"5. The prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every assem bly of the Craft, wheresoever and whensoever held, is a fifth landmark. It is in consequence of this law, derived from ancient usage, and not from any special enactment, that the Grand Master assumes the chair, or, as it is called in England, 'the throne,' at every communication of the Grand Lodge ; and that he is also entitled to preside at the com munication of every subordinate lodge, where he may happen to be present. • " 6. The prerogative of the Grand Master to grant dispensations for conferring degrees at irregular times is another, and a very important, landmark. The statutory law of Masonry requires a month, or other determinate period, to. elapse be-• tween the presentation of a petition and the election of a candidate. But the Grand Master has the power to set aside or dispense with this pro bation, and to allow a candidate to be initiated at once. This preroga tive he possessed, in common with all Masters, before the enactment of the law requiring a probation, and, ' as no statute can impair his prero gative, he still retains the power, although the masters of lodges no longer possess it.
" 7. The prerogative of the Grand Master to give dispensations for opening and holding lodges is another landmark'. Ile may grant, in virtue of this, ro a sufficient number of Masons, the privilege of meeting together and conferring degrees. The lodges thus estab lished nre called lodges under dispensation.' They are strictly creatures of the Gaud Master, created by his autho'ity, existing only during his will a.id pleasure, and liable at any naiinent to bt dissolved at his They may be continued for a day,a month, or six months; but whataver be the period of their existence, they are indebted for that existence solely to the grae.e of the Grand Master.
" 8. The prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons at sight is a landmark which is closely con nected with the preceding one. There has been much misapprehen sion in relation to this landmark; which misapprehension has some times led to a denial of its existence in jurisdictions where the Grand Master was, perhaps, at the very time substantially exercising the prerogative, without the slightest remark or opposition. It is not to be supposed that the Grand Master can retire with a profane into a private room, and there, without assistance, confer the degrees of Freemasonry upon him. No such prerogative exists, and yet many be lieve that this is the so-much-talked of right of making Masons at sight.' The real mode and the only mode of exercising the prerogative is this The Grand Master summons to his assistance .r...st less than six other Masons, convenes a Lodge, and with out any previous probation, but on sight of the candidate, confers the degrees upon him, after which 110 dissolves the Lodge, and dismisses the brethren. Lodges thus con
vened for special purposes aro called ' occasional lodges.' This is the only way iu which any Grand Master within the records of the institution has ever been known to 'make a Mason at sight.' The prerogative is dependent upon that of granting dispensations to open and hold lodges. It' the Grand Master has the power of granting to any other &Bison the privilege of presiding over lodges working by his dispen Ration, he may assume this privilegt cf presiding to himself; and as in one can deny his right to revoke he dispensation granted to a number of brethren at a distance, and t( dissolve the Lodge at his pleasure. it will scarcely be contended tha he may not revoke his dispensation for a Lodge over which be hiinsel has been presiding within a day, ani dissolve the Lodge as soon as th( business for which he had assemblei it is accomplished. The making of Masons at sight is only the con ferring of the degrees by the Gra/3C. Master, at once, in an oecasiona: Lodge, constituted by his dispensing power for the purpose, and over which he presides in person.
"9. The necessity for Masons tt congregate in lodges is another Landmark. It is not to be under stood by this that any ancient Land. mark has directed that permanent organization of subordinate lodges which constitutes one of the featureE of the Ma.sonic system as it non ' revails. But the Landmarks of the Order always prescribed that Masons should, from time to time, congregate together for the purpose of either operative or speculative labor, and that these congregations should be called Lodges. Formerly these were extemporary meetings called together for special purposes, and then lissolved, the brethren de parting to meet again at other times and other places, according to the necessi ty of circa instances. But war rants of constitlition,l,y nent officers and annual arrears are modern innovations wholly outside the Landmarks, and dependent en tirely on the special enactments of R comparatively recent period.
"10. The government of the Craft, when so congregated in a Lodge by a Master and two Wardens, is also a Landmark. To show the influence of this ancient law, it may be oh served, by the way, that a congrega tion of Masons meeting together under any other government, as that for instance of a president and vice-president, or a chairman and sub-chairman, would not be recog nized as a Lodge. The presence of a Master and two Wardens is as essential to the valid organization of a Lodge as a warrant of consti tution is at the present day. The names, of course, vary in different languages, the Master, for instance, being called ' Venerable ' in French Masonry, and the Wardens, Sur veillants,' but the officers, their number, prerogatives and duties are everywhere identical.