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CONTENTS . LEADERS— PAGE . Supreme Grand Chapter ... ... ... ... ... 5 G 5 The Question of Degrees ... ... ... ... ... 5 C 5 The Worth of a Jewel ... ... ... ... ... 5 GC Provincial Grand Lodge of Leicestershire and Rutland ... ... ... $ 67 Consecration of the Ravensworth Lodge , No . 2674 ,.. ... ... 507

Provincial Grand Chapter of Lincolnshire ... ... ... ... 56 S Masonic Service at St . Martin-in-the-Fields ... ... ... ... 5 OS Annual Supper of ( he Blackheath Lodge of Instruction , No . 1320 ... ... 5118 Victoria , Our Empress Queen ... ... ... ... ... 569 Craft Masonry ... .., ... ... ... ... 560 MASONIC NOTESBi-Centenary of the Opening of St . Paul's Cathedral ... ... 573

Consecration of the Sancta Maria Lodge , No . 26 S 2 ... ... ... 573 Annual Meeting ol the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hertfordshire ... 57 s Monthly Meeting of the Committee of Management of the Boys' School ... 573 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 574 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 574 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 574

Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 574 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 57 6 Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... ... 57 6 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 576 Cryptic Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 57 6 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 576 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 57 S

Supreme Grand Chapter.

SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER .

We consider that Supreme Grand Chapter acted wisely in adopting thc resolution , in its amended form as suggested by Comp . FENN , which Comp . STRACHAN , Q . C , Past Deputy Grand Registrar , submitted for consideration at its regular Quarterly

Convocation , on the 3 rd instant . The decision whicli it arrived at , on the advice of the Deputy Grand Registrar , in respect of an appeal from a companion in the District of the Punjab , in May , and conlirmed in August , had caused an uneasy feeling

among many companions . These appeared to be of opinion that this decision was at variance with thc practice undoubtedly followed in many Provinces and Districts , of appointing , with a few exceptions , companions to office in Provincial and District

Grand Chapter , independently of the rank , if any , which they held in Provincial and District GrantI Lodge . On the other hand , there were those who rightly considered that a course adopted at one regular Convocation , and confirmed at the next ,

must not be lightly treated , and that Grand Chapter should before all things avoid doing what could in any way be- considered as stultifying any of its past acts . The position was a delicate one , and Grand Chapter is to be congratulated on having cleverly

extricated itself from the dilemma in which it was placed . Hence Comp . STRACHAN ' S declaratory resolution , in its amended form as proposed by Comp . FENN , was adopted without a division , ami the law on tbe subject is now made clear enough ; the

resolution declaring , as regards the future , that Regulations Nos . 2 ( 1 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , " and 32—which relate to appointments to office in Grand Chapter— " are not applicable to the appointment of Provincial or District Grand Ofiicers ; " and , as regards the past ,

"that , therefore , Grand Superintendents who have appointed Provincial or District Grand Registrars or other officers who may not have becn appointed to similar offices in the Provincial or District Grand Lodge , have acted strictly in accordance with the law . " All ' s well that ends well !

The Question Of Degrees.

THE QUESTION OF DEGREES .

In an article which appeared on this subject in our issue of the 23 rd ult ., we gave a short summary ofthe opinions expressed by Bro . \ V . J . HUGHAN in support of his theory as to there having been only one Degree in use prior to the Grand Lodge era . The bases on which he rests this theory are—the absence of all reference to " a plurality of Degrees " both from the Old

The Question Of Degrees.

Charges and other ancient documents , whether in manuscript or printed ; the like absence of such reference from the earliest minutes of initiation in England and from lodge minutes dating from before 1717 ; as well as from the Old Rules and earliest

Constitutions of thc Grand Lodge of England ; and the earliest mention of separate and distinct Degrees subsequent to thc establishment of our Grand Lodge . All these opinions and the evidence in support of them will be found set forth in the piper he read

before the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 , on the 24 th June , while in the discussion that followed will be found opinions expressed by Bros . R . F . GOULD , Dr . CHSTWODF . CKAWLEY , and others , who arc opposed to Bro . Hi / GHAN on this question

or prefer treating his arguments on their own merits without reference to any rival theories that may have been formulated by other brethren . Bro . GOULD who opened the discussion upon the paper , differs from Bro . Hi / GHAN on the question ,

but there was no time for him , even if he had desired to do so , to indulge in a long counter-argument . He therefore contented himself with remarking , as regards Bro . HUGHAN ' statement" As regards the ' Book of Constitutions , ' I consider the

regulations of 1723 and the alteration agreed to in 1725 , concerning the ' Making of Masters , 'are alone sufficient to prove that the three Degrees were known to the English Craft of that period "—that " what has satisfied / it ' s mind that three Degrees are referred to

in the Constitutions of 1 723 , has carried conviction to my own that two Degrees only—not three—are plainly and unequivocally referred to in the Regulations of 1723 . " In support ol this view hc quotes from a rare pamphlet called '" The Free

Masons Accusation and Defence ; In six genuine letters Between a gentleman in the country aud his son , a student in thc Temple , London , 1726 , '" and other contemporary sources of information , evidence which , to his mind , appears to be

conclusive as to the weakness of this portion of Bro . IIi / GfiAN ' s argument :. In particular , he lays stress upon the discrepancy between the official minutes of Grand Lodge of November , 1725 , and ANDERSON ' S " Book of Constitutions" of 173 S ,

pointout that ANDERSON was not present at the Grand Lodge meeting in question , and therefore had not even any recollection of what passed to guide him in forming the version he gave in

his 173 8 Constitutions of the change in the laws of 1723 which Grand Lodge had sanctioned . There was only one olher point to which Bro . GOULD gave his attention , namely , the strt'ss which Bro . HUGHAN laid on Bro . MURRAY LYON'S concurrence

with him in his theory . On this hc quotes the following passage from Bro . LYON ' S " History of the Lodge of Edinburgh "" The Third Degree could hardly have becn present lo the

mind of Dr . ANDERSON when in 1723 hc superintended the printing of his ' Book of Constitutions , ' for it is therein stated that the ' Key of a fellow Craft' is that by which the secrets communicated in the Ancient Lodges could be unravelled . "

Bro . CRAWLEY , who followed Bro . Goui . n , took a different course , putting forward no theory of his own , but contenting himself with scrutinising very closely the theory of Bro . IIi'GHAN . Thus , at the outset , he suggests that while " the historical

data brought together in Bro . HUGHAN ' admirable summary are , beyond question , true , " they " may not fully warrant the conclusion drawn from them . " He then proceeds to remark that " speaking broadly , the arguments by which Bro . I lucilAN supports his contention that but one Decree was known to the Media-val

Craft seems to fall into two main divisions . I . —The lack of direct evidence of any second secret ceremonial being known to the Craftsmen . IL—Thc corroborative evidence that no such