Australia.

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE . MELBOURNE . —The Metropolitan Chapter of Sovereign Prince Rose Croi . v , of H . R . D . M . — -AA e had a meeting on Friday evening , the 29 th May , when the 111 . Bro . Alex . J . Gibb , K . H ., 30 ° was duly installed Most AA ise Sovereign of the Chapter for the ensuing year by the P . M . AV . S . Sir Knight Bradshaw , K . H . 30 ° . Tne following officers were appointed by the M . AV . S .

Bro . H . AA . Lowry , High Prelate , Bro . F . T . Goll , 1 st General , Bro . Charles White , 2 nd General . After the installation , no other business being on the summons , the conclave was closed in due form .

India.

INDIA .

( From the Indian Freemasons' Friend . ) BENGAL . DlSTJUCl' G-BAXD Loses . A quarterly communication of the District Grand Lodge ' of Bengal was held at the Freemasons' HallCalcuttaon

, , Wednesday , the 21 th June , 1 S 63 , St . John the Baptist's Day . Bro . Frederick Jennings , D . Prov . G . M ., presided , and Bro . John Blessingtoa Roberts , P . Prov . S . G . AA ., officiated as D . Prov . G . M . About forty-six brethren were present . The Officiating PROV . G . MASTER said , —Brethren , we hf . ve to regret this evening the absence of our Prov . G . M ., and tho -cause which has taken him temporarilto England . In

away y his absence , his duties have , as a matter of course , devolved -upon me , and as it is well known that , in such cases , it is the duty of a D . Prov . G . M . to take charge of a province , the Prov . G . M . probably considered it unnecessary to notify the arrangement under which I now hold the Hiram . During the short ¦ time I have had charge of the province , nothing unusual has occurred demanding the notice ofthe District Grand Lodge ;

but I have the following announcements to make : —1 . The exclusion of Bro . William Claxton from ths Lahore Lodge , which has been confirmed by the Prov . G . M . 2 . The establishment of a new lodge at Jullunder , named , after its founder , "" AVahab , " or Benevolent , which is working at present under a dispensation from the Prov . G . M . 3 . The transfer of the warrant of LodTriune Brotherhood from Kussowlie to the

ge neighbouring Hill Station of Dugshale , where several brethren of the 42 nd ( or Black AA atch ) Highlanders have been allowed to revive it . 4 . The appointment by the Prov . G . AI ., previous to his departure , of the following brethren to be the members of the Finance Committee for the current year : —Bros . P .

Jennings , D . Prov . G . M . ; John XV . Brown , Prov . S . G . AV . ; AA m . Clark , C . E ., Prov . J . G . W . ; James B . Knight , AV . M . 279 ; James H . Linton , AV . M . 551 ; AA m . B . Abbott , AV . M . 1127 ; Thos . Dickson , Prov . G . Tyler ; AVm . H . Hotf ,-Prov . G . Sec . -5 . Also the following appointments .- —Bro . W . G . Baxter to be Custodian of the Freemasons' Hall , and Bro . J . AA alter Beatsoh to be Librarian to the District Grand Lodge . Brethren , within a short period we have had to notice the demise of three

distinguished brethren , viz ., Bros . Samuel Smith , John Grant , and A . II . E . Boileau . Another brother who occupied a prominent position in Masonry is now added to the list of the departed —• Bro . Longueville Clarke . The age and infirmities of the deceased prevented him from taking an active part in Masonry since the year 1857 ; hut with reference to his previous Masonic career , and his well-earned reputation as a public-spirited fellow

citizen , he ought not to be allowed to pass away from among us without an expression of regret . I , therefore , propose that the minute which I am about to read may be published iu the proceedings of the District Grand Lodge . The Officiating PROV . G . MASTER then read out a minute , ivhich was received with applause , and , on the motion of Bro . A . J . AVhitten , of Lodge No . 80 , was embodied in the

proceedings of the District Grand Lodgo . The PROV . G . SECRETARY read the report of the Finance Committee on the audit of the Prov . G . Treas . for the second quarter of 1803 . In the District Grand Lodge Fund there was a balance in hand of 1 S 37 rupees ; and in the Fund of Benevolence of 4611 rupees . Bro . ROBERTS , officiating D . Prov . G . M ., said , —I should like to know how the Finance Committee is constituted . I notice that at the meeting of which the report has just been read , four Grantl Officers and only one Master of a lodge were present . I

think there should be some independent members m the committee , that is , some members who do not hold office in the District Grand Lodge . The officiating Pnov . G . MASTER said , —The by-laws require that the Finance Committee should be composed of five members ( besides the ex-qfficio members ) , of whom Wo should be Grand Officers , and three should be Masters or Past Masters of lodges . It generallhappens , howeverthat all the members

y , are Grand Officers , probably because most of the Masters and Past Masters in Calcutta obtain rank in the District Grand Lodge . Bro . J . AA . BROWN , Prov . S . G . AA ., said , —It is not surprising that only one Master of a lodge was present at the meeting alluded to , for I am an old member of the committee , ancl know that it is frequently difficult to get the members to attend

the meetings . The PROV . G . SECRETARY said , —There are three Masters of lodges in the committee . It is true they are also Grand Officers , but they are not summoned to the meetings in that capacity , but as representatives of the lodges , —that is , as Masters . The accounts , as audited , were then passed . " A discussion ensued on the following proposal of the Finance Committee : —Reada letter from the Master of Lodge True

, Friendship ( No . 265 ) , applying for sanction for the use , hy his lodge , of the plated-ware and candelabra of the District Grand Lodge on such equitable terms as the Prov . G . M . might be pleased to impose . Tbe committee were of opinion that lodges using the plated-ware and candelabra should pay 40 rupees for the whole , or 20 rupees for half the set . After a long discussion the rate of hire was fixed at 10 rupees

a month . The following suggestion of the Finance Committee was adopted : —Read , several complaints regarding the unsatisfactory condition of the piano at the Freemasons' Hall . The Committee were of opinion that Messrs . Burkinyoung and Co . should be informed of the dissatisfaction which prevailed , and should be requested to submit an estimate of the expense of repairing the piano , with suggestions as to how a recurrence of such complaints might be avoided . The report of the committee appointed for the revision of the

by-laws of the District Grand Lodge , the discussion ot which had been postponed at the last quarterly communication , was taken into consideration . The committee proposed that the following clause should be substituted for that now standing under the head " Constitution : "—The District Grand Lodge is constituted by , and meets under , a Grand Master duly authorised and appointed by the Grand Master of England .

Bro . ROBERTS said , —The word "constituted" appears to me to be inappropriate , as I do not think it can he said that the District Grand Lodge is constituted by the Prov . G . M . The PROV . G . SECRETARY said , —Not to quarrel about words , perhaps Bro . Roberts will not object to the substitution of the word emanates , which is used in the Pooh of Constitutions , it being ruled there that the Provincial Grand Lodge emanates

from the authority vested in the Prov . G . M . After some further discussion , the committee ' s recommendation , with the verbal alteration suggested by Bro . Hoff , was adopted . The committee proposed to transpose the sentence of the law standing immediately under the scale of fees payable by Grand Officersmaking the concluding sentence the beginning of the

, paragraph . Bro . ROBERTS objected to the transposition of the sentence , and moved that the law should stand as it was . This was seconded and carried . The Committee recommended that the final portion of clause 5 , commencing with the word any ( which provided that any deficiency in the Banquet Fund should be made up from the

Grand Lodge Fund by a resolution of the District Grand Lodge ) should be struck off , the Committee being of opinion that it was not expedient to legislate for a fund that should be self-sustaining , or to pass a law to provide for such deficiency being made up from the funds of the District Grand Lodgo . Should any deficiency arise , the Committee observed that it could be dealt with as an exceptional case .

Bro . ROBERTS was of opinion that all allusion to the banquet should be omitted from the by-laws , and therefore proposed that the excision recommended by the Committee should begin a little higher up , with the first line at page 8 , so as to exclude the whole of the following passage -. — " And the expense of the