in Stonegatc , and to make new brethren , but , at thc same time , strictly prohibiting

them from initiating any subject of Great Britain or Ireland . This lodge had only a brief existence , as peace was restored between the two countries a few months after the issue of the warrant . Other lodges formed at Berlin and Magdeburgh

about the same time are also mentioned . Many years pass without Bro . Tl-IORP having been able to trace other lodges , thc next of whicii he gives details liaving been formed at Abergavenny under the title of the " Enfants de Mars et de

Neptune . " In this case the author gives an illustration of thc room to which tradition points as the meeting place of the lodge , and also four certificates , two Craft and two Rose Croix , one of the former bointr that of liro . BENJAMIN PLUMMER , who

was a Past Grand Warden of the Athol Grand Lodge , and vvho was accejited as a joining member , while the other Craft certificate and one of the Rose Croix relate to a Brother THOMAS R ICHARDS . All these- documents bear among

other signatures that of " DE CiRASSE TlLI . Y , " who vvas a very distinguished French Mason , especially in connection with the Ancient and Accejited Scottish Rite , which he introduced firstly into thc French West Indies and subsequently into

France itself , and of whom Piro . TllORP has compiled a brief , but hig hly interesting , memoir . The other lodges of which the author has succeeded in gleaning information wen ; established at Ashburton , Ashbv-de-la-Zouch , Kelso , Leek , Plymouth .

Vallevlield , Vitloria , and Wincanlon , and 111 connection with each of them ,.-is well as vvith the Abergavenny Lodge , Bro . TllORP gives illustrations , mostly of certificates granted to members . These Plales are iS in number—Plate I ., whicii serves for a

Frontispiece , containing impressions of the Seals and Stamps used b y ihe Lodges—and , as we mentioned in our Notes ol last week , ¦ -really enhance the merit of Bro . THORP ' work . Above all , he has been verv particular in furnishing the sources from which

he has obtained his information , so that the book may be relied ujion for its accuracy , as well as appreciated for the admirable manner in which il has been compiled . For Ihe reason already

mentioned—that only a small edition has been issued—vve recommend our readers to lose' no time in securing a copy , vvhich thev can do , for the modest sum of 5 s ., on application to Bro . TllORP , at 57 , Regent-street , Leicester .

Masonic Jurisprudence.

MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE .

[ CO . MMI'NICA'I'ED . ] We now come to consider what is the meaning ol suspension . I "<> have been suspended conveys a very serious reflection ujion a brother ' s character either as a man or a Mason , or

possibly both . W hnsl it lasts , suspension is practically the same as expulsion , inasmuch as lor the time being ihe brother concerned is absolutely willioiil any . Masonic rights or privileges .

Exclusion from lodge , even permanent exclusion under Article 210 , is not so far reaching as this . The brother who is excluded from one lodge is not debarred from seeking admission into another if lie can induce that other to take the risk of having to

Masonic Jurisprudence.

pay up ( Article 212 ) . But a brother who is suspended cannot go to his own lodge , or become a member of or even visit another , unless he make a false declaration which might possibl y —and rightly—lead to his expulsion . It is a somewhat serious power to place in the hands of Provincial and District Grand

Masters , and it is noteworth y that appeals against this particular exercise of authority have more frequently been successful than any other form of . appeal . The reason probably is that a brother who leels that he has been justly punished is not anxious to advertise the fact beyond his immediate circle by prosecuting what will probably be a fruitless appeal .

Sentence of suspension can be inflicted upon both individual brethren and lodges , and we will discuss the former . What constitutes cause sufficient to warrant suspension is a question which lies within the discretion of thc authority inflicting it , and we can therefore only be guided b y the lesson ' s of history .

Insubordination and a disrespectful attitude towards authority have been considered to be sufficient cause .

J he I act that the presiding officer in a lodge or province is acting in an illegal or irregular manner has been held to be no justification for treating him with disrespect . ' 1 his is common sense , but a brother may naturally ask what he is to do , vvhen the Worshipful Master of a lodge of vvhich he

may possibly be an officer , is about to act illegally . In a case already quoted , the Worshipful Master conferred two degrees at one sitting on the same candidate , and the result vvas that the whole lodge became involved in censure , and in a more recent case , officers vvere appointed and invested vvho vvere not qualified to hold ofiice , and the whole lodge vvas suspended .

There are two answers to this question—vvhich is by no means an unimportant one .- Article 181 provides that any individual brother may claim to have his protest entered in the minutes ol

the meeting , when his protest is made " on the ground of its being contrary to thc laws and usages of the Craft , and lor the purpose of complaining or appealing to a higher Masonic authority . "

Thus a brother may hele himself of any knowing participation in , or consent to , Masonic irregularities . Still , it is a course of procedure which a brother , who values harmony and brotherly love , hesitates to adopt . It remains ,

therefore , lo add that the collective or corporate censure of a lodge does not affect the rights and privileges of the individual members unless they have , b y express designation , been included in it . This vvas decided by Grand Lodge in March , 1 S 85 .

Moreover , it is always open to a brother , vvhen proceedings an ; contemplated of which he feels he cannot approve , to retire from lodge in an orderly manner . When an appeal against suspension for alleged insubordinate or disrespectful conduct comes before Grand Lodge , when

personal issues appear to be involved , that august body often contrives lo decide upon other grounds so as to avoid erecting precedents upon no better foundation than a petty difference iii

opinion between two brethren , liolh of whom , perhaps , ought to have known better than to let the matter go so far . A case in illustration of this came helore Grand Lodge in December 1885 .

A certain brother who had resigned membershi p of his lodge some years previously wished to " rejoin il , and was duly proposed and visited the lodge on the evening on which the ballot was to be taken . In accordance with custom he withdrew al that stage of the proceedings . During his temporary absence it

was suggested that , being an old member , the candidate mig ht be admitted without fee . This suggestion it afterwards transpired emanated from the candidate himself . The ballot w ;\ + eventually postponed , and on the visitor being re-admitted In was informed to that effect , but no reason given . They then all

adjourned to dinner—in Masonic clothing—and , after tin ; Tyler ' s toast , the details of what had happened in another place came out , and the visitor became somewhat abusive . The Dep . Dist . ( J . Masier heard of it , and ordered the brother I " apologise to the lodge , and to one member in particular , and , en

his refusal , suspended him . The legal advisers of Grand Lodg <' advised the rejection of the appeal , but , for once in a way , Grand Lodge chose its own course and allowed the appeal , not

so much by way of showing its sympathy vvith the broth ' i as by way of censuring the lodge for being in Mason it clothing at dinner . Moreover , it wa " s held that after the Ty ler ' - ' toast the Dep . Dist . G . Master ceased to have jurisdiction \

Of course , it is quite possible , when the merits of a case < 1 'J not appear to have been gone into , ( o prosecute a second appc'i' . bul in practice it is found that in the interval that has clap-- '' ' all concerned have come to the conclusion that it would be ino . o dignified and in accordance ; with the best traditions of the Crall lo reconcile their differences in a quiet way .