The Past Master's Degree.

THE PAST MASTER'S DEGREE .

LONDON , SATURDAY , JANUA 7 RY 14 lsSo .

Our attention has been called to an irregularity which exists in some parts of tlie country , and to winch we ivould particularly direct the attention of the Provincial Grand Masters , viz ., the conferring' of what is called the Past Master ' s degree on

brethren , who have not been elected to the chair ; and , under the pretence of their being Past Masters , allowing them to be present at the ceremony of installation . Nothing can be more opposed to the Constitutions ; and should any brother be

brought before Grand Lodge for conferring the degree , he would most assuredly meet with the strongest expression of its displeasure , if not deprivation of his Masonic privileges . The truth is the Past Master ' s degree does not exist in the

English system at all ; and though in Scotland , and some other countries , it is given as a preliminary to the Royal Arch , because all Arch Masons must previously be Past Masters ( which is not necessary in England ) , it never , even in those

countries , gives any rank in the Craft , nor would such a Past Master be allowed to be present at a Board of Installed Masters . On this subject Dr . Oliver says that no English Mason having taken the degree of Past Master abroad , as a

preliminary to the Royal Arch , " can wear the apron and jewel of a Past Master ; for the law distinctly provides that no brother can possibly claim or enjoy the privilege of a Past Master until he has actually served the office of Worshipful Master for one

complete year . " The Rev . Doctor describes the attempt of such brethren to be present at a Board of Installed Masters as an " INTRUSION ; " and declares that our " present laws etre too stringent to admit of amy such irregularities . " They ought to

be , but they are not , owing to the want of proper supervision by the governing authorities . Dr . Oliver further informs us , that even in the United States , where the degree is given , they make a broad distinction between what they call actual and virtual Past Masters .

Dr . Oliver only speaks of Masons who have taken the degree abroad ( and in a Masonic sense , Ireland and Scotland must be treated as foreign jurisdictions ) , evidently never dreaming that any brother would dare to confer the degree in this

country in the face of the " Book of Constitutions , " which in its very commencement declares ' •' that pure Antient Masonry consists of three

The Past Master's Degree.

degrees , and no more , viz ., those of the Entered Apprentice , the Fellow Craft , and the Master Mason , including the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch j" and above all , in direct violation of the obligation whicli every Master takes at his

installation , with regard to his non-conferring or Allowing of the conferring of irregular degrees . "We trust we have said enouo'h to direct attention to the practice of conferring in English lodges the Past Master ' s degree , to ensure its being

put down with a firm hand . We have purposely made our remarks general , without applying them to any particular lodge or province ; but we hope they ivill not , on that account , have the less effect , and that those brethren who have erred ( we

believe in ignorance of the law , though that is no excuse for a brother who has filled the chair of a lodge , and ought , therefore , to have made himself acquainted at least with the general purport of the " Book of Constitutions , " ) will now do their best to repair the mischief they have caused , and discountenance any such irregularities in the future ..

Honorary Members.

HONORARY MEMBERS .

( From a Correspondent- ) The question as to the position of honorary members in lodges does not seem to have been much advanced towards a solution by the declaration ( for it is no decision ) of the last Grand Lodge ;

and it is scarcely probable that the Craft will—certainly not desirable that the Craft should—allow this question , now that it has been fairly mooted , to remain in its present unsatisfactory state . As we are taught that Masonry is universal , and

consequently that the . precepts and tenets of Masonry are ( or ought to be ) uniform wherever Masonry is practised , we should be led to expect that Masonic law and jurisprudence would be equally uniform—at least in its main principles and

provisions . But this is far from being' the case ; and , moreover , a very slight acquaintance with Masonic practice in different countries will abundantly prove that the tendency of Masonic action at present is to produce an always increasing divergence between

the laws and practice of the various Masonic legislative bodies which now cover nearly the whole habitable world . Nor can it well be otherwise when we see that , whenever a new question is started , or an old law requires elucidation , each Grand Lodge legislates without any reference to the already existing practice or laws