“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.