THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

has been enunciated by Mr. Justice Lawrence in the following language:
"I find no rule less comprehensive than this, that all persons are
admissible witnesses who have the use of their reason, and such
religious
belief as to feel the obligation of an oath, who have not been
convicted
of any infamous crime, and who are not influenced by interest."
The peculiar, isolated character of our institution, here suggests as
an
important question, whether it is admissible to take the testimony of a
profane, or person who is not a Freemason, in the trial of a Mason
before
his lodge.
To this question I feel compelled to reply, that such testimony is
generally admissible; but, as there are special cases in which it is
not,
it seems proper to qualify that reply by a brief inquiry into the
grounds
and reasons of this admissibility, and the mode and manner in which
such
testimony is to be taken.
The great object of every trial, in Masonry, as elsewhere, is to elicit
truth; and, in the spirit of truth, to administer justice. From
whatever
source, therefore, this truth can be obtained, it is not only competent
there to seek it, but it is obligatory on us so to do. This is the
principle of law as well as of common sense. Mr. Phillips, in the
beginning of his great "Treatise on the Law of Evidence," says: "In
inquiries upon this subject, the great end and object ought always to
be,
the ascertaining of the most convenient and surest means for the
attainment of truth; the rules laid down are the means used for the
attainment of that end."
Now, if A, who is a Freemason, shall have committed an offense, of
which B
and C alone were cognizant as witnesses, shall it be said that A must
be
acquitted for want of proof, because B and C are not members of the
Order?
We apprehend that in this instance the ends of justice would be
defeated,
rather than subserved. If the veracity and honesty of B and C are
unimpeached, their testimony as to the fact cannot lawfully be rejected
on
any ground, except that they may be interested in the result of the
trial,
and might be benefited by the conviction or the acquittal of the
defendant. But this is an objection that would hold against the
evidence
of a Mason, as well as a profane.