Supreme Grand Chapter Of Royal Arch Masons Of England.

SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER OF ROYAL ARCH MASONS OF ENGLAND .

A QUARTERLY Convocation of tho Supremo Grand Chapter will bo hold at Freemasons' Hall , London , on Wednesday , the 7 th of August , at seven o'clock in tho evening . The Minutes of the last Quarterly Convocation will be read , and tho report of the Committee of General Purposes ( as follows ) will be submitted to tho Supremo Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England .

The Committee of General Purposes beg to report that thoy have examined the accounts from tho 16 th April to the 16 th July 1878 , both inclusive , which thoy find to be as follows : —

£ s d £ s d Balance Grand Chapter 204 13 10 Disbursements during „ Unappropriated the quarter - - - 194 19 0 Account - - 219 15 11 Balance 452 1 4 Subsequent Receipts - 425 16 0 „ in Unappropriated Account - - -203 5 5 £ 850 5 9 £ 850 5 9

of which balances there is in the hands of the Grand Treasurer a sum of £ 388 17 s 4 d , and iu tho London and Westminster Bank £ 266 9 s 5 d . . Tho Committeo havo likewise to report that they havo received tho following petitions : —

1 st . From Companions Southwell Georgo Theobald Bourko as Z ., Henry William Townsend as H ., John Lind as J ., and six others for a Chapter to be attached to the United Servico Lodge , No . 1428 , Portsmouth , to bo called "Tho United Servico Chapter , " and to meet at the Freemasons' Hall , Highbury-street , Portsmouth , in the County of Hants .

2 nd . From Companions George Benjamin Wolseley as Z ., Daniel Charles Grose as H ., Jamea Gibbons Smyth as J ., and six others for a Chapter to be attached to tho Rock of Gwalior Lodge , No . 1066 , Morar , Bengal , to bo called " The Star of Gwalior Chapter , " and to meet at Morar , Bengal , in the East Indies .

3 rd . From Companions Thomas Blakeman Brown as Z ., Houry Williams aa H ., James Long as J ., and seven others for a Chapter to be attached to the Marlborough Lodge , No . 1399 , Woodstock , to be called " Tho Marlborough Chapter , " and to meet at the Lodge room , Woodstock , County of Oxford .

4 th . From Companions Charles William Gray aa Z ., Henry Robert Jones as II ., George Phythian as J ., and seven others for a Chapter to be attached to the Wandsworth Lodgo , No . 1014 , Wandsworth , to be called " The Mid-Surrey Chapter , " and to meet at the Surrey Masonio Hall , Camberwell , in the County of Surrey .

5 th . From Companions Robert George Glutton aa Z ., William Alexander Barrett as H ., Herbert Thomas Steward aa J ., and six others for a Chapter to be attached to the St . Peter , Westminster , Lodge , No . 1537 , London , to be called " The St . Peter , Westminster , Chapter , " and to meet at the Freemasons' Hall , Great Queen-street , London .

6 th . From Companions Henry Charles Levander as Z ., George Arthur Rooka as H ., Jamea William Lambert aa J ., and nine othera for a Chapter to be attached to tho St . Thomas ' s Lodge , No . 142 , London , to be called " The St . Thomas ' s Chapter , " and to meet at the City Terminus Hotel , Cannon . street , in the City of London .

The foregoing petitions being in all respects regular , the Committee recommend that the prayers thereof be respectively granted . ( Signed ) JOHN CREATON , President . Freemasona' Hall , London , W . C . 17 th July 1878 .

Consecration Of The West Smithfield Mark Lodge, No. 223.

CONSECRATION OF THE WEST SMITHFIELD MARK LODGE , No . 223 .

ON Friday , the 26 th nit ., this new Mark Lodge was consecrated by Bro . Frederick Binckea , Grand Secretary , assisted by the following brethren , namely , Bros . James Stevens S . W ., S . C . Dibdin as J . W ., and D . M . Dewar aa D . C . Having solemnly consecrated the Lodge , Bro . Binckes made a brief address to those present on the importance of the work which had been that day achieved , and then proceeded

to iustal tho W . M . designate , Bro . Edward Gilbert , in the chair of the Lodge . This done , Bro . Gilbert appointed and invested Bro . Adams as Senior Warden , the appointment of the rest of tho Officers being postponed till the next meeting . Tho W . M . then rose , and in a brief speech , proposed that a vote of thanks be passed to Bro . Bineke . " for the kind and valuable services he had rendered as Consecrating

Officer , and to Bros . Stevens , Dibdin and Dewar for the assistance they had given on tho occasion , and to this was added the further proposition that the thanks bo supplemented by a vote of honorary membershi p . The motion having been carried unanimously , was cordially acknowledged by Bro . Binckes and his worthy coadjutors , and after tho remaining business , including sundry propositions loi

joining , & c , had been disposed of , tho Lodge was closed , and the brethren sat down : to banquet . The usual toasts followed , the most prominent among them being that of the Consecrating Officers , propoaud by the W . M ., and most warmly responded to by Bro . Binckes , and that of the W . M ., Bro . Gilbert , proposed by Bro . Binckes , to Which Bro . Gilbert replied in suitable terms ,

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do iioi 7 iold ourselves responsible / or the opinions 0 / our Cor . respondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must hear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , hut as a guarantee of good faith .

THE LATE CONTEST FOR THE SECRETARYSHIP R . M . I . G .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON s CHRONICLE . DEAR SIK AND BROTHER , — 1 havo gono through the published List of Governors , & o ., of tho Girls' School and the rough estimate you havo given of tho number of voters , though accurate iu the case of Provincial brethren and Lodges , is somewhat in excess in the case

of the London brethren and Lodges . An erroneous estimate , as you very properly remark , in no wise affects tho justice of your argu . mont ; still , thero aro many well-disposed but weak-minded critics , persons who think that criticism and mere senseless fault-finding aro ono aud tho same thine—that an estimate which is not withiu

a score or two of tho right number ia of little or no account . I there , fore send you the numbers of London and Provincial voters respectively , in tho hopo that it may strengthen the cause you are advocating , namely , the substitution of proxy for personal voting . Errors excepted , tho number of London voters—individuals aud Lodges , & c , included—is between 2 , 000 and 2 , 100 ; that of

Provincial ditto 1 , 500 , a few more or less . Hence the former stand to tho latter in the ratio of 4 to 3 ( about ) and about two-fifths of tho former actually polled their votes , and but one-sixth of tho latter . Or to put the matter in another and a stronger light , the total number of voter 3 being between 3 , 500 and 3 , 600 , 30 por cent , of them voted , and of thoso 30 per cent ., between 23 and 23

per cent , wero London , and between 7 and 8 per ceut . Provincial . It may be regarded as a certainty that had tho proxy system of voting been in force , the number of votes polled would havo been largely in exceas of what it was , and though it is in the power of no one to say that . tho result would have been different , seeing that proxy voting ia beneficial in an equal degree to all candidates , still the successful candidate would have been the choice of a majority

of the elective body . I beg it may bo understood that I am not questioning the re 3 u . lt of the recent election . I congratulate Bro . Hedgea on his success , and havo every confidence that his future career will juatify in every respect tho choice of the olectora . My object in writing these few lines ia simply to confirm , aud , if possible , strengthen your views on the superiority of proxy over personal voting . Fraternally yours , COMMUNITY or INTEREST " .

Lodge Victoria In Burmah.

LODGE VICTORIA IN BURMAH .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE , DEAR SIK AND BROTHER , —It ia no doubt a painful duty to censure , as yon havo done so vigorously and with so much justice , any members of the Masonio body , but a duty must none tho less bo fulfilled , because it is painful . For my part , I do not see how it ia

possible for the Master of this distant Lodge , to offer a satisfactory apology for the disobedience , of which he haa been guilty . He has deliberately , though it may be owing to entire ignorance of his dutiea , set at naught the authority of Grand Lodge . He has , ao to speak , been guilty of that most heinous of all offences—contempt of court ,

and in order to be quit of the inevitable consequences of such outrageou 3 conduct , he must yield at once and unhesitatingly to the behests of Grand Lodge . If he refuse to make this , the only reparation in his power , then I say the Board of General Purposes will fail in their duty if they do not exclude him from all further enjoyment of hia Masonio rights and privileges . Fraternally yours , COMMON SENSE ,

Sir Christopher Wren's Connection With Freemasonry.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN'S CONNECTION WITH FREEMASONRY .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —May I ask your worthy correspondent , Bro . Jacob Norton , apropos of his letter which appeared in your columns last week , what object can bo gained by running his bead against the assertions and assumptions of early Masonic writers ? Oui bono ? Whom will it advantage , or in what respect and Lo VI-DP 1-

-extent ? The unenlightened Mason may take for " gospel tinth" tho I ' ancies and assertions of tho erudite Dr . Anderson , but there are few brethren of understanding who are not perfeetly well awaro that the Modern and Speculative system of Freemasonry pure and simple dates from 1717 . For some fourscore years and moro pronous to that date , it was partly Operative and partly Speculative , or it least non-Operative , as is shown by the admission into the Lodge of

Edinburgh , JNo . 1 , St . Mary ' s Chapel , of Lord Alexauder , Sir Antony Alexander , and others in 1634 , and that of Elias Ashmole aud Colonel Mainwaring into the Lodge at Warrington , Lancashire , in 1616 . Prior to these dates , we may take it that Freemasonry was wholly Operative . Of course , at this distance of time it is impossible co say what Anderson really meant ' when he wrote his History of the Craft , and furnished a long and circumstantial list of thoso . who