1877 And 1878.

And if twelve months more departed See us still lingering here , Whether full of mournful memories , Or bless'd by joys most dear - . Yet still the witness we all must bear Will be , 0 dear old Mate 1

As we said " Farewell to Seventy-Seven ! ' ' We must say it to Seventy-Eight 1 NEMO .

St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter, Boston (U.S.A.)

ST . ANDREW'S ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER , BOSTON ( U . S . A . )

AVILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . THE Centennial of St . Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter , Boston ( U . S . A . ) , was celebrated at the Masonic Temple on September 29 th , 1869 , the Chapter having been consecrated on the 28 th August 1769 . * The invitations were profuse ( and yet

, most discriminate ) to a large number of distinguished Masons in the United States and British Provinces , and nothing seems to have been spared , as respects expense and enthusiasm to render the Assembly worthy of the event . In the handsome volume before us , commemorative of the grand proceedings , we notice several pages of correspondence from "invited guests , " and all , whether able to be present or not , were evidently keenly alive to the importance of the Celebrationand were not lacking in

, warmest interest in the success of the Old Chapter . The Committee of Arrangements did their work well , as is generally the case in the United States , where the most scrupulous attention is paid to the most minute matters , so much so that such Committees not only deserve , but they really command success . The Orator for the day was the learned Brother William Sewall Gardner , of Boston , then M . W . G . M . of

Masachusetts , and most ably did he acquit himself of the special duty thus laid upon him by willing hands and fraternal hearts . The oration was to our minds a masterly production , and makes public several curious and valuable particulars hitherto little known and sometimes quite lost sight of . Brother Gardner considers that " by the strong preponderance of evidence , it would seem that Eamsay invented the Royal Arch Degree , and that between 1728 and 1743 , probably in the year 1740 , in the interest

ot Charles Edward the Pretender , he brought over to England several new degrees , among which was one called the Royal Arch . " This may , or may not be , but at all events , the majority of Masonic students favour the notion of such an origin . "As earl y as 1758 , Lodge No . 3 , at Philadelphia , worked as a Chapter , conferring the Eoyal Arch in communion with a military Chapter , working under a warrant , No . 351 , granted bthe Grand Lodof all England" BroGardner is iu error as to the Grand

y ge . . Lod ge of all England ( held at York ) , as that Body never granted any Charters out of England . The reference must be to the " Grand Lodge according to the Old Constitutions" or " Ancients . " Philadelphia had an "Ancient" Lodge warranted from -A-L \ 1759 : and so from that year the Eoyal Arch may fairly date in that city .