Encyclopedia Masonica

A presidency of British India. The first Lodge in Southern India was established at Madras. Others were opened in 1765 and in the following year Captain Edmond Pascal was appointed Provincial Grand Master for Madras and its Dependencies. A Provincial Grand Lodge was established in 1781 by the Athol Grand Lodge of England but after about seven years the state of warfare round about Madras caused its decline. Unity among the Brethren in Southern India was finally achieved by the appointment of Brigadier-General Horn as "Provincial Grand Master for the Coast of Coromandel, the Presidency of Madras and parts adjacent." The older Lodges had all ceased work when in 1786 the Carnatic Military Lodge was established at Arcot. The early attempts of the Freneh to plant Freemasonry in Madras were even less successful than those of the English. The first Lodge, La Fraternite Cosmopolite, meaning in French World wide Fraternity, was chartered in 1786, but after Iying dormant for some time finally ceased to exist. The Grand Lodge of Scotland has chartered many surviving and successful Lodges in Madras and other parts of India (see Bombay and India).

The Encyclopedia Masonica exists to preserve the wealth of information that has been generated over the centuries by numerous Masonic authors. As Freemasonry is now Speculative and not Operative, the work of a Mason is now conducted in the quarries of symbolism, literature, history and scholasticism. Freemasonry encourages intellectual exploration and academic achievement in its members and many Masons over the years have taken up this calling. The result has been that an incredible amount of philosophy, symbolic speculation and academic insights have been created. However, as Freemasonry teaches, human knowledge is frail and fragile. It is easily lost in the turnings of the ages and unforeseen catastrophes can result in great setbacks to human knowledge.

For too long these great works have sat on forgotten shelves, gathering dust and concealing the light that could be shed on the darkness of our ignorance. The Encyclopedia Masonica has been created to act as an ark, sailing through time, to ensure that future generations of Freemasons have access to the same knowledge that inspired the Brethren that came before them. It will contain the works of such Masonic Luminaries as Albert G. Mackey, Manly Palmer Hall, G.S.M. Ward, Albert Pike and many others. The Encyclopedia Masonica is a living work and the volunteers of Universal Co-Masonry will continue to labor until the most comprehensive Masonic reference work the world has ever seen has been created. The Encyclopedia Masonica is open to any who wish to use it and will remain open so that the treasures contained within may increase the wealth of all those who seek its wisdom.