Royal Arch.

ROYAL ARCH .

SCOTLAND . The chapters in Ayr held their annual meetings for election of office-bearers on the ei'ening of the 23 rd September . In Chapter No . IS , the following is fche list of new office-bearers : —• AA m . Pollock , sen ., Z . ; James Teller , H . Andrew Hunter , J . ; John AVallace , Scribe E . ; P . B . Hill , Treas . ; Alex . AVatson , 1 st Sojourner ; AVilliam Turner , 2 nd do . ; John Inglis , 3 rd do . ;

David Bigham , Scribe N . ; David Dunlop , Inner Guard ; John Munn , Outer Guard . A local print is made to say that " Great prosperity has attended this chapter since it Avas handed over to the present office-bearers . In point of numbers it can show a roll larger than ail the other Ayrshire chapters put together . " The officers-bearers of Ayr Kilwinning ( No . SO ) Chapter are as follows : —Major Thornton , 30 ° , First Principal ; Andrew KerrH . M . Office of AVorksEdinburghProxy Principal ;

, , , George Good , II . ; D . Murray Lyon , J . ; Andrew Glass , Past Z . ; James Jones , Past H . ; Donald M'Donald , Past J . ; John Duff , E . ; David C . AVallace , N . ; John Park , Treas . ; AVilliam Young , James M'C'omb , James Heughan , Sojourners ; R . LiHiond , Janitor . Immediately after the election in the latter chapter , the report issued by Supreme Grand Committee ( which appeared in

last Aveek ' s MAGAZINE ) , ivas , in terms of instructions by Grand Scribe E ., read to the Companions ; whereupon the chapter approved of the report , aucl unanimously agreed to lend their most strenuous aid to Supreme Grand Chapter in their resistance of the insurrectionary proceedings of the malcontentents in Glasgow ancl Ayr . The thanks of the cliapter Avere , on the motion of Comp . D . Murray Lyon , seconded by Comp . John Park , ordered to be

conveyed to Comp . Andrew Kerr for the assiduous attention he has paid to the interests of fche Chapter No . 80 , since his appointment as their Proxy First Principal . The services rendered by Comp . Kerr to this chapter in their late dispute with Prov . Grand Chapter of Glasgow , were both opportune ancl valuable , aud went far to strengthen the position tho cliapter had taken in calling to account fche emissaries of usurped power for their unwarrantable attack upon them . It was then moved by Comp . David C . AVallace , and seconded

by the Past First Principal of Chapter No . 18 ( Comp . Andrew Glass ) , that the thanks of the members of the chapter be tendered to Major Thornton and the other office-bearers of last year , for tbe tact and talent , courage and perseverance , displayed by them in their conduct of the chapter ' s business during the late eventful struggle in which they were engaged . The rival chapter , whose office-bearers are deeply impregnated ivith revolutionary principles , boast of their numerical strength , as if thafc

gave them any claim to lord ifc over their less numerous neighbours , and an attempt had also been made to influence Supreme Chapfcer , in their answer to the prayer of the petition for disjunction of Ayrshire from Glasgow , by holding forth that those petioniug against disjunction , were the most wealthy and the most respectable of the two Ayr- chapters . He ( Comp . Glass ) confessed to be in the dark as fco the superiority in point of wealth possessed by the one chapter over the other ; then again

as to the mere numerical strength of a chapter being a sure test of its prosperity , he denied that proposition . No . 18 might have a great physical development , but if they lacked Masonic principle , their numbers ancl their wealth coulcl be of little avail to them when iihey came to be weighed in the unerring balance of the Order . The young Chapter Ayr Kilwinning ( No . 80 ) , boast neither of their wealth nor of their respectability ; but for moral worth or Masonic talent , they had no superiors in this

wide province , and as for the influence they possess , that has been caused to bo felfc in such a way as to belie the . statement made by their enemies as to their helplessness . In measuring weapons with the Masonic giants of the western metropolis , the office-bearers of the humble Chapter No . SO , hacl discovered but men of straw to be encased in the panoply which a vulgar superstition hacl believed to be unpenetrable , but which before the well handled lance of the assailantproved to befor the

, , purposes of defence , as impotent as the most wretched wicker work could well be . Under the banner of Major Thornton , Comps . G . Good and D . Murray Lyon , had proved two excellent lieutenants , ancl the chapter hacl been ably led to victory , ancl he ( Comp . Glass ) , was sure he spoke the sentiments of the whole chapter , of those who were present , equally with those who were absent , when he seconded the motion made by his friend Comp . AVallace ,

Royal Arch.

viz .: That a special vote of thanks be accorded to Major Thornton and tho other office-bearers who had served the chapter during the previous year . The Second Principal , Comp . Good , replied on behalf of his former colleagues , who he was glad to learn had , with one or two exceptions , been re-elected to office in the chapter . In regard to the mortified opponents of his mother chapterhe

, would only say that in his future Masonic intercourse with them , he was quite prepared either to smoke the ' pipe of peace , or to wield the hatchet of war . However , before the former ceremony coulcl he enjoyed , the rebels must have returned to the allegiance they owe to the Supreme Grand Chapter . The absent members of the lodge had been referred to . In a letter which Comp . Captain Rickford , of her Majesty's Body Guard ,

hacl addressed to Comp . Lyon , that gallant companion expressed his high satisfaction with the manner in which the rights of subordinate chapters in general , ancl of " Ayr Kilwinning " iu particular , hacl been vindicated by the decision of Supreme Chapter in the late famous dispute between No . SO and the Provincial Grand Chapter of Glasgow . He ( Comp . Good ) had every confidence in the ability of the new-elected Office-bearer to sustain the good name of the Kilwinning Ayr Chapter , No . 80 , ancl advance its interests . . Before sitting down , Comp . Good adverted to the great attention paid by the talented editor of the London FREEMASONS'

MAGAZINE to the communications which had from time to time been forwarded to him in regard to Masonic matters in the AA esfc of Scotland . The brother who was the recognised correspondent of the MAGAZINE in this quarter hacl been assailed as having , in his reports of the dispute among the Royal Arch Masons , " strayed from the truth . " This was a mere assertion , unsupported by the slightest evidence of its truth . He was not here to defend the " Own Correspondent" of the MAGAZINE

Thafc brother was able enough to defend himself against the attacks , insidious or otherwise , of the whole or any one of his detractors ; ancl , so long as he kept " the unerring line" in Masonry as he had hitherto clone , he was sure to have both the sympathy ancl the respect of every true Mason . The chapter having been closed , the companions adjourned to the banquetting table , and spent a most agreeable evening . Reminiscences of the yiasfc ° f the chapter were vividlbrought

y to mind , and plans formed for their future guidance . Comp . Park ' s pourtrayal of the little shoemaker ' s hunt on All Fool ' sday after a Royal Arch charter AA-as unique , and served to shoiv the eagerness with Avhich their feline-hearted neighbours Avould have lapped the life blood of No . 80 , hacl that brave little chapter but caught the coup de grace which Glasgow intolerance fully intended for it . The " secret service committee" of the chapter communicated a " wrinkle" or two in regard to the

operations of the rebel companions in the desperate game they are playing , ancl important information from Edinburgh was received ., the knowledge of which will enable the friends of Supreme Grand Chapter to mar the tactics of the insurgents .

INDIA . LTJCKSOW . —Chapter Ramsay . —At the Third Quarterly Convocation of Chapter Ramsay , held at Lucknow on Saturday , the 26 th July , M . E . Comp . Edward R . H . Hoff , P . H ., was passed to the Chair of P . P . Z ., and Bros . Blake , Jordan , and Thomas , of Lodge Harmony ( No . 641 , Cawnpore ) , and Bros . Hollingbery ancl J . Jordan , of Lodge Morning Star ( No . 810 , Lucknow ) , were exalted to the Royal Arch degree . A farewell address , neatly printed on parchment , was also read and presented to M . E . Comp . Buckley , Y . C ., in open Chapter .

Mark Masonry.

MARK MASONRY .

NORTHUMBERLAND . NEWCASTLE . —Northumberland and Berwick-on-Tweed Lodge . —AA ednesday , Sept . 24 th , being the regular monthly meeting , the lodge was opened in due form by the R . AA . M ., Bro . H . G . Ludwig , assisted by Bros . A . Gillespie , S . AV . ; C . J . Banister , J . AA . ; ' G . Lambton , Treas . ; J . Jansen , Sec ; Loades , S . D . ; Reed , J . D . ; Dixon , I . G ., & c . ; also Bro . B . B . Smailes , of the Grass Valley Lodge ( No . 18 , California ) . The minutes of the last regular lodge were read and confirmed . Bro . A . Michaelseit