The Question Of Jurisdiction Again.

concerned . But what is still more extraordinary is that so many of those who plunge headlong into the controversy about Grand Lodge jurisdiction should have such shadowy ideas as to what it all means . An American expert is a tolerably safe guide in all matters relating to the jurisdiction of American Grand Lodges

in his own country , but when a difference arises between one of these Grand Lodges and a foreign Grand Lodge or Grand Orient , he does not trouble himself about the rights of the latter or its duties and responsibilities towards the lodges under its obedience . All he does is to insist that his own opinions are correct , because

he holds them , and that the laws of his own Grand Lodge or of the Grand Lodges in his own country are the laws of universal Freemasonry , and must be enforced at all hazards against all other Grand Lodges and Grand Orients . An illustration of our meaning' will be found in the interminable Anglo-Ouebec

difficulty . The Grand Lodge of Quebec asserts that the three English lodges in Montreal have no right to exist outside its jurisdiction , though they were warranted many years before the said Grand Lodge was founded , and though it has again and again pointed out that , so long as these lodges elect to remain in

allegiance to the Grand Lodge which created them , and conform themselves to its laws and institutions , even that said Grand Lodge itself does not possess the power to prevent them . And there are many of the Grand Lodges in the United States which sympathise with the Grand Lodge of Quebec in its attempt , by

edicts and otherwise , to compel these English lodges to terminate a connection on which they pride themselves , and which , for the present at all events , they seem resolved on maintaining . In the case of foreign Grand Lodges other than American , the question of jurisdiction seldom , if ever , arises , nor until quite recently

has any difficulty ever arisen as to the relations that should exist among the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland , and their respective District or Provincial Grand Lodges and private lodges in the Colonies and Dependencies of the British CroAvn . There always appears to have been a tacit understanding—a kind

of unwritten law—among the three Grand Lodges of the old country , which has in the main been very faithfully observed by their District or Provincial Grand Lodges in the Colonies , that they should work side by side together harmoniously , but independently , and this understanding appears to have been pretty

faithfully observed , so that what has been designated " concurrent jurisdiction " has been a help rather than an obstacle to the promotion of goodwill among the lodges and brethren of the several Constitutions . We are far from saying that this goodwill has been diminished , but it is evident from the circular letter addressed by

the District Grand Secretary of Queensland ( E . C . ) to the English lodges in that Colony , which we published last week , that advantage is being taken of this concurrence of jurisdiction to force

upon the Masonic Fraternity in Queensland and elsewhere a single supreme authority in place of the three co-ordinate authorities which hitherto , as we have said , have worked together so harmoniously .

It is evident , too , from the letter of Bro . E . T . GlLLON , P . M . of the Waterloo Lodge , No . 4 63 , Wellington ( N . Z . ) , on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , which also appeared in our columns last week , that there are brethren in New Zealand who do not understand this question of jurisdiction , and who confound

the American ideas which prevail on the subject with those which have existed for so long , and worked so beneficially , in the Old Country . Thus it was given as a reason in favour of the movement for establishing a United Grand Lodge of New Zealand that ,

under the present system , it was open to any foreign Grand Lodge or Grand Orient to charter lodges in the colony , whereas , under a single and Supreme Grand Lodge any such step would be impossible , or , if attempted , would be promptly and successfully put down . We demurred to this view , and cited the case of the

Grand Lodge of Manitoba , which had warranted a lodge at Gibraltar , where we have a District Grand Lodge , but withdrew the warrant on representations made by our authorities ; and also that of the Grand Chapter of Canada , which had warranted three chapters in Melbourne , where already there were some 11

English chapters , which Canadian chapters—according to the information we then possessed— -had returned their warrants in view of the establishment of a Supreme Grand Chapter of Victoria . Bro . GlLLON , however—though we make every allowance for the disadvantage he is under in not having read our

article—is still incredulous , and maintains that the Grand Orient of France or the Grand Lodge of Sweden or Massachusetts could , to-morrow , if it were so minded , establish a lodge in New Zealand , notwithstanding the fact that the Colony is already , Masonically , occupied by the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and

Scotland , which , though exercising concurrent authority as regards each other , are unquestionably supreme as against an outsider . We say this is impossible , and , by way of reply , Bro . GlLLON cites the case of Cape Colony , where there are , undoubtedly , some Dutch lodges . The selection is unfortunate for the purpose which Bro . GlLLON had in view , as _ it merely serves to

The Question Of Jurisdiction Again.

show how generously the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom act towards foreign lodges which are legitimately located in British territory as compared with—let us say—the Grand Lodo- of Quebec , which , if it had the power , would prevent three English lodges from exercising those rights and privileges thev enjoyed for years before the Grand Lodge of Quebec \ y organised . Cape Colony was conquered from the Dutch earl y j the present century , and it is greatly to the honour of the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland that from the time the Cape Colony became British territory till now they have never

once dreamt of molesting the Dutch brethren in the performance of their Masonic duties . There is a Dutch Deputy Grand Master for South Africa , and the lodges , many of which are of recent creation , have their own government and their own laws ; but objections would , undoubtedly , be raised to the Grand Orient of

the Netherlands chartering lodges in Colonies which had never been anything other than British . The same may be said of the Mauritius , which was also conquered from the French earl y j n this century . Here there are English lodges , but no District Grand Lodge , and there are also French lodges holding under

the Grand Orient of France , which are left to the enjoyment of their rights and privileges ; but we should most decidedl y object to France establishing lodges in Brisbane or Bombay . What is more , we think that if any such attempt were made , our objection would be successfully maintained .

There is , indeed , no clearly defined international law on the subject , though there well might be one for general guidance . We have seen it stated , and we believe the late Bro . MACKEY

was author of the statement , that though there is no law absolute which has been accepted of all G . Lodges , yet , as a matter of courtesy , the Grand Lodge of one country has never invaded the political territory of another country , even though it may have been unoccupied by a supreme Masonic authority . This

is certainly not the case in some of the South American States , in which there are both native and foreign lodges . For general purposes , however , this rule of courtesy , that Masonry should follow the flag , seems as good as any that could be devised , and certainly less likely than any other to cause friction among the

Masonic powers . As regards the British Empire , it is clear that such supremacy as exists is exercised co-ordinately by the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland , except in those colonies such as Canada , Nova Scotia , South Australia , New South Wales , Victoria , & c , where it has already waived , or as in

Quebec , where it has expressed its willingness to waive , its rights , on the very natural and just understanding that the wishes of such lodges as elect to remain in their old allegiance shall be respected . But even here the general rule , though modified , holds good . The very fact that the Grand Lodges of the Old

Country have by treaty with Canada , & c , & c , renounced their rights to charter lodges is proof that these rights were exercised throughout the British Empire , if not from time immemorial , yet from the time when they began chartering lodges in outlying British territory . Indeed , but for the exercise of these rights ,

the independent colonial G . Lodges would never have been in existence , and therefore it seems good that , as things are , what has been , should be , and that the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland should be , co-ordinately , supreme in the British Empire , except in those Colonies in which they have waived their rights in favour of the local Grand Lodges .

Brief Essays On Curious Subjects.

BRIEF ESSAYS ON CURIOUS SUBJECTS .

2 . —THE " TAU CROSS . " As the English Rite of Free Masonry is authoritatively defined to consist of the Three "Blue" Degrees , with the R . Aas a cope-stone—thus confirming in an indirect manner the

dictum of our most reliable students that all Masonry is latent , or contained in the Craft Ritual—it must be permissible to consider the symbols , now confined to the Arch , as portions of the major scheme of the Royal Art .

It is an open secret that the Tan Cross is a frequent occurrence in chapter working . This Phallic Cross is , perhaps , the most ancient and widely-spread of any of the Cruciform emblems , f ° it seems to have been of universal adoption—the next most popular form being probably the Swastika , or Jaina Cross , known also

as the Hammer of Thor , but which , strange to say , finds no p lace in our ceremonies . In Egypt the Tait is very commonly show " with a surmounting oval , which makes it the Crux Ansata , ° ' handled Cross . The simple T is equivalent to the Hi'lC lL 1 Trisula , and the Oval , or Vesica Piscis , represents the Sistrum pi Yonic of the different Eastern cults . It therefore combines , '"

the Anch , the active and passive , or receptive , powers of Nat' " ' - ' As generally understood , the Ansated Cross meant new , res ' ' rected , eternal life , and sometimes typified the instructed i ' ate , as well as the Osirified soul that had come safely throug the terrors of Anient ! , The ancients usuall y expressed tn e