The District Grand Lodge Of Northern China.

The R . W . D . G . M . availed himself of this opportunity to impress upon the Masters of the different lodges the great importance of not passing candidates to the higher degrees unless they had been properly instructed ancl were well acquainted with the ritual . He thought it would be advisable for them to follow the course adopted in the Scotch and American lodges of appointing two instructors to prepare the candidates for the examinations they had to pass .

It was a very good plan ancl was found to work well in practice . The proposers and seconders of candidates , while anxious to do all in their power , very often had not sufficient time to make them fully acquainted with the ritual ; therefore , if special instructors were appointed no doubt the candidates would be better able to pass the examinations necessary for their promotion . There was another very important matter he wished to bring to their notice

, ancl it was one that had called forth a great deal of discussion in various parts of the world . It was that of Brethren who did not profess the Christian religion being admitted members of the Craft , ancl he would read an extract from the Minutes of a meeting , held on the 24 th June , 1879 , of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal on the subject , which was as follows : —

" The next matter is a very important matter which was mooted by our Wor . Bro . W . C . Bonnerjee , in September last , viz ., the manner of obligating such candidates for Masonry and for advancement in Masonry as do not profess the Christian religion . On this point I believe no difficulty exists except in the case of Hindoos . I am , however , obliged to Wor . Bro . Bonnerjee for moving the matter , especially as we have it from him that the present form uf obligation administered to Hindoos is in no way binding . I have had to ask your indulgence for some time to enable me to examine the records of the District Grand Lodge

and to obtain all available information on the subject . I have seen what records there are , and I have read carefully the correspondence between the Grand Secretary in England and Wor . Bro . P . C . Dutt with reference to his initiation , and I have been assisted greatly by the papers that that Brother has shewn me . It appears to me that owing to the peculiar character of the Hindoo religion it is absolutely necessary that , immediately on the admission into lodge , a Hindoo candidate for initiation should be asked in the words of the first of our Ancient charges whether ' he believes in the glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth , ' that is to say , whether he believes in one God who made Heaven and Earth . If he replies in the

affirmative , he should then be asked what form of obligation he considers binding on his conscience , in other words on what book or writings the S . O . should be administered to him . The proceedings of the lodge will depend on his answer , but it is absolutely necessary that nothing idolatrous should be introduced . It is not altogether satisfactory that the manner in which the S . O . is to be administered should depend on the answer of the candidate , and it may vary in the case of two Hindoos presenting themselves as candidates on the same evening ; but if Hindoos are to be admitted amongst us , and it is too late now to consider this pointthis is under the circumstances unavoidable . In some parts of India the Shasters

, are used . Some parts of them may possibly be considei-ed to contain a Divine revelation ; but in a religion acknowledging many Gods it would be difficult to accept this as sufficient without some such enquiry as I have indicated . In this district the Vedas have been used . They are merely a collection of hymns and are certainly not a volume of the Sacred Law , but possibly they may be accepted by some Hindoos as sufficient for the purposes of a binding S . O .

I may add that I am in communication with other District Grand Masters on this subject ; but at present , after much consideration , I think that the course I have stated is the only one that is open to us . As I am informed that there is some laxity in the admission of Hindoos , I shall in future , require the Wor . Master of a lodge in which a Hindoo may be obligated to furnish me with a certificate in writing that these questions were duly put to the Candidate before obligation , sending me at the same time his answers gi , ven by the Candidate to them . I regret the absence this evening of Wor . Bro . Bonnerjee , because I should have been glad to hear an expression of his opinion on this subject . I endeavoured to see him to-day , but he was unfortunately unable to make an appointment with me . "

This , said the R . W . D . G . M ., was very important to the brethren in Shanghai , where there were so many different nationalities and reli gions , and it behoved them to be particularl y cautions not to admit a person into the Order unless they had good reason to believe that the obligations would be binding on his conscience . The R . W . D . G . M . then said he had frequently noticed that the minutes of the proceedings in the various lodges had not been