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

During the pendency of an appeal, the sentence of the subordinate lodge
is
held in abeyance, and cannot; be enforced. The appellant in this case
remains in the position of a Mason "under charges."
Chapter VI.
Of Restoration.
The penalties of suspension and expulsion are terminated by
restoration,
which may take place either by the action of the lodge which inflicted
them, or by that of the Grand Lodge.
Restoration from definite suspension is terminated without any special
action of the lodge, but simply by the termination of the period for
which
the party was suspended. He then at once reenters into the possession
of
all the rights, benefits, and functions, from which he had been
temporarily suspended.
I have myself no doubt of the correctness of this principle; but, as it
has been denied by some writers, although a very large majority of the
authorities are in its favor, it may be well, briefly, to discuss its
merits.
Let us suppose that on the 1st of January A.B. had been suspended for
three months, that is, until the 1st day of April. At the end of the
three
months, that is to say, on the first of April, A.B. would no longer be
a
suspended member--for the punishment decreed will have been endured;
and
as the sentence of the lodge had expressly declared that his suspension
was to last until the 1st of April, the said sentence, if it means
anything, must mean that the suspension was, on the said 1st of April,
to
cease and determine. If he were, therefore, to wait until the 1st of
May
for the action of the lodge, declaring his restoration, he would suffer
a
punishment of four months' suspension, which was not decreed by his
lodge
upon his trial, and which would, therefore, be manifestly unjust and
illegal.
Again: if the offense which he had committed was, upon his trial, found
to
be so slight as to demand only a dismissal for one night from the
lodge,