CHAPTER X

WHO ARE FIT AND PROPER PERSONS TO BE MADE MASONS?
THIs is a most important question, and one which lies at the foundation of the Masonic edifice. It should be carefully considered before the initiation of a Candidate, as it is too late to discuss it afterwards. Indeed, it should be carefully considered before the Candidate is proposed in Lodge, and great responsibility attaches to those who seek to introduce members from the uninstructed and popular world.
One. excellent test to be applied is this: Is the proposed Candidate one whom we would unhesitatingly admit to our own home, and introduce to our own family circle with confidence ?
The Book of Constitutions warns us against the great discredit and injury likely to be brought upon our antient and honour- able Fraternity by the admission of un- desirable members, and enjoins strict in-
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Who are Fit and Proper Persons, etc.?
quiry into the characters and qualifications of persons wishful to become members; and in order that this injunction may be properly obeyed there should be a written proposal and recommendation from both proposer and seconder. It is an excellent custom in many Lodges to refer to a Standing Com- mittee every such notice of intention to pro- pose a person for initiation. That Standing Committee is responsible to the Lodge for a personal interview with and a proper inquiry into, and report upon, the merits of the Candidate; who must be of good report (see Proposition Form, Appendix, p. 459). There is no ambiguity about the neces- sary qualifications. The answer to the question above propounded is authorita- tively stated to be—just, upright, and free men of mature age, sound judgment, and strict morals: and at the time of initiation every Candidate should be in reputable cir. cumstances (see pp. 15 and rog) and of suffi. cient education (see p. roQ).
He ought to be free born, but it is con- ceded under the present Constitution [1847] that if a man be free, although he may not have been free born, he is eligible to be
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He must profess, and should earnestly hold, a sincere belief in the Great Creator and Ruler of the Universe.
The Antient Charges instruct us that a Mason is obliged, by his tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understand the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine. He, of all men, should best understand that God seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh to the heart. A Mason is, therefore, par- ticularly bound never to act against the dictates of his conscience. Let a man’s religion or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the Order, provided he believe in the glorious Architect of heaven and earth, and practise the sacred duties of morality. Masons unite with the virtuous of every persuasion in the firm and pleasing bond of fraternal love: they are taught to view the errors of mankind with compassion, and to strive, by the purity of their own conduct, to demonstrate the superior excellence of the faith they may profess. Thus Masonry is the centre of union between good men and true, and the happy means of conciliating friendship
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Who are Fit and Proper Persons, etc. ?
amongst those who must otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.
A Mason is a peaceable subject to the civil powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be concerned in plotsand conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the nation, nor to behave himself undutifully to inferior magistrates. He is cheerfully to conform to every lawful authority; to uphold, on every occasion, the interest of the community, and zealously promote the prosperity of his. own country. Masonry has ever flourished in times of peace, and been always injured by war, bloodshed, and confusion; so that kings and princes in every age have been much disposed to encourage the Craftsmen on account of their peaceableness and loyalty, whereby they practically answer the cavils of their adversaries and promote the honour of the fraternity. Craftsmen are bound by peculiar ties to promote peace, cultivate har- mony, and livein concord and brotherly love.
The persons made Masons or admitted members of a Lodge must be good and true men, free born, and of mature and discreet age and sound judgment; no bondmen, no women, no immoral or scandalous men, but of good report.
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Freemasonry and its Etiquette
Candidates may, nevertheless, know that no master should take an apprentice, unless the has sufficient employment for him; and, unless he be a perfect youth, having no maim or defect* in his body that may render him incapable of learning the art, of serving his master’s lord, and of being made a Brother, and then a Fellow Craft in due time, after he has served such a term of years as the custom of the country directs; and that he should be descended of honest parents; that so, when otherwise qualified, he may arrive to the honour of being the Warden, and then the Master of the Lodge, the Grand Warden, and at length the Grand Master of all the Lodges according to his merit.
Py * * *
It may be convenient to state here that for all practical purposes the terms Free Masonry, Freemasonry, and Masonry; Free Mason, Freemason, and Mason are synony-
* In 187, the Board of General Purposes issued a circular intimating that so long as physical deformity did not prevent a candidate from exer- cising Masonic functions—presumably from making the signs—it is not a disqualification,
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mous and interchangeable—that is to say,. that the words Masonry and Mason in the- mouth of a Freemason mean Freemasonry and Freemason.
In ancient documents persons are re- corded as Free Man and Free Mason; this. gradually shortened into Free Man and Mason; and finally Free Mason.
About 1717 period, Dr. Anderson appears. to have made the two words into one, Free- mason.
No confusion is likely to arise in these: days by employing either, whether at will or by accident. The correct style of a Free- mason is equally a Free and Accepted Mason, or an Ancient Freemason. Masonry in its. operative sense is the parent of Masonry in its speculative sense. The greater includes - the lesser, and the true Mason will see nothing but Honour, Grace, and Dignity in the beautiful mechanical Art of Masonry which gave birth to the Speculative Craft now called Free Masonry.
The Articles of Union, than which there can be no better guide or authority, speak (Article I.) of the two Fraternities of Free and Accepted Masons, to be hereafter and for ever known and acknowledged by the
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style and title of Ancient F reemasons; Article II. defines pure Antient Masonry; Articles VI. and VII. speak of Freemasons; and throughout there seems to be no attempt
to establish any distinction or differentiation in the terms.