Masonic Missions.

used as a synagogue , and have converted it into a Masonic hall . As wc shall shortly proceed with our Masonic Missions , we shall be obliged by any information or statistics with whicli the brethren may favour us , in order to ensure the utmost possible accuracy .

Masonry In India.

MASONRY IN INDIA .

GREAT and important changes are taking place in our Indian empire , and at such a critical period of its history a brief review of the present condition of Masonry , with a few remarks on the practical inefficiency of existing Masonic institutions , may not be amiss . The several presidencies constitute Masonic districts ,

though one of them ( Bombay ) has not yet been entrusted to a Provincial Grand Master . Lodges , however , working therein under Scotch warrants , enjoy provincial government . Bengal , comprising a vast extent of country , in which there are considerabl y more European stations than in either of the subordinate presidencieswhilst ossessing a District Grand

, p Lodge , has not established it in a central position so as to ensure a speedy communication with the numerous Lodges under its control , nor indeed as at present constituted would such an arrangement be feasible . Calcutta with its nine Lodges demands a separate government , and until additional provinces are formedmust imperatively remain the head

, quarters ; but tho remoteness of so many Lodge stations from the seat of authority renders highly expedient the creation of additional provinces . If correspondence wore the only subject for consideration , no alteration in cxistinc ;

institutions would seem necessary ; the almost unrivalled postal arrangements of India , which combine speed with economy , making such objection invalid . But the personal supervision of the Provincial Grand Master or his deputy , ought to be experienced by every Lodge in the district , and these brethren must be enthusiastic Masons as well as

travellers , to favour the Pcshawur or Lahore Lodges with even an occasional visit , that is to say , of course if residing ( as such officers are wont to do ) iu tho vicinity of Calcutta . Bengal should be subdivided into at least three provinces , though more are really requisite ; these ought to comprise , respectivel ythe northernmidlandand southern Lodge

, , , stations , ami mi ght be named the District Grand Lodges of the Pnnjaub , of Meerut , aud of Calcutta . In the event of such a project being seriously entertained , it would be a matter of but sli ght difficulty to arrange and determine the limits and extent of each jurisdiction . A further solidity ancl durability could be cemented bthe selectionof Deputy

y , . Provincial Grand Blasters from brethren situated at a distance from the stations inhabited by the Provincial Graud Masters , a greater number of Lodges being thus brought under the direct notice of , and amenable to , " high Masonic authority .

^ Tho presidency of Madras should possess another District Grand Lodge , - whose jurisdiction ought to comprise the Lodges situate in its western and southern territory . The capital , Madras , has quite enough Lodges to form a separate province , there being no other station iu India with so many . This presidency would enjoy a more complete Masonic

government if it were formed into the provinces ofTrichinopoly and Madras , having , as recommended to the Bengal side , Deputy Provincial Grand Masters tit convenient stations . The Bombay presidency shews a great weakness in English Lod ges ; Masonry there being almost a ni < mopol y o f our Scotch brethren to whose possession of a Provincial " Grand Lod

, , ge whilst English Masons are without one , may be chiefly attributed the present decay . A District Grand ' Lodge under the constitution of England should at once be established , or in : i few years English Lodges in Bombay will be amongst the things that havo been . An able Provincial Grand Master would soon alter this

state of affairs , and it is to be hoped that , ere long , provincial government will be granted to this presidency . The Birman empire will soon demand a distinct government , but for the present should remain a dependency . The importance of an adequate supply of Masonic provinces in this vast country cannot be over estimated ; the necessity

for local authority , to exercise a vig ilant supervision aud prevent the constant reference of trivial matters to head quarters in London , is as requisite in India as elsewhere ; but many , very many disadvantages under which Indian Masons labour , their brethren in other colonies are wholly exempt from . In Hindostan the European population is not

permanently resident , and persons take at the utmost but a life interest in the country . Military men and civilians in her Majesty ' s Indian service comprise by far the bulk of the white society . At each of the three principal stations , viz ., Calcutta , Madras , and Bombay , there is of course a considerable sprinkling of professional men , such as surgeons ,

lawyers , etc ., ancl also merchants aud sailors , but even then they bear but a slight proportion to the government employes . There are few Europeans located in India , no . matter to what profession or trade belonging , who expect to end their days in that country . In . possession of a moderate competence , or of a hardly earned pension , the majority of Europeans

gladly avail themselves of the facilities for overland , transit to the civilized lands of the west afforded by tho . magnificent steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company . Few of our war worn veterans remain in . India to repose upon their laurels , after a protracted residence has secured a comfortable ancl honourable retirement . Merchants and professional men

have generally made ample fortunes and departed long before time has tinged their locks with grey . It thus follows that a lasting and time honoured connexion with the Lodge of one ' s initiation is a rare and almost unheard of occurrence ; no staff of veteran Past Masters exists in any Lodge—brethren who have watched with iningled feelings of fear and hopo its

changing fortunes the members of to-day will bo unknown and forgotten twenty years hence . Brethren at the upper stations have j * et more to complain of—Lodges up country being composed almost entirely of military oflicers or government officials , any disturbance or call for troops may deprive one of them at a swoop of half its membersancl render a

, future meeting impossible . If , by sonic good chance , enough brethren are quartered together toajrply legally for a warrant of constitution at a station unprovided with a Lodge , so much , time is expended in obtaining the necessary authority , that on its arrival there are possibly not two of the applicants remaining together .

It is m tho north west provinces , and in the Bombay presidency ( more especially the latter , where direct communication with London is necessary upon every occasion ) , that the evils of procrastination tire principally apparent ; and . there is great reason to believe that a few appointments therein of Provincial Grand Masters would much benefit the

( J raft . When seven or more brethren are for a time occupants of the same station , ancl desirous of establishing a Lodge , a dispensation to commence working ought to be at once pro curable , and the jierniission cheerfully accorded by the delegated authority . Upon such occasions there is generally a

rush of candidates for initiation , and after the first meeting but little fear of a dissolution need be apprehended , at least for a time . It will often happen that members of Lodges ( long constituted ) are distinguished at intervals by alternate fits of enthusiasm and apathy for many consecutive mouths . Zeal and attention will animate every In-otherwhilst through

, an unfortunate selection of a Master , or other disastrous calamity , the Lodge may be plunged into temporary difficulties ; members begin to look coldly upon one another , become slack in their attendance , irregular in the payment of dues , careless in their behaviour , and slovenly in . their work—lose