The thought is a sad one, and yet we could not help the writing, we do earnestly wish to meet again some of those who have said so many kind words of us, and with whom in years past we have had such pleasant intercourse.

Companion J. H. La Vaque having been elected Grand High Priest, and declining the honor, the same was conferred upon M. E. W. J. Hahn, Lake City.

R. E. A. T. C. Pierson, St. Paul, re-elected Grand Secretary.

MISSISSIPPI.

The Thirty-fifth Annual Convocation was held in the city of Jackson, commencing February 12, A.D. 1883, A.I. 2413. M. E. Wm. Richards, Grand High Priest.

R. E. John L. Power, Grand Secretary.

Forty-three subordinate Chapters represented. Five Past Grand High Priests present.

The Grand High Priest opens his address as follows:

The dial of time, in its ceaseless round, has once more passed the meridian hour, reminding us that it is the time for us to lay aside the convivialities of refreshment and take up the labors incident to the Thirty-Fifth Annual Convocation of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Mississippi.

Since last we formed the fraternal chain around our sacred altar and offered up the incense of pure and contrite hearts to the Great I Am, another year has passed into eternity-another leaf of the record book of our lives has been turned. On which side of the ledger stands the balance brought forward? Have we been striving, during the past year, to be better men and better Masons? Have we been trying, with a firm reliance on Divine protection, to live up to the requirements of our beloved institution? Have we, as far as possible, fed the hungry, and clothed the naked? Have we visited the widow and fatherless in their affliction, pouring into their bosoms the wine of consolation and the oil of joy? These are the approved objects of our Order-these the labors of love which should call forth our loftiest energies-which angels will look upon with rapture, and the God of Heaven bless in a rich return of happiness to the bosoms of those engaged therein.

We give in full what the Grand High Priest says to the

companions on the question of per diem and mileage. He figures it out to a cent:

If there is any one lesson taught in Masonry, which is more forcibly inculcated than another, it is never to claim wages unless an adequate amount of work has been performed. Let us reflect for a moment, and see if we are heeding the admonition, A delegate to this Grand Chapter travels 125 miles and attends its sessions two days; he receives : Six cents per mile each way....

And $3 per day attendance...

Making a total of.......

$ 15 00 6 00

$ 21 00

Now let us, in Masonic phrase, see what amount of work he has performed to entitle him to this amount of wages:

He has paid for 125 miles traveled at 3c.....

He has paid for two days board at $2..

Total.......

Leaving an overplus of..

But let us add 1 cent per mile for incidentals.....

And he has still received......

More than his just wages.

Companions, these things ought not so to be. It is not just to this Grand Chapter, it is not just to ourselves as Masons; and it is not just to our companions at home, who have to bear the burdens.

But some may say: Who is to pay us for our time while we are away from our business? My companions, I should think very little of any man's Masonry who would presume to ask pay for the high privilege of spending a few days in each year in social companionsbip among his brothers and fellows-in grasping the fraternal hand of the true and tried-in endeavoring, as far as in him lies, to advance the cause of Freemasonry.

If I am correctly informed, the present allowance of mileage and per diem was supposed to cover only the actual outlay of the delegates; but since that time both railroad fare and board have been greatly reduced. And, companions, if Masonry is an ancient institution, there is no reason why it should not, in cases like this, conform to modern customs. The general cry now is retrenchment, and we must not be behind this matter or we shall see our Treasury depleted and this Grand Body again in a bankrupt condition. I therefore earnestly recommend that you place the mileage at four cents each way, and the per diem at $2 per day. Upon action being had upon this part of the address, the suggestions of the Grand High Priest were practically adopted.

The Grand High Priest alludes feelingly to the death of Companion Robert F. Bower, and says:

I had the pleasure of forming a particular acquaintance with Companion Bower on my return from the General Grand Chapter in 1880. Pressing business matters on his part, and a severe indisposition on mine, caused us both to leave a day before the close of the General Grand Chapter, and we both took the same sleeper for Chicago. I found him to be a truly genial companion, and shall long remember with pleasure the time we passed together on that occasion.

Since hearing of his death, my mind has often reverted to the wish expressed by him at parting-that we should be permitted to renew our acquaintance at Denver in 1883. But man proposes and God disposes. While he has been called to present his life-work before the Chief Overseer for inspection, I am still permitted to mingle with my fellow-craftsmen in the quarries of life, with the designs of the G. A. O. T. U. as laid down in our moral and Masonic Trestleboard in view, and working tools at my command to enable me to correct any irregularities still remaining on the work assigned to my care, so that I may fit it for that spiritual building, that house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. Let us trust that the work of our beloved companion, who has passed on before, was such as to pass the test of the Chief Overseer's Square, and that he has been rewarded by the plaudit, "well done, good and faithful servant ;" and may we one and all, heed the solemn admonition, "be ye also ready."

The Committee on what is known as "The Merger Question," or "Mississippi Plan," submitted the following report and resolutions:

The Special Committee to whom was referred the memorial of Companion Savery and others, requesting the repeal of the resolutions and edicts of the Grand Chapter relative to the degrees of Royal and Select Master (pages 17 and 21 for 1882,) beg leave to report, that after mature consideration of the subjects, they have seen no reason to doubt the lawfulness, wisdom and propriety of the action of the Grand Council and Grand Chapter in 1877, in placing these degrees under the jurisdiction of the Grand Chapter, and they still adhere to the opinion expressed by Companion Walter in his address of that year, that "the 'Most Excellent' degree has been emasculated and denuded of its beauty, by its separation from the degrees of the Council," and that the force and unity of the so-called "American Masonic System," has been greatly weakened, if not destroyed, by an inversion in the order of the communication of Masonic traditions and the lessons they convey; and not only this, in order to accomplish this result a needless expense is incur

red by the maintenance of a set of bodies, which in themselves accomplish no good purpose and exist without any good reason, unless it be to illustrate the tenacity with which an anomaly is sometimes clung to by even the wisest and best of men. We have nevertheless examined the subject anew with all the care its importance demands.

The strongest and at the same time the weakest argument, which has been urged against our plan of conferring these degrees, is that we have destroyed the harmony of the American Masonic System. If that system were in harmony with itself or any other Masonic system; if in point of fact it were a system and entitled to be dignified by such an appellation; if it were not a mere ruthless setting aside of the system of the mother country, in order to set up something "American" in its place; if it were an attempt to produce a harmonious whole in which the degrees were logically arranged instead of being interjected, one here and another there, without any regard to the degree preceding or the one following, and if notwithstanding its patent defects, it had been adopted and prevailed anywhere outside of the United States, then there would be some force in the assertion that something had been destroyed. The fact is that ours was an attempt to produce an approach towards a system by giving to the candidate complete instruction in one body, instead of compelling him to complete it in a seperate organization. That we have failed to impress our views on our companions elsewhere, much as we may regret it, is but too manifest. The time may come when the Mark Master's degree will be restored to the Lodge and its instruction given to the Fellow Craft, who has been illogically deprived of it in order that another degree might be created; the Past Master's degree, which has no connection with the Chapter may be relegated to the Grand Lodges who will communicate it as an official degree, and it may yet be discovered that it would be much more logical to make a deposit before finding a thing, especially when a long period of time is supposed to elapse between the two transactions. But the period has not yet been reached when intelligent men have ceased to find pleasure in practicing such absurdities, and we presume they will continue this unsystematic method of procedure so long as the idea predominates that it is necessary to have an "American system" of Masonry. If it were fashionable to wear red breeches, although it would not now strike us as a pleasing color, we would all have them, and as our frinds insist upon following the plans of an architect who builds his house upwards and downwards by turns, as it pleases his fancy, it may not be the part of wisdom for us to fall in with the prevailing fashion, but it would be at least good fellowship, and as we can do so without the sacrifice of any principle, it is fraternally suggested that as the great body of Capitular Cryptic Masons throughout the Union favor the "old way," that so far as we can do so, we take steps to re-establish the Councils. We do not think,

however, that any very great number of Cryptic Masons in this State are filled with a raging desire to revive the Councils as separate organizations, in fact we doubt whether any Conncil will be revived, even if the way is made clear for them to do so. Lest, however, we may be mistaken, we recommend the adoption of the following as a preliminary step towards the repeal of the concordat between the Grand Council and the Grand Chapter; if it should be demonstrated that there is a sufficient number of Council Masons who are willing to undertake the labor and undergo the expense of reviving their Councils, the way will be open to our next meeting to re-establish the Grand Council, and if it should be found that nine of the old Councils cannot be revived, we will still be in a position to assist and maintain our control over the Chapter degrees:

Resolved, That whenever any nine members of any one of the Councils of Royal and Select Masters, formerly existing in this State shall assemble and elect officers, on application on the Grand Secretary, he be and is hereby directed to return to them the charter and other effects in his possession of such Council, and it shall thereby be authorized to resume its labors as a Council of Royal and Select Masters, and that thereafter no Chapter, within the county in which a Council has resumed labor, shall confer the degrees of Royal and Select Masters; and,

Resolved further, That whenever nine Councils shall have resumed labor as prescribed in the foregoing resolution, the Illustrious Grand Master of the Grand Council be requested to convene the same, and when said Grand Council shall officially inform the Grand Chapter that it has resumed labor, the Grand Chapter will not thereafter exercise any jurisdiction over the degrees of Royal and Select Master, and the several subordinate Chapters will be prohibited from conferring these degrees.

Resolved further, That until otherwise ordered by the Grand Chapter, the several subordinate Chapters, except where Councils are revived in the county in which said Chapters are established, are directed to continue to confer the Royal and Select Master degrees upon all those members who may desire them.

Companions Kimbrough, Savery and Galbreath, from the committee, reported that they endorsed the resolutions, but dissented from the preamble.

Companions DeLap, Paxton and Power presented the following as a minority report:

The undersigned of Special Committee to whom was referred the Memorial of sundry companions in relation to the merger of Capitular