Royal Arch Masonry: Its Distribution And Progress.

ROYAL ARCH MASONRY : ITS DISTRIBUTION AND PROGRESS .

OUR recent articles on the progress and distribution of Freemasonry would be incomplete without some notice of the Royal Arch degree , which , by the articles of the Union , is included as part and parcel of free and ancient Masonry . It works very unobtrusively . The

meetings of the Supreme Grand Chapter are mostly formal , while generally the degree has about it an air of tranquillity as though it belonged to the doleefar ni & nte school of philosophy . Yet it has made its way along these latter years surely , if somewhat placidly , and in a manner that

must be creditable to its self-esteem , as well as satisfactory to all lovcrsof the Craft . Indeed , this section of ancient Masonry has maintained its level with the other as well in respect of the progress it has made as on the score of

the smart diligence with which it has fulfilled its appointed task . Be it our present task to show where this progress is apparent , and how the Chapters belonging to tbe Degree are distributed .

With Grand Lodge Calendar for our guide , we have no difficulty in ascertaining that at the close of the year 1874 there were 462 Royal Arch Chapters , of which 67 met in the Metropolitan district , 308 in the Provinces , and 87 in the Colonies and Dependencies Abroad . There are now 620 ,

of which the Metropolis can boast about 120 , while the Provinces muster some -380 , and there are perhaps a round 120 abroad . By a comparison of the latter with the former figures it will be seen that the progress has been greatest

in the Metropolis , where it is something like 80 per cent ., while in the Provinces it is less than 25 per cent ., and Abroad a fraction under 30 per cent . The differences in the rates of progress as between the Metropolis and the Provinces and Abroad are no doubt attributable to the fact

that in London the Lodges are concentrated , and it is easier , therefore , to form Chapters ; while in the Provinces and Abroad the Lodges are distributed in towns more or less distant from one another , and in the majority of cases

having only a small population . Consequently , Chapters are not so easily established , as the number of Royal Arch Masons is , if not more limited , at all events more widely scattered . If we turn now to the Provinces , we shall find

that if the progress , for the reason we have just been considering , has not been so marked , it has been , on the whole , satisfactory . Bedfordshire , though possessing five Lodges , had no Royal Arch Chapter at the end of 1874 . Since then , however , one has been attached to the Stuart

Lodge , No . 540 , meeting in Bedford . Berks and Bucks , with eighteen Lodges equally divided between the two counties , has six Chapters similarly apportioned ; in 1874 there were five Chapters . The Province of Bristol remains in the same state , with three Chapters to eight Lodges .

Cambridgeshire has advanced . In 187 ' 1 only three of its four Lodges had Chapters attached to them ; now all nave , the newly-established one meeting at Wisbeach .

Cheshire , which has some thirty seven Lodges , has nineteen Chapters , two—Nos . 425 , Chester , and 533 , Congletonbeing of recent origin . Cornwall , which can boast a record of thirty Lodges , musters fourteen Chapters , of

Royal Arch Masonry: Its Distribution And Progress.

which Nos . 330 , Bodmin , 537 , Callington , 789 , Launceston , 970 , East Looe , and 1071 , Saltash , have been warranted during the last seven years . The Province of Cumberland and Westmoreland has two new Chapters , one in each county , making the present number eight as against six in

1874 . Derbyshire has just doubled the number of her Chapters , thero having been only three in 1874 , whereas there are now six . In consequence of this

increase , the Province has its Grand Superintendent and full complement of Provincial Grand Royal Ai * ch Officers . Devonshire , with its half century of Lodges , is stronger still proportionately in Royal Arch Masonry ,

there being no less than twenty-seven Chapters , Devonport boasting of four , of which No . 1099 is of recent creation ; Plymouth six , No . 1255 being new , and Stonehouse two . Newton Abbot , Paignton , and Topsham are now fortunate

in having each of them a Chapter ; so that Royal Arch Masons are no longer under the necessity of journeying a distance in order to celebrate the rites of this Degree . Dorsetshire , under the presidency of Companion J . M . P . Montagu , is flourishing , having six Chapters to five in 1874 , the new one being attached to the Portland Lodge ,

No . 1037 , meeting at the town from which it derives its name . Durham has twelve Chapters , three of them being located in Sunderland , two in Gateshead , and two in Hartlepool . In 1874 there were nine , the three new creations being NQ . 48 , Gateshead , No . 531 , Hartlepool , and 1119 , Jarrow . Essex had but three Chapters seven

years since , and it now has four , the addition being Priory Chapter , No . 1000 , of Southend . We are of opinion , however , that this is far from a strength commensurate with that of the Craft , there being as many as nineteen Lodges . A similar remark might apply to Gloucestershire , which has fourteen Lodges ancl only two Chapters ,

one of them—the Royal Lebanon , No . 493 , of Cheltenham—having been constituted since 1874 . Hants and the . Isle of Wight is almost as strong in tbe nnmber of its Chapters as it is in that of its Lodges , there being thirtyfive of the former and seventeen of the latter as against

twenty-eight and thirteen respectively in 1874 . The new Chapters are Nos . 1331 , Aldershot , 694 , Basingstoke , 903 , Gosport , and 1428 , Portsmouth . The Isle of Wight has but two Chapters to its eight Lodges , so that , though the relative strength is maintained for the whole Province , it is

unequally distributed . So far , with the exception of Bristol , which has remained stationary , we have had nothing but progress to record ; but in Herefordshire there has been a falling off of one

Chapter , the Bowles Chapter , No . 338 , Ross , having i dropped from the roll—let us hope , however , only tem- , porarily . The Palladian , No . 120 , Hereford , is the solitary home of Royal Arch Masonry in this county . But while , ' on the one hand , Hereford has lost jast one-half its strength ,

in respect or this degree , little Herts has exactly doubled it , tbe Barnet ( No . 1385 ) and Bishop Stortford ( No . 409 ) Lodges now having Chapters attached to them . As a consequence , Right Worshipfnl Bro . T , F . Halsey , M . P ., Prov . G . M . is likewise Prov . Grand Superintendent . Kent to its five and forty Lodges has only fourteen Chapters ; so that here , too , there is room for increase , though having regard to the fact that six of the fourteen have been established

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