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

On the 1st of January, for instance, A.B., having been put upon his
trial,
witnesses having been examined, his defense having been heard, was
found
guilty by his lodge of some offense, the enormity of which, whatever it
might be, seemed to require a suspension from Masonry for just three
months, neither more nor less. If the lodge had thought the crime still
greater, it would, of course, we presume, have decreed a suspension of
six, nine, or twelve months. But considering, after a fair, impartial,
and
competent investigation of the merits of the case (for all this is to
be
presumed), that the offended law would be satisfied with a suspension
of
three months, that punishment is decreed. The court is adjourned _sine
die_; for it has done all that is required--the prisoner undergoes his
sentence with becoming contrition, and the time having expired, the
bond
having been paid, and the debt satisfied, he is told that he must again
undergo the ordeal of another trial, before another court, before he
can
reassume what was only taken from him for a definite period; and that
it
is still doubtful, whether the sentence of the former court may not
even
now, after its accomplishment, be reversed, and a new and more severe
one
be inflicted.
The analogy of a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for a
certain period, and who, on the expiration of that period, is at once
released, has been referred to, as apposite to the case of a definite
suspension. Still more appropriately may we refer to the case of a
person
transported for a term of years, and who cannot return until that term
expires, but who is at liberty at once to do so when it has expired.
"Another capital offense against public justice," says Blackstone, "is
the returning from transportation, or being seen at large in Great
Britain
_before the expiration of the term for which the offender was sentenced
to
be transported." _ Mark these qualifying words: "before the expiration
of
the term:" they include, from the very force of language, the
proposition
that it is no offense to return _after_ the expiration of the term. And
so
changing certain words to meet the change of circumstances, but leaving
the principle unchanged, we may lay down the law in relation to
restorations from definite suspensions, as follows:
_It is an offense against the masonic code to claim the privileges of
Masonry, or to attempt to visit a lodge after having been suspended,
before the expiration of the term for which the offender was
suspended_.