"The Holy Thorn."

And since that day , though many centuries ago , As each succeeding Christmas-tide appears That Holy Thorn still blossoms through the wintry snow , Fit emblem of that faith which triumphs over fears . T . SAMPSON .

Brother Ellis's Sketch Of Paradise R.A. Chapter , Sheffield.

BROTHER ELLIS'S SKETCH OF PARADISE R . A . CHAPTER , SHEFFIELD .

WILLIAM JAMES HUGHA-.. BKOTHER ELLIS , of Sheffield , has done good service by the publication of the curious ancl interesting Minutes of a R . A . Chapter ( or Chapters ) from December 28 th 1783

, , to December 15 th , 1811 , Avorking at Sheffield ; and his careful and exact transcripts from the original records have furnished Masonic students with trustworthy facts and materials for a future History of Free-Masonry in that town ,

The Chapter it appears is in connection with the Britannia Lodge , No . 139 , and therefore from the union of the two Grand Chapters , in 1817 , assumed the same numbers as the Lodge under whose Aving it assembles , viz . 232 ( 1817 ) , 162 ( 1832 ) , and 139 ( 1863 ) . How long the Chapter has been thus connected with Lodge

No . 139 does not appear from the records submitted , and it is not even certain that it is one and the same Chapter all through the Minutes , though of course it may be . The copy of certificate of date " 9 th March , 1806 , Mo . III . " conveys the impression that it was No . 3 whereas it really

, was No . GUI . ( No . 103 ) on the roll of the Supreme Grand ancl Royal Chapter of England ( "Moderns " ) , and its name , descrip tion and number so occur in the list of Regular Chapters inserted in the Freemason ' s Calendar ancl Pocket Book of the

Grand Lodge of England 1814 , " Moderns " ( issued in 1813 ) . In a list of Chapters of 1797 , it is not inserted , not being warranted until after that date , but a chapter at Sheffield Avas working then as No . 95 , ancl called the "Loyal , " constituted during that year or shortly before . In a

list of the regular Chapters of 1793 no Chapter is credited to Sheffield , the last number being GO . The numeration of such Chapters prior to 1817 was quite independent of the Lodges , and the Chapters were not attached to Lodges as subsequentlyunder the " Moderns . "

, There was not only a Regular Lodge meeting at- Sheffield from 1765 , but the * ' Ancients " had Lodges in the same TOAVU , if not from 1765 , at all events soon afterwards . In " Ahiman Rezon " 1807 , the List gives : —No . 72 Sheffield , now 68 ,

Royal Clarence Lodge , Bristol . No . 85 ancl 105 became extinct prior to the union of Grand Lodge 1813 . All the three Lodges had the power to hold a Royal Arch Chapter by virtue of their Craft Warrants , whenever Avas

deemed desirable , not so , however , with the regular Lodges of the " Modems . " . It is clear , then , that the Chapter mentioned by Brother Ellis from 1783 , could not have been one and the same Cfiapter all through the records , as No . Ill certificate represented a Chapter constituted after 1796 , ancl the older chapter , No . 95 , Avas constituted after 1793 , ancl therefore it could

not have been that Chapter either from the year 1783 . No . 95 appears to have been the first regular Chapter formed at Sheffield , ancl according to a MS . in our possession there Avere no regular Chapters meeting in that toAvn A . D . 1783 . We come to the conclusion from the

foregoing facts , that the Chapter first of all Avas under the A \ ing of an ancient Lodge , ancl subsequently the members accepted a Avarrant from the Supreme Grand ancl Eoyal Chapter of England . The first Charter issued by the latter authority Avas in 1769

, ( three years after its constitution ) It is evident from the first exaltation being numbered 18 , that there Avere 17 members on the Roll prior to December 28 th , 1783 , though , of course , itAvoulclnot follow therefrom that the Chapter

had been in existence long before that period . In two years from 1783 ( December ) there Avere twenty exaltations . The Chapter being frequently termed a Lodge in the Records , Avould be nothing unusual if it Avere in connection Avith the "Ancients , " as according to their working , the degree Avas simply the perfection of the Master Mason , Avhich all then Lodges