Masonic lodge

“ The work of the lodge is not to be shared by those who have thrown aside their aprons and their implements, and abandoned the labors of the Temple--the funds of the lodge are to be distributed only among these who are aiding, by their individual contributions, to the formation of similar funds in other lodges.
But from the well-known and universally-admitted maxim of "once a Mason, and always a Mason," it follows that a demitted Brother cannot by such demission divest himself of all his masonic responsibilities to his Brethren, nor be deprived of their correlative responsibility to him. ”

“ In his declaration made in the presence of Colonel Francisco Olive y Garcia and others on the 23rd of September 1896, Moises Salvador Francisco, of Quiapo (Manila) stated that “in April 1891 he came to Manila bringing with him a copy of the agreements arrived at by the Junta of Madrid, and these he handed over to Timoteo Paez to see if masonic lodges could be established as a commencement of the work. In the following year of 1892 Pedro Serrano arrived from Spain and then Masonry (native) was introduced into the Philippines, the first lodge instituted being the Nilad.” ”

“ No lodge can interfere with the work or business of any other lodge, without its permission. This is an old regulation, founded on those principles of comity and brotherly love that should exist among all Masons. It is declared in the manuscript charges, written in the reign of James II., and in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity, at London, that "no Master or Fellow shall supplant others of their work; that is to say, that, if he hath taken a work, or else stand Master of any work, that he shall not put him out, unless he be unable of cunning to make an end of his work." ”

“ And therefore, here, at the very spot which separates the Porch from the Sanctuary, where childhood ends and manhood begins, he finds stretching out before him a winding stair which invites him, as it were, to ascend, and which, as the symbol of discipline and instruction, teaches him that here must commence his Masonic labor—here he must enter upon those glorious, though difficult researches, the end of which is to be the possession of divine truth. ”

“ Another regulation is, that a strange Brother shall furnish the lodge he intends to visit with a certificate of his good standing in the lodge from which he last hailed. This regulation has, in late years, given rise to much discussion. Many of the Grand Lodges of this country, and several masonic writers, strenuously contend for its antiquity and necessity, while others as positively assert that it is a modern innovation upon ancient usage. ”

“ And into the Master Mason's lodge--this holy of holies of the masonic temple, where the solemn truths of death and immortality are inculcated--the aspirant, on entering, should purify his heart from every contamination, and remember, with a due sense of their symbolic application, those words that once broke upon the astonished ears of the old patriarch, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." ”

“ A lodge under dispensation can elect no members. The Master and Wardens, who are named in the dispensation, are, in point of fact, the only persons recognized as constituting the lodge. To them is granted the privilege, as proxies of the Grand Master, of making Masons; and for this purpose they are authorized to congregate a sufficient number of Brethren to assist them in the ceremonies. ”

“ I have already discussed the right of Past Masters to become members of a Grand Lodge, in a preceding part of this work,87 and have there arrived at the conclusion that no such inherent right exists, and that a Grand Lodge may or may not admit them to membership, according to its own notion of expediency. Still the fact, that they are competent by their masonic rank of accepting such a courtesy when extended, in itself constitutes a prerogative; for none but Masters, Wardens, or Past Masters, can under any circumstances become members of a Grand Lodge. ”

“ The people do not lay a finger on him who hypnotizes them by his daring and strength of mind.
Meantime, however, until we come into our kingdom, we shall act in the contrary way: we shall create and multiply free masonic lodges in all the countries of the world, absorb into them all who may become or who are prominent in public activity, for in these lodges we shall find our principal intelligence office and means of influence. All these lodges we shall bring under one central administration, known to us alone and to all others absolutely unknown, which will be composed of our learned elders. ”

“ Can he delegate a power to others which he does not himself possess? And is his calling together "an occasional lodge," and making, with the assistance of the Brethren thus assembled, a Mason "at sight," that is to say, in his presence, anything more or less than the exercise of his dispensing power, for the establishment of a lodge under dispensation, for a temporary period, and for a special purpose. ”

“ But nothing is more undoubted in the science of Masonic symbolism than that the Temple was the representative of the world, purified by the Shekinah, or the Divine Presence. The world of the profane is without the Temple; the world of the initiated is within its sacred walls. Hence, to enter the temple, to pass within the porch, to be made a Mason, and to be born into the world of Masonic light, are all synonymous and convertible terms. ”

“ Finally, my brethren, as this Lodge has been formed and perfected in so much unanimity and concord, so may it long continue. May you long enjoy every satisfaction and delight which disinterested friendship can afford. May kindness and brotherly affection distinguish your conduct as men and as Masons. [Pg 100] Within your peaceful walls may your children's children celebrate, with joy and gratitude, the annual recurrence of this auspicious solemnity; and may the tenets of our profession be transmitted through this Lodge, pure and unimpaired, from generation to generation. ”

“ As far as I know, masonry had no other object in Russia beyond benevolence and providing an agreeable way of passing time. The closing of the lodges deprived us of the only places where we assembled for anything else besides card-playing, for we have no society where cards do not constitute the principal or rather the only occupation. We are as yet so unversed in political matters that it is absurd for the government to fear that such subjects would furnish conversation at the masonic lodges. With us, notable persons have rarely been masons ”

“ Lodge, being animated with a desire to promote the honor and interest of the craft, have erected a Masonic Hall for their convenience and accommodation. They are desirous that the same should be examined by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, and if it should meet their approbation, that it should be solemnly dedicated to Masonic purposes agreeably to ancient form and usage. ”

“ Our Como architects certainly gave the name to the Masonic companies, which, I believe, had their origin at this time, though some claim to derive them from Solomon. These were called together in the Loggie (hence Lodge) by a grand-master to treat of affairs common to the order, to accept novices, and confer superior degrees on others. The chief Lodge had other dependencies, and all members were instructed in their duties to the Society, and taught to direct every action to the glory of the Lord and His worship; to live faithful to God and the Government ”

“ In the important ceremony which refers to the northeast corner of the Lodge, the candidate becomes as one who is to all outward appearance a perfect and upright man and Mason, the representative of a spiritual corner-stone, on which he is to erect his future moral and Masonic edifice. ”

“ He must be assisted by the number of Brethren necessary to open and hold a lodge. Due inquiry must be made into the candidate's character, (though the Grand Master may, as in a case of emergency, dispense with the usual probation of a month) . He cannot interfere with the business of a regular lodge, by making one whom it had rejected, nor finishing one which it had commenced. Nor can he confer the three degrees, at one and the same communication. In short, he must, in making Masons at sight, conform to the ancient usages and landmarks of the Order. ”

“ All the signs of masonry without a figment of reality; every moral thing masquerades under an architectural aspect, in that "Temple made without hands" which is figured by a Freemasons' lodge in these days. But the significant point is that all these names and masonic emblems point to something real which existed at some long-past time, and, as far as regards the organization and nomenclature, we find the whole thing in its vital and actual working form in the Comacine Guild. ”

“ When a Grand Lodge of a state has been organized in an unlawful Masonic way and manner it is then considered as no Grand Lodge at all and another lawful and regular Grand Lodge has the authority and power to invade such territories and there organize regular subordinate Lodges. ”

“ Its universal chain of friendship encircles every portion of the human [Pg 26] family and beams wherever civilization extends.
A Lodge is said to be thus extensive to denote the universality of Freemasonry, and teaches that a Mason's charity should be equally extensive.
The Supports of a Lodge.
A Lodge is supported by three great pillars, denominated Wisdom, Strength and Beauty; because there should be wisdom to contrive, strength to support, and beauty to adorn all great and important undertakings. ”

“ The candidate receives those first instructions whereon to erect his future moral and Masonic edifice in a particular part of the Lodge, because as on the night of his initiation he commences the great task, which is never in his future Masonic life to be discontinued, of erecting in his heart a spiritual temple for the indwelling of God, of which the great material Temple at Jerusalem was but the symbol ”

“ And, hence, no lodge can pass or raise a candidate who was initiated, or initiate one who was rejected, in another lodge. "It would be highly improper," says the Ahiman Rezon, "in any lodge, to confer a degree on a Brother who is not of their house-hold; for, every lodge ought to be competent to manage their own business, and are the best judges of the qualifications of their own members." ”

“ The power to "make Masons at sight" is a technical term, which may be defined to be the power to initiate, pass, and raise candidates by the Grand Master, in a lodge of emergency, or as it is called in the Book of Constitutions, "an occasional lodge," especially convened by him, and consisting of such Master Masons as he may call together for that purpose only--the lodge ceasing to exist as soon as the initiation, passing, or raising, has been accomplished and the Brethren have been dismissed by the Grand Master. ”

“ D. Mathews was the Grand Master of, and all Masonic students and all Masonic authors in the United States have said time after time that the King Solomon Grand Lodge of Kansas was a bogus Grand Lodge. Sometime after Mount Bonnell Lodge was organized at Austin, Texas. A Lodge was organized at San Antonio, Texas, and Houston, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, all these Lodges were established by the spurious King Solomon Grand Lodge of Kansas. ”

“ General regulations for the government of the whole craft throughout the world can no longer be enacted by a Grand Lodge. The multiplication of these bodies, since the year 1717, has so divided the supremacy that no regulation now enacted can have the force and authority of those adopted by the Grand Lodge of England in 1721, and which now constitute a part of the fundamental law of Masonry, and as such are unchangeable by any modern Grand Lodge. ”

“ No adoptive lodges exist or would be tolerated in England within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge, and if it can be shown that the Palladian order initiates English women into Masonic secrets, that is performed surreptitiously and in defiance of our Masonic constitutions. ”

“ But lodges of Freemasons differ so much in their organization and character from other societies, that this law will, in very few cases, be found applicable; and, indeed, in many positively inapplicable to them. The rules, therefore, for the government of masonic lodges are in general to be deduced from the usages of the Order, from traditional or written authority, and where both of them are silent, from analogy to the character of the institution. ”

“ XLI. On the entry into the lodge, of Masters from the city or neighbourhood.
The statutes are very fair and well composed, and must certainly have been made from long experience in the guild.
In 1447 we find a further split. The Masters of wood-carving secede from the sculptors in stone, and form their own statutes. Little by little, as art becomes more perfect and requires more freedom, the Masonic monopoly of centuries is dissolving. ”

“ A Lodge.
A Lodge is an assemblage of Masons, duly congregated, having Holy Bible, Square and Compasses, and a dispensation or charter, authorizing them to work.
Ancient Lodges—Where Held.
Our ancient brethren held their Lodges on high hills or in low vales, the better to observe the approach of cowans and eavesdroppers, ascending or descending.
Lodge meetings at the present day are usually held in upper chambers—probably for [Pg 25] the security which such places afford. ”

“ A mass meeting of Masons cannot assemble and organize a Grand Lodge. A certain number of lodges, holding legal warrants from a Grand Lodge or from different Grand Lodges, must meet by their representatives and proceed to the formation of a Grand Lodge. ”