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Article NOTES ON MASONRY IN BENGAL. ← Page 6 of 7 →
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Notes On Masonry In Bengal.
happen . Be this reasoning correct or no , certain it is , that if necessity ever warranted a breach of the law , it does in the case of dispensation , without which it would often be impossible to lay the foundation of a new Lodge . The cause of this is to be found in much of what has been before said of the state of society in India , and the difficulties which lie in the way of Masonry in that country . The usual process of the formation of a new Lod be supposed as follows : —In a
ge may station , a few Brethren from various parts of the country meet , and propose that a Lodge be established . It is probable that there may be but few more Brethren , and there is just sufficient to form the Lodge , Were they to wait until the petition for a warrant reached the Grand Lodge in England , and an answer was received , a period would elapse , certainly not less than one year , perhaps much more : before the warrant arrived in due formit is likelthat sicknessor the chances of
, y , the service , would cause the absence of several of those who had signed the original request . The petitioners have no means of recruiting their numbers , unless unforeseen good luck should bring some Brethren to the station ; if not , the warrant to constitute the Lodge will arrive , and find the zealous Brothers unable to work it in due form . To remedy this no uncommon case , it is usual for Brethren desirous of forming a
Lodge , to apply to a regular Lodge for a dispensation , and to commence working under the protection of that Lodge , until the legal warrant arrives : by this means , a reinforcement is obtained , and the zeal which actuates the more enlightened Brethren , meets with no check . That this is no exaggerated statement , our Indian Brethren can testify ; and our communicative and intelligent friend before mentioned has exemplified , that even with the advantage ( if so it can be called , ) of the
prevalent illegality , great difficulties in the formation of a Lodge exist . " In the year 1834 , some of the Brethren were desirous of opening a Lodge at Delhi , at which place I then was , and several meetings were held for the purpose . Though the station was large , we could not collect the number requisite to sign the requisition . We rested with patience until chance brought the requisite addition , and we then proceeded according to the forms in use in India . There were Lodges to
which we might have applied for a dispensation , but a Brother who was influential in our movements , having belonged to the Lodge of True Friendship , in Calcutta , was desirous that our dispensation should be received from that Lodge , and that we should prosecute our Masonic studies under its auspices . The requisition was in due time despatched , and in the meantime we met for mutual instruction . Along period elapsed , and no reply was received to our application ; further letters were written , but no answers came . We were at a loss to ascertain the cause of the
silence so persevermgly evinced to our importunity , but we had no remedy , as no reason was assigned . We at last turned our eyes to another quarter : we were but thirty miles from the large station of Merut , at which there existed two Lodges—one of which , however , was itself working under dispensation , and would not therefore dispense grace to another ; the other belonged to the 26 th Regiment of Foot , which by the way , held a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Ireland . This was somewhat curious , as the corps is termed * The Oameronians . '
To this Lodge we in our extremity applied for a dispensation ; we were in high glee at the expected success which we anticipated , when our hopes were once more destined to be overthrown . A civil answer was received refusing our request , and assigning for the same a somewhat
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On Masonry In Bengal.
happen . Be this reasoning correct or no , certain it is , that if necessity ever warranted a breach of the law , it does in the case of dispensation , without which it would often be impossible to lay the foundation of a new Lodge . The cause of this is to be found in much of what has been before said of the state of society in India , and the difficulties which lie in the way of Masonry in that country . The usual process of the formation of a new Lod be supposed as follows : —In a
ge may station , a few Brethren from various parts of the country meet , and propose that a Lodge be established . It is probable that there may be but few more Brethren , and there is just sufficient to form the Lodge , Were they to wait until the petition for a warrant reached the Grand Lodge in England , and an answer was received , a period would elapse , certainly not less than one year , perhaps much more : before the warrant arrived in due formit is likelthat sicknessor the chances of
, y , the service , would cause the absence of several of those who had signed the original request . The petitioners have no means of recruiting their numbers , unless unforeseen good luck should bring some Brethren to the station ; if not , the warrant to constitute the Lodge will arrive , and find the zealous Brothers unable to work it in due form . To remedy this no uncommon case , it is usual for Brethren desirous of forming a
Lodge , to apply to a regular Lodge for a dispensation , and to commence working under the protection of that Lodge , until the legal warrant arrives : by this means , a reinforcement is obtained , and the zeal which actuates the more enlightened Brethren , meets with no check . That this is no exaggerated statement , our Indian Brethren can testify ; and our communicative and intelligent friend before mentioned has exemplified , that even with the advantage ( if so it can be called , ) of the
prevalent illegality , great difficulties in the formation of a Lodge exist . " In the year 1834 , some of the Brethren were desirous of opening a Lodge at Delhi , at which place I then was , and several meetings were held for the purpose . Though the station was large , we could not collect the number requisite to sign the requisition . We rested with patience until chance brought the requisite addition , and we then proceeded according to the forms in use in India . There were Lodges to
which we might have applied for a dispensation , but a Brother who was influential in our movements , having belonged to the Lodge of True Friendship , in Calcutta , was desirous that our dispensation should be received from that Lodge , and that we should prosecute our Masonic studies under its auspices . The requisition was in due time despatched , and in the meantime we met for mutual instruction . Along period elapsed , and no reply was received to our application ; further letters were written , but no answers came . We were at a loss to ascertain the cause of the
silence so persevermgly evinced to our importunity , but we had no remedy , as no reason was assigned . We at last turned our eyes to another quarter : we were but thirty miles from the large station of Merut , at which there existed two Lodges—one of which , however , was itself working under dispensation , and would not therefore dispense grace to another ; the other belonged to the 26 th Regiment of Foot , which by the way , held a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Ireland . This was somewhat curious , as the corps is termed * The Oameronians . '
To this Lodge we in our extremity applied for a dispensation ; we were in high glee at the expected success which we anticipated , when our hopes were once more destined to be overthrown . A civil answer was received refusing our request , and assigning for the same a somewhat