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  • April 1, 1877
  • Page 24
  • THE QUESTION OF THE COLOURED FREEMASONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
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The Masonic Magazine, April 1, 1877: Page 24

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    Article NOTES ON THE OLD MINUTE BOOKS OF THE BRITISH UNION LODGE, No. 114, IPSWICH. A.D. 1762. ← Page 4 of 4
    Article THE QUESTION OF THE COLOURED FREEMASONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Page 1 of 2 →
Page 24

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Notes On The Old Minute Books Of The British Union Lodge, No. 114, Ipswich. A.D. 1762.

ready recorded , we gather that a special Lodge could be convened anywhere at any time , within two days of the regular Lodge meeting , when candidates could be proposed for initiation , —a plan which must prove detrimental to the best interests of masonry , ancl which we are glad

to know is illegal now , whatever it might have been at the beginning of the century . In March of this year we find " a school of Instruction" was held , at which a number of candidates were proposed , and were elected , initiated , and passed to the

second degree all in one night . At the next meeting in April John ] N orman , Ancient Mason , was proposed and balloted for , but rejected . In May , at a convened meeting at Bro . Bowman ' s , a Mr . Thomas Meadows ancl another candidate , were proposed , accepted , and

initiated , and another candidate was rejected . A convened meeting was held at Bro . Pollard ' s on June 10 th , 1805 , when two candidates were proposed , who were , so says the Minute , objected . This would be a proceeding to which they would doubtless object .

Four days afterwards another Lodge was held we presume , at its proper place of meeting , the Golden Lion , when Thomas Manning , John Manning , ancl Samuel Manning , pirobably brothers , were all initiated ; and George Crisp ) waiter " was

, , presented with the secrets of Masonry . " At a previous meeting 7 brethren were passed as fellow Crafts , four of whom were initiated the same evening . Verily , candidates were coming into Masonry with a rush at this time . So

ends the fifth volume of the Minutes of this old Lodge . ( To be Continued . )

The Question Of The Coloured Freemasons In The United States.

THE QUESTION OF THE COLOURED FREEMASONS IN THE UNITED STATES .

BY THE EDITOR . AVE are among those who reject the legality of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge , as , indeed , we cannot see how it can be upheld . Its history is this : —it was chartered from

England as a private Lodge—to make pass , and raise masons , and to remain a lawful , regularly warranted Lodge so lonoas it conformed to the laws of the Grand Lodge of England . After a tune , it sent no returns—fell into a dormant state—and was finally erased for making no returns .

How could it be revived 1 Only by the power which first caUod it into Masonic life , and then only as a private Lodge . In no sense of the word could it ever become a Grand Lodge , ( let us mark this ) , or issue warrants on its own account .

Now , sujjposing that owing to disordered times and political convulsions it could claim to exist separated from its parent tree , it could only be as a private Lodge" de bene esse , " as the lawyers say—or a " fact accompli . " Ancl if it was revived

after a lapse of years , it could only be as a private Lodge , which , under exceptional circumstances , had maintained or revived its own Masonic life . Further it could not go . To call it a Grand Lodge is alike a misnomer ancl an impropriety , and any warrants issuing from its " non authority " are clearly illegal , spurious , and valueless ! The Lodges working under such

pseudowarrants are clearly not regular Lodges . Rut then comes in the practical question —what is to be done 1 There are many coloured Freemasons in the United States in Lodges under so-called Grand Lodges . AA hat are we to do with them 1 Are they all to be healedby re-initiation or

re-obli-, gation ? Such seems to us—we speak in all deference—an impossibility , and to speak the truth , a very unpractical proposal . Now we venture to suggest a solution of the difficulty which has occurred to our mindsthinking over the

, question , ancl which has this advantage of a compromise , that in all things essential it maintains the rights of all concerned . " Adopt the provisions of the English Book of Constitutions in respect of District Grand Lodges , and make these so-called

Coloured Grand Lodges , District Grand Lodges of Coloured Freemasons for Ohio , etc . "—or the various States under Grand Lodges . If the provisions applying to District Grand Lodges are carefully perused , it will be seen that they empower the District Grand Lodge to have its own byelaws , subject to the General Book of

“The Masonic Magazine: 1877-04-01, Page 24” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 1 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01041877/page/24/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
"DYBOTS." Article 1
Untitled Article 2
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 3
EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER OF CONCORD ATTACHED TO THE ANCHOR AND HOPE LODGE, No. 37, BOLTON. Article 4
SONNET. Article 8
LETTER OF BRO. W. J. HUGHAN, OF ENGLAND, TO THE GRAND LODGE OF OHIO. Article 8
AN OLD, OLD STORY. Article 13
THREE CHARGES. Article 14
WONDERS OF OPERATIVE MASONRY. Article 14
ON FATHER FOY'S NOTES. Article 18
A TRIP TO DAI-BUTSU. Article 19
THE HAPPY HOUR. Article 21
NOTES ON THE OLD MINUTE BOOKS OF THE BRITISH UNION LODGE, No. 114, IPSWICH. A.D. 1762. Article 21
THE QUESTION OF THE COLOURED FREEMASONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Article 24
THE JEALOUS SCEPTIC. Article 25
THE LADY MURIEL. Article 27
THE MASSORAH. Article 29
THE BRIGHT SIDE. Article 32
HOPE. Article 33
ON THE EXCESSIVE INFLUENCE OF WOMEM. Article 34
Our Archaeological Corner. Article 39
FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE. Article 40
THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Article 43
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ART. Article 46
A MASONIC ENIGMA. Article 50
BORN IN MARCH. Article 50
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Notes On The Old Minute Books Of The British Union Lodge, No. 114, Ipswich. A.D. 1762.

ready recorded , we gather that a special Lodge could be convened anywhere at any time , within two days of the regular Lodge meeting , when candidates could be proposed for initiation , —a plan which must prove detrimental to the best interests of masonry , ancl which we are glad

to know is illegal now , whatever it might have been at the beginning of the century . In March of this year we find " a school of Instruction" was held , at which a number of candidates were proposed , and were elected , initiated , and passed to the

second degree all in one night . At the next meeting in April John ] N orman , Ancient Mason , was proposed and balloted for , but rejected . In May , at a convened meeting at Bro . Bowman ' s , a Mr . Thomas Meadows ancl another candidate , were proposed , accepted , and

initiated , and another candidate was rejected . A convened meeting was held at Bro . Pollard ' s on June 10 th , 1805 , when two candidates were proposed , who were , so says the Minute , objected . This would be a proceeding to which they would doubtless object .

Four days afterwards another Lodge was held we presume , at its proper place of meeting , the Golden Lion , when Thomas Manning , John Manning , ancl Samuel Manning , pirobably brothers , were all initiated ; and George Crisp ) waiter " was

, , presented with the secrets of Masonry . " At a previous meeting 7 brethren were passed as fellow Crafts , four of whom were initiated the same evening . Verily , candidates were coming into Masonry with a rush at this time . So

ends the fifth volume of the Minutes of this old Lodge . ( To be Continued . )

The Question Of The Coloured Freemasons In The United States.

THE QUESTION OF THE COLOURED FREEMASONS IN THE UNITED STATES .

BY THE EDITOR . AVE are among those who reject the legality of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge , as , indeed , we cannot see how it can be upheld . Its history is this : —it was chartered from

England as a private Lodge—to make pass , and raise masons , and to remain a lawful , regularly warranted Lodge so lonoas it conformed to the laws of the Grand Lodge of England . After a tune , it sent no returns—fell into a dormant state—and was finally erased for making no returns .

How could it be revived 1 Only by the power which first caUod it into Masonic life , and then only as a private Lodge . In no sense of the word could it ever become a Grand Lodge , ( let us mark this ) , or issue warrants on its own account .

Now , sujjposing that owing to disordered times and political convulsions it could claim to exist separated from its parent tree , it could only be as a private Lodge" de bene esse , " as the lawyers say—or a " fact accompli . " Ancl if it was revived

after a lapse of years , it could only be as a private Lodge , which , under exceptional circumstances , had maintained or revived its own Masonic life . Further it could not go . To call it a Grand Lodge is alike a misnomer ancl an impropriety , and any warrants issuing from its " non authority " are clearly illegal , spurious , and valueless ! The Lodges working under such

pseudowarrants are clearly not regular Lodges . Rut then comes in the practical question —what is to be done 1 There are many coloured Freemasons in the United States in Lodges under so-called Grand Lodges . AA hat are we to do with them 1 Are they all to be healedby re-initiation or

re-obli-, gation ? Such seems to us—we speak in all deference—an impossibility , and to speak the truth , a very unpractical proposal . Now we venture to suggest a solution of the difficulty which has occurred to our mindsthinking over the

, question , ancl which has this advantage of a compromise , that in all things essential it maintains the rights of all concerned . " Adopt the provisions of the English Book of Constitutions in respect of District Grand Lodges , and make these so-called

Coloured Grand Lodges , District Grand Lodges of Coloured Freemasons for Ohio , etc . "—or the various States under Grand Lodges . If the provisions applying to District Grand Lodges are carefully perused , it will be seen that they empower the District Grand Lodge to have its own byelaws , subject to the General Book of

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