Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
rang through astounded Europe—since tyranny and priestcraft combined to throw a foul blot upon the spotless robes of the Order , to erase the Cross from our escutcheon , to annihilate the best band of chivalry that the world ever beheld , the bravest bulwarks of the Christian faith . It may be that more luxury and worldly pride than befitted the simple Soldiers of the Cross had crept into the preceptories of the Order ; hut if it were so , the atrocity of the sentence passed upon the Templars by those who not worth
were y to hold fellowship even with the meanest , has for ever obliterated the memory of these faults , inseparable from human nature . Terrible , indeed , was that fiery ordeal through which our Grand Master past—inconceivable almost the tortures of that blazing pile , from which his guiltlesssoul soared aloft to ask at the eternal tribunal that justice denied him upon earth ! Honoured for ever be his memorywhom neither rack nor ile could appalor forceby a false
, p , , confession of unacted crime , to render abhorrent for ever that Order wliich had watched at the Redeemer ' s tomb . As his ashes , thrown to the winds , were wafted over the face of the earth , so may the principles of our Institution pervade the universe , ancl the triumph of the reign of truth and righteousness be complete . Companions , in solemn silence let us drink the memory of Jacques de Molay . " The noble and venerable Prior also the of Walter de
gave memory Clifton , the companion of Robert the Bruce , and Grand Master of the Scottish Order , when , after recapitulating the particulars of its history , of the alleged schism with the French Knights , the Prior thus concluded : —
" Such , my Companions , was the Scottish Order of Templars , which never , down to the present day , when we behold it revived with so much energy and power , has been suffered to fall extinct . That it never may again decay is my most earnest prayer , for although Christendom now demands no actual service from our arms , at least in the battle field , we stand here as the representatives of those men who fought at Acre and Azotus side by side with Cceur-de-Lion , the champions of the Christian faith such
. As , I say , it is an honour , though more , as is indeed befitting , a spiritual than a worldly honour , to wear this Cross of ours ; for is it not a token and symbol that we , like our predecessors of old , have vowed to chasten our hearts , and to practise those kindly charities which exercise so powerful an influence over the constitution of all society . Companions , —I have heard men sneer at the mere mention of chivalry , as if that word conveyed some meaning hostile to practical
reason , opposed to sound understanding- There is , I know , a utilitarian spirit abroad , winch would fain sweep away all that is great and beautiful from the face of this earth , where greatness and beauty never were too abundant . It would starve history down to a series of bare facts , pluck every plume from the wings of poetry , deal the death-blow to nobility and knighthood—nay , it would trench upon the elements of faith , and drown religion in the hideous pool of infidelity . Against that mean ancl
grovelling spirit we have taken our stand , for well I know how woeful would be the times when such principles as these achieved even a momentary triumph . Companions , —of that Cross you wear , of that name you bear , let no one be ashamed ! Good and valiant bosoms have borne that badge for more than six hundred years , either outwardly or inwardly—on their vestment , or in their soul . Do so likewise , and remember withal , as Scottish Templars , to display that veneration and love for , your father-land which led our Grand Master AValter de Clifton
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
rang through astounded Europe—since tyranny and priestcraft combined to throw a foul blot upon the spotless robes of the Order , to erase the Cross from our escutcheon , to annihilate the best band of chivalry that the world ever beheld , the bravest bulwarks of the Christian faith . It may be that more luxury and worldly pride than befitted the simple Soldiers of the Cross had crept into the preceptories of the Order ; hut if it were so , the atrocity of the sentence passed upon the Templars by those who not worth
were y to hold fellowship even with the meanest , has for ever obliterated the memory of these faults , inseparable from human nature . Terrible , indeed , was that fiery ordeal through which our Grand Master past—inconceivable almost the tortures of that blazing pile , from which his guiltlesssoul soared aloft to ask at the eternal tribunal that justice denied him upon earth ! Honoured for ever be his memorywhom neither rack nor ile could appalor forceby a false
, p , , confession of unacted crime , to render abhorrent for ever that Order wliich had watched at the Redeemer ' s tomb . As his ashes , thrown to the winds , were wafted over the face of the earth , so may the principles of our Institution pervade the universe , ancl the triumph of the reign of truth and righteousness be complete . Companions , in solemn silence let us drink the memory of Jacques de Molay . " The noble and venerable Prior also the of Walter de
gave memory Clifton , the companion of Robert the Bruce , and Grand Master of the Scottish Order , when , after recapitulating the particulars of its history , of the alleged schism with the French Knights , the Prior thus concluded : —
" Such , my Companions , was the Scottish Order of Templars , which never , down to the present day , when we behold it revived with so much energy and power , has been suffered to fall extinct . That it never may again decay is my most earnest prayer , for although Christendom now demands no actual service from our arms , at least in the battle field , we stand here as the representatives of those men who fought at Acre and Azotus side by side with Cceur-de-Lion , the champions of the Christian faith such
. As , I say , it is an honour , though more , as is indeed befitting , a spiritual than a worldly honour , to wear this Cross of ours ; for is it not a token and symbol that we , like our predecessors of old , have vowed to chasten our hearts , and to practise those kindly charities which exercise so powerful an influence over the constitution of all society . Companions , —I have heard men sneer at the mere mention of chivalry , as if that word conveyed some meaning hostile to practical
reason , opposed to sound understanding- There is , I know , a utilitarian spirit abroad , winch would fain sweep away all that is great and beautiful from the face of this earth , where greatness and beauty never were too abundant . It would starve history down to a series of bare facts , pluck every plume from the wings of poetry , deal the death-blow to nobility and knighthood—nay , it would trench upon the elements of faith , and drown religion in the hideous pool of infidelity . Against that mean ancl
grovelling spirit we have taken our stand , for well I know how woeful would be the times when such principles as these achieved even a momentary triumph . Companions , —of that Cross you wear , of that name you bear , let no one be ashamed ! Good and valiant bosoms have borne that badge for more than six hundred years , either outwardly or inwardly—on their vestment , or in their soul . Do so likewise , and remember withal , as Scottish Templars , to display that veneration and love for , your father-land which led our Grand Master AValter de Clifton