The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland.—No. Iv.

subject of the threatened secession by an acknowledgment of the compliments paid to our reports by the " Interim Secretaiy : " Ave shall conclude our present one Avith a worcl in reply to " One of the Committee , " who si g hs for distinction as a

leader in the Avar AA'hich is noAv being Avaged in the west against the constituted authority of the Royal Arch Degree in this country . We have been enabled to identif y this self-important Committeeman as certainl y as if he had attached his

name and address to the letter from his pen , AA'hich appeared in the Magazine of the 21 st ult . As a Mason , his mouth is too full of mildeAV for us to approach him without fear of contamination ; but for one tiling , Ave would shun him as we would a

leper . His assertions as to our " shirking from the truth " and " misrepresentation of the features of the question " are unsupported by evidence the most slender ; and the important information he

volunteers as to the ori ginator and promoter , of "all the petitions for disjunction of Ayrshire , " resembles the discovery of a mare ' s nest . The readers of the Magazine care not Avho the ori ginator of these petitions is , how many or hoAv feAV

adhered to them , whether they were Chapter petitions or emanating from private members of the Order . Sufficient for them to knoAV the purport of the petitions , IIOAV they were disposed of , and what has followed upon the decisions in then- case ;

and on these points we presume all have had ample information . What portion of that information Ave have contributed we challenge any one of the Committee to gainsay . We are glad to have the assurance of " One of the Committee "

that he and his Companions in adversity " remember " their obligation . " Could they onl y be brought to " act" upon it , we should very soon see the end of this ill-advised and causeless insurrection in the rebels suing for pardon .

Masons Of England And Their Works.

MASONS OF ENGLAND AND THEIR WORKS .

( Concluded from page 169 . ) " The charters of Edward III . and his grandson Richard , distinctly point out the reasons of reconstituting the trading fraternities , as well as the principles upon which they had heen primarily established . We learn from them that the Avhole of these

societies were , at first , associations of persons , actually , and no tnominally , professing the trades from which they took denomination ; and that , existing on a principle of general subscription , they not only possessed an equal share in all rights Avhich themselves had not chosen to delegate , but that all of them

when " full brothers " equally participated in whatever advantages accrued to such societies , whether of property or privilege ; all in necessity could claim to be relieved in proportion to the fraternity ' s funds , ancl in cases of insolvency at death , the funerals of poor members Avere , by their ordinances , to be equallyrespected witli those of the rich . Finallyelections

, of officers AA * ere by ancl from the assembled commonalty . "— " The charters , moreover , furnish abundant information on other points , —as , the sort of authority in Avhich the guilds existed before such grants were made ; their then number and denominations of officers ; and the way in which they regulated and

governed themselves . The privileges granted are , as to general meetings , ' that they may have ancl hold their guild once a year , ' ancl may in the same , ' settle ancl govern their mysteries ; ' they may choose ' honest , lawful and sufficient men , ' best skilled therein , as their officersto enquire of the concerns of their tradesor

, , correct and amend the same ; they also confirm the ancient right of search through their respective trades , in order that each of them may detect dishonest practices in his OAVU craft and punish offenders , subject to the cognizance , or , as it is termed , vieAV of the Mayor . " *

In addition to this very intelligible account of the object of the charters of incorporation , it may be added that some of these companies or guilds had legendary histories of their trades . To these I haA * e already referred , and as forming a portion , I think a valuable portion , of this enquiry , I may be pardoned for dvrellmg somewhat on them . That of the masons

generally commences with the period of " King David , who loved masons well ; " but some copies are overparticular , and commence before the Elood . After relating the institution of geometry in Egypt , it is brought rapidly down , fortunately so , to Charles Martel ( this was a Erench tradition ) , to St . Alban , and to an assembly held in the year 926 by Athelstan

and his son or brother Edwin ; the later copies claim the City of York as the place of congress . Of such histories and constitutions there are five in manuscript in the British Museum ; one has belonged to a Chester guild and is dated 1 G 46 , one 1659 , aud the others are probably of the same century : anotheriu

, my own possession , is apparently of the same period . They all bear evidence not only of being copies of some earlier documents , but of the copyist not being versed in Avhat they Avere transcribing . At least four others of the same description have been printed in magazines , from various sources , during the last and

present centuries , f and the same legend was formerly claimed by the present Society of Ereemasons . Besides all these , there are also in the British Museum two ancient copies , Avritten on parchment and in English . The earliest of the two , presumed to date about the latter part of the fourteenth century , is

presented as a poem , consisting of about 573 lines , and Avas apparently composed by a priest , probably the secretary to the lodge or company , and as it may be presumed to haA'e been Avritten for public benefit , of those AVIIO could read , by the way , nothing very mysterious could haA'e been then considered as appertaining to such a history . The copy of the " Con-