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Article NOTES ON MASONRY IN BENGAL. ← Page 4 of 7 →
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Notes On Masonry In Bengal.
day , resides in Calcutta , has not acted ; consequently , the Provincial Grand Lodge has been closed , and the Craft has been deprived of its rule and guidance . The natural consequences of this evil may be conceived ; that they have resulted , that great anomalies have arisen in many Lodges , and that much inconvenience has been produced , is amply borne out by accounts received on all sides . We will slightly mentionas far as
pro-, priety and our limits will permit , some of the principal deviations from the strict line of Masonic rules which have arisen ; the ease with which these crooked roads might be made straight , renders it a matter of some amazement that the requisite steps to effect that object have not been taken . First and foremost , we must say , is the general deficiency in the science of constructing the Royal Arch , —the finis , which crowns the work of Craft-Masonry , and without which , indeed , the work cannot be
well termed complete . Some remains of science still exist in India ; but they are not as free from the rust and dust of antiquity as might be wished . Thus it is , in this branch of our Craft , that although the landmarks of the Order are not positively lost , yet they are often too feebly preserved , and too faintly distinguished . At the end of the year 1836 , there was no Royal Arch Chapter located in any place in Bengal , save at Calcuttaand that was then in name onlyas its operations were then
, , suspended , pending a reference to England ; a measure which in all jjrobability would not have been required , had there been any local authority to which application mig ht have been made . " Thus it was , " writes a friend , for whose communication we are obliged , " I was for many years in various parts of the country , seeking for a Chapter of the
H . It . A-, and found none ; and although , during the last years of my stay there , my duties led me through the largest stations in India ; and lastly , to Calcutta , 1 was compelled to come to England as I left it ten years before , a hard working Master Mason , and unskilled in the highest branch of his vocation . " Surely this is a state of things which demands the interference of the Grand Lodge . The second of the anomalies which obtain in Indian Masonry , is connected with the same hih branch of the artthe H . R . A . It is not here purposed
g , , nor would it be advisable , to discuss a point which it is to be hoped , will soon be further elucidated—the connexion , or want of connexion between Craft Masonry and the Orders of Chivalry . Whatever may be the side which the reader may adopt as his own peculiar bias , we are sure , that in practice , he must hold the opinion that their intermixture in Lodges working under the Grand Lodge of England is as unadvisable as it is unconstitutional . Neverthelessin the R . A .
Chap-, ters of India where they did exist , and in such as do now exist , such customs are in use . An examination by the Grar . d Lodge of any Masons made in India will prove the fact to the satisfaction of that high authority ; to the general reader we can say no more on this subject , than that we cannot further unveil the threefold mystery here alluded to , nor become a Red Cross Knig ht to make a crusade against a practice whichnow it has been pointed outshould be abolishedas a previous
, , , step to the sublime mysteries of Royal Arch Masonry . A third matter requiring correction , is the creation , by a form easily practised , of a number of officers termed Past-Masters ; and who , though in point of fact having no title to such denomination , use the privileges of that high rank . The form in which , and the pretence wherefore it is done , we will not touch on , because neither are defensible , and neither
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On Masonry In Bengal.
day , resides in Calcutta , has not acted ; consequently , the Provincial Grand Lodge has been closed , and the Craft has been deprived of its rule and guidance . The natural consequences of this evil may be conceived ; that they have resulted , that great anomalies have arisen in many Lodges , and that much inconvenience has been produced , is amply borne out by accounts received on all sides . We will slightly mentionas far as
pro-, priety and our limits will permit , some of the principal deviations from the strict line of Masonic rules which have arisen ; the ease with which these crooked roads might be made straight , renders it a matter of some amazement that the requisite steps to effect that object have not been taken . First and foremost , we must say , is the general deficiency in the science of constructing the Royal Arch , —the finis , which crowns the work of Craft-Masonry , and without which , indeed , the work cannot be
well termed complete . Some remains of science still exist in India ; but they are not as free from the rust and dust of antiquity as might be wished . Thus it is , in this branch of our Craft , that although the landmarks of the Order are not positively lost , yet they are often too feebly preserved , and too faintly distinguished . At the end of the year 1836 , there was no Royal Arch Chapter located in any place in Bengal , save at Calcuttaand that was then in name onlyas its operations were then
, , suspended , pending a reference to England ; a measure which in all jjrobability would not have been required , had there been any local authority to which application mig ht have been made . " Thus it was , " writes a friend , for whose communication we are obliged , " I was for many years in various parts of the country , seeking for a Chapter of the
H . It . A-, and found none ; and although , during the last years of my stay there , my duties led me through the largest stations in India ; and lastly , to Calcutta , 1 was compelled to come to England as I left it ten years before , a hard working Master Mason , and unskilled in the highest branch of his vocation . " Surely this is a state of things which demands the interference of the Grand Lodge . The second of the anomalies which obtain in Indian Masonry , is connected with the same hih branch of the artthe H . R . A . It is not here purposed
g , , nor would it be advisable , to discuss a point which it is to be hoped , will soon be further elucidated—the connexion , or want of connexion between Craft Masonry and the Orders of Chivalry . Whatever may be the side which the reader may adopt as his own peculiar bias , we are sure , that in practice , he must hold the opinion that their intermixture in Lodges working under the Grand Lodge of England is as unadvisable as it is unconstitutional . Neverthelessin the R . A .
Chap-, ters of India where they did exist , and in such as do now exist , such customs are in use . An examination by the Grar . d Lodge of any Masons made in India will prove the fact to the satisfaction of that high authority ; to the general reader we can say no more on this subject , than that we cannot further unveil the threefold mystery here alluded to , nor become a Red Cross Knig ht to make a crusade against a practice whichnow it has been pointed outshould be abolishedas a previous
, , , step to the sublime mysteries of Royal Arch Masonry . A third matter requiring correction , is the creation , by a form easily practised , of a number of officers termed Past-Masters ; and who , though in point of fact having no title to such denomination , use the privileges of that high rank . The form in which , and the pretence wherefore it is done , we will not touch on , because neither are defensible , and neither