Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

Freemasonry and Israelitism 227 < kmsecration o £ the Commercial Lodge , No , 139 1 , at Leicester 229 ¦ Masonic Notes and Queries 229 Provincial Grand Lodge of West Lancashire 230

CRAFT MASONRY : — Metropolitan 231 Provincial 231 Masonic Tidings—British , Colonial and Foreign 231 MARK MASONRY : —

Metropolitan 232 Provincial 232 Provincial Grand Lodge of Leicester and Rutland 233 RED CROSS OF CONSTANT-INK : — Metropolitan 233

Masonic Orphan Boys ' School , Dublin 233 POETRY : — Great Britain and Ireland and Berwick-on-Tweed ... 233 Masonic Meetings for next week 233 Advertisements 22 s . 226 , 234 . 235 , 236

Freemasonry And Israelitism.

FREEMASONRY AND ISRAELITISM .

No . XXVII . By BRO . WM . 'CARPENTER , P . M . & P . Z . 177 . A Second Supplementary Paper . " Behold , thou shalt call a nation which thou

knowest not : and nations that know thee not shall ' run unto thee , because of the Lord thy God . " Such is the prophetic word ( Isa . lv . 5 ) , as . it " stood upon record thousands of years since .

The bringing of a vast region of India under British rule , and the calling of many nations there to become subject to the sceptre of the British Monarch , are circumstances unparalleled

in history . That 180 , 000 , 000 of people , of various races , some of them forming large and powerful States , possessing great wealth , and commanding large warlike resources : and having a

fierce and warlike population , should , some of them after a brief resistance , have bowed themselves down to the power of England , while others that " knew it not , " but bv more or less

vague reports of its prowess , should have " run unto it , " and have become faithful subjects , or have placed themselves under its protection , is a marvellous thing . But we are , every now and

then , obtaining evidence that the like marvel is extending itself far beyond the extremities of our Indian empire , in which people , who , but a short time since , knew us not , have submitted

themselves to our dominion , and identified themselves with our good and ill fortunes . In a most interesting ' j . book , just published , describing the author ' s " Visits to High-Tartary , Yarkand , and

Cashgar , '' in the mysterious regions of Central Asia , Mr . Robert Shaw gives an account of the journey by which he—the first Englishman that ever succeeded in doing so—reached Eastern

Turkistan , by crossing the great barrier of the Himalayas , and making his way across the high table-lands which from the western boundary of Thibet , his course lying over huge walls , raised

thousands of feet above the sea , and occasionally -starting into snowy cones , or sinking into dark , hideous steppes , or in depressions between craggy steeps , shooting high their crests of glacier and

ice ; or along watercourses that seemed to refuse life and verdure to the desolation around : the whole landscape , for hundreds of miles , forming •a lonely and interminable desert , which seemed to defy the boldest traveller . He at length

Freemasonry And Israelitism.

reached Eastern - Turkistan , once forming part of the north-western portion of the Chinese Empire , but now an independent state , ruled by a native called the Atalik Ghazee ,

who from this centre , says Mr . Shaw , "has made his power felt from Thibet to the Russian Empire , " and who is probably destined to become the first of a line of princes who may play an

important part in Asiatic history . Situated in the immense region known by the name of Tartary , and stretching into the unexplored deserts which reach into the centre of China , what should the

Tartar ruler of such a spot know or eare about the Anglo-Saxons who occupy these Islands , though the sceptre of their monarch commands the obedience of millions of various races in both

hemispheres ? Not enough , one would think , to create any desire to cultivate the friendship or secure the alliance of "the conquering race . " But here is a brief description of the honours

paid to Mr . Shaw , as an Englishman , by the Atalik Ghazee . Though " only an adventurous traveller , he was , as he approached the frontier , met by a body of Tartar horsemen , sent to escort

him , as a guard of honour . Roads were repaired for his passage , whole villages turned out to do him honour , as a great personage , wherever he went . At Cashgar he was received in state

by the Sovereign Prince , whose martial court is thus described : — " From my door to the entrance of the palace , a distance of a quarter of a mile , a broad avenue

had been formed in the crowd , whose bright robes of many colours had the efl ' ect of a living kaleidoscope . Entering the gateway , we passed through several large quadrangles , whose sides were lined

with ranks upon ranks of brilliantly attired guards , all sitting in solemn silence , so that they seemed to form part of the architecture of the buildings , whose want of height would otherwise have

given them a mean appearance . Entire rows of these men were clad in silken robes , and many seemed to be of high rank , from the richness of their equipments . Men of divers tribes , and

with strange arms , were mixed with the mass . For the first time I saw soldiers armed with bows and arrows . They were Kalmaks . The whole

eftect was curious and novel . The numbers , the solemn stillness , and the gorgeous colouring gave a sort of unreality to this assemblage of thousands . "

But all these honours , were , as I have said , paid to Mr . Shaw as an Englishman ; for far oft ' , in the almost unknown region of Central Asia , where these Tartars'd well , the sovereign ruler knew

enough of the Anglo-Saxons and their government thus to express himself to the somewhat astonished traveller : —•' The Queen of England is like the sun , which warms everything it shines

upon . I am in the cold , and desire that some of its rays should fall upon me . I am very smalla man of yesterday . In these few years , God has given me this great country . It is a great

honour for me that you have come . I count upon you to help me in your own country . Whatever services I can render you here , you may command : and you must do the same for me . "

That nations which knew us not , beyond report or rumour , rude and warlike in character , though sometimes living in oriental magnificence ,

Freemasonry And Israelitism.

separated from us by many thousands of miles , by land and water , should thus exhibit a desire for our alliance , and seek to ensure our friendship , and even evince a disposition to kiss the

Anglo-Saxon sceptre , " bringing their sons on their arms , and their daughters on their shoulders , " ( Isa . xlix , 22 , ) is , as I have said a marvellous thing . But that the . majority of these nations ,

some of them Brahmins , some Bhuddists , some a strange compound of the two , and others uniting with this again some of the dogmas and traditions of Mahomedanism , together with

orthodox Mussulmans , Parsees , and Jews , should have exhibited such an unanimity and spontanit ty of feeling and affection towards the heir to the sceptre which has broken in pieces the

sceptres of their native princes , and now rules them , as they did on the Thanksgiving Day , is more marvellous still . Having prayed for his restoration , these multifarious peoples now went

up to their several places of worship to thank God for his restoration . I cannot resist the temptation to quote here a portion of a descriptive article in the Bombay

Gazette , of March the 4 th , since it places m a very striking light the extraordinary fact I am desirous to impress on the minds of my readers . "It has been gratifying in no ordinary degree , "

says the Gazette , " to observe the cordiality and earnestness with which all classes of the mixed community of Bombay—Europeans , Mussulmans , Parsees , Jews , & c . —have celebrated the

occasion . In the weeks of painful suspense during which the life of the Prince was almost despaired of , it was impossible not to note the anxiety of the natives , and to observe that their

expressions of sympathy were profoundly sincere : and when the telegraph bulletins gave more ground for hope of recovery , and later on , when we learned that there was no further cause for

anxiety , natives rejoiced equally with Europeans , throughout the whole of India . There was at that time no united demonstration of rejoicing , because it was known that there would be a

Thanksgiving Day on which the whole Empire might together rejoice and offer up thanks ; but if manifestation of the sympathetic feelings of all classes was required there was no want of it

on Tuesday . It was but reasonable to anticipate cordial demonstrations on the part of the European community , but the spontaneous and universal action of the natives has far exceeded

what might have been expected . Thanksgiving Day has not been confined to the presidency towns , but has been celebrated , in even small towns , in all parts of the couutry . In Calcutta ,

the Governor-General proceeded in state to the Cathedral , as did also the Governors of Bombay and Madras , and in all the Christian churches special thanksgiving services were held ; and as

the day was observed as a general holiday , all business being suspended , the people flocked in crowds to their mosques , synagogues , and temples , in each of which special prayers were offered ,

and inmost of which addresses were delivered to the worshippers . Judging from the reports which have come to us from the other

presidencies , . the people of Bombay seem to have observed the occasion with even greater fervour than those of the sister cities , for here , in the evening , some of the Jewish places of worship , and most