The Question Of Grand Lodge Jurisdiction.

country if tho Lodges m the counties north of the Humber and Mersey adopted a similar course ? Both Pennsylvania and we should denounce such invasions of its and our rights and privileges . Yet this was exactly what tho Lodges in the Province of Quebec did when they seceded from the Canadian Grand Lodge to

form ono of their own . Of courso this proposition is of little value now that tho principal Masonic body interested has acquiesced in the secession , but it is of considerable value as showing that it behoves Quebec to exhibit at least as much courtesy , liberality , and

forbearance as it has received . If Canada , which is a far more numerous and influential Masonic power than Quebec , could accept recognition by Scotland and England on the prescribed and reasonable condition that all English and Scottish Lodges which preferred retaining their old

allegiance , should be at full liberty to do so , then Quebec , which owes its independence to the courteous and liberal forbearance of Canada , could not possibly sacrifice one jot or iota of its dignity if it followed so excellent an example . Yet this is precisely what it has not done . On the

contrary , like very many young men of the present day , who , having reached the stage of beardless , ill-informed , and illdisciplined adolescence , ' are wont to strut about , and give themselves all the airs of trained and accomplished veterans , this Grand Lodge is hardly in its teens , when

it swells itself out to its very biggest dimensions , talks grandiloquently about rights which are but of yesterday as it were , and tells Lodges which are much older than itself , and prefer the old regime to the new , that , if they do not forthwith sever their old relations ,

they shall be excommunicated and treated as clandestine Masons . And not only this , but it threatens all kinds of pains and penalties to two out of the three oldest Grand Lodges , if they do not , at its arrogant behest , at once discard certain of their daughter-Lodges who prefer remaining

loyal to them . There is an old and very expressive , if also very "vulgar , saying among youths and ignoramuses when some one kindly offers them a little wholesome advice ; these ill-conditioned persons think it a sign of wisdom and pluck on their part if they retort to their disinterested

adviser that he had better go " teach his grandmother to suck eggs . " Well—speaking Masonically of course—it occurs to us this is just the kind of rudeness of which Quebec was guilty when it ordered Elgin Lodge of Montreal , whicb stands No . 348 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of

Scotland , to return its old warrant and take out a fresh one issued "by its ' authority , as if Elgin Lodge and the Grand Lodge of Scotland were not old enough to know what they were about and had no right to maintain their old relations , if they chose .

Great stress , of course , is laid on the fact that the recognition of Quebec by Scotland was wholly unqualified , and we have already said that this was greatly to be regretted . But we have also hinted that it was perhaps excusable under the circumstances . If Elgin Lodge preferred for over

twenty years retaining its allegiance rather than 30 m the Grand Lodge of Canada ; and if during the years which elapsed between 1869 when the Grand Lodge of Quebec was started , and 1877 when Scotland recognised the independence of the new body , it exhibited no desire to cast

oif its old relations and is still of the same mind , then the action of the Grand Lodge of Quebec is not only ill-advised , but likewise most arbitrary and most un-Masonic . What is there in the constitution of Lodge Elgin , rf what dereliction of duty has it been guilty , that it

should be told it should be treated as a body of irregular Masons , because it elects to remain under the banner of Scotland rather than go in under that of Quebec ? Every member of the Lodge is as regularly made a Mason as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Quebec himself , while

the Lodge existed years and years before such a body as the Grand Lodge of Quebec was ever thought of . The same remarks apply with equal force to the English Lodges , one of which dates back as far as 1824 , and all of which would rather remain on the roll of the oldest Grand Lodsre of the

world than join one which has existed but little more than a decade of years . Nothing could have been more honourable and straightforward than the conduct of England in recognising Quebec conditionally that those of its Lodges

which wished it should remain under its banner ; ancl nothing is more calculated to bring the principles of Freemasonry into contempt than that of Quebec when it arrogantly attempts to compel Lodges to enter its fold against their will . But we cannot do better , in corroboration of

The Question Of Grand Lodge Jurisdiction.

our views as to the rights of Elgin Lodge , than quote tho following from the Special Keport of tho Committee on Foreign Correspondence , Grand Lodge of Missouri : — " When Quebec knocked at tho doors of tho Grand Lodges of tho world for fraternal recognition and admission among the families of

sovereign jurisdictions , sho did so in a given character . When so recognized and admitted , in tho character possessed at tho timo sho sought theso favours , sho should havo been content thereafter . A Grand Lodgo can acquire no new rights nor prefer no additional claims after recognition , that were not an endowment when she waa

recognised . Hence , when Quebec sought to secure control of tho Lodgo that was still in allegiance to Scotland , sho committed a blander . The appeal to Scotland to transfer the Lodgo Elgin to Quebec was an unfortunate mistake , and was the apparent cause of this growing alienation and trouble . Elgin Lodgo should havo been allowed to elect its

own association , either to unite of choice with Quebec , or to remain in relations with Scotland . Following this mistake , Quebec subsequently committed an error ia declaring non . iraternity with thia ( Elgin ) Lodge . This Lodge choso to remain connected with Scotland , and Qnebeo having accepted recognition without its co-operation , had

no claim upon it , and had no right to disfranchise it . Qnebeo , of right , could not recognize as legal Lodges , or tho Masons made therein , those organizations established by Scotland after her sovereignty had been allowed and her supremacy admitted in tho Province . But Elgin Lodgo was not in this category , and therefore should not havo been excommunicated for tho sin of Scotland , "

That a somewhat similar view prevails in New York may be gathered from the following excerpt from the Beport on Foreign Correspondence , as embodied in tho Grand Master ' s address : — " Our conclusion , therefore , is , that this difficulty should be settled

by a return to the original stains ; that is to say , that Scotland should •withdraw its charters granted since the erection of tho Grand Lodge of Quebec , and that tho latter should allow Elgin Lodgo to continue until in duo timo it may find its best interest to Ho in uniting with

the local authority . We are satisfied that any other disposition of tho caso will only lead to long and perhaps bitter dissension , which will redound neither to the benefit of the parties nor to the good name of tho Craft , and wo therefore respectfully urge that this disposition bo mado . "

It seems to us no better advice could be given , and we trust both Quebec and Scotland will see their way clear to its adoption . Having stated our views as to the action of Quebec in this unfortunate disturbance , let us now glance at that of

Scotland in retaliation . In 1877 it seems the latter recognised the Grand Lodge of Quebec as an independent body , and without any qualification or reservation whatever , though whether with or without , it appears to us , is not of the slightest moment , for the simple reason that Elgin

Lodge clearly had a voice in the matter , and if she wished to remain Scottish rather than become Quebeckian , she had the right to do so . When , however , Quebec called upon Scotland to cancel its Warrant to Elgin Lodge , the latter not only resented the request , as was very natural ,

but it went some steps further ; it cancelled its recognition of Quebec at once , and treated the Province as one in which no Masonic authority existed ; it resolved on issuing Warrants for the constitution of two new Lodges , established a Provincial Grand Lodge , and appointed a

Provincial Grand Master . This course we hold to have been most unsatisfactory , exhibiting as it did a spirit utterly at variance with the principles of Masonry , illogical , and undignified . We say it was unsatisfactory , because one retaliatory step is sure to lead to others , and the quarrel

becomes moro and more embittered ; illogical , because the withdrawal of recognition could not possibly involve the demolition of the structure whoso existence had been recognised ; and undignified , because so ancient a Grand Lodge , while claiming to stand on its own rights , should

have avoided infringing the rights of others . There is a familiar saying that " two blacks do not make one white , " and the wrong action of Quebec towards Scotland and the Elgin Lodge cannot possibly justify Scotland in the course sho has since pursued . Had she contented

herself with severing all communication with Quebec till the latter saw fit to behave herself , she would have had with her the sympathy of the whole Masonic world , whereas she has brought herself into bad odour with most of the numerous Grand Lodges which exist in North

America whether in British or United States territory The two passages we have quoted above will suffice to show that up to a certain point the balance of opinion inclined towards Scotland , but the determination expressed in very

nearly all directions to hold no further intercourse with the Grand Lodge of Scotland until she withdraws her Warrants for the new Lodges , and her constitution of Quebec into a Scottish Province , shows with equal force and