Section III.

Of the Intellectual Qualifications of Candidates.

The Old Charges and Ancient Constitutions are not as explicit in relation to the intellectual as to the moral and physical qualifications of candidates, and, therefore, in coming to a decision on this subject, we are compelled to draw our conclusions from analogy, from common sense, and from the peculiar character of the institution.  The question that here suggests itself on this subject is, what particular amount of human learning is required as a constitutional qualification for initiation?

During a careful examination of every ancient document to which I have had access, I have met with no positive enactment forbidding the admission of uneducated persons, even of those who can neither read nor write.  The unwritten, as well as the written laws of the Order, require that the candidate shall be neither a fool nor an idiot, but that he shall possess a discreet judgment, and be in the enjoyment of all the senses of a man.  But one who is unable to subscribe his name, or to read it when written, might still very easily prove himself to be within the requirements of this regulation.  The Constitutions of England, formed since the union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813, are certainly explicit enough on this subject.  They require even more than a bare knowledge of reading and writing, for, in describing the qualifications of a candidate, they say: 

“He should be a lover of the liberal arts and sciences, and have made some progress in one or other of them; and he must, previous to his initiation, subscribe his name at full length, to a declaration of the following import,” etc.  And in a note to this regulation, it is said, “Any individual who cannot write is, consequently, ineligible to be admitted into the Order.”  If this authority were universal in its character, there would be no necessity for a further discussion of the subject.  But the modern constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England are only of force within its own jurisdiction, and we are therefore again compelled to resort to a mode of reasoning for the proper deduction of our conclusions on this subject.

It is undoubtedly true that in the early period of the world, when Freemasonry took its origin, the arts of reading and writing were not so generally disseminated among all classes of the community as they now are, when the blessings of a common education can be readily and cheaply obtained.  And it may, therefore, be supposed that among our ancient Brethren there were many who could neither read nor write.  But after all, this is a mere assumption, which, although it may be based on probability, has no direct evidence for its support.  And, on the other hand, we see throughout all our ancient regulations, that a marked distinction was made by our rulers between the Freemason and the Mason who was not free; as, for instance, in the conclusion of the fifth chapter of the Ancient