Table Of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Orders of the Temple and Hospital fio ? Reviews •¦¦ - M Grand Lod ^ e of Scotland 610 Grand Lodge of Mark Masters 610 Charles XV . of Swc . Icn „ < i 12 ;

Cx . \ fT M ASONRY : — Metropolitan Gi ^ j provincial - \ Provincin' Grand Lodge of Cheshire 613 ! M ARK MASONRY : — I

Provincial 615 B ED Cntiss OF CONSTANTINE * . — Provincial * 5 i 6

ConllKSHONUENCE : — The Spurious Rite of Mempis 616 The Secretaryship of thc Roval Masonic Institution for Giils Gifi

Prov . Grand Officers oil ) Va onic Meetings for next week 617 Advertisements 605 , 606 , 617 , 618 616 ,, 620

Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

NOTES ON THE " UNITED ORDERS OF THE TEMPLE AND HOSPITAL . "

A Lecture delivered leftire the Fratres nf the Prudence Encampment of Masonic Knig hts Templar , al Ipswich , tin the 31 . v . July , 1872 .

BY EMRA HOLMES , . 31 , Eminent Commander of ihc Encampment , Grand Piovosl of K .- . 'jrl . iiid , Provincial Grand Banner Beater of the Tloyal On ';* r of Scotland , & c .

CCoiitiiihi'd Jcnm page 592 . ; Professor Aytnun evidently shared this opinion , and believed in the piesent Knights Templar as the legitimate descendants of the Crusading Red Cross Knights , or lie would not have penned tin * stirring lines which I now

proreed to quote . TUN RAISING OF . THE B EAUSKANI , BY PROFESSOR AYTOUN . Fling ont the Temple as of old ! Age hath not stained the whiteness of its fold .

NOT marred the . rudd y Cross , salvation ' s sign : Once more we lift the sacred standard tip-Companions , till the cup—We pledge the Beausennl in this sparkling wino Oh ! what a valiant host have foueht and bled

Beneath that , banner , to the wind outspread . Since first it moved against the infidel ! Who knows not how it waved in Salem ' s Towers , When Acre , Ramla , Nazareth , were ours , And at Tiberias fell ?

Fell , with the Knig hts who bore it to the field . W : en foulest treason broke the Christian shiclj , And hade the Turkish crescent sign advance—Fell , but to rise again , with triple pride , When bounding-o ' er the tide , ihe armies came of England and of France .

And who is he , the leader of that band , Who fit st sets font upon the Holy Land : Move on , unrivalled champion that thou art ! Shout , brethren , shout ! aloft your banners flinglis he , the Christian ' s hoje , the island King—Richard , the Lion-heart !

1 hen Acre fell , the Moslem foe went back , And still our brethren followed on their track , And ever in the van of battle flew the sacred Beauseant , like a meteor star Sheddin J its w -ath afar

" pontile foul and unbelieving crew . " "vanquished still—till fraud , not force , eomhim- d With basest envy in a despot ' s mind , Dragged from its stall " that ¦> loriotis emblem down ,

A"d poured , like water , forth the guiltless blood , When Jacques Molay , the valiant and the good , Kceeiv ' d his martyr crown . I hen perished all—vet , no ; on Scottish ground

Vvf '' ' remnant of tne Templars still was found , W 1 m ° treason c * 'd not dare to quell . \ vu da Clifton ! honoured be th y name ! Who , braving death and shame , < Jid st vindicate thine Order ' s truth so well .

Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

Years passed away ere yet the warring world Beheld again the Templars flag unfurled ; But England saw the rosy Cross return

Once more to light , and scattering dismay Within their ranks upon that g lorious day When Bruce won Bannock burn !

Then raise it up , Companions , once again , Thouph now it wave not in the battle phis True hearts are here to guard its spotless fold ,

For ever honoured be tlie Templars' name . For ever dear their fame , Fling ont the Beauseant banner , as of old !

Bro . Haye , however , adds , " Tlie more probable account that thev joined , on an equal footing , the knights of St . J ohn in Scotland ; James the IV . gave a charter , confirming grants by the

Kings , Malcolm IV ., Alexander II ., Alexander III ., James II ., aud James III ., to the Kni g hts of the Hospital and Temple . Bro . Haye further observes , " The Order , as

n England , was found innocent , and it i . s a curkufs circumstance , no act was passed suppressing them in Scotland , as was done ? in every

other State in Em ope . This renders all the more probable the idea that they joined the Order of St . John . "

ft appears also from Ins history , that on the persecution ofthe German Templars , they were told that the Order was dissolved , and they were were to be incorporated with another Order .

Tbey chose that of the Teutonic Kni g hts . The Pope had previousl y absolved them , and declared them innocent . The Oi * d . * r of St . John a > i *' the : Temple in Scotland , became extinct nt the

Reformation , Hro . lliye asserts , when Sir James Sandilands , the . Cram ! Prior , turned Protestant . At thc same period the sum : fate in n manner , , befe ) ihe Teutonic Kni g hts but

insieau ct giving oirth to a . lorpliichtu family , as in Scotland , , tht "uccessors of the Templars in . Germany founded the Prussian

kingdom . By tlie way , the present Lord Torpichcn is , or was , 1 member ofthe Supreme Council A . and and A . like in Scotland . He is so noted in ' . lie

Calendar for 1 Sfirt . In the proceedings of a conference of delegates from the Grand Lodge of Scot and , the Grand Chapter of Scotland , the . Grand Chapter of

Ireland , and the Grand Lodge of Maik Masters , touching the Mark Degree , and which is annexed to the published proceedings of Grand

Mark Lodge for 1871 , I find iiro . Kerr making the follov ing observation : — "In reference to the existence of what is termed

" speculative" Masonry , i . may mention the Secretary of the Royal Order of Scotland , informed me that he had donments in his possession , upwards of 200 years old , belonging

entirel y to wliat is called the . " Speculative ' portion of Freemasonry , not the " Operative" at all ; , ind whicli is very much akin to our Third Degree .

Bro . Ken * also stated that the Glasgow St . John Lodge , No . 3 tit , on the Roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , holds a . charter from Malcolm Canmore . asrainst which some

objections have been stated , but they have another of William the Lion , which is indisputable , dated 1174 . They al . o state lhat , as representing

the builders of Glasgow Cathedral , they only practice the traditional Masonry received at that early period .

Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

St . Mary ' s Chapel Lodge , went so far back in her history as to say that the lorljre was ori ginall y brought to this country by David Ist , and as a travelling lodge , erected the Chapel of

Holyrood , in 1128 , also Melrose Abbey , and rations other buildings , and came back and settled in Edinburgh . From this bod y rose the incorporation of

Masons . Br ** . Kerr stated , also , that from the unwillingness of members of the old lodges to commit anything to writing , it was difficult to find

direct evidence of the speculative , as well as thc operative character of their teaching . " However , " he says , " under date 1559 , on the sill of one of the windows of the Choir

of Glasgow Cathedral , we find the Square and Compass engraved , the All-seeing Eye above , the sun , moon , and stars , and a finger pointing to the three steps . In those times , when tlie

secrets of the Craft were very much looked to and preserved with jealous care , it was not to be expected that very much explanation of tin * system

then practised could be found , but it would be seen b y these symbols that speculative Masonry did exist . "

If this is so , nnd if these charters are ofthe age they claim to be . Uro . Findel ' s objections to Scotland , and Scottisli Masonry must fall to the ground , since we have nothing in England of

1 like antiquii ; . " Rosa Crucis , " in a letter to the Freemason ' s Magazine , on the Rose Croix Degree , which appeared 22 nd August , 1868 , * says— " Some

;* ears ago , I called the attention of your rea- ' ers to a passage in Sir Walter Scott ' s novel of " Woodstock" ; it is from the speech of Colonel Mai isson , in the first scene : — " Down on your

ri ght knees , front rank ; spare not thu spoiling of your blue aprons , Zerubbabel ! aye , that is the word . " 1 'To this , ) received no response but can there

be : 'v . y connection between the blue apron and the curious description of the Blue Blanket , or Craftsmens' banner , for which we are indebted , amongst other valuable extracts , to Bro . Hughan ;

the same article also supports the tradition , that a large number of our brethren joined the first Crusade . " I'he Blue Blanket , to which Ro « a Crucis

alludes , was the name g iven to the the banner of the Craftsmen in Edinburgh , and in ori ginal writs " as called the banner of the Holy Ghost . Our estcenicd Bro . Hughan , quoting

Pennecuik ' s historical account , published 1722 , says ,. " The Blue Blanket had its rise about the year 1 , 200 of God , when the Crusade was carried oa bv Pope Urban the Second ; and so is older than .

any of the Orders of Knighthood in Europe , save that of St . Andrew on the Thistle , whicli had its orig in about tlie year Soo . Vast numbers of the Scotch mechanics havinsr followed this

hol y war , taking with them a banner , bearing the inscription out of the J ist Psalm , " In bona vohmta e tua edifieenter muri Jerusalem" ( sic ) , and from it colour was called the Blue Blanket .

On the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the Freemasons ' Hall , Edinburgh , the 24 th June , 1 S 58 , the real ori g inal Blue Blanket , which had long been in a very tattered condition , but which had been repaired by lining one of its