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Bro . HUGHAN has been the means of tracing more of these old MSS . than any other Craftsman , and we are glad therefore that our indefatigable GRAND SECRETARY consented to his transcribing the MS . which he possesses , not only because it is a handsome and valuable roll , but also as it is a well-deserved compliment to the respected transcriber . In our pages ,

then , will be found a careful copy of a MS . of 1686 . We only wish we could have presented at the same time a facsimile of the ornate heading to the roll . This and other needed reproductions , however , will doubtless be attended

to in the volume of the "Old Charges of British Freemasons , promised by the " Quatuor Coronati" Lodge , No . 2076 , the success of which is so great as to lead us to anticipate congratulating the members on the advent of such a work some time in 1880 .

Supreme Grand Chapter.

SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER .

The Quarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England was held on Wednesday evening , in the Temple . Comps . L 1 .-C 0 I . R . Townley Caldwell , M . A ., G . Supt . Cambridge , as Grand Z . ; Thos . Fenn , P . President of Committeeof General Purposes , as Grand H . ; James Glaisher , as J . ; Col . Shadwell H . Clerke , Grand Scribe

E . ; Ralph Gooding , M . D ., as Grand S . N . ; Major John Sampson Peirce , as P . G . Soj . ; Rev . Thomas Cartwright Smyth , D . D ., ist Assist . G . Soj . ; George Cooper , 2 nd Assist . G . Soj . ; Chas . A . Murton , P . Assist . G . Soj . ; Frank Richardson , G . D . of C , P . A . G . Soj . ; Ralph Clutton , P . A . G . Soj . ; Felix Sumner Knyvett , G . Swd . Br . ; Henry Maudslay , P . G . Swd .

Br . ; Henry John Philip Dumas , P . G . Swd . Br . ; James Lewis Thomas , P . G . Swd . Br . ; James Smith Eastes , P . G . Swd . Br . ; Charles Henry Driver , P . G . Swd . Br . ; Deputy Inspector-General Thomas Purchas , M . D ., P . G . Swd . Br . ; Edgar Baylis , 2 nd G . Std . Br . ; John Lawrence Mather , 3 rd G . Std . Br . ; Witham M . Bywater , 4 th G .

Std . Br . ; Edward J . Barrow , P . G . Std . Br . ; Major Arthur Bott Cook , P . G . Std . Br . ; Edgar Bowyer , P . G . Std . Br . ; Edward Letchworth , P . G . Std . Br . ; Colonel C . Harding , P . G . Std . Br . ; J . A . Farnfield , P . G . Std . Br ; William Robert Woodman , M . D ., P . G . D . of C ; John March Case ,

P . G . D . of C . j James Henry Matthews , P . G . D . of C . ; Charles Fitzgerald Matier , P . D . G . D . of C . ; Charles F . Hogard , P . D . G . D . of C . ; Edwin Matthew Lott , ( Mus . Doc ) , P . G . O ., as G . Org . ; and Alfred Albert Pendlebury , Assist . G . Scribe E . Among the other c 6 mpanions who attended were—¦

Comps . A . Pearce , Z . 3 ; J . F . Collins , P . Z . 43 ; L . G . Gordon Robbins , P . Z . 10 ; E . M . Money , Z . 2 S ; E . Mallett , H . 1623 ; H . Massey , P . Z . 619 and 192 S , J . 192 S ; R . Palmer Thomas , J . 1929 ; Wm . P . Brown , Z . 153 S ; VV . A . Scurrah , Z . 204 S ; H . S . Goodall , P . Z . 874 , P . P . G . S . B . Kent ; Henry Wright , J . 1615 ; Thos . Clark , J . 1524 s J . H . Watts , Z . 63 ; Bentley Haynes , Z . 65 ; W . S . Paddle , P . Z . 1201 , 1 S 51 , P . P . G . S . B . Surrey ; George Powell , Z . 1185 ; James Murray , H . 134 S ; and W . M . Stiles , P . Z . 2048 .

After the minutes of the last Quarterly Convocation had been read and confirmed , the following report of the Committee of General Purposes was taken as read , and ordered to be received and entered on the minutes , on the motion of Comp . LETCHWORTH , seconded by Comp . FRANK RICHARDSON : —

To the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England . The Committee of General Purposes beg to report that they have examined the accounts from the 19 th October , 1887 , to the 17 th January , 18 SS , both inclusive , which they find to be as

follows;—To Balance Grand Chapter ... £ 514 11 10 By Disbursements during the ,, ,, Unappropriated Quarter ... £ 275 19 6 Account ... 203 10 7 „ Balance 60 S 10 4 ,, Subsequent Receipts ... 373 26 ,, „ Unappropriated Account ... 206 15 1 £ 1091 4 11 £ 1091 4 11

Which Balances are in the Bank of England , Western Branch . The Committee have likewise to report that they have received the following petitions : — ist . From Comps . William Henry Tulloh , as Z . ; Joseph Monday , as

H . ; Jonn ihompson , as J . ; and nine others , tor a chapter to be attached to the St . Leonard Samaritan Lodge , No . 1654 , St . Leonard ' s , North Shore , Sydney , N . S . W ., to be called the Samaritan Chapter of St . Leonard ' s , and to meet at the Masonic Hall , St . Leonard's , near Sydney , New South Wales .

2 nd . From Comps . Francis Frederick Giraud , as Z . j John Matthew Goldfinch , as H . ; Frederick William Underdown , as J . ; and six others , for a chapter to be attached to the Lodge of Harmony , No . 133 , Faversham , to be called the Chapter of Harmony , and to meet at Freemasons' Hall , Faversham , in the county of Kent . The foregoing petitions being in all respects regular , the Committee recommend that the prayers thereof be respectively granted .

The Committee have also received a petition from the Greymouth Chapter , No . 1233 , Greymoulh , Westland , New Zealand , praying for a charier of confirmation , the original having been burnt in the fire which destroyed all the lodge and chapter property . The Committee recommend that a charter of confirmation be granted for the above chapter , subject to the receipt of the names of the three present Principals for insertion in the charter .

( Signed ) . ROBERT GREY , FREEMASONS' HALL , LONDON , W . C . President . iSlh January , 188 S . The various recommendations contained in the report were then proposed , seconded , and carried . Col . SHADWELL H . CLERKE , S . E ., before the chapter was closed , said that with reference to the list of distinguished companions upon whom the

M . E . the Inrst Principal had recently conferred past rank , whose names were read out in the minutes of the last convocation , he had to report that the claims of one companion were deferred from that meeting in consequence of some doubts as to his qualification , but the necessary information having been since received , H . R . H . the M . E . Z . had appointed Comp . Harold B . King ( P . G . D . ) , Deputy District Grand Master of Bombay , to the rank of Assistant Grand Sojourner . Grand Chapter was then closed ,

The Chairman At The Approaching R.M.B.I. Festival And His Province.

THE CHAIRMAN AT THE APPROACHING R . M . B . I . FESTIVAL AND HIS PROVINCE .

We are not endowed with the gift of prophesy . We take things as they come , and if ever we yield to the habit , which is common with so many people , of attempting to forecast the result of a particular event , we do so deliberately , when there is no chance of our going wrong , and after the manner of those who refer triumphantly to an opinion as evidence of their far-seeing knowledge , though in spoken language , at all events , they never had the courage to express it . But whatever may be the result of the

Festival , now so near at hand , of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , it is not necessary we should be prophets to be able to predict that Bro . Sir George Elliot , Bart ., M . P ., the distinguished brother who has undertaken to preside as Chairman , and the lodges and brethren in the Eastern division of South Wales , will severally exert their utmost efforts in order to ensure its success . As regards the former , his antecedents , both Masonic and

extra-Masonic , fully justify this anticipation . The very day of his initiation into Freemasonry—the 1 st September , 1 S 6 S—in the Marquis of Granby Lodge , No . 124 , Durham , he made a donation of ^ 50 towards the new Masonic Hall in that City , and it is in the same spirit oi generous kindness which prompted him to this act that he has pursued his course in Masonry ever since . Nor has he confined himself to the pleasure of giving ; he has filled the

chair of W . Master in more than one lodge , being , notably , a P . M . of the Bard of Avon Lodge , No . 778 , meeting at Hampton Court ; he is a Royal Arch Mason , and was both a founder and first M . E . Z ., in 1873 , of the Bard of Avon Chapter , No . 778 ; he is a Past E . P . and Constable of the Great Priory of the Order of the Temple in England and Wales , and a Past Sovereign of the Bard of Avon Chapter 0

of Rose Croix , No . 44 , and has taken the 32 in the A . and A . Rite . He is a Vice-Patron of the Girls' School , lor which he has served a Stewardship , and a Vice-President of the Boys' School , and on the 29 th instant will discharge the duties of Chairman for the Benevolent Institution with the same goodwill and the same eagerness to promote its interests as he has shown for the Schools .

The Province of South Wales , Eastern Division , over which our brother presides as Prov . G . Master , and which , consequently , is more deeply concerned than any other Masonic body in the success of the approaching Festival , shares with its western neighbour the honour of having been constituted as the second Province under the Grand Lodge of England , Bro . Sir E . Mansell , Bart ., being deputed by Bro . the Earl of Inchiquin ,

G . Master , as its first Prov . G . M ., Bro . Hugh Warburton having received a deputation from his lordship only a few weeks previously as Prov . G . Master of North Wales . The actual dates assigned by Preston in his " Illustrations of Freemasonry" for these appointments are the 10 th May and 20 th June , 1727 , but in Grand Lodge Calendar the year is given as 1726 . Thenceforward there appears to have been , according to the latter

authority , a tolerably regular succession of P . G . M . s in the case of South Wales , Bro . D . J . Gwynne being given as P . G . M . in 1754 , Bro . Sir H . Mackworth as holding the same office in 17 S 2 , Bro . Thos . Wyndham , M . P ., in 1790 , Bro . Benjamin Hall , M . P ., in 1814 , Bro . Sir Christopher Cole , K . C . B ., in 1817 , and Bro . Sir John Josiah Guest , Bart ., M . P ., in 1 S 36 . In 184 S South Wales was divided into two Provinces , Bro . E . J .

Hutchins being appointed Prov . G ; M . of the Eastern Division , and Bro . Lord Milford , Prov . G . M , of the Western Division . But South Wales does not seem to have been able to boast of any lodges , when Bro . Mansell received his deputation , seeing that according to the first list in the Appendix to Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges , " the earliest lodge was warranted on the 9 th June , 1729 , and met at the Nag ' s Head and Siar in

Carmarthen . This ranks as No . 34 in the second list—1730-32 , and at the same number in the third , for 1736-39 , in which it figures among lodges of 1724 Constitution , and is described as meeting at the Bunch of Grapes . By the closing up of lodges in 1740 this became No . 30 , and on the 29 th November , 1754 , it was erased . The next lodges were Nos . 189 and 240 , respectively , the former meeting at the Ship and Tower , Haverfordwest ,

under a warrant bearing date the 24 th October , 1753 . In 175 6 No . i 8 g became No . 121 , and in 1770 it figures as theTyrian Lodge , meeting at the Three Cranes , but on the 23 rd April , 1773 , it was erased . No . 240 became No . 167 in 1756 , and No . 132 in 1770 , being erased on the 5 th February , 1777 . But these three lodges met in the Western Division of the Province , nor is it till the month of August , 1754 , that we meet with a lodge in the

Eastern Division—No . 266—meeting at Cardiff , which became No . 188 in 175 6 , and No . 148 in 1770 , a second lodge No . 26 7 being established at Covvbridge in Sept ., 1754 , which became No . 189 in 1756 and No . 149 in 1770 . Both these were erased on 28 th April , 1775 . A third lodge—No . 337 , at Brecon—figuring among lodges warranted in 1763 , had only a very brief existence , being erased in 1769 , but greater success attended the efforts of

the brethren at Swansea , who , on the 24 th April , 1769 , obtained a warrant constituting Lodge No . 443 at the Star in that town . In the 1770 list this appears as the Beaufort Lodge , No . 3 8 , and it became successively No . 292 in 1781 , and No . 244 in 1792 , and so remained till its erasure on 19 th February , 1809 , alter an existence of close on 40 years . On the 20 th September , 1777 , was warranted the Knoll or Lmoll Lodge , No . 506 , at Neath , which

became No . 412 in 1781 and No . 333 in 1792 . This lodge was in existence at the Union , and on the re-numbenng of lodges which followed the consummation of that event , became No . 427 . In 1832 it was moved to No . 288 , and in 1863 to ihe position it siill occupies as No . 237 . In the course ot its career , however , it migrated from Neath to Swansea in 1800 , and has ever since been known as Hie Indefatigable Lodge . According to

Bro . Lane s " Masonic Records , " it has the Freemasons' Hall Medal ana its members are entitled to wear the Cenienary Jewel , an honour enjoyed by no other pra > Union Lodge , either "Ancient" or "Modern" in this division of South Wales . The other lodges warranted by the " Modern" or " Regular" G . Lodge were as follow , viz .: The Mackworth Lodge , No . 49 "'

Covvbridge , constituted in 1787 and erased in 1792 ; the Cambrian Lodge , No . 542 , Brecon , constituted in 1789 , which became No . 451 in 1792 and No . 510 in 1814 , after the Union , but was erased 5 th March , 1828 ; No . 5 ^ ° ' at Aberystwith , in the Western Division , which was constituted in 179 ' became No . 489 the year following , and was erased on 12 th April ,

1797-But the " Regulars " had by no means a monoply oi the lodges in South Wales , their rivals " according to the Old Institutions" being the founders of three lodges , two of which are still borne on the roll of United Grand Lodge . The senior of these , bearing originally the number 33 , was constituted in London in 1754 , but lapsed the Following year . On 13 th June . 1765 , this warrant was assigned to a lodge of brethren at Bridgendi > yhich in 1808 was transferred to Cardiff , and , having been named the