Candidates for Masonry, No. III

Candidates for Masonry, No. III. [No. 10]

Some ask, If we so far can elevate
Men by our holy precepts, why do we
Restrict the Brotherhood of Masonry
Unto the few?—Why open not the gate
To all who choose to rush into the fold? 5
If all were fit, we gladly would embrace,
With arms fraternal, all the human race.
We know that “All that glistens is not gold.”
All men have not true manhood. Some there be
Whom no wise man would trust, mere worldly knaves, 10
Brutes in the form of men—the abject slaves
Of Mammon, whom no charter can make Free.
Yet I am one who entertains the faith
All Good will live for aye, all Evil died its death.

by George Markham Tweddell  1st published 1887