Our American Correspondence.

Masons a UOAV problem , ancl one of great moment , or our decision . During the past year I have been applied to at different times to ICUOAV if I Avere empowered to grant dispensations for lodges to those of the negro race , and have , of course , been

under the necessity of informing them that Ave are not alloAved to recognise them as Masons , but consider them as clandestine . In consideration of

the new position in Avhich they have been placed , ancl the recognition of the constitutional declaration IIOAV being forced upon us us a nation that all men are created free and equal , ' does it not become us as Masons to weigh well our relations

and duty to \ A ards them as members of the same Order ? Heretofore they have very seldom been persons who had any trade , estate , or visible Avay of acquiring an honest livelihood ; but all this is being changed , and their UBAV relations as freemen ,

and the educational facilities afforded them , are elevating them from their illiterate and debased condition .

It is a difficult and unpopular question , but shall Ave , as Masonic representatives of the State , shrink from the consideration of it ? The time is Avithin- the recollection of all of us when it ivas suicide , both professional and social , for a man

openly to condemn slavery . The consideration of this important question UOAV staring us in the face may , at the present time , subject us as Masons to derision and abuse ; but shall Ave on this account hesitate to grapple Avith it ? They already have

lodges in active operation in our own State . Were Ave in distress , and in need of fraternal assistance , Avould Ave not be glad to avail ourselves of such as they might render ? Cannot that first preparation for a true Masonic life be as

well made in a heart that beats under a darker skin than our own ? Lodges in other jurisdictions are making Indians Masons . Do recent developments indicate that they are so much more elevated in morals , habits , and Christianity than the negro

race as to entitle them to this preference ? Will they make more Avorthy and creditable members of our Order ? Duty is the one great laAv of Masonry , and is with us ahvavs as inflexible as fate . "

This address of the Grand Master Avas submitted in its entirety to a committee of three , AVIIO took grounds most decidedly against the views of that official , ancl the Grand Lodge sustained them by adopting the followin g : — " 1 . This question , if introduced into the

Our American Correspondence.

Masonic body , Avould be the entering Avedge to rend asunder , beyond the power of recovery , the Masonic love and harmony that UOAV exists among us . " 2 . The ancient Constitutions declare that a

candidate for Masonic honours f must be freeborn , ' & c . This alone is of sufficient importance to excite caution . " 3 . We should , as a Grand Lodge , by such a movement justly subject ourselves to the most

severe and indefensible criticism , from our sister Grand Lodges . " Resolved , therefore , that , in consideration of the dignity the Grand Lodge is bound to maintain towards herself , and the respect she has to her

subordinates and individual Masons Avithin her jurisdiction , Ave deem it umvise and imprudent to entertain any action relative to the recognition as regular of either negro lodges omegro Masons .- " But I am extending my letter too much . Adieu . ( To he continued . )

The Knights Templars.

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS .

By ANTHONY ONEAL HATE . ( Continued from page 366 . ) CHAPTER VILL —( continued ) . This danger having been disposed of , it was

resolved to take active steps for protecting the kingdom from the attacks of the Musselmen . For this purpose a grand council was held at Jerusalem , at Avhich it Avas resolved to send Heraclius , the Patriarch , and the Grand Masters of the Templars

and Hospitallers , to Europe , to implore the assistance of the Christian kings and Avarriors . The sovereign upon Avhom the Christians most depended for assistance Avas Henry II . of England ,

Avho had but previously been forgiven the murder of Thomas A'Beckett , upon the condition of proseeding to the Holy Land at the head of a large army , ancl of maintaining , at his OAVU expense , two hundred Knights of the Temple for the defence

of Palestine . During the absence of the Grand Master in Europe , J ohn Terricus was appointed regent of the Templars . Terricus was Grand Prior of Jerusalem , ancl Avas a man of rare Avisdom and determined courage . Some Avriter ' s have

supposed him to have been elected Grand Master on the death of Arnold . This is incorrect . He was only regent ; and Ave find him acting again in this capacity on the captivity of Gerard de