THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

assemblies of Masons, convened in certain places; and that every lodge
to
be hereafter convened, except the four old lodges at this time
existing,
should be legally authorized to act by a warrant from the Grand Master
for
the time being, granted to certain individuals by petition, with the
consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge in communication; and that,
without such warrant, no lodge should be hereafter deemed regular or
constitutional."
This regulation has ever since continued in force, and it is the
original
law under which warrants of constitution are now granted by Grand
Lodges
for the organization of their subordinates.
Chapter II.
Of Lodges under Dispensation.
It is evident, from what has already been said, that there are two
kinds
of lodges, each regular in itself, but each peculiar and distinct in
its
character. There are lodges working under a dispensation, and lodges
working under a warrant of constitution. Each of these will require a
separate consideration. The former will be the subject of the present
chapter.
A lodge working under a dispensation is a merely temporary body,
originated for a special purpose, and is therefore possessed of very
circumscribed powers. The dispensation, or authority under which it
acts,
expressly specifies that the persons to whom it is given are allowed to
congregate that they may "admit, enter, pass, and raise Freemasons;" no
other powers are conferred either by words or implication, and, indeed,
sometimes the dispensation states, that that congregation is to be
"with
the sole intent and view, that the Brethren so congregated, admitted,
entered, and made, when they become a sufficient number, may be duly
warranted and constituted for being and holding a regular lodge."[33]
A lodge under dispensation is simply the creature of the Grand Master.
To
him it is indebted for its existence, and on his will depends the
duration
of that existence. He may at any time revoke the dispensation, and the
dissolution of the lodge would be the instant result. Hence a lodge
working under a dispensation can scarcely, with strict technical
propriety, be called a lodge; it is, more properly speaking, a
congregation of Masons, acting as the proxy of the Grand Master.