History Of The Emultion Lodge Of Improvement, No. 256.——(Continued).

History of the Emultion Lodge of Improvement , No . 256 . ——( Continued ) .

( By Bro . HENRY SADLER , Sub-Librarian to the Grand Lodge of England ) .

doranches and Offshoots of the Emulation JOodge of Jmprovemen f . ( Continued . )

THE earliest printed mention of such an event that has come under our notice is in the shape of the following advertisement in the Masonic Record of Western India for 1866 : —

" EMULATION LODGE OF IMPROVEMENT ( under sanction of Lodge ' Truth , ' No . 944 ) meets at Freemasons' Hall , Baboola Tank , on the 2 nd SATURDAY of each month , at 8 p . . Lectures and Ceremonies regularly worked . "

SIR AUGUSTUS WEHSTER , HART ., I'ROV . G . MASTER , HANTS & ISLE OF WIGHT , Chairman of the Fitticat in Kill . . The same volume contains a report of the proceedings at the first regular meeting on the 20 th March , 1866 . We are ,

however , indebted to the W . Bro . Isaac Mann Shields , P . G . D ., the historian of Freemasonry in Western India , for the following interesting particulars . So far back as January , 186 4 , Lodge Concord , No . 757 , gave its sanction to the establishment of a Lodge of Instruction to be called "The

Emulation Lodge of Instruction , " open to all Masons . The entrance fee was fixed at three rupees , and the monthly subscription at one rupee .

This Lodge was so successful that the members most interested in its career determined to convert it into a regular Lodge , a Warrant being eventually granted by the Earl of Zetland under the designation of Lodge Emulation , No . 1100 . The Instruction Lodge being thus merged into a regular body it appears to have lapsed , and at the regular meeting of

Lodge " Truth , " No . 944 , held on 5 th March , 1866 , " sanction was accorded to the formation of a Lodge of Instruction ,, to be called ' The Emulation Lodge of Improvement . ' " The only other reference to be found in the minutes is as follows : — "At a meeting of the Lodge of Improvement held

on 21 st November , 1866 , Bro . Henry H . Avron , President ,, the whole of the fifteen sections of the lectures and the explanation of the Tracing Boards in the three degrees of Craft Masonry were worked , probably for the first time in India . The District Grand Master and Officers of

the-District Grand Lodge , and a large number of brethren from sister Lodges , attended on the occasion . " This Lodge appears to have lapsed about 1872 . In 1882 "The Calcutta Emulation Lodge of Improvment , " " No . 218 , was established . The formation of the Lodge is thus referred to as an important event by the District Grand

Master of Bengal , in his address to the District Grand Lodge on the 24 th of June , 1882 . " Masonry in Calcutta has , I am glad to announce , recently received a great stimulus owing , to the establishment of a Lodge of Instruction attached to the Lodge of True Friendship . The well known skill ,

experience , and energy of the excellent Brother , who has taken the lead in this matter and directs the Lodge , has already shewn good results , and I confidently expect that the benefits which will arise from his labours will be universally admitted , and be the best evidence of his services to the Craft in Calcutta . " ¦ '

The subject of this well deserved eulogium is the W . Bro . Thomas Jones , Past G . Deacon and Past Deputy Dist . Grand Master of Bengal , who has served also many other offices in that important Eastern Province during an eminently active Masonic career of nearly forty years . In referring to the remarks of his chief on the above

mentioned occasion , Bro . Jones said : " I wish to sink all individuality as far as possible in this matter , but I am glad of this opportunity of saying a word about the ' Emulation Lodge of Improvement . ' It is not necessary that I should detain you long , and I will only say that it comprises already

among its members representatives of all the Lodges assembled here , and that it has been established on the model of , and on the same basis as , the Emulation Lodge of Improvement in London . " Bro . Jones may be justly credited with having been

practically the creator of the " Calcutta Emulation . " He served the Lodge as its Preceptor during the first ten years of its existence , with the exception of one year , when he was on leave in England . In 18 92 , on his retirement from official life in India , he was succeeded in the preceptorship by the W . Bro . Alexander B . Westerhout , Past Dist . Grand

Warden , one of the Founders of the Lodge and a well known exponent of our ritual and ceremonies , who , we believe , filled the office till 18 99 , and was then followed by the present Preceptor , W . Bro . H . M . Rustomjee , P . A . G . D . C , Dist . Grand Secretary , who had ably discharged the duties

of Secretary of the Lodge of Improvement for many years . No better evidence of the firmness of its foundation and the zeal and ability of its promoters and subsequent officers , can be adduced than the fact of the Lodge being still in active and useful work after an unbroken existence of upwards of