CHAPTER XXX

THE SUPREME ORDER OF THE HOLY ROYAL ARCH
THE Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch is not a degree; it is the completion of the Master Mason’s degree, which is interrupted in such an untimely fashion; and without it no Master Mason can consider himself ‘fully fledged.’
In early times it was, no doubt, incorpor- ated in the Third Degree; and the true word which constitutes the Royal Arch was found ' by Dr. Oliver in a Master Mason’s Tracing Board, circa 1725. The earliest mention of it as a separated ceremony is about 1740, just two years after the separation of the ‘ Ancients ’ and the ‘ Moderns.’ Its creation is attributed to the ‘ Ancients.’
As late as 1758 the ‘Moderns’ had na Royal Arch, and in the Lecture of the Third Degree the true Master Mason’s word wags revealed to the Master Mason by the
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‘Moderns’ in the latter ceremonies of the Third Degree, thus precluding the necessity for the Royal Arch.
About 1766 Dunckerley was commissioned by the ‘ Modern’ Grand Lodge to revise the Lectures, and he did so by, inter alia, dis- ‘severing the true word from the Third Degree, and transplanting it into the Royal Arch ceremony, and to that extent assimi- lating the Ancient and Modern systems. This radical move owed its success to Dunckerley’s popularity and the influence of the Grand Master. It was no doubt a great factor in preparing the ground for the reunion in 1813, when the Royal Arch was declared a part of ‘pure and ancient Masonry ’; and so it has ever since remained.
The Royal Arch is not recognized by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
In 1817 the two Grand Chapters of the Royal Arch were amalgamated.
In 1834 the ceremony of exaltation was considerably altered by the Rev. G. A. Browne, at the request of M. W. G. M. the Duke of Sussex; but the general outline of the system was preserved.
In 1853 a Chapter of Promulgation was authorized for the purpose of disseminating
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the revised Ritual with a view ‘to establish a uniformity of Practice and Working throughout the Order.’
The Supreme Grand Chapter governs the Order, and its Ruler is denominated the Most Excellent First Grand Principal. The most important Grand Officers of Grand , Lodge are entitled ex officio to similar offices in Grand Chapter (if they are R. A. Masons), so that the government is in practically the same hands.
In former times the ceremony was re- stricted to those who had passed the Chair. In 1843 the Regulations required only twelve months’ service as a Master Mason; while since 1893 any Master Mason who has exercised himself in that capacity for four weeks and upwards is eligible for ‘ exalta- tion’ in the Order; and there can be no impropriety in urging a brother to complete his Third Degree.
From a practical point of view, it is also very desirable, if otherwise convenient, that a young Mason should join the Royal Arch as soon as possible. While in the first place it gives him a greater comprehension of his ‘blue’ Masonry and assists him to take an intelligent interest in that, the practical ad-
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vantage is that of saving time, by enabling him to take office in the Royal Arch as soon as his progress in the Craft warrants it.
No Mason can occupy a Principal’s Chair in the Royal Arch until he is an Installed Master in the Craft, but conversely, if he can mount in rotation in the Royal Arch at the same time as he is nearing the Chair in the Craft, there need not be such a long interval as there would be if he were not a member of the two organizations concurrently.
_ At the present time there are 250 London Chapters and 612 Provincial Chapters.
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On May 7, 1902, a Resolution ‘that it is expedient that all Royal Arch Masons be permitted to be present at the Opening of Private Chapters’ was proposed in Grand Chapter and carried ‘almost unanimously.’
Prior efforts to achieve the same object in 1880, 1893, and 1896, had been defeated by large majorities.
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