113 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
113 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
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SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.IX January, 1931 No.1
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THE PAST MASTER
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by: Unknown
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Fortunate the lodge which has many; poor that body of Masonry in
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which Past Masters have lost the interest with which they once
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presided in the East!
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The honorable station of Past Master is usually honored by the
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brethren; generally it is considered as second in importance only to
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that of the presiding Master. And he is a wise and good Master who
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sees to it that the brethren of his lodge understand that <20>Past
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Master<EFBFBD> is no empty title, but carries with it certain rights and
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privileges, certain duties and responsibilities, all set forth in the
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general body of Masonic Law, although differing in some respects in
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different Jurisdictions; certain unwritten attributes which become
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more or less important according to the character and abilities of
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the individual Past Master.
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It has been well settled in this country, as it is in England, that a
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Past Master has no inherent, inviolable right of membership in the
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Grand Lodge, such as is possessed by the Master of a lodge. But in
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many American Jurisdictions, by action of the Grand Lodge, Past
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Masters are members of the Grand Lodge (in Nevada, all Master Masons
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are members of the Grand Lodge, but only the three principal officers
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and one among all the Past Masters of a particular lodge are
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considered voting members of Grand Lodge). In some Jurisdictions
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they are full voting members; in others they have but a fraction of a
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vote, all the Past Masters of a lodge having one vote between them on
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any Grand Lodge question to be decided by a vote by lodges. Whether
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full voting members of Grand Lodge, or members with but a fraction of
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a votes, they are such by action of their own Grand Lodge, and not by
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inherent right.
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Before the formation of the Mother Grand Lodge in England in 1717,
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when General Assemblies of Masons were held, Past Masters were as
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much a part of that body as the members of the Craft. But the Old
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Constitutions of the Mother Grand Lodge did not recognize Past
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Masters as members of the Grand Lodge. Dermott<74>s <20>Ahiman Rezon<6F> of
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1778, quoting Anderson<6F>s edition of the <20>Old and New Regulations<6E>
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says: <20>Past Masters of Warranted Lodges on record are allowed this
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privilege (membership in Grand Lodge) while they continue to be
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members of any regular lodge.<2E> But his previous edition of this same
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work does not contain this statement, and Preston refers to the Grand
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Lodge, at the laying of the corner stone of Covent Garden Theater, in
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London, by the Prince of Wales as Grand Master, in these words: <20>The
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Grand Lodge was opened by Charles March, Esq., attended by the
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Masters and Wardens of all the regular lodges;<3B> he does not mention
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Past Masters as a part of the Grand Lodge.
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These Past Masters, or course, have long since gone the way of all
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flesh; Past Masters who are now members of Grand Lodges are made so
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by the action of those Grand Lodges, and not by any inherent right.
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But the very fact that a Past Master <20>May<61> receive such recognition
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at the hands of his Grand Lodge, which ordinarily would not be given
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to brethren not Past Masters (except Wardens), must be considered as
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one of the rights and privileges of a Past Master.
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Past Masters are said by Mackey to possess the right to preside over
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their lodges, in the absence of the Master, and on the invitation of
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the Senior Warden, or in his absence, the Junior Warden.
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According to the ancient laws of Masonry, which gives a Master very
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large powers, any Master Mason may be called to the Chair by a
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Master. Here the question is as to who may be called to the Chair by
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a warden, who has congregated the lodge in the absence of the Master.
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The great Masonic jurist gives unqualified endorsement to the idea
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that then only a Warden, or Past Master with the consent of the
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presiding Warden can preside over a lodge, and counts this as among
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the rights of a Past Master. However true this may be in this
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specific case, the practice and the law in many Jurisdictions gives
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to the Master the right to put any brother in the Chair for the time
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being, remaining, of course, responsible for the acts of his
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temporary appointee, and for the acts of his lodge during such
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incumbency.
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It may be considered a moot question as to just when a Master becomes
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a Past Master. He is installed as Master <20>until your successor be
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regularly elected and installed.<2E> From this point of view the Master
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is Master until his successor has been made Master by installation;
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in other words, the right to install his successor is inherent in the
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office of Master, and not Past Master. Under the law of Masonry,
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however, for this purpose Masters and Past Masters are identical; the
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Master really becomes a Past Master when, after election he <20>passes
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the Chair<69> in an emergent Lodge of Past Masters, or when, as a
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virtual Past Master, made so in a Chapter, he is elected Master of
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his lodge. In those few American Jurisdictions in which the elected
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Master is not required to receive the Past Master<65>s Degree, prior to
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installation, a Master does not become a Past Master until his
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successor is installed.
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The right to install his successor is inherent; the privilege of
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delegating that duty to another is within the power of any Worshipful
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Master (Courtesy would indicate that the desires of the Senior Warden
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be considered for installing officer, as well as the date for the
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installation). He should not delegate the installing power to any
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brother who has not himself been installed, in order that the
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succession of the Oriental Chair be unbroken, from regularly
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installed Master to Master-Elect, regularly to be installed.
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Therefore, in most Jurisdictions, the installation power which is the
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right of the Master, may be considered also a privilege of Past
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Masters.
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A very important right of all Past Masters is that of being elected
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to the office of Master, without again serving as Warden. Perhaps no
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regulation is more jealously guarded by Grand Lodges than this, which
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dates in print from 1722 (Old Charges), that no Mason may be elected,
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or installed as Master who has not been regularly elected, installed
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and served as Warden. There are exceptions; when a new lodge is
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constituted, a brother who has not been regularly elected, installed
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and served as a Warden may be elected and installed as Master (In
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Nevada it is permissible for any Master Mason to be elected and
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installed as Worshipful Master); when no Wardens in a lodge will
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accept election to the East, a brother may be elected from the floor,
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provided a dispensation is secured from the Grand Master. A Past
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Master may be elected Master of a lodge (whether the lodge over which
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he once presided or another is immaterial) without dispensation.
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