ning the Lodge; he is asked the following
questions, and gives the following answers. Senior Deacon to
candidate, "Do you sincerely declare, upon your honor before these
gentlemen, that, unbiassed by friends, uninfluenced by unworthy
motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the
mysteries of Masonry?" Candidate answers, "I do." Senior Deacon to
candidate, "Do you sincerely declare, upon your honor before these
gentlemen, that you are prompt to solicit the privileges of Masonry,
by a favorable opinion conceived of the institution, a desire of
knowledge, and a sincere wish of being serviceable to your
fellow-creatures?" Candidate answers, "I do." Senior Deacon to
candidate, "Do you sincerely declare, upon your honor before these
gentlemen, that you will cheerfully conform to all the ancient
established usages and customs of the fraternity?" Candidate answers,
"I do." After the above questions are proposed and answered, and the
result reported to the Master, he says, "Brethren, at the request of
Mr. A. B., he has been proposed and accepted in the regular form. I
therefore recommend him as a proper candidate for the Mysteries of
Masonry, and worthy to partake of the privileges of the fraternity;
and in consequence of a declaration of his intentions, voluntarily
made, I believe he will cheerfully conform to the rules of the Order."
The candidate, during the time, is divested of all his apparel (shirt
excepted), and furnished with a pair of drawers, kept in the Lodge for
the use of candidates; he is then blindfolded, his left foot bare, his
right in a slipper, his left breast and arm naked, and a rope, called
a cable-tow, 'round his neck and left arm (the rope is not put 'round
the arm in all Lodges) in which posture the candidate is conducted to
the door, where he is caused to give, or the conductor gives, three
distinct knocks, which are answered by three from within; the
conductor gives one more, which is also answered by one from within.
The door is then partly opened, and the Junior Deacon generally asks,
"Who comes there? Who comes there? Who comes there?" The conductor
_alias_ the Senior Deacon, answers, "A poor, blind candidate, who has
long been desirous of having and receiving a part of the rights and
benefits of this worshipful Lodge, dedicated (some say erected) to
God, and held forth to the holy order of St. John, as all true fellows
and brothers have done, who have gone this way before hi