The Degrees Of Freemasonry And The Royal Arch.

Finally , shortly after 1723 , they were re-appointed into three degrees . " We thus see , Companions , that those most competent to form an opinion on the subject of degrees , admit that the present arrangement was made subsequent to 1717 , and that as bo whether previous to that date there were two degrees or only one , they are divided .

The form of words used at the admission of a Candidatewhat in fact we call the ritual—was doubtless much less elaborate in early times than that which obtains to-day . No book , manuscript or priuted , that I have heard of ( beyond the Ancient Charges ) exists , which gives any clear indication of the nature of the ceremony in the 17 th century or before ; but early in the 18 th century we find certain pamphlets published which profess

to give particulars of Masonic working within the Lodges , which , as Brother Hughan remarks , " have served to amuse , if not to instruct , the Fraternity for over one hundred and fifty years . " ( 5 ) Of these I may mention two , 1 . " The Grand Mystery of Free Masons discovered . " ( 6 ) 2 . Prichard ' s " Masonrv Dissected . " ( 6 )

The first ( "The Grand Mystery ") was published in 1724 , seven years after the formation of Grand Lodge , and briefly may be said to cover more or less what is comprised in the present three degrees .

The second ( Prichard ' s " Masonry Dissected ) , published in 1730 , mentions three grades , but gives only one obligation , which naturally occurs at the first admission of the Candidate . A careful consideration of this oath seems to point to the opinion that according to this writer's view there was but one

obligation . This was in 1730 . In a book of a similiar character , styled " Jachin and Boaz , " but published thirty-two years afterwards , viz ., in 1762 , and numerous editions since , we find three separate obligations for Candidates for the three degrees , as well as one for a Brother upon assuming the duties of W . M .

Now to what extent these accurately represent the Masonic ceremonies of the two periods it is not for me to determine , but there is no doubt that they indicate progression or advancement in Masonic Eitual .

In the oldest minutes of a Masonic Lodge extant , that of Mary Chapel , No . 1 , we find that gentlemen were admitted " Fellows of the Craft . " These same minutes , which bear date from 1599 , also mention Deacons , Wardens , and Masters of Masons .

Elias Ashmole , in his diary for 1646 , says that he and Colonel Mainwaring were made Freemasons at Warrington , in Lancashire , on the 16 th October of that year , but there is no mention of degrees . On attending a Lodge in London in 1682 , however , he describes himself as the " Senior Fellow " present . Many other cases might be quoted .

The conclusion to be reached from all this is , that our present arrangement of Masonic Ceremony into three degrees was the work of the early part of last century . The terms "Entered Apprentice , " " Fellow Craft , " and " Master Mason " were probably taken from the nomenclature of the Operative Masons' guilds ,

and suitably described a Brother at the various stages of his Masonic career . Once admit the need of dividing the ceremonies into degrees , and names for them would be found readily enough . Let us glance at this very interesting period in Masonic history for one moment .

In 1717 four or more Lodges in London met and constituted themselves into what they were pleased to call a " Grand Lodge . " Who the leading spirits in this movement were is not now known , as there are no minutes preserved , and no Secretary was appointed . The first Grand Master was Anthony Saver , and it was not until

1723 that Wm . Cowper was appointed Secretary . Of the first six years' proceedings of this new and specially constituted body we have no official account , but from the date named an unbroken record is extant . The progress of this Grand Lodge was rapid , for besides constituting new Lodges , it took into its association

other bodies then existing in London and Westminster . Some , however , were not willing to submit to this self-constituted authority , and held aloof , and yet , notwithstanding this , in 1723 the engraved list gives the signs of fifty-one houses at which Lodges under this Grand Lodge authority were supposed to be meeting .

To mmds like those of George Payne , who was Grand Master in 1718 , and Dr . Desaguliers , Grand Master in 1719 , it became at once evident that if the new body was to succeed , organisation and system would be needed . An enquiry for Masonic documents was made , a system of Masonic research instituted , and the result of these labours was the appearance of what is called Anderson ' s Book of Constitutions . This was in 1723 . I regret that I cannot

The Degrees Of Freemasonry And The Royal Arch.

stop to go into detail , but must pass rapidly over these mos * interesting events , It would seem that it was about this time also that the ceremonial of Freemasonry was taken in hand , elaborated , and divided into its present recognised three degrees . For various

reasons which I cannot now enter into , it appears probable that these changes and alterations were accompanied by omissions or additions , which were looked upon by the Lodges existing independent of Grand Lodge jurisdiction , as a distinct departure from the ancient landmarks . This , they therefore scornfully

called " Modern " Fi ^ emasonry , in distinction to their own , which they claimed as " Ancient "; hence , when some thirty years after , a rival Grand Lo ^ ge sprang up , comprising Lodges which had hot joined the organisation of 1717 , they proudly claimed the title of " Ancients . " This new Grand Lodge has been usually

described as a secession , but Brother Henry Sadler has satisfactorily demonstrated that such was not the case ( 7 ) , and that the societies forming the Grand Lodge of the Ancients owed no allegiance to the Grand Lodge of 1717 at all , and therefore cannot be described as seceders or schismatics .

And now the question arises as to the Eoyal Arch degree . There is no evidence to show that previous to 1740 such a degree , as a degree , existed . Dr . Mackey says " that until the year 1740 the essential element of the Eoyal Arch constituted a component part of the Master ' s degree , and was , of course , its concluding part . "

Brother Hughan ( 8 ) fixes the probable date of arrangement at 1740 , but admits that he can say nothing definite as to the actual year , nor is it at all clear where and by whom it was originated . Of the following details there can be no doubt : From the year 1743 downwards references to or mention of the Eoyal Arch

occur . Dr . Chetwode Crawley , in Vol . 1 . of his " Coementaria Hibernica , " quotes a paragraph from a Dublin newspaper of 1743 , which , in describing a Masonic procession , mentions the Eoyal ¦ Arch as being carried by two Excellent Masons . Dr . Dassigny ,

in his " Enquiry " ( 1744 ) , speaks of an Assembly of Masons in York , under the title of Eoyal Arch Masons . ( 9 ) These are printed statements . The oldest minute or written evidence relating to Eoyal Arch Masonry at present known to exist ,- is in the transactions of a Lodge at Bristol , 1758 , and is in these words : —

" Bro . Gordon proposed to be raised to the degree of a Eoyal Arch and accepted . " There is an important difference which should be noted between the introduction of the three degrees' arrangement and the advent of the Eoyal Arch as a separate ceremony . The former was ,

there is little doubt , done under the sanction of the Grand Lodge , and the degrees ' so arranged were adapted and approved by that body . This is shown by the fact that the first Book of Constitutions ( 1723 ) lays it down that the degrees of " Fellow Craft " and " Master Master " could only be conferred in Grand

Lodge . This rule , however , was abolished at the meeting of Grand Lodge held on the 27 th November 1725 . ( 10 ) In the case of the Eoyal Arch this does not appear to have been so . One of the first known references to it associates it with York , and the Grand Lodge of England ( Moderns ) , whatever their attitude towards it

at a later period , certainly for a time looked upon it with something approaching disdain , though it was started or promoted by some of their own members a dozen years or so before the " Ancients " were organised . The Ancients took it up warmly , Dermott , their Grand Secretary , in his " Ahiman Eezon " of 1756 ,

says he firmly believes " the Eoyal Arch to be the root , heart , and marrow of Freemasonry . " Contrast this with the official reply of Grand Secretary Saml . Spencer of the " Moderns . " Writing to a petitioner , who , amongst other qualifications .

described himself as a Eoyal Arch Mason , Brother Spencer says , " Our Society " ( that is , the Moderns ) " is neither Arch , Eoyal Arch , or Ancient , so that you have no right to partake of our charity . " ( 11 )

This being the state of affairs , it cannot be surprising that this degree for some time made little progress . In 1765 the minutes of a Eoyal Arch Chapter in Halifax begin , the oldest in this Province , and in the same year , not to mention many other cases , a Eoyal Arch Chapter was working in London , which afterwards

developed into Grand Chapter , and was patronised by the Moderns . Besides there being two Grand Lodges flourishing at the same time in London , there was also this Grand Chapter , which , though independent of both , was really supported by the members of the premier Grand Lodge , as Bro . Hughan styles the Modern Masons . At the Union , in 1813 , the Eoyal Arch degree