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

Bro . Holmes observes that Bro . Woof has stated in his book on the Orders , that Lord Dundee appears to have been Grand Master at the period

of the battle of Killiekrankie ( 1689 ) , and that he was succeeded by John , Earl of Mar , and the Duke of Athole . Bro . Woof , I am sure , desires to be accurate in his statements , but he has here

relied upon the assertions of other writers without testing their allegations for himself , and has shared the fate of the unwary . I am glad to know that he sees the error of his ways , and is

now more cautious than to accept an assertion , however boldly put forward , as a fact . It must not be forgotten that as regards Scotland we are dealing with the Templars , as combined in the

Order of St . John , they having at the period now alluded to no other existence . Having , then , to deal with the combined Orders , it is impossible that Lord Dundee could have been Grand

Master , or Grand Prior of the Templars , in 168 9 , or at any other time , for obvious reasons . The Templars of Scotland were then merged in the

Order of St . John , and could have no separate Grand Master , or Prior ; and never had , or could have , a Grand Master for Scotland , at any period of their existence as an Order . Lord Dundee

was as certainly not Grand Master of the Order of St . John in 1689 , as there is no difficulty in ascertaining that Adrian de Vignacourt was elected Grand Master in that same year , not

upon the death of Dundee , tut upon the demise of the 60 th Grand Master , Gregory Carafta ; whilst Henry Fitz-James ( natural son of James II . ) was appointed Prior in 1687 , and had office

until 1701 . It is possible that Dundee may have received a Grand Cross for some reasons , but the test of historic facts must prove that he could have held no ruling position in either

Order . One other circumstance effectually places an extinguisher on these marvellous fictions , and constitutes their expiring flicker -. James , the " Pretender , " wrote a

letter on the 14 th of September , 1 725 , to the Grand Master at Malta , complaining that a Grand Prior had been appointed without his concurrence , and requesting that he might be

treated with the same consideration as other princes on similar occasions . Here , then , is evidence that the Grand Prior , whose rule extended over Scotland in 1721 ; , was not one of

the alleged successors of Lord Dundee , nor appointed by any authority owning Scctland as its local habitation . Only three years after this

the renowed Ramsay appears on the scene , and ( still dealing with the amalgamation ) can any member of the honourable Craft of Freemasons

be found simple enough to believe that he Ramsay , possessed in himself the power to oiler for the acceptance of the Masonic Brotherhood ¦ distinguished Order of Knighthood , whilst ,

only three years before , the unfortunate prince whom he honoured and struggled to serve , had written his querulous complaint that he had not even been consulted in the appointment of a Prior ! As there is thus no evidence whatever

to give the most shadowy connection to the Scottish Masonic Templars with the early Order , either by itself , or as amalgamated in that ot St

John , let us shortl y review the history of the present Order in Scotland , and consider the foundation of its claims . The worthv brethren

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

of Scotland modestly declare in their Statutes , " There is but one Chapter General , and one Grand Master tor the whole world ; and from the Order having been suppressed in 1 , 309 , in all

countries except Scotland , it shall always be held in that Langue . " Unfortunately , the other jurisdictions existing in 1856 " were not made parties to this very different enactment , and may

possibly not quite subscribe to its reasoning . Singularly , though , the same Statutes contain the following , in a note : " The present body in Scotland merely claims to he the legitimate

descendants , by adoption , of the original Knights of the Order . " This is in itself curious ; I have heard of adopting children and nephews , and neices , and I have heard of

Wardour-street ancestors , but I do not remember to have met with a real case of the adoption of forefathers ; here , however , we have a signal instance , in which the Scottish Masonic Templars

are kind enough to adopt the chivalrous old Knights of the Temple as their legitimate ancestry . All this appears somewhat ungrateful to the English brethren , when we consider that

no proof or instance has been adduced of the existence of the Masonic Templar Degree in Scotland before its introduction by English brethren . The correspondence of Bro . Morison

with the Secretary of the Scottish Templars ( 1845-6 ) has been published ; and he there asserts of his own knowledge that the Order was introduced in St . Stephen ' s Lodge , Edinburgh ,

in 179 8 , by non-commissioned officers and men of the Nottingham Militia , then quartered in the castle , and that his own diploma from that lodge , as a Knight of the Temple , was dated

the 19 th of August , 1800 . I am in a position to corroborate this in the main , having had in my possession a letter written by a very distinguished Scotch Mason , now deceased , in which he plainly

states that the Templar Degree was introduced in the lodge named by a sergeant and several noncommissioned officers of the Nottingham Militia , that he was one of the instigators of its

introduction and one of the iirst initiates . , and Mr . Deuchar another ; that he ( the writer of the letter ) was the author of the first printed regulations of the degree , and of the Statutes of 1837 , and

that he was mainly instrumental in procuring the resignation of Mr . Deuchar and inducing Sir David Milne to become Grand Master . Its

pretensions , he states , were no more than Masonic , and that on these princip les he installed a large number of its members before 18 ^ 7 .

Thus it is beyond dispute that the Scottish Templars must look to England for the foundation of their claims , and equally plain that the English chain of descent has no link in the history of the Order in Scotland .

It is said that shortly after the introduction of the Order in St . Stephen ' s Lodge , the brethren who had joined it desired to adopt a separate existence , and accepted a warrant from

the " Early Grand Encampment " in Dublin , a doubtful authoritv at the least ; they were not

long satisfied with this , and on the 9 U 1 June , 1811 , a charter was issued , upon their application , by the . Duke of Kent , who was then the chief of the English Masonic Templars . In November , 1836 , the Scottish brethren

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

desired to be affiliated en masse to the Ordre au Temple of France , but were informed that such a course was impossible , that applicants could onl y be received individually , that each must

occupy such a social position as would entitle him to be presented at Court , and must be recommended by the Duke of Sussex , as Grand Prior of the Ordre du Temple in England . In

1844 our Scottish brethren set up a " chivalric " section of the Order on their own account , into which persons could be received who were not Freemasons , but the present Statutes ( in which

the French Order is termed a surreptitious body ) express grave doubts if this was alegal proceeding . The new system did not prove successful , and the Order returned to its ori ginal Masonic

constitution , it being declared in the revised Statutes of 1856 " that every one received into the Order must be previously a regular Royal Arch Mason . "

Ihe Scottish Grand Conclave entered into a solemn compact with the English and Irish Orders to carry out the project for an union of the whole under one Grand Master , and with

uniform Statutes , but appears , so far as we know , to be negatively repudiating the treaty . If this course is persisted in , the Scottish brethren will commit a grave mistake . The whole Order is

under a large debt of obligation to the learned Chancellor , Sir Patrick Colquhoun , for his skilful and untiring services in ori ginating and carrying out a scheme , so greatly to the

advantage of the Templars—a scheme in which it is possible other jurisdictions of the Order may yet desire to be included , and in which some of

the American divisions are already interested ; indeed , I can myself testify to one , of which I am an honorary member . The Scottish Order can adduce no claim to the title

of lemplar , which it does not derive from an English source , and if it now thinks well , or right , to repudiate the treaty , it must exist as a branch founded in Scotland by

Englishmen , only legalised by an English Grand Master , and now alienated from the parent stem by an act which we must all view with regret . Those who know me best will be aware that I have never been backward to advance the

interests of the Templar Order so far as my opportunities would permit ; I would still join in doing much for its prosperity , but let us do it with moderation , fairness , and charity to all ; we

can always lind enough in the regulation of our own athiirs without unnecessarily impeaching the position or the honour of others , and we may well and profitably be occupied in setting in

order our own house without interfering in that of a neighbour . I have no objection to the Maltese Degree , abandoned in 18 " 5 , 3 ( as I have made known in the proper placed , but I strongly

object to the invention which followed the Statutes of 1862 ( as I have also made known ) , and I very distinctly object to the founding of fictitious claims upon unnecessary comparisons

with the rights of others , and the appropriation of titles or ^ badges , because there does not at the time appear to be a watchman at his post .

hope I have made this apparent . In conclusion , I thank The Freemason for permission to occupy so much space , and I sincerely hope 1 may no have to return to this subject .