“We all have our passions and prejudices, and we should use our utmost endeavors to keep them within due bounds. But whether he comes from the jungles of Africa, the swamps of Carolina, the plains of Hindoostan, the sands of Arabia, the snowcapped summits of Norway, the Emerald Isle, the sunny fields of France, or from whatever nation or clime he may have traveled, if he is a Mason, and can prove himself such, he should be welcomed as a man and a brother into our Lodges and entitled to equal rights in our great brotherhood. The boast of Masons has been that its votaries possess the same mystic language in every clime, that its language is universal, entitled to recognition wherever heard or manifested, and that all Masons, in the character of Masons, stand upon the most perfect equality.”
- Asa H. Battin, Grand Master, Columbus, O., October 19, 1875
