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Liverpool Theatres, &C.

LIVERPOOL THEATRES , & c .

Week ending April 12 .

ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE , Lime-street . —Lessee Br * . E . Salter . " Pygmalion anil Galatea . " See . OVAL AMPTJiTT ^" EATRE , ^ 7 rar " ch ^ lotte-srr « t . —Lessee Bro .. H . Leslie . Madame Celeste in "The Woman in Bed , " PRINCE Or WALES THEATRE , Clayton-square . —Lessee Mr . Sctton Parry . Kumpestiltskin , " and " Vesta ' s Temple " . Ice .

THEATRE ROYAL Williamson-square . —Lessee , Bro . De Freece . Colonna Troupe juid Miseeilaneotis Entertainment . ST . JAMIS'S HALL , Lime-street . —Proprietor , Bro . S . Hague , Special Artistes and Programme . EW STAR MUSIC HALlT \ Viuiims « iTWe . —Manager , llr « . Saundcts . Optra , and Special Miscellaneous Aitraclions .

KOTUNDA THEATRE and MUSIC HALL—Proprietor , Mr . D . ( JramuU , " No Song , No Supper , " and Miscellaneous Enltrtal » tncnu . / "VUEEN'S HALL , Professor Hermann ' s illusions .

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The Freemason , SATURDAY , APRIL j , 1873 .

The United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital.

THE UNITED ORDERS OF THE TEMPLE AND HOSPITAL .

A T % yr WORDS BY Lurus OK HIS OWN ACCOUNT . As the sublime and the ridiculous are said to be severed by so small a distance as one step , it

is a great misfortune that an institution which tven is adimitat ' wnem only , according to the statement of a well-known brother , but which nevertheless possesses much to interest and a great

deal ( in this utilitarian age ) to enlist the attention and sympathy of the student of the past , should suddenly , or at all events recently , have its name allied and mixed up with pretensions which it

has never put forward during the whole previous period of its existence ; pretensions without a shadow of foundation , and which its best and truest friends must view with regret . I , speaking

for myself and having devoted some attention to the subject , believe that originally the Masonic Templar Order had no infusion whatever of a

Masonic Order of Malta , but was a traditional representation of the grand old Order of the T « mple , pure and simple ; and I regard it as a

The United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital.

misfortune that upon this tradition , in which I seem to possess a stronger faith than many others , should be cast those shadows of doubt which must naturally be created when injudicious advocates

attempt to raise for it new claims to an OrJer with which it never had any connection ; with which , from the creation of the Templars to the date of their tragic fall , it was at constant enmity ;

which , moreover , has never ceased its own existence—in separate and independent sections exist now , and has no connection whatever with the Masonic fraternity .

In dealing with a mere fact no one should be thought wanting in respect for the Masonic Order of the Temple because he is bold enough to deny that it is two Orders instead of one . It

is inconsistent and absurd that the Masonic Order of the Temple , traditionally representing the ancient brotherhood of that name , ever was , or can be , another and violently antagonistic

Order also . We know the Masonic tradition to be , that on the suppression of the Templars , in and after 1307 , some of their number sought refuge and held their conclaves in the Society of

Freemasons , and that there meeting are represented in the present institution of Masonic Templais . It is true that we have no more proof of this than arises out of tradition , and although

some writers have said , and still say , that this is an empty delusion and a myth , yet in the words of the old play we may exclaim" There ' s something in that ancient superstition , Which , erring as it is , our fancy loves . "

When we look to facts for proof of the existence of the Templars as a Masonic Order in England , we are unable to attain an earlier date than shortly before 1780 , and even of this period we have no

authentic records . Our definite information appears to commence with the election of Admiral Thomas Dunckerley as Grand Master , which

event Bro . Yarker informs us occurred on the 24 th of July , 179 /; but that the Templars had existed as a Masonic Order a considerable time

before that date is obvious , or they would not have been in a sufficiently organised position to appoint a Grand Master . I well remember to have met ( some ten years ago ) with a statement

that a record was in existence of a meeting of "The Grand Encampment of England , " atCarisbrook , Isle of Wight , in 1780 . If this should meet the eye of any brother who can verify the

Statement , and will do so , and especially if he can obtain access to the record ( which ought to be p laced in the custody of Convent General ) , he will confer a benefit upon the Fraternity . Bro .

Woof , in his small and somewhat crude work , which was written in 1865 , when the Masonic information on the subject was more difficult of access , says : " The earliest Encampments on

record appear to have been London , York , Bristol ' Bath and Salisbury "; lam , however , able to g ive a few extracts from MS . notds , written possibly about 18 . 16 , by a brother who had much

personal knowledge of the events of many previous years . He says : " There were originally five encampments of Knights Templars , called 'The Camps of Baldwin of Time Immemorial , '

and they dated according to the following classification : —1 , York ; 2 , London ; 3 , Bristol ; 4 , Bath ; 5 , Salisbury . In the year 1791 , a Grand Conclave , under the patronage of H . R . H .

The United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital.

Prince Edward ( Duke of Kent ) , with Thomas Dunckerley as Grand Master , R . W . Whalley Grand Chancellor , W . Eagle Principal Grand ) Scribe and Registrar , and W . Hammond Acting

Grand Master , started in London ; but no mention is made from whom they derived thai * authority . The live before named camps worked under their own Superintendents and

Commanders , and acknowledged , at this time , no allegiance , inasmuch as the powers which granted their ori ginal warrants had ceased to be . " The MS . proceeds to state that the Grand

Master Dunckerley sent a warrant ( without number ) to each of these five Camps , calling them " time immemorial warrants , " and that with

the exception of Bristol they were all accepted , but that Bristol declined , and " still issued its own warrants ;> nd worked under its own Grand Superintendent and Grand Commanders . "

In a subsequent portion of the MS . it is alleged that on the 7 th Juue , 1 793 , in invitation was addressed to Encampments , informing them that " A Grand Conclave of Knights Templar would

be held at the London Coffee House , Ludgate Hill , on the 24 th Juni _ , 1793 ; the Knights were to assemble at the Temple Church , Fleet Street , at Eleven , a . m ., the use of which was granted for that purpose . "

Perhaps some brother can ascertain if this statemement is correct . Are the Grand Conclave minutes of that period accessible , or would there be any register of such an occurence in the books

of the Temple Church ? The MS . contains much interesting detail , but which could hardly with benefit , be made public . The Vice Chancellor of the date seems to have dissented from

some of the foregoing statements , as in notes , subsequently written , he says , " The Baldwin encampment at Bristol was duly enrolled under the Grand Conclave , and regularly registered its

members , and paid the fees , until about 1832-3 . He then proceeds to state that owing to irregularity in the administration of the Treasury , and to the cessation of the Grand Conclave

meetings , nearly all the encampments discontinued their payments about the same time ; he however adds " Grand Conclave never did dissolve , but the fact is that from the time of the Duke of

Sussex ' s election as the head of the Order in England he never could be induced to hold a meeting ] of Grand Conclave . " The same Vice-Chancellor seems ' to dispute the fact that a Grand Conclave

under Dunckerly was established in 179 1 , and he requests to know the authority for the statement I conclude from this that it was an opposition to what he [ designates the " Early Grand

Encampment of England . " In Dr . Oliver ' s " Historic Landmarks" he refers only to four original encampments called camps of Baldwin , but he has thus omitted Salisbury . There was also an

early encampment at Bridgewater , but now extinct , and there are , or were , old encampments at Exeter and at Hull ; not to mention the Jerusalem at Manchester . I have understood the

records of the Hull encampment are in preservation , and I would suggest to Bro . Holmes that an investigation of the books and papers of these

earlier camps may have an interesting result . I am loyal to the old Masonic Order of the Temple , and am too jealous of the claims it does possess , and too conservative of its consti-