symbolic and speculative (not operative) reason of the law--and governed
by the express words of the regulation of 1683--I am constrained to
believe that the spirit as well as the letter of our ancient landmarks
require that a candidate for admission should be perfect in all his
parts, that is, neither redundant nor deficient, neither deformed nor
dismembered, but of hale and entire limbs, as a man ought to be.

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