The Admission Of Hindoos As Freemasons.

most careful consideration to any subject brought to his notice , affecting the interest of Masonry . In the bopo that I may shortly have the honour of again addressing you on the subject of your letter of November last , I beg to subscribe myself , Your most obedient servant , ( Signed ) W . GRAY CLARKE , G . S .

To W . Gratj Clarke , Esq ., Grand Secretary to the United Grand Lodge of England . Sir , —With a sense of deep pleasure and heartfelt joy I have the honour of acknowledging the receipt of your favour dated the 13 th May last , which has removed the anxiety under which I was all along subject to . I am under much obligation to understand that his lordshi

p tbe Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England has condescended to take my grievances , complained of in my letter of November last , into his serious consideration . I do not know in what terms to tender you my grateful thanks for the interest you have taken in my cause ; and the language of your letter under acknowledgment , every word of which breathes truly Masonic

feeling , has infused into my mind hopes of success , with a feeling of deep anxiety . I am expecting to have a further favour on the subject , hopes of which you are good and kind enough to hold out . I really regret to learn of the difficulty you had to meet in decihering andin order to

p my name ; , remove such difficulty in future , I beg to give my address dis ¦ iiaefcly and legibly at the bottom . With much respect , I beg to subscribe myself , Your most obedient servant , ( Signed ) PROSONNO COOAIAR Dun . Calcutta , July 15 , 1864

To W . Gray Clarice , Esq ., Grand Secretary to the United Grand Lodge of England . Sir , —Since the receipt of your kind favour of the 13 th May , 1864 I had the honour of addressing a letter to you , on the ISfch July last , with a legible and distinct signature of mine , in order to enable you to communicate to me tbe result of my petition , dated the 9 th November , 1863 .

I regret to mention that , although the subject matter of my petition lias been under the serious consideration of his lordship the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England for such a length of time as one whole year , yet I have not , up to this date , been favoured with the decision of his lordship . It is a matter of general interest ; and the great

anxiety on my part , as well as constant solicitation from my fellow-countrymen , compel me to take the liberty of again addressing you after a period of four months , with a sincere and ardent hope of your taking an active and favourable part on my behalf . I have already expressed my sincere regard for the very kind and obliing tenour of

writingcommug your , nicated to me in your letter of the 13 th May , 1864- ; and I would again solicit the favour of your recommending the subject of my grievances to his lordship . It is a great pity that I have not a single Masonic friend in England to lend me bis aid in moving on the matter from time to time ; but , notwithstanding , it is a consolation to me that your generous and good self has

held out hopes of addressing me a further communication , which I expect may turn favourable towards my desired object . I beg to say that , since I had the honour of addressing his lordship on the 9 th November , 1 S 63 , I often took and do still take great interest iu perusing magazines and works on Masonry ; and in one of the latter , called "Preston ' s Illustrations of Masonry , " I have met with certain passages worth noticing here . I have the presumption to quote the following , which may ,

The Admission Of Hindoos As Freemasons.

as I conceive , prove of some consequence and weight to support my petition , soliciting to be initiated a Freemason : — " Freemasonry is confessedly a latitudinarian—being , Masonically interpreted , a universal—institution ; and by its statutes any person of irreproachable morals , who will publicly acknowledge and subscribe to the being of

a God , may claim initiation into its mysteries , whether he be a Jew , a Christian , a Mahomedan , a Hindoo , or a North American Indian . " . . . . the Earl of Zetland announced as his opinion that Freemasonz'y , being a pure system of morality , ought to embrace within its illimitable range the rich and tbe poor , the Christian , the Jew , and all who

acknowledge the great Creator . " In conclusion , I beg to state that you will be good enough to communicate to me , at your earliest convenience , the result of my petition , dated the 9 th of November , 1863 . I have the honour to be , Sir , Your most obedient servant , ( Signed ) P . 0 . DUTT . Colootolah , Calcutta , Nov . 9 , 1864

A Tale Of The Olden Time.

A TALE OF THE OLDEN TIME .

It affords us much pleasure to learn that the Ascalon Encampment of Knights Templar at Poona has been resuscitated after lying dormant for eighteen months , and congratulate the members in having selected as their Eminent Commander the Venerable Sir Knight W . Wellis , the oldest

Freemason iu Bombay , and one who has the welfare of Masonry sincerely at heart . Bro . Wellis has worked well and heartily throughout the longperiod of forty years , and has earned for himself the respect and good-will of every man , high or low , who has ever had the pleasure of meeting

him . The late Chevalier Sir James Burnes , Provincial Grand Master of Bombay , held him in high esteem , aud in one of his most eloquent speeches in Bengal , in 1840 , spoke in very feeling terms of Bro . Wellis . Several very striking incidents occurred during Bro . Wellis ' s Masonic career , and we will here relate one circumstance : —In the good old times ,

about thirty-five years ago , only one lodge ( Benevolent ) was at work iu Bombay , the members of which consisted chiefly of military and naval officers , with a sprinkling of civil servants and merchants . The fort was then piincipally occupied by military men ; amongst these there were

thirteen non-commissioned officers who were Masons , but too poor to establish a lodge of their own , and too modest to seek admittance in what was then considered an aristocratic lodge . They , however , met-monthly in the Guard-room over the Apollo Gate for mutual instruction in Masonry .

It somehoAV came to the knowledge of the Master of the Lodge Benevolent that another lodge was at work without a warrant , and the thirteen were thereupon summoned to appear and answer for themselves . They obeyed the summons and attended ; and Bro . Wellis , who was appointed spokesman , candidly admitted that they met for mutual instruction in order to brash up their