Royal Arch Masonry: Its Distribution And Progress.

since 1874 , we can hardly look for such increase to take place at an early date . The Eastern division of Lancashire , which boasts over ninety Lodges , and is consequently at the head of the Provinces numerically , is also the strongest in this respect , having no less than thirty-six Chapters on

its roll , as against thirty-five in 1874 . This increase of one Chapter is not , however , commensurate with that in Craft Masonry , there having been some ten new Lodges , whereas , though Accrington and Manchester have each an additional Chapter , No . 1145 in the case of the

former , and No . 815 in the latter , and Clitheroe has made a homo for Royal Arch Masonry in the shape of the Limestone Rock Chapter , attached to Lodge No . 369 , bearing the same name , Bolton , has only three as against four Chapters in 1874 , and the Callender , No . 1032 ,

Rusholme , has disappeared from the roll . The Western Division of the county has thirty-four Chapters to its over eighty Lodges . In 1874 , there were but twenty-four to about sixty-eight Lodges . Liverpool has increased its number from eleven to fifteen Chapters , Warrington has

an additional Chapter , while Barrow-in-Furness , Chorlton , Didsbury , Moss Side , and St . Helen ' s , are now able to point each to a Chapter on the roll of the Province . Leicestershire , as in 1874 , has four Chapters ; Rutland , which is conjoined with it , having none . Lincolnshire has added

to its strength , a sixth Chapter having been consecrated at Burton-on-Humber , namely , the St . Matthew ' s , No . 1447 . Middlesex , to its over thirty Lodges , has eleven Chapters , of which two , meeting at Hampton , and one each at Enfield , Stanmore , and Twickenham , have been warranted

during the septennial period of 1874-81 , Monmouthshire , has five Chapters , that meeting at Pontypool—No . 1258—being of recent constitution . This looks well , as there are but eight Lodges in the Province . Norfolk , with its fifteen Lodges has Chapters attached to six of them , the

onehalf of them being held in the city of Norwich . There was the same number in 1874 , when there were only fourteen Lodges . North and Hunts has now the good fortune to possess a Prov . G . Superintendent in the person of the Duke of Manchester , who was appointed to the office last

year , there being three Chapters meeting at Northampton , Peterborough , and Stamford respectively , whereas in 1874 the Northampton , No . 360 was the only one in the Province . Northumberland , with twenty Lodges , has six Chapters , of which four are located in Newcastle , one of

the said four and th . * Wellington Quay Chapter ( No . 991 ) having been consecrated since 1874 . Nottinghamshire , which had but a solitary Chapter in that year , has four now , three of them meeting in Nottingham and one at Newark , while North Wales and Salop has five Chapters

to some six and twenty Lodges , not a single addition having been made to the R . A . roll , though there have been seven new Lodges consecrated in the last seven years . It is time , we think , some progress was attempted : five to

nineteen is a far better ratio than five to twenty-six . Of the nine Oxfordshire Lodges three have Chapters attached to them , one—No . 1399 , "Woodstock—being newly constituted . As yet , however , it has no Provincial R . A . organisation . [ To be continued . ]

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived in London from their brief sojourn in Paris early on Monday morning . Later in the day , the Prince

left Marlborough House for Bridge , on a visit to the Marquis of Abergavenny , in order to enjoy a few days' duck shooting ; while the Princess with her daughters journeyed to Sandringham , where they arrived in the course of the

evening . The Earl of Huntingdon , Prov . Grand Master Midland Counties , Ireland , was present at the meeting of landlords , tenant-farmers , and shopkeepers held at Parsonstown , on

Saturday last , under the presidency of the Earl of Rosse , for the purpose of raising a fund for the relief of persons who have been " Boycotted , " and supporting the Government in their measures for the restoration of tranquillity .

FAIR TRADERS , Registered . —J . E . SHAND & CO . Wiue Merchants , 2 Albert Mansions , Victoria Street , London , S . W ., hereby Give Further Public Notice that in May 1879 , they Adopted and REGISTERED the words "FAIR TRADERS" as their Trade Title , and as an addition to their original Trade Mark of 18 ( 10 . —Vide advertisement sin " Tlie Times " and " Tlie Standard " of that date , also ot October 1881 ,

Occasional Papers.—No. Ii.

OCCASIONAL PAPERS . —No . II .

WOMEN IN FREEMASONRY . BY BRO . T . B . WHTTEHBAD . Bead before the Eboracum Lodge , No . 1611 .

FROM timo to time attempts have been made , with more or less of non-success , to introduce women into Speculative Freemasonry . All such attempts have hitherto resulted in failure , and usually with disaster to the Masonic bodies which have been parties to , or permitted , such

experiments . In the spurious Freemasonry of the Ancients it was , especially in its latest days , the practice to admit women , and the result was that ceremonies once solemn and intended to convey lessons of truth and virtue , became

debasing orgies of the vilest description , and clokes for systems of grossest immoralities . In Mediaeval Freemasonry women were admitted into the Guilds at some period , for in one of the Old Charges

mention is made of " he or she " that is to be admitted ; but we do not know on what terms these admissions were made , how early they were practised , and when they ceased .

Bro . Hughan thinks that the " dames " ( widows ) were allowed , as widows , to carry on the work when the husbands had been regular Masons in their lifetime and up to their

decease •but they were not admitted to the knowledge of the real secrets of the Operative Masons , which he believes consisted of the manner of working the stones in the Lodges , or covered houses .

From English Speculative Masonry , dating from somewhere about tho close of the 17 th century , women have always been excluded , and , with the exception of the admission of the Honourable Mrs . Aid worth , in Ireland , in the

last century , and of a Mrs . Beaton , in Norfolk , which were accidental circumstances , there has been no authenticated instance of a female gaining admission into our Lodges through the door .

It is in France that systems have most frequently been founded having for their object the admission of women into a quasi-participation in Freemasonry , and French society in the last century probably offered a congenial stage for schemes of this kind . The French called the

system " Maconnerie d'Adoption , " because each Female or Adoptive Lodge was obliged to be adopted , or appended to an ordinary Craft Masonic Lodge . Clavel tells us that the system arose in 1730 , and no doubt it did take its rise

between that date and 1750 . The system went through many changes , though always preserving a tone of conviviality , and being secret in its ceremonies . Several rituals are to be seen in Masonic libraries , and from them ,

and the accounts given by contemporary writers , we are able to form a pretty sound idea aa to their modes of working .

One of the earliest Societies was formed in Pans in 1743 , and was called the Ordre des Felicitaires , a name which sufficiently indicates its festive objects . The terms and emblems were all nautical . The female members were

supposed to be on a voyage to the Island of Felicity , m ships navigated by the brethren . The four degrees of the Order were called Oah ' n Boy , Captain , Commodore and Vice-Admiral , and the Grand Master was called Admiral . Iu 1745 a new Society swarmed out of this one , and called itself the " Knights and Ladies of the Anchor . "

In 1747 a certain Chevalier Beauchaine , a very prominent Mason , founded an Order called the Ordre des Fendeurs , or Woodcutters , whose ceremonies resembled closely those of the well-known political society of Carbonari , or

charcoal burners . The Lodge was called a Woodyard , and the members were styled Cousins . This Society became highly fashionable , and most of the leaders of society of that date in France were initiated into it . This created a

rage for Androgynous Masonry , or Masonry for loth sexes , and similar societies were floated by tbe dozen , and all had their supporters . Eventually out of this chaos arose the system of the

Lodges of Adoption , which became highly popular , and found support in tbe best quarters . Clavel tells us that tho Masons embraced them as offering a door by means of which their wives and daughters might share in then *