Albert Gallatin Mackey
The Principles of Masonic Law
A Treatise on the Constitutional Laws, Usages and Landmarks of Freemasonry
e-artnow, 2020
Contact: [email protected]
EAN: 4064066399504
Table of Contents
Book First. The Law of Grand Lodges.
Chapter II. Of the Mode of Organizing Grand Lodges.
Chapter III. Of the Members of a Grand Lodge.
Chapter IV. Of the Officers of a Grand Lodge.
Chapter V. Of the Powers and Prerogatives of a Grand Lodge.
Book Second. Laws of Subordinate Lodges.
Chapter I. Of the Nature and Organization of Subordinate Lodges.
Chapter II. Of Lodges under Dispensation.
Chapter III. Of Lodges Working under a Warrant of Constitution.
Chapter IV. Of the Officers of a Subordinate Lodge.
Book Third. The Law of Individuals.
Chapter I. Of the Qualifications of Candidates.
Chapter II. Of the Rights of Entered Apprentices.
Chapter III. Of the Rights of Fellow Crafts.
Chapter IV. Of the Rights of Master Masons.
Chapter V. Of the Rights of Past Masters.
Chapter VIII. Of Unaffiliated Masons.
Book Fourth. Of Masonic Crimes and Punishments.
Chapter I. Of What Are Masonic Crimes.
Chapter II. Of Masonic Punishments.
Chapter III. Of Masonic Trials.
Chapter IV. Of the Penal Jurisdiction of a Lodge.
"Est enim unum jus, quo devincta est hominum societas, quod lex constituit una; quæ lex est recta ratio imperandi atque prohibendi, quam qui ignorat is est injustus."
Cicero de Legibus. c. XV.
To
Brother J.J.J. Gourgas,
Sovereign Grand Inspector General in the Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States,
I Dedicate This Work,
As a Slight Testimonial of My Friendship and Esteem for Him
As a Man,
And of My Profound Veneration for His Character
As a Mason;
Whose Long and Useful Life Has Been Well Spent in the
Laborious Prosecution of the Science,
And the Unremitting Conservation of the Principles of Our
Sublime Institution.
Preface.
In presenting to the fraternity a work on the Principles of Masonic Law, it is due to those for whom it is intended, that something should be said of the design with which it has been written, and of the plan on which it has been composed. It is not pretended to present to the craft an encyclopedia of jurisprudence, in which every question that can possibly arise, in the transactions of a Lodge, is decided with an especial reference to its particular circumstances. Were the accomplishment of such an herculean task possible, except after years of intense and unremitting labor, the unwieldy size of the book produced, and the heterogeneous nature of its contents, so far from inviting, would rather tend to distract attention, and the object of communicating a knowledge of the Principles of Masonic Law, would be lost in the tedious collation of precedents, arranged without scientific system, and enunciated without explanation.
When I first contemplated the composition of a work on this subject, a distinguished friend and Brother, whose opinion I much respect, and with whose advice I am always anxious to comply, unless for the most satisfactory reasons, suggested the expediency of collecting the decisions of all Grand Masters, Grand Lodges, and other masonic authorities upon every subject of Masonic Law, and of presenting them, without commentary, to the fraternity.
But a brief examination of this method, led me to perceive that I would be thus constructing simply a digest of decrees, many of which would probably be the results of inexperience, of prejudice, or of erroneous views of the masonic system, and from which the authors themselves have, in repeated instances, subsequently receded—for Grand Masters and Grand Lodges, although entitled to great respect, are not