petition, signed by three-fourths of the Brethren; and,
in case of two or more candidates running for the same office, the one
having the most names shall be considered duly elected--whereupon he
must solemnly pledge himself to keep the funds intrusted to him,
belonging to the Brotherhood, secure; that should he, at any time, be
required to resign, by three-fourths of the Grands, he will make due
returns of all moneys in his possession; and that, in all cases, he will
be ready to render a correct account of all moneys received and paid out
by him, which account shall, also, be duly made out and handed in at
every annual meeting.
_Art. 2._ It shall be the duty of every Principal Grand to keep his
accounts, and the Constitution of this society, written on paper, with a
certain kind of acid, which cannot be read, unless held to the fire,
when the heat will bring to the face of the paper the desired
intelligence; and it shall, furthermore, be the duty of the Grand Master
to commit to memory this Constitution and By-laws,--that he may, at any
time, be able to give any passage verbatim, without the assistance of
referring to the article itself, as it endangers the Brotherhood to have
the documents on hand;--and it shall also be the duty of the Grand
Masters, in office, to supply the five, who are not matured officers,
with one article at a time, until they commit the same to memory; when
it shall be their duty to instruct them the manner in which the same is
written in acid; and then to demand a written Constitution from each,
which, if not written correctly, must be corrected and returned every
three months, until perfected.
_Art. 3._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Masters to examine their
five subordinate officers, four times each year, until they find each
capable of drafting a constitution, and of giving each article its
correct No. and proper place,--with full instructions as to secrecy, in
keeping all the six words, with their proper tables, from the ordinary
members--as the ordinary members are not entitled to the use of the six
words, which are termed Qualities;--and, furthermore, if any of the
Grand Masters know of a letter of importance, which one of the members
has written to a Grand Master or Subordinate Grand, it shall be the duty
of the said Grand Master, if possible, to QUALIFY the letter, either
upon the inside or outside, as the case may be--for the qualities are
highly essential,--and it shall still,
|