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Article FREEMASONRY IN INDIA. ← Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In India.
North Western provinces of India , as petitioned for by several Lodges . The Deputy P . G . M . is to be interdicted from being a resident of Calcutta or its vicinity ; but , to qualify for the appointment , he must be a person residing in the Mofussil , or in Upper India . If this be really the arrangement made , it will be second best satisfactory to the grant of a distinct P . G . M . for the Upper part of India ; and though it will be more effective than if both the P . G . M . and his D . P . G . M . are residents
of the same place , yet it will be by no means sufficiently so to meet the wishes of those who take an interest in the well-being of the Order , a point which must be apparent , when we draw attention to the extent of our Indian territory ; aud we will , in so doing , restrict ourselves to the Bengal side . Bengal embraces a territory covering 340 , 000 geographical square miles , for which one P . G . M ., with a D . P . G . M ,, is deemed sufficient .
England is a territory of about 50 , 000 square miles , or one-seventh the extent of Bengal , and for it , no less than thirty-one P . G . M . ' s are warranted ; and some counties have two P . G . M . ' s , and two Deputies . I shall now proceed to shew , that two P . G . M . ' s are indispensable for Bengal . _ It will , I think , be readily granted by every Mason , that a P . G . M . is hound iu duty to occasionally visit the Lodges placed under his jurisdiction;—and having admitted this , I now invite you to take the
map of Bengal , and from that satisfy yourself how totally impossible it is for one person to do so . He ivill have neither time , nor money , to expend on travelling to so great a distance . In India we are peculiarly situated ; we have no idlers . All Europeans are in some
professionthey are either officers in the army , civil officers , or mercantile men . Of all these , the former is the least fettered , as he can occasionally obtain absence from his duties , ivhich is not the case with judges , collectors , or merchants , to whom loss of time is loss of money ; consequently they cannot travel far . The P . G . M . may visit , and no doubt will visit , the several Lodges at Calcutta , and in its vicinity ; indeed , he might extend his visit by means of the steamers , which ply once a fortnight up the
Ganges , as far as Allahabad , ivhich would enable him to inspect the Lodges at Dinapoor , Chunar , and Allahabad . But as the trip up to Allahabad would take three weeks to perform , and the same time back again to Calcutta , he could not go further ; besides which , the shallowness of the water of this river prevents steamers from proceeding higher . Admitting , therefore , that these Lodges could be subject to inspection , what is to become of those at Sangor , Cawnpoor , Agra , Meerut , Kurnaul ,
Nusseerabad , Neemuch , and Simlah ? To perform , therefore , the duty properly , a very considerable increase of Provincial Grand Masters is requisite , if the interests of Freemasonry in this distant part of the globe be considered worthy of that consequence which I attach to it . The " Review , " under your able guidance , having been said to have been an able organ in procuring for Masonry in India the first step towards its future improvement , arising from the temperate writings of
Masons in this country , speaks , at once , volumes in praise of the utility of such a valuable publication , when exercised with proper judgment ; and it is in the hope that you will use your own prominent position in the Craft , as well as aid it hy your work , to advocate a further extension of Masonic supervision in India , that I now trouble you with this communication . AN INDIAN MASON . S . P . R . C . VOL . VI . 3 M
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In India.
North Western provinces of India , as petitioned for by several Lodges . The Deputy P . G . M . is to be interdicted from being a resident of Calcutta or its vicinity ; but , to qualify for the appointment , he must be a person residing in the Mofussil , or in Upper India . If this be really the arrangement made , it will be second best satisfactory to the grant of a distinct P . G . M . for the Upper part of India ; and though it will be more effective than if both the P . G . M . and his D . P . G . M . are residents
of the same place , yet it will be by no means sufficiently so to meet the wishes of those who take an interest in the well-being of the Order , a point which must be apparent , when we draw attention to the extent of our Indian territory ; aud we will , in so doing , restrict ourselves to the Bengal side . Bengal embraces a territory covering 340 , 000 geographical square miles , for which one P . G . M ., with a D . P . G . M ,, is deemed sufficient .
England is a territory of about 50 , 000 square miles , or one-seventh the extent of Bengal , and for it , no less than thirty-one P . G . M . ' s are warranted ; and some counties have two P . G . M . ' s , and two Deputies . I shall now proceed to shew , that two P . G . M . ' s are indispensable for Bengal . _ It will , I think , be readily granted by every Mason , that a P . G . M . is hound iu duty to occasionally visit the Lodges placed under his jurisdiction;—and having admitted this , I now invite you to take the
map of Bengal , and from that satisfy yourself how totally impossible it is for one person to do so . He ivill have neither time , nor money , to expend on travelling to so great a distance . In India we are peculiarly situated ; we have no idlers . All Europeans are in some
professionthey are either officers in the army , civil officers , or mercantile men . Of all these , the former is the least fettered , as he can occasionally obtain absence from his duties , ivhich is not the case with judges , collectors , or merchants , to whom loss of time is loss of money ; consequently they cannot travel far . The P . G . M . may visit , and no doubt will visit , the several Lodges at Calcutta , and in its vicinity ; indeed , he might extend his visit by means of the steamers , which ply once a fortnight up the
Ganges , as far as Allahabad , ivhich would enable him to inspect the Lodges at Dinapoor , Chunar , and Allahabad . But as the trip up to Allahabad would take three weeks to perform , and the same time back again to Calcutta , he could not go further ; besides which , the shallowness of the water of this river prevents steamers from proceeding higher . Admitting , therefore , that these Lodges could be subject to inspection , what is to become of those at Sangor , Cawnpoor , Agra , Meerut , Kurnaul ,
Nusseerabad , Neemuch , and Simlah ? To perform , therefore , the duty properly , a very considerable increase of Provincial Grand Masters is requisite , if the interests of Freemasonry in this distant part of the globe be considered worthy of that consequence which I attach to it . The " Review , " under your able guidance , having been said to have been an able organ in procuring for Masonry in India the first step towards its future improvement , arising from the temperate writings of
Masons in this country , speaks , at once , volumes in praise of the utility of such a valuable publication , when exercised with proper judgment ; and it is in the hope that you will use your own prominent position in the Craft , as well as aid it hy your work , to advocate a further extension of Masonic supervision in India , that I now trouble you with this communication . AN INDIAN MASON . S . P . R . C . VOL . VI . 3 M