E. H. ADDINGTON

56 OUTLINE OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS
happen, it declares in advance, that lodges thus constituted, shall be held
and denounced as irregular, and all their members shall be expelled from
Masonry: and that all intercourse, (if any exists,) shall immediately cease
with the body which would thus constitute a lodge within the limits of the
jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the State of Louisiana.
The Symbolic Chambers created by the code of 1832 appear to have been
abolished by the General Regulations of 1836, and a portion of their functions
assigned to a Council of Rites. The code of 1844 says:
Art. 15. There is established in the bosom of the Grand Lodge of this
State, a Council of Rites, charged with the management of all that concerns
1 the Rites recognized and approved by the Grand Lodge.
This Council is divided into two sections, one of which is for the ancient
and accepted Scotch Rite, and the other for the Modern or French Rite :
each of these sections is composed of three members of the Grand Lodge,
appointed for the purpose, and belonging to the said Rites.
Art. 16 provides that the members of the Council of Rites shall be appointed
annually by the Grand Master, immediately after his installation.
Arts. 56—7 provide that petitions for charters for the Scotch or French
Rite, or for the cumulation of Rites shall be referred to the section of the
corresponding Rite, which shall inspect the provisional lodge, and report
to the Grand Lodge.*
Art. 23 declares that the Grand Lodge shall always hold its sessions
in the York Rite, and that the language used shall always be French.f
The prohibition against the admission of visitors is repeated in Art. 46,
unless they are officers or members of another Grand Lodge. At the annual
grand communication any Master Mason in good standing was entitled to
admission: and every Mason, even below the degree of Master, was admitted
into the Grand Lodge, when his presence was required either as a
witness or a party in a case pending therein—thus modifying sections 13
and 14 of the constitution of 1819, which had been in force until this
time.f
Article 51—61 prescribe the preliminaries to be observed in forming
new lodges, which correspond substantially with the provisions of the code
of 1832. Seven Master Masons, in good standing, intending to form a
new lodge, met and constituted themselves into a provisional lodge by
electing a W. M., two-Wardens, a Secretary and Treasurer, and choosing a
distinctive title: a written report of the proceedings of this meeting, with a
Tableau of the members of the new lodge, and a petition for a charter
recommended by a chartered lodge, or at least three members of the Grand
Lodge was required to be forwarded without delay to the Grand Lodge,
when the Grand Master was authorized to appoint a committee to inspect
the work of the provisional lodge and report to the Grand Lodge. On a
favorable report a charter was granted, and if the new lodge was in the
city of New Orleans, or within three miles thereof, it was constituted
and its officers installed by the Grand Master accompanied by the Grand
*The articles cited ahoye give all the information relative to tie Council of Rites
contained in the General Regulations of 1844. The records of the Grand Lodge show
that the duties of the Council of Eites corresponded with those now generally performed
by Committees on Chartered Lodges and Lodges U. D.
fArt. 23 was amended, Jan. 27, '846, so as to read: "The Grand Lodge shall hold its
meetings and work according to the usages of the York Rite."
JSee ante p. 26 in notis.