Table Of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Orders of the Temple and Hospital 543 Laying thc Foundation Stone of a Masonic Hall at Liskeard .., ...., 545 Consecration , of the Sonth well Lodge , No . 1405 54 6 Presentation to Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . C . ... 54 6

CORRESPONDENCE : — J | Masons at Public Meetings . ! .. 547 The Ballot , for W . M 547 Prohibition of Masonic Processions 547

Provincial Grand Officers 547 Freemasons' Calendars , 1 S 14—1820 ' 547 OBITUARY : — Bro George Barnby 547 Masonic Tidiiitrs 538

United Grand Lodge .. ! 54 S CRAFT MASONRY !—Provincial . - .. 549 Scotland ........... . . . 549 District Grand Lodsje of Bengal 550

South Africa V 551 ROYAI . ARCH -. — Scotland ' .... ' . ' ... i ..... ' .... . .. ;• ... r ,... ' ...... ; r 551 MARK . MASONRV : — Provincial , , ! ...,,.. 551 KNIGHTS TEMPI . AU : —

Scotland / ... ' £ 51 Reviews 552 Was Shakspearc a Freemason ? 553 Ancient Templar ' s Song ' . 554 Masonic Meetings for next week 554 Advertisements ! ' 541 , 542 ,. ;;^ , $ •;(>

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

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

A Lecture delivered before the Fratres of the Prudence Encampment nf Masonic Kni g hts Templar , al Ipswich , on the 31 st July , 1873 .

BY . EMRA HOLMES , ' 31 , ¦ Eminent Commander , of the Encampment , Grand Provost of England , . Provincial-Grand Banner Bearer of the Koyal Order of Scotland , & c . '

' ( Continued :- Jruin page 531 . ) Dugdale ,, in his "Mohasticon , " . gives a copy of one of the deeds of accusation against the Kni ghts Templar , jn-which they are charged

with the foulest crimes , as before related .. He has elsewhere , in his "History of Warwickshire , " * referred to . another manuscript , from the contents of whicii it would appear that among other

things they were . charged with having treacherousl y gone over to the side of the infidels ' during au engagement , and completel y routed and destroyed the Christain army to which they

had previously been attached . Whatever may have been the crimes actuall y committed b y the Templars , " It was as far from charity as sound logic , " says old Fuller ,

" from the induction of some particular delinquents to infer the guiltiness of the whole bod y . ' It must be evident that the sovereigns of Europe were influenced b y interested motives in wishing

the suppression of the Order ,, and the conduct of Edward II . was hi g hly censurable , as he carried into execution the decrees of the Pope , although secretl y acknowled ging his firm belief of the

innocency of the Templars of many of the charges made against them . There were two strong reasons why Philip le Bel sought the destruction of the Templars . They had sided , with the . Pope , Bonifaccyi' his

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

great enemy and the predecessor of his great tool Clement ; ancl they were rich . whilst he . was always needy—or as the penny-a-liners . would say , a victim to impecuniosity . In the "

Retrospective Review , " quoted by Wallen , there are the following judicious remarks upon the subject of the suppression of the Order . They will be found in a review of . a work entitled Nicolai

Gutleri Historia Templaliorum , ( Amstelodam , Svo ., 1703 ) . "The quarrel of the . French King with the sovereign Pontiff , ¦ Boniface VIII , is the first

circumstance , of his reign which seems in any degree to elucidate ^ this question . The imperi ; ous obstinacy , and the unappeasable rancour of the French monarch gave this contest a

character of personal animosity which raised in the mind of Phili p an insuperable feeling of hatred towards all those who had rendered any assistance to his great , enemy . The Templars , it seems ,

had been guilty of this offence . * Although possessed of considerable revenues , Phili p was always poor , and to suppl y his wants he resorted

to means alike disgraceful ro himself ,. and injurious to his subjects . But to accomplish the destruction of a noble and gallant order , whose riches and influence were alike to be

dreaded , and who reckoned among their numbers some of the hig hest and proudest of the land , was a task which required the most subtle contrivance . . The golden reward , however , was

sufficient to tempt the avarice of Philip , and his unfeeling ancl obstinate temper was a guarantee for his success , It is-true , that by , the decrees of the council of Vienne , the estates of the

lemplars were all conferred on the Order ot St . John of Jerusalem ; but it was nearl y ten years before the , French King could be prevailed upon entirel y to y ield them up . It required the

utmost exertion of thc , joint influence of the Pope and Phili p to induce Edward II . of England to unite in this foul conspiracy . . Strongly convinced of the innocence of the accused , he

app lied to the ¦ Pope in their behalf . He even addressed letters to several of the sovereigns of Europe , beseeching them not to give ear to the injurious aspersion which had . been cast on the

characters of this faithful and valiant soldiery . But the malignity of Philip would not be thus disappointed .- He despatched ambassadors to

the court of England , and his son-in-law , yielding at last to his repeated instances , consented to investigate the conduct of the Order . .

Ihe English Templars were cast into prison ; but the atrocities which marked the proceedings against the Order in France were not committed

here , though the Pope , in the plentitude of his fatherly affection , mildly censured the English monarch for having forbidden the use of the torture .

l'he following extract from the Popular Cyclopedia will prove of interest . Under the head of Templars , the writer says : — " From the class of the kni ghts , who were

required to be of approved nobility , and who were the actual lords ofthe possessions of thi ' Order , the ofliccrs were chosen b y the assembled chapters , viz . : —Marshals and Bannerets , as leaders

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

in war ; Drapiers , as . inspectors over their wardrobes ; Priors , as superiors of single preceptories or priories ; abbotts , . commanders and Grand Priors , as rulers over provinces , ( similar to the

provincials of the . Monastic orders ) , and the Grand Master as the chief of the whole order . The latter had the rank of a prince , and considered himself equal to the sovereigns of . Europe ,

since the Order , like the . Jesuits in . later times , by virtue of the papal charters , acknowledged the Pope alone as its protector , being independent of any other ecclesiastical or secular jurisdiction . "

The author of this article , in speaking of the suppression of the Order by Clement , which he endeavoured to justif y by the horrible crimes and heresies of whicii the Order had been

accused , says that historical records represent the the accusers as expelled Templars , who calum- ; niated the Order at the instigation of its enemies . 'The charge of apostacy . from the Catholic

faith could not be substantiated . . The other allegations , such as that they worshipped the devil , practised sorcery , adored an idol called Baphoniet , contemned the sacrament , neglected

confession , and practised unnatural vices , were , according to the general opinion of historians down to the present day , malicious representations , or absurd calumnies . A sold box of

relics which the lemplars used to kiss according to the custom of the Catholics , ' was what , gave origin to the story of Baphomet ; and ' because ' in an age previous to the general reception ofthe

doctrine ot transubstantiation , thev practised the ancient ' niannerof celebrating the mnss , ( viz ; , without the elevation of the host , ) this was called contempt of the sacramemt ; tlieir confessing

exclusively to their own members was the ground of the charge that they received absolution from . their temporal superiors , and the friendshi p b y . which , they were , united , gave rise to the . imputation of

unnatural practices . " The writer in the Popular Cyclopedia says also , that " In England , " Spain , Portugal , Italy , and Germany , the . Teni plars were arrested , but almost " universally acquitted

and adds that at the council of Vienne , the Pope solemnly abolished the Order , not in the legal way , but b y papal authority ( per provisions quani condemnationis oram ) . " It is also stated

in tlie article quoted that the Templars maintained . themselves longest in Germany , where they were treated with justice and mildness . At Stiirlitz some were found as late as

1319 . Can the author mean 1519 ? This writer also states that the members who were , discharged entered the order of St . John , and this is no doubt true as to the majority , especiall y

in Scotland . The very fact of their doing ' so proving their innocence of the gross crime ; , imputed to them , as a great . Order like the Hosp itallers would never have , received them . had they been guilty . . .

A writer in- the- "Encyclopaedia Metro p . olitana , " in an artiele on the Templtjrs , quoted in Dr . Oliver ' s "Historical Landmarks / ' . speaks thus of their connexion with the brethren of the

mystic tie . 'These Knights were much , connected with the Ma :- ; ons / nnd are supposed to have been frequentl y initiated- among the Syrian .

fraternity . Ou the dissolution of their Order in the fourtei-nth , century , the Provincial Grand Master uf Auvergne , Picric D'Aumont , with