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Article CANDIDATES FOR INITIATION AND JOINING. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Candidates For Initiation And Joining.
CANDIDATES FOR INITIATION AND JOINING .
zosmoir , SATURDAY , ITOVEMBER B , ISG 2 .
The periodical influx of members being beneficial to lodges in a pecuniary , as well as in social point of view , it behoves us all to exercise the greatest circumspection and forbearance in our recommendations and approvals , lest by an indiscreet haste or partiality we become instrumental , or acquiescing , in the election of unworthy candidates . Proselytism being wisely eschewed
by our predecessors in the Craft , we profess and are supposed to discountenance the practice . Indirect , equally with direct , advice , is at variance with our Masonic obligations ; relations , intimate friends , and persons on whose probity and honour may be placed the firmest reliance , are informed we cannot advise ,
but leave the question of initiation to their own choice and their minds totally unbiassed by imprudent persuasion everything connected with the history or custons of the Order that may be revealed to nonmasons is , however , freely communicated , and enquirers are given to understand that , in the event of regretting admission into tho Craft , attendance at subsequent meetings and continued membership of a
lodge , are acts purely voluntary . How preferable this system to nn indiscriminate beating up for recruits ; the latter may be a good remedy for empty coffers , but , in the long run , will assuredly redound to the discredit of the loclge that sanctions such a course of procedure . Assuming , howeverthat candidates have presented
, themselves of their own free will and accord , lodges have yet most important ancl responsible duties to perform , viz ., to ascertain and determine the fitness for membership . To commence with persons proposed for initiation , the lodge in which an initiate sees the light , is responsible to the entire Craft for the introduction of the new brother . Under . the
constitution of England the initiation fee is generally of sufficient amount to deter candidates from offering themselves when actuated solely by motives of curiosity , the minimum being fixed at Three Guineas ( exclusive of the registering fee ) though there are few lodges , comparatively , where the fee is as low . The vast spread of Masonry in America
may be chiefly attributed to the non-existence of a similar restriction , admittance with the Craft in that country being obtainable on the payment of a very few dollars . Naturally where the fees are low a greater number of candidates is required to support the existence of lodges and those provident
asylums , which Masons of every clime delight to establish for the relief of their distressed ancl aged brethren . "We can afford looking upon the matter in a pecuniary light only , to exercise much greater circumspection than our transatlantic fellow-labourers ; our lodges can exist , and our charities flourish , without
the indiscriminate acceptance of aspiring candidates . A good old rule , alas ! too seldom enforced of late years , was the necesity of a month ' s delay after application , before the petitioner could be admitted , and that under ordinary circumstances proper enquiries relative to the . candidate ' s fitness could be instituted , even though his place of abode was far distant : the
revivial of this custom is suggested , to be evaded only in cases of great emergency . An objectionable practice prevails pretty extensively , which is to invitecandidates to attend the lodge on the evening they are balloted for , when , should rejection befall them , the slight is harder to be borne , happening publicly , than were the intelligence imparted at a more
oportune moment . i Let us consider what peculiarities of character and disposition disqualify for participation in Masonic pursuits , reflecting before so doing , how few amongst us come up to our nominal standard of worth , but , without too literal a rendering ofthe ancient criterion ,
it will be conceded that where tendencies either to immorality or drunkenness are prominently displayed , or where an ungovernable temper betrays itself , there is no fitness for membership ; an applicant may be what is termed a good fellow , but how many lodges owe their decadence to their want of foresight in
admitting persons of this stamp ? It frequentl y happens that people whose stay at a particular town is a mere question of days or weeks , propose to join the Masonic Order prior to departure ancl their aspirations are seldom thwarted by delay or elaborate investigation ; in factby many lodges the initiation of
, these birds of passage is regarded , as a godsend to their funds , the lodge gaining all the pecuniary benefit accruing therefrom , without incurring any permanent liability—there is thus a clear gain of the initiation fee without the drawback of an additional resident
member . In many parts of Great Britain , more especially the seaport towns and military stations , lodges are to be met with three-fourths of whose members change annually , whilst a select few of the resident brethren , maintained at a certain strength , monopolise the offices and are regarded as patriarchs in the science by the ephemeral majority ; emergent
meetings occur as often as regular ones , yet with all this energy the work is ever in arrear , all three degrees are given at each assembly , and , notwithstanding the amount of business transacted and consequent number of initiates received , the cry is " still they come . " In the colonial dependencies of Englandmore
no-, ticeably at the large garrisons , the same practice obtains ; and during the Crimean war , when military removals were almost daily , several lodges found it impossible to keep up the connection , and so lapsed into abeyance ; whilst others , with funds in a more flourishing conditionbided their timeancl on the
, , settling down of the soldiers at the termination of hostilities , reaped most remunerative harvests of fees . In this class of lodge the only thing necessary to ensure initiation is assent on the part of a non-mason . A great deal of the milk of human kindness is here to be met withas well as a profound contempt for
con-, ventional antipathies . Is the candidate a drunkard , a notorious evil liver ? The lodge replies , " We will reclaim him . " Is he a man of turbulent passions or suspected probity ? " Our pure example and moral inculcations will purge him of these objectionable characteristics . "
With regard to the election of candidates for joining , few lodges are exclusive—all are fish that come to their net ; and it has come to be considered a churlish act to refuse membershi p to a brother so soliciting . There is a faint line of demarcation between the Mason and the cowan , but none whatever between the subscribing ancl non-subscribing brother . In nineteen cases out
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Candidates For Initiation And Joining.
CANDIDATES FOR INITIATION AND JOINING .
zosmoir , SATURDAY , ITOVEMBER B , ISG 2 .
The periodical influx of members being beneficial to lodges in a pecuniary , as well as in social point of view , it behoves us all to exercise the greatest circumspection and forbearance in our recommendations and approvals , lest by an indiscreet haste or partiality we become instrumental , or acquiescing , in the election of unworthy candidates . Proselytism being wisely eschewed
by our predecessors in the Craft , we profess and are supposed to discountenance the practice . Indirect , equally with direct , advice , is at variance with our Masonic obligations ; relations , intimate friends , and persons on whose probity and honour may be placed the firmest reliance , are informed we cannot advise ,
but leave the question of initiation to their own choice and their minds totally unbiassed by imprudent persuasion everything connected with the history or custons of the Order that may be revealed to nonmasons is , however , freely communicated , and enquirers are given to understand that , in the event of regretting admission into tho Craft , attendance at subsequent meetings and continued membership of a
lodge , are acts purely voluntary . How preferable this system to nn indiscriminate beating up for recruits ; the latter may be a good remedy for empty coffers , but , in the long run , will assuredly redound to the discredit of the loclge that sanctions such a course of procedure . Assuming , howeverthat candidates have presented
, themselves of their own free will and accord , lodges have yet most important ancl responsible duties to perform , viz ., to ascertain and determine the fitness for membership . To commence with persons proposed for initiation , the lodge in which an initiate sees the light , is responsible to the entire Craft for the introduction of the new brother . Under . the
constitution of England the initiation fee is generally of sufficient amount to deter candidates from offering themselves when actuated solely by motives of curiosity , the minimum being fixed at Three Guineas ( exclusive of the registering fee ) though there are few lodges , comparatively , where the fee is as low . The vast spread of Masonry in America
may be chiefly attributed to the non-existence of a similar restriction , admittance with the Craft in that country being obtainable on the payment of a very few dollars . Naturally where the fees are low a greater number of candidates is required to support the existence of lodges and those provident
asylums , which Masons of every clime delight to establish for the relief of their distressed ancl aged brethren . "We can afford looking upon the matter in a pecuniary light only , to exercise much greater circumspection than our transatlantic fellow-labourers ; our lodges can exist , and our charities flourish , without
the indiscriminate acceptance of aspiring candidates . A good old rule , alas ! too seldom enforced of late years , was the necesity of a month ' s delay after application , before the petitioner could be admitted , and that under ordinary circumstances proper enquiries relative to the . candidate ' s fitness could be instituted , even though his place of abode was far distant : the
revivial of this custom is suggested , to be evaded only in cases of great emergency . An objectionable practice prevails pretty extensively , which is to invitecandidates to attend the lodge on the evening they are balloted for , when , should rejection befall them , the slight is harder to be borne , happening publicly , than were the intelligence imparted at a more
oportune moment . i Let us consider what peculiarities of character and disposition disqualify for participation in Masonic pursuits , reflecting before so doing , how few amongst us come up to our nominal standard of worth , but , without too literal a rendering ofthe ancient criterion ,
it will be conceded that where tendencies either to immorality or drunkenness are prominently displayed , or where an ungovernable temper betrays itself , there is no fitness for membership ; an applicant may be what is termed a good fellow , but how many lodges owe their decadence to their want of foresight in
admitting persons of this stamp ? It frequentl y happens that people whose stay at a particular town is a mere question of days or weeks , propose to join the Masonic Order prior to departure ancl their aspirations are seldom thwarted by delay or elaborate investigation ; in factby many lodges the initiation of
, these birds of passage is regarded , as a godsend to their funds , the lodge gaining all the pecuniary benefit accruing therefrom , without incurring any permanent liability—there is thus a clear gain of the initiation fee without the drawback of an additional resident
member . In many parts of Great Britain , more especially the seaport towns and military stations , lodges are to be met with three-fourths of whose members change annually , whilst a select few of the resident brethren , maintained at a certain strength , monopolise the offices and are regarded as patriarchs in the science by the ephemeral majority ; emergent
meetings occur as often as regular ones , yet with all this energy the work is ever in arrear , all three degrees are given at each assembly , and , notwithstanding the amount of business transacted and consequent number of initiates received , the cry is " still they come . " In the colonial dependencies of Englandmore
no-, ticeably at the large garrisons , the same practice obtains ; and during the Crimean war , when military removals were almost daily , several lodges found it impossible to keep up the connection , and so lapsed into abeyance ; whilst others , with funds in a more flourishing conditionbided their timeancl on the
, , settling down of the soldiers at the termination of hostilities , reaped most remunerative harvests of fees . In this class of lodge the only thing necessary to ensure initiation is assent on the part of a non-mason . A great deal of the milk of human kindness is here to be met withas well as a profound contempt for
con-, ventional antipathies . Is the candidate a drunkard , a notorious evil liver ? The lodge replies , " We will reclaim him . " Is he a man of turbulent passions or suspected probity ? " Our pure example and moral inculcations will purge him of these objectionable characteristics . "
With regard to the election of candidates for joining , few lodges are exclusive—all are fish that come to their net ; and it has come to be considered a churlish act to refuse membershi p to a brother so soliciting . There is a faint line of demarcation between the Mason and the cowan , but none whatever between the subscribing ancl non-subscribing brother . In nineteen cases out