LECTURE XIII.

PERFECT

AND

REGULAR.

"As men call the house of God a church, and when religious services are performed in it say it is church hours, so, also, we call the locality in which a Lodge assembles a Lodge; and when the Brethren are assembled in it, it is Lodge hours. The form of a Lodge is an oblong square. Three well-informed Brethren form a legal Lodge; five improve it; and seven make it perfect."-GADICKE.

"Posterity, to record the wise doctrines and religious principles of the first professors of the true worship, have adopted these descriptions of the Lodge in which they assemble (perfection and regularity); and maintain those religious tenets which nature dictates,—gratitude to Him under whom we exist, and working in the acceptable service of Him who rejoiceth in the upright man."-HUTCHINSON.

"May the Brethren of our glorious Craft be ever distinguished in the world by their regular lives rather than by their gloves and aprons."-SECTIONAL CHARGE.

To constitute a perfect Lodge, and make it competent to initiate a candidate into Masonry, it is requisite, besides the conditions already noticed, that seven Brethren at the least should be present (I am speaking of the First Degree, because five will suffice for the second, and three for the third), at the head of which stands a Triad of chief rulers; although it is not necessary that they should all have passed the pons asinorum of the Third Degree, for it will answer every necessary purpose if the governing

officers be Master Masons, because the perfect number may be completed by the addition of two Fellow Crafts, and the same number of Entered Apprentices.

It is true, perfection can only be comparative. But when certain inalienable conditions are appended to any social institution, and they are strictly observed, and all the requisites of its nature and kind are supplied, that establishment may justly claim the appellation of Perfect. Our Lodges are therefore perfect when opened in the presence and by the assistance of the Brethren just mentioned as the minimum number. The maximum is unrestricted. But, although the attribute of perfection is thus juridically attached to number, it embraces also the two other qualities already referred to, enforced by order, decency, and decorum, in the conduct of the Lodge.

A Lodge may thus be perfect in number, although the condition may not be borne out in the administration of its ceremonies and the purity of its discipline. And it will appear anomalous, though true, that a perfect Lodge may suffer the loss of its warrant in consequence of acts which are illegal or insubordinate, arising out of a systematic deviation from candour and open dealing.

From this admission it will probably be concluded by the outer world that a Perfect Lodge is nothing more than a myth, or an ideal figure of speech, which fails to establish the fact, or to substantiate its claims to a general belief. But this conjecture would be an untenable fallacy; for perfection, ac

cording to theologians and moralists, embraces a Triad of propositions; viz., metaphysical-moral— natural. The first of these specifications is a transcendental perfection, which no created being can attain, because the slightest defect would vitiate and nullify the proposition. Its prestige would be lostthe magic influence vanish. None can be essentially perfect but the Most High. It follows, therefore, that our Lodges are not invested with a metaphysical perfection.

Moral perfection is a human attribute, and refers to a well-regulated and holy life, spent in acts of piety, benevolence, and the uniform practice of the theological and cardinal virtues, as symbolized by the Perfect Ashlar. This may be applied to a person who possesses true religion, and practises strict morality, of whom our traditional Grand Master David predicated, "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace;" but it will incorrectly describe the perfection of a Mason's Lodge. To accomplish this, we must have recourse to the third definition, which embraces a natural or physical perfection, and represents anything that is in possession of all the faculties and powers which it ought, according to its particular nature and constitution, to possess, and is thereby enabled to perform all its legitimate operations. Thus in grammar we acknowledge a perfect tense; in music, a perfect chord; in geometry, a perfect figure; in logic, a perfect syllogism, &c. It is in this secondary or physical point of view that we contend for the perfection of a Mason's Lodge.

A Lodge is pronounced regular when meeting under the sanction of a warrant recognized by the authorities of the state or nation where it is held; in the absence of which the meetings would be illegal, the members liable to pains and penalties, and all its proceedings a sham and a delusion. Even initiations would be worthless, and all Brethren concerned therein would commit a grave offence against the laws of Masonry, and incur the penalty of suspension from their Masonic functions at the will and pleasure of the Grand Master. Indeed this authority is so indispensable that nothing can be substituted for it.

Should a W. M. be imprudent enough to open his Lodge in the absence of the warrant, he would render himself amenable to very serious consequences. And under such a flagrant disobedience of the first principles of jurisprudence, the Board of General Purposes would not be backward in inflicting the severest penalty. The breach of Masonic law would be absolute, and the evidence at hand. No question of right could be advanced-no doubt could be pleaded in extenuation of the fault. The irregularity would be prominent, the triad incomplete, the transactions illegal, and all the parties, so to say, would be out of court.

So necessary is it that a Lodge should be regular as well as just and perfect. The W. Master has a position to maintain, and so have his Wardens. It is a position of honour, though not unattended with its share of responsibility. Being the reward of merit, it ought to be guarded with the greatest vigilance, and administered with the greatest care.

Its judicious exercise may be productive of infinite good to the Brethren and the Lodge, while its wilful abuse is dangerous, and will, in many cases, be attended with disgrace and punishment.

The Lodge being thus systematically regular, it is the duty of the three Chief Officers to keep it so. And this can only be accomplished by the union of precept and example. Let either of these officers misconduct himself, and the consequences will speedily appear. The W. Master no sooner takes his chair and opens the Lodge, than his conduct is narrowly watched by the Brethren, although he may be perfectly unconscious of the fact, and a false step will not fail to be observed and commented on; nor will the members be backward to take advantage of any instance of irregularity, how trifling soever it may be; and no one can conjecture the extent to which an insubordinate movement may lead. An abnormal state of things may be inaugurated which may produce a calamitous result.

It would be well if the above hypothesis could be realized in every instance; but, sooth to say, with all the guards which have been imposed by authority to prevent the intrusion of any evil thing, it cannot be denied that Freemasonry is not exempt from the imperfections of all other institutions; and notwithstanding the wise precautionary laws by which the system is regulated, our Lodges frequently experience the difficulty of steering clear of those rocks and quicksands on which other societies have occasionally struck and been wrecked. A specious hypocrite sometimes gains admission into a Lodge, and