Congress Or No Congress.

CONGRESS OR NO CONGRESS .

As the time approaches for the International Exhibition to bc _ opened and display its treasures to an admiring public , we naturally become curious as to the proposed International Masonic Congress . Will it be held ? is the first question we ask ourselves , and then , How will it be constituted ? and What , if any , will be its results ? We cannot say , from what we have read

on the subject in our numerous American exchanges , that the idea has been received with any great display of enthusiasm . But as the United States can boast of some 49 Grand Lodges , several thousands of lodges , and quite 700 , 000 subscribing members , it is difficult to imagine that a suggestion of this kind , which , whether it finds favour or not with foreign Grand Lodges ,

is certain to result , to a very pronounced degree , in a huge glorification of American Masonry , will be allowed to pass unheeded . True some of the Grand Lodges have looked askance at the proposal , but in the case of some it has found a qualified , and in that of others an unqualified , degree of favour . Some are prepared to send delegates when they . are better informed

as to the ultimate form which the . idea is likely to assume , and others have already nominated certain brethren to represent them . There is , indeed , just one point about which , as far as we can make out , there is anything like a general understanding among the Grand Lodges , whether they have nominated , or are , or are not prepared to nominate representatives , and that

is , that under no circumstance whatever , must any scheme be ottered for the establishment of a General Grand Lodge for the whole of the United States . Such an idea was mooted when the United States were in their infancy as an independent State and it was proposed that General GEORGE WASHINGTON , pater patrirc , and a Mason of some distinction

in Virginia , should be the General Grand Master ; but it never came to anything , and what failed when the number of rival Grand Lodges was small , is not likely to succeed when there is close on half a century of Grand Lodges to be consulted , and the vested interests of so large a number of separate and distinct bodies have to be looked after and protected . Hut

though this one particular scheme has , by universal consent , been tabooed , there is plenty to occupy the attention of the delegates , if a sufficient number of them is nominated , to justify the idea of a Congress being carried into execution , and a hasty glance at some of the questions which stand a fair chance of being discussed will not be altogether unprofitable .

The question of " jurisdiction " is one that might with advantage be discussed at such a Congress as is proposed . As far as the Grand Lodges in the United States are concerned , there ought to be no difficulty in arranging such points of difference as may exist amongst them . The general idea is simple enough—that each Grand Lodge is sovereign in its own territory ,

the territory and the State being , in the majority of cases , if not in all , coterminous . Thus the G . L . of New York has nothing whatever to do with thatof New Jersey or Pennsylvania , each being supreme in its own State . But there are minor matters which sometimes arise between two Grand Lodges and require friendly adjustment , and the Congress might take them into

consideration , and frame some rules for the general guidance . Thus , a short while since , we referred incidentally to one of these matters . A person had been initiated within the jurisdiction of one Grand Lodge , but before proceeding to the Second and Third Degrees he changed his residence into the jurisdiction of another Grand Lodge . He then discovered

that he was incompetent to be passed and raised in his mother lodge without first obtaining the sanction of the Grand Lodge in whose territory he had in the meantime taken up his residence . Such a question as this would never arise in the United Kingdom . Here , if a man were initiated in Ireland or Scotland , and then chose to

reside in England , he would , if he were minded to do so , take his Second and Third Degrees in his original Irish or Scotch lodge without troubling the authorities of the Grand Lodge of England . All such matters as this might with advantage be discussed , nor do wc think it would seriously endanger the general interests of American Freemasonry if rules were

adopted which would have the effect of removing all such petty details from the cognisance of Grand Lodg 3 s . But these arc matters which concern the United States only . Questions every now and then arise in which thc interests of other Grand Lodges are or may be effected . Thus a few years ago the Grand Chapter of Canada granted warrants for the constitution of

certain chapters in Victoria , on the ground that having no supreme authority of its own the latter was " unoccupied territory . " What has happened since the Grand Chapter of Victoria was established does not immediately concern us ; but seeing there was already a District Grand Chapter of Victoria constituted under thc Grand Chapter of England , the contention of Canada that Victoria was " unoccupied territory" was absurd on the face ° l it . Let the Congress define " unoccupied territory " in such a manner as to

Congress Or No Congress.

prevent the occurrence of interjurisdictional disputes , and it will earn for itself the unqualified thanks of the whole community of Freemasonry . Another class of questions which might be taken in hand by th » proposed Congress relate to what are known as " landmarks . " But here we are confronted at the very threshold by difficulties , which to us appear

to be altogether unconquerable . What are " landmarks " ? Where do they come fromV On whose authority were they established as "landmarks" ? How man } ' of them are there ? We do not envy the Congress on which is devolved the duty of answering these questions in such a manner as to command the instant adhesion of all the Grand Lod ges and Grand Orients in

the world . "Landmarks" are beautiful to contemplate in the abstract , but the moment you attempt to give them form and substance your difficulties begin . Some years ago we were mightily amused by a series of questions propounded by the late ARTKMUS WARD in connection with a United States Census , or by him suggested as necessary to be answered by candidates

for life assurance , and amongst them was this -. Have you had tbe measles , and , if so , how many ? Well . it would be a thousand times easier for a man with the measles to determine how many he had of them than for a Congress of Masons gathered from all the world over to determine what are and what are not " landmarks " in Freemasonry . We have heard them

spoken of times out of number , and always with the most profound respect , such as a man exhibits when he is talking about the Equator , the Gulf Stream , or the North Pole . But so far we have not made the acquaintance of any of them , except , as aforesaid , in the abstract , and if the Congress

takes in hand the subject of "landmarks , " and settles them once and for ever , it will merit the eternal thanks of Cosmopolitan Freemasonry ; provided always that thc Congressional " landmarks " when they are trotted out for our inspection and admiration , are not marked all over with the Stars and Stripes to indicate the land of their birth .

However , should the Congress meet , and "jurisdiction " and "landmarks " turn out to be forbidden ground , or impossible to be discussed with advantage , the question naturally arises—What will the members do with themselves ? This is almost as difficult a problem lo solve as " 1 indm irks . " The geometrical and astronomical properties ordinarily associated with the

Pyramids of Egypt might claim a share of its altentbn , if the delegates find themselves competent to discuss them ; or , if they feel equal to the task , thev mig ht settle down to a discussion of the " sound of wind and limb " theory , and determine among themselves whether a wooden-headed candidate or one who wears a wig , or has false teeth , is more or less eligible for admission

into the mysteries and privileges of Ancient , Free , and Accepted Masonry than a one-legged or one-armed candidate . Thc subject of Public Installations , or the admission or non-admission of saloon-keepers , might possibly cause a tumult , and the members of the fraternal Congress might suddenly find themselves engaged in the uncongenial task of denouncing

each other as apostates from the one and only true system of Masonry , as laid down by Pythagoras in the 47 th proposition of the 1 st Book of Euclid . For ourselves , if wc may take the liberty of offering a suggestion , we feel inclined lo prescribe a series of good dinners . Let the delegates meettogether daily—or oftener , if need be—and dine wisely ; devoting the hours

that remain at their disposal to toasts and speeches , interspersed with " Hail Columbia , " the " Star-spangled Banner , " and other patriotic songs of an exhilarating tendency . Then , if thc Congress is held , though it may not do much for the advancement of Masonry , it will certainly have the satisfaction of knowing that it has done no harm .

Lodge Quatuor Coronati, No. 2076.

LODGE QUATUOR CORONATI , No . 2076 .

As members of the widely known Lodge " Quatuor Coronati , " No . 2076 , London , we may certainly congratulate ourselves on the completion of the fifth volume of our Transactions , and also practically of the fifth volume of the " Masonic Reprints , " for thc newest of the series is all but ready for circulation . In the preparation of these important works , many

brethren have most heartily and ably co-operated , connected with the " Inner , " or , "Outer" Circles , or , sometimes belonging to neither , nor of the Craft . One brother , however , must be credited beyond all others , and that is the editor , our beloved and efficient Secretary , Bro . George William Speth , who originated the " Correspondence Circle , " and thus made possible the production of such magnificent volumes .

Part 3 , of Vol . V . of the " Ars Quatuor Corjiiatorum" is now before me , and appears to be one of the best and most valuable of all the parts published . In fact , for general interest , Masonically , artistically , and . •u-ch ; eoIogicaIly , I do not think it has any superior , and assuredl y few equals , notwithstanding the many important publications of our lodge . It has been my p leasure to review all the parts as issued , in the Freemason , from the first to the last , but at no lime has the difficulty been greater than now , to write a rigidly condensed account of the chief features of the current poriijn of