But on the 24th June, 1717, the Grand Lodge of England adopted the following regulation:  “That the privilege of assembling as Masons, which had hitherto been unlimited, should be vested in certain lodges or 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.

With these views of the origin and character of lodges under dispensation, we will be better prepared to understand the nature and extent of the powers which they possess.