The glowing radiance of the Masonic Temple in the little village shone brightly that January night. The single blue light over the entrance beckoned to the groups wending their way to their Mecca - the Lodge room. The Brothers' wore the heavy clothing of the North Country, for the weather was intensely cold. Occasionally a pair of snow-shoes could be seen tucked under the arm of the bearer-not needed now on the cleared walks of the village, but necessary in the deep
snow of the surrounding hills. Singly and in groups they came, stamping the snow from their feet as they enter the building, then ascending the stairs to the upper floor, where wraps were removed, snow-shoes stacked in the corner, and fingers toasted at the glowing stove.

The buzz of conversation and the peals of laughter evoked from time to time by good-natured banter grew in heartiness as new groups filtered in. It was a scene familiar to each Brother present. And yet something seemed different tonight. Maybe it was the presence of a number of Brethren who attended Lodge but once or twice a year. Be that U it may, all seemed expectant, as if something unusual was about to happen.

It was installation Night!

A sudden hush as the gavel fell! Groups broke away to the chairs on the sides. Officers took their respective stations and places. Lodge was opened 'ft due form, the Worshipful Master officiating in the East for the last time. Routine matters were attended to, and under the head of "New Business" the East announced that Officers for the ensuing year would be installed. The Worshipful Master announced, too, that the Master-elect, prior to his installation must be invested with the Secrets of the Chair, in compliance with section 42 of Grand Lodge Constitutions. The Craft was then called from labor to refreshment. The Master and the Past Masters retired to the preparation room where, in that quiet presence, took place the investiture of the Master-elect. Then having returned to the Lodge room the Worshipful Master installed his successor and the other Officers of the Lodge.

This picture of installation night is given to show that the retiring Master legitimized his successor by investing him with the Secrets of the Chair before installing him - and, of course, this may be accomplished by a group investiture as is done in so many districts. It is this simple investiture to which I wish to call the attention of my readers. Many members of the Craft labor under a misconception concerning this ceremony. Past Masters frequently say that if the Master-elect of a Lodge has had the Past Master Degree in a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons he does not need to be invested. Nor does it stop there, for Past Masters' Associations have been known to exemplify at their meetings what they call the "Past Master Degree," believing that they were thus fulfilling the constitutional requirement. It is by no means unusual to meet Masters of Lodges who, from a Masonic stand point, lack legitimacy. During the first three months of my service as Grand Lecturer I invested ninety-two Masters and Past masters at Conventions, and this number included two District Deputy Grand Masters.

This condition exists, not because of a willful disregard of a time-honored constitutional requirement, but because of a deplorable lack of authentic information concerning it. Rarely do I find Brethren willing to ignore Grand Lodge law as found in the Constitutions. On the other hand, there is everywhere evidence of a real hunger for knowledge concerning its provisions.
This is shown in many ways. One of the most string is the keen interest displayed in Lodge meetings and Conventions when portions of the Grand Lodge Constitutions are read to the assembled Brethren. I frequently do this, not to seem to be an interpreter of our Law, which would be presumptuous on my part, and wholly outside the scope of my functions but to endeavor to hold up before the minds of those present an ideal whereby they may better serve the Craft through a broader knowledge of the Constitutions.

This branch of Masonic education is too frequently neglected by Worshipful Masters. The installation of the Worshipful Master should always be preceded by his investiture and those of us who are at all conversant with the provisions of our Grand Lodge Constitutions will recall that it says: "Previous to his instillation the Master-elect of the Lodge must be put in possession of the Secrets of the Chair."

It may be truthfully said that a lack of compliance is frequently due to lethargy on the part of the Craft. Certainly lethargy is at least partly responsible for permitting to exist the fallacy of the so-called "Past Master Degree." For as long as Freemasonry has been an organized Fraternity it has been deemed needful to put each Master, before his installation, in possession of what are known as the "Secrets of the Chair." These "Secrets" consist almost entirely of an obligation taken by the Master-elect in the quiet of the preparation room, or in the Lodge-room, where none but actual
Past masters, or masters, vouched for as such, are present. The ceremony is coming more and more to consist of the obligation only, without penalty, due-guard or sign. This is the case in the Grand Jurisdiction. It is the only legal ceremony we have. Anything else is purely illegal and unwarranted.

In Symbolic Masonry are only three Degrees---Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason. Where it has been taken over by Capitular Masonry and conferred under its jurisdiction only, the "Past Master" Degree is used to legitimize the candidate for the Royal Arch Degree, as it was required that none could receive the Degree of Royal Arch except Past Masters. In Masonic writings the Past Master of a Symbolic Lodge is known as an "actual" Past Master, and he who receives the Degree of Past Master in a Chapter of the Royal Arch body is known as a "virtual" Past Master. To use the ceremony of a Degree of a dependent body is simply to subordinate Symbolic Masonry to a dependent body - an act utterly wrong in principle and entirely useless with regard to the Constitutional requirement.

It is always difficult to be able to put one's finger precisely on the spot whence spring fallacies common to human organizations Possibly Mackey, in his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry," is partly to blame for the wide-spread misconduct on this point, particularly since so many copies of that publication have been sold during the past five or six years to Brethren and Lodges in this Grand Jurisdiction. In that useful work, under the caption of "Past Master," Mackey says:

"Past Master. An Honorary Degree conferred on the Master of a Lodge at his installation into office. In this Degree the necessary instructions are conferred respecting the various ceremonies of the Order, such as installations, processions, the laying of corner stones, etc. When a brother who has never before presided, has been elected Master of a Lodge, an emergent Lodge of Past Masters, consisting of not less than three, is convened and all but Past Masters retiring, the Degree is conferred upon the newly elected officer."

In this Mackey is entirely wrong. Above all things the chapter work is not, and must not be, used at the Instillation of a Master-elect. No Chapter Mason who has not been installed as Master of a symbolic Lodge would be permitted to be present when the Secrets of the chair are imparted to the Master-elect. After that quiet ceremony the installation in the Lodge room proceeds when any Master Mason in good standing may be present. What I want to emphasize to the Craft of New York State is this: Symbolic Masonry is one thing and Capitular Masonry is another. Above all else, Symbolic Masonry is the foundation upon which all dependent bodies have to rest. He who is a Master Mason possesses the ranking Degrees of the Craft. If he takes on anything else by virtue of his membership in the Lodge, that, of course, is his privilege, and only because he is a Master Mason. He can no more bring his Chapter work it into the Lodge, or take to himself any privilege because he is a member of that body, than he could bring in any of the features or titles belonging to the many other bodies depending for their membership on the mother body, namely, Craft Masonry.

Such are the facts. Let us not be misled. Let us take the time to search out the truth and for all time dismiss from our minds the travesty of the "Past Master Degree."

The obligation to be used at the investiture of the Master elect has been imparted to the Grand Lecturer by Grand Lodge through the Board of Custodians. In turn this obligation will be imparted by him to those members of the Craft entitled to it, through the Assistant Grand Lecturers, and to Masters and actual Past Masters at Conventions at times when these brethren will be called together for this purpose. In many Districts this has already been done. The work will goon until all are informed. Then there will be no longer any excuse whatever for the Master who finds himself wielding the gavel of his Lodge but is unlegitimized.

Not long ago I heard a Past Grand Master say that one of the great dangers of the Craft lay in the self complacency of its members. He was right. We are too content to sit idly by and let the other Brother bear the burden. All cannot be leaders, but all can work, and above all each of us can have a firm reason for our Masonic faith. Let us not be self-complacent with regard to this Constitutional requirement. All of us, particularly if we are past Masters, can make I tour business to see that our Worshipful Masters are legitimized by being properly invested with the Secrets of the Chair.

In 1936 Grand Lodge adopted the "Ceremony of Investiture" which is the vehicle for the Secrets of the Chair and constitutes the only regular method of legitimizing the Master Elect.

This Ceremony is written in two forms, the short form for use in the ante-room or Lodge room on the evening of instillation and the longer form, which is the short form amplified or elaborated on, for the use of a group of Lodges that wish to unite in this Ceremonial.

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