Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."
sides with blue silk was displayed tu the Ma mc procession by the Lodge of Journeymen Freemasons , No . 8 , the privilege being accorded to them , in consequence of their orig inal
connection with the Masons of St . Mary ' s Chapel , one of the fourteen incorporated trades of the city . It is said that the banner was borne before thc
Craftsmen , who rallied under the Earl of Angus , the Lord Provost , to accompany James IV . to the field of Hodden . It was displayed to
assemble the incorporated trades to protect Queen'Mary , when she was insulted , and her life placed in jeopardy by the incensed populace , after her surrender to the confederate nobles at
Carberry HiJ ) , and it went np to the rescue of James VI . from a rabble that assailed him at the Old Tolbooth , Edinburgh , for . refusing to listen to a petition presented by the Presbyterian
ministers , complaining of his undue leaning . In King James ' s work , the Basilikon Doron , addressed to his son , Henry , Prince of Wales , he says , " The Craftsmen think we should be
content with their work , how bad soever it maybe ; and if in anything they be controlled up goes ' the Blue Blanket . "
I have read somewhere that the Kev . Charles Kingsley gave up the Professorship of Modern History at Cambridge because he found history
such a mass of lies . Masonry , which is founded on tradition which , until recent years , had very little
about it committed to writing , much less to print , would he something more than a human invention , if it could lay chum to greater veracity in its historical statements than history
itself . Masonic history is no more and no less infallible than ancient or modern history . There would seem to be some foundation foi
the tradition that the Masons joined in the Crusades , and I am not aware that the author of the History of the Blue Blanket was a Mason , and therefore , interested in making the
statement . We now come to the present descent of the Knights Templar , and to their connection with the Free-masons and the Knig hts of St . John of Jerusalem , through the Order in France .
The author 1 have quoted so freely from , Charles Knig ht , speaks of the suppression of the Order of Knights Templar , forgetting , or more probably , not knowing that they never have been suppressed .
Strange as this statement may seem to some , it is , I believe , nevertheless , true , and for the benefit of my readers , I shall proceed to quote from Mills ' s History of Chivalry on this subject .
Mills says in his interesting work on Chivalry ' ¦' "In their orig in all thc military orders and most of the religious ones were entirely aristocratic , proofs of gentility of birth were scrupulously
examined , and no soldier by the mere force of his valiancy could attain the honours of an order , though such a claim was allowed for his admission into the general fraternity of
Knighthood . These requisites for nobleness of birth kept pace with the political state of different countries , for the sovereigns of Europe , and
chivalroy did not accord upon any particular form . Thus' a French candidate for the knighthood of Saint John of Jerusalem must have shown four
Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."
quarters of gentility on his coat armour but in the , severer aristocracies of Spain and Germany , no less than eight heraldic emblazonings were requisite . In Italy .
however , where commerce checked the haughtiness of nobility , it was not expected that the pedigree should be so proud and full , and at length the old families conceded , and the new families were satisfied with the concessin that
the sons of merchants should be at liberty to enter into the religious orders . It would be tedious and unprofitable to detail the history of all these chivalric societies , aud were I to repeat
or abridge the usual books , on the topic I should in many cases be only assisting to give currency to fraud , for the title , a religious order of knighthood was often
improperly bestowed on an establishment , while in truth it was only a fraternity of monks , who maintained some soldiers in their pay ; other associations obtained a papal sanction , but they
we-rc small and insignificant , and their history , did not affect the general state of any country , not so , however , thc noble fraternities of Saint John and the Temple , and next , though the
intervening [ space of dignity was considerable , the Teutonic knights . These religious orders of Chivalry , by their principles and conduct , arc strongly marked in the political history of the
world , for they formed the firm and unceasing bulwark of the Christian kingdom in Palestine during the middle ages . They were its regular militia , and maintained the Hol y Land in the
interval between the departure of one fleet of Crusaders and the arrival of another . Generous emulation sometimes degenerated into envy , and the heats and feuds of the Kni ghts of Saint John
and the Temple violated the peace of the country ; but these dissensions were usually hushed when danger approached their charge , and the atabel of the Mussulmans was seldom
sounded in defiance on the frontier of the kingdom without the trumpets of the military orders in every preceptory and commandery receiving and echoing challenge . The valiance of the
Templars was particularly conspicuous in the moments of the kingdom ' s final fate ; for when the Christians of the Hol y Land were reduced to the possession of Acre , and two hundred
thousand Mameluke Tartars from Egypt were encamped round its walls , the defeitce of the city was entrusted to Peter * de Beauyeau , Grand Master of the Templars . And well and
chivalrously did he sustain Ins high and sacred charge . Acre fell , indeed , hut not until this heroic representative of Christian Chivalry and most of the noble followers of his standard had been slain .
The memory of the Templars is embalmed in all our recollections of the beautiful romances of the middle ages , for thc Red Cross Knights
were the last band of Europe ' s host that contended for the possession of Palestine . A few survived the fall of Acre and retired to Sis in Armenia .
They were driven to the island of Tortosa , whence they escaped to Cyprus , and the southern shore of the Mediterranean no longer rang with the cry of religious war . t
Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."
¦ "But the persecution of the Templars in the fourteenth century does not close the history o the Order , for though the knights were spoilated , the Order was not annihilated . In truth , the
cavaliers were not guilty , the brotherhood was not suppressed , and , startling as is the assertion , there has been a succession of Knights Templars from the twelfth century down even to these
days ; the chain of transmission is perfect in all its lmk § . Jacques de Molai , the Grand Master , at tllie time of the persecution , anticipating his own martyrdom , appointed as his successor , in
power and dignity . Johannes Marcus Larmenius- of Jerusalem , and from that time to the present there has been a regular and uninterrupted line of Grand Masters . The
charter by which the supreme authority has been transmitted is judicial and conclusire eridence of the Order ' s continued existence . This charter of transmission , with the signatures of
the various chiefs of the Temple is preserved at Paris , with the ancient statutes of the Order , the rituals , the records , the seals , the standards , and other memorials of the early Templars . The
brotherhood has been headed by the bravest caraliers of France , hy men who , jealous of thc dignity of knighthood , would admit no corruption , no base copies of the orders of chivalry ,
and who thought that the shield of their nobility was enriched by the impress of thc Templars ' Red Cross . Bertanddu Guesclin was the Grand Master from 13-5 7 till his death in 1380 , and he
was the only French commander who prevailed over the chivalry of our Edward the Uf . From 1478 to 1497 we may mark Robert Lenoncouit , a cavalier of one of the most ancient and valiant families of Lorraine .
Philippe Chabot , a renowned eaptain in the reign of F ' rancis L , wielded the staff of power from 1516 to 1543 . The illustrious family of Montmorency appear as Knights Templar , and
Henry the first Duke , was the chief ofthe Order from 1574 to 1614 . At the close of the seventeenth century the Grand Master was James Henry de Duras , a marshal of France , the nephew
of Turenne , and one of the most skilful soldiers of Louis XIV . The Grand Master from 1734 to 177 * 5 were three princes ofthe Royal Bourbon Family . Tlie names and years of power of
these Royal personages who acknowledged the dignity of the Order of the Temple were Louis Augustus Bourbon , Duke of Maine , 1724-1737 ; Louis Henry Bourbon Conde ,
1737-1741 j and Louis Francis Bourbon , Conty 1741-1749 . The successor of these princes in the Grand Mastership of the Temple was Louis Hercules Timolean , - Duke de Cossi Brissac . the
descendant of an ancient family long ' celebrated in French history for its loyalty and gallant bearing . He accepted the office in I 6 and sustained it till he died in the cause of royalty ,
at the beginning of the French Revolution . The Order has now its Grand Master , Bernardus Raymundus Fabre Palaprat , and there are colleges in England and in many of the chief cities in
Europe . " Thus the very ancient and sovereign Order of the Temple is now in'full and chivalric existence ,
like those orders of knighthood which were either formed in imitation of it , or had their origin in tlie same noble princip les-of chivalry-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."
sides with blue silk was displayed tu the Ma mc procession by the Lodge of Journeymen Freemasons , No . 8 , the privilege being accorded to them , in consequence of their orig inal
connection with the Masons of St . Mary ' s Chapel , one of the fourteen incorporated trades of the city . It is said that the banner was borne before thc
Craftsmen , who rallied under the Earl of Angus , the Lord Provost , to accompany James IV . to the field of Hodden . It was displayed to
assemble the incorporated trades to protect Queen'Mary , when she was insulted , and her life placed in jeopardy by the incensed populace , after her surrender to the confederate nobles at
Carberry HiJ ) , and it went np to the rescue of James VI . from a rabble that assailed him at the Old Tolbooth , Edinburgh , for . refusing to listen to a petition presented by the Presbyterian
ministers , complaining of his undue leaning . In King James ' s work , the Basilikon Doron , addressed to his son , Henry , Prince of Wales , he says , " The Craftsmen think we should be
content with their work , how bad soever it maybe ; and if in anything they be controlled up goes ' the Blue Blanket . "
I have read somewhere that the Kev . Charles Kingsley gave up the Professorship of Modern History at Cambridge because he found history
such a mass of lies . Masonry , which is founded on tradition which , until recent years , had very little
about it committed to writing , much less to print , would he something more than a human invention , if it could lay chum to greater veracity in its historical statements than history
itself . Masonic history is no more and no less infallible than ancient or modern history . There would seem to be some foundation foi
the tradition that the Masons joined in the Crusades , and I am not aware that the author of the History of the Blue Blanket was a Mason , and therefore , interested in making the
statement . We now come to the present descent of the Knights Templar , and to their connection with the Free-masons and the Knig hts of St . John of Jerusalem , through the Order in France .
The author 1 have quoted so freely from , Charles Knig ht , speaks of the suppression of the Order of Knights Templar , forgetting , or more probably , not knowing that they never have been suppressed .
Strange as this statement may seem to some , it is , I believe , nevertheless , true , and for the benefit of my readers , I shall proceed to quote from Mills ' s History of Chivalry on this subject .
Mills says in his interesting work on Chivalry ' ¦' "In their orig in all thc military orders and most of the religious ones were entirely aristocratic , proofs of gentility of birth were scrupulously
examined , and no soldier by the mere force of his valiancy could attain the honours of an order , though such a claim was allowed for his admission into the general fraternity of
Knighthood . These requisites for nobleness of birth kept pace with the political state of different countries , for the sovereigns of Europe , and
chivalroy did not accord upon any particular form . Thus' a French candidate for the knighthood of Saint John of Jerusalem must have shown four
Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."
quarters of gentility on his coat armour but in the , severer aristocracies of Spain and Germany , no less than eight heraldic emblazonings were requisite . In Italy .
however , where commerce checked the haughtiness of nobility , it was not expected that the pedigree should be so proud and full , and at length the old families conceded , and the new families were satisfied with the concessin that
the sons of merchants should be at liberty to enter into the religious orders . It would be tedious and unprofitable to detail the history of all these chivalric societies , aud were I to repeat
or abridge the usual books , on the topic I should in many cases be only assisting to give currency to fraud , for the title , a religious order of knighthood was often
improperly bestowed on an establishment , while in truth it was only a fraternity of monks , who maintained some soldiers in their pay ; other associations obtained a papal sanction , but they
we-rc small and insignificant , and their history , did not affect the general state of any country , not so , however , thc noble fraternities of Saint John and the Temple , and next , though the
intervening [ space of dignity was considerable , the Teutonic knights . These religious orders of Chivalry , by their principles and conduct , arc strongly marked in the political history of the
world , for they formed the firm and unceasing bulwark of the Christian kingdom in Palestine during the middle ages . They were its regular militia , and maintained the Hol y Land in the
interval between the departure of one fleet of Crusaders and the arrival of another . Generous emulation sometimes degenerated into envy , and the heats and feuds of the Kni ghts of Saint John
and the Temple violated the peace of the country ; but these dissensions were usually hushed when danger approached their charge , and the atabel of the Mussulmans was seldom
sounded in defiance on the frontier of the kingdom without the trumpets of the military orders in every preceptory and commandery receiving and echoing challenge . The valiance of the
Templars was particularly conspicuous in the moments of the kingdom ' s final fate ; for when the Christians of the Hol y Land were reduced to the possession of Acre , and two hundred
thousand Mameluke Tartars from Egypt were encamped round its walls , the defeitce of the city was entrusted to Peter * de Beauyeau , Grand Master of the Templars . And well and
chivalrously did he sustain Ins high and sacred charge . Acre fell , indeed , hut not until this heroic representative of Christian Chivalry and most of the noble followers of his standard had been slain .
The memory of the Templars is embalmed in all our recollections of the beautiful romances of the middle ages , for thc Red Cross Knights
were the last band of Europe ' s host that contended for the possession of Palestine . A few survived the fall of Acre and retired to Sis in Armenia .
They were driven to the island of Tortosa , whence they escaped to Cyprus , and the southern shore of the Mediterranean no longer rang with the cry of religious war . t
Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."
¦ "But the persecution of the Templars in the fourteenth century does not close the history o the Order , for though the knights were spoilated , the Order was not annihilated . In truth , the
cavaliers were not guilty , the brotherhood was not suppressed , and , startling as is the assertion , there has been a succession of Knights Templars from the twelfth century down even to these
days ; the chain of transmission is perfect in all its lmk § . Jacques de Molai , the Grand Master , at tllie time of the persecution , anticipating his own martyrdom , appointed as his successor , in
power and dignity . Johannes Marcus Larmenius- of Jerusalem , and from that time to the present there has been a regular and uninterrupted line of Grand Masters . The
charter by which the supreme authority has been transmitted is judicial and conclusire eridence of the Order ' s continued existence . This charter of transmission , with the signatures of
the various chiefs of the Temple is preserved at Paris , with the ancient statutes of the Order , the rituals , the records , the seals , the standards , and other memorials of the early Templars . The
brotherhood has been headed by the bravest caraliers of France , hy men who , jealous of thc dignity of knighthood , would admit no corruption , no base copies of the orders of chivalry ,
and who thought that the shield of their nobility was enriched by the impress of thc Templars ' Red Cross . Bertanddu Guesclin was the Grand Master from 13-5 7 till his death in 1380 , and he
was the only French commander who prevailed over the chivalry of our Edward the Uf . From 1478 to 1497 we may mark Robert Lenoncouit , a cavalier of one of the most ancient and valiant families of Lorraine .
Philippe Chabot , a renowned eaptain in the reign of F ' rancis L , wielded the staff of power from 1516 to 1543 . The illustrious family of Montmorency appear as Knights Templar , and
Henry the first Duke , was the chief ofthe Order from 1574 to 1614 . At the close of the seventeenth century the Grand Master was James Henry de Duras , a marshal of France , the nephew
of Turenne , and one of the most skilful soldiers of Louis XIV . The Grand Master from 1734 to 177 * 5 were three princes ofthe Royal Bourbon Family . Tlie names and years of power of
these Royal personages who acknowledged the dignity of the Order of the Temple were Louis Augustus Bourbon , Duke of Maine , 1724-1737 ; Louis Henry Bourbon Conde ,
1737-1741 j and Louis Francis Bourbon , Conty 1741-1749 . The successor of these princes in the Grand Mastership of the Temple was Louis Hercules Timolean , - Duke de Cossi Brissac . the
descendant of an ancient family long ' celebrated in French history for its loyalty and gallant bearing . He accepted the office in I 6 and sustained it till he died in the cause of royalty ,
at the beginning of the French Revolution . The Order has now its Grand Master , Bernardus Raymundus Fabre Palaprat , and there are colleges in England and in many of the chief cities in
Europe . " Thus the very ancient and sovereign Order of the Temple is now in'full and chivalric existence ,
like those orders of knighthood which were either formed in imitation of it , or had their origin in tlie same noble princip les-of chivalry-