members, and not to the restoration of old
ones--to the granting of a favor which the candidate solicits, and which
the lodge may or may not, in its own good pleasure, see fit to confer, and
not to the resumption of a vested and already acquired right, which, if it
be a right, no lodge can withhold. The practical working of this system of
incomplete restoration, in a by no means extreme case, will readily show
its absurdity and injustice. A member having appealed from expulsion by
his lodge to the Grand Lodge, that body calmly and fairly investigates the
case. It finds that the appellant has been falsely accused of an offense
which he has never committed; that he has been unfairly tried, and
unjustly convicted. It declares him innocent--clearly and undoubtedly
innocent, and far freer from any sort of condemnation than the prejudiced
jurors who convicted him. Under these circumstances, it becomes
obligatory that the Grand Lodge should restore him to the place he
formerly occupied, and reinvest him with the rights of which he has been
unjustly despoiled. But that it cannot do. It may restore him to the
privileges of Masonry in general; but, innocent though he be, the Grand
Lodge, in deference to the prejudices of his Brethren, must perpetuate a
wrong, and punish this innocent person by expulsion from his lodge. I
cannot, I dare not, while I remember the eternal principles of justice,
subscribe to so monstrous an exercise of wrong--so flagrant an outrage
upon private rights.

Index.

A.

Accused, to what he is entitled
Act passed in the reign of Henry VI., anno 1425
" " " it was never enforced
Actual Past Master, term defined
Adjournment, a term not recognized in Masonry
" motion for, cannot be entertained
Affiliated Masons only, can visit lodges
Affiliation, what it is
" mode of
" requires unanimity
" Master Masons only entitled to it
" rejected application for, may be renewed in other lodges
" may be made with more than one lodge
Age, qualifications of candidates as to
Appeal from Grand Master not permitted
" not to be entertained in a lodge
" cannot be taken from the chair
" doctrine of, discussed
" from the Master, must be to the Grand Lodge
" every Mason has a right to one, to the Grand Lodge
" pending one, the sentence is in abeyance
Apprentices, rights of _(see Entere