Innovation Notes

On 1723.06.24 What was amended?  

General Regulation XXXIX. Every Annual Grand Lodge has an inherent Power and Authority to make new Regulations, or to alter these, for the real Benefits of this ancient Fraternity: Provided always that the old Land Marks be carefully preservd, and that such Alterations and new Regulations be proposed and agreed to at the third Quarterly Communication preceding the Annual Grand Feast, and that they be offered also to the Perusal of all the Brethren before Dinner, in writing, even of the youngest Apprentice, the Approbation and Consent of the Majority of all the Brethren present being absolutely necessary to make the same binding and obligatory; which must, after Dinner and after the new Grand Master is installd, be solemnly desird; as it was desird and obtained for these Regulations, when propos'd by the Grand Lodge, to about 150 Brethren on St. John Baptist’s Day, 1721.

This regulation does not make it explicit that the Grand Lodge, which has the inherent power to make changes, has the sole power to do so.  The amendment spells this out.

It makes it clear that no Grand Master, no Committee, no Board, nor any group of PGMs can make or prevent any changes without the prior consent of the Annual Grand Lodge.  (If such a person or group could prevent changes, they could effectively deprive the Grand Lodge of its inherent and exclusive power to make changes!)

The Annual Grand Lodge was the General Assembly, consisting of all the lodge members, not just the Grand Lodge members!

In 1775 Preston pubished Illustrations of Masonry, 2nd Edition.  It contained a Ceremony of Initiation, with a  Summary of 9 charges and 7 regulations.  (pp 113-126)  

"The Secretary then reads the following regulations:

...

II. No alteration or innovation in the body of Masonry shall be made without the consent of the Grand Lodge first had and obtained.

...

These are the laws and regulations of the society of Free and accepted Masons.

...

Do you submit to these charges and do you promise to support these regulations, as Masters have done in all ages?

"  pp. 119-121

Between 1777 and 1779 Preston and other members of The Lodge of Antiquity came into conflict with the Grand Lodge, and in 1779 Preston et al were expelled by the Grand Lodge, after having seceded, and formed their own Grand Lodge.

In 1781 Preston published a 3rd edition of Illustrations of Masonry, in which he made several changes to the Summaries, all of them contrived to diminish the GL that had expelled him.

His Innovation falsification changed the Master-Elect's promise from: 

    "The GL alone has the power to make changes"

to "No one can make changes".

He also crafted text that suggested that GL edicts might be "subversive to the principles and groundwork of Masonry".

NB: 1788 edition 

-- dedication makes it appear that this is official

-- note the name Preston gives the GL:  "Antient and Honourable Society ..."

In 1789 Preston was reinstated, but he never corrected the falsifications he had made, in the subsequent editions: 1788, 1792, 1796, 1801, 1804, 1812.

In 1827 the Duke of Sussex formalized the Installation Ceremony, adopting Preston's corrupted version, reportedly from the 1804 edition.  (I have reasons to doubt this, and evidence of a USA connection -- work in progress)

Numerous writers have failed to call attention to what Preston, and his Antiquity Lodge Brother Sussex did.  Even HW Coil attributes the corruption to "careless reading".

1986.12.10 UGLE corrected the corrupted text.

2010, 2011, 2012 GLCPO officials have repeatedly and surreptitiously altered, suppressed, and concealed the information from the GL, and have falsified the minutes in the Proceedings to further conceal these actions.

In his April 2013 Communiqué message, the GLCPO DGM wrote:

"At our installations, the Master Elect is asked a series of questions which points out the duties of a Master of a Lodge. Remember those questions? Have you ever heard anyone say “NO” to any one of them? Questions, like, being a peacefully subject, obey the laws, avoid private piques and quarrels, respect true brethren. I encourage you at the next installation you attend, just don’t hear the words being spoken, but listen to them!"