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Article KNIGHT TEMPLARS. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Knight Templars.
ditary in the royal family of Portugal , and the Queen of Portugal is now , to speak Hibernicc , Grand Blaster of that Order . It is as absurd to call this the Order of tlie Temple as to say that the Order of the Garter is the same as that of the Bath , because , originally , the one may have been composed chiefly or solely of Knights of the other Order . As neither the Knights of Christ , nor the Grand Master of the Order , are freely elected by the other Knihtsthe order is toto ccelo different
g , from that of the Temple , ancl is only to be compared with the Bath , Garter , Golden Fleece , and other Orders attached to a crown . 2 nd . France claims the Order of the Temple ; but it has been most completely proved , in Clavel ' s work on Freemasonry , that the French Order was first established in 1705 , ancl that not one true Templar then belonged to it . The society was formed on the remains of another , instituted in 1682 , for the encouragement of an unnatural crime , and as
that crime had been attributed to the ancient Templars by their destroyers , the populace gave this infamous association the appellation of a "Petite resurrection des Templiers . " From this the society of 1705 took its name of Templars . It is true that the French Order has one qualification : they are very select , admitting only gentlemen by birth or education ; but it has no valid pretensions to the successorship of the ancient Order of the Temple , its celebrated eharte de transmisson being a forgery by the father Bonanni at the desire of Phili p , Duke of
Orleans . The third nation that has brought forward its claim is Scotland ; and these are supported not onl y by common tradition , and by Masonic tradition , but , what is of more consequence , by public acts and documents , as well as by various detached historical notices . Towards the end of last century , a handful remained , and an amalgamation seems then to have taken place between them and some of the Scotch Masonic
Templars , into whose hands very soon the government principally passed . By this the Order was preserved from annihilation ; but , on the other hand , it became degraded by having in its ranks people of as low a caste as we find in ordinary Masonic Lodges . From these the chivalric Order has been again , for several years , gradually freeing itself , by raising the fees , the qualification of initiants , an expensive uniform , & c . But , although Scotland does consider that it has had the good fortune
of preserving the genuine Order of the ancient Templar , it does not pretend to retain that Order to itself ; it wishes to see its members of all countries , the same as in the days of yore . And although it be a rule , inseparable from the chivalric Order , that there can be , at one time , but one Grand Master in the world , yet that Grand Master may be either English , Irish , French , or German , —in short , whomever the Knights of the Order choose to elect ; while each nation may be governed under certain laws by a Grand Prior or Grand Preceptor , subject with his other Grand officers to one Grand Conclave of the Order .
It has been said that in Scotland a temporary amalgamation took place about fifty years ago , between the cliivalric or aristocratic and the Masonic or democratic Templars : and every encouragement would , I apprehend , be given to admit the Masonic Templars of England and Ireland into the chivalric Order ; but that Order already suffered by the admission of individuals whose station would never have entitled them to any order of knighthood but a Masonic one , and therefore all idea of again permitting any Masonic encampment to join it wholesale VOL . II . ,-.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Knight Templars.
ditary in the royal family of Portugal , and the Queen of Portugal is now , to speak Hibernicc , Grand Blaster of that Order . It is as absurd to call this the Order of tlie Temple as to say that the Order of the Garter is the same as that of the Bath , because , originally , the one may have been composed chiefly or solely of Knights of the other Order . As neither the Knights of Christ , nor the Grand Master of the Order , are freely elected by the other Knihtsthe order is toto ccelo different
g , from that of the Temple , ancl is only to be compared with the Bath , Garter , Golden Fleece , and other Orders attached to a crown . 2 nd . France claims the Order of the Temple ; but it has been most completely proved , in Clavel ' s work on Freemasonry , that the French Order was first established in 1705 , ancl that not one true Templar then belonged to it . The society was formed on the remains of another , instituted in 1682 , for the encouragement of an unnatural crime , and as
that crime had been attributed to the ancient Templars by their destroyers , the populace gave this infamous association the appellation of a "Petite resurrection des Templiers . " From this the society of 1705 took its name of Templars . It is true that the French Order has one qualification : they are very select , admitting only gentlemen by birth or education ; but it has no valid pretensions to the successorship of the ancient Order of the Temple , its celebrated eharte de transmisson being a forgery by the father Bonanni at the desire of Phili p , Duke of
Orleans . The third nation that has brought forward its claim is Scotland ; and these are supported not onl y by common tradition , and by Masonic tradition , but , what is of more consequence , by public acts and documents , as well as by various detached historical notices . Towards the end of last century , a handful remained , and an amalgamation seems then to have taken place between them and some of the Scotch Masonic
Templars , into whose hands very soon the government principally passed . By this the Order was preserved from annihilation ; but , on the other hand , it became degraded by having in its ranks people of as low a caste as we find in ordinary Masonic Lodges . From these the chivalric Order has been again , for several years , gradually freeing itself , by raising the fees , the qualification of initiants , an expensive uniform , & c . But , although Scotland does consider that it has had the good fortune
of preserving the genuine Order of the ancient Templar , it does not pretend to retain that Order to itself ; it wishes to see its members of all countries , the same as in the days of yore . And although it be a rule , inseparable from the chivalric Order , that there can be , at one time , but one Grand Master in the world , yet that Grand Master may be either English , Irish , French , or German , —in short , whomever the Knights of the Order choose to elect ; while each nation may be governed under certain laws by a Grand Prior or Grand Preceptor , subject with his other Grand officers to one Grand Conclave of the Order .
It has been said that in Scotland a temporary amalgamation took place about fifty years ago , between the cliivalric or aristocratic and the Masonic or democratic Templars : and every encouragement would , I apprehend , be given to admit the Masonic Templars of England and Ireland into the chivalric Order ; but that Order already suffered by the admission of individuals whose station would never have entitled them to any order of knighthood but a Masonic one , and therefore all idea of again permitting any Masonic encampment to join it wholesale VOL . II . ,-.