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Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 4 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
it a great boon conferred upon them to be permitted to send their youii <> sons into the conventual establishments of the Templars . This generally took place at tne age of seven years , when they were used to obedience to superiority in performing menial services , and in practising the use of amis suitable to their age . At the age of fourteen they were m Convent or Conclave brought before the high altar , and on their knees received a charge from the Chaplain of the Order , and instead of the toga virilis , as usual among the Romans , he received a gentle stroke on each cheek irom the Chaplain to denote his future submission to the Order . He now became the page , the squire or armiger of a Knight : and at the
age ot twenty-one he was proclaimed a Knight , and duly invested . liiey being hereditary Knights in blood , they were only proclaimed , ihe iemplars having been the sons of the first families , rapidly became possessed of great estates , bestowed on them in the different Christian States by Kings and Princes , and other opulent nobles ; and although individually they could not possess property , yet collectively as a body they could not do without it . U pon this account it became that those distant
necessary possessions should be taken care of The Grand Conclave therefore , established Grand Priories in the west of £ urope , where their possessions were chiefly situated . The office of irovincial Grand Priors was generally conferred for life on some meritorious knight , who throughout Europe was called b y various titles , such as Provincial Compthier , Prior , Master , Preceptor , Master of the Iroops Land Compthier , and very often Grand Constable and Grand Steward . Tins multiplicity of titles being borne all by one individual , as often perplexed me , and no doubt many others besides , in reading the obscure history of this illustrious Order .
Ihe Grand Prior alone bore the title of Grand , in the provinces and had ample jurisdiction in his Priory , and the commanderies under his care . He had a Sub-Prior , a Bailiff for the estates , and had the settling oi all minor disputes and complaints in his Priory , and to him the serving Brethren and th eir commanders bore strict obedience . Many of the Templars who had escaped from the flames , were received by the Hospitallers into their Order . Many fled into Germanv
wnere , aitnougli the suppression of the Order by Pope Clement V had been put m force , yet they were not further persecuted . Among those was the Grand Prior Peter de Boulogne , * who with a celebrated German Knight of the same Order , Sylvester de Crumbach , and a few others embarked for Scotland , where they were joined b y two KnMits Iemplars , by the name of Harris and Aumont , and formed a small establishment m the highest mountains of that country , where thev were charitably protected by the Society of Freemasons , to whom thev were subsequently affiliated . ' y
Be this traditional account true , or onl y an ingenious fiction , I will leave toothers to decide . I am , however , greatly of opinion , withm ^ ny others , and more erudite Brethren , that as Freemasonry las eve ? received into her well guarded circle , persecuted and unjustl y proscribed useful Orders , and useful Institutions , which , had their pLiciples no been stored up amongst their Masonic treasures , would have been for
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
it a great boon conferred upon them to be permitted to send their youii <> sons into the conventual establishments of the Templars . This generally took place at tne age of seven years , when they were used to obedience to superiority in performing menial services , and in practising the use of amis suitable to their age . At the age of fourteen they were m Convent or Conclave brought before the high altar , and on their knees received a charge from the Chaplain of the Order , and instead of the toga virilis , as usual among the Romans , he received a gentle stroke on each cheek irom the Chaplain to denote his future submission to the Order . He now became the page , the squire or armiger of a Knight : and at the
age ot twenty-one he was proclaimed a Knight , and duly invested . liiey being hereditary Knights in blood , they were only proclaimed , ihe iemplars having been the sons of the first families , rapidly became possessed of great estates , bestowed on them in the different Christian States by Kings and Princes , and other opulent nobles ; and although individually they could not possess property , yet collectively as a body they could not do without it . U pon this account it became that those distant
necessary possessions should be taken care of The Grand Conclave therefore , established Grand Priories in the west of £ urope , where their possessions were chiefly situated . The office of irovincial Grand Priors was generally conferred for life on some meritorious knight , who throughout Europe was called b y various titles , such as Provincial Compthier , Prior , Master , Preceptor , Master of the Iroops Land Compthier , and very often Grand Constable and Grand Steward . Tins multiplicity of titles being borne all by one individual , as often perplexed me , and no doubt many others besides , in reading the obscure history of this illustrious Order .
Ihe Grand Prior alone bore the title of Grand , in the provinces and had ample jurisdiction in his Priory , and the commanderies under his care . He had a Sub-Prior , a Bailiff for the estates , and had the settling oi all minor disputes and complaints in his Priory , and to him the serving Brethren and th eir commanders bore strict obedience . Many of the Templars who had escaped from the flames , were received by the Hospitallers into their Order . Many fled into Germanv
wnere , aitnougli the suppression of the Order by Pope Clement V had been put m force , yet they were not further persecuted . Among those was the Grand Prior Peter de Boulogne , * who with a celebrated German Knight of the same Order , Sylvester de Crumbach , and a few others embarked for Scotland , where they were joined b y two KnMits Iemplars , by the name of Harris and Aumont , and formed a small establishment m the highest mountains of that country , where thev were charitably protected by the Society of Freemasons , to whom thev were subsequently affiliated . ' y
Be this traditional account true , or onl y an ingenious fiction , I will leave toothers to decide . I am , however , greatly of opinion , withm ^ ny others , and more erudite Brethren , that as Freemasonry las eve ? received into her well guarded circle , persecuted and unjustl y proscribed useful Orders , and useful Institutions , which , had their pLiciples no been stored up amongst their Masonic treasures , would have been for