born-a-magician

Would a lodge of 1723 have admitted you?

The Constitutions of the Free-Masons, printed in London in 1723, contain the “Charges of a Free-Mason”: who may be admitted, and how a Mason is to behave. Seven questions, beside the text.

These Charges are the founding text of modern Freemasonry. They describe a character, not a secret. Answer for yourself; nothing is sent anywhere.

1. Would the people who know you say you are honest and of good reputation?
The Persons admitted Members of a Lodge must be good and true Men […] no immoral or scandalous Men, but of good Report.
2. Are you of age, and free to commit yourself — nobody else decides for you?
Free-born, and of mature and discreet Age, no Bondmen.
3. Can you sit with people of other beliefs and keep your own opinions to yourself?
To be good Men and true, or Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denominations or Persuasions they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among Persons that must have remained at a perpetual Distance.
4. Do you keep out of plots against the country you live in?
A Mason is a peaceable Subject to the Civil Powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be concerned in Plots and Conspiracies against the Peace and Welfare of the Nation.
5. Do you accept being promoted on merit alone, never on age or rank?
All Preferment among Masons is grounded upon real Worth and personal Merit only […] Therefore no Master or Warden is chosen by Seniority, but for his Merit.
6. At table, do you stop before excess, and never press anyone to drink?
You may enjoy yourselves with innocent Mirth, treating one another according to Ability, but avoiding all Excess, or forcing any Brother to eat or drink beyond his Inclination.
7. Can you leave your quarrels at the door?
Therefore no private Piques or Quarrels must be brought within the Door of the Lodge.

James Anderson, The Constitutions of the Free-Masons, London, 1723, Charges I–VI. Spelling modernised.

Where this comes from

The Grand Lodge of London was formed in 1717. In 1723 the Presbyterian minister James Anderson published its Constitutions: a legendary history of the craft, the six Charges, the regulations and some songs. The 1723 edition is on archive.org.

This page belongs to no lodge and opens no door. Freemasonry exists today in many independent bodies, each with its own rules of admission; none of them uses this page, and we are affiliated with none.