Freemasonry In The British Colonies And Possessions, And Other Countries Abroad.

FREEMASONRY IN THE BRITISH COLONIES AND POSSESSIONS , AND OTHER COUNTRIES ABROAD .

THE casual reference we made in one of our editorial notes last week to tbe establishment of a so-called Grand Lodge of New South Wales has induced ns to lay before our readers as comprehensive a sketch as the narrow limits of space at our disposal will permit of Freemasonry in the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown , os

well as in certain foreign countries with which the sovereign of the United Kingdom is on terms of amity . That a strong feeling of surprise will be felt on discovering the extensive ramifications which English Freemasonry

has made throughout the British Empire , and even outside its limits , is more than probable , while it is certain that no English Mason can feel otherwise than proud on noting the vast amount of popularity enjoyed by the Craft , of which these wonderful ramifications are the indubitable

evidence . It is an old saying thafc the sun never sets on the Queen ' s dominions , and this is as trne of English Freemasonry as it is of English territory at home and abroad . To slightly alter an expression which is necessarily familiar to our brethren , the sun is always at its meridian in respect of English Freemasonry .

The reader will hardly credit at first sight the statement that of tbe eighteen hundred Lodges—there or thereabouts—which owe allegiance to fche Grand Lodge of England , nofc many short of five hundred are located in our Colonies or abroad . Yet a study of the figures we give in the course of this sketch will show this to be the case .

What is still more striking is , that there is no division of the world which does nofc possess Masonic Lodges , acknowledging tbe kindly sway of the Prince of Wales as Grand Master . They aro to be found in Gibraltar , Malta , the Ionian Islands , and European Turkey * , in Asia , in North

and South Africa , in North , Central , and South America and the West Indies ; in Australia and New Zealand . Even Fiji can now boast of its Lodgo of Masons , and who knows how long it may be before the Sandwich Islands , under the auspices of Bro . King Kalakua , will be as

fortunatel y circumstanced ? Taking as our guide the last edition of Grand Lodge Calendar , we find there were at the close of last year no less than 465 Lodges holding under the English Grand Lodge , and these , as we have said , are scattered over every division of the world . And

since the Calendar was issued the number has been still further increased , warrants for no less than seventeen additional Lodges having been granted during the past three months . However , if we take the Lodges as they are arranged in the several Districtsand in the order in

, which they are given in the Calendar , we note that in the District of Gibraltar there are threo Lodges , namely , St . John ' s , No . 115 , warranted in 1767 , and Inhabitants , No . 153 , 1777 both of which were " Ancient" Lodgesand

, , have received a Centenary warrant , and Friendship , No . 278 , of the year 178 $ ) . In tho Malta District there are seven Lodges , two having been warranted in the course of the Present year , whilo the Tunis , No . 1717 , and the Golefcta ,

Freemasonry In The British Colonies And Possessions, And Other Countries Abroad.

No . 1835 , Lodges date , the former from 1877 , and the latter from 1879 . The Senior Lodge , the St . John ancl St . Paul , No . 849 , dates from 1815 . In tho Dominions of the Sultan are eleven Lodges , four at Constantinople , one at Ephesus , and six at Smyrna , the oldest , the

Oriental , No = 687 , dating from 1856 , the lasfc year of the Crimean wai * . There are two Lodges in the Ionian Islands , one in Corfu warranted in 1837 , and the other in Zante ; while in Egypt there are eight Lodges , the oldest the Bulwer Lodge of Cairo , No . 1068 , having been warranted in the year 1865 .

We next come to the East Indies , in the various divisions of which there are over one hundred Lodges . Bengal heads the list with thirty-six , of which two have received their warrants during the present year . Those who have read Preston will remember that Freemasonry found its

way into India at an early date , and ifc will surprise no one therefore to be told . that in Bengal there aro no less than six , and in \ iadras three Lodges , which were constituted before 1813 , the year of tho Union . The oldest Bengal Lodge , Star-in-the-East , No . 67 , of Calcutta , dates

from 1740 , but as it has not received a centenary Warrant , it cannot have worked continuously from its establishment . No . 109 , Industry and Perseverance , also of Calcutta , was founded in 1761 , and has received its centenary Warrant . The next four Lodges meet in Calcutta likewise , namely ,

Nos . 218 , 229 , 232 , and 234 , all of them having held under the " Ancients , " the first two dating from the year 1797 , and the last two from 1801 . The number of Lodges in the capital of the Presidency is eleven , tho other important cities which can boast of a Lodge or Lodges

being Agra and Allallabad , with two each , Bareilly , Benares , Cawnpore , Lncknow , Meerufc , & c . Bombay has nineteen Lodges , the city of Bombay itself boasting nine of them , whilst the oldest , Orion in the West , No . 415 , is located at Poonah . British Burmah has nine Lodges , but the

oldest , Philanthrophy , No . 542 , of Moulmcin , was founded only as recently as 1847 . Madras has nineteen Lodges , of which four meet in Madras , Perfect Unanimity , No . 150 , dating from 1765 , but having no centenary Warrant as yet ; Universal Charity , No . 273 , having been warranted

in 1879 , Lodge of the Rock , No . 260 , of Trichmopoly , being two years older , its Warrant bearing date 1787 . The oldest Lodge in the Punjaub , which has nineteen Lodges , is the Himalayan Brotherhood , No . 459 , of Simla , which was founded in 1839 .

The District of the Eastern Archipelago has three Lodges , one in fche island of Penang , and two in Singagore , and there is one Lodge which meets afc Kandy in Ceylon , and three afc Port Louis in the Mauritius . In China , which has recently been divided into two Districts , there are

eleven Lodges , two at Amoy , four in Hong Kong , one—of this year ' s constitution—at Foochow , one at Chin Kiang , and three afc Shanghae . The oldest , the Royal Sussex , No . 501 , of the year 1844 , meets in the last-named city ; the next in point of seniority being the Zetland , No . 525 ,

of Hong Kong , warranted in 1846 . Japan , which was erected into a District in 1873 , has four Lodges . South Africa now claims our attention , the aggregate of Lodges in the various Districts being close on fifty . The Western Division , which includes Capo Town , has six

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EPPS'S assess ,. ) COCOA .