A Tale Of The Olden Time.

knowledge of Masonry , but that they neither made Masons nor did any other work contrary to the Constitutions . They were then diz'ected to retire for a few minutes , and after some consultation among the members , they were readmitted , and the whole thirteen were elected honorary

members of the lodge , for which honour they returned heartfelt thanks . After the work of the lodge was over , the brethren adjourned to the banquet-table , and the thirteen were informed that a table filled with all the delicacies of the season awaited them downstairs . They went down

, looked at the table , which was a very tempting one , but the spirit of Masonry took possession of their hearts , which revolted at the distinction thus made among Masons , and they one and all left the place . Shortly after some of the brethren

upstairs came down to see how their brethren below fared , but to their astonishment they found that they were gone , and the good things laid out for them untouched . The next morning they were sent for by their commanding officer , who was one of the officers of the lodge , and asked to

explain their conduct . Bro . Wellis told him that , as Masons , they were bound to meet on the level and part on the square ; but as this fundamental principle was not practised in Lodge Benevolent , of which they had been elected honorary members , they could not partake of their hospitality . The

astonished colonel said not a word , but waived his hand for them to retire . We need not say that ever after this all the brethren of Lodge Benevolent ( including the thirteen ) met on the level both in lodge and at the banquet-table . —Masonic Record of Western India .

For The Last Twenty Years.

FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS .

( From the Indian Freemason ' s Friend . ) Twenty years ago I was initiated into Freemasonry in Lodge Industry and Perseverance , then , and long afterwards , the crack lodge of Calcutta ; and let me now look back through the last twenty years of my Masonic life . Of the many friends

I have made in Masonry in India , there are still some left , I know , who will not think it waste of time to recall the past , and give a kindly thought to the brethren who have left us , and a sigh for those we shall never see again in life , but whom we all humbly trust to meet once more , and for ever ,

in that Grand Lodge above where every good Mason may hope to be admitted . Three years before I became a Mason , Sir Edward Ryan , Chief Justice of the Supreme Court , was Senior Warden of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Bengal . He left Indian Masonry only when he left India , in 1841 .

Every one who remembers Sir Edward Ryan will admit that his stern dignified character added dignity to the Craft in the opinion of the Cowans . He was , however , three years before my Masonic career commenced , though I knew him well as Chief Justice , I only casually refer to him here as one

For The Last Twenty Years.

instance of the stamp of men we had in Masonry about that time . But he left his eldest son , Edmund Ryan , his clerk , and a solicitor of the court , to tread in his footsteps . Sir Edward is still in England , but the grass has long grown green over poor Edmund ' s grave . In 1844 , when

I was initiated , Mr . Neave * ( of the Civil Service , I believe , but I did not know him ) was Provincial Grand Master of Bengal , and with him in the Grand Lodge were Major Birch ( jolly old Birch long a magistrate of Calcutta , and whose bust is in our Masonic Hall ) as Deputy Grand Master ;

Henry Torrens , of the Civil Service , the gifted Torrens , as Junior Grand Warden ; Dr . Egerton , esteemed by all who knew him , as Senior Grand Warden ; old Captain Clapperton , of the Master Attendant's Office , as Senior Grand Deacon ; and that most worthy of all worthy MasonsJ . J . L .

, Hoffj our late officiating Provincial Grand Master ( who , while distressing illness keeps him from us , still lives in our hearts as he lived among us in the olden days ) as Junior Grand Deacon ; with such men as Longueville Clarke , whose name was a

household word for talent and eloquence ; Captain ( now Colonel ) Broome of the Artillery ; Dr . Mouatt , world renowned in India ; poor Edmund Ryan ; and John Parley Leith , the able and successful barrister , among the other officers of the Grand Lodge . I am not quite certain , but I think

Hamerton , the gifted musician , was Grand Organist . What an array of good names ! Besides them in Masonry , there were Colonel Burlton , of the Bengal Cavalry , by whom I was initiated , who was for some time officiating Provincial Grand Master , and a good portrait of whom is in

Stapleton ' s little Masonic book ; Samuel Smith , a perfect devotee of the Order , who spent so much of his time and money on his favourite Craft , and at whose hands , in his own encampment , formed in his own house , I was made a Red Cross Knight ; jolly old Chaunceto whose memory a Mural

, Tablet hangs in our Masonic Hall , whose portly figure and round jovial face told what a real John Bull he was . What though he did forget his " h " when he ought not to have clone so , especially and always when he trolled out , after refreshment , his praises of the favourite heroine of our youth , the

" Sweet lass of Richmond 'ill . " He always laughed at himself for it . His death was a melancholy one—lost , with all hands , in a light ship off Saugor , which foundered at her anchors in a terrible gale of wind . Poor Chaunce went to the Sandheads lor the recovery of his health , but it was ordained otherwise , and he went to his