Royal Arch Masonry.

The ages of the world are thus enumerated : — . 3 Methuselah . Abraham . Lamech . Isaac . Noah . 9 Judali . 5 Shein . Hezron . Arphaxad . Earn . Salah . Aminadab .

Eber . Nahshon . 7 Peleg . Salmon . Reu . Boaz .

Serug . Obed . Nah or . Jesse . Terah . David . ( To be continued . )

Excerpts From A Masonic Scrapbook.

EXCERPTS FROM A MASONIC SCRAPBOOK .

B Y W M . J AMES H UGHAN , P . M ., No . 131 , T RUKO . No . 2—M ASONS ON MASONRY . " All the plans of Freemasonry are pacific . It cooperates with our blessed religion in regulating the tempers , restraining the passions , sweetening the dispositions , and harmonizing the discordant interests of

man , breathes a spirit of universal love and benevolence ; adds one thread more to the silken cord of evangelical charity , which binds man to man ; and seeks to entwine the cardinal virtues and Christian graces in the web of the affections , and the drapery of the conduct . "The Rev . T . M . HARRIS , ( United States ) . "

" . I have ever felt it my duty to support and encourage the principles and practices of Masonry , because it powerfully developes all the social and benevolent affections ; because it mitigates without , and annihilates within , the virulence . of political and theological

controversy ; because it affords the only neutral ground on which men of all ranks and classes can meet oiiperfectequalifcyyind associate without degradation , or mortification , whether for the purpose of moral instruction or social enjoyment . " Thc lute Right Hon . the Earl of DURHAM , ( P . D . G . M ) . "

" The aid and moral purport of Masonry is to subdue our passions , not to do our own will , to make a daily progress in a laudible art , to promote morality , charity , good fellowship , good nature and humanity . "The Rev . JAMES ANDERSON , D . D ., ( P . G . W ) . "

" Masonry is one of the most sublime and perfect institutions that ever was formed for the advancement of happiness and general good to mankind , creating in all its varieties , universal benevolence ami brotherly love . It teaches us those useful , wise ami instructive doctrines upon which alone true happiness is founded ,

and at . the same time aflbrds those easy paths by which to attain the rewards of virtue ; it tenches us the duties which we owe to our neighbour , —never to injure him in any one situation , but to conduct ourselves with justice and impartiality ; it bills us not to divulge

the mystery to the public , and it orders ns to be true toonr trust , to bc above all meanness and dissimulation , and in all our avocations to perform religiously that which wc ought to do . " H . R . H . the Duke of SUSSEX ( P . G . M . )"

•* ' 1 " rcciiiasons are a public benefit to the world , uniting in the strongest ties the people of all countries , their language is as general as that ofthe eyes , and in all parts ofthe globe it is understood , by

communicative signs it has become peculiarly valuable , and Freemasons possess , what the learned have sought in vain , ah invariable cypher for general communication , a sort of personal shorthand . " ¦ Freemason ' s Magazine , p . 11 , A . D . 1793 . "

" Masonry has no princip le but what might still more ornament the purest mind , nor any appendage but what might give additional lustre , to the bri ghtest character . "The Rev . JETIIKO INWOOD , P . Prov . G . C . "

ROMAN ROADS . —But of all roadmakcrs ( though the Carthaginians arc supposed to be the fnvt people who had paved roads , and the Greeks the first to legislate for their repair ) the Romans stand preeminent . No other people , of ancient or modern times , are fit for a moment to bc compared to tlie hard y Roman soldiers in thc construction of firm and

spacious roads , which would have lasted until now , had tliey not been ruthlessly torn up , by savage numbskulls , in modern days , that they might steal the materials , and boast of living in a state of superior civilization . No matter what difficulties lay in the way , the Romans believed that their soldiers

¦ yyero nil the better for being inured to labour , . 'is it contributed alike to their health and morals ; knowing that idleness and dissipation generally go hand in hand ; and all obstacles wero surmounted by patient perseverance . —Thc History ofthe Stockton and Darlington Ilailway , by Buo . GEO . MARKHAM TWEDDEM ,, F . R . S . NA .

Reviews.

Reviews .

?¦ 'Grand C / tapter of Scotland ' s Reporter" March , . 1869 .

We are favoured by our esteemed Companion , "W . J . Hughan , with a copy of this interesting publication , which contains the proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Scotland for the year ending March , 1869 , in exienso , together with list ^ of the office-bearers , Chapters , and Mark Lodges . It appears from the G . Scribe ' s condensed report

that during the year seven new Chapters have received charters , and one Mark Master Lodge a warrant . A Provincial Grand Superintendent has been appointed over the province of Aberdeen , and representatives have been interchanged with the sister Grand Chapters of South Carolina and Tennessee .

At the quarterl y meeting held on the 16 th September , 1868 , the following important communication from Comp . Hnghan , on the antiquity of the R . A . degree was read , and a vote of thanks was unanimousl y awarded to that distinguished Mason for the same : —

"In the interesting Introduction to the Laws ofthe Supremo Grand Chapter of Scotland , 1861 , it is stated that ' The earliest printed notice of the Royal Arch is in an Address by Lawrence Dermott to the Gentlemen of the Fraternity , published about the middle of tho last century . ' In allusion to the differences between

the ancient and modern Grand Lodges of England , he asks , Whether it is possible to initiate or introduce a modern "Mason into a Royal Arch lodge ( the very essence of Masonry ) without making him go through ancient ceremonies ? ( page v . ) The answer to which was ' No . '

" It was also stated that the Minute-Book belonging to the Stirling Ancient Lodge , of 1743 , referring to the Royal Arch Degree , 'isthe oldest written record now extant ; and no other Chapter in Scotland has been able to show documentary evidence in its favour of an earlier date than 1705 , although in these years

the Chapters were already accounted old , and in full operation . ' ( Page xii . ) " It is my peculiar privilege to bc able to afford evidence of the notice of Royal Arch Masonry in print twenty years earlier than the ' Introduction '

allows of , through being in possession of two works , respectively dated A . n . 1756 and A . D . 17-11 . The edition of Ahiman Rezon , by Lawrence Dermott , containing 'The Address to the Gentlemen of the Fraternity , ' was not published until A . D . 170-1 , being the second edition .

"The first edition of Ahiman Rezon ( which we have ) was issued A . D . 1756 , and although it did not contain the Address in question , the editor ( then Grand Secretary of the Ancients ) inserted ' A Prayer repeated in the Royal Arch Lodge at Jerusalem , ' ( page 17 ) , concluding as follows : —

" Ilceause we nave trusted m thy Holy , Great , Mighty , and Terrible name , We will rejoice and he glad in thy salvation , and in thy mercies , ( I Lord , our God ; And the nmllitudc of thy mercies , 0 Lord our God ; and the inulliludc nf thy mercies ,

Sliall not forsake us for ever . Sclah : And now make haste and bring upon us a blessing , and peace from the Four corners of the earth ; for thou art a God that workest salvation , And has chosen us out of every people and language ; and

thou , our King , Hast caused us to cleave to thy great name , iu love to praise thee , And to lie united to thee , and to love thy name ; blessed art llmu , 0 Lord God , who hast chosen thy people , Israel in love . "

Brother Dermott ' having inserted this Prayer , and mentioned that part of Masonry commonly called the Royal Arch' ( page 17 ) , proceeds to eulogise it thus — ' I firmly believe the Royal Arch to be the root , heart , and marrow of Freemasonry . ' " Brother Dermott then mentions that the

candidate ior Royal Arch Masonry must first have ' passed the Chair in regular form , according to the ancient custom of the Craft , ' and to further enforce this law , he adds the opinion oftho Worshi pful Brother , Doctor Fifiold D ' Assigny , printed in the year 1711 . " Now , it is this work b y D'Assigny that we have

the pleasure of possessing , and which we beg to bring before the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland , as its evidence on the Royal Arch Degree is most important and uiv . quc . '' It has been thought by some never to have been

in existence , as no authority but Dermott , from 1756 down lo the last year , ever speaks of having seen it , but , like the late Brother the Rev . Dr . George Oliver , refer to thu quotation by Dermott only . '' The learned Mason , Brother J . G . Findel , ol Leipzig , when in England on a Masonic visit , says ,

Reviews.

' I have sought m vain for the book in the British Museum . ' " Dr . George Kloss , in his accurate and valuable ' Biblographie der Freimaurerei , ' of 1844 , is unable to do more than give the reference to Ahiman Rezon of A . D . 1756 .

" We arc , thanks bc , able to set the matter at rest , by having the work itself in our Masonic Library , having purchased it in London during the latter part of 1867 from a second-hand bookseller , who had no idea of its worth , and was in ignorance of its character .

" It was bound up with another work , and hence its being overlooked by the bookseller . Brother Findel , editor of' Die Banhiitte , ' has already acknowledged ( in the pages of that Masonic Magazine ) the importance of the discovery , and considers it to be the earliest printed work in the world that alludes to the

Royal Arch Degree . " The work is entitled , 'A Serious and Impartial Inquiry into the Cause of the Present 1 lecay of Free Masonry in the Kingdom of Ireland ' dedicated ' To the Most Noble and Puissant Prince Truth . ' Dublin : Printed by Edward Bate . MDCCLIV . ( Svo , pages 80 . )

"The work is mainly taken up with ** instructive remarks , which may be found useful to revive the honour of that ancient Craft , ' and the' Old and New Regulations of the London Constitutions ( i . e ., of A . D . 1723 and 1738 ) , by the consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , dedicated to the Right Worshipful and Right Hon . the Lord Viscount

Allen , Grand Master of this Kingdom , ' arc inserted . It will be seen that , owing to the fact of this work being issued in 1744 , all doubts of the degree being known at that date are disposed of at once . Some have tried to prove that the . Royal Arch was unknown before the eighth decade of the last century ; but such attempts are weak indeed , and wholly absurd .

" Bro . Dr . John Pearson Bell , D . P . G . M . of N . and E . Yorkshire , has lately issued an admirable illustrative chart , depicting the purposes of Masonry from an early period , in which lie dates the origin of the R . A . Degree in England'at A . D . 1740 . "Dr . Robert Morris , Dr . Albert G . Mackay , and other well-known writers on the History of the

Fraternity , concur as to this date ; and Bro . William A . Laurie , Grand Secretary of Scotland , observes , ' That beyond a mere assertion , there is no evidence of any kind of its existence in this country ( i . e ., Scotland ) previous to 1743 ' ( 'History of Freemasonry and the Grand Lodge of Scotland . ' Second edition . A . . 1859 . ) Whether the Degree was derived from

Scotland originally , or from England , it is impossible to say . Certainly it was unknown in Ireland before AD . 1740 , and was planted there by the English ancient Masons . " Scotland possesses the earliest Records of Royal Arch Masonry in the world , and , so far as wo know , is entitled to be considered as the chief authority in

ancient minutes relating to "Masonry , whether as to their operative or speciilative character . " The probability is , that tho Degree originated with the noted Chevalier Ramsay , of Ayr , and the 'Ancients . ' But to return to D'Assigny's work . There ai * e only two references to the Royal Arch , both of which we give in their entirety . The first is at

page 16 ; in a note the author says : — " ' I am informed in that city is held an assembly of Master Masons , under the title of ltoyal Arch Masons , who , as their qualifications and excellencies arc superior to oilier' ? , they receive a larger pay than working Masons . ' " We have personally visited the City of York , and have carefully perused the whole of thc Records of

the ancient Grand Lodge formerly held there , but now extinct ; but there is no evidence therein of any such arrangement as Dr . D'Assigny refers to , neither do the ' Fabric Rolls of York Minster' confirm it . The minutes of the Grand Lodge of York contain no reference to the Royal Arch whatever , until after A . i > . 1765 .

" The second reference to tho Royal Arch is appended at page 32 , and is thc one quoted generally bv Masonic writers , where it is printed in italics ; tin other part , and the . former quotation , have never been inserted in any other known Masonic work of any date whatever . —

" As the landmarks of the constitution of Freemasonry arc universally the same throughout all kingdoms , and ar <* so well fixed that they will not admit of removal , how conies it to pass that sonic have been led away with ridiculous innovations—au example of which I shall prove by a certain propagator of a false system some few years ago in this city , who imposed upon several very worthy men , under a pretence

of being Master of the Koyal Arch , which he asserted h < - had brought with him from the City of York ; and that tho beauties of the Craft did principally consist in the knowledge of this valuable piece of Masonry . However , he carried on tills scheme for several months , and many of tin learned and wise wero his followers , till at length hi '

fallacious art was discovered by a Itrothcr of probity . ui'l wisdom , who had some small space before attained that excellent part of Masonry iu London , and plainly proved that hi * doctrine was false , whereupon the Ilretlircn justly despised him , and ordered him to be expelled from all benefits ofthe Craft ; and although some of thc fraternity have expressed an uncasi-