Correspondence.

Correspondence .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limitsfree discussion .

ARTICLES 189 AND 191 . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The question raised by your correspondents is a very curious one , and it will be interesting if one of the Revisers of the Book of Constitutions will tell us what they intended Art . 191 to mean ! Previous to the 188 3 revision the Rule was intelligible enough , especially if its history is followjd .

In Williams' Const , of 1819 it is Rule 2 under the head "Of proposing members . " No . 1 practically our 189 , " No brother shall be admitted a member of a lodge without , & c . " No . 2 is "A brother , initiated in a lodge , thereby becomes a member , without any further proposition or ballot , provided he express his wish to that effect on the day of his initiation . " In the Const , of 1855 , Rule 13 , under the head " Private Lodges " runs ,

" Every lodge must receive as a member , without further proposition or ballot , any brother initiated therein , provided such brother express his wish to that effect on the day of his initiation , to ascertain which the Master shall call his attention to this law , as no lodge should introduce into Masonry a person whom the brethren mig ht consider unfit to be a member of their own lodge . " So it continued till the revision .

In "The revised Book of Constitutions critically considered and compared with the old edition , " being a series of articles reprinted from the Freemasons ' Chronicle in the form of a shilling pamphlet—a little work which I strongly recommend to all students of Masonic law—I find the following comment : " As regards No . 188 ( N . B ., the No . of igi in the Draft revise )— ' An initiate may claim membership '—it must be read side by side with Art . 13 , p . 65 , from which , on the surface , it does not appear to differ . " ( Then follow 188 and 13 , p . 65 , in parallel columns ) .

" The insertion of the words 'except a serving brother , may be thought necessary in order to give greater completeness , though the case is provided for under Rule No . 190 . But the alteration of the clause ' provided such brother express his wish to that effect on the day of his initiation ' into , ' unless such brother express his wish to the contrary on or before the day of his initiation ' hardly appears to us to be a change for the better , as the latter—in our judgment at least—does not quite convey the same force as the clause for which it is to be

substituted . The reason assigned is , in both cases , the same , namely , that a lodge should not introduce into Masonry a person whom it does not consider fit to be one of its members . But is not this end more likely to be secured by requiring that the candidate shall express a wish to become a member of the lodge wherein he is initiated rather than that he has no such wish ? When a lodge knows the person it is about to initiate is anxious to become one of its members , the brethren

will naturally be more careful to make themselves certain of his being worthy of being introduced into Masonry . If , on the other hand , they know beforehand that he does not wish to be one of themselves , it is on the cards that they may concern themselves less immediately as to his worthiness to be admitted to the Fraternity . For ourselves , we should leave this clause as it is , only altering the words ' on the day , ' into ' on or before the day . '"

In the summary of Suggestions and Amendments not recommended by the Board of Gen . Purp . for adoption by Grand Lodge appears ,

" 188 To restore the old rule , with the addition ' on or before the day . ' " By the reports of the proceedings in Grand Lodge this amendment does not seem to have been pressed , and Law 191 seems to have been adopted as it now stands without any discussion . In a series of Articles on the Revision in the Freemason it is said " No . 188

is surely an improvement on Art . 13 , page 65 as it simply states that every lodge must receive as a member without further proposition or ballot , any brother initiated therein ( save a serving brother , unless he express his wish to the contrary , on or before the day of his initiation . This is better than the old clause which required the W . M . to direct the attention of the candidate to the rule thereon , so as to know his intentions ; a duty which has been frequently neglected , and in some lodges wholly ignored . ( " Freemason , " Vol XV . p . 5 P 6 . )

From this , and from a report to the P . G . M . of Cornwall by a Committee appointed by him to examine and report on the proposed alterations , in which , amongst what the Committee deem to be improvements , is found " 188 All initiates become members there and then , unless they intimate otherwise . " ( " Freemason , " Vol . XV . p . 505 ) . It would seem as if it was supposed that the intention was that every initiation should involve the candidate at once joining

the lodge , unless he at his initiation expressed a contrary wish ; but it is not altogether clear that this was the intention of the Revisers , especially in view of the marginal note— "An initiate may claim membership . " If , however , this is the correct interpretation , it would necessitate the payment of subscriptions to the lodge from the day of initiation—and this should always be enforced , especially as on iniliation , unless he has declined membership , the E . A . his a vo' . e .

The view suggested by your querists that 191 should be read to govern 18 9 is quite new to me , and appears untenable , especially looking at the plices of the corresponding rules in the older books ; and I think your correspondents will have no difficulty in coming to this conclusion if they refer to the debates in Grand Lodge , which they will find quoted in an ariicle on " Resignation of Membership " in the " Freemason" Vol . XXXIV . p . 303 .

A brother who , having been a member of a lodge , has resigned , can , it is submitted , clearly njoin only under Art 189 . This first joining the lodge exhausts his privilege under 191 ! If the construction above put upon 191 be correct , and the fact of initiation makes the initiate , in the absence ot express refusal on or before initiation , ipso

facto a member of the lodge ; it disputes of a query which the wording of the rule would otherwise seem to raise , viz ., how long does the right to claim membership last r The present wording is not altogether satisfactory . —Yours fraternally , January 4 th . LEX SCRIPTA .

A QUERY . To the Editor of the '' Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Rule 191 of the Book of Constitutions is so simple , that I cannot understand any query arising upon it . The rule protects the Craft from a lodge

initiating a person whom it would not admit into ils own lodge by insisting that membership follows initiation as a myitler of course , unhss the initiate desires the contrary . But the rule goes no further , and if in due course an initiate ceases his membership , I cannot think anyone would rule that the lodge was compelled to allow such a brother to rejoin if it did not want him . —Yours fraternally , SCRIBE .

Correspondence.

ELECTION OF W . M . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , A proceeding , which appears to have been within the knowledge of the provincial officials concerned , has occurred , and upon which I should like the views of your correspondent " Lex Scripta " or other like authority .

A Craft lodge elected its Master on the day named in its by-laws , but between that and the next regular meeting the W . M . elect resigned his position . An emergency meeting of the lodge was summoned , at which a second or new Master was elected , and on the regular lodge night the two sets of minutes came up . The

emergency election of W . M . was confirmed , and he was installed . It would seem to me that Rule 130 of the Book of Constitution has not been carried out , andtha election is bad . If this were legal , might not , under certain circumstances , two elections of W . M . take place , and the whole thing be fought out on confirmation of minutes ?—Yours fraternally , SCRIBE .

Reviews.

Reviews .

"HISTORIC NOTES OF ALL SOULS' LODGE , No . 170 , WEVMOUTH , 1767-1895 : " With Illustrations . By Zillwood Milledge , J . P ., C . A ., F . R . Hist . S ., P . M . 170 , & c . With preface and introduction kindly written by W . Bro . Wm . jas . Hughan , P . S . G . D . Eng . Dedicated by permission to Montague J . Guest , Esq . ( P . S . G . D . ) , Prov . G . M . of Dorsetshire . Published by Sherren and Son , Weymouth , 1 S 96 . —We must confess to a certain feeling of disappointment on reading the earlier of these " Historic Notes , " on a lodge which was warranted as far back as 17137 , and which , prior to its translation to its present home in Weymouth , had existed for between 30 and 40 years at Tiverton , in the Province of Devon . But doubtless the records of the lodge

during its sojourn in Devonshire experienced the same fate as its original warrant of constitution , which was destroyed "by a sudden and dreadful fire" that happened in Tiverton on the 13 th June , 1794 , as set forth in the authority granted by Bro . Sir C . W . Bampfylde , Bart ., Prov . G . M . Devon , on the iSth January , 1804 , for its removal into Dorsetshire , subject to the approval of the Grand Master of the latter province . Or , it may not have entered into Bro . Milledge's plan ! to | extend his researches into the period of its history _ antecedent to such removal . At all events , without something to guide us during the years that elapsed between 1794 , when the

warrant was destroyed by fire , and 1 S 04 , when the lodge removed from Tiverton to Weymouth , it is impossible to offer any opinion on the question referred to in Bro . Hughan ' s Preface about the continuity of the lodge from 176 7 . A centenary warrant was granted in 1 S 67 , and from this we are justified in inferring that this warrant was granted after the necessary evidence of continuous working had been produced and accepted as satisfactory by our Grand Lodge authorities . On the other hand , Bro . Lane , in his " Masonic Records , " speaks of the Tiverton All Souls' Lodge of 176733 having " lapsed , " the last registry bearing date the 16 th March , 1 79 S . This latter

view would seem to be in great measure confirmed by Bro . Milledge ' s statement at pp . 4 , 5 , " that the members of the ' Weymouth Lodge' —warranted in 1776 and erased in 1785—" were the founders in Weymouth of the 'All Souls' Lodge , ' as the warrant of ' All Souls '' was by permission of the Provincial Grand Master of Devon , Sir Charles Warwick Bampfylde , removed in 1803 on the petition ot members of the ' Weymouth' Lodge , from Tiverton to Weymouth , and the first meeting of 'All Souls' Lodge , Weymouth , 22 S , ' was held June 16 th , 1804 , at the ' King's Head ' Inn . ' " At all events there is nothing beyond this in Bro . Milledge's

book to help us in our dithculty and the probability is that the explanation suggested by Bro . Hughan is the true one , that the Warrant was transferred " professedly to comply with the requirements of an Act of Parliament ( 39 George , III ., Cap . 79 , July 12 th , > 799 ) i" relating to Freemason's Lodges . But in saying that we have experienced this disappointment it must be distinctly understood that we are in no respect disappointed with the book Bro . Milledge has compiled . If , as regards the period between 179 S and 1804 , Bro . Milledge finds himsell under the necessity of saying " Story , God bless you ! I have none to tell , sir , " it in no wise detracts from the merit ot his Notes from

1 S 04 onwards . On the contrary , seeing that originally he was only invited by his lodge to compile a list or inventory of the many valuable gifts presented to it from time to time by members and others , the brethren of the lodge and Masonic students generally have good reason to be grateful to him for having enlarged the scope of his original commission and converted what would have been a mere list of articles with explanatory notes into a goodly volume of " Historic Notes , " which are more than sufficiently ample to enable us to form an excellent idea of the career of the lodge during its existence on Dorsetshire soil and which , at the same time , are exceedingly interesting . Thus , while

not losing sight of the task he was originally invited to perform , and recording under their proper dates and with all necessary particulars the gifts which have been presented to the lodge , Bro . Milledge sketches the progress of the lodge almost year by year , givine prominence to every circumstance of importance and noting carefully any influence it may have exercised on the fortunes of All Souls ' . Especially careful is he to introduce us to the brethren who have rendered services of any moment , the result being that to a certain extent we find ourselves on terms of almost familiar acquaintance with the leading members , but particularly with such distinguished brethren

as Bro . W . Williams , Bro . William Eliot , and Bro . William Tucker , who were successively Prov . Grand Masters of Dorsetshire . These three brethren were among the most loyal members of All Souls' Lodge , as they were likewise among those who helped most signally to advance its interests . Bro . Williams , from the active part he took in the events which followed the Union of the "Ancient" and "Modern" Societies of English Freemasons , and from the fact that it was he who compiled the first Book of Constitutions of United Grand Lodge , was in a position to see that the lodge wis well posted in respect of what was being done , and thus it was that All Souls had many

advantages over other Provincial lodges who , in days when locomotion was not as it is now , were often a good deal behindhand in their knowledge of current events . That portion of the book which treats of the lodge in Bro . Williams ' s time is consequently most interestirg the principal events in which he figured being the laying the foundation-stone of the Masonic Hall which belongs to the lodge and its dedication to the purposes of Freemasonry . Bro . Williams received from the lodge many proofs of the respect and affection in which he was held , and on his death in 1839 was succeeded as P . G . M . by Bro . Eliot , who had lung served as his Deputy , and who also looked well after the interests and well-brinir of

the lodge . In 1846 Bro . Eliot resigned , and was succeeded by Bro . Willi 1 m Tucker , who in 1853 was deprived of his office by the M . W . G . M ., the Earl of Zjtland , for having appeared in Prov . Grand Lodge wearing his clothing as Prov . Grand Mister over the cluthing of a Knight Templar . Bro . tucker appears to have been an able ruler , and Bro . Milledge has done well to introduce so many of the addresses or charges which he delivered at the annual meetings of his Prov . Grand Lodge . Bro . Tucker was succeeded by Bro . H . Ralph Willett , of Wimborne , and shortly alter this event we read of the presentation to the lodge by Captain W . King Hall , R . N ., of the ( Ixg of truce which

that othcer had himselt carried on the 10 th August , 1854 , on the capture of Bourarsund . However , it is not necessary that Wi should do more in the way of giving our readers an insight into the contents of Bro . Milledge ' s most readable and valuable work . It would have been better , perhaps , had he broken his narraiive up into sections . For instance , his first section might have taken us to the Union in 1813 , the next to the renumbering of lodges in 1833 , the third to the renumbering in 1863 , and so on . Or , he might have made his sections coincident with the duration ot each successive Prov . Grand Mastership . However , this is a small matter of detail , and in nowise detracts from the merits of his book as an historical account of an old

lodge of high standing , which has been so fortunate as to number among its members several of the ablest and most influential Masons in Dorsetshire , as well as not a few whose fame has extended far beyond the narrow limits of so small a province . Bro . Milledge has , indeed , done his work most thoroughly and onscientiously , and the pleasure of perusing it is enhanced by the number of illustrations with which it is embellished , the place of honour as the frontispiece being assi gned to a portrait of the present Prov . Grand Master , Bro . Montague J . Guest . Beit added , that as regards the style in which the book is presented to tne public , that is , as regards what the printer and binder are responsible for , there is nothing to be desired . The exterior apearance of the volume is in every way worthy of its valuable contents .