The Auckland Chapter of Research No 93

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARCH DEGREE

ME Comp NB Spencer

5 November 1954

On the occasion of the Consecration of the Chapter

As this is the first meeting of a Chapter of Research working under the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of NZ., it seems only fitting that I should speak to you of the history of the Royal Arch degree itself, or as it is more correctly called, “The Order of the Holy Royal Arch.”

The origin and early history of the Royal Arch, in common with most of our higher degrees, seems to be shrouded in obscurity. Consequently many of the books written on the Order are made up of speculation and conjecture, much of it of a truly fanciful nature. Of late years, however, many of the greatest Masonic historians and scholars have taken an interest in the Royal Arch. Most of them belong to the Authentic or Historical school, who confine themselves strictly to facts and records and the conclusions which can be clearly and logically drawn from them. The first of these was the famous Masonic historian, Bro. Hughan. I will confine myself mainly this evening to the historical records and the conclusions which can be drawn from them regarding the history and origin of the Order.

The main part and most interesting part of our enquiry will be “When? Where? And under what circumstances did the Royal Arch degree or Order as it is now called have its origin ?” At first sight a Companion will naturally say that it is a portion of the third degree which has been elaborated into a separate degree. This would put its origin at somewhere between the years 1717 and 1730, during which period our three craft degrees took the basis of their present form. Although this theory is still held by some eminent Masons, facts do not seem to bear it out. For example, we find our third degree in1730 substantially as it is now and yet we find no trace of the Royal Arch degree until the year 1743. In that year we find in a description in a Dublin newspaper of a procession held by Lodge No. 21 at Youghal, Ireland: “Fourthly, the Royal Arch carried by two Excellent Masons? The next reference is contained in a pamphlet entitled “A Serious and Impartial Enquiry into the cause of the present decay in Freemasonry in the Kingdom of Ireland” dated 1744. The statements contained in this pamphlet, if they are correct, show clearly that in the year 1744 Royal Arch Masonry was worked in London and was known in York and Dublin and also that all members of the Royal Arch had passed the chair.

The oldest minutes in existence actually recording the working of the Royal Arch Ceremony, strangely enough, come from America. The minute book of the old Lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia, records that on the 22nd December, 1753, three Brethren “were raised to the degree of Royal Arch Mason.” The earliest reference to the actual working of the degree in England is contained in a Bristol minute book entitled “A Book of Transactions of Free and Accepted Masons at their Lodge at the Crown in Christmas Street, Bristol, 1758.” The degree is mentioned in the minutes of the Grand Lodge of the Antients. Of a meeting held March 4th, 1752. There is a Chapter in Scotland called “The Stirling Rock Royal Arch Chapter” which the Grand Secretary states has been meeting continuously since the 30th July, 1743. The By-Laws of the Chapter, dated 14th May, 1745, read: “Exalting Excellent and Super Excellent 5/.” The Super Excellent is of course the Royal Arch degree as worked in Scotland in those days. From the dates quoted above it will be obvious that the Royal Arch degree in anything like its present form had its origin about the year 1740.

As to where the degree had its origin and the circum- stances of its inception the authorities all seem to differ. Gould, the great Masonic historian, maintains that it had its origin in the “Scots degrees” which sprang up in all parts of France about the year 1740. Hughan also inclines to this theory, though he states that it obviously did not have its origin with the French themselves as the Royal Arch degree was introduced to France from America in 1790 but died out after a short while. A study of the French Tracing Boards and cloths used about this period tend to strengthen the theory of the French origin of the Royal Arch degree. Though it may not have been a portion of the third degree elaborated and expanded, yet the third degree word could have been taken and the Royal Arch built up around it.

The view is very strongly held by Bro. W. J. Chetwode Crawley, the eminent Irish historian, that in the year 1723 the date of the publication of the first Book of Constitutions, the Craft ceremonies as then practised finished with certain secrets communicated during the Ceremony of Installation and that these secrets formed the basis of our present Royal Arch degree. According to the Installation ritual as printed at the end of the 1723 Book of Constitutions, the Master Elect is chosen from among the Fellow Crafts and is seated on the left of the Grand Master and appointed Master of the Lodge “with some other expressions which are proper and usual on that occasion but not proper to be written.” Then later on in the Ceremony the Grand Master “shall instal him by certain significant ceremonies and ancient usages.” It is this second lot of ceremonies which Bro. Chetwode Crawley considers formed the basis of our present day Royal Arch Ceremony.

A view held by some other historians is that in Ireland anyway the Royal Arch is the old Masters part in toto, and that the old Fellow Craft degree is the present third degree and that the old first degree has been split up to form our present first and second degrees. This of course follows out the theory held by some that the substituted secrets were given to Fellows and the genuine secrets to Masters.

In the 18th Century many different degrees were worked in various parts of the country. Many of them died out, but others arose to take their places. The Irish seem to have been very partial to these additional degrees. Bro. Philip Crossle, the librarian of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, gives the following list of the degrees worked in Irish Lodges at the end of the 18th Century. They were divided into four groups :-

(1) Entered Apprentice, Felloweraft, Master Mason.

(2) Past Master, Excellent Mason, Super Excellent Mason, Arch Mason, Royal Arch Mason.

(3) Ark Mason, Mark Fellow Mason, Mark Master Mason, Link Mason, or Wrestle, Babylonian Pass (or Red Cross of Daniel), Jordan Pass Royal Order or Prussian Blue.

(4) Black Mark, Templar (4 grades), Mediterranean Pass, Malta, Red Cross of Constantine, Knight of Patmos.

In England from the years 1751 to 1813 there were, as you know, two Grand Lodges known as the “Antients” and the “Moderns” founded respectively in the years 1751 and 1717. When we remember that nearly all the founders of the Grand Lodge of the Antients were Irish Freemasons resident in London we would expect it to encourage the higher degrees. This it did and allowed all of the Lodges under its jurisdiction to work any of the higher degrees under their existing Lodge warrants. It particularly favoured the Royal Arch degree. Laurence Dermott, the Grand Secretary, states in the Ahiman Rezon or Book of Constitutions of the Antients: “The Royal Arch I firmly believe to be the root, heart and marrow of Masonry.”

The attitude of the Moderns Grand Lodge can be gauged by the following statement of its Grand Secretary in 1758: “Our Society is neither Arch, Royal Arch or Antient.” The fact that the Moderns would not countenance the Royal Arch probably made the Antients push it all the more. It was undoubtedly the rivalry between the two Grand Lodges which led to the spread of Free- masonry during that period. The Royal Arch degree continued to grow in popularity. The working of the degree in the Lodges holding under the Grand Lodge of the Moderns was not recognised, and in fact much discouraged. This led to the formation of a special Chapter on the 12th June, 1765, for the purpose of working the Royal Arch degree. It was known as “the Excellent Grand and Royal Chapter commonly called the Royal Arch.” Within a year most of the high officers of the Modern Grand Lodge, including Lord Blayney, Grand Master, had joined the Chapter. On the 22nd July, 1766, they formed themselves into a Grand Chapter with Lord Blayney as their head. A Charter of Compact was signed on the same date evidencing the formation of the Grand Chapter. By the end of 1769 it had issued charters to seven daughter chapters.

The Antients still continued to work the Royal Arch in their Craft Lodges. However, in 1772 they formed a Grand Chapter. This was evidently done as a result of the progress being made by the Moderns Grand Chapter all over England and even overseas. The formation of the Grand Chapter by the Antients did not make much difference to their organisation of the Royal Arch degree. The degree was still worked in the Craft Lodges. The only difference was that they now held a Charter from their new Grand Chapter to do so. The offices in the Grand Chapter were filled by the holders of the corresponding offices in the Grand Lodge. So that the formation of the Grand Chapter made a difference in name only. No charters seem to have been issued for the working of the Royal Arch degree except to an already existing Craft Lodge. It was not really a Grand Chapter as we understand the term in these days. On the other hand, the Modern Grand Chapter was a genuine Grand Chapter and at the time of the union in 1817 had 156 Chapters working under its jurisdiction. It was entirely independent of the Modern Grand Lodge and its Chapters were entirely independent of the Craft Lodges. \

The union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813 was in many respects a compromise, with in most cases the Moderns giving away more than the Antients. The position of the Royal Arch degree was one matter in which there had to be a compromise. Under the Moderns the degree was governed by an entirely independent Grand Chapter and was worked in Royal Arch Chapters. Under the Antients it was governed by a Grand Chapter, which was but the Grand Lodge called by a different name, and the degree was worked in the Craft Lodges. One of the Articles of Union provided: “That pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz :- Those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch.” This provision naturally led to the union of the two Grand Chapters, which took place four years later on the 18th August, 1817. It provided that every Chapter must be attached to a Craft Lodge, whose number and seniority it took. This is the reason that the Number of a Chapter under the English Constitution is no guide at all to its age or real seniority.

It is also provided that the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge shall be the First Grand Principal of the Grand Chapter if a Royal Arch Mason and the following officers of Grand Lodge shall if Royal Arch Masons hold the corresponding rank in Grand Chapter, namely :—Pro Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer and Grand Registrar. All matters which are not provided for by the Regulations of Grand Chapter shall be decided by the provisions of the Book of Constitutions of the Grand Lodge.

The Companions do not seem to have been very enthusiastic about the union, as it was not finally com- pleted until the Chapter of Promulgation finished its work in November, 1835, eighteen years after the union was agreed on. The official ritual was finally adopted by Grand Chapter at special meetings, held on the 21st and 25th November, 1834. The new ritual, which was a compromise between the Antients and the Moderns, was the cause of a great deal of discontent and trouble in the Chapters, particularly the portion dealing with the Installation of the three principals. Many Chapters used no ceremony at all for the Installation of the Principals and so had no past Principals qualified to carry out the Installation under the new Regulation. The new regulations also provided that only principals and past principals should be present at the opening or the Chapter.. This was the rule until the year 1902, when it was rescinded.

Up until the union of the two Grand Chapters no brother could become a Royal Arch Mason unless he was a Past Master. As this limited the numbers of Royal Arch Masons very severely, the custom arose of opening a Craft Lodge in the third degree before the Royal Arch Chapter was opened. The Candidates were then installed in the Chair of the Craft Lodge, from which they imme- diately resigned. This qualified them to be exalted to the Royal Arch degree, but not to rank as Past Masters in the Craft. This regulation was done away with at the time of the union. In the Grand Chapters in the United States at the present time a brother has to take the Past Master’s degree before he can become a Royal Arch Mason. The Past Master’s degree as practised in America is of course something quite different from the Ceremony worked in our Board of Installed Masters, and does not qualify a brother as a Past Master in the Craft. From the above it can be seen why Royal Arch Chapters under the English Constitution can only work or recognise the Royal Arch degree and no other. An attempt was made in 1856 to have the Mark degree recognised by the Grand Lodge of England, but it was unsuccessful. The Grand Lodge of Scotland recognises the Mark degree, which is worked in most of its Craft Lodges, but does not recognise the Royal Arch degree or the Excellent. The Grand Lodge of Ireland recognises all three.

The formation of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand in 1890 left several English Chapters in a very awkward situation. The Lodges they were attached to no longer belonged to the English Constitution, consequently the Chapters were liable to lose their Charters. This hurried the formation of the Grand Chapter of New Zealand, which was instituted on the 1st January, 1892 with eight Chapters. It was modelled on the Grand Chapter of Scotland, adopting the degrees and ritual worked under that Grand Chapter as well as its rules and regulations. With the exception of Officers connected with the passing of the Veils, the Officers of the Chapter and their titles seem to have changed very little since the formation of the first Grand Chapter in 1766. The ceremony of passing the Veils was dropped out of the English Royal Arch Ceremony at the time of the union, but exists in all other Constitutions which work the Royal Arch degree. It is still continued in several old English Chapters in England, notably in Bristol.

Copyright © N B Spencer, The Research Chapter Of New Zealand No 93, 1954

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