215 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
215 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.VII December, 1929 No.12
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THE LAWS OF MASONRY
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by: Unknown
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Every Master Mason is obliged to abide by the laws, regulations and
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edicts of his Grand Lodge; the by-laws of the particular lodge of
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which he is a member, and to maintain and support the Landmarks and
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"Ancient Usages and Customs of the Fraternity."
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It is impossible to abide by any laws if we do not know what they
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are. The American automobile driver who attempts to negotiate a
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London street without knowing the peculiarities of English law will
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be arrested in the first block; he must there drive on the left and
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pass on the right; not drive on the right and pass on the left, as in
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this country.
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The laws of Masonry, like the laws of nations, are both the unwritten
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- "Common Law" - and written. The written laws, based on the
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"General Regulations" and the "Old Charges," are the Constitution and
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By-Laws of his own Grand Lodge, its resolutions and edicts; and the
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By-Laws of his particular lodge. The Ancient Landmarks are written
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in some Jurisdictions; in others they are a part of unwritten law.
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In a foreign Jurisdiction, a Mason is amenable to its laws, as well
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as those of his own Jurisdiction. In this duality of allegiance
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Masonry follows civil law; thus, am American residing abroad is
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amenable to the laws of the nation in which he lives, but is also
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expected to obey the laws of his own nation; for instance, an
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American residing abroad is not exempt from the United States income
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tax laws. Neither is a Mason from California exempt form the laws of
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the Grand Lodge of that State, merely because he happens to be
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sojourning in Maine, or some foreign country.
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The "General Regulations" as set forth in "Anderson's Constitutions
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of 1723" have a curious history, into which it is not necessary to go
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here; suffice it that they were adopted shortly after the formation
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in 1717 of the First or Mother Grand Lodge in England. The work was
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first published under the date of 1723. Unquestionably it embodied
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the laws of Masonry as they were known to the members of the four
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lodges which formed the first Grand Lodge, and hence have the
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respectability of an antiquity much greater than their printed life
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of two hundred and six years (in 1929).
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In general, it may be said that the "Old Charges" are concerned with
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the individual brother, and his relations to his lodge and his
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brethren; the General Regulations with the conduct of the Craft as a
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whole. The General Regulations permit their own alteration by Grand
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Lodge - the Old Charges do not!
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The Old Charges very evidently deal with both the operative and
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speculative sides of Masonry; some of the phrases are concerned with
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"The Lord's Work." The context shows that it is not the Lord God who
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is here meant, but the particular nobleman for whom building
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construction is undertaken
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Law in Masonry is so much more a matter of the heart than of the
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head, so much more concerned with setting forth conduct than in
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assessing penalties, that, to thoroughly comprehend it, we must be
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willing to revise our ideas of law, as we understand the enactments
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of legislatures.
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many civil laws are provided with measures of enforcement and
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penalties for infringement. Masonic law knows but four penalties;
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reprimand, definite suspension, indefinite suspension and expulsion
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or Masonic Death. These Masonic penalties for serious infractions of
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Masonic Law may be ordered after a Masonic trial, and a verdict of
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guilty; but the punishment is usually made to fit the crime, and
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mercy is much more a part of Masonic than civil law. Infractions of
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Masonic Law resulting in trial and punishment are rare, compared to
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the number of Masons, the vast majority of whom are so willing and
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anxious to obey the laws that "enforcement" is seldom required.
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There is no universality in Masonic law in all Jurisdictions.
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Different latitudes. different characters of people, different ideas
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have all left their marks upon our forty-nine Grand Lodges and their
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enactments. In the majority of essentials, they are one; in some
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particulars, they hold divergent views. A very large majority of
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Grand Lodges in the United States adhere to the spirit of the "Old
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Charges," and - so far as modern conditions permit - to the sense of
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the "General Regulations."
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It is, therefore, of real importance that Masons desiring to
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understand the law by which the Craft is governed, and the legal
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standards by which Grand Lodge measures its "laws, resolutions and
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edicts;" should read both the "Old Charges" and the "General
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Regulations of 1723." When he reaches the last (thirty-ninth) of the
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"General Regulations," he will read: "Every Annual Grand Lodge has
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an inherent Power and Authority to make new Regulations, or to alter
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these, for the real benefit of this Ancient Fraternity; provided
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always that the Old Landmarks be carefully preserved," etc.
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The "Old Landmarks" or the "Ancient Landmarks" as we customarily call
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them, are thus stated to be the foundations of the law of Masonry
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which are not subject to change. Had the Grand Lodge which first
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adopted these "General Regulations" formulated the "Ancient
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Landmarks" it would have saved much trouble and confusion for those
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newer Grand Lodges which came after. Apparently, however, the
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unwritten law of Masonry - the common law - was so well understood
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and practiced then that it was not thought necessary to codify it.
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There is still a great body of unwritten law which Masons customarily
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observe - our "ancient usages and customs" - which are not specified
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in print now, any more than they were then. But the Landmarks have
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been reduced in print and made a part of the written law in many
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Jurisdictions. Mackey's list of twenty-five Landmarks (thirty-nine
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in Nevada) has been adopted as official in many American Masonic
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Jurisdictions; others have condensed his list into a lesser number,
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still keeping all his points; a few Jurisdictions have a greater
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number, including some not specified on Mackey's list. Those
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Jurisdictions which do not include a printed list of the ancient
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Landmarks in their written law, usually follow and practice them as a
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part of their unwritten law. In a few instances, some of the
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Landmarks as listed by Mackey are not recognized as such; for
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instance, Mackey's Eighth Landmark, the inherent right of a Grand
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Master to "make Masons at sight" was specifically abrogated by an
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early Grand Lodge in California. In general, however, whether written
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or unwritten, Grand Lodges adhere to the spirit of all of Mackey's
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list!
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The Landmarks may be regarded as bearing the same relation to Masonic
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law in general, including the "Old Charges" and the "General
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Regulations," as the provisions of the Magna Charta bear to modern
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constitutional law. Just as the Magna Charta specified some of the
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inherent rights of men which all laws of all governments should
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consider and respect, so the Landmarks crystallize in words the
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inherent characteristics of Masonry - those fundamentals which make
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Freemasonry, and without which it would be something else.
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Mackeys' explanations of several of the Landmarks are too long for
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inclusion here, but his twenty-five statements are short and are
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herewith printed. His list is chosen to appear here because it is
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the most universally used. Juris-dictions which have lesser, or a
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greater number, with very few exceptions, include all of Mackey's
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points.
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Mackey states that the Landmarks are:
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1. The modes of recognition.
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2. The division of Symbolic Masonry into three degrees.
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3. The legend of the Third Degree.
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4. The government of the Fraternity by a Grand Master.
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5. The prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every
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assembly of the Craft.
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6. The prerogative of the Grand Master to grant dispensations for
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the conferring of degrees at irregular intervals.
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7. The prerogative of the Grand Master to give dispensations for
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opening and holding lodges.
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8. The prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons at sight.
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9. The necessity for Masons to congregate in lodges.
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10. The government of the Craft when congregated in a lodge, by a
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Master Mason and two Wardens.
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11. The necessity that every lodge, when congregated, should be
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duly tiled (tyled).
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12. The right of every Mason to be represented in all general
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meetings of the Craft.
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13. The right of every Mason to appeal from his brethren in lodge
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convened, to the Grand Master.
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14. The right of every Mason to visit and sit in every regular
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lodge.
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15. That no visitor, unknown to the brethren present, or some one
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of them, as a Mason, can enter a lodge without first passing an
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examination according to ancient usage.
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16. No lodge can interfere with the business of another lodge.
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17. Every Freemason is amenable to the Laws and Regulations of the
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Masonic Jurisdiction in which he resides.
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18. A candidate for initiation must be a man, free born,
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unmutilated and of mature age.
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19. A belief in the existence of God as the Grand Architect of the
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Universe.
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20. Belief in the resurrection to a future life.
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21. A "Book of the Law" constitutes an indispensable part of the
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furniture of every lodge.
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22. The equality of all Masons.
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23. The secrecy of the institution.
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24. The foundation of speculative science upon an operative art.
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25. These Landmarks can never be changed.
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With these as a foundation, the "Old Charges" for precedent, the
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first "General Regulations" for organic law, Grand Lodges write and
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adopt their Constitutions and by-laws, which are usually subject to
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approval by the Grand Lodge, a Grand Lodge Committee or the Grand
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Master, Grand Masters, "ad interim," formulate and issue edicts and
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make decisions; often these are later incorporated by the Grand Lodge
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into the written law of the Jurisdiction. All of these together,
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except where they conflict (as some of the early "General
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Regulations" necessarily conflict with later enactments made to
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supersede them) form the legal structure of Freemasonry.
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Undeniably it is looser than the similar body of law for the
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government of a nation. If Masonic Law were interpreted wholly by
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the letter - as is necessarily the case of civil law - the government
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of the Craft might often be as loose as its statutes. But as a
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matter of fact, the Craft is well governed. Its "Ancient Usages and
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Customs" so soon win their way into the hearts of new brethren that
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there is a great resistance to any attempt to change the old order,
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unless necessity shows that it is inescapable. Masons much prefer to
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whisper good counsel to an erring brother, rather than subject him to
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Masonic trial, whenever the gentler method can be made effective.
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The Fraternity in this nation deals, yearly, with very large sums of
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money. The Craft erects and maintains numbers of expensive Temples,
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and Homes for the helpless Mason and his dependents. The Institution
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disburses a very large amount in charity. The vast majority of its
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executives and officers serve long and arduous apprenticeships,
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giving their services for love, not money. These very practical
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matters are all conducted in accord with a more or less loosely woven
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body of law - and yet the Fraternity as a whole can take great pride
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in the undoubted fact that it is orderly, well governed, almost
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completely law abiding and very reluctant to make any more new laws
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for itself than are absolutely necessary.
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The reason, of course, is found in the answer to the classic
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question: "Where were you first prepared to be made a Mason?"
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