RACMassachusettsYear1831

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1831

Samuel Clarke, Grand High Priest
Robert Lash, Deputy Grand High Priest
Charles R. Train, Grand King
Charles Wells, Grand Scribe

REGULAR SESSIONS

ANNUAL SESSION, 09/13/1831

Meeting held at Boston (Ch1-389):

Grand Chapter opened.

  • Finance reports.

The meeting elected the officers for the Grand Royal Arch Chapter for the ensuing year, with R. E. Samuel Clarke re-elected Grand High Priest, and other officers elected and appointed as noted on Pages ChI-391 and ChI-392.


STATED MEETING, 12/13/1831

Held at Mason's Hall, Boston (ChI-396):

Grand Chapter opened.

  • A communication from the Secretary of the Board of Directors "respecting a place of meeting in the Masonic Temple;" a committee was appointed to meet with other organizations.
  • Another petition to extend the dispensation for Bethlehem Chapter for one year was granted.

STATED MEETING, 06/12/1832

Held at Mason's Hall, Boston (ChI-397):

Grand Chapter opened.

  • "The Committee for providing a place for the future meetings of this Grand Chapter reported that they had, in conjunction with committees from the other Masonic Institutions in the city, engaged this Hall and the adjacent rooms. . ."

GRAND HIGH PRIEST'S CIRCULAR, NOVEMBER 1831

The following document appears beginning on Page ChI-392, and was distributed to the Chapters under this Grand Chapter's jurisdiction.

To the Chapters under the jurisdiction of the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts:

In authorizing tho Grand Secretary to publish and transmit to you the Annual Report of the Grand Chapter, I embrace the op­portunity to accompany it with a few remarks, which may not he deemed unimportant or useless at the present time.

Every member of our fraternity who understands tho principles of the Masonic institution, knows that friendship, unanimity and peace are its strength, its support, its ornament, und its glory. Every one who possesses the pure, benevolent, affectionate spirit of Masonry, rejoices in every indication that harmony and all good feeling reign in and characterize all the transactions of our societies; for he then has a pledge and feels a confidence, that the institution will successfully withstand all external opposition and be perma­nent, and not only permanent, but a blessing also to its friends and the world.

The Communications of this Grand Chapter have always been attended with interest. The condescending, benevolent, peaceful spirit of Masonry, and I may add of Christianity, has been visible in, and has distinctly marked all its deliberations and proceedings. Its records, the fairness and integrity of which cannot be impeached, afford pleasing and incontrovertible evidence, that our association is founded on strictly moral and benevolent principles, and that these principles have invariably directed its transactions.

It is with much satisfaction that I now inform the companions under this jurisdiction, that the communications of the Grand Chapter, the parent and the bulwark of Royal Arch Masonry in this Commonwealth, continue to be attended with unabated inter­est; and that harmony and peace, and the most disinterested and benevolent feelings characterize all its deliberations and purposes. In no period since the foundation of the Chapter, have the mem­bers been more firmly united in the bonds of fraternal affection, or discovered a stronger attachment to, or interest in the permanency and usefulness of the institution. In our meetings there is but one feeling, and this, attachment and unyielding adherence to the prin­ciples of Masonry; and there is but one purpose, and this, to adopt every prudent and judicious measure to promote the prosperity and best good of the Subordinate Chapters, to preserve our institution from injury, secure its permanency, and to render it, as it may be, a public blessing. I am persuaded that this information, companions, must give you, and every friend of our order, and every lover of good principles, high, unmixed satisfaction. It must be a great gratification to you to know, what I confidently assure you is the fact, that while storms and tempests are raging Without, perfect peace, calmness and harmony reign within our sacred temple. And I am convinced that this knowledge will inspire yon with confidence and firmness, and be a fresh and power­ful incitement to go on your way rejoicing.

I am aware that hints are often circulated that the Charters of our Masonic institutions will be destroyed aDd our association dis­solved; these are not the suggestions of our friends, and are, we trust, equally void of truth as of good feeling; for be assured my companions, such a purpose has never been, even the most indirectly, suggested in this Grand Chapter, or by any of our members – no, my beloved brethren, we are firm aDd united in the faith that our Grand Masonic Charter, universally acknowledged by the good and the true, can never be given up, while wisdom is esteemed, or virtue honored. Setting aside altogether the powerful and irresistible Masonic reasons, why our Institution should not and ca11not be dissolved, I speak advisedly when I say, that we owe it to society, to government, to religion and to the world, to adhere to it, with unabated and unyielding firmness.

I feel morally cer­tain, that the same spirit which is now seeking with so much earnestness, and with so much injustice, the destruction of Masonry, will, if this purpose can be accomplished, attempt the subversion or every institution, which is now the glory and happiness of this land. We know, and the public know, or may know, that our association is purely a social, benevolent, moral one. If we yield this to those who call for its surrender, a demand will soon be made upon us to yield something else; until every thing shall be gone, which is clear to us as men, as christians, and as members of civil society. I do not say that all the same men will seek the overthrow of other good institutions who are opposed to the Ma­sonic; for I am ready to believe that there are honest and good men who entertain prejudices against Masonry; but I do say, that the spirit which is seeking our destruction, will, if not resisted and checked, destroy every thing which we hold clear. We owe it, therefore, to religion and government, to be firm and unwavering in our adherence to an innocent, benevolent, good institution; and religion and government, as they regard their own welfare, will lend us their countenance and support; while we continue to maintain the character of virtuous men and citizens, they will not suffer us to be injured for supporting our just rights.

I have expressed to you, companions, my own convictions, and my views of duty. If your convictions and views accord with mine, as I am persuaded they must, you will permit me to advise you to be firm and unwavering in your support of the institution. You will meet with trials, perhaps suffer injury. Let none of these things move you. When reviled, revile not again; return good for evil; possess and manifest always a forbearing, peaceful, benevolent spirit; pursue your way with prudence and discretion, and never let your good be evil spoken of. In your occasional meet­ings, which the fear of censure should not induce you to omit, you may improve your minds, assist each other in cultivating all good dispositions, and strengthen your affection for, and interest in each other. And while you become more and more firmly united in the bonds of affection, let it be seen that Masonic benevolence is not selfish; that your charity and good will are as extensive as the family of man. Endeavor by judicious conversation, and by pure example, to obviate and remove the doubts and objections of those who are honestly opposed to us; and to shew to the world that our institution is in fact what it professes to be, a strictly moral and benevolent one. Thus doing, no designs formed against you can ultimately prosper.

With a deep interest in the Masonic institution, and with the host wishes for the prosperity of the Subordinate Chapters,

I am your friend and companion,
SAMUEL CLARKE,
Grand High Priest.

Princeton, Nov. 1, 1831.

LIST OF CHAPTERS IN MASSACHUSETTS: 1831

Location Chapter Precedence Date Notes
Boston St. Andrew's 08/28/1769
Newburyport King Cyrus 06/28/1790
Groton St. John's 09/20/1803
Charlton King Solomon's 09/17/1805
Salem Washington 01/09/1811
Greenwich King Hiram (1) 06/13/1815
Taunton Adoniram 09/10/1816
Springfield Morning Star 06/29/1818
Franklin Greenfield 12/07/1818
Boston St. Paul's 01/25/1819
Stoughton Mount Zion 12/12/1820
Princeton Thomas 12/11/1821
Worcester Worcester 09/16/1823
Medway Mount Lebanon 12/14/1824
Brookfield Brookfield 02/25/1825
Northampton Northampton 03/25/1826
Concord Concord 03/25/1826
Lowell Mt. Horeb 04/08/1826
Sutton Sutton 09/26/1826
New Bedford Bethlehem, U. D. 09/26/1826

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