Contents.

CONTENTS .

Consecration ot the Carnarvon Chapter , No . i-J 7 * J .... . 4 3 Consecration of the Amherst Lodge of Mark Masons at Sandgate 4 S Masonic Centenary at Doncaster 4 fi * > Loilge of Benevolence 4 °° Provincial Grand Lodgeof Quchcc 406

Southampton Masonic Benevolent Association 406 Consecration of All Saints' Chapter , No . 1 J 16 4 66 Obituary 4 7 Swimming Baths 4 <> 7 Rosicrncian Society 4 ^ 1 Craft Masonry 4 6 7 LEADERS 47 °

Freemasonry in Durham ( Continued ) 47 ° C ORRESPONDENCERoyal Arch Chapters 47 ' Grand Lodge Officers . ' 47 " The Admission of Visitors 47 ' Lodge Support to the Charities 471 Masonic Notea and Queries 4 lt Red Cross of Constantine 47 * 1

Instruction 473 Royal Arch 47 ' Mark Masonry 473 Knights Templar 473 Ancient and Primitive Kite 473 Scotland 473 Masonic and General Tidings 473 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 474 Advertisements L , IL , III ., IV .

Consecration Of The Carnarvon Chapter, No. 1572.

CONSECRATION OF THE CARNARVON CHAPTER , No . 1572 .

A new chapter attached to the Carnarvon Lotlge , No . 1572 , was consecrated last Saturday afternoon at the Albion Tavern , Aldersgate-street , by Comp . Shadwell H . Clerke , G . S . E . ; Comp . H . G . Buss , Asst . G . S . E . ; and Comp . the Rev . Adolphus F . A . Woodford , P . G . Principal

Sojourner ; Comp . James Terry , P . Z ., G . D . C . Herts , acted as Director of Ceremonies . Among the other companions present were Comps . VV . S . Whitaker , Nelson Reed , T . S . Hellier , Jas . Jackson Avery , George Briggs , C . A . Woods , Albert Thos . Pearce , John Clarncoats , A . Jaccard , John L . Mather , P . Z . 1471 : Dr . \ V . R . Woodman , P . G . D . C . ; H . A . Lovett , H . and M . E .

elect 72 ; E . M . Hubbuck , 7 .. 38 ; Theo . Distin , 742 ; John Hodges , 19 ; G , T . Carter , 145 ; C . J . Smith , 146 ( 5 , . 1 S 11 ; H . Sadler , G . Janitor ; George Kenning , P . Z . 192 ; Kenneth Harris , 1185 ; Edgar Bowyer , 1471 ; A . A . Pendlebury , P . Z . 1056 ; and II . Massey , P . Z . 619 ( Freemason ) . The founders of thc chapter were Comps . Walter S .

Whitaker , Nelson Reed , Thomas S . Hellier , M . G . Buss , George Briggs , Charles Alfred Woods , James Jackson Avery , John Clarricoats , Albert Thomas Pearce , and Ame " Jaccarcf . After the chapter had been formally opened , and the companions below the chair admitted , Col . SIIADWEI . L II . CLERKE , addressing the companions , said they were met together on a very interesting occasion , viz ., to add one

mure Royal Arch chapter to the roll of the Supreme Grand Chapter of England . He felt quite sure , from the character which the Carnarvon Lodge and its members had already gained in the Craft , that the chapter which was [ hen going to be inaugurated and attached to them would have a bright future . He was also quite sure the proceedings of the chapter would be conducted in every way

belit"fiff the dignity and honour of the Order , and if any doubt wuld have arisen in his mind on this point , when he found "is excellent Assistant Grand Scribe E . was going to act a ' S . E . of the chapter , it would be dispersed ; and if anything was likely to go wrong he would set the companions "Pit again . Comp . the Rev . A . F . _ A . WOODFORD , acting as J . of thc chanter . nflnrKVmrA < z ttn ] t \ tr . r ^ , l fh # » fnllrtwinrr nrnllnn * 1 W I ?

consecrating Officer , I esteem it , sir , a high privilege , I warml y assure you , in being permitted and enabled to assist you on the present occasion in the pleasing duty of consecrating another Royal Arch chapter . You are , from IfS'hcned experience at home and abroad , so conversant nth its ceremonial and so cognisant of the high value and asling importance of the Roval Arch Grade , as the

conclu" and complement , the supplement , and at the apex of f Ur whole Craft system , that it might almost seem needless " Hie orator to expatiate on its excellences , a waste of '" e to indulge in a lengthened eulogium of what all must PPreciate and , I venture to add , all must admire . But , as * ry often happens in life , many things which are near us ' ¦ OVer ' ° ok , and many things which are familiar to us we underrate , so I think that it will not bc altogether a profitl , " employment of a little space if I seek to point out , "iiyciiutuy excellences

] j -- , sumo or rnose- or cue selv 1 '' Gradc > which have always impressed them-Worth , * y on my rn ' md , and which , as I believe , are Dm . r r notc an ( ' commendation , of recognition and apv « r „ r [ , om us aU alikc - An < l if to-day , sir , I depart for a cii « Pcnod from the old and familiar utterances of a is noH oration whicI ' the R ° y al Al * ch ri'ua' preserves , it of vn cause . * ' hope to advance anything more deserving ' 0 t ) , ii . ; nt , on of adhesion , but because , 1 also venture litM . ' . I ? 00 lJ * for us a " to travcl cvei * y now and then a " - ' <* out of the "beaten track , " if only , in so doing , we

Consecration Of The Carnarvon Chapter, No. 1572.

keep close to the landmarks of Royal Arch Masonry , as indeed our position and duty alike enjoin . For some reason , always to my mind inexplicable and unaccountable , the Royal Arch Grade has until of late years been comparatively neglected by English Masons . We have seen ourselves its healthy and happy revival under the auspices of your lamented predecessor in your high oflice ; and I trust that the Royal Arch Grade will speedily attain to its ri g

htful position in relation to Craft Masonry . One fact , I think , illustrates what 1 have said in remarkable measure . We have over 18 O 0 Craft lodges ; we have considerably under , ( I believe ) , Soo chapters . Now , our English ^ Royal Arch Grade is almost peculiar to our English jurisdiction and Anglo-Saxon Masonry , and though practised with some well-known differences of detail in Scotland , Ireland ,

America , Canada , India , and our Colonies and Dependencies , is probably only , as our English Royal Arch Grade , actually perpetuated where the influence and jurisdiction of our English Grand Lodge happily extend . It is , I may add , unknown in France , undervalued and unpractised in Germany , and does not exist in other foreign jurisdictions . It may be perfectly true that its early history in connection with our Craft system is a little uncertain , and that its

formal adoption by our Grand Lodge only dates from 1 S 13 ; and some acute critics , no doubt , have pointed out one or two slight errors and anachronisms in its striking historical traditions , which , I may remark , however , in passing , have a very early authority for existing really qua-traditions . But all these things have never appeared to me worthy to be weighed in the balance with the intense beautiesof its symbolism and ceremonial , its impressive ritual , its admirable

lestheticism , and that remarkable entirety of religious , moral , and loyal teaching which so conspicuously mark thc exoteric and esoteric proclamations of the Royal Arch Grade . For to us , who have emerged from the interesting and solemn ceremonial of our Craft mysteries , there seems to come a light from the Temple of Truth as we enter thc portals of a Royal Arch chapter , which would permeate our minds at once with a sense of the reverent

acknowledgment of the Triune Jehovah , and the great and important truths which flow from the contemplation of those solemn realities , those abiding lessons , those important personal and social duties , which the sublime precepts of the Royal Arch Grade enjoin so impressively on all " faithful sojourners" and all" true companions . " In the various researches which Masonic archaeology has given rise one fact seems to be educed from the dimness of the past , more or less

clearly , that there is more than an accidental resemblance between our whole Masonic system and the ancient mysteries of the over wondrous East , To some of us who have liked to look into the " aporreta " and thc "hidden things " of " ancient days" it is not unknown how striking was the ceremonial of the mysteries in their better day , so far , that is , as we can gather now from safe guides or veracious writers . When the candidate in thc

better mysteries of the Orient had gone through several lustrations and purgations and physical trials not a few , and often dangerous , and after his long probation , sometimes of years , was admitted into the Intier Temple of all , before the assumed shrine of all truth , goodness , beauty , wisdom , divinity , bis eyes were dazzled by the brilliancy of the illuminating lights , his senses were affected by scenic displays , his cars were charmed by

the sounds ot sweetest music , and the mystic hicropliant in glittering robe and impressive eloquence proclaimed to his awe-struck intelligence that the veil at last was lifted , which separated the earthly from the spiritual , the material from the immaterial , life from death , and time from eternity , and instructed him in thc sacred and solemn doctrines of the Triune God , an eternal Providence , the immortality of Ihe soul , the resurrection into life , the certainty and verity

of a'future judgment . We to-day when assembled in our " solemn conclave , " and reproducing in figurative form and scenic array the solemn traditions of our famous Fraternity , proclaim equally , as you arc well aware , the same great truths binding us together " poorbrethren of thc mystic tie all the world over , " in peaceful bonds of comity and concord of toleration and trust . And thus it is wc connect the present with the past ; thus it is we

surround with thc goodly sanctions of "an hoar antiquity " all the " work" and all the ritual of our ancient and kindly brotherhood ; and this it is which makes us to point with no little pride and all-assured faith to thc actual antiquity of Freemasonry , and to the unity and reality of our cherished ceremonial , our mystical teaching , and our historical traditions . But it is time , I think , that I should advert very shortly to what as Royal Arch Masons

reminded b y this day ' s gathering wc are bound to preserve and proclaim alikc in our older " congregations , " as in the new chapter like the present which we consecrate to-day . Does not thc ritual of Royal Arch Masonry teach us most impressively in the first place our duty as reverent and religiously-minded Freemasons to accept unfeignedly the sacred message , and to obey the unchanged dictates of revealed religion ? Are we not always assured in ckaptcr

of the sanctity and authority of the " best of books " ever open in our midst , and which , unlike some unhappy bodies of Freemasons who have rejected it and cast it out of lodge and conclave , we steadfastly hold by , and must hold steadfastl y by , as 1 know , sir , you will agree with me , if English I ' rccmasonry is to pursue in safety and honour the

" even tenour of its way , and is to maintain its true position and prestige in the world , and is to devclope its rightful teachings for the safety of the brotherhood and the happiness of mankind . And then , in the second place , Royal Arch Masonry impresses on all its adherents ancl associates all the moral , all the personal , all the social , all the relative duties on which alone the true happiness of

Consecration Of The Carnarvon Chapter, No. 1572.

man , whether as an individual , a citizen , in the family , or in society , can be built up here as "pilgrims arid strangers" on earth for a season , we wend our way through this great wilderness of life , through shadows and illusions , through dangers and difficulties , through trials and troubles , through smiles and tears , to that more " abiding city , " and that "Holy Royal Arch of all , " whence all goodness and mercy and love and light emanate ,

and where alone true rest , the Mason's " great reward , " our everlasting home , are alone indeed to be found . We need then no "independent morality" to make us despise the words of Revelation , and the sanctities of religion , and to give us a law , a weak , broken , unsafe , and unsatisfactory Taw for ourselves . We cannot listen to the mistaken theories of a so-called " Positive Philosophy , " most shiftv and deceptive in itself , which

would seek to make us invest all that is human and passing , and feeble and worthless , with the attributes of what is Divine and lasting , eternal and invaluable . No , sir , we in this country , valuing as we all do alike , the always reverent and religious teaching of our old Masonic ritual , whether Craft or Royal Arch , will steadfastly maintain , will never let go , all these admirable lessons , that true wisdom , and that loving morality , which we have

so often heard , and which would bid us be not only good citizens of the world , but kindly members of the domestic circle , and would throw alike over our outer and inner life to-day—those prevailing sympathies and characteristics which religion would commend and God ' s revealed word and will would command . And , once more , in our Royal Arch Masonry we are taught also to be loyal subjects and peaceful citizens , obedient to the law and all

duly constituted authority . Far be from us any of those mistaken tendencies which abroad sometimes turn Masonic bodies into secret societies , where neither religion nor loyalty , respect for law , or toleration of others can find an existence . Happily for us in England such perversions of true Freemasonry are altogether unknown . Taught by our ancient and excellent " charges" we are , and long let us hope to remain as such , " faithful to our God , our country .

and our yueen , and we carefully avoid ever all those subjects of political and polemical discussion which might fn and way interfere with the harmony of our lodges and chapters , and lead us in any measure to depart one iota from the great and distinguished principles of English Freemasonry . Among those of us here to-day I see not a few who will heartily agree with me , I know , when I say that Freemasonry in our lodges and chapters has been to them .

through the course of a now longish life , a source of much interest , and gratification , of happiness and enjoyment . Wc have spent some peacful hours in kindly intercourse and honest friendship . Wc have forgotten the inequalities of rank , the differences of position , the severances of opinion , and the antagonisms of thought which mark and divide us often so greatly in the word without , in the harmony and happiness of the " mystic circle" of Masonic

good will . Wc have tasted of that pleasant , if simple , intercourse of sympathy with sympathy , mind with mind , friend with friend , which constitute the _ charm and reality of Masonic sociality , and which have given such a pleasant and peaceful colouring to a few passing hours here . The more I see of Royal Arch Masonry thc more I appreciate its many " good things , " and I feel sure that the oftener we assemble inourchapters , those " pleasant retreats , " where ,

. surrounded b y trusty companions and true friends , we allow some golden moments in a world of strife to cheer us and enliven us on the often troubled pathway of life , the better it will be for us all . There , where controversy is unknown , and the voice of discord is hushed , we agree to differ and differ to agree , there we arc evermore reminded of the great reality and blessing of unbouglit friendship and Masonic attachment ; there

i think , we shall all feel and say "it is good far us to be here" and seek ourselves more firmly to knit together , ( as long as we still survive ) , the mystic , and tenacious , and unbroken chain of true and living- Freemasonry . There is one duty to which I think it is always right for the orator at the consecration of a new chapter to call the attention of his hearers , —I mean our great Masonic law of love , — Charity . In that short word , in its truest , most real , and

diffusive sense , I include the admirable Charities of our Order . I am not , I think , saying too much , or anything that can be offensive to any , when I venture to express my humble opinion , that it is the duty of all lodges and chapters , when it is possible , to support our great Metropolitan Charities . We may all be justly proud of them , and as the text of our professions , as the crown of our labours , as thc salt of our Masonic life , they

constitute thc most graceful "jewel" of our Order , in that their lustre beautifies and elevates all our orations , all our labours , all our sociality , and all our Masonic life . Let us hope _ that the chapter we arc about to consecrate to-day , bearing as it does the name of one of our most loved and distinguished rulers , and connected as it is with an old friend of us all , a very faithful companion of our Order , whose services to Freemasonry wc all acknowledge , whose merits we all admire , will have , as we need not doubt it

will have , a most prosperous career before it . Like all things we here create , humanly and materially to-day , it must in time crumblcanddecay , and yield to the " encroaching hand of time ; " but while it does endure , and long may it endure amongst men , may it indeed minister to the happiness of all its members , and set forth perseveringly and persipcuously the goodly tenets and distinguishing characteristics of Royal Arch Masonry . The chapter was then formally consecrated and dedicated , the musical portion being rendered by Comps . Theodore Distin , 1 . llodces , and G . T . Carter ,