E. H. ADDINGTON

68 OUTUNK OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS
on the 21st of April, submitted an able report and resolutions 1 which
were adopted: the charter and books of Poinsett Lodge were ordered to be
deposited in the archives; non-intercourse was declared with the Grand
Lodge of Mississippi and all Masons owing it allegiance; and it was
ordered that the officers and members of George Washington Lodge be cited
to show cause why they should not be expelled.* The resignations of Thos.
•The resolutions are recorded in the minutes of the session, but not the report. This
is probably owing to its length, and the fact that 1,000 copies were ordered to be
printed. It was extensively circulated, and as it is now almost impossible to obtain a
copy, the following synopsis is given:
The communication accompanying the return of the charter of Poinsett Lodge assigned
as reasons for its surrender, the resolutions adopted by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi,
and asserted that Masons from Louisiana, were "not recognized as such by
the lodges of the other States of the Union, nor in Europe, and that if a brother
is admitted to visit, it is out of courtesy to the man and not to the Mason."
In replying to these allegations, the committee advert to . the formation of the
Grand Lodge in 1812, "as the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, Ancient York Masons, according
to the old constitutions as revised by Prince Edwin, at the city of York, A. L.
4926;" and assert that since that date, (1812) it. had exercised supreme and• exclusive
jurisdiction over the symbolic degrees in Louisiana; that its claim had been recognized
by all the Grand Lodges in the world, except that of Missisippi, which, shortly after
its formation, had attempted to create lodges in Louisiana but had failed at the time
to accomplish its design.
The committee remark that if thq members of Poinsett Lodge had ever looked at the
charter granted them in 1837, they would have ascertained the manner in which the
Grand Lodge had been constituted; that in petitioning for that charter, they had
solemnly promised "that they would strictly conform to all the rules and regulations of
the Grand Lodge;" that many of the members of Poinsett Lodge e well adapted to the meridian of Louisiana, and especially to
that of the city of New Orleans, where we have daily intereourse with the brethren of
all nations, the utility of which might not be understood by the Masons of that part
of our country having but few external relations, and where the community is composed
entirely of one kind of people."
After arguing that the toleration of the different Rites tended to promote the
harmony and prosperity of the craft, the committee, some of whom were old Masons
and had traveled in the United States and Europe, consider tlie second reason assigned
for surrendering the charter. They say they -are surprised to learn "that men are
ever admitted into Masonic lodges through courtesy to them as men, when they are
not recognized as Masons;" that if such a practice exists anywhere, the lodges following
it should be shunned toy regular Masons; but they prefer to believe that Poinsett
Lodge was misinformed on the subject, as they liad never heard of a Mason from
Louisiana being refused admission into a lodge, either in Europe or in the United
States, if the bearer of a Grand Lodge -diploma and able to *make himself properly
known.
The jewels of the lodge were not returned with the books and charter, but the
committee recommended that the members be allowed to retain the jewels, "unless
those brethren believed it to he their duty to give them up." Many of the members
of Poinsett Lodge were personally known to the committee, who, after testifying to their
worth as citizens and stating that the lodge bad not been surpassed by any of its sisters
in deeds of Masonic charity, express the deepest regret that they should have suffered
themselves "to be operated upon, by the suggestions of persons who ihave no interest In
common with the citizens of this State."
The action of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi is reviewed in a calm and dignified
manner: the doctrine of the supreme and exclusive jurisdiction over the symbolic degrees
by each Grand Lodge within its own territorial limits is clearly stated: the violation of
this doctrine by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi attempting to annihilate the authority
of the Grand Lodge over the Masons of Louisiana ''by a stroke of the pen''—the
sending of its edicts into the jurisdiction for the purpose of exciting a revolt— j the granting
of dispensations for lodges in New Orleans—are concisely detailed, and its acts
condemned as subversive "of the organic law upon which the government of Masonry in
the United States is founded."