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ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPUCHIN ORDER IN INDIA- II 543 friars. The mounting indifference at times grew into a veiled opposition which got condensed into depreciatory comments 127 and the dragging of feet when collaboration was called for 128 . The hearsay that the students would be obliged to quit the Friary of Mussoorie once the new team of general superiors would be elected, was intended to take the wind out of the Commissary's sails 129 • The General Chapter took place on 24-30 May 1926 and the Order had its new General and Definitors. The outgoing General was already appointed Archbishop of Modena. The students of Mussoorie sent a letter of felicitation to the neo-elected General Fr Melchior of Benisa, who had been the Order's General Procurator. Though he was no stranger to the Novitiate and the Study in India, the students brought him abreast of the latest state of affairs there: At present we are ten students all told. Four of us are doing the course of Philosophy and six that of Theology. We are sincerely grateful to our Superiors who hit upon this place for the House of Studies, since its fresh climate is very conducive to good health and study, which benefits we enjoy to the full. We are glad to say that our number is ever on the increase and we pray God for all our Superiors, that as He has hitherto always come to their aid, will always assist them. We do not doubt that you will do all in your power to enable many more Indian youths to enter the militia of St Francis, who will, by example and by labour, bring the light of the Gospel to our dear Mother Country that sits in the darkness of idolatry and superstition. We assure you, Very Rev. Father, that this, after our own 127 AGCap G 68, II, Novizjato eStud.to; Fr Arsenius to Fr General Archivist, Sardhana May 1925, advanced a number of remedies for the various ills of the Novitiate. One of them was to send "a good and young Father directly to Sardhana", without exposing him to the danger of becoming prejudiced through contact with the missionaries: "...perche troppo spesso i Mission– ari anziani fanno del convento di Sardhana una descrizione tale che i giovani non si sentono piu il coraggio di andarvi per cooperarvi allo stabilimento della vita religiosa Francescana Cappuc– cina in India". 128 AGCap G 68, II, Novizjato eStud.to, Fr General to Fr Commissary, Rome 21 June 1925: The disinterestedness of the Regular Superiors to incorporate the novices into their jurisdic– tions, may be explained by the fact that the idea of establishing the Order in India had come from above and that it did not sell to the missionaries. Fr Master to Fr General Archivist, Sardhana May 1925: "Generalmente parlando, le varie Missioni Cappuccine dell'India non dimostrano grande interesse all'opera di Sardhana. Per assicurare a quella Communita un nucleo stabile di Fadri, si vorrebbe l'intervento de! R.mo P. Generale". 129 AGCap G 68, II, Novizjato eStud.to, Fr Commissary to Fr General, Mussoorie 23 Sep– tember 1925: "Qui si sussurra che gli Studenti dovranno esulare dal Monastero di Mussoorie; se non presentemente, certo quando saranno fatte le future elezioni generalizie".