An Analysis Of Ancient And Modern Freemasonry.

" Masonry consisted of four degrees . " We have heard , on the authority of a noted Masonic author , that some time since the lectures on the English Royal Arch " opened with the details of Enoch ' s Arches" ( page 33 , Dr . Oliver ' s " Royal Arch" ) ,

who also mentions the important fact that " the first lectures which were drawn up by Bros . Payne Anderson , Desaguliers , Martin Folks , Madden , and other eminent Masons , expressly declare , in the degree of Master , that that which was lost

{ meaning the Master's word ) is now found—i . a ., in the latter ceremonies of the third degreewhen it ivas delivered to the newly-raised Master in due form ; and therefore the Royal Arch degree would have thrown no new light on the subject to

a constitutional Master Mason" ( page 39 ) . We take it then as clear that the Royal Arch was unknown to the Grand Lodge of England for some time after its invention by the seceding Masons , and that the original third degree was

intended to lead the fraternity to the footstool of the Creator in solemn devotion and praise , and to unite in ascribing all honour , power , and glory

to Him , who condescended to reveal His name unto Enoch , to Jacob , and to Moses , and which name , through them , descended to Boay , Obed , and Jesse , and even , by the lips of our father David and his successors of ever blessed memory ,

to us of latter days . ( Vide " Primitive Rituals . " ) In the address appended to the by-laws of No . 6 Chapter , Dundee , it is stated that the Royal Arch degree " formed a prominent part of the rites and ceremonies of the Knights Templars and the

Knights of Malta , and , although no distinct records have been found of its being practised in Scotland until the early part of the last century , yet it must hare been known at a very early

period , as is sufficiently proved by relics in the possession of the ancient Lodge of Stirling . From a minute dated 25 th January , 1773 , it appears that the Grand Lodge of England had recognised and encouraged the Royal Arch and its concomitant

degrees , and that , by a special understanding with the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland , they became fully authenticated in these kingdoms . " We present this quotation as a sample of hoiv unhistoric statements ^ are told as genuine in reference

to this degree . There is no evidence whatever of the old Knights Templars and of Malta ever having been Royal Arch Masons . The earliest minute of the Royal Arch at Stirling is said to have been dated A , D . 1743 ; but no one there

that we can find knoivs where the minute-book is , or aught of the degree during the eighteenth century , and there never was any such agreement mrde ivith respect to the Royal Arch bv the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland .

The next oldest chapter in Scotland is the one at Banff ( although it is numbered 4 on the roll ) . In the admirable preface to the by-laivs of St . Andrew ' s Chapter it is expressly declared that " although the antiquity of St . Andrew ' s

Lodge of Master Masons can be traced by its written records as far back as the year of our Lord 1703 , and by the most authentic and satisfactory proof to a much more remote period ; yet it does not appear that the Masonic knowledge of the

brethren extended beyond the three degrees of apprentice , Fellow Craft , aud Master , until about the year 1787 . " We have it , however on the authority of Bro . Stenhouse Bairnsfather , P . M ., of Banff , that the St . John ' s Operative Lodge has

worked the R . A . degree from an earlier date and possesses minute books from A . D . 1765 ; so that it ranks next to Stirling . None , however , in any country can produce minutes before A . D 1740 , which is decisive .

Banff has also worked the Knights Templar ' s degree from about A . D . 1780 to the present time , although it has not joined the Grand Conclave , but has never conferred the degree on any but Royal Arch Masons . The members under

the Grand Lodge at York observed the same gradation , although in that city the Royal Arch degree cannot be traced so far back as in this northern town of Scotland . In neither of the constitutions of the regular

Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland , from Anderson's of A . D . 1723 and l 738 , to Spratt ' s of A . D . 1744 and 1751 ; from Laurie ' s

of A . D . 1804 , and all the editions in England from 1756 to the end of the last century , is there a single reference to the R . A . degree . The learned Dr . Kloss fixes the date of the introduction of the Royal Arch into England , in the year 1744 ,

but to our mind that is four years too late , on account of the evidence ive have submitted clearly pointing to A . D . 1739 or 1740 . Bro . W . A . Laurie observes " that beyond a mere assertionthere is no evidence of any kind of its

exis-, tence in this country previous to 1743 . " Dr . Dassigny ' s work , though , militates against this , and points some feiv years further back . The accomplished Mason , Bro . Findel , is of the opinion