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Article THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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The Knights Templars.
kingdoms of Europe , by the officers of the French army , but especially by the Marquis de Bernez and the Baron de Hund ; the latter of' whom made it the ground-work of his Templar Regime de la Stride Observance , which occupied for several years so prominent a place in the Secret Societies of Germany . This adventurer appeared in that country with a patent , under the sign-manual of Prince Charles Edward Stuart , appointing him Grand Master of the seventh province ; but although he
had invented a plausible tale in support of his title and authority—both of which he affirmed had been made over to him by the Earl Marischal on his death-bed—and of the antiquity of his Order , which he derived , of course , from Scotland , where the chief seat of the Templars was Aberdeen , the imposture was soon detected ; and it was even discovered that he had himself enticed and initiated the ill-fated Pretender into his fabulous order of chivalry . The delusions on this subject , however ,
had taken such a hold in Germany , that they were not altogether dispelled until a deputation had actuall y visited Aberdeen , and found , among the worthy and astonished Brethren there , no trace either of very ancient Templars or Freemasonry . "—P . . 53 , et seq * I may add , that Dr . Burnes can produce no evidence of an Order of Masonic Templars being formed by Robert the Bruce ; and as to tradition in this case , it is not to be trusted to . I fear , indeed , it is a coinage .
The account given in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana , of the Knights who retired into Scotland , is a literal version of that of Baron Hund , as cited in that curious compilation , the "Acta Latomorum , " and other works . In truth , one has only to review M . Thory ' s Synopsis of the History of the Masonic Sects , to turn from most of them with disgust and disapprobation . With regard to the existent non-masonic Templars , of whom Mr .
Mills gives an account in his Chivalry , and who claim to be the legitimate successors of the ancient French Knights , I will just quote a paragraph from the History of the " Secret Societies of the Middle Ages , " lately published , chiefly for the purpose of correcting an error the author has fallen into , in alleging that the appointment of Larmenius by De Molay , was made by a regular , well-authenticated charter from lhat chief , and bearing the signatures of the various heads of the Order .
After adverting to the statement of Mills , with the intrusion of this mistake , the writer says : " This is , no doubt , a very plausible and circumstantial account ; but on applying the Ithuriel spear of criticism to it , various ugly shapes , resembling falsehood , start up . Thus Molay , we are told , appointed his successor in 1314 . He was put to death on the 18 th March of that year , and the Order had been abolished nearly a year before . Why , then , did he delay so long ? and why was he become so
apprehensive of martyrdom at that time , especially when , as is well known , there was then no intention of putting him to death ? Again , where were the chiefs of the society at that time ? How many of them were living ? and how could they manage to assemble in the dungeon of Molay and execute a formal instrument ? Moreover , was it not repugnant to the rules and customs of the Templars , for a Master to appoint his successor ? These are a few of the objections which we think may justly be made ; and , on the whole , we feel strongly disposed to reject the whole story . "—P . 330 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Knights Templars.
kingdoms of Europe , by the officers of the French army , but especially by the Marquis de Bernez and the Baron de Hund ; the latter of' whom made it the ground-work of his Templar Regime de la Stride Observance , which occupied for several years so prominent a place in the Secret Societies of Germany . This adventurer appeared in that country with a patent , under the sign-manual of Prince Charles Edward Stuart , appointing him Grand Master of the seventh province ; but although he
had invented a plausible tale in support of his title and authority—both of which he affirmed had been made over to him by the Earl Marischal on his death-bed—and of the antiquity of his Order , which he derived , of course , from Scotland , where the chief seat of the Templars was Aberdeen , the imposture was soon detected ; and it was even discovered that he had himself enticed and initiated the ill-fated Pretender into his fabulous order of chivalry . The delusions on this subject , however ,
had taken such a hold in Germany , that they were not altogether dispelled until a deputation had actuall y visited Aberdeen , and found , among the worthy and astonished Brethren there , no trace either of very ancient Templars or Freemasonry . "—P . . 53 , et seq * I may add , that Dr . Burnes can produce no evidence of an Order of Masonic Templars being formed by Robert the Bruce ; and as to tradition in this case , it is not to be trusted to . I fear , indeed , it is a coinage .
The account given in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana , of the Knights who retired into Scotland , is a literal version of that of Baron Hund , as cited in that curious compilation , the "Acta Latomorum , " and other works . In truth , one has only to review M . Thory ' s Synopsis of the History of the Masonic Sects , to turn from most of them with disgust and disapprobation . With regard to the existent non-masonic Templars , of whom Mr .
Mills gives an account in his Chivalry , and who claim to be the legitimate successors of the ancient French Knights , I will just quote a paragraph from the History of the " Secret Societies of the Middle Ages , " lately published , chiefly for the purpose of correcting an error the author has fallen into , in alleging that the appointment of Larmenius by De Molay , was made by a regular , well-authenticated charter from lhat chief , and bearing the signatures of the various heads of the Order .
After adverting to the statement of Mills , with the intrusion of this mistake , the writer says : " This is , no doubt , a very plausible and circumstantial account ; but on applying the Ithuriel spear of criticism to it , various ugly shapes , resembling falsehood , start up . Thus Molay , we are told , appointed his successor in 1314 . He was put to death on the 18 th March of that year , and the Order had been abolished nearly a year before . Why , then , did he delay so long ? and why was he become so
apprehensive of martyrdom at that time , especially when , as is well known , there was then no intention of putting him to death ? Again , where were the chiefs of the society at that time ? How many of them were living ? and how could they manage to assemble in the dungeon of Molay and execute a formal instrument ? Moreover , was it not repugnant to the rules and customs of the Templars , for a Master to appoint his successor ? These are a few of the objections which we think may justly be made ; and , on the whole , we feel strongly disposed to reject the whole story . "—P . 330 .