CHAPTER X.

THE ENTERED APPRENTICE, OR THE FIRST DEGREE.

Know that they are neither public nor private, neither published nor unpublished; seeing they are only intelligible to those who have been my listeners.'-AULUS GELLIUS.

'Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.'-MATT. vii. 7.

ANCIENT Craft Masonry consists of but three degrees, viz. Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason.* There are many rites connected with Freemasonry, and the degrees vary in number, but they all commence with these three. In all ancient mysteries there were progressive degrees, and the object of these steps of probation was to test the character of the aspirant, and at the same time by gradual revelations prepare him for the important knowledge he was to receive at the final moment of his adoption.

The laws regarding the admission of persons into the Fraternity of Freemasons in England are very stringent. OF PROPOSING MEMBERS. MAKING, PASSING, AND RAISING.

Great discredit and injury having been brought upon our ancient and honourable Fraternity from admitting members and receiving candidates without due notice being given, or inquiry made into their characters and qualifications, and from passing and raising Masons with

* Since the Articles of Union' of Dec. 1813, the Royal Arch' has been added to these, as the completion of the Third Degree, an arrangement peculiar to the United Grand Lodge of England.'

ADMISSION OF MEMBERS.

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out due instruction in the respective degrees, it is declared that a violation or neglect of any of the following laws shall subject the Lodge offending to erasure, and no emergency can be allowed as a justification. [A dispensation cannot be granted except in cases specially provided for.]

1. No brother shall be admitted a member of a Lodge without a regular proposition in open Lodge, nor until his name, occupation, and place of abode, as well as the name and number of the Lodge of which he is or was last a member, or in which he was initiated, shall have been sent to all the members in the summons for the next regular Lodge meeting; at which meeting the brother's Grand Lodge certificate, and also the certificate of his former Lodge, is to be produced, and the decision of the brethren ascertained by ballot. When a Lodge has ceased to meet, any former member thereof shall be eligible to be proposed and admitted a member of another Lodge, on producing a certificate from the Grand Secretary, stating the fact and specifying whether the brother has been registered and his quarterage duly paid.

2. No person shall be made a Mason without a regular proposition at one Lodge, and a ballot at the next regular Lodge; which shall not take place unless his name, addition, or profession, and place of abode shall have been sent to all the members in the summons.

In cases of emergency, the following alteration is allowed. Any two members of a Lodge may transmit in writing to the Master the name, &c., of any candidate whom they may wish to propose, and the circumstances which cause the emergency; and the Master, if it be proper, shall notify the same to every member of his Lodge; and may summon a Lodge to meet at a period of not less than seven days from the issuing of the summons, for the purpose of balloting for the candidate; and if the candidate be then approved, he may be initiated into the first degree. The Master shall, previous to the

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FORM OF DECLARATION.

ballot being taken, cause the proposition, and emergency, to be recorded in the minute-book of the Lodge.

3. No man shall be made a Mason in any Lodge under the age of twenty-one years, unless by dispensation from the Grand Master, or Provincial Grand Master. Every candidate must be a free man, his own master, and, at the time of initiation, in reputable circumstances. Previous to his initiation, he must subscribe his name at full length to a declaration of the following import (any individual who cannot write is consequently ineligible to be admitted into the Order), viz.:

No.

To the Worshipful Master, Wardens, Officers, and Members of the Lodge of

I being a free man, and of the full age of twenty-one years, do declare, that, unbiassed by the improper solicitation of friends, and uninfluenced by mercenary or other unworthy motive, I freely and voluntarily offer myself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry; that I am prompted by a favourable opinion conceived of the institution, and a desire of knowledge; and that I will cheerfully conform to all the ancient usages and established customs of the Order. Witness my hand,

this

day of

4. No person can be made a Mason in, or admitted a member of a Lodge, if, on the ballot, three black balls appear against him; but the by-laws of a Lodge may enact that one or two black balls shall exclude a candidate.

5. Every candidate shall, on his initiation, solemnly promise to submit to the constitutions, and to conform to all the usages and regulations of the Craft.

6. No Lodge shall on any pretence initiate into Masonry more than five persons on the same day, unless by a dispensation, which shall specify the total number to be initiated.