INSTITUTING AND CONSTITUTING NEW LODGE
Ceremony for Instituting a Lodge Under Dispensation.
The members of the new Lodge, whether they are to be instituted by the Grand Master, or by a brother deputized by him, will, in either case, be notified by the Master to assemble in their Lodge room at the time determined upon. After the brethren are assembled, the Grand Master, or Instituting Officer, will assume the East and announce the object of the meeting. He then causes the Letter of Dispensation to be read, after which the names of the officers appointed by the Grand Master and by the Master of the new Lodge will be announced. As these names are called, the officers will form in line near and facing the East, when each officer will be invested with his jewel. The new Master will then be seated in the East, on the right of the Instituting Officer. The Wardens and other officers will take their respective stations. The Instituting Officer will then open the Lodge on the third degree of Masonry, and deliver to the officers and brethren the following
Charges to the Officers and Brethren.
Inst. Off.: Worshipful Master: (Who rises.) The Grand Master having committed to your care the superintendence and government of the brethren who are to compose this new lodge, you cannot be insensible of the obligations which devolve on you, as their head, nor of your responsibility for the faithful discharge of the important duties attached to your office.
The honor, reputation, and usefulness of your Lodge will materially depend on the skill and assiduity with which you manage its concerns; while the happiness of its members will be generally promoted in proportion to the zeal and ability with which you propagate the genuine principles of our institution.
For a pattern of imitation, consider the sun, which, rising in the east, regularly diffuses light and luster to all within its circle. In like manner, it is in your province to spread and communicate light and instruction to the brethren of your Lodge. Forcibly impress upon them the dignity and high importance of Masonry; and seriously admonish them never to disgrace it. Charge them to practice out of the Lodge, those duties which they have been taught in it; and by amiable, discreet, and virtuous conduct, to convince mankind of the goodness of the Institution; so that, when any one is said to be a member of it, the world may know that he is one to whom the burdened heart may pour out its sorrows, to whom distress may prefer its suit, whose hand is guided by justice, and whose heart is expanded by benevolence. In short, by a diligent observance of the by-laws of your Lodge, the Constitution of Masonry, and above all, the Holy Scriptures, which are given as a rule and guide to your faith, you will be enabled to acquit yourself with honor and reputation.
Charge to the Wardens.
Brothers Senior and Junior Wardens: (Who are called up by one knock.) You are too well acquainted with the principles of Masonry to warrant any distrust that you will be found wanting in the discharge of your respective duties. What you have seen praiseworthy in others you should carefully imitate, and what in them may have appeared defective, you should in yourselves amend. You should be examples of good order and regularity, for it is only by a due regard to the laws, in your own conduct, that you can expect obedience to them from others. You are assiduously to assist the Master in the discharge of his trust, diffusing light and imparting knowledge to all whom he shall place under your care. In the absence of the Master you will succeed to higher duties; your acquirements must therefore be such that the Craft may never suffer for want of proper instruction. From the spirit which you have hitherto evinced, I entertain no doubt that your future conduct will be such as to merit the applause of your brethren, and the testimony of a good conscience.