"Passing the Chair" became an established custom prior to Exaltation in both jurisdictions and it continued after the Union, officially until 1823, and unofficially long after that in provincial lodges well away from London; the Antients conferred the Virtual Past Master's Degree in a Craft Lodge but the Modems Grand Chapter authorized it to be done in private chapters, and as our authority we take Waller Rodwell Wright, 2nd Grand Principal in 1810, who wrote: "I have only to add that we consider the main secrets of the R.A. as those of the true M.M. to which we must pass from the substituted ones by filling the chair of a lodge consisting of three P.M's. at least by their election and appointment, which preparatory lodge any R.A. chapter may hold under its charter for that purpose only." (Broadly, Freemasonry in Malta, p.109) The ceremonial for "Passing the Chair" certainly varied, but one form, taken from Manuscript, R.A. Chapter of St. James, gives an idea how the ceremony was conducted by R.A. Companions. The lodge was opened in the three degrees, the P.S. acting as master, the candidate occupied one of the warden's chairs. He was proposed as W.M. and after election took an obligation at the pedestal. He was raised, placed in the chair, and (I quote) "exercised the duties of W.M." He was then taken to the pedestal, and the P.S. still acting as W.M. said: "The part of the ceremony you have just undergone previously to that of exaltation is for the purpose of complying with the ancient ordinancies of Royal Arch Masonry. Formerly the secrets and privileges of this exalted degree could only be communicated to those who had been regularly installed into the Chair of a Craft Mason's Lodge. But as this regulation necessarily excluded a great number of zealous Brethren from the enjoyment of these privileges, the Grand Principals of our Order have been pleased to grant a dispensation to meet the wishes of those Brethren who might not have an opportunity of being elected to preside over a Lodge. We are by this empowered to admit such Brethren as Candidates for Arch Masonry as have passed regularly through the 3 degrees of Craft Masonry, who are 23 years of age, and who have been at least one year a M.M." The candidate was then informed that the ceremony through which he had just passed did not entitle him to rank as a Past Master, or to wear the badge of a W.M. A further obligation was taken, the secrets of a Master of Arts and Sciences were communicated, after which the P.S. left the room to prepare the candidate prior to exaltation. The duties of the "First Assistant Sojourner" in the Chapter of St. James - as stated in their By-laws of 1812 - were as follows: "Should be punctual to the hour of meeting, as specified in the summons; and, in case of exaltation, take the chair as master of the previous Lodge, and open the same in due form, in the third degree, in which situation it is strongly recommended to his attention the most impressive order and solemnity in conducting the business of the Lodge, which should always be closed with an appropriate charge, and then prepare the Candidates for the ceremony of exaltation, according to ancient usage." It is interesting to note that the M.E.Z. of this chapter, on June 11, 1801, announced that two of their members has been appointed superintendents for Essex and Hampshire respectively and, as the laws of Grand Chapter required them to be past principals, "he would ask permission to call a special Chapter of Emergency ... that they might be installed and pass the several chairs, in order to qualify them for discharging the functions of their exalted situations." On June 25 those two companions passed the several chairs and "were respectively entrusted with the several signs and words thereto belonging." On May 13, 1818 Grand Chapter appointed a special committee to install such present and past principals (high priests in the U.S.) as had not already been installed. Finally, on August 2, 1824 it was resolved: "That no Companion shall be eligible to be elected into either of the Principals' Chairs of a Chapter, unless he be the actual Master or Past Master of a Craft Lodge; nor shall anyone be elected into the Second Chair until he has duly served in the Third Chair, nor in the First Chair, until he shall have duly served in the Third, and Second, for the full period, from one annual election to another respectively." and that is the situation exactly as we have it today. LINK BETWEEN CRAFT AND ROYAL ARCH When the Craft adopted the Hiramic legend it sowed the seed for an expansion of the ritual which would provide for the recovery of the Word which, incidentally, was never lost. In the Craft it is asserted that the pronunciation of the Ineffable Name of the Almighty was known to the three Grand Masters and this was spoken by them, in a particular manner, when they met together for this purpose. We all know the challenge of the assassins to Hiram Abif when they demanded the secrets of a Master Mason, which met with the reply: "that without the consent and co-operation of the other two he neither could nor would divulge them, but intimated that he had no doubt patience and industry would, in due time, entitle the worthy Mason to a participation of them. . . ." With the death of Hiram the "treble voice" was silenced and the substitute words were then brought into being. The ritual compilers at that point had only to look at the Table of Names and their meanings, printed in the Barker Bible dated 1580, for a word that was readymade for their purpose, the word - a proper name - appears in 1 Chronicles 2:49, and has, amongst other explanations or meanings, "The smiting of the builder," or, in modern parlance, "the builder is smitten." We have no record that the WORD was ever used in Craft, ritual but it does appear on the "Master's Floor Plan" printed in various exposures dated c. 1745. The Word is there prominently displayed on the coffin and in the index is described as the "Former Word of a Master." In the "Master's Catechism" of that same period (Le Sceau Rompu - 1745) we find the following: Q. What come you here to do? A. To seek for that which was lost. Q. What is that which was lost? A. The Master's Word. Q. How was it lost? A. By three great knocks, or the death of Adoniram (sic). Q. How was our very worthy Master Adoniram assassinated? A. By three ruffians, who conspired to extort the word from him or take his life. This catechism goes on until the final question which is: Q. What did he order to be placed on his tomb? A. A gold Medal, in triangular form, on which was engraved the word JEOVA (sic) which is the name of God in Hebrew. In the Royal Arch the "treble voice" is restored and the purpose is made clear to us all in the familiar words: "This Supreme Degree inspires its members with the most exalted ideas of God and leads to the exercise of the purest and most devout piety, a reverence for the incomprehensible JEHOVAH, the eternal ruler of the Universe, the elemental life, the primordial source of all its principles, the very spring and fount of all its virtues." and that, Companions, I deem to be the essence of our whole Masonic exercise. It is a practise that transcends any one religious observance but stems from a Supreme Being whose Name, as such, has indeed been lost to us all but will be regained in due time, when we are duly qualified to receive it.