Constitution' Of Italian Freemasonry.

ART . 49 . The first Grand Orient ivhieh shall bo elected according to the scheme of this Constitution , shall project a general Reglement ( sic ) and a universal Ritual of the Order , until the publication of which each lodge shall continue the use of such rules and rituals as they may have used

hitherto , or may IIOAV determine to use , and to bo guided in their proceedings in all events as may not have been provided foiv \> y tho customs of Freemasonry in general . The Orient Turin , tho first day of the eleventh month of the true Light , 5861 ( January 1 , 1862 ) .

Art And Health At The Recent Ghent Congress.

ART AND HEALTH AT THE RECENT GHENT CONGRESS .

( From the Builder . ) In the section of "Art and Literature , " the folloAving question Avas proposed by 31 . Ulb . ick : —• " Has material jirogress heen injurious to thought and feeling in the arts ?" M . Eugene Dognee said the question ivas as interesting to refined and philosophical minds as it Avas to practical men .

AA'hat , he said , ivas now wanted , was a search after the beiutiful and useful ; and it was important to combat , as far as possible , the A-ulgar results produced as much by a desire of a good market as by the abolition of corporations . M . Dognee suggested the following plans for instilling artistic ideas intoAVorkmen : —That the principles of artistic teaching , aided by

museums carefully selected , should he carried out in all primary schools ; that central industrial schools of art should be established , with necessary models , specialising the arts indicated previously by the nature of the soil , the productions of local industry , or of ancient tradition still extant ; that in associations for the encouragement of art , room should be appropriated

for industrial artists by the side of artists . He clearly showed the benefits Avhich would arise from artistic teaching , and Avhat material advantage could bo added to our luxuries by the search after noble and refined enjoyments . 31 . Alexandre AA ' cill submitted the examination of the following question to the meeting : — "Is it necessary that a man ' s life

should be on a par Avith his Avorks , even if he be a man of genius , to enable him to exercise a salutary influence on his age ? " He affirmed that contemporary literature , and its masters especially , were responsible for the debasement , the disorder , and uncertainty of our times . 31 . Ulhach said , that men of genius ivere humanity itself ,

Avith its troubles , its anguish , its revolts , its doubts expressed in attractive and immortal Avords . If their ideas were only submitted with sincerity and talent , they could have no bad influence on our consciences . JAldlle . lloyer and 31 . Fouelier de Carreill both asked for men of genius a calm appreciation , and gratitude for the benefits

they conferred . They asserted that if a man possessed one talent , he ought not to be expected to have all ; nor ought he to he condemned if his life ivere not as perfect as his ivritings . M . Weill persisted in asserting that great men Avho led a life of CA il were the intellectual malefactors of their age . He passed in review many Avell-knoAvn and admired names . Ho ivas

particularly severe on the Avorks of the present age , and concluded by saying , that if they seemed to him to ho confused and Avanting in morality , it was because their authors ivere guided by no fixed rules , no solid sad absolute principles . On the question , —'' i •• i >¦ •• -. ¦• -i : 1 ' u :-i in t o thought or feeling in art ? " one orator only , Jlr . Urlin , replied , and maintained that material advancement must

necessarily he in harmony with intellectual advancement . Almost every example , he said , proved that men AVIIO laboured the most usefully at material progress , were also those lrhose intellectual aspirations Avere of tho highest order . AA hy then , he inquired , separate the real from the ideal ? Is there not in the telegraph a sympathetic feeling Avhich conveys our hopes and fears to the farthest extremities of the globe ? These are the discoveries in

material order Avhich have aided the development of our ideas . It was by the invention of printing that the riches of the mind , formerly hidden away in a few manuscripts , have become the patrimony of all humanity , and have been made free to millions of understandings . Material and intellectual progress are the two great ivheels turning the steam-vessel wliich bears us

towards that- goal wliich humanity ought to unite . The last question examined by the Assembly was one by M . Pascal Dupi-at : — " Should art iu its various manifestations be a mental pleasure or an instruction ? " He passed in review some of the most beautiful works in art and literature ; proving , for example / from the lovely songs of the iEneid , from the

monuments of architecture and Hotels de Ville in the city , that artists and Avriters have been especially great when they have divined the popular idea , and at tho same time expressed the nobility of thoir age and country .

This section entered into the examination of the following question : — " On the influence of administrative centralisation upon the development of art and literature . " MM . Foucher de Careill , Pelletan , and Dognee considered centralisation to he specially fatal and dangerous . 31 . Foucher de Careill also sought to prove from the examples of Athens and Florence that great

artists have always developed themselves to more advantage where the hand of Government neither fettered nor directed their actions . 3 Ir . Pelletan opposed administrative centralisation in art , as it reduced bureaucracy , school prejudices , routines , and the exigencies of authority . The freedom of art Avas injured by

excessive Government interference , as well as the liberty of the artist , Avhose conscience Avas menaced b 3 favours , those state premiums which extinguish free inspiration instead of giving birth to it .

31 . AA ' agener supported the idea that individual efforts did not suffice for the encouragement of science and art . He cited , also , the great artistic movements of Athens , Florence , and Rome , and showed that in them could he traced the fruitful intervention of a powerful centralisation . In his opinion the communes , to whom , it had been suggested , the

right of interference Avith and encouragement of art ought to be entrusted , Avas restricted in its influence : it ivas a centralisation —a state . If a commune ivere allowed the privilege , surely so ought that great commune , the Government , which is the nation , bo permitted to assist in giving birth to those great compositions Avhich individuals Avould not be able to command , and

which are so invaluable for the instruction of the people . In the section " Benevolence and Public Health , " the following question was selected for discussion : — 1 . How ought sanitary measures of relief in the country to be organised ? A great number of orators were unanimous in their opinion

that the organisation of relief ivas necessary , Avith the exception of 31 . Burggraeve . There were nearly as many orators as there ivere systems . One thought it necessary to establish dispensaries ; another thought tha plan of domiciliary visits better ; a third that emoluments ought to be fixed by law;—it was but right that the man entrusted with the physical health of the community should be remunerated , as well as he who ivas en-