INTRODUCTION.

This little pamphlet contains information which is regarded as being of special interest and importance to the colored members of the Masonic Fraternity of the United States, but which is not readily accessible to the majority, or even a large number, of them. Its contents consist of publications made by the writer at various times, when the interests of the craft seemed to demand such action, and they have already been circulated to a large extent. But as the original supply has been exhausted and there is still a large demand for them, they are republished in convenient form for the use of the craft with which the writer has so long been identified, and for which he has such high appreciation.

J. C. CORBIN,Grand Sec. Ark.Pine Bluff, Ark., March, 1896.

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS AND SO-CALLED COMPACT OR YORK MASSON.

TO THE MASONIC WORLD:

A little more than seventeen years ago, such men as Wm. H. Grey, John H. Johnson, A. L. Richmond, W. John T. Jenifer, H. B. Robinson, Wesley F. Lewis, and others of high standing, members of the Masonic Lodges then existing in the State, met in the city of Little Rock, and in due Masonic form established a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Mason for the State of Arkansas, and proclaimed to the world that it was a sovereign body. At that time (1873) there existed what was known as the National compact, which had been organized in 1847, in consequence of the existence of a body known as Harmony Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, which claimed to have sprung from the White Grand Lodge of Ohio, by charters issued at a session held at Chillicothe, Ohio. Bro. Richard Howell Gleaves, by authority, went to Ohio, investigated the matter, and found that the concern was bogus - that no such session had ever been held at Chillicothe, and that the so-called warrants were forgeries. To prevent such actions in future, the Grand Lodge formed what they named the National compact, which was to meet tri-annually, obtain full knowledge of their respective doings, and co-operate in squelching fraud. This body, 00033at an early day, had been influential and powerful, but at the time when the Grand Lodge of Arkansas was formed, had sunk into such insignificance that it was almost impossible even to learn who its officers were, or where were its headquarters. The newly-formed Grand Lodge declined to connect itself with the compact, and did then and has ever since asserted its position as a sovereign Grand Lodge, subordinate to no compact or anything else. It at once opened correspondence with the other Grand Lodges of the country, and in due course of time was "accepted" by them all as a sovereign Grand Lodge of Masons. In 1883 a party from Tennessee visited Morrillton and set up what he called a Compact, or York Grand Lodge, in Morrillton, and sent men to traverse the State and make Masons by the dozen at sight, for so small an amount as 50 cents for the three degrees, part cash, part notes; and when a man of some respectability could not be otherwise roped into the den, he could get the degrees for nothing in order to give some character to the fraud and "start a boom."

While many of the men who have been inveigled into these so-called Lodges are good and respectable men who have been deluded, the steerers of the machine have been mixed lot. Some were renegade preachers who had been kicked out of the churches for drunkenness and general scoundrelism. One of its Grand Secretaries deserted his wife and ran away with a school girl. One of the so-called Grand Masters, while traveling around setting up Lodges, was accompanied by a woman not his wife, while his own wife was in a destitute condition at home. Another of these traveling agents was a mere drunken vagabond. Another Grand Secretary stole the money that was raised to pay for the warrant of Lodge No. 1, and was afterwards convicted of an infamous crime, and the distinguished brother has been called from labor to refreshments in the penitentiary at Little Rock. It is claimed that all this is done under the authority of the "Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the United States of North America," and great pains has been taken to create the impression that there is on some part of the earth's surface an organization by the above long-metre name, which is flourishing in beauty and grandeur away off yonder; and which, in the Masonic world, is lord of all. There never was in existence any Masonic body which went by the above name; the "United States" part is an addition to the original name--The Grand Lodge of North America--made by the fellows who have actually become ashamed of much tail and so little kite.

A year or so ago, our State was flooded with circulars 00044announcing that this large and powerful organization would meet in Kansas City, Mo., and spend a few millions of its surplus cash--a few hundred thousand to found a Masonic home, a few more to establish a Masonic magazine, and a trifle of a half-million or so would be invested in a National insurance company. It is almost useless to say that all this was most magnificent lying, and that these steerers of the National Compact were perfectly aware of the fact that their "National Grand Lodge" could not get credit for a box of matches anywhere in the wide world. The marvel is that any man could be found so ignorant as to be deceived by such egregious, self-evident lies, but Barnum says that men love to be humbugged. The correct name of the so-called National Grand Lodge is the National Compact. In 1847, sixty-three years after Masonry was introduced among colored men in America, the Colored Grand Lodges then existing met in convention and formed this compact for mutual advice and do-operation. So long as it remained true to the purposes for which it was organized, it accomplished some good and was acceptable to the craft in general. But it first assumed the name, and then usurped the functions of a Grand Lodge, attempting to reduce the Grand Lodges of the various States to the status of subordinates.

This assumption and usurpation led to its downfall. The Grand Lodges at once began to withdraw from the compact. This withdrawal soon reduced the compact to such a condition of dilapidation that, at its triennial sessions, it could not muster up a quorum; and such a state of poverty that it could not publish its minutes. The last minutes published are those of the session held in Louisville, Ky., in May, 1874. These minutes show that at that meeting just fourteen persons were present, five of whom were picked up on the streets of Louisville. By investing some of these strays with the title of proxy for absent States, a so-called quorum was scared up. The Grand Master made an address in which he claimed that everything that had caused the withdrawal of the Grand Lodges had been remedied, and implored those Grand Lodges to again shoulder the poor old compact. But his hopes did not end in fruition; for before the time for the next triennial session, nearly all the rest of the Grand Lodges had withdrawn from the compact; among the rest, that of Missouri, in whose jurisdiction the session was to be held. This left the concern without even a Lodge room to meet in; and since that time the poor old humbug has not had a constitutional quorum, and both its poverty and its fear of exposing its unlawful doings has prevented any publication of its minutes. Even at the Louisville session 00055it had no books or papers; for the Grand Secretary, Johnathan Davis, of Philadelphia, was at that time blind, deaf, and superannuated, and with his books and papers was absent. Since that time the M. W. G. L. of N. A. has published no minutes, and no man knoweth its abiding place. But every once in a while some tramp pops up in some obscure place, among an uninformed class of people, and assures them that he is an official representative of the "Most Worshipful Grand Lodge," which is flourishing in grandeur away off yonder, and that he can make them all Masons for a few pennies. The bait is alluring, and enough suckers bite to make the business somewhat profitable. These men speak of the "so-called colored Masons, F. A. M.," and attach to their own names the initials F. A. A. Y. M., to distinguish their Masonry from the other. The letters F. A. M. stand for Free and Accepted Masons; the other initials stand for Ancient York Masons. Let us look into that point. The original warrant granted to colored Masons begins thus:

TO ALL AND EVERY.Our Right Worshipful and Loving Brethren:--We, Thomas Howard, Earl of Effingham, Lord Howard, etc., Acting Grand Master, under the authority of His Royal Highness, Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, etc., Grand Master of the Most Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, send greeting: Know ye, that we, at the humble petition of our Right trusty and well beloved brethren, Prince Hall, Boston Smith, Thomas Sanderson, and several others brethren, residing in Boston, New England, do hereby constitute the said brethren into a regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, under the title or denomination of the "African Lodge," to be opened in Boston, aforesaid, and do further at the petition and of the great trust and confidence reposed in every of the said above named brethren, hereby appoint the said Prince Hall to be Master; Boston Smith to be Senior Warden; and Thomas Sanderson to be Junior Warden, for opening the said Lodge.

We notice two points in the above: (1) the Grand Lodge of England, which granted the charter, was a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons--no York about it; (2) the Lodge constituted--African, No. 459--was a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons--no York about it. Where these Compactors and Yorkers get their York blood from, we have never been able to ascertain. The Grand Lodge of England, African Lodge No. 459, of Boston, and Prince Hall Grand Lodge of 00066Massachusetts, were and are Free and Accepted Masons, as any one can easily see by examining their minutes. All these bodies were in existence sixty-three years before the Compact was founded. As one of the most impudent of these Compact York tramps has recently reterred to the Free and Accepted Masons as "nothing but expelled Masons," let us see whom it is he is speaking of.

The Free and Accepted Masons are composed of the colored Grand Lodges of the following States, viz: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Liberia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. All the white Grand Lodges are also Free and Accepted Masons--no York. This list includes Prince Hall Grand Lodge, of Massachusetts, the daughter of African Lodge No. 458, and the oldest colored Grand Lodge in the United States. The colored Grand Lodge of Arkansas of Free and Accepted Masons has no York about it, but has ninety-nine subordinates; has held seventeen annual communications, and published the minutes of each, and keeps the world well informed of its origin and doings; paid out last year about $3,000 to its widows and orphans. Among its membership it includes and has included such men as Wm. H. Grey, H. B. Robinson, John H. Johnson, D. W. Ellison, A. L. Richmond, Geo. W. Perkins, G. W. Thompson, Geo. E. Jones, Fred Havis, J. Pennoyer Jones, Wiley Jones, Moses A. Clark, D. W. Robinson, and E. A. Fulton. The men in other States whom these fellows sneeringly refer to as "nothing but expelled Masons," embrace Bishops Ward, Wayman, Campbell, Hood, Cain, Grant and Turner, all of whom are Free and Accepted Masons and Bishops of the colored churches. Rev. J. T. Jenifer, formerly of Little Rock, is also a Free and Accepted Mason, and was Chaplain of Prince Hall Grand Lodge, as well as our own. Bishop Turner was Chairman of the committee which, at the National Masonic Convention held in Wilmington, Del., May 8, 1878, offered the resolution, which was adopted, that "the National Grand Lodge do wind up its affairs and adjourn sine die." Redmond Faucett, the well-known Grand Master of Odd-Fellows, was a member of the same committee, and Alfred Cassey, of Philadelphia, was the third. At the National Masonic Convention held in Chicago in August, 1887, twenty-one Grand Lodges were represented by their Grand Masters in person. One Lemuel 00077Googins, of Pittsburg, Pa., popped up, claiming to be the boss of the National Compact, and sent a telegram to the Convention, inviting the body to meet the "National Grand Lodge" in a convention to be held in Wilmington, Del. By order of the Convention the following answer was sent to Mr. Googins, viz:

Resolved, That this Convention does not recognize the existence of any such body as the National Grand Lodge; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention does hereby and herein vote its denunciation of the act of all persons who, in any manner whatever, aim to resurrect a body which has been dead these many years, and who, by such act, stigmatize themselves as breeders of discord and dissension, and perverters of the genuine principles of Masonry. And be it further

Resolved, That all so-called Masonic bodies claiming to be Grand Lodges under the authority of the so-called National Grand Lodge, together with their subordinate bodies, are hereby declared illegal and not entitled to any fraternal consideration from the sovereign and independent Grand Lodges of the Masonic fraternity.

The National Compact is, then, a little clique of tricksters representing nobody, which meets once in a while and without any regard for even its own laws as to a quorum, pretends to exercise all the functions of a Grand Lodge. At the so-called session held in Wilmington, Del., there was present some undelegated men from Pennsylvania, Wm. D. Matthews, of Kansas, and one or two persons picked up on the streets of Wilmington. At that session there was only one single person present who was a member of the Compact, besides Matthews himself. This is the statement of Bro. S. V. Carty, of Wilmington, Del., who was elected Secretary of the meeting, but who was no disgusted when he actually saw the "Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the United States of America, "that he at once withdrew from the Compact, and is now Grand Secretary of Free and Accepted Masons in Delaware. This is the source from which these D. D. Y. M.'s get the papers which they claim are "just as legal papers as ever was granted from any Grand Lodge or Grand Master of Masons on the face of the globe." They cannot show one scratch of an pen or particle of evidence to prove that the National Compact has had a quorum under its own rules, or held a legal election, since 1877, when Richard H. Gleaves was elected Grand Master at Pittsburgh, Pa. Since that time Geo. W. Levere, Lemuel Goggins and Wm. D. Matthews have in turn claimed to be Grand Master, and the world has had to take 00088their world for the truth of what they say.

It should be noticed, also that at the Wilmington session the proceedings were in convention--not in Grand Lodge form--simply because nothing else was possible. The only two real officers of the Compact who were present were W. D. Matthews, the Senior, and W. N. Caldwell, of Wilmington, Del., Junior Warden. Bro. Caldwell at once withdrew from the Compact, and is now Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons in Delaware. There are still living a few men who were actually officers of the National Compact. One of these is Hon. Richard H. Gleaves, of Washington, D. C. He was the last legally elected National Grand Master, and is now the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence of the District of Columbia of Free and Accepted Masons. Another is Thomas W. Stringer, once Compact Grand Master, but now Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons of Mississippi. Another is W. N. Caldwell, of Wilmington, Del., the last legally elected Junior Warden, but now Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons in Delaware.

The Masonic condition of the men who allow themselves to be deceived by such men as have tramped our State will be this: They can no more enter a regular Masonic Lodge than a leper could enter the temple at Jerusalem. They cannot find any Compact lodges except in two or three localities. There are some in Kansas and Tennessee, some lately hatched in the Indian Territory, possibly one or two in Delaware, and none anywhere else except in our own State. These go to pieces about as soon as they are formed, for in a month or two the men find out that they have been badly fooled, and leave the den. As soon as one travels anywhere he finds out that his "Masonry" is not worth even the 50 cents he paid for it, and he bolts. Another is converted by observing the fact that while the Free and Accepted Masons of every State sent out a handsome bound volume of minutes every year, this so-called Grand Lodge, like its mother, the National Grand Lodge, shows no evidence of life but a little taggag of a circular, so nonsensical, ungrammatical and misspelled, that he is ashamed to exhibit it in public. When he seeks to know whence came the Free and Accepted Masons of Arkansas, the answer is prompt: The Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of England formed the African Lodge, No. 459 of Free and Accepted Masons, from whence sprung Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, which formed that of Ohio, Ohio that of Missouri, Missouri that of Arkansas. When he asks the boss whence came the 00099"York Masons," the boss cannot give him a "verse," but is as dumb as a mud-turtle. When he goes abroad and looks around for that grand Masonic Home and that magnificent National Masonic Insurance Company, and beautiful Masonic magazine, he sadly realizes that all the Masonry he has learned is comprised in the tenet: A fool and his 50 cents are soon parted.

A party of these men in Morrillton have called themselves "Richard H. Gleaves Lodge No. 1." If they will look on pages 75 and 76 of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas for 1885, they will find a copy of a letter from Bro. Richard H. Gleaves, in which he says: "I consider the National Grand Lodge, for power and influence, DEAD," and declares that he knows nothing of them, or their authority to work. If they will examine the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia of Free and Accepted Masons, pages 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, they will find a portrait and Masonic history of the grand old Free and Accepted Mason, Richard Howell Gleaves, the Masonic father and life-long friend of the writer. They will also see why some things are strictly forbidden. The minutes we have referred to would be bad documents to exhibit in the hall of Richard H. Gleaves Lodge No. 1 of Compact Yorks, because they would at once expose the whole fraud. The Grand Lodge of Georgia was one of the last to withdraw from the York Compact. On page 76 of the minutes of our Grand Lodge for 1885 will be found a letter from W. E. Terry, now Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons in Georgia. Bro. Terry states that at the meeting of the Compact in 1878, Bro. J. H. Deveaux was present as delegate from Georgia, and that at that time the Compact resolved, "Never to meet again as a National Compact, inasmuch as the purposes for which it was organized had been accomplished."

We add some quotations from the Committee of Foreign Correspondence of various States to show in what high regard these Compact steerers are held abroad. L. N. Bell, of Mississippi, speaks of them as "A gang of intruders, who have organized a spurious Grand Lodge for Texas, with a notorious swindler and scoundrel as Grand Master." The Grand Lodge of Ohio says: "The whole scheme is one intended solely to filch the scanty earnings of a few deluded men." The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania denounces "Lemuel Googins and other Revolutionists." Richard H. Gleaves says: "The National Grand Lodge is DEAD." The Secretary of Prince Hall Grand Lodge says that Grand Lodge never had any York about it, and rejoices because only two or three gangs of thieves remain to 001010plunder the ignorant." Mississippi refers to them as the "National Compact Outfit Brigade." Moore, of Illinois, speaks of them as "Matthews and his hungry mob." Pennsylvania decreed December 5, 1881, "That henceforth and forevermore, in all and every, the rites and ceremonies practiced in the M. W. Grand Lodges, or in any of her subordinates, there shall be no allusion or reference made through expression, implication, or otherwise, to the M. W. National Grand Lodge of North America, and all obligations to obey the Constitution, General Edicts, Laws, Resolutions, etc., of the M.W.N.G.L. heretofore assumed or imposed, are hereby declared null and void, and of no further binding effect whatever."

The National Compact is not the mother of colored Grand Lodges or of colored Masons. Masonry was introduced among colored men in 1784, sixty-three years before such a thing as the Compact was ever heard of. Prince Hall Grand Lodge F. and A.M., and African Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania soon after were established. No one can show "one verse" to prove that there ever was a "York Lodge" legally established in the United States. As to the Compact, founded in 1847, all the old Masonic veterans--Gleaves, Lawton, Stringer, Martin, Caldwell--they are one and all Free and Accepted Masons; they have all abandoned the Compact, and there is left only Wm. D. Matthews and Lemuel Googins. As to the frauds and tramps who are talking so glibly about the National Grand Lodge, they were never members of the institution, and know nothing about it, except a few "verses" they have been taught by Matthews to enable them to use the name as a blind, and to speculate at the expense of the ignorant. They use that name, as they do that of Bro. Gleaves, to create a false impression. They do not even know the correct name of the body they profess to be members of, but insert in it the words "United States," which do not belong to it. The body dares not publish any minutes, for they would show that at the so-called meetings no one was present but Matthew--not even Googins. For sixteen years no minutes have been published, no one knows who was there, nor what was done, nor how; and yet this poverty--stricken old mummy, whenever it can raise 75 cents to get out a few circulars, pompously proclaims itself to be The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons of the United States of America. It has no Masonic standing at home or abroad, it has been repudiated by all honest, intelligent Masons, and consists entirely of a few swindlers and the swindled.

The Free and Accepted Masons of Arkansas have 001111and can exhibit to any whom it may concern their correspondence with nearly thirty other Grand Lodges in the United States, Canada and Liberia, because these are all Free and Accepted Masons. She can exhibit letters and correspondence from and to Prince Hall Grand Lodge, and the commission to the representative of that Grand Lodge, Bro. A.J. Gordon, of Arkadelphia. She hangs copies of the original charter granted to Prince Hall and associates in her Lodge rooms, because that charter was granted by Free and Accepted Masons to Free and Accepted Masons. One of her members, Rev. J.T. Jenifer, her Grand Chaplain, on his removal to Boston, is elected Grand Chaplain of Prince Hall Grand Lodge, and assists in the memorial services at Prince Hall's grave. The Grand Lodge of Arkansas sends funds to Prince Hall Grand Lodge to assist in erecting a monument over Prince Hall's grave. The so-called Compacters, or Yorkers, never see any Grand Lodge minutes; they have none of their own, and those of the Free and Accepted Masons all condemn their disorderly proceedings; they never see the original warrant that condemns them; they never see anything but a poor little high-faluting circular signed by Matthews or Googins.

J.C. CORBIN,Grand Secretary Free and Accepted Masons.*NOTE--The foregoing circular was issued in 1891.

FOREIGN STATUS OF AMERICAN COLORED MASONRY.

AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM GRAND SECRETARY CORBIN, GRAND(COLORED) LODGE OF ARKANSAS--MORE LIGHT THROWN UPON THIS MUCH MOOTED QUESTION. From the American Tyler.

The following able letter from Grand Secretary Corbin, of Arkansas, colored Masons, follows the one from the same pen, published in the Tyler of last week, and elaborates more fully the present status of American's colored Freemasonry in Europe. In great part it is an answer to the query of Bro. Gil. W. Barnard, 33, of Chicago, as stated in his letter, published in these columns, some three weeks ago. Viewed from the standpoint of Grand Secretary Corbin, the legitimacy of American colored Freemasonry is very much strengthened in the recognition of the latter by foreign bodies that are recognized as legitimate by several American white 001212jurisdictions. The question of recognition of these colored Masons by American jurisdictions seems to The Tyler to be brought nearer a focus than ever before. In other words, what is to be done with the white jurisdictions of America that have recognized the very bodies in Europe that recognized the colored Masons, of America, when the latter are held by said American Grand Lodges to be illegitimate? There is a serious question involved in this absurd tangle which seems to need straightening out, for the attitude virtually recognizes the colored Masons of America as being legitimate. "If Dick's father is John's son, what relation is Dick to John?"

The existing difficulty at present seems to rest in the fact that the colored Freemasons do not want nor are they asking for such recognition.

Pine Bluff, Ark., Nov. 23, 1875. John H. Brownell, Esq., Editor American Tyler.Dear Sir: I have the honor to state that your esteemed favor of Nov. 20 is at hand and contents noted. In said letter you propound the question: "What are the names and where the location of the seven European grand bodies which recognize the American colored Freemasonry? As I am not the author of the statement in question, I do not feel under any obligations to either prove or disprove it, and should take but little interest in confining myself to the exact limits implied in it. But I am perfectly willing to answer unreservedly, to the extent of my ability and information, a more general one which includes it, namely: To what extent have the Colored Grand Lodges of the United States been officially recognized by Masonic bodies in other countries? So far as the Colored Grand Lodge of Arkansas is concerned, I can answer fully, having been its secretary from its beginning. In 1873 we opened correspondence with the Grand Orient of France and our overtures were favorably received, as shown by an original letter from Bro. Thevenot, the Grand Secretary, and its translation, published in our minutes for that year. But the matter was never pushed further than the exchange of our respective publications for 10 or 15 years. During that same time we were in regular correspondence with the St. John's Grand Lodge of Hungary, both by letter and exchange of publications. This correspondence was carried on long enough to enable the writer to translate the Hungarian letters he received, but was terminated by the death of the chancellor, Bro. Franz Belanyi. At a later date our Grand Lodge was addressed "in token of brotherly devotion," by Monsieur le Comte de Nichichievich, Greffier au Tribunal Mixte, Alexandre, Egypte, and Richard De Bochme, officers of the Grand Orient of Egypt, with overtures for an exchange of representatives, but declined to act in the matter, as that body practised the Rite of Memphis, of which we knew but little. With these exceptions, our Grand Lodge has made no attempt to cultivate any foreign affiliations.

In regard to the other colored Grand Lodges, I shall make some quotations from the Annuaire Maconique 1788-90. This is a volume of about 900 pages, published at Alexandria, and is intended to be a complete roster of the officers, representatives, subordinates, etc., of the world. The statistics are compiled from the official publications and given in the original languages; thus making the book a curious mosaic of English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. It makes no attempt to specify which of these bodies are "clandestine" and which regular. Thus in commenting on Spain, it remarks: "We have not been able to procure 001313the necessary data, on account of the confusion produced by the multiplicity of Grand Orients, Supreme Councils and Grand Lodges in Spain. In stating the existence of all these real or pretended Masonic Bodies, we abstain from all judgment as to their regularity. The "Annuaire" gives the following representatives of the Grand Lodge of Hamburg:

To Gr. L. Prince Hall in Boston, Br. Braband, Grand Orient of Belgium.

Representative to Grand Lodge of Liberia. Le Free Henri Dewitt Brown of Monrovia.

Representative to the Grand Orient of France, of the Grand Lodges of Ohio and Missouri Le Frere Caubet, chef de lo police municipale, rue de la cite, a Paris.

Representative to the Supreme Council of the Dominican Republic, Le Frere Dalsece, negociant, 33, Rue du Mail, Paris.

Representative of Grand Orient of Hayti, of Grand Orient of France, Le Frere Viguier, 9, avenue Carnot. The Garants d'amitie of the Grand Orient to the Grand Lodges of Missouri and Ohio are stated to be Brothers Moses Dickson and Justin Holland.

The Representatives to the Grand Lodge of Hungary, of the Grand Lodge of Ohio and Liberia are stated to be, Brethren Leopold Hantler and Geza von Csaky. The Grand Lodge of Liberia is stated to have Representatives from South Australia, California, Colon and Cuba, Hungary, Prince Hall, Massachusetts, Rumania, Spain, Scotland, Tunes, England and Canada, whose names are given. I conclude this part by copying a sentence in regard to the Representatives of the Grand Lodges to the Grand Lodge of Switzerland, which is as follows: Al General-Representant fur die firebug G.L. Prince Hall in Boston, fur Europa anerkanut; Br. J.G. Findel in Leipzig. Translated: As General Representative for the colored Grand Lodge, Prince Hall of Boston, for Europe, J.G. Findel, of Leipsic. Bro. Findel was a well-known Masonic historian, and this recognition was virtually a recognition by all the Grand Lodges of the German Empire. In the above I have embraced the Grand Lodge of Liberia, because it is a lincal descendent of the colored Grand Lodges of the United States, and is recognized by England, Ireland and Scotland, without any healing. I will add a few items gleaned from the publications of the colored Grand Lodges of the United States, and thus conclude this article.

The Prince Hall Grand Lodge publishes the following as her foreign representatives, viz:Arnold Behrend, Hamburg.Stephen Titl, buda-Pesth.Adolph Oberdieck, Ulzen.H.D. Brown, Liberia.As honorary members:J.G. Findel, for Germany.Henry Weissman, Frankfort-on-the MaineFrederick Glitza, Hamburg.Adolph Oberdieck, Ulzen.

A letter from Bro. Oberdieck, acknowledging the receipt of a jewel presented by Prince Hall Grand Lodge, appears on page 3, minutes of 1891.

The Grand Lodge of Ohio publishes the names of the following representatives, viz:J.G. Findel, Leip ig.001414Geraldino Santiago, San Domingo.Von Caubet, Paris.Gustav Morganstern, Hamberg.Luigi Castalazzo, Rome.Michael Keemeny, Buda-Pesth.Arthur Wholey, Lima, Peru.

The Authority invested in Bro. Findel made him the official Representative to the eight German Grand Lodges--all that are in the German Empire--Known as the Grand Lodge League, and which are duly recognized by Masons the world over, except by Ill. Bro. Barnards "We," that is, the white Grand Lodges of the United States. The Grand Orient of France decided to remove all theological and physical tests from its constitution, thus making that document precisely like the constitution of the United States with respect to the acknowledgment of a God. Thus far, I think, they committed a grave error, but as to the physical tests, I confess that I have never been able to discover a fixed ratio, 16 to 1, or any other between the number x of a man's toes and the quantity of his virtue. I have attempted to show that the colored Grand Lodges are recognized by: I. German Grand Lodges, 8.II. Grand Orient of France, I.III. Grand Lodge of Hungary, I.IV. Grand Lodge of Liberia, I.V. Grand Orient of San Domingo, I.VI. Grand Orient of Italy, I.VII. Grand Lodge of Switzerland, I.VIII. Grand Lodge of Peru, I.IX. Grand Orient of Egypt, I.X. Liberia is recognized by all European Grand Lodges. The white American Grand Lodges, as such are affiliated only with the Grand Lodges of Great Britain and her dependences, though having a kind of morganatic alliance with the rest of Europe through the medium of the Scottish Rite and its Supreme Councils. As the Supreme Councils and Grand Orients, when existing in the same country, are usually rivals contending for the supremacy, and seem constructed of very bumptions material, even in the United States, it may be questioned whether such alliance is a bonanza or a nuisance.

Very respectfully,J.C. CORBIN.

The subjoined letter from P.G.M. Corbin (colored) Grand Lodge of Arkansas, and now Grand Secretary to the "Tyler," places the attitude of the colored Masons of America more clearly before the reader:

Pine Bluff, Ark., January, 1896. EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN TYLER:Dear Sir--In your issue of December 7th, commenting upon a letter of mine, you remark, in reference to the recognition of the American colored Freemason by the American jurisdictions, "The existing difficulty at present seems to rest in the fact that the colored Freemasons do not want nor are they asking for such recognition." 001515Now, as the "Tyler" and the Trestle Board have shown a very liberal sentiment concerning the matter, and as finally the New Orleans "Square and Oompass" says, "Candidly, we express our opinion that it is only a question of time when the colored Masons of Louisiana must and will be recognized," I think it would be a very unfortunate thing for the view you express to become the general opinion. So I beg leave to state the view of the colored Masons in reference to the matter. It is conceded that we come from the legitimate source, but it is claimed that our authority was not legitimately handed down. But the argument to prove the latter assertion is constructed by applying to the transaction of a hundred years ago the canons of today, and is as reasonable as to censure Noah for not using a dynamo to light the ark. So we are perfectly satisfied as to our origin and our descent. And while we desire recognition, we do not propose to submit to any healing, and we do not desire any recogdition that has any "Schombergh line" about it.

J.O. CORBIN.

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE TRESTLE BOARD.

(San Francisco, Cal.)A COMMITTEE OF ONE.EDITOR OF THE TRESTLE BOARD:

The quotation from the "Masonic Record," on page 33 of your January issue, is an old story. The writer has been familiar with it for half a century, more or less. He also happens to have been a member of the first colored Masonic Lodge that ever existed in Minnesota Territory, some years before it became a State. It was a sojourner Lodge, composed principally of the crews of the steamers Northern Belle, Captain Jesse Hurd, and Northern Light, Captain Pres. Lodwick. I throw in these local details to convince the Minnesota man that I have been there, and know whereof I affirm.

The Lodge was dispensated by the Grand Master of Illinois, and had merely the privilege of assembling for ritual practice. It could not confer degrees. It met sometimes in St. Paul and sometimes in Galena, III., to which points the steamers were running.

Neither Mr. Pierson nor any other white man ever visited this Lodge, though the ancient chestnut which I mention has been revamped by the "Record" with Mr. Pierson as its here. In like manner Sam Jones, in one of his discourses, makes himself the hero of a story told by Herodotus. The way the "Record's" yarn was told thirty or forty years ago, was that it happened in 001616Philadelphia, and that Richard Vaux was the man that visited the colored Lodge.

Pioneer Lodge, the oldest colored Lodge in St. Paul, did not exist in any "dim and misty past," as it was chartered by Missouri but a few years ago.

As to colored Lodges admitting visitors without examination, I can say that they examine as closely as the white Masons; and the way I know is that I have visited both.

Very respectfully,J.C. CORBIN.