William Wirt: the (anti-)Mason

William Wirt was a lawyer from VA and one-time Attorney General of the USA. After he resigned as AG, he was approached in 1831 by the Anti-Masonic party to run for the seat of President.

However, on his nomination, he told the convention that he would "very sincerely retire from it (nomination) with far more pleasure" than he would accept it.

He was initiated and passed to the degree of Fellowcraft but never became a Master Mason because his curiosity never led him so far (his own words). This was over 30 years before his nomination and on stating that, he also declared his slightly demeaning purview of the craft as "nothing more than a social and charitable club designed for the good feeling among its members , and for the pecuniary relief of their indigent brethren".

On being nominated, he was advised to declare his hate and dissent with the masonic organization, but he declined stating that "I did not believe that there could be anything in the institution at war with their duties as patriots men, and Christians"

He had a clear win of the nomination of Anti-Masonic party with 12 out of the 18 votes due to his charisma and his proficiency as a lawyer, reputation as an outstanding citizen and man. He went on to face Andrew Jackson (a Democrat and Mason out of TN) and Henry Clay (a Republican and Mason out of KY).

William Wirt lost the election winning only 7 electoral votes. His loss and his odds with the facade of the Anti-Masonic party effectively signaled the beginning of the ending of the party which effectively merged with the Whig Party around 1838.

Emotional Hazing

“Some people won't be happy until they've pushed you to the ground. What you have to do is have the courage to stand your ground and not give them the time of day. Hold on to your power and never give it away.”

Most Grand Lodges and indeed fraternal organizations usually have policies and make statements that state they are anti-hazing. A lot of them are particular about stomping down and restricting the scourge of physical hazing, but they usually do not bother or crack down as hard on the issue of emotional hazing.

Just like physical hazing, emotional hazing is just as distressing. I won't deny that i have not been a victim of such a treatment as a candidate. Been shouted on, constantly teased and ridiculed, humiliated to the furthest extent were just as hurtful on my experience as someone swinging a paddle on me.

What is the reason for this one asks? The two reasons that the proponents are quick to point out: Humility and Manliness.

I will tell you from my personal experience that a process of 3 months is never going to turn a proud man humble or teach anything about humility except it's a lesson the man is willing to learn himself. I've had experiences with candidates who are so meek and zen during their degree-work and when they are raised, turn into complete pompous and proud pigs. There's absolutely no humility that can be taught to a man by humiliating him.

That being said, we expect every candidate who comes into the temple to be first and foremost a man. If so, why test such manliness? If his manhood is in question, why recommend him? Why pass him through the investigation committee just to torment him during the degreework or in the ante-room? Why do we go through the lengths of such abusive methods to "prove" such manhood? Is there a way to prove such in the first place? How are we certain that the people proving the so-called manhood are truly men themselves if they are not prepared to take the same steps when the candidate/petitioner is not in a subversive state as he is in the lodge?

We have no excuse for maltreatment of our candidates in our lodges either physically, mentally or emotionally. Grand Lodges should be much stiffer on the education and enforcement of these forms of hazing.

Some members will then complain that the new masons are soft or not as tough as the "old-school", but it's been my experience that when the foolishness and foul play is put aside and freemasonry itself is being practiced in our lodges, those who talk the loudest sort of disappear. Reminds me of three guys I met during my third degree...they were pretty rough and I'm sure masons everywhere remember their fate.

Suitability

In most jurisdictions, a candidate of freemasonry has to prove suitable proficiency to be moved on to the next degree. The definition of suitable in the English dictionary is:  "right or appropriate for a particular person, purpose, or situation". That applies very much to the instance of proving proficiency in lodges as conditions may vary per candidate or per jurisdiction on how to assess proficiency at that time.

That being said, as a candidate moves from degree to degree, his horizon on what freemasonry is should increase so should his perspective on the craft. It should behoove the candidate after reaching the sublime degree to go back and reflect on the teachings of previous degrees being that he no longer needs to prove any kind of proficiency to anyone anymore and he's ascended the stairs of the craft and now has the complete picture of what was going on step by step.

In most instances, this doesn't happen.

What you might find rather is a mason who abandons all he has learned in the previous degrees and just enjoys the benefit of his full membership without realising at the time that the standard by which he was tested was much lower than what is expected of him as a master mason. He is expected at this stage, to be the master of his craft, so why wouldn't it behoove him to be master what he learned as an apprentice and so on?

I recall looking at the rituals of the 1st degree as a newly initiated apprentice, then as a newly raised master mason. Year after year with each new degree class, I have looked at the degree work of the entered apprentice and have learned something that might have a new meaning to me and how I should apply it to my life.

This should be reminded to all our candidates who make it through the degrees and decide to run off or seek the other degrees freemasonry is so full of. It is important to understand the elastic of our masonic knowledge expands as much as we travel and as much as we are willing to stretch it and only remains the same size or even shrinking if we choose to do otherwise.