_Of the necessary Probation and due Proficiency of Candidates before
Advancement_.
There is, perhaps, no part of the jurisprudence of Masonry which it is
more necessary strictly to observe than that which relates to the
advancement of candidates through the several degrees. The method which is
adopted in passing Apprentices and raising Fellow Crafts--the probation
which they are required to serve in each degree before advancing to a
higher--and the instructions which they receive in their progress, often
materially affect the estimation which is entertained of the institution
by its initiates. The candidate who long remains at the porch of the
temple, and lingers in the middle chamber, noting everything worthy of
observation in his passage to the holy of holies, while he better
understands the nature of the profession upon which he has entered, will
have a more exalted opinion of its beauties and excellencies than he who
has advanced, with all the rapidity that dispensations can furnish, from
the lowest to the highest grades of the Order. In the former case, the
design, the symbolism, the history, and the moral and philosophical
bearing of each degree will be indelibly impressed upon the mind, and the
appositeness of what has gone before to what is to succeed will be readily
appreciated; but, in the latter, the lessons of one hour will be
obliterated by those of the succeeding one; that which has been learned in
one degree, will be forgotten in the next; and when all is completed, and
the last instructions have been imparted, the dissatisfied neophyte will
find his mind, in all that relates to Masonry, in a state of chaotic
confusion. Like Cassio, he will remember "a mass of things, but nothing
distinctly."
An hundred years ago it was said that "Masonry was a progressive science,
and not to be attained in any degree of perfection, but by time, patience,
and a considerable degree of application and industry."[72] And it is
because that due proportion of time, patience and application, has not
been observed, that we so often see Masons indifferent to the claims of
the institution, and totally unable to discern its true character. The
arcana of the craft, as Dr. Harris remarks, should be gradually imparted
to its members, according to their improvement.
There is no regulation of our Order more frequently repeated in our
constitutions, nor one which should be more rigidly observed, than that
which requires of every candidate a "suitable proficiency" in one degree,
before he is permitted to pass to another. But as this regulation is too
often neglected, to the manifest injury of the whole Order, as well as of
the particular lodge which violates it, by the introduction of ignorant
and unskillful workmen into the temple, it may be worth the labor we shall
spend upon the subject, to investigate some of the authorities which
support us in the declaration, that no candidate should be promoted,
until, by a due probation, he has made "suitable proficiency in the
preceding degree."
In one of the earliest series of regulations that have been
preserved--made in the reign of Edward III., it was ordained, "that such
as were to be admitted Master Masons, or Masters of work, should be
examined whether they be able of cunning to serve their respective Lords,
as well the lowest as the highest, to the honor and worship of the
aforesaid art, and to the profit of their Lords."
Here, then, we may see the origin of that usage, which is still practiced
in every well governed lodge, not only of demanding a proper degree of
proficiency in the candidate, but also of testing that proficiency by an
examination.
This cautious and honest fear of the fraternity, lest any Brother should
assume the duties of a position which he could not faithfully discharge,
and which is, in our time, tantamount to a candidate's advancing to a
degree for which he is not prepared, is again exhibited in the charges
enacted in the reign of James II., the manuscript of which was preserved
in the archives of the Lodge of Antiquity in London. In these charges it
is required, "that no Mason take on no lord's worke, nor any other man's,
unless he know himselfe well able to perform the worke, so that the craft
have no slander." In the same charges, it is prescribed that "no master,
or fellow, shall take no apprentice for less than seven years."
In another series of charges, whose exact date is not ascertained, but
whose language and orthography indicate their antiquity, it is said: "Ye
shall ordain the wisest to be Master of the work; and neither for love nor
lineage, riches nor favor, set one over the work[73] who hath but little
knowledge, whereby the Master would be evil served, and ye ashamed."
These charges clearly show the great stress that was placed by our ancient
Brethren upon the necessity of skill and proficiency, and they have
furnished the precedents upon which are based all the similar regulations
that have been subsequently applied to Speculative Masonry.
In the year 1722, the Grand Lodge of England ordered the "Old Charges of
the Free and Accepted Masons" to be collected from the ancient records,
and, having approved of them, they became a part of the Constitutions of
Speculative Freemasonry. In these Charges, it is ordained that "a younger
Brother shall be instructed in working, to prevent spoiling the materials
for want of judgment, and for increasing and continuing of brotherly
love."
Subsequently, in 1767, it was declared by the Grand Lodge, that "no lodge
shall be permitted to make and raise the same Brother, at one and the same
meeting, without a dispensation from the Grand Master, or his Deputy;"
and, lest too frequent advantage should be taken of this power of
dispensation, to hurry candidates through the degrees, it is added that
the dispensation, "_on very particular occasions only_, may be
requested."
The Grand Lodge of England afterwards found it necessary to be more
explicit on this subject, and the regulation of that body is now contained
in the following language:
"No candidate shall be permitted to receive more than one degree on the
same day, nor shall a higher degree in Masonry be conferred on any Brother
at a less interval than four weeks from his receiving a previous degree,
nor until he has passed an examination in open lodge in that degree."[74]
This seems to be the recognized principle on which the fraternity are, at
this day, acting in this country. The rule is, perhaps, sometimes, and in
some places, in abeyance. A few lodges, from an impolitic desire to
increase their numerical strength, or rapidly to advance men of worldly
wealth or influence to high stations in the Order, may infringe it, and
neglect to demand of their candidates that suitable proficiency which
ought to be, in Masonry, an essential recommendation to promotion; but the
great doctrine that each degree should be well studied, and the candidate
prove his proficiency in it by an examination, has been uniformly set
forth by the Grand Lodge of the United States, whenever they have
expressed an opinion on the subject.
Thus, for instance, in 1845, the late Bro. A.A. Robertson, Grand Master of
New York, gave utterance to the following opinion, in his annual address
to the intelligent body over which he presided:
"The practice of examining candidates in the prior degrees, before
admission to the higher, in order to ascertain their proficiency, is
gaining the favorable notice of Masters of lodges, and cannot be too
highly valued, nor too strongly recommended to all lodges in this
jurisdiction. It necessarily requires the novitiate to reflect upon the
bearing of all that has been so far taught him, and consequently to
impress upon his mind the beauty and utility of those sublime truths,
which have been illustrated in the course of the ceremonies he has
witnessed in his progress in the mystic art. In a word, it will be the
means of making competent overseers of the work--and no candidate should
be advanced, until he has satisfied the lodge, by such examination, that
he has made the necessary proficiency in the lower degrees."[75]
In 1845, the Grand Lodge of Iowa issued a circular to her subordinates,
in which she gave the following admonition:
"To guard against hasty and improper work, she prohibits a candidate from
being advanced till he has made satisfactory proficiency in the preceding
degrees, by informing himself of the lectures pertaining thereto; and to
suffer a candidate to proceed who is ignorant in this essential
particular, is calculated in a high degree to injure the institution and
retard its usefulness."
The Grand Lodge of Illinois has practically declared its adhesion to the
ancient regulation; for, in the year 1843, the dispensation of Nauvoo
Lodge, one of its subordinates, was revoked principally on the ground that
she was guilty "of pushing the candidate through the second and third
degrees, before he could possibly be skilled in the preceding degree." And
the committee who recommended the revocation, very justly remarked that
they were not sure that any length of probation would in all cases insure
skill, but they were certain that the ancient landmarks of the Order
required that the lodge should know that the candidate is well skilled in
one degree before being admitted to another.
The Grand Lodges of Massachusetts and South Carolina have adopted, almost
in the precise words, the regulation of the Grand Lodge of England,
already cited, which requires an interval of one month to elapse between
the conferring of degrees. The Grand Lodge of New Hampshire requires a
greater probation for its candidates; its constitution prescribes the
following regulation: "All Entered Apprentices must work five months as
such, before they can be admitted to the degree of Fellow Craft. All
Fellow Crafts must work in a lodge of Fellow Crafts three months, before
they can be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. Provided,
nevertheless, that if any Entered Apprentice, or Fellow Craft, shall make
himself thoroughly acquainted with all the information belonging to his
degree, he may be advanced at an earlier period, at the discretion of the
lodge."
But, perhaps, the most stringent rule upon this subject, is that which
exists in the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Hanover, which is in the
following words:
"No Brother can be elected an officer of a lodge until he has been three
years a Master Mason. A Fellow Craft must work at least one year in that
degree, before he can be admitted to the third degree. An Entered
Apprentice must remain at least two years in that degree."
It seems unnecessary to extend these citations. The existence of the
regulation, which requires a necessary probation in candidates, until due
proficiency is obtained, is universally admitted. The ancient
constitutions repeatedly assert it, and it has received the subsequent
sanction of innumerable Masonic authorities. But, unfortunately, the
practice is not always in accordance with the rule. And, hence, the object
of this article is not so much to demonstrate the existence of the law, as
to urge upon our readers the necessity of a strict adherence to it. There
is no greater injury which can be inflicted on the Masonic Order (the
admission of immoral persons excepted), than that of hurrying candidates
through the several degrees. Injustice is done to the institution, whose
peculiar principles and excellencies are never properly presented--and
irreparable injury to the candidate, who, acquiring no fair appreciation
of the ceremonies through which he rapidly passes, or of the instructions
which he scarcely hears, is filled either with an indifference that never
afterwards can be warmed into zeal, or with a disgust that can never be
changed into esteem. Masonry is betrayed in such an instance by its
friends, and often loses the influence of an intelligent member, who, if
he had been properly instructed, might have become one of its warmest and
most steadfast advocates.
This subject is so important, that I will not hesitate to add to the
influence of these opinions the great sanction of Preston's authority.
"Many persons," says that able philosopher of Masonry, "are deluded by the
vague supposition that our mysteries are merely nominal; that the
practices established among us are frivolous, and that our ceremonies may
be adopted, or waived at pleasure. On this false foundation, we find them
hurrying through all the degrees of the Order, without adverting to the
propriety of one step they pursue, or possessing a single qualification
requisite for advancement. Passing through the usual formalities, they
consider themselves entitled to rank as masters of the art, solicit and
accept offices, and assume the government of the lodge, equally
unacquainted with the rules of the institution they pretend to support, or
the nature of the trust they engage to perform. The consequence is
obvious; anarchy and confusion ensue, and the substance is lost in the
shadow. Hence men eminent for ability, rank, and fortune, are often led to
view the honors of Masonry with such indifference, that when their
patronage is solicited, they either accept offices with reluctance, or
reject them with disdain."[76]
Let, then, no lodge which values its own usefulness, or the character of
our institution, admit any candidate to a higher degree, until he has made
suitable proficiency in the preceding one, to be always tested by a strict
examination in open lodge. Nor can it do so, without a palpable violation
of the laws of Masonry.