BASLE, CONGRESS OF

A Masonic Congress was held September 24, 1848, at Basle, in Switzerland, consisting of one hundred and six members, representing eleven Lodges under the patronage of the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina. The Congress was principally engaged upon the discussion of the question, “What can and what ought Freemasonry to contribute towards the welfare of mankind locally, nationally, and internationally?” The conclusion to which the Congress appeared to arrive upon this question was briefly this:

“Locally, Freemasonry ought to strive to make every Brother a good citizen, a good father, and a good neighbor; whilst it ought to teach him to perform every duty of life faithfully. Nationally, a Freemason ought to strive to promote and to maintain the welfare and the honor of his native land, to love and to honor it himself, and, if necessary, to place his life and fortune at its disposal; Internationally, a Freemason is bound to go still further:

he must consider himself as a member of that one great family,-the whole human race,-who are all children of one and the same Father, and that it is in this sense, and with this spirit, that the Freemason ought to work if he would appear worthily before the throne of Eternal Truth and Justice.”

The Congress of Basle appears to have accomplished no practical result.