ce them, or 'do the work of a Freemason,' if he is not a _man_
with body free from maim, defect and deformity."--_Report of a Special
Committee of the Grand Lodge of New York, in_ 1848.[66]

"The records of this Grand Lodge may be confidently appealed to, for
proofs of her repeated refusal to permit maimed persons to be initiated,
and not simply on the ground that ancient usage forbids it, but because
the fundamental constitution of the Order--the ancient charges--forbid
it."--_Committee of Correspondence of New York, for 1848, p. 70._

"The lodges subordinate to this Grand Lodge are hereby required, in the
initiation of applicants for Masonry, to adhere to the ancient law (as
laid down in our printed books), which says he shall be of _entire
limbs_"--_Resolution of the G.L. of Maryland, November, 1848._

"I received from the lodge at Ashley a petition to initiate into our Order
a gentleman of high respectability, who, unfortunately, has been maimed. I
refused my assent.... I have also refused a similar request from the lodge
of which I am a member. The fact that the most distinguished masonic body
on earth has recently removed one of the landmarks, should teach _us_ to
be careful how we touch those ancient boundaries."--_Address of the Grand
Master of New Jersey in 1849._

"The Grand Lodge of Florida adopted such a provision in her constitution,
[the qualifying clause permitting the initiation of a maimed person, if
his deformity was not such as to prevent his instruction], but more
mature reflection, and more light reflected from our sister Grand Lodges,
caused it to be stricken from our constitution."--_Address of Gov. Tho.
Brown, Grand Master of Florida in_ 1849.

"As to the physical qualifications, the Ahiman Rezon leaves no doubt on
the subject, but expressly declares, that every applicant for initiation
must be a man, free-born, of lawful age, in the perfect enjoyment of his
senses, hale, and sound, and not deformed or dismembered; this is one of
the ancient landmarks of the Order, which it is in the power of no body of
men to change. A man having but one arm, or one leg, or who is in anyway
deprived of his due proportion of limbs and members, is as incapable of
initiation as a woman."--_Encyclical Letter of the Grand Lodge of South
Carolina to its subordinates in_ 1849.

Impressed, then, by the weight of these authorities, which it would be
easy, but is unnecessary, to multiply--guided by a reference to the