Lodge Officers, Their Powers And Duties.

lodges held previous to that time . In the lodge to AA'hich we belong the members pay their dues to the Treasurer , and he furnishes a minute of the names and amounts to the Secretary , who is thus enabled to devote his whole attention to the

business ofthe lodge . But Avhile Ave continue to Avork as at present , and the Secretary is expected to keep all the accounts of the lodge , he should be specially careful in all money transactions to keep memory entirely out of the question , and depend only on the written record . He should never consent to receive a dime from a brother AA'ithout at

once committing the fact to writing , for his OAVU guidance , aud giving his receipt to the brother as a safeguard against any future trouble . There are plenty of men Avho spend their money with great freedom and entertain no pang-s for their liberality ;

but those are the very ones AA'ho will not quietly submit to any question of mouey matters in Avhich they think themselves right . Such a man is apt to think he has paid because he is in the habit of recurring to his pocket-book on the slightest

provocation ; still he may have neglected one or more quarterly payments from mere forgetfulness , or he may have paid with the remark of careless men , " Scratch it off . " This the Secretary may have forgotten to do . and thus the Avhole business is reduced to a question of memory , and ultimately fco one of veracity . When a man ' s veracity is

questioned , he , to use a vulgarism , " gets his back up , " and the feeling betAveen a brother thus situated and the Secretary being mutual , they are in position for a quarrel . Suspicion creeps in and suggests to each the certainty that the other

is trying to Avrong him , bad blood ensues , and the friendly union of the Craft is destroyed . Brother Secretary cannot too carefully guard against such occurrences , and as long as he is compelled to receive lodge money at all , let him keep a record

betAveen himself and trouble . Finally , it may be said of this officer that a careful attention to his duties is the very best preparatory school for preparing the mind to weigh and decipher the various questions submitted , and to make him competent to accept the position of Warden , and ultimatel y to rule and govern the lodge .

THE DEACONS . It is a matter of some doubt when these officers were first recognised as a part of the official staff of a subordinate lodge , probably Avhen , after the defection of LaAvrence Dermott , the mania for

extending and embellishing the ritual took possession of the English Craft . As Ave now have it , the Senior Deacon is the special proxy of the Master , to carry messages from him to the west and else-AA'here about the body . The Junior Deacon holds

a similar relation to the Senior Warden ; but is , in American lodges , more particularly charged Avith guarding the inner door . These officers , in the discharge of their duties , are authorised to move about the lodge , and this is a privilege Avhich ,

during tho hours of labour , is reserved to them . In the good old times the brethren never left then places to run about the lodge , as Ave so frequently see at present . They not only refrained from holding private committees and conversations , but

remained in their places unless they had special permission to leave them . It is respectfully submitted that Ave cannot too carefully avoid the free and easy style which marks the sessions of Congress , Avhich permits the members to put their

feet over the back of the seat in front of them , to gather in groups around a speaker , and to turn the representative Avisdom of the nation into a bear

garden . Our meetings , more than all others , should be in the highest degree decorous and orderly , and every member should not only refrain from indecorum himself , but aid by his influence and example in preserving that calm and quiet

dignity AA'hich belong to the Institution . The feature of the Senior Deacon ' s position , hoAvever , is in the fact that upon him devolves , among other things , the reception of visiting brethren . In our great cities , and among our prominent lodges , the

custom of visiting is so common that no notice whatever is taken of brethren not members of the lodge : they are supposed to know Avhat to do and are left to do it in the Avay most convenient

and agreeable to themselves—no one apparently deeming it Avorth his Avhile to inquire Avhether a visiting brother is an entire stranger from abroad or a member of some neighbouring lodge , used to the " sloshing around" style Avhich prevails among

us ; but it is respectfully submitted that justice to ourselves and a moderate degree of deference to the usages of civilised society demand a better state of things . I hazard nothing iu saying that there is no member of the Fraternity AA'ho Avould

not instinctively take off his hat in the presence of a lacly , AA'ho Avould not step out into the muddy street to alloAV an aged person to pass , Avho , when a friend or a stranger calls on him , does not receive him politely , and listen patiently to any