National Great Priory Of Canada.

NATIONAL GREAT PRIORY OF CANADA .

WE lmvo received copy of the Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Assembly of the National Great Priory of Canada , held in the Masonic Hall , Ottawa , on 10 th July last . There was a strong master of Sir Knights present , and tho throne was occupied by the Great Prior Sir Knight Col . W . J . B . MacLeod Moore , whose allocution

appears to have been most eloquent , as well as full of much interesting matter on the connection between Templarism and Masonry . In the earlier portion of this address great

sorrow is expressed at the death of Frater W . B . Simpson , Grand Cross , Past Great Sub-Prior of Canada , and representative of the Great Priory of England near that of Canada . Frater Moore next referred to the failure of the

attempt to bring about the amalgamation of the Scottish Knight Templar Encampment in New Brunswick witli the Great Priory of Canada . The negotiations had been conducted b y the Provincial Prior of St . Johns , N . B ., and every possible concession that could be thought of had

been made with a view to securing so desirable a consummation , but , to the regret of the Great Prior , the attempt had failed . The Scottish Fratres did not consider themselves justified in throwing off their allegiance to the Chapter General of Scotland , from which they bad derived

their Charter in 1857 , or long before the foundation of Great Priory . They had never had any cause to be dissatisfied with the authority to which they owed their existence , and declined to accept the proposed amalgamation unless so directed by the Chapter General of Scotland . Under these circumstances it would be for the Great

Priory to determine what further course should be pursued , but , for himself , Sir Knight Moore , was averse from suggesting any coercive measures , more especially as circumstances might hereafter occur to induce the Scottish Knights Templar to alter their decision .

Sir Kni ght Moore then proceeded to explain the statement contained in his address of the previous year , to the effect that the " Ancient Builders " or " Masons , " who devoted their exclusive attention to the erection of sacred

edifices , and the confraternities of "MilitaryMonks , " such as the " Hospitallers of St . John " and the " Templars , " had the same origin , namely , in the " Benedictine " order of Monks . He pointed out that the Divine Mysteries on which the Benedictines based their religious doctrines were

"entirely distinct from everything else that has at the present day the name of Masonry . They are the root out of which has sprung much of -what is seen , but the meaning of which is perverted and lost . " To understand the Tem - plar system , as connected with Masonry , in the British

dominions , it must be looked at from quite another standpoint than that of " Free and Accepted Masonry " of the present day , the real or true meaning of " Spiritual" or " Speculative " Masonry being widely different from wbat

is ordinaril y intended by snch term . According to a certain interpretation placed upon the word " Mason , " the true Mason must be regarded as " an aspirant after immortalit y and a devout worshipper of the Triune God , " but " the Masonry of to-day , called since the revival and

National Great Priory Of Canada.

revision of 1717 'Free and Accepted , ' is a totally distinct matter , with which the simple and beautiful religious early symbol teaching has nothing to do . " During the dark ages the Benedictine Order of Monks were the repository of every branch of science and education , and " to them

we are indebted for the preservation of the Sacred Mysteries which existed and flourished centuries before the Christian era , and whose symbols and ceremonies taught the doctrines of time , death , immortality , and redemption ,

containing the knowledge of the undivided personality of tho Holy Trinity , the manifestation of the redeemer God Man , - the Atonement , the Resurrection of the Body , and man ' s responsibility . "

The Benedictines , and later still the Cistercians , exclusively employed themselves in architecture , " many extensive buildings being erected by the monks , assisted by tho lay brothers and servants . " The plans for tho churches , Convents , and monasteries were designed by the abbots ,

and in time the lay brothers , who dwelt within the circle of these associations , and assisted the monks in their building operations , formed similar associations among themselves , from which sprang the independent order of German Stone Masons of the twelfth and fourteenth

centuries . When the Christian Reformation set in , the taste for Church building began to pass away , and the Ecclesiastical orders to abandon their zeal for architecture . The architects or builders who had been trained by the Benedictines began to withdraw from the Monastic comma .

riities , their technology became obsolete , and their whole attention was turned to architecture . Then after the Reformation the Stone Masons " degenerated to the level df ordinary Craftsmen . " Their ceremonial forms and Usages gradually lost their peculiar significance , and * ' in many places the builders abandoned their Lodges

and affiliated with the ' Guilds' of ordinary Masons . " But some of their ancient ceremonies were preserved , and consequently when the present Masonic system was established , " their customs and usages were still in existence , and only required a new and different explanation . "

Until this period , Masonry had been purely Christian , and essentially Trinitarian , but though many who were in partial possession of the old doctrines , taught them in contradistinction from the new ones , and so caused some disturbance for a time , the latter , that is , the system of " Hiram , " or " Free and Accepted Masonry " prevailed .

As to the Knights Templar , " which was another branch from tho Benedictines , " they were " in possession of the mysteries as far as each was entitled to receive them , " and they " undoubtedly had another ritual of reception , or initiation into the usages and customs of chivalry , which

was an outside matter , although in some measure retaining its symbolic teaching , based upon what they had received , but not the same as the mysteries . " The basis of thia Order was "kept alway . - ; most sacred , and only imparted to a select few in their secret conclaves . The

secret ritual of these doctrines , I have every reason to believe , is still in existence , sacredly preserved and most securely kept . " However , the Templars and Builders have their origin " from a common source , carrying with them the same doctrines . The former were suppressed as an Order five centuries since , but some of the members united

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