G0e1esp0nb1ice.

Lodge , shall not he permitted to visit any one Lodge in the town or place where he resides more tnan once during his secession from the Craft . " Here is one case where a regularly-made Mason should be ex ^ luoed , and where it is the duty of the Master at once and without reference to the Lodge to refuse him admission , and I can conceive many other cases . Suppose a member of Bro . Newmarch ' s own Lodge had been excluded fbr non-payment of dues , and that Brother should soon afterwards present himself at the door of the Lodge for admission as a visitor , what would Bro . Newmarch do were he in the chair ? Refuse him admittance of

course—he could not do otherwise . It appears to me , then , that cases may arise where the W . M . may , and indeed is bound to ., refuse admittance to a visitor ; but no case can arise where hecanof his own power remse to admit a member of the Lodge .: ¦ ; this can only be done after due notice by the Lodge , and with the right of appeal to higher authority . Where do you find authority for the answer given to H . O . B ., Trinidad , " that a Senior Warden ruling the Lodge is authorized to confer degrees ? It is the duty of the S . W ., in the absence of the Master arid all Past Masters , to rule the Lodge .

See Constitutions ( Masters and Wardens ) . The first part of the clause defines who shall summon the Lodge , and the latter , who shall preside ; and / as the words are peculiar , I quote them : — - " In the Master ' s absence , the immediate Past Master , and if he he absent the Senior Past Master , of the Lodge present shall take the chaw ; and if no Past Master of the Lodge be present , then the Senior Warden , and in his absence the JTunior Warden ,, shall rule the Lodge" A Past Master is here authorized to take the chair , but a Warden is only authorized to rule the Lodge ; even an elected Master , if not installed , cannot assume the

chair , but may rule the Lodge . I hold that no one can assume the Master ' s chair unless he has been regularly placed there by the ceremony of installation . The same fbrni holds good in Grand Lodge . See Constitutions , edition 180 ( the Grand Lodge ) , page 25 , clause 18 . This rule is , however , left out of the late editions , being no doubt so well understood , that the insertion of it is deemed supererogatory . << ¦ When the Deputy Grand Master or a Past Deputy Grand Master , a

Provincial Grand Master or Past Provincial Grand Master , presides , he is to take his seat in the chair of the Deputy Grand Master , placed in front of the throne ; but if any Brother of lower rank preside , he is to take his seat in some other chair similarly placed . " Now , in what consists the difference between taking the chair and ruling the Lodge ? I contend that it is chiefly in being able to make and advance Masons , which no one has £ my power to do unless he has been regularly installed as a Master of a Lodge .

Your answer to " H . O . B / s " -third question I have always been taught to believe correct ( viz . —that five can open , transact business , and close an E . A . or F . C . Lodge ) , but cannot furnish reasons to satisfy my own mind why it should be so . We teach our Fellow Crafts , "On the third step he pauses to find the three superior officers who rule the Lodge , and to reflect on the great attributes of the Deity—Omniscience , Omnipresence , and Omnipotence , and to think of Him who is the Creator ; Preserver , and Judge of mankind ; on the fifth , he discovers the number who may lawfully hold a Lodge in this Degree ; on the seventh , he learns

what number of Brethren assembled together with the three Great Lights of Masonry , the Book of Constitutions , and the Warrant empowering them to act , are sufficient to make a Lodge perfect . " In strict point of fact , three do not rule a Lodge ; the Master is really the only rider , and the two Wardens are his assistants . And may it not be so said of five holding a Lodge , viz . —the three Master Masons or the Master and his two Wardens , and the two Fellow Crafts or Deacons ? These are the five who hold a Lodge , which is perfect as to organization ( as an

entered Apprentice cannot hold office , and in the United States he is even debarred from the privilege of membership ) , but not as to numbers ; two entered Apprentices must therefore be introduced , so that all branches of the Order may be fully represented , viz . —the three Master Masons , two Fellow Crafts , and two entered Apprentices , composing the sacred number seven , or perfect Lodge . In this view of the case , can the Lodge thus organized , or held by five only , open , transact business , and close ? Can five , members , should the others all die oil' or retire from the Lodge , hold the warrant , and increase their numbers by balloting for and