The Rival Attractions Of The Arch And Mark Degrees.

THE RIVAL ATTRACTIONS OF THE ARCH AND MARK DEGREES .

IT is not often we hear those high in authority making comparisons as to the rival claims of Masonic degrees , and regretting that ** the opposition business over the way " is attracting customers , who

might otherwise have been expected to patronise * •- the old original ; " and it is a very happy circumstance that such rivalry is not often apparent , else the whole system on which the Masonic Order is based—that of freedom of action in all matters ,

especially those of admission into the Order or advanced degrees — would be rudely shaken , and confidence destroyed . We can imagine the members of a Eoyal Arch Chapter looking with jealous eyes on

the rapid growth of a Mark Lodge in their midst , when their Chapter is quietly fading away from lack of new members , but under such conditions the ordinary Mason would say that the Mark Lodge was managed

on more popular lines than the Chapter , or offered some special advantages which were also possible in the Chapter , if the members cared to adapt themselves to the requirements of the district . But

however jealous the Companions may be , they certainly display a great lack of Masonic spirit when they publicly announce their envious proclivities . We may be told that an address such as was recently Given by the Grand Superintendent of Sussex ,

at the annual meeting of the Province , was never intended for publication outside the limits of Chapter , but if such was the case , why were the necessary precautions to keep it out of the newspapers not adopted ?

Reporters on such occasions have only to be told that certain remarks are to be regarded as confidential to ensure their being so treated ; indeed , a reporter who publishes Lodge or Chapter proceedings without

authority is guilty of a Masonic offence , and the great majority of them arc fully alive to this fact , and carefully abstain from any comments in the press which are opposed to the true spirit of

the Craft . However this may be , the fact remains , that the address of M . E . Companion Lieutenant-General C . W . Randolph was duly reported , and we consider a grave error of iudgmcnt was displayed in

allowing its appearance . The Grand Superintendent is reported to have said that when comparing Mark Masonry with Eoyal Arch Masonry he regretted to see so many brothers flocking to that branch of Masonry—taking a

retrograde step—rather than being exalted in the Eoyal Arch degree , which is a superior advancement in our Craft . There may not have been much harm , perhaps , in this expression of regret , but is it a

Masonic way of looking at the matter ? We should say , decidedly not . Not content , however , with these expressions , our brother went on to explain the reasons which possibly influence Master Masons to jom the Mark degree instead of the Eoyal Arch :

The Rival Attractions Of The Arch And Mark Degrees.

** the fees for entrance being less and the clothing less expensive . " This way of regarding the subject is * certainly a novel one , or we hope so , for how can we iu future impress our initiates with the idea that they are

to be uninfluenced by mercenary motives m all then-Masonic dealings when one of the rulers of the Craft tells the public that his following is failing because

another degree offers admission at a lower price , and allows of its members being ornamented with less expensive regalia ? The Grand Superintendent of Sussex went on , wishing he could persuade the Grand Scribe E . ( who

he regretted was not present at the meeting ) to use his endeavours to assimilate the fees , holding out equal inducements for brothers to join Eoyal Arch Chapters . Eeally if this is the conscientious opinion

of the cluet of Sussex Royal Arch Masonry the degree must be in a very bad way in that county , and would certainly seem to reqnire oarly and radical

reformation . It is , perhaps , unkind to thus criticise remarks which were probably intended for the cars of his followers alone , but such teachings , even if addressed to Sussex Companions only , aro open to the severest

condemnation . The chict has , so to speak , set his members at variance with those of the Mark degree in the district , and if trouble ultimately results he should answer for it , rather than the junior members of the district , who allowed themselves to be led away

by the utterances of their chief . Happily the Masonic Order in this country is composed of men who are not likely to commence a war among themselves as to the merits or demerits of the higher degrees , but

that satisfactory state of affairs must not be regarded as wholly permanent in face of such utterings as were listened to on the occasion of the recent gathering at Brighton . We can hardly believe there

is another district in the country which would second the proposal to reduce the Chapter fees in order to bring them on a par with those of Mark Masonry , merely in the hope of attracting some of the

candidates of the one into the folds of the other . If the Eoyal Arch cannot hold its own against the Mark degree , it would be far better even to let it die out than that a struggle should be inaugurated and a ruinous competition started npon between the two degrees .

The Benevolent Institution And Its Candidates.

THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION AND ITS CANDIDATES .

WE aro so accustomed fco very long lists of candidates for tho two branches of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution that no particular surprise need be expressed in regard to the two papers just issued for the election nexfc month , but they give evidence of an amount of

misfortune and distress in our midst -which every true Mason must regret it is not in the power of the Craffc to speedily alleviate . In tho case of the Male Branch thero are < i 6 candidates , with only 14 declared vacancies , while