PREPARATION:
The Preparations which are essential in those who apply for initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry are two kinds, internal and external
The internal Qualifications of a candidate are those which lie within his own bosom, and are not patent to the world. They refer to his peculiar dispositions towards the institution - his motives and design in seeking an entrance into it. Hence they are known to himself along; and a knowledge of them can only be acquired from his own solemn declarations.
The external Qualifications are those that refer to his outward fitness for initiation, and are based on his moral and religious character, the frame of his body, the constitution of his mind, and his social position. Knowledge of these is to be acquired from a careful examination by a committee appointed for that purpose.
Each of these divisions requires a separate consideration.
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 be
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
admission into a society which is founded on the purest 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.
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It cannot be denied that this usage is
sometimes violated; and this habit of violation is one of those unhappy
influences often almost insensibly exerted upon Masonry 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 persuading their friends to become members of the Craft.
Men who thus misconceive the true policy of our institution, should be
instructed by 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.
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External Qualifications:
The external Qualifications 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.
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Moral Qualifications:
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.
A belief in God is one of the
unwritten Landmarks of the Order, requiring no regulation of statutory
law for its confirmation. Such a belief results from the very nature of
the masonic institution, and is set forth in the rituals of the Order
as one of the very first pre-requisites to the ceremony of initiation.
This Divine Being, the Creator of heaven and earth, is particularly
viewed in Masonry 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 design of speculative Masonry, from its earliest
origin, seems to have been to teach this great doctrine of the
resurrection.
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Physical Qualifications:
The men made Masons must be free-born, 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.
The physical Qualifications of a candidate may be considered under the three heads of Sex, Age, and Bodily Conformation.
As To Sex. - It is an unquestionable
Landmark of the Order, and the very first pre-requisite to initiation,
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 purposes. Our predecessors wrought, according to
the traditions of the Order, at the construction of a material temple,
while we are engaged in the erection of a spiritual edifice - the
temple of the mind. They employed their implements for merely
mechanical 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 work men, so our lodges, in imitation of that
great exemplar, demand, as an indispensable requisite to initiation
into our mysteries, 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 Landmark, which prohibits the initiation of females.
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As To Age - The Ancient Regulations do not express any determinate number of years, at the expiration of which a candidate becomes legally entitled to apply for admission. The sixth of the Regulations adopted in 1663 prescribes that "no person shall be accepted, unless he be twenty-one years old, or more" "An old man in his dotage" is, like "a young man under age," equally incapable of initiation. In either case, "there is an absence of that maturity of intellect, which is required for the comprehension of our mysteries."
As To Bodily Confirmation -"In the Ancient Temple, every stone was required to be perfect, for a perfect stone was a symbol of Truth."
In our mystic association, every Mason
represents a
stone in that spiritual temple -"that house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens" - of which King Solomon's Temple was the type.
Hence it is required that he should present himself, like the perfect
stone in the material temple, a perfect man in the spiritual building.
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Mental Qualifications:
The ancient Constitutions are silent,
except perhaps by implication, on the subject of the mental
Qualifications of the candidates; and we are led to our conclusions
simply by a consideration of the character 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 supposed, are
competent to become its disciples.
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The only question to be answered is:
What amount of talent and mental cultivation are necessary to qualify a
man to be made a Mason?
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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 Constitutions allude. We learn from that the candidate 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 following as the fourth article:
"The son of a bondman shall not be admitted as an Apprentice, lest, when he is introduced into the lodge, and 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.
We conclude the subject of
"Qualifications of Candidates" with this summary: The person who
desired to be made a Mason must be a man - no woman nor eunuch ; 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 ; not deformed or dismembered, but hale and sound in his
physical conformation, having his right limbs, as a man ought to have.
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From Mackey's "Text-Book of Masonic Jurisprudence."