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PERRIER = JOUET & Cos . CHAMPAGNES . FINEST VINTAGE RESERVE-CUVEES . THE FAVOURITE MASONIC BRAND . Agent—A . BOURSOT , 9 , Hart Street , Hark Lane , London .

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ASSURANCE . EXCHANGE L ROYA INCORPORATED A . U . 1720 . Funds in Hand Exceed - - £ 5 , 250 , 000 Claims Paid Exceed - - £ 42 , 000 , 000 FIRE , L » FE , SEA . ACCIDENTS , BURGLARY , EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY , ANNUITIES . The Corporation will act as : — EXECUTOR OF WILLS , TRUSTEE OF WILLS AND SETTLEMENTS . Apply for full Prospectus to the Secretary . Head Office : —BOYAI EXCHAffftE , IQIDOff , E . C .

Qualifications Of Candidates.

Qualifications of Candidates .

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.n . —HIS LIAIITATIONS . HOWEVER laudable his motives , and however desirable his accession to the Craft may be , it is not every person who is eligible for membership . Freedom of person and inclination , soundness of mind

and body are the initial requirements . Tradition prescribes that the intrant shall be a "just , upright , and free man , of mature age , sound judgement , and strict morals . " A further tradition is that he shall be a whole man , physically . This stipulation is in the iVth of the Antient Charges prefixed to the Book of Constitutions , and under a good many foreign

Grand Lodges , it is interpreted in a somewhat prohibitive manner . Seeing , however , that we have acquiesced in the substitution of speculative for operative Alasonry , the provision may well be regarded as an archaeological treasure . The same charge lays clown the necessity of " honest birth , ' ,

that is of free birth , but that is now altered . Besides the Constitutions and the Charges , we have what goes behind them both , the landmarks . Mackey ' s list is the generally received one , and there it is laid clown that a belief in God and a belief in a future life , are both indispensable

qualifications . With regard to this , the Charges are in accord , for the very fust statement is that a true Alason can never be a " stupid atheist . " Then we have a further statement , "Let a " man ' s religion or mode of worship be what it may , he is not

" excluded from the Order provided he believes in the glorious " Architect of heaven and earth . " This means that whilst the Craft is a religious Order , it is not exclusively Christian .

Parsees , Hindus , Mohammedans , Buddhists , and the followers : of Confucius , are all to be found , in fact , there are places where ( he Afasonic Temple is a sort of Pantheon . The meaning of all this is , that , unless a man acknowledges that there is a Supreme Court of appeal , there is nothing by

which to hold him . He cannot possess ideals , for ideals presuppose the attempt to attain a condition of existence which constantly approximates to that of the Supreme Being . Whilst there is not perfect agreement as to whether the landmarks be more or less than those given by Afackey , it is

worthy of note that this is one of the few that have never been questioned . The next is a belief in a future life , but the candidate is never asked to make a declaration on this

point , although it may be tacitly assumed in the ceremonies . Belief in a God almost involves belief in a future life , and the very great majority of intelligent persons believe in both . Much stress is laid on the condition of freedom , both of person and inclination . A person who is subject to the will of parents or guardians cannot be called free in the fullest

sense , and in the clays of operative Alasonry , the restraint to which he was subject by his filial relations , might possibly conflict with the duty he owed to his master . Even to-day , the Freemason enters into obligations , the due discharge of which demands freedom from restraint , and

a certain liberty of action . There is , however , a dispensing power vested in the Grand Alaster and his several deputies , and there is a popular belief that when it is exercised it only applies to persons between the ages of 18 and 21 . This may be true in practice , but the Constitutions do not say so . Nor do the Constitutions say that a Lewis can claim to

be initiated at the earlier age , as to which a popular superstition exists . All that a Lewis can claim , and that only on the strength of a tradition , crystallized in our ritual , is a precedence . When there are a number of applicants , he can claim to be the first to be admitted . And that is

about the extent of the privileges of a Lewis . Even when such a dispensation has been granted , the declaration as to freedom has to be made . There is no doubt but that this is the meaning of the prohibition in Article 118 . In that Article it is prescribed that no private soldier shall be initiated except as a serving brother . A private soldier is not a free man in the sense required by the declaration , but in this connection it is odd that the marines are not also

bracketed with privates . It may be intended to include such by the expression , " military person under the rank oi a corporal , " but then a sailor is not a " military person . " As a matter of fact , the great majority of both soldiers and sailors are excluded by the last provision of Article i 86 which says , that candidates must be in reputable

circumstances . That is to say , they must be in such monetary standing that they may reasonably be expected to incur the not inconsiderable outlay involved , without embarrassment . Of all the matb is upon which the Worshipful ATaster ought to assure himself , this is one of the most important , for nearly

every obligation entered into in Freemasonry is subject to the saving clause " without detriment to self or connections , " and it is doing a wrong both to the applicent and his lodge , and , in fact , to every lodge , to allow him to hamper himself at the very outset . Whenever the obligations of Freemasonry , other than the moral ones , are likely to conflict with those of

husband and father , then , the former , very rightly , must come second . That is admitted , and , therefore , it is highly desirable that there should be the least possible chance of such a conflict arising . Even to-day , applicants are to be met with who seriously believe that they may be admitted into Freemasonry as to a benefit society , and who rank the

Craft with , say , the Oddfellows or Foresters . There is no intention of belittling either of those excellent institutions , when we claim for the Order a standing on quite another plane . Whilst Freemasons have a reputation quite unique on the score of their benevolence , still the charities are after all

but a " side show , " although , in popular estimation they loom so largely . We now come to the last of the limitations of membership . Every candidate must be a person of sound judgment and strict morals . Propcsers must not allow the social excellencies of their friends to blind them to other departments of character . The social board is not everything