a Past Master to preside in the absence of the Master and both Wardens, provided he was a member of that lodge.  But I confess that I can find no warrant for this rule in any portion of our fundamental laws.  The power of congregating the lodge in the absence of the Master has always been confined to the Wardens; and it therefore seems to me, that when both the Master and Wardens are absent, although a Past Master may be present, the lodge cannot be opened.

A Past Master is eligible for election to the chair, without again passing through the office of a Warden.

He is also entitled to a seat in the East, and to wear a jewel and collar peculiar to his dignity.

By an ancient regulation, contained in the Old Charges, Past Masters alone were eligible to the office of Grand Warden.  The Deputy Grand Master was also to be selected from among the Masters, or Past Masters of Lodges.  No such regulation was in existence as to the office of Grand Master, who might be selected from the mass of the fraternity.  At the present time, in this country, it is usual to select the Grand officers from among the Past Masters of the jurisdiction, though I know of no ancient law making such a regulation obligatory, except in respect to the affairs of Grand Wardens and Deputy Grand Master.

Chapter VI.

Of Affiliation.

Affiliation is defined to be the act by which a lodge receives a Mason among its members.  A profane is said to be “initiated,” but a Mason is “affiliated."[91]

Now the mode in which a Mason becomes affiliated with a lodge, in some respects differs from, and in others resembles, the mode in which a profane is initiated.

A Mason, desiring to be affiliated with a lodge, must apply by petition; this petition must be referred to a committee for investigation of character, he must remain in a state of probation for one month, and must then submit to a ballot, in which unanimity will be required for his admission.  In all these respects, there is no difference in the modes of regulating applications for initiation and affiliation.  The Fifth and Sixth General Regulations, upon which these usages are founded, draw no distinction between the act of making a Mason and admitting a member.  The two processes are disjunctively connected in the language of both regulations.  “No man can be made, or admitted a member * * * * without previous notice one month before;” are the words of the Fifth Regulation.  And in a similar spirit the Sixth adds:  “But no man can be entered a Brother in any particular lodge, or admitted to be a member thereof, without the unanimous consent of all the members of that lodge.”

None but Master Masons are permitted to apply for affiliation; and every Brother so applying must bring to the lodge to which he applies a certificate of his regular dismission from the lodge of which he was last a member.  This document is now usually styled a “demit,” and should specify the good standing of the bearer at the time of his resignation or demission.