Select Master to be conferred as a part of the Royal Arch Degree, the former before the Royal Arch, and the latter after. 5. The Officers of the Grand Council shall be elected, in order to preserve the organization, pending the approval of the action, by the General Chapter of the United States. Fraternally submitted, J. M. HOWRY, H. W. WALTER, For the Grand Council. By this action : FREDERICK SPEED, R. P. BOWEN, For the Grand Chapter. 1. All councils of Royal and Select Masters cease to exist. 2. The degrees of "Royal Master" and "Select Master " will hereafter be conferred, or communicated, in the several Royal Arch Chapters and upon Royal Arch Masons only, and as follows: The Chapter being opened in the Royal Arch Degree, a Council of Royal and Select Masters will then be opened in these degrees, respectively. After completing its work, the Council will be closed, with all due forms and ceremonies, and the business of the Chapter resumed, or closed as occasion may require, in the Royal Arch Degree. 3. Royal Arch Masons who have not received the degrees of Royal and Select Master may have them conferred, or communicated, without fee, in open Council. But in all cases the Chapter must be regularly convened and a Council formally opened. 4. Companions hereafter receiving the Royal Arch Degree, will be advanced to the Royal Master's, and afterwards to the Select Master's Degree-the Chapter being first opened, and then the Council, as before directed. 5. In Chapters, where there are not a sufficient number of Royal and Select Masters, and when a sufficient number cannot conveniently be assembled from neighbouring Chapters, to complete the Council, the degrees of Royal Master and Select Master may be communicated, by any competent Companion, to a sufficient number of the Companions of the Royal Arch, to open a Council, preferably to the officers of the Chapter, if there be any such who have not received these degrees. The intention being to communicate the degrees only in cases of absolute necessity, it being expected that the officers of each Chapter will, at the earliest practicable date, qualify themselves to work the Council Degrees, the same as the degrees of the Chapter are required to be worked; and after they so qualified themselves, in no case will the Council Degrees be communicated. 6. It is recommended that the T.I.M. of each Council cause its members to assemble at the earliest convenient day, and provide for the disposition of its property and effects, by transferring the same to the chapter within whose jurisdiction the Council has hitherto heen held, and where a preponderance of its members hold their membership. In cases where the membership is divided between two or more Chapters, it is suggested that the property be divided between them or donated to the Chapter having the least ability to provide itself with the necessary paraphernalia of the Council Degrees. In cases where Councils are in debt, the assets should be sold to some Chapter, and proceeds applied to settlement of outstanding obligations. It is particularly to be hoped that the cause of Masonry will not be disgraced by the neglect or failure of any Council to provide for the payment of its debts. A small contribution from its members will generally suffice to enable the poorest Councils to dissolve honourably, and without leaving a stain upon the Masonic name and character. The surplus funds of Councils may be disposed of at their pleasure, but dues to the "Grand Council" must in all cases be paid, when the Councils have the ability to do so. 7. The Charters of Subordinate Councils will be returned to the Grand Recorder. And it is recommended that the records and seals of each Council be deposited with that officer for preservation. 8. Presiding officers of Councils will in all cases report their action to the Grand Recorder. 9. A copy of this Edict will be duly certified to each Chapter by the Grand Secretary, and the same will be its sufficient warrant as a Council of Royal and Select Masters, until the Grand Chapter shall otherwise provide. In Testimony Whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and caused the Seals of the Most Excellent Grand Chapter and the Most Puissant Grand Council to be affixed this 24th day of February, 1877. Attest: J. L. POWERS, H. W. WALTER, Grand Master. Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder. The proposal did not meet with approval in Canada, and the Grand Master in his remarks voiced the general opinion of Cryptic Masons when he said: "It is much to be regretted that this action has been necessitated by the apparent languishing condition of both those bodies, as the degrees of both orders, though having an historical connection with each other, are in all other jurisdictions governed by independent bodies, and it is doubtful, even if-for that reason only, it will be found advantageous to have them united under one governing body." The Committee on the Address held very decided views. and said: "Your Committee heartily concur with the M. Ill. G. M. in his remarks regarding the changes which have taken place in the Mississippi jurisdiction, and feeling, as we do, that the importance of the Cryptic Rite is such that it should be entirely separate and distinct from other branches of Masonry, we cannot but feel deep regret that our Companions of Mississippi should have found it necessary to give up their existence as a Sovereign Grand Body." All of which is respectfully submitted, DANIEL SPRY, Chairman. The reports on the Condition of Cryptic Masonry this year show that there was a slight lack of interest in the Rite and a complaint that the Inspectors of Division had not been as faithful and zealous in the discharge of their duties as they should have been. Prior to this year those who had to sit and vote in Grand Council had, in case of absence, the right to send proxies. This year the constitution was amended regarding the proxies to be granted. By the change each Council had three votes, represented by its first three officers, and if no representative was present each might appoint a proxy, but no personal proxies were to be allowed, and each Thrice Illustrious Master, Deputy Master and Principal Conductor of the Work was entitled to a seat in Grand Council and one vote. The election this year resulted in the following being elected: M. I. Companion David McLellan, Most Illustrious Grand Master. R. I. Companion James O'Connor, Deputy Grand Master. R. I. Companion George C. Longley, Grand Principal Conductor of the Work. R. I. Companion E. W. Porter, Grand Treasurer. R. I. Companion James B. Nixon, Grand Recorder. R. I. Companion John Ross Robertson, Grand Captain of Guard. R. I. Companion J. F. Kennedy, Grand Lecturer. Companion J. L. Dixon, Grand Sentinel. N INSPECTORS-GENERAL OF DIVISIONS. R. I. Companion J. Corlis, M.D., London Division. At a subsequent date the M. Ill. Grand Master was pleased to make the following appointments: V. I. Companion Geo. C. Patterson, Grand Master of Ceremonies. V. I. Companion John Dickson, Grand Conductor. V. I. Companion D. Collins, Grand Organist. V. I. Companions E. B. Butterworth, T. H. Tracy, A. F. Huffman, Frank Morrison, John Hart, and John McKee, Stewards. CHAPTER XXVIII. A NATIONAL CRYPTIC CONVENTION AT BUFFALO-THE PROGRESS OF THE RITE IN THE DOMINION. N the year 1878 the Grand Council assembled on the 15th day of August in the ambitious city of Hamilton, in its Eighth Annual Meeting, with Most Illustrious Companion Daniel McLellan, the Grand Master, presiding. The meeting was fairly attended, amongst those present being Illustrious Companions Daniel Spry, J. G. Burns, J. Ross Robertson, J. McKee, Geo. Watson, F. J. Menet and James B. Nixon, from Adoniram Council, Toronto; James Johnston, Wm. Gibson, H. A. Mackay, from Salem Council, Hamilton; Robert McKay and E. Ŵ. Porter from Nineveh Council, St. Thomas, Ontario; H. A. Baxter, James O'Connor and Rev. St. George Caulfield, of Enoch Council, London, etc., etc. The presiding officer, in an earnest and carefully worded address, welcomed Grand Council, and trusted that the re-union would be pleasant and profitable. He referred to the fact that the Grand Council of Illinois had dropped the Super-excellent Degree, and that as a number of Companions in that jurisdiction were anxious to obtain the degree, he had issued a dispensation to the Grand Master of Illinois, empowering him to confer the Super-Excellent Degree. The address called attention to the National convention of Royal and Select Masters for the United States of America, held in the city of Buffalo in August, 1877, at which M. Ill. Companion Daniel Spry and M. Ill. Companion J. Ross Robertson, of Toronto, were present as Delegates from the Grand Council of Canada. M. Ill. Companion McLellan concluded with an allusion to the " Mississippi" plan, and the circulars from the Royal and Select Masters of that State, which recommended the merging of their Councils into the Royal Arch Chapters. The reports from the various divisions showed that the work of Cryptic Masonry was moderately successful. The finances were in a healthy condition, and the interest taken in the Rite indicated progress in the future. |