Episode In The Masonic History Of Bengal.

be observed that although a District or Provincial Grand Lodge has the power to frame laws for its own government , it is simply authorised to make regulations for the guidance , not the government , of the Private Lodges in the District . "

Further communications passed between Mi * . Dm T and the Grand Secretary relative to the form in which the obligation should lie taken bv a Hindoo , and on this point the latter informed him that the Grand Master was of opinion , but without

prescribing any set form of words , that " the obligation should be such as should be binding on the conscience of the Candidate , and such as the particular forms ancl tenets of his religious persuasion would require on other occasions , when a binding

obligation was required . " This correspondence belongs to the year 1866 , but though the difficulties appear to have been at length removed from his path , Mr . DUTT does not seem to have taken any further steps towards the gratification of his wishes

until 186 9 , and then he addressed letters to Bro . the Earl of MAYO , Governor-General of India ; the Earl of DALHOUSIE , Grand Master of Scotland ; and the Duke of LEIXSTER , Grand Master of Ireland , inviting their opinions on the question of

initiating Hindoos into hreemasonry ; nor was it till the 13 th June , 1872 , that at last Mr . PROSOXN'O COO . MAR DUTT was initiated in the Anchor and Hope Lodge , No . 234 , Calcutta . Why this long delay should have been allowed to occur it is not

our province to inquire , nor , indeed , does it concern us in any way . It is enough that Bro . P . C . Du'JT was initiated in the lodge we have specified , and that last year Bro . Sir II . T . PRIXSEP , District Grand Master , appointed him his Deputy

D . G . M . In iSSS a full-length portrait in oils of our worthy brother , which had been painted to the order of Lodge No . 234 , was presented to the Dist . G . Lodge of Bengal by Bro . the Maharajah of COOCH-BEHAR , P . M ., on behalf of the subscribers , and in

accepting it , the District Grand Master is reported to have said that " it gave him great pleasure in accepting , on behalf of District Grand Lodgeof Bengal , this picture of Bro . P . C . DUTT . Bro . DuTT was , as had been properly said , the first Hindoo

Mason in Bengal , and he might say in India . He had to contend with great difficulties at the outset in gaining admission into the Craft , but , with the perseverance for which he had long been known to them , he showed that he was determined to have

his way , and succeeded , not only in gaining admission into the Order , but in rising to eminence in it , and these qualities have , with other qualities of a high order , raised Wor . Bro . P . C . DuTT to the high position of a Past Junior Grand Warden of

this District Grand Lodge . ' Bro . Dl'TT has since been appointed , as we have said , to the still more important post of Deputy District Grand Master , in which , no doubt , he will acquit himself as honourably as in the previous offices of trust in which

he has been placed . Thus by the irony of fate we find the Hindoo gentleman of repute , who in 186 3 was declared by the then District Grand Master of Bengal " not eligible for

admission into Masonry , and of whom the same dignitary affirmed that " it was not desirable , with reference to social considerations , that he should be admitted , " is now the second in rank among the Craftsmen in thc : important District of Bengal .

Masonic Literature.

MASONIC LITERATURE .

No just es ' . mate is possible of the progress that has been made by Freemasonry during the last 20 or 30 years , which does not include some reference to thc part played by Masonic literature in securing that progress , nor can there bc a more healthy

sign of the present stability of the Craft than the ever-increasing support and encouragement which are given in all directions to the more important works that are continually being published on the history , antiquities , symbolism , & c , of the ancient

Craft . Formerly the reading Mason was rani avis in lerris , and , as a consequence , the . works that were compiled about Masonry were , with a few honourable exceptions , ofthe trashiest character imaginable . Now it is hardly possible to visit a lodge

but you find some of its members not onl y exhibiting an interest in Masonic studies , but likewise , to a greater or less extent , familiar with the best and most trustworthy histories , pamphlets , treatises , guides , and records that havo been compiled about our Society . Our English periodical literature goes no further back than 1834

Masonic Literature.

—though the " Freemasons' Quarterly , " which appeared in that year , was preceded by other Masonic periodicals , that lasted only for a few years—while for at least another 30 years almost the only works from which , with the exception of successive editions of the Book of Constitutions and a few others thai

might be nanu * d , any idea of the . nature and history of our Craft could be gleaned were those of PRESTOX and OLIVER , which , in so far as they attempted or claimed to treat of the History of Freemasonry , are of little or no value . Now all is changed , and there is hardly a branch of Masonic study which has not found at

some time or other during the last quarter ot a century one or more capable exponents . How this change is to be explained is no material consequence just forthe moment . It is enough that men have been found in thc ranksof Masonry who we ' re not only competent to undertake the task of enli g htening the general body of

Craftsmen on subjects of interest that might properly be dealt with in print , but were likewise both ready and willing to impart their knowledge to others . At the same time , as our Society kept on increasing in numbers , the desire to make continued and continuous advancement in Masonic knowledge

became greater and still more great . The works of such as Bros . HUGHAX , GOULD , the late Rev . A . F . A . WOODFORD , MURRAY LYOX , and others , have found readers , while the readers in their turn have done all in their power to encourage our leading literaiy celebrities to produce ever and anon fresh evidences oi

their ability , learning , and research . Thc change is one on which our Order is decidedly to be congratulated , and while the general body of Freemasons continues to exhibit a desire for

enlightenment , there is little doubt that those amongst them who are willing to devote their time and attention to the study of things Masonic will steadily pursue their task of communica ' ting still further light .

Among the healthiest of the many signs which are to be mot with almost everywhere tbat Masonic literature finds continued and increasing encouragement Irom the Order generally , is the desire exhibited by lodges and Provinces for the establishment of Masonic libraries and museums . For years past there has been

a library at Freemasons' Hall , which contains not only the proceedings and registers of our Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter and of manv other Grand Lodges and Grand Chapters , but also all kinds of works relating to Masonry , and amongst them many of our most cherished literary treasures ; and anv Master Mason

in good standing who desired to consult these records , and registers , and works on history , & c , & c , iA * ., might do so on obtaining permission from the Grand Lodge authorities . But till quite recently the Grand Lodge Library was about the last place that any brother evinced a desire to visit . Now there arc many students to be found who regularly consult the

valuable works of all kinds with which its shelves arc * furnished , ancl , what is still more important , Grand Lodge , by granting an annual allowance for the purchase of books of importance , and appointing Bro . HENRY SADI . KK as Sub-Librarian , is itself lending

every encouragement to the studious Mason to avail himself of the opportunities which are at his disposal for satisfying his craving for more light . Then there are not a few cities and towns in the Provinces which have established institutions of a

similar character , in which those who are studiously inclined will find available the means for gratifying their propensity . In addition there are to bc found lodges such as the Quatuor Coronati in London , as well as the Newcastle , Wakefield , Worcester , Leicester , and other Masonic Literary Institutes in

the country , which ofler every facility in their power for Masonic study . That these advantages are greatly appreciated by the general body of Masons is shown by the generous readineswith which individual brethren present objects and works ol interest to these central and local libraries and museums . These

gifts are acknowledged as publicly ancl as handsomely as possible , wilh the result that our Masonic libraries and museums , both central and local , are becoming better and better furnished every day with whatever is valuable in Masonic literature and art and Masonic archaeology . We trust this desire for tin '

accumulation in various centres of the literary and artistic treasures of the Craft will continue to exist , and that in time "i : shall have succeeded in freeing ourselves from the reproach formerly attaching lo us of being about the only Society in ll "' world that had little or no knowledge of its own character and antecedent and current history .