The Prince Of Wales In India.

THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA .

THE event to which public attention has been directed for months past is at length realised , and India has received , with much ceremony and still more enthusiasm , the eldest son of its Empress , the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland . Early on Monday morning , the Royal

Yacht Osborne steamed into Bombay Harbour , preceding by a few hours only the Serapis , with the Prince of Wales and his suite aboard . Thereupon the ships of war and the forts tired a Royal salute , and the Viceroy , Lord Northbrook , was rowed to the Serapis , and went on board , for the

purpose of welcoming his Royal guest to India , and felicitating him on the safe progress of his journey . A few hours later in the day the Prince landed , amid the noise and smoke of another salute , and was received by the Governor , Sir Philip Wodehouse , and thelndian princes , who

had come specially to be present on the occasion , and pay homage to the son of India ' s ruler . Slowly , amid the most loyal greetings from the Europeans , and the quieter yet respectful -salutations of the Hindoos , the procession moved on through the streets of Bombay to the Governor ' s

residence , which had been specially prepared for His Royal Highness ' s reception . Of course , every known form of celebrating any auspicious event was observed in honour of the visit . There were banquettings and illuminations , the reception of , and the return visits to the Indian Princes ,

who mustered to the number of seventy or eighty ; in fact , Bombay , since the Prince ' s arrival , may be said to have been continuously en fete , and for the rest of the week the busy capital of Western India cast aside the business of money making , and plunged heart and soul into the

business of merry m » king . To chronicle the whole course of the doings dming this eventful week would occupy more space than is at our command . We have said enough already as to the outer forms and ceremonies of the reception thus far , but a few

words as to the wisdom and policy of the visit may not be out of place . Two or three centuries are but a brief period in the history of nations . Yet it is less than three centuries ago since the first British traders planted their factories on the Ganges , at Surat , and in other places on the

continent . It is but little over two hundred years since Bombay came into the possession of England , as part of the marriage portion of Catherine of Braganza , wife of our Charles II . The formal cession of the Island and its

dependencies was at first refused by the Portuguese Governor , but on 1664 it was taken possession of in the name and in behalf of the English Sovereign , and has remained English ever since . In 1668 it was transferred to the East India

Company , and in 1858 it again passed directly under the rule of Queen Victoria . Territory was gradually acquired in other parts of Hindostan , now at the expense of the French , or the Dutch , now at that of the Mogul and other Indian Sovereigns . Plassey , won by Clive , in 1757 ,

laid the foundation of our Empire , and the repression of the Indian Mutiny confirmed it . Thus from the enterprise of a few merchant adventurers , only a few score years since , has sprung np the British Indian Empire of to-day , with close upon two hundred millions of population ,

enormous revenues , and resources , the wealth of which it is impossible to estimate . Once already since the transfer of power from John Company to the British Crown , has a prince of the reigning house , the Duke of Edinburgh , visited our Indian dependency , but there was little or no formality on that occasion . The visit of the Prince of

The Prince Of Wales In India.

Wales is a far more significant event . Though , for wise purposes of State , His Royal Highness will be , during his stay in India , merely the guest of the Queen ' s Viceroy , he will be regarded by Indians of all classes , from prince to peasant , as the representative of the Queen his mother .

It is well , moreover , that the heir to a throne should make acquaintance , personally , with the countries he will some day rule over . We , in England , who live happily and contented under the easy forms of a constitutional government , can hardly gauge what the power of a ruler means .

In India we English are a dominant people . We may do much to mako stronger the ties which unite the natives of that country with us as subjects of one and the same Sovereign ; but above and beyond this , andseeingthafcour rule over them will last only so long as our strength remains

what it is , the heir to a ruler who , there at all events , governs as ' well as reigns , is a far more important personage than in his own country , where the actual power of the Crown is wielded by a ministry , who , in its turn , is dependent on the popular will . British rule in India is a very

formidable entity . We govern the country for its good , but that we govern the country at all is owing to our military strength . Thus , in traversing Hindostan , and visiting its most populous and important cities , the Prince will be looked upon as representative of a sovereign whose

power is irresistible , and who knows no laws but those of her own making . His presence , and the state and ceremony which will attend him everywhere , will give a reality to Queen Victoria ' s sovereignty over India which it has lacked heretofore . That the visit will be to the

common good of India and England , we doubt not for one moment . That the Prince ' s reception in all parts of our Indian Empire will be as cordial as at Bombay we feel assured ; while , in common with all loyal subjects of the Queen , we wish him God-speed on his way , and a safe return home next year .

Masonic Portraits (No. 2). A Distinguished Mason.

MASONIC PORTRAITS ( No . 2 ) . A DISTINGUISHED MASON .

" k GOODLY presence " has been the making of -OL many a man , who , but for his physical advantages , might have long kicked his heels in the cold before he had persuaded the world to value him for his mental

endowments . We arc all prone to judge the people we meet by the impressions which mere physical qualities produce upon our minds . Few men are gifted with sufficient insight into character to be able to recognise a great

soul under an unsightly husk . The faculty of reading men is only acquired by those who have passed the greater portion of their lives in public , and even this schooling is often lost upon a dullard . The human face ,

like the human mind , is not an easy task to master , and he who can find the clue to a man ' s character , in the lines which are written on his brow , may flatter himself that he has acquired no mean art . Books , after all , are for

children . " The proper study of mankind is Man . " The subject of our sketch may be styled , emphatically , a man of the time . An observer would no more think of classing him with the men of the age which is passing away than

they would think of comparing Apollo with Hercules . We occasionally see faces which irresistibly recall the past . Some of the men we know recall the age of wigs , ruffled shirts , and gallantry . Wo have been positively startled ,