SECTION I.

THE INTERNAL QUALIFICATIONS.
The first of these internal qualifications is, that every candidate for initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry must come of his own free will and accord.* This is a peculiar feature of the Masonic institution that must commend it to the respect of every generous mind. In other associations, it is considered meritorious in a member to exert his influence in obtaining applications for admission, but it is wholly uncongenial with the spirit of our Order to persuade any one to become a Mason. "Whosoever seeks a knowledge of our mystic rites, must first be prepared for the ordeal in his heart : he must not only be endowed with the necessary moral qualifications which would fit him for admis- sion into a society which is founded on the purest
* Preston, (lllml. p. 32, note, Ol. ed.) lays down the following as " the Declaration to be assented to by every candidate previous to initiation, and to be subscribed by his name at full length," and this form of declaration, it may be added, has been almost verbally adhered to by all subsequent authorities •
" I, [A. B.,] being free by birth, and of the full age of twenty-one years, do declare, that, unbiased by the improper solicitation of friends, and unin- fluenced by mercenary or other unworthy motives, I freely and voluntarily offer myself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry," &c.
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principles of virtue and religion, but he must come, too, uninfluenced by the persuasions of friends. This is a settled usage of the Order, and therefore nothing can be more painful to a true Mason than to see this usage violated by young and heedless brethren. It cannot be denied that this usage is sometimes violated ; and this habit of violation is one of those unhappy influences often almost in- sensibly exerted upon Masonry by the existence of the many imitative societies to which the present age, like those which preceded it, has given birth, and which resemble Masonry in nothing, except in having some sort of a secret ceremony of initiation. And hence there are some men who, coming among us, imbued with the principles and accustomed to the usages of these modern societies * in which the persevering solicitation of candidates is considered as a legitimate and even laudable practice, bring with them these preconceived notions, and consider it as their duty to exert all their influence in per- suading their friends to become members of the Craft. Men who thus misconceive the true policy
* The evil influences exerted by these societies on our institution have frequently attracted attention. The Grand Inspectors for the city of Balti- more, in the Grand Dodge of Maryland, make on this subject the following remarks : " Many are crowding into our institution from other secret so- cieties, having their prejudices and peculiar ideas and notions, with a disposi- tion to make Masonry conform to what they have been taught elsewhere ; and finding places of power and honor easy of access, are hardly sensible of the burdens imposed upon Entered Apprentices, or conscious of what ma- terial is necessary for the building, before they are superintending, as Mas ters, its construction, and sometimes seem indignant that they should be told they are spoiling the temple." — Proceedings G. L. of Md., 1857, p. 35.
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of our institution, should be instructed ly their older and more experienced brethren that it is wholly in opposition to all our laws and principles to ask any one to become a Mason, or to exercise any kind of influence upon the minds of others, except that of a truly Masonic life and a practical exemplification of the tenets by which they may be induced to ask admission into our Lodges. We must not seek — we are to be sought.
And if this were not an ancient law, imbedded in the very cement that upholds our system, policy alone would dictate an adherence to the voluntary usage. We need not now fear that our institution will suffer from a deficiency of members. Our greater dread should be that, in its rapid extension, less care may be given to the selection of candi- dates than the interests and welfare of the Order demand. There can, therefore, be no excuse for the practice of persuading candidates, but every hope of safety in avoiding such a practice. It should always be borne in mind that the candidate who comes to our altar, not of his own " free will and accord,"* but induced by the persuasion of his friends, no matter how worthy he may otherwise be, violates, by so coming, the requirements of the institution on the very threshold of its temple, and, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, fails to be- come imbued with that zealous attachment to the
* The oldest rituals which I have been enabled to consult, preserve this 01 a similar form of words. The voluntary principle has always prevailed an been recognized in every country.
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Order which is absolutely essential to the formation of a true Masonic character.
The next internal qualification of a candidate is that, in making his application, he must be uninflu- enced by mercenary motives* If the introduction of candidates under the influence of undue solicita- tion is attended with an injurious effect upon the institution, how much more fatal must be the results when the influence exerted is of a mean and ignoble kind, and when the applicant is urged onwards only by the degrading hopes of pecuniary interest or personal aggrandizement. The whole spirit of the Order revolts at the very idea of such a prostitution of its noble purposes, and turns with loathing from the aspirant who seeks its mysteries, impelled, not by the love of truth and the desire of knowledge, but by the paltry inducements of sordid gain.
" There was a time," says an eloquent and discern- ing Brother,'!* " when few except the good and true either sought for or gained admission into Masonic Lodges, for it was thought that such alone could find their affinities there. Masons were then corn- par atively few, and were generally known and dis- tinguished for those qualifications which the teach- ings of the Order require on the part of all who apply for admission. They were not of those who would make merchandise of its benefits, by prosti-
* This qualification is included in the Declaration from Preston, already quoted on a preceding page.
1 Brother W. H. Howard, Past Grand Master of California. See his Address in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of California, 1857, p. 12,
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tuting tliem to the purposes of individual emolu- ment. They were not of those who would seek through Masonic appliances to re-invigorate a de- caying reputation, and gain a prominency within the Lodge that was unattainable without it ; or worse still, to use its influences to gain prominency elsewhere."
But that which was unknown in the times when Masonry was struggling for its existence, and when prejudice and bigotry barely tolerated its presence, has now become a " crying evil" — when Masonry, having outlived its slanderers, and wrought out its own reputation, is to be classed among the most popular institutions of the day. And hence it be- comes incumbent on every Mason closely to inquire whether any applicant for initiation is invited to his pursuit by a love of truth, a favorable opinion which he has conceived of the institution, and a desire, through its instrumentality, of benefiting his fellow creatures, or whether he comes to our doors under the degrading influences of mercenary motives.
The presence of these internal qualifications is to be discovered, as I have already said, from the statements of the candidate himself ; and hence by an ancient usage of the Order, which should never be omitted, a declaration to the necessary effect is required to be made by the candidate in the presence of the Stewards of the Lodge, or a committee ap- pointed for that purpose, in an adjoining apartment, previous to his initiation. The oldest form of this
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declaration used in this country is that contained in Webb's Monitor,""" and is in these words :
" Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, before these genthmen, that, unbiassed by friends and uninfluenced by mercenary motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry ?
" Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, before these gentlemen, that you are prompted to solicit the privileges of Masonry by a favorable opinion conceived of the insti- tution, a desire of knowledge, and a sincere wish of being serviceable to your fellow creatures ?
" Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, before these gentlemen, that you will cheerfully conform to all the ancient established usages and customs of the Fraternity V
Some Grand Lodges have slightly added to the number of these questions, but the three above cited appear to be all that ancient usage warrants or the necessities of the case require.
SECTION n.
THE EXTERNAL QUALIFICATIONS.
We have already said that the external qualifica- tions of every candidate are based upon his moral and religious character, the frame of his body, the constitution of his mind, and his social position. These qualifications are therefore of a fourfold nature, and must be considered under the distinct heads of Moral, Physical, Intellectual and Political.
* Edition of 1808, p. 32. The Declaration previously published by Fees ton differs very slightly from this.
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Moral Qualifications.
All the old Constitutions, from those of York in 926, to the Charges approved in 1722, refer, in pointed terms, to the moral qualifications which should distinguish a Mason, and, of consequence, a candidate who desires to be admitted into the Fra- ternity. * The Charges of 1722 commence with the emphatic declaration that " a Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law ; and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine. "t Obe- dience, therefore, to a particular practical law of morality and belief in certain religious dogmas, seem to constitute the moral qualifications of every candidate for admission into the Fraternity. The proper inquiry will then be into the nature of this law of conduct and these dogmas of belief.
The term " moral law," in a strictly theological sense, signifies the Ten Commandments which were given to the Jewish nation ; but although it is admit- ted that an habitual violatior of the spirit of these laws would disqualify a man from being made a Mason, I am disposed , to give a wider latitude tc
* " Every Mason shall cultivate brotnerly love, and the love of God, and frequent holy church."— Old York Constitutions, point 1. " Ye shall be true men to God and the holy church, and to use no error or heresy by your understanding and by wise men's teaching." — Installation Charges of 1686, No. 1. " The persons admitted members of a Lodge must be good and true men, . .... no immoral or scandalous men, but of good report." Charges of 1722, No. 3. All of these are summed up in tbe ritualistic phrase that the candidate must be " under the tongue of good report."
f Anderson's Constitutions, edit. 1723, p. 50.
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the definition, and to suppose that the moral lata ic denotes the rule of good and evil, or of right and wrong, revealed by the Creator and inscribed on man's conscience even at his creation, and conse- quently binding upon him by divine authority."* Dr. Anderson, the compiler of the first edition of the Book of Constitutions, seems, in the latter part of his life, to have inclined to this opinion ; for, in the second edition of the same work, published in 1738, he modified the language of the Charge above cited, in these words : " A Mason is obliged by his tenure to observe the moral law as a true Noachida,"t thus extending the limits of the law to those Pre- cepts of Noah which are supposed to be of universal obligation among all nations. J It is true that on the publication of the third edition of the Constitu- tions, in 1755, the Grand Lodge of England re- stored the original reading of the Charge ; but the fact that the alteration had once been made by Anderson, is strong presumptive evidence that he was unwilling to restrict the moral code of Masonry to the commandments set forth by the Jewish law- giver. Apart from the fact that many learned and pious Christian divines have doubted how far the
* Encyclop. of Relig. KnowJecl, art. Law. Boston, 1835.
t Anderson's Constitutions, 2d edit., 1738, p. 143.
$ As these Precepts of the patriarch Noah are frequently referred to as having been the constitutions of our ancient brethren, it may be well to enumerate them. They are seven in number, and are as follows : 1. Re- nounce all idols. 2. Worship the only true God. 3. Commit no murder. 4. Be not defiled by incest. 5. Do not steal. 6. Be just. 7. Eat no flesb with blood in it.
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Jewish law is to be considered binding, except as it is confirmed by the express sanctions of the New Testament* the consideration that Masonry, being a cosmopolitan institution, cannot be prescribed within the limits of any particular religion, must lead us to give a more extended application to the words " moral law," contained in the old Charge. Hence, then, we may say, that he who desires to be- come a Mason, must first be qualified for initiation by a faithful observanse of all those principles of morality and virtue which practically exhibit them- selves in doing unto others as he would that they, in like circumstances, should do unto him. This constitutes the golden rule — the true basis of all moral law. The man who thus conducts himself will necessarily receive not only the reward of his own conscience, but the approbation and respect of the world ; to which latter consequence, as an evi- dence of a well-spent life, the ritual refers when it requires, as one of the qualifications of a candidate, that he should be " under the tongue of good re- port." The man who submits to this rule, will of necessity observe the decalogue ; not always because it is the decalogue, but because its dictates are the dictates of right and justice ; and he will thus come strictly within the provisions of the old Charge,
* Thus Martin Luther says : " The law belongs to the Jews, and binds us no more. From the text it is clear that the Ten Commandments also do not belong to as, because he has not led us out of Egypt, but the Jews only. Moses we will take to be our teacher, but not as our lawgiver, unless he agrees with the New Testament and the natural law." Unterrichl wie sich die Christen in Mosen schicken soUen.
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even in its most limited acceptation, and will of course " obey the moral law.'7
The religious qualifications are embraced in the same Charge, under the expression, that if a Mason " rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine."
A belief in God is one of the unwritten Land- marks of the Order, requiring no regulation or statutory law for its confirmation. Such a belief results from the very nature of the Masonic insti- tution, and is set forth in the rituals of the Order as one of the very first pre-requisites to the cere- mony of initiation. This Divine Being, the creator of heaven and earth, is particularly viewed in Ma- sonry in his character as the Great Master Builder of the Worlds, and is hence masonically addressed as the Grand Architect of the Universe.*
But consequent on a belief in him, and indeed inseparably connected with it, is a belief in a resurrection to a future life. This doctrine of a resurrection is also one of the great Landmarks of the Order, and its importance and necessity may be estimated from the fact, that almost the whole de- sign of speculative Masonry, from its earliest ori- gin, seems to have been to teach this great doctrine of the resurrect ion. f
As to any other religious doctrines, Masonry
* Very usually abbreviated thus, " G.A.O.T.U."
f " This oar Order is a positive contradiction to the Judaic blindness and infidelity, and testifies our faith concerning the resurrection of the body.''— Hutchinson, Spirit of Masonry, p. 101.
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leaves its candidates to the enjoyment of their own opinions, whatever they may be.* The word " liber- tine," which is used in the old Charges, conveyed, at the time when those Charges were composed, a meaning somewhat different from that which is now given to it. Bailey defines libertinism to be " a false liberty of belief and manners, which will have no other dependence but on particular fancy and passion ; a living at large, or according to a per- son's inclination, without regard to the divine laws."t A " religious libertine" is, therefore, a re- jector of all moral responsibility to a superior power, and may be well supposed to be a denier of the existence of a Supreme Being and of a future life. Such a skeptic is, therefore, by the innate con- stitution of speculative Masonry, unfit for initiation, because the object of all Masonic initiation is to teach these two great truths.
Within a few years an attempt has been made by some Grand Lodges to add to these simple, moral, and religious qualifications, another, which requires a belief in the divine authenticity of the Scriptures. :J
* " Though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves." — Charges of 1722, No. 1.
t Universal Etymological English Dictionary, anno 1737.
rj: In 1820, the Grand Lodge of Ohio resolved that " in the first degrees of Masonry, religious tenets shall not be a barrier to the admission or advance ment of applicants, provided they profess a belief in God and, his holy ioord.v — Proceedings of G. L. of Ohio, from 1808 to 1847 inclusive. Volumbus, i >57, p. 113. And in 1854 it adopted a resolution declaiing
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It is much to be regretted that Masons will some- times forget the fundamental law of their institu- tion, and endeavor to add to or to detract from the perfect integrity of the building, as it was left to them by their predecessors. Whenever this is done, the beauty of our temple must suffer. The Land- marks of Masonry are so perfect that they neither need nor will permit of the slightest amendment. Thus in the very instance here referred to, the fundamental law of Masonry requires only a belief in the Supreme Architect of the universe, and in a future life, while it says, with peculiar toleration, that in all other matters of religious belief, Masons are only expected to be of that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves. Under the shelter of this wise pro- vision, the Christian and the Jew, the Mohammedan and the Brahmin, are permitted to unite around our common altar, and Masonry becomes, in practice as well as in theory, universal. The truth is, that Masonry is undoubtedly a religious institution — its religion being of that universal kind in which all men agree, and which, handed down through a long succession of ages, from that ancient priesthood who
" that Masonry, as we have received it from our fathers, teaches the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures.'" — Proc. G. L., Ohio, 1854, p. 72. Commenting on this resolution, the Committee of Correspondence of the G. L. of Alabama say : " That some Masons may teach the divine authen- ticity of the Holy Scriptures, is true, because some Masons are Christians ; but Masonry does nothing of the sort, but leaves every man to his own opinion upon that subject, as it does upon his politics, his religion, his pro fession."— Proc. G. L. Ala., 1855, p. 67.
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first taught it, embraces the great tenets of the exist- ence of Gocl and the immortality of the soul — tenets which, by its peculiar symbolic language, it has preserved from its foundation, and still con- tinues, in the same beautiful way, to teach. Beyond this, for its religious faith, we must not and can- not go.
It may, then, I think, be laid down as good Ma- sonic law, with respect to the moral and religious qualifications of candidates, that they are required to be men of good moral character, believing in the existence of God and in a future state. These are all the moral qualifications that can be demanded, but each of them is essential.
Physical Qualifications.
The physical qualifications of a candidate are re- peatedly alluded to in the ancient Charges and Constitutions, and may be considered under the three heads of Sex, Age, and Bodily Conformation.
1. As to Sex. — It is an unquestionable Landmark of the Order, and the very first pre-requisite to ini- tiation, that the candidate shall be " a man." This of course prohibits the initiation of a woman. This Landmark arises from the peculiar nature of our speculative science as connected with an operative art. Speculative Masonry is but the application of operative Masonry to moral and intellectual pur- poses. Our predecessors wrought, according to the traditions of the Order, at the construction of a ma-
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tcrial temple, while we are engaged in the erection of a spiritual edifice — the temple of the mind. They employed their implements for merely me- chanical purposes ; we use them symbolically, with a more exalted design. Thus it is that in all our emblems, our language, and our rites, there is a beautiful exemplification and application of the rules of operative Masonry to a spiritual purpose. And as it is evident that King Solomon employed in the construction of his temple only hale and hearty men and cunning workmen, so our Lodges, in imitation of that great exemplar, demand, as an indispensable requisite to initiation into our myste- ries, that the candidate shall be a man, capable of performing such work as the Master shall assign him. This is, therefore, the origin of the Land- mark which prohibits the initiation of females.
2. As to Age. — The ancient Regulations do not express any determinate number of years at the expiration of which a candidate becomes legally en- titled to apply for admission. The language used is, that he must be of " mature and discreet age."* But the usage of the Craft has differed in various countries as to the construction of the time when this period of maturity and discretion is supposed' to have arrived. The sixth of the Regulations, adopted in 1663. prescribes that '; no person shall be accepted unless he be twenty-one years old, or more ■" but the subsequent Regulations are less ex-
* " The persons admitted members of a Lodge mast be of mature and discreet age." — Charges of 1722, iii.
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plicit. At Frankfort-on-the-Mainc, the ago required k twenty ; in the Lodges of Switzerland, it has been fixed at twenty-one. The Grand Lodge of Hanover prescribes the age of twenty-five, but per- mits the son of a Mason to be admitted at eighteen.* The Grand Lodge of Hamburg decrees that the lawful age for initiation shall be that which in any country has been determined by the laws of the land to be the age of majority .t The Grand Orient of France requires the candidate to be twenty-one, unless he be the son of a Mason, who has performed some important service to the Order, or unless he be a young man who has served six months in the army, when the initiation may take place at the age of eighteen. In Prussia the required age is twenty-five. In England it is twenty-one, except in cases where a dispensation has been granted for an earlier age by the Grand or Provincial Grand Mas- ter. In Ireland the age must be twenty-one, except in cases of dispensation granted by the Grand Mas- ter or Grand Lodge. In the United States, the usage is general that the candidate shall not be less than twenty-one years of age at the time of his ini- tiation, and no dispensation can issue for conferring the degrees at an earlier period.
This variety in the laws relating to this subject conclusively proves that the precise age has never been determined by any Landmark of the Order,
* Statuten der Grossloge des Konigreichs Hanover, 1839, § 222. f Constitutions Buch der Grossen Loge zu Hamburg, 1845, § 459.
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Tlie design and nature of the institution must in this case be our only guide. The speculative charac- ter of the society requires that none shall be admit- ted to its mysteries except those who have reached maturity and discretion ; but it is competent for any Grand Lodge to determine for itself what shall be considered to be that age of maturity. Perhaps the best regulation is that adopted by the Grand Lodge of Hamburg. Hence the Masons of this country have very wisely conformed to the pro- visions of the law on this subject, which prevail in all the States, and have made the age of twenty- one* the legal one for candidates applying for admission.
" An old man in his dotage" is, like " a young man under age," equally incapable of initiation. The reason in both cases is the same. There is an absence of that maturity of intellect which is re- quired for the comprehension of our mysteries. In one instance the fruit is still green ; in the other, it has ripened and rotted, and is ready to fall from the tree. Dotage may be technically defined to be an impotence of body as well as of mind, from excess- ive old age. It is marked by childish desires and pursuits, a loss of judgment and memory, and a senseless and unconnected garrulity of speech. No precise age can be fixed to which these intellectual deficiencies belong. They appear earlier in some mental constitutions than they do in others. The
* Twenty-one is the age of majority prescribed by the civil law.
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Lodge must determine for itself as to whether the candidate comes within the limits of the objection based upon his dotage. Fortunately, it, is rarely that a Lodge or its committee will be called upon to decide such questions. Old men in their dotage are not usually candidates for Masonic initiation. And however old an applicant may be, if he is in the possession of his healthy mental faculties, his age alone will constitute no disqualification. It is not the number of his years, but their effect on his mind, that is to be the subject of investigation.
3. As to Bodily Conformation. — There is no part of Masonic jurisprudence which has given greater occasion to discussion in recent years than that which refers to the bcdily conformation which is required of the candidate. While some give a strict interpretation to the language of the ancient Constitutions, and rigorously demand the utmost perfection of limbs and members, there are others, more lax in their construction, who reject only such as are from natural deformity or subsequent injury, unable to perform the work of speculative Ma- sonry. In a controversy of this kind, the only way to settle the question is, to make a careful and impartial examination of the authorities on which the law which relates to physical conforma- tion is founded.
The first written law that we find on this subject is contained in the fifth article of the Gothic Con- stitutions, adopted at York, in the year 926, and is in these words :
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" A candidate must be without blemish, and have the full and proper use of his limbs ; for a maimed man can do the Craft no good."*
The next enactment is to be found in the Regula- tions of 1663, under the Grand Mastership of the Earl of St. Albans, and is in these words :
" No person hereafter shall be accepted a Freemason but such as are of able body."
The next Regulation, in order of time, is that contained in " The Ancient Charges at Makings/7 adopted about the year 1686, the manuscript of which was in the possession of the Lodge of Anti- quity at London. It is still more explicit than those which preceded it, and is in the following language :
" That he that be made be able in all degrees ; that is, free born, of a good kindred, true, and no bondsman ; and that he have his right limbs as a man ought to have."
* As this is a matter of great importance, I append the original language of this article of the Gothic, or Old York Constitutions, as published by Mr, Hnlliwell :
" The mayster schal not, for no vantage,
Make no prentes that ys outrage ;
Hyt ys to mene, as Je mowe here,
That he have hys lymes hole a lie y-fere ;
To the craft hyt were gret schame,
To make an halt mon and a lame ;
For an unparfyt mon of suche blod,
Schulde do the craft but lytul good.
Thus 5e mowe knowe everychon,
The craft wolde have a myihty mon ;
A maymed mon he hath no my3ht,
3e mowe hyt knowe long 3er ny3ht"
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And lastly, similar declarations, with respect to physical ability, are made in the Charges approved in 1722, which are as follows :
" No Master should take an Apprentice unless he has suf- ficient employment for him, and unless he be a perfect youth, having no maim or defect in his body that may render him uncapable of learning the art of serving his Master's lord, and of being made a Brother," &c.
So far, then, the ancient Written Law of Masonry seems undoubtedly to have contemplated the neces- sity of perfection in the physical conformation of candidates, and the inadmissibility of all who had any defect of limb or member. In the early part of the last century, this opinion must have generally prevailed among the Craft ; for, in the second edi- tion of the Book of Constitutions, which was edited by Dr. Anderson, and, after perusal, approved offi- cially by such Masons as Desaguliers, Cowper and Payne, the language of the first edition was so altered as to leave no doubt of the construction that the brethren at that time put upon the clause relat- ing to physical qualifications. The Charge in this second edition is in the following unmistakable words :
" The men made Masons must be free born, (or no bond- men,) of mature ags and of good report, hail and sound, not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making.'1
When the schism took place in the Grand Lodge of England, in 1739, the Athol, or Ancient Masons, as they called themselves, adopted this construction
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of the law, as is evident from the fact that, in their Book of Constitutions, which they published under the title of the " Ahiman Rezon," they incorporated this Charge, word for word, from Anderson's edi- tion of 1738 *
From that time until very recently, the same rigid interpretation has been given to the law of physical qualifications, as will appear from the fol- lowing analysis of Grand Lodge decisions.
The " Ahiman Rezon" of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, published in 1783, adopts the precise language of Anderson's second edition, and there- fore requires the candidates to be " hale and sound, not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making."t
The same language is used in the " Ahiman Re- zon" of North Carolina and Tennessee, published in the year 18054
* See Dermott's " Ahiman Rezon, or a Help to all that are or would be Free and Accepted Masons." Lond. 1778, p. 29. Of course this work, emanating from a body now acknowledged to have been irregular, can have no authority in Masonic law. I quote it, however, to show what was the general feeling of the Fraternity, of both sides, on this subject of physical qualifications. There was here, at least, no difference of opinion.
f The Ahiman Rezon, abridged and digested, &c. Published by order of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. By William Smith, d.d. Phila., 1783, p. 28.
% The Ahiman Rezon and Masonic Ritual. Published by order of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina and Tennessee. Newbern, 1805, p. 18. It is, in fact, a quotation, and so marked, either from Anderson's second edi- tion, or from Dermott. But the same Grand Lodge, in 1851, adopted a qualifying explanation, which admitted maimed or dismembered candidates, provided their loss or infirmity would not prevent them from making ml* proficiency in Masonry.
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The " Aliiman Rezon" of South Carolina, pub- lished in 1807, is still more rigorous in its phraseo- logy, and requires that " every person desiring admission must be upright in body, not deformed or dismembered at the time of making, but of hale and entire limbs, as a man ought to be."* It is true that the Grand Lodge which issued this work was, at the time, an Athol Grand Lodge ; but the subse- quent editions of the work, published after the Grand Lodge of South Carolina had become regu- lar, in 1822 and 1852, retain the same language,'!' and the law has always been rigidly enforced in that jurisdiction.
The more recent opinions of a great number of modern Grand Lodges, or of the enlightened Masons who have composed their Committees on Corres- pondence, concur in the decision that the candidate for Masonry must be perfect and sound in all his limbs.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri, in 1823, unani- mously adopted the report of a committee of that body, which required, as a physical qualification of candidates for initiation, that they should be " sound in mind and all their members ;" and at the same time a resolution was enacted, declaring that " the Grand Lodge cannot grant a letter of dispensation
* An Ahiman Eezon, for the use of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina. By Bro. Frederick Dalcho, m. d. Charleston, 1807, p. 17.
t The Ahiman Bezon, or Boole of Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of South Carolina. Edited by Albert G. Mackey, ji. r». Charleston, 1852, p. 57.
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to a subordinate Lodge, working under its jurisdic tion, to initiate any person maimed, disabled, or wanting the qualifications established by ancient usage.*
The Committee of Correspondence of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, in 1848, made this candid ad- mission : " The conviction has been forced upon our minds, even against our wills, that we depart from the ancient Landmarks and usages of Masonry whenever we admit an individual wanting in one of the human senses, or who is in any particular maimed or deformed. "f
In 1846, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, in cautioning his brethren against the laxity with which the regulations relating to physi- cal and other qualifications were sometimes inter- preted, remarked as follows : " Let not any one who has not all the qualifications required by our Constitutions and Regulations, be admitted. See that they are perfect men in body and mind. "J
The Grand Lodge of Maryland, in 1848, adopted a resolution requiring its subordinates, in the initia- tion of candidates, " to adhere to the ancient law, (as laid down in our printed books,) which says he shall be of entire limbs."§
The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, (Bro. John P. Lewis,) in his annual address,
* Proceedings G. L. of Missouri, 1823, p. 5. t Proceedings G. L. of Georgia, 1848, p. 3G. i Proceedings G. L. of Ind., 184G. § Proceedings G. L. of Md., Nov., 1S43
5*
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in 1849, made the following very pertinent remarks on this subject :
" I received from the Lodge at Ashley a petition to initiate into our Order a gentleman of high respectability, who un- fortunately has been maimed. I refused my assent. . . . I have also refused a similar request from the Lodge of which I am a member. The fact that the most distinguished Ma- sonic body on earth has recently removed one of the Land- marks, should teach us to be careful how we touch those ancient boundaries."*
The Grand Lodge of Florida, at one time, was disposed to permit the initiation of maimed candi- dates, with certain restrictions, and accordingly adopted a provision in its constitution to that effect ; but subsequently, to borrow the language of Bro. T. Brown, the Grand Master, " more mature reflection and more light reflected from our sister Grand Lodges, caused it to be stricken from our consti- tution.'^
On the other hand, there appears to be among some Masons a strong disposition to lay aside the ancient Regulation, or at least so to qualify it as to take from it all its distinctive signification, and, by a qualification of the clause, to admit maimed or de- formed persons, provided that their maim or de- formity be not of such a grievous nature as to prevent them from complying with all the requisi-
* Proceedings G. L. of N. J., 1849. In the last sentence, lie alludes to the Grand Lodge of England, which substituted the word " free" for " fret born" in the old 0 larges.
t Proc. G. I u ol Fla. Address of Grand Master Brown.
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tions of the Masonic ritual.* This tendency to a manifest innovation arose from a mistaken view that the present system of speculative Masonry is founded on one that was formerly altogether opera- tive in its character ; and that as the physical qualifications originally referred solely to operative Masons, they could not be expected now to apply to the disciples of an entirely speculative science.
This opinion, erroneous as it is. has been very well set forth by the Committee of Correspondence of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, in the fol- lowing language :
" When Masonry was an operative institution — when her members were a fraternity of working men — monopolizing the architecture of the world, it was improper to introduce into the Fraternity any who were defective in limb or mem- ber ; for such imperfection would have prevented them from performing the duties of operative Masons. In j)rocess of time, the operative feature gave place to the speculative, when the reason for excluding maimed candidates no longer exist- ing, there was no impropriety in receiving them, provided their deformity, maim or infirmity, was not of such a nature as to prevent them from studying and appreciating specula- tive Masonry."f
Again : in a similar spirit of lax observance, and with the same mistaken views of the origin of the
* Thus the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Ohio says : " When the physical disabilities of a candidate are not such as to prevent him from being initiated into the several degrees and mysteries of Freemasonry, his admis- sion shall not be construed an infringement of the ancient Landmarks ; bat; on the contrary, will be perfectly consistent with the spirit of the institution.' — 17th Regulation.
t Proc. G. k of N. C, 1843. Report of Com. of Corresp., p. 104.
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institution, the Committee of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, in 1845, made the following remarks :
" Masonry originated in an age of the world comparatively rude and barbarous, at a time when strength of body was more valued than vigor of intellect. It was instituted by an association of men united together for the prosecution of physical labors. But even at this early period, their ties and obligations were fraternal. This made them solicitous to exclude from the Fraternity all who were likely to become burdensome, rather than useful, and consequently to require that initiates should be whole in body as well as sound in mind. But the world has changed, and Masonry has changed. A subsistence is now more easily obtained by mental endow- ments than by physical perfection. This institution has now become speculative and moral : it has entirely lost its opera- tive character. The reason for requiring bodily perfection in candidates has ceased to exist. "f
This supposed change of our institution from an entirely operative to an entirely speculative charac- ter— a supposition that has no foundation in history or tradition — appears to be the only reason that has ever been urged for the abrogation of an ancient law, and the abandonment of an universal usage. The argument has been repeatedly answered and overthrown by distinguished Masonic writers, but never more ably than by Bro. Yates, of New York, and by Bro. Rockwell, of Georgia.
Bro. Giles P. Yates, as Chairman of a Special Committee of the Grand Lodge of New York, makes the following admirable remarks on the pro-
t Proc. G. L. of Miss., 1845, p. 54. Report of Special Com. The report was agreed to,
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positions emanating from the Committee of tlie Grand Lodge of Mississippi :
" Freemasonry, in its original institution, was not ' formed by an association of men exclusively for the prosecution of physical labors.' It has always been speculative and moral. The secret societies of antiquity, from which we can trace a lineal descent, were not devoted exclusively to the physical labors attendant upon the erection of buildings, whether of wood or stone. They were the depositories of other arts and sciences besides architecture. They moreover taught sublime truths and duties towards God and regarding the world to come, as well as towards our neighbors, and the ' brothers of the mystic tie.' Our ancient brethren were, in effect, more eminently speculative or spiritual than operative or practical Masons. Those take too contracted a view of the subject who infer that, because in the sixteenth century and previous, the York architects in England Avere the al- most exclusive conservators of certain essentials in our mys- teries ; therefore the reason .of the law in question had reference in olden times to operative Masons only. The ra- tionale of the law, excluding persons physically imperfect and deformed, lies* deeper, and is more ancient than the source ascribed to it. It is grounded on a principle recog- nized in the earliest ages of the world, and will be found identical with that which obtained among the ancient Jews. In this respect the Levitical law was the same as the Masonic, which would not allow any ' to go in unto the veil' who had a blemish — a blind man, or a lame, or a man that was broken footed or broken handed, or a dwarf," &c*
In the ' proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, for the year 1852, is to be found an able report, by Bro. W. S. Rockwe?l, then the Chairman
*,Proc. G. L. of N. Y., 1843; p. 37.
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of the Committee of Correspondence, in which he discusses the question of the admission of maimed candidates. After tracing the existence of this law to remote antiquity, and finding it in the Egyptian and Mosaic rites, he proceeds to discuss its symbolic meaning in the following language :
" Aside from the argument derived from the letter of the laiv, its relaxation destroys, m an eminent degree, the sym- bolical relation of the Mason to his Order. The writer of these views has often had occasion to note the consistent harmony of the entire ritual of the Craft in considering the esoteric signification of its expressive symbols. We teach the neophyte that the wonderful structure which rose by the command of Solomon to be the visible dwelling place of the God of Israel, was built ' without the sound of axe or ham- mer, or other tool of iron being heard in the building,' wooden instruments alone being used to fix the stones, of which it was constructed, in their proper place. ' Stone and rock,' says Portal, ' on account of the hardness and the use to which they were put, became (among the Egyptians) the symbol of a firm and stable foundation. Relying on the interpreta- tion of the Hebrew, by one of the most celebrated Hebrew scholars of Germany, we shall consider the stone as the sym- bol of faith and truth. Precious stones in the Bible expressly bear the signification of Truth. Of this the Apocalypse furnishes many examples. The monuments of Egypt call precious stones the hard stones of truth. By contrast to the signification of truth and faith, the stone also received, in Egypt and the Bible, the signification of error and impiety, and was dedicated among the Egyptians to. the Infernal Spirit, the author of all falsehood. The stone specially con- secrated to Seth or Typhon, the Infernal Deity, was the cut stone ; and this species of stone received, in the language of the monuments, the name of Seth (Satan). The symbol of Truth was the hard, stone; that of Error, the soft stone, which
OF CANDIDATES. Ill
could be cut.' The same symbolism appears to have existed among the Hebrews : ' If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone,' was the command of Jehovah ; ' for if thou lift thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it' (Ex. xx. 25.) ' Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones' (Deut. xxvii. 4.) That is, unhewn stones, and of whole stones, (literally perfect stones), trans- lated in our version, ' of stones made ready before it was brought thither,' did Solomon build the Holy of Holies. It was eminently proper that a temple erected for the worship of the God of Truth, the unchangeable I am, should be con- structed of whole stones, perfect stones, the universally recognized symbols of this his great and constant attribute. The symbolic relation of each member of the Order to its mystic temple, forbids the idea that its constituent portions, its living stones, should be less perfect, or less a type of their great original, than the inanimate material which formed the earthly dwelling place of the God of their adoration. We, the successors of those who received their initiatory rites at the hands of Moses and Solomon, received also, with this inestimable inheritance, the same symbols, and with the same expressive signification.
" Enough has been said to show at how remote a period in the history of Masonry this important Landmark was erected. Can man, in his short-sighted notions of convenience, vary its meaning? — can a Mason, the solemnly installed Master of a Lodge of his brethren and equals, consistent with the obli- gations he has voluntarily imposed upon himself, remove it from its place ?"*
With this thorough view of the historical and .symbolical reasons upon which the ancient usage is founded, it is astonishing that any Grand Lodge should have declared that when the maim or defect
* Proc G. T,. of Geo., 1852.
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is not such as to prevent the candidate from com- plying with the ritual ceremonies of Masonry, he may be initiated.* No such qualifying clause is to be found in any of the old Constitutions. Such a liberal interpretation would give entrance in many Lodges to candidates who, though perhaps in pos- session of their legs and arms, would still be marked with some other of those blemishes and deformities which are expressly enumerated by Moses as causes of exclusion from the priesthood, and would thus utterly subvert the whole symbolism of the law.t It cannot be obeyed in a half way manner. If ob- served at all, (and the omission to observe it would be an innovation,) it must be complied with to the letter. In the language of Dr. Clarke, a portion of whose remarks have been quoted by Bro. Rock- well, the law excluding a man having any blemishes or deformities, is " founded on reason, propriety,
* Thus, Bro. H. W. Walter, the D. G. M. of the Grand Lodge of Missis- sippi in 1845, says : " We may safely conclude that a loss or partial depriva- tion of those physical organs which minister alone to the action of the body, do not disqualify ; but that the loss of those upon which the mind depends for its ideas of external objects, certainly would." — Proc. G. L. of Miss., 1845, p. 12. I quote this very singular opinion simply to show into what in- extricable confusion we are likely to be led, the instant we begin to make a compromise between the stern dictates of the law and the loose interpreta- tions of expediency. Under this construction a deaf man could not be initia- ted, but one with both legs amputated at the hip joint could.
f " We consider this construction altogether gratuitous, and a grave objeo tion to it is its indefiniteness for all practical purposes. If the interpretation be correct, it may pertinently be asked, what degree of disability must be established — a quarter, half, three-fourths, or total? There is no such con- dition or proviso to the rule in question laid down in the Book of Constitu tions."— Giles F. Yates, Special Report to G. L. of N. Y., 1845, p. W-
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common sense, and absolute necessity." Moreover, in Masonry, it is founded on the Landmarks, and is illustrative of the symbolism of the Order, and will, therefore, admit of no qualifications. The candidate for initiation " must," to use the language of the Gothic Constitutions of 926, " be without blemish, and have the full and proper use of his limbs."
It is usual, in the most correct rituals of the third degree, especially to name eunuchs, as being incap- able of initiation. In none of the old Constitutions and Charges is this class of persons alluded to by name, although of course they are comprehended in the general prohibition against making persons who have any blemish or maim. However, in the Charges which were published by Dr. Anderson, in his second edition, they are included in the list of prohibited candidates.* It is probable from this that at that time it was usual to name them in the point of the OB. referred to ; and this presump- tion derives strength from the fact that Dermott, in copying his Charges from those of Anderson's second edition, added a note complaining of the " moderns'7 for having disregarded this ancient law, in at least one instance.! The question is, how-
* " The men made Masons must be free born, (or no bondmen,) of mature age, and of good report, hale and sound, not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making. But no woman, no eunuch." — Anderson, second edition, p. 144. The Grand Lodge of New York has incorporated this clause into its Constitution : § 8, par. 9. It is also found in the " Ahiman Rezon" of South Carolina, and some other States.
f Dermott says, in the note referred to : ' This is still the law of ancien*
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ever, not worth discussion, except as a matter of ritual history, since the legal principle is already determined that eunuchs cannot be initiated because they are not perfect men, " having no maim or de- fect in their bodies."
Mental Qualifications.
The ancient Constitutions are silent, except per- haps by implication, on tne subject of the mental qualifications of candidates ; and we are led to our conclusions simply by a consideration of the charac- ter of the institution and by the dictates of common sense, as to who are capable of appreciating the nature of our system, for they alone, it is to be sup- posed, are competent to become its disciples. The question which is first to be answered is, what amount of talent and of mental cultivation are necessary to qualify a person for initiation ?
Dr. Oliver tells us that Masonry is an order " in which the pleasing pursuits of science are blended with morality and virtue on the one hand, and be- nevolence and charity on the other." And Lawrie declares that its object is " to inform the minds of its members by instructing them in the sciences and useful arts." Smith, Hutchinson, Preston, and other more recent writers, all concur in giving a scientific and literary character to the institution.
Masons, though disregarded by our brethren, (I mean our sisters) the mo- dern Masons, who (some years ago) admitted Signor Singsong, the eunuch, T-nd-ci,at one of their Lodges in the Strand, London. And upon a late trial at Westminster, it appeared that they admitted a woman called Madam D'E " ^-Dermott, Ahiman Hezon, p. 29.
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It does not, however, follow from this that none but scientific and literary men are qualified to he made Masons. To become a master of Masonic science — to acquire the station of a " teacher in Israel77 — it is certainly necessary that there should be first laid a foundation of profane learning, on which the superstructure of Masonic wisdom is to be erected. But all Masons cannot expect to reach this elevated point ; very few aspire to it • and there must still remain a great mass of the Frater- nity who will be content with the mere rudiments of our science. But even to these, some prepara- tory education appears to be necessary. A totally ignorant man cannot be even a " bearer of burdens77 in the temple of Masonry.
The modern Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England are explicit on this subject ; for, in de- scribing the qualifications of a candidate, they say that " he should be a lover of the liberal arts and sciences, and must have made some progress in one or other of them.77 This rule, however, it is well known, is constantly disregarded ; and men with- out any pretensions to liberal education are con- stantly initiated in England.
In a note to this clause of the Constitution, it is added, that " any individual who cannot write, is consequently ineligible to be admitted into the Order.77 This rule is perhaps more rigorously ob- served than the other ; and yet I have known a few instances in which men incapable of writing have been initiated. And it was in reference to a fact
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of this kind that the Grand Lodge of South Caro- lina, in 1848, declared that though " there is no in- junction in the ancient Constitutions prohibiting the initiation of persons who are unable to read or write ; yet, as speculative Masonry is a scienti- fic institution, the Grand Lodge would discourage the initiation of such candidates as highly inex- pedient."
It may be said in reply, that in the early days of Freemasonry, the arts of reading and writing were not generally disseminated among the masses of the people, and that in all probability the great ma- jority of the Craft were not in possession of those literary qualifications. But this latter statement is a gratuitous assumption, of the correctness of which we have no proof. On the contrary, we find throughout all our ancient Regulations, that a dis- tinction was made by our rulers between the Free- masons and those who were not free, indicating that the former were of a superior class ; and may we not suppose that a rudimentary education formed a part at least of that claim to superiority? Thus, in the conclusion of the fifth chapter of the Charges, approved in 1722, it is said : " No laborer shall be employed in the common work of Masonry, nor shall Freemasons work with those who are not free, without an urgent necessity."
But, exclusive of the written law upon the sub- ject, which perhaps was silent, because it deemed so evident and uniformly observed a regulation un- necessary to be written, we are abundantly tatierfc*
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t>y the nature of the institution, as exemplified in its ritual, that persons who cannot read and write are ineligible for initiation. In the first degree, a test is administered, the offering of which would be manifestly absurd, if the person to whom it was offered could neither read nor write ; and in the presentation of the letter G, and all the instructions on that important symbol, it must be taken for granted that the candidate who is invested with them must be acquainted with the nature and power of letters.
Idiots and madmen, although again the written law is silent upon the subject, are excluded by the ritual law from initiation, and this from the evident reason that the powers of understanding are in the one instance absent, and in the other perverted, so that they are both incapable of comprehending the principles of the institution, and are without any moral responsibility for a violation or neglect of its duties.
It has sometimes been mooted as a question, whether a person, having once been insane, and then restored to health, is admissible as a candidate. The reply to the question depends on the fact whether the patient has been fully restored or not. If he has, he is no longer insane, and does not come within the provisions of the law, which looks only to the present condition, mental, physical or moral, of the candidate. If he has not, and if his apparent recovery is only what medical men call a lucid in- terval, then the disease of insanity, although not
118 THE QUALIFICATIONS
actually evident, is still there, but dormant, and the individual cannot be initiated. This is a matter the determination of which is so simple, that I should not have even alluded to it, were it not that it was once proposed to me as a question of Masonic law, which the Lodge proposing it had not been able satisfactorily to solve.
Political Qualifications.
The political qualifications of candidates are those which refer to their position in society. To only one of these do any of the ancient Constitu- tions allude. We learn from them that the can- didate for the mysteries of Masonry must be " free born."
As far back as the year 926, this Regulation was in force ; for the Old York or Gothic Constitutions, which were adopted in that year, contain the fol- lowing as the fourth article :
" The son of a bondman shall not be admitted as an Ap- prentice, lest, when he is introduced into the Lodge, any of the brethren should be offended."
Subsequently, in the Charges approved in 1722, it is declared that " the persons admitted members of a Lodge must be free born." And there never has been any doubt that this was the ancient law and usage of the Order.
In the ancient Mysteries, which are generally sup- posed to be the prototype of the Masonic institution, a similar law prevailed • and no slave, or man hovn
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in slavery, although afterwards manumitted, could be initiated.*
The reason assigned in the old York Constitu- tions for this Regulation, does not appear to be the correct one.
Slaves and persons born in servitude are not initiated, because, in the first place, as respects the former class, their servile condition renders them legally incapable of making a contract ; in the second place, because the admission of slaves among freemen would be a violation of that social equality in the Lodge which constitutes one of the Landmarks of Masonry ; and in the third place, as respects both classes — the present slave and the freedman who was born in slavery — because the servile condition is believed to be necessarily accom- panied by a degradation of mind and an abasement of spirit which unfit them to be recipients of the sublime doctrines of Freemasonry. It is in view of this theory that Dr. Oliver has remarked, that " children cannot inherit a free and noble spirit ex- cept they be born of a free woman." And the ancient Greeks, who had much experience with this class of beings, were of the same opinion ; for they coined a word, SovXotfpsirsta, or slave-manners, to desig- nate any great impropriety of manners, because such
* " The requisites for initiation were, that a man should be a free born denizen of the country, as well as of irreproachable morals. Hence, neither slaves nor foreigners could be admitted to the peculiar mysteries of any na- tion, because the doctrines were considered cf too much value to be entrusted to the custody of those who had no interest in the general welfare of the community." — Oliver, Landmarks, vol. i. p. 110.
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conduct was supposed to characterize the helots, or slaves.
But Masonic writers have also given a less prac- tical reason, derived from the symbolism of the Order, for the restriction of the right of initiation to the free born. It is in this way supposed that the Regulation alludes to the two sons of Abraham — ■ Isaac, by his wife Sarah, and Ishmael, by his bond- woman, Hagar. This is the explanation that was given in the old Prestonian Lectures j* but I am in- clined to believe that the practical reason is the best one. The explanation in the Lectures was de- rived from the usage, for the latter certainly long preceded the former.
The Regulations of the Grand Lodge of England carry this idea of freedom of action to its fullest extent, and declare that " it is inconsistent with the principles of Masonry for any Freemason's Lodge to be held for the purposes of making, passing, or raising Masons in any prison or place of confine- ment." This resolution was adopted in consequence Df a Lodge having been held in 1782, in the King's
* Thus the oid English Lectures speak of " that grand festival which Abra- tam made at the weaning of his son Isaac, when Sarah, seeing Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the Eg}'ptian boudwoman, mocking, teazing and perplexing her son, (and fearing, if they were brought up together, that Isaac might im- bibe some of Ishmael's slavish principles,) she remonstrated with Abraham saying, ' Put away this bondwoman and her son, for such shall not inherit with our free born.' Besides, she well knew, by Divine inspiration, that from Isaac's loins would spring a great and mighty people, who would serve the Lord with freedom, fervency and zeal ; and it is generally remarked, even at this time, that the minds of slaves are less enlightened than those of the free born."
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Bench prison. No such Regulation has ever been adopted in this country, perhaps because there . has been no occasion for it. The ancient Constitutions are also silent upon the subject ; but there seems little reason for doubting the correctness of the sentiment that Lodges should only be held in places where the utmost freedom of ingress and egress prevails.
A few years ago, the Grand Lodge of England undertook to change the language of the old Charges, and to interpolate the word "free" for " free born," by which means manumitted slaves, the children of bondwomen, were rendered eligible for initiation. This unwarranted innovation, which was undoubtedly a sacrifice to expediency, has met with the general condemnation of the Grand Lodges of this country.
We conclude this chapter on the qualifications of candidates with this summary : — The person who desires to be made a Mason must be a man* — no woman nor eunuch ;t free born ;% neither a slave nor the son of a bondwoman ; a believer in God and a future existence ;§ of moral conduct ;|| capable of reading and writing ;^f not deformed or dismem- bered, but hale and sound in his physical conforma- tion, having his right limbs, as a man ought to have.**
* Charges of 1722, Xo. iii.
t Deduced from analogy and from Akdersox's second edit., p. 144.
i Old York Constitutions, art. 4, and all subsequent Constitutions.
§ Charges of 1722 and Landmarks 19 and 20, ante p. 32.
11 Charges of 1722, Xo. iii.
TT Deduced from ritual observances and the nature of the institution.
** EeguJarions of 1663, Xo. ii.
6