this long rest weakened their powers. Many complaints were heard of the lukewarmness of the Brethren, and the Lodge in St. Gallen ceased working entirely. Even the Directory seemed to have fallen asleep. It kept up no communication with its dependent Lodges, which latter on their part seldom gave their Sister Lodges tokens of their existence by fraternal circular epistles, but were satisfied with working quietly and independently in their own narrow circle, and fulfilling their duties toward the other Lodges and the profane world. The rectified Scottish system did not exist anywhere except in Switzerland. There was no General Grand Master, no Superior Master of the 5th Province, no Helvetic Grand Prior, and the Swiss Directory was nothing more than a perfectly independent community, and withdrew from all contact not only with the foreign Grand Orients, but likewise with the Grand Lodge of Switzerland. When in 1829 the Grand Master Br. Sarasin laid down his office, and Br. J. J. Escher, President of the Court of Justice in Zurich, was chosen in his stead, it was fondly hoped that the Directory, newly-formed in that place, would bring out greater activity in the Lodges, - but the hope was vain."

,,The Grand Lodge of Berne showed much more life, for it kept up a regular correspondence with its Lodges, and almost every year communicated to them interesting reports touching the efficiency of the single Lodges, of the interchange of letters with foreign Orients and Lodges, and of the condition of Freemasonry in general, which was calculated to strengthen their sympathies for Freemasonry, and to animate them to greater zeal in the cause."

June 14, 1830, the Grand Master Br. von Tavel died, and the union of the Swiss Lodges was once more made an open question, but was again frustrated, partly on account of the unfavourable light in which the Directory viewed the subject, and partly because political occurrences caused great lukewarmness to be manifested. In 1836

when the Lodge Modestia cum Libertate was about to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its existence, the Brethren in Zurich seized the occasion to invite all the Lodges, whatever their Rites, to be present at the Festival, for the purpose of stirring up masonic life in Switzerland, and of uniting the Brethren more closely in the bonds of personal friendship. They were of opinion that just at that critical juncture of mental intelligence, when materialism was in the ascendant and when great demands were made on every man by his individual calling, the poetry of life as well as the elevation of the intellectual faculties ought not to be extinguished; and that Freemasonry was a promoter of all that was good and beautiful in every sphere of human life, raising the sinking courage of the fluttering heart, assuaging the sufferings of an agitated period, reconciling the diverse opinions of Brethren and confederates at variance, for in all these points and many others she exercised a beneficial influence. At this Festival, which was most numeroulsy attended, the wish was fervently expressed that more intimate relations might be kept up between the Lodges in Switzerland by the repetition of similar meetings in the future, and it was unanimoulsy resolved to arrange such erratic gatherings of Swiss Freemasons to take place every two years. In pursuance of this resolution, such a reunion was assembled in Berne in 1838, and in Basel in 1840, where Br. Jung, chairman of the Lodge in Basel, did much towards the promotion of concord, and the project which he laid before the brethren made a firm foundation whereon was built subsequently the Temple of Unity in Swiss Freemasonry. In Basel this idea of union took firm root in the soil, for the assembled deputies formed a commitee of three of the most distinguished brethren from different Orients. (Jung of Basel, Hottinger of Zurich, and Tribolet of Berne,) who were charged to collect the laws and rituals of the Lodges in their native land, and to discuss the most suitable means and appropriate form of binding the

Swiss Lodges more indissolubly together. This troublesome task was willingly undertaken by the above mentioned Brethren, as Brother Jung said, "in the joyful hope that the work begun in Zurich and considerably advanced by the conferences in Berne and Basel would be perfected in the next convocation in the Lodge at Locle." This hope was not realised in 1842, though at the festivals held at Locle and Chaux-de-Fonds the preliminaries of a confederacy between the Lodges was deliberated and approved of by almost all the Lodges in Switzerland.

The great and important work of preparing a rough draught of the statutes of the Grand Lodge was undertaken by Br. Gysi-Schinz in Zurich, who with indefatigable perseverance soon completed his work, and handed it over to the Lodge for their approval. When these latter had signified their assent to the project, it was despatched to the Scottish Directory, and to the Administrative council in Berne, who both bestowed on it their unqualified approbation, and immediately expressed their readiness to resign the authority vested in them in favour of the new Grand Lodge about to be founded. At length, June 11, 1843, seven brethren from Basel, Berne, and Zurich, formed a committee in Aarau, and when they had signified their approbation of the project, it was immediately printed in the German and French languages, and sent to all the Swiss Lodges acknowledging the rectified Scottish and English systems, and these latter by accepting it unconditionally testified their willingness to join the confederacy.

June 22, 1844, was the day appointed by the Lodges in Zurich and Winterthur for the Festival, to which the Swiss Lodges had been invited. Delegates from the Lodges in Aarau, Aubonne, Basel, Berne, Bex, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Amitié and Prudence in Geneva, Lausanne, Locle, Neuenburg, Vivis, Winterthur, and Zurich, together with the administative council of the Grand Lodge, and the Ancient Scottish Directory, met together at Zurich, and in behalf of the Lodges they represented signed their names to the

treaty of union of the newly founded Grand Lodge „Alpina“. Whereupon Br. J. J. Hottinger was elected Grand Master (he had formerly been a member of the Scotch Directory); and they completed their work by appointing a council of administration, and the officers of the Grand Lodge.

On St. John's Festival the 23rd, the handing over of their act of abdication and the installation of the Grand Master who had chosen Br. Gysi-Schinz as his deputy, took place. Br. C. Bluntschli delivered a most excellent memorial speech upon the position assumed by Freemasonry to Church and State, and Br. Furrer one upon the importance of this festivity to Swiss Freemasonry. The following day the Grand Lodge was opened in due form.

The Administrative Council set to work immediately to model a code of laws for the regulation of the interior of the Lodges, when in 1845 the bands of free troops which came against Lucerne threatened to overthrow with one blow the work which had just been begun with so much pains and solicitude, but happily the wise moderation displayed by the Grand Master averted the coming danger. After the fortunate termination of the Sonderbund war in 1847, and after the expulsion of the Jesuits, peace was restored to the confederacy, and the Grand Lodge Alpina, which had in the mean time been every where recognised, became more firmly rooted, and bid fair to blossom abundantly, for she was but very slightly agitated by the political discords and fermentation which arose in 1856.

Br. C. G. Jung had succeeded Br. Hottinger in the office of Grand Master, and in 1856 Br. Shuttleworth, Master of the excellent Lodge in Berne, was put up as a candidate in the new election, which was protested against by. the heads of the Lodge Modestia in a circular epistle, for national pride spoke louder within them than masonic feeling. They thought that the Swiss confederacy would lose ground in the estimation of the rest of the Grand Orients, that they would justly incur signal disapprobation, and be reproached with self depreciation, if they permitted a man

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who was not a Swiss to be at their head, however great his capacity for the office in other respects. The Grand Master Br. Jung asserted1 on the other hand, that the observations offered by the members of the Zurich Lodge in their circular epistle were not justified either by the wording of their constitution nor by the history of the Alpina; the leading idea in Freemasonry was that the Mason's Fatherland was within his Fraternity; and even the alleged national disability could not be applied in this case, &c. In spite of all this Br. Shuttleworth counted but seven votes, and Br. Meystre, Master of the Lodge in Lausanne, was chosen Grand Master. A difference which in conse quence of these occurrences arose between the Lodges in Zürich and Berne, was happily adjusted at the ninth conference of the Alpina in Lausanne, in 1858, when Br. Jung was invested with the dignity of Honorary Grand Master, and Br. Hoffmann-Preiswerk that of Honorary Grand Orator.

May 17, 1860, the Grand Master Br. Hottinger departed his life, gently and peacefully, having a short time previously completed his 78th birthday. He was followed by Br. Gelpke, Professor of Theology at Berne, who held this office till 1869.

Switzerland displays in the present day great Masonic activity. The Fraternity is there much esteemed, and gains everywhere inward strength, and towards those without she fulfils her thrice blessed mission. The Grand Lodge Alpina now numbers 27 working Lodges under her; Br. Ruegg, Director of the Bank at Aarau, is her Grand Master.

II. ITALY.

The Inquisition, the priesthood, and the several measures of Government were all inimical to Freemasonry

1 Vide report on the proceedings of the 8th meeting of the "Alpina”, 1856, Page 14.