Bro. Emra Holmes's Lecture On The "United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

be r easonaby'expected that such a union will be attended by the most edifying and advantageous consequences . ' ' Even the Commander Taafe , whom Bro .

Holmes ( motes , and in whom he believes , says ; " War with the Turks would now be useless and ridiculous , and the basis of our Order is not such wars , but utility in general and neu trality between

all Christians . At the confession of Augsburg a deputation of our Knights was sent to declare that all Christian religions were indifferent to us , and one of the latest acts at Malta was to receive

both Protestant Germans and Greek Russians into the Order as integral members of it , we not being theologians , but soldiers . " Sir J . C . Meredyth , Bart ., one of the last Englishmen who

received the Accolade of Knig hthood in the Order at Malta from the 69 th Grand Master , was a member of the English laiigue to the period of his decease . So also were Sir James Lawrence ,

Admiral Sir Home Popham , K . C . B ., Admiral Sir W . Sydney Smith , G . C . B ., Sir W . II , Tonkin , and others , also Protestants , and also

received into the Order abroad . So much for the myth upon which Bro . Holmes hangs his statement to the Grand Conclave .

1 have shown , in my last communication , that the most competent historians of the Order are fully agreed of the illegality of the Emperor Paul's election as Grand Master ol" the Order ,

not on the score of his faith , but of the entire informality of his election , and if any confirmation of their opinion was necessary it may be found in the fact that the election took place

whilst the last actual Grand Master of the whole Order was living , and had not abdicated . But , granting Pauls' election , the Emperor Alexander had no power to make

appointments in Iho Order . He j'robably was a Grand Cross , and he declared himself " Pro lector ; " where , however , was his authority , in such self-elected capacity , to appoint the Duke of

Susses Grand Prior of England r I think the statement that such an appointment ever occurred lias only been made at a recent date , and when it appeared in Bro . How ' s book , an enquiry was

addressed to him as to his authority for the assertion , to which he replied ( by letter dated 19 th January , 1864 ) that it was not founded upon sinv evidence , but was merely a repetition of a

statement made by Bro . R . Lee Wilson . The Emperor Paul died in 1801 , and his sou Alexander at once assumed thc title of Protector .

But did not long retain this position , for , upon his recommendation , and that of the King of Naples , the Pope , on the 9 th of February , 1 ST 2 , appointed the Count Giovanni di Tommasi to thc

dignity of Grand Master ; a power which the Pope had no ri ght to exercise , and which c : m only be accounted for by the dismembered condition of the Order at the time . Tommasi

proclaimed his appointment , on the 27 th of June , 1 S 02 , so , I presume , if Alexander sought to appoint the Duke of Sussex Grand Prior of England , it must have occurred between March , i 8 ot .

and February , 1802 , for we hear of no claims of the Russian Emperor subsequently to the appointment of Tommasi ; indeed , after the instigation by the Emperor of Tommasi ' s appointment it is out of the question that the former could exercise

Bro. Emra Holmes's Lecture On The "United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

the powers he had caused to be vested in ^ a Grand Master ofthe Order . Tommasi died in 1805 , after which no election or appointment of a Grand Master occurred ; the

Bailli Suardo succeeding as Lieutenant Master . Thus Alexander ' s powers , if he ever lawfully possessed any , must have ceased in 1802 , but if we admit that Alexander could , and did appoint

the Duke as Grand Prior , what then ? He would not have been appointed to rule over Freemasons or any other similar fraternity to which the Duke belonged : The only purpose of such an

appointment could be that he should become the head and chief of a Priory composed of members of the genuine Order ; so that if the Duke ' s appointment was as clear as noonday it could in no way

affect or avail the Masonic body . Argument , however , on the subject is not of much avail , we must deal with facts ; and it is a fact that titular Grand Priors of England were appointed from

time to time , but that the name of the Duke of Sussex is not one amongst them . I may however go further aud say that a series of letters have passed through my hands , from

which it is clear that the Duke was not even a member of the genuine Order . The Duke had , in 18 , 39 , ' Jeen requested by the English langite to become a member of the Order , with a view

lo his occupying a position of dignity in that body . H . R . H ., after considerable deliberation , wrote his ultimatum as follows : " 1 know that 1 am growing old , and prudence warns me

gradually to retreat from public life . Anxious as I am to contribute towards the happiness and welfare of mankind , I cannot venture to embark in

new undertakings , knowing well 1 do not possess the strength and activity I did formerly ; and with every feeling of good will , and every sentiment of srratittide for the kindness and

distinction iiitonciccl nit ; , 1 must beg to decline an office which would impose new duties , such , as 1 am conscious I could not fill with the ability

they require . " I need hardly say that this is not the language of a member ofthe Order , and analready , Grand Prior of England . In another letter the Duke made allusion to a

circumstance which he considered rendered it inconsistent that he should become a Kni ght oi St . John . Thus ends the vision which ingenious and fertile Masonic fancy has sought > o

weave about the memory of the one ; excellent Grand Master of Kreeemasous , and which , if a substantial fact , would have had about as much effect on the Masonic Knights of Malta as had

thc circumstance that he was a Kni ght of the most noble Order of the Thistle . I may state , for the information of " A Masonic Student" that the Rev . Sir Robert Peat , D . D .,

was a well-known and distinguished divine ; he was Chaplain to King George IV , and was a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St . Stanislaus of Poland : The instruments , Articles of

Convention of 1826 and 1827 , are in the custod y of Sir E . A . H . Lechmere , Bart , the Secretary ofthe English laiigue , have been inspected by myself , and are quoted by me at page 829 .

They are duly signed and sealed , aud were acknowledged as genuine and of lawful effect , on the i 8 th of September 18 41 , by the Secretary General of the French / ungues , who adtled his own signature and seal .

Bro. Emra Holmes's Lecture On The "United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

The proceedings taken before Sir Thomas Denman occurred on the 24 th of February , 1834 , and did not constitute the revival of the Order in England , as the revival had already taken

place .- The proceeding consisted in Sir Robert Peat being publicly announced in the Court of Kings Bench , as the Prior of the Order of St . J ohn in England , upon which he was formally

received by the court , and openly took the oath da Jideli udminislralione . Whatever may have been the use or value of this proceeding , it was

at all event , a public declaration , of the mo ' st formal character , that the venerable Order of St . John hud been revived in the fair land of England .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

THU IIKI 1 BR Ol- ' ST . JOHN . 1 find that I accidentally omitted replying to one portion of the question of " A Masonic Student . " A copy of the Letters' Patent of Philip and Mary may be found in the appendix to the second volume of Col . Porter ' s larger work

on the Order . The revival of the present English languc , ' however , does not rest on this document , and it is therefore not materially in question . I here wish to add that Ij | have no intention or desire to discuss the English langue , and that I

should have never made allusion to it had not its name been very unnecessarily , as it appears to me , imported into discussions of Masonic subjects with which it has nothing to do , nor lias ever meddled . The langue is one of thc only two branches of the old Order devoted to its

original and real purposes , and it may surely be let alone in the unostentatious exercise of the hospitaller duties with which it has been occupied for the past forty years , of which the benefits are , 1 am glad to . say , gradually , but surely extending . —LUPUS .

OI . I ) MASONIC BOOKS AND " MISOXH . STUDENT . " 1 have u copy of the 2 nd edition of Smith ' s " Freemasons' Pocket Companion , with large additions" London , John Torbuck , 1 7 , 38 . The pages number 119 . At the end ( fortunatel y for me as the purchaser ) is a copy of the " Secrets

ot Masonry , by Samuel Pritchard . London , J ; Torbuck , 1837 . The first edition of this , one of the earliest and the most widel y circulated exposures , was published A . D . 1 7 , 30 . Not having a copy of the latter , I shall be glad to correspond with a brother who has , and should our"

Masonic Student possess such a work , he will oblige by communicating with me on the subject . The earliest eiposurcs ( so-called ^ contains little , of anything respecting the third degree . 1 have a transcript of one A . D . 1724 . There were

a number of " Pocket Companions" issued during the last century in England and Scotland . The earliest we know of was before the mentioned of Tor-bucks ' , in this country , aud of A . D . 176 "! in Scotland , ( also in 176-: ) .

A large volume entitled " Bibliographic der Freemaurerei , " by Dr . George Kloss ( Frankforton-the Maine ) , A . D . 1844 , is published at the trifling cost of 5 s . and may be ordered through any German bookseller , in London . Dr . Kloss gives title pages and other particulars of many

thousands of works on Freemasonry , pamphlets , ike , and after repeated comparison with many hundreds of books on the subject , which have passed through my hands , I can confidently recommend the volume to all interested in Masonic bibliography .

Have any of the correspondents of The Freemason knowledge of Dr . Fifield Dassigny as a Masonic author ? I have a copy of his " Enquiry" of A . D . 1 744 , Dublin , which mentions the Royal Arch several times , and so far as we

have been able to trace is the earliest reference to that degree yet discovered in print . We have had a thorough search instituted in all likely places in Ireland , and Brother J . G . Findel also carefully examined the catalogues about that period , in the British Museum , but as yet , nq