Part 16 (1/2)
”3. That no person hereafter who shall be accepted a Freemason, shall be admitted into any lodge or a.s.sembly, until he has brought a certificate of the time and place of his acceptation, from the lodge that accepted him, unto the Master of that limit or division where such a lodge is kept.” This regulation has been reiterated on several occasions, by the Grand Lodge of England in 1772, and at subsequent periods by several Grand Lodges of this and other countries. It is not, however, in force in many of the American jurisdictions.
Another right connected with the right of visitation is, that of demanding a sight of the Warrant of Const.i.tution. This instrument it is, indeed, not only the right but the duty of every strange visitor carefully to inspect, before he enters a lodge, that he may thus satisfy himself of the legality and regularity of its character and authority. On such a demand being made by a visitor for a sight of its Warrant, every lodge is bound to comply with the requisition, and produce the instrument. The same rule, of course, applies to lodges under dispensation, whose Warrant of Dispensation supplies the place of a Warrant of Const.i.tution.
Section III.
_Of the Examination of Visitors._
It has already been stated, in the preceding section, that a Master Mason is not permitted to visit a lodge unless he previously submits to an examination, or is personally vouched for by some competent Brother present. The prerogative of vouching for a Brother is an important one, and will const.i.tute the subject of the succeeding section. At present let us confine ourselves to the consideration of the mode of examining a visitor.
Every visitor, who offers himself to the appointed committee of the lodge for examination, is expected, as a preliminary step, to submit to the Tiler's Obligation; so called, because it is administered in the Tiler's room. As this obligation forms no part of the secret ritual of the Order, but is administered to every person before any lawful knowledge of his being a Mason has been received, there can be nothing objectionable in inserting it here, and in fact, it will be advantageous to have the precise words of so important a declaration placed beyond the possibility of change or omission by inexperienced Brethren.
The oath, then, which is administered to the visitor, and which he may, if he chooses, require every one present to take with him, is in the following words
”I, A. B., do hereby and hereon solemnly and sincerely swear, that I have been regularly initiated, pa.s.sed, and raised, to the sublime degree of a Master Mason, in a just and legally const.i.tuted lodge of such, that I do not now stand suspended or expelled, and know of no reason why I should not hold masonic communication with my Brethren.
This declaration having been given in the most solemn manner, the examination must then be conducted with the necessary forms. The good old rule of ”commencing at the beginning” should be observed. Every question is to be asked and every answer demanded which is necessary to convince the examiner that the party examined is acquainted with what he ought to know, to ent.i.tle him to the appellation of a Brother. Nothing is to be taken for granted--categorical answers must be required to all that it is deemed important to be asked. No forgetfulness is to be excused, nor is the want of memory to be accepted as a valid excuse for the want of knowledge. The Mason, who is so unmindful of his duties as to have forgotten the instructions he has received, must pay the penalty of his carelessness, and be deprived of his contemplated visit to that society whose secret modes of recognition he has so little valued as not to have treasured them in his memory. While there are some things which may be safely pa.s.sed over in the examination of one who confesses himself to be ”rusty,” or but recently initiated, because they are details which require much study to acquire, and constant practice to retain, there are still other things of great importance which must be rigidly demanded, and with the knowledge of which the examiner cannot, under any circ.u.mstances, dispense.
Should suspicions of imposture arise, let no expression of these suspicions be made until the final decree for rejection is p.r.o.nounced. And let that decree be uttered in general terms, such as: ”I am not satisfied,” or, ”I do not recognize you,” and not in more specific terms, such as, ”You did not answer this inquiry,” or, ”You are ignorant on that point.” The visitor is only ent.i.tled to know, generally, that he has not complied with the requisitions of his examiner. To descend to particulars is always improper and often dangerous.
Above all, the examiner should never ask what are called ”leading questions,” or such as include in themselves an indication of what the answer is to be; nor should he in any manner aid the memory of the party examined by the slightest hint. If he has it in him, it will come out without a.s.sistance, and if he has it not, he is clearly ent.i.tled to no aid.
Lastly, never should an unjustifiable delicacy weaken the rigor of these rules. Let it be remembered, that for the wisest and most evident reasons, the merciful maxim of the law, which says, that it is better that ninety-nine guilty men should escape than that one innocent man should be punished, is with us reversed, and that in Masonry _it is better that ninety and nine true men should be turned away from the door of a lodge than that one cowan should be admitted_.
Section IV.
_Of Vouching for a Brother._
An examination may sometimes be omitted when any competent Brother present will vouch for the visitor's masonic standing and qualifications. This prerogative of vouching is an important one which every Master Mason is ent.i.tled, under certain restrictions, to exercise; but it is also one which may so materially affect the well-being of the whole fraternity--since by its injudicious use impostors might be introduced among the faithful--that it should be controlled by the most stringent regulations.
To vouch for one, is to bear witness for him; and, in witnessing to truth, every caution should be observed, lest falsehood should cunningly a.s.sume its garb. The Brother who vouches should, therefore, know to a certainty that the one for whom he vouches is really what he claims to be. He should know this not from a casual conversation, nor a loose and careless inquiry, but, as the unwritten law of the Order expresses it, from ”_strict trial, due examination, or lawful information_.”
Of strict trial and due examination I have already treated in the preceding section; and it only remains to say, that when the vouching is founded on the knowledge obtained in this way, it is absolutely necessary that the Brother so vouching shall be _competent_ to conduct such an examination, and that his general intelligence and shrewdness and his knowledge of Masonry shall be such as to place him above the probability of being imposed upon. The important and indispensable qualification of a voucher is, therefore, that he shall be competent. The Master of a lodge has no right to accept, without further inquiry, the avouchment of a young and inexperienced, or even of an old, if ignorant, Mason.
Lawful information, which is the remaining ground for an avouchment, may be derived either from the declaration of another Brother, or from having met the party vouched for in a lodge on some previous occasion.
If the information is derived from another Brother, who states that he has examined the party, then all that has already been said of the competency of the one giving the information is equally applicable. The Brother, giving the original information, must be competent to make a rigid examination. Again, the person giving the information, the one receiving it, and the one of whom it is given, should be all present at the time; for otherwise there would be no certainty of ident.i.ty. Information, therefore, given by letter or through a third party, is highly irregular.
The information must also be positive, not founded on belief or opinion, but derived from a legitimate source. And, lastly, it must not have been received casually, but for the very purpose of being used for masonic purposes. For one to say to another in the course of a desultory conversation: ”A.B. is a Mason,” is not sufficient. He may not be speaking with due caution, under the expectation that his words will be considered of weight. He must say something to this effect: ”I know this man to be a Master Mason,” for such or such reasons, and you may safely recognize him as such. This alone will insure the necessary care and proper observance of prudence.
If the information given is on the ground that the person, vouched has been seen sitting in a lodge by the voucher, care must be taken to inquire if it was a ”Lodge of Master Masons.” A person may forget, from the lapse of time, and vouch for a stranger as a Master Mason, when the lodge in which he saw him was only opened in the first or second degree.
Section V.