Qualifications
The Qualifications of an Orangeman
An Orangeman should be a Protestant in reality and truth, not merely by profession or education; and should be distinguished by sincere love and veneration for his Almighty Creator, steadfast faith in the Saviour of the World, the only Mediator between God and Men; humble reliance on the guidance and purifying power of the Holy Spirit; and the constant practice of truth and justice, brotherly kindness and charity, loyalty and obedience to the laws.
He should moreover, be in conduct wise and prudent, honest and temperate; in disposition gentle and compassionate; in behaviour kind and courteous; cultivating the society of the good, and avoiding the society of the evil.
He should honour and study the Holy Scriptures, making them the rule of his belief and life; uphold and defend by all legitimate means, the Protestant Faith in Church and State; protest against and oppose the erroneous and dangerous doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome; and resist the power, ascendancy, encroachments, and extension of that Church.
He should also, by all lawful means, co-operate with all true Protestants in preventing or removing, in and from the Established and other Protestant Churches, all changes, ceremonies, practices and ornaments savouring of or resembling the Church of Rome, or inconsistent with the Reformation principles. He should oppose the ascendancy and oppressions of non-Christian Religions and by Prayer and Witness seek to lead their members from Spiritual Darkness into the Light of Christ.
He should further, duly observe the Sabbath Day, and regularly attend public worship; and should be in his general converse, indicate his veneration for the Name of God, and abhorrence of profane and indecent language; in short the glory of God and love of man, the honour of his Protestant Sovereign, and the good of his country, should be the principles and motives of a true Orangeman’s life and actions.
