Masonic Qualifications.

MASONIC QUALIFICATIONS .

IT is not every man that can be made a Mason . He that would enter tho door of the Lodge and take part in the labours of the Craftsmen must possess certain qualifications in order to be competent for a performance of the work of the Craft , unimpeded by any defect whatsoever .

Some object to Masonry because its rights and benefits are nofc open and free to all who may apply , and there are even Masons who- argue that the privileges of Masonry are too restricted . The objection to its limitations arises from a misapprehension of the nature of the Institution . Operative Masons ,

as hewers of stone , were engaged in a work requiring physical strength and power of endurance , with mental ability sufficient to follow the plans and specifications drawn on the trestle-board , which were often complicated . Hence the blind , deaf , dumb , lame , infirm , idiots , maniacs , children of the superannuated , as well as women , were excluded from the ranks of the workmen ,

whose labours were often so exacting as to heavily tax the ablestbodied , strongest-minded men . Their rules for admission to the Craft required " That no person shall be accepted as a Mason , but such as are of able body , honest parentage , good reputation , and observers of the law of the laud . " "The apprentice must be of lawful blood , and the Master should , for no advantage , make one thafc is nofc perfect , which means that he must have his limbs whole . "

Speculative Masons , having taken the name and working tools of the Operative Craft , have also accepted their laws , rules , and regulations , and adopted the Ancient into the Modern system whieh works on a parallel line , and therefore , calls for similar qualifications in its workmen ; and on the point of qualification ,

the Charges require that " The persons admitted members of a Lodge must be good men and true , free-born , and of mature and discreet age , no bondsman , no woman , no immoral or scandalous men , but of good report , " and "No Master should take an apprentice . . . unless he be a perfect youth , having no maim or defect in his body rendering him incapable of learning

the Art . " This covers the physical , mental , moral , social and civil condition and character of any candidate for admission to the Fraternity , and it would be for the good of Masonry if the committee on character should carefully examine every petition on each of these points and see that no unworthy and unqualified person gain admittance .

Masons are to be " good and true men . " These qualifying words have a wide range of meaning . To be good , is to be sound , undamaged , nofc weak , or defective , as to physical qualities ; kind , affectionate , pleasant

agreeable and promotive of happiness , as to social qualities ; unblemished , unimpeached , uncorrupted , virtuous , conformable to the moral law , as to moral qualities ; and in all eases opposed to bad , imperfect , corrupted or impaired .

To be true , is to be genuine , sincere , honest , not fickle , false , perfidious , or fraudulent , but steadfast . and steady in adhering to God , to country , to family , to friends , and to all obligations and duties .

That defines and sets forth in plain terms what every Mason ought to be , according to the fundamental law of Masonry . It is evident that no bad or false man should be made a Mason any more than a " stupid atheist , or irreligious libertine , " and if any

such have crept in unawares , the sooner they are cast out the better for all concerned ; for the good and the bad , the true and the false can never affiliate closely enough to dwell together in unity .

Again , a Mason must be " free-born , no bondsman . " If a slave , or his parents in slavery , manumission will nofc entitle him to membership , as he is subject to the will of another and nofc afc liberty to come of his own free will ancl accord ; and though even freed from bondage , the law bars access ; aud should he be in

prison as an ofiender against the law of the land , he is equally barred ; and , by parity of reasoning , if a man be in bondage to any lust , passion or appetite which binds him to its obedience , he is not in a fit condition to be made a Freemason , and must be excluded .

Again , the candidate for Masonry must be of " mature and discreet age , " which requires that he have his senses exercised sufficiently to discern all the points in Masonry . Discretion is that discernment which enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper , united with caution—a choice quality iu a Mason . " Mature " is generally understood to be " lawful "

age , or that term of years which transfers from boyhood to manhood according to the law of the country , and which is adopted as Masonic law . It is a fact , however , that many a boy of eighteen has more ripeness of body and mind than some who have lived a quarter of a century ; yet , for the sake of uniformity , Masons govern themselves iu this qualification by the legal a--e ' adopted iu tho country where they work . Again , no woman can be made a Mason—neither can many a man—and the fair sex complains on man for excluding his

Masonic Qualifications.

" better half" from the bonds of the mystic tie . The ancient Craft who fixed the landmarks immovably did nofc consider it prudent or profitable , or even pleasant , for her to toil in the quarry , the Lodge , or on the wall , and hence excused her from such a laborious undertaking—and for ample reasons she will ever

remain excusable—yet she should cease all murmurings and repinings , since in consideration of her supreme excellence as an " help-meet , " she has been raised , and even exalted to the starry heavens , above tbe clouded canopy , where that brilliant galaxy of Eastern Stars constitutes the brightest constellation in tha

Masonic firmament ; and from which lofty height she can look down with complacency on the laudable undertakings of the Craft , and cheer them as they toil onward and upward toward that place where all good Masons hope at last to arrive—the starrydecked heavens—and so mote it ever be .

Again , no immoral or scandalous person can be made a Mason—only those of good report are entitled to admittance . Ifc is a law thafc can never be repealed and should never be relaxed , that none can be received into the Masonic Fraternity bufc those who are moral and upright before God and of good repute before

men . Morality stands between friendship and brotherly love , and without it neither of them can operate ; and when . those three virtues become invalid , as essential qualifications , harmony disappears and takes wifch it the strength andsupport ofthe Fraternity . The immoral man may be described as lacking purity of heart

and rectitude of conduct , whose speech and behaviour is contrary fco the moral law , uojust , dishonest , profligate , dissolute , licentious , inebriate , lewd , obscene , profane , vulgar — these qualities , or any of them , are surely sufficient to exclude any man

possessing them from the Masonic temple , where his presence could only bring scandal and disgrace both to the Masonic character and Fraternity . Such are scandalous and will subject to reproach all who affiliate with them and sanction a bad report among those who are outside the temple .

Finally , a Mason should be a man—a whole man , entire in body , complete in sense , and sound in mind . The Ancient Charges required , " that he that be may be able in all degrees . . . and thafc he have his right limbs as a man

ought to have , hail and sound , not deformed or dismembered " ; and it is required of an Apprentice , that he have " no maim or defect in his body , that may render him uncapable of learning the art . "

The three senses , hearing , seeing , and feeling , are mosfc revered among Masons , and every Craftsman knows the reason why he should be neither deaf , blind , or maimed ; nor should the body lack any of its members from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet .

Indeed , the internal and external qualifications of a Mason at his making should correspond as nearly with the requisites of true manhood as possible . For no advantage of learning , wealth , honour , fame , or to gain numbers and influence should this old landmark be removed .

There can be found enough men possessing all the essential qualifications to carry forward the work to its full and final completion . Then let the Craftsmen be satisfied to use the worthy and well qualified material at hand . —Eev . Gilbert Small , in " American Tyler . "

Anti-Masonry.

ANTI-MASONRY .

SOME interesting souvenirs of the anti-Masonic crusade have been found among the archives of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and published in the " Keystone . " Among them is a bill read in the Pennsylvania House of Eepresenfcatives , 7 th December 1835 , entitled , " An act to suppress secret societies bound together by secret aud unlawful oath . "

The first section of this bill imposes a fine of 100 dols . on any person administering an oath to another initiated into any society or association , or advanced from one degree to another . Every person present when such oath was admistered is made a lawful witness and compellable to testify .

The second section requires all bodies of Masons and Odd Fellows to make an annual report of their officers and members , fche number and names of those admitted or advanced , " with the mode and manner of their initiation , admission or advancement , the form or forms of the several promises or obligations that have been administered , " etc .

The third section makes Freemasonry or . Odd Fellowship a good cause or challenge to a juror when one party is a membei of sach Order and another is nofc .

It was , doubtless , the pendency of this bill whieh caused hall a dozen Masons to issue over their signatures an appeal to the public correcting various unfounded charges and slanders . We have room for an extract only from this interesting document :

" We have thought proper , however , for once to depart from the usages of Masonry , and as members of the institution to make you the following declarations ; and under no less a pledge