Middlesex.

MIDDLESEX .

HARROW . —Harrow Lodge ( No . 1310 ) . —The members of this lodge met on Tuesday , 6 th inst ., at the Railway Hotel . Present—Bros . W . H . Green , Prov . G . D . C . Middlesex , W . M . S . Homewood , S . W . j J . Harrison , J . W . j F . Walters , P . M ., Sec . j Capt . G . A . Smith , S . D . ;

F . Harrison , J . D . j J . Cox , I . G . ; T . Hammond , D . C . ; J . Smith , P . M ., W . S . ; Bro . W . Kipps was appointed and invested as Organist . Bro . W . Butler was raised , and Mr . W . Vine initiated . The visitors present were—Bros . G . Stacey , P . M .

209 ; Binder , 619 . The following brethren were recommended for Provincial Grand Office in Middlesex , viz ., Bros . G . Pymm and Capt . G . A . Smith ; also Bro . W . Kipps as Organist . A banquet closed the proceedings . .

Royal Arch.

Royal Arch .

METROPOLITAN . PANMURE CHAPTER ( NO . 720 ) . —A convocation of this chapter was held at the Horns Tavern , Kennington , on Monday , the iath inst . In the unavoidable absence of the M . E . Z ., the first

chair was occupied by Comp . J ames Stevens , P . Z ., and S . E . of the Chapter , who was supported by Comps . S . Davison , H . j Henry Smith . J . ; Joseph Nunn , P . Z . ; H . C . Levander , P . Z . j John Read , P . Z . ; T . Pulsford , P . S . j W . Worrell , Larlham , Wagstaff " , Jones , and several

other members j Comp . Walter Gompertz , visitor . The only business before the chapter was that of the exaltation of two candidates , viz ., Bros . George William Lay , and Thomas Poore , and the beautiful ceremony was rendered with the usual perfection for which the Panmure Chapter is celebrated . A pleasant supper followed business , the usual loyal and Masonic toasts being duly honoured .

Ancient And Accepted Rite.

Ancient and Accepted Rite .

SUFFOLK . IPSWICH . —Victoria Chapter Rose Croix , —The quarterly meeting of this Chapter was ht-ld Monday last , at the Masonic Hall belonging to the

members of the Prince of Wales Lodge . The Chapter having been opened in the usual solemn form , the minutes of two Chapters of

emergency , and of the last regular chapter were read b y the Recorder and confirmed . Ballot was taken for the Excellent Brother Osborne Packand , of the Scientific Chapter , Cambridge , and he was unanimously elected a subscribing member . A notice , by Bro . Holmes , that he should propose that the Fee for admission to this chapter be six

guineas , to include the proper clothing , was on the agenda paper , but as this ] brother was not in "his place to make the proposition and the brethren having expressed their wishes that the question should be settled , it was was proposed , seconded , and negatived , nem . con . After some other formal business , the chapter was closed in ancient form .

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

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

A Lecture delivered lefore the Fratres of the Prudence Encampment of Masonic Knights Templar , at Ipswich , on the _ ist July , 1872 .

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

Sir Knights , —I have taken the liberty of preparing a short lecture on the Knights Templar , which I venture to think may prove of interest to you . At all events , I have derived much

benefit from its compilation . The history of this noble Order , in its pride and in its decay , is worthy of your attentive study and best consideration . Addison , in his valuable book on the

" History of the Knights Templar , " says -. *—" Born during the first fervour of the Crusaders , the Templars were flattered and aggrandised as

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

long as their great military power and relig ious fanaticism could be made available for the support of the Eastern Church , and the retention of the Holy Landj but when the Crescent had

ultimately triumphed over the Cross , and the religious and military enthusiasm of Christendom had died away , they encountered the basest ingratitude in return for the services they had

rendered to the Christian faith , and were plundered , persecuted , and condemned to a cruel death by those who ought , in justice , to have been their defenders and supporters . The memory of these

holy warriors is embalmed in all our recollections of the wars of the Cross ; they were the bulwarks of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem during the short period of its existence , and were

the last band of Europe ' s host that contended for the possession of Palestine . The vulgar notion that they were as wicked as they were fearless and brave , has not vet been

entirely exploded j but it is hoped that the copious account ofthe proceedings against the Order in this country , given in the ensuing volume , will dispel many unfounded prejudices still

entertained against the fraternity , and excite emotions of admiration for their constancy and courage , and of pity for their unmerited and cruel fate . " Addison goes on to say , in his introduction , that

" a century after the death of Mahomet , the Moslems had extended their religion and their arms from India to the Atlantic Ocean ; they had subdued and converted , by the power of the

sword , Persia and Egypt , and all the north of Africa , from the mouth of the Nile to the extreme western boundary of that vast continent ; they overran Spain , invaded France , and turning

their footsteps towards Italy , they entered the kingdoms of Naples and Genoa , threatened Rome , and subjected the Island of Sicily to the laws and religion of their prophet .

But at the very period when they were about to plant the Koran in the very heart of Europe , and were advancing , with rapid strides , to universal dominion , intestine dissensions broke out

amongst them , which undermined their power and Europe was released from the dread and danger of Saracen dominion . In the tenth century ofthe Christian era ,

however , the ferocious and barbarous Turcomans appeared as the patrons of Mahommedanism , and the propagators of the Koran . These were pastoral tribes of shepherds and hunters who

descended from the frozen plains to the north of the Caspian , conquered Persia , embraced the religion ancl the law of Mahomet , ancl became united under the standard of the prophet into

one great and powerful nation . They overran the greater part of the Asiatic continent , destroyed the churches of the Christians , and the temples of the Pagans , and appeared , in 108 4 ,

A . D ., in warlike array , on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont , in front of Constantinople . The terrified Emperor Alexins , sent urgent letters to the Pope and the Christian Princes of Europe ,

exhorting them to assist him and their common Christianity in the perilous crisis . The preachings of Peter the Hermit , and the exhortations

of the Pope , forthwith aroused Christendom ; Europe was armed , and precipitated upon Asia ; the Turkish power was broken ; the Christian provinces of the Greek empire of Constantinople

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

were recovered from the grasp of the infidels ancl the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was reared upon the ruins of the Turkish Empire of Sultan Soliman . The monastic and military Order of

the Temple was then called into existence for the purpose of checking the power of the infidels , and fi ghting the battles of Christendom on the plains of Asia . Suggested by fanaticism , as

Gibbon observes , but guided by an intelligent and far-reaching policy , it became the foremost bulwark of Christianity in the East , and mainly contributed to preserve Europe from Turkish

desolation , and probably from Turkish conquest . " Ancient , as well as modern historians , have brought grave , and , in most cases , unfounded

charges against the Templars . For instance , William of Tyre , the Archbishop who was known to be hostile to the Order , relates how Nassr-ed-dun , son of Sultan Abbas , was taken

prisoner by the Templars , became a Christian , and wished to be baptised ; but the Templars were bribed with 60 , 000 pieces of gold to surrender him to his enemies in Egypt , where

certain death awaited him j and that they stood by to see him bound hand and foot , and placed in an iron cage , to be taken over the desert to Cairo .

The Arabian historians , on the other , hand tell us that Nassr-ed-dun and his father murdered the Cali ph , threw his body into a well , and then fled from Palestine ; that the sister of the

murdered Caliph wrote immediately to the Commander of the garrison of the Kni ghts Templar at Gaza , altering a handsome reward for the capture of the fugitives ; that they were

accordingly intercepted , and Nassr-ed-dun was sent to Cairo , where the female relations of the Caliph caused his body to be cut into small pieces in the Seraglio .

William of Tyre , it should be remembered , was jealous of the Order , on account of its vast powers and privileges , and carried his complaints to a general council of the Church at Rome . He

is opposed 111 everything that he says to the prejudice of the fraternity , by James of Vitry , Bishop of Acre , a learned and most talented prelate , who wrote in Palestine subsequently to

William of Tyre , and has copied largely from the history of the latter . The Bishop of Acre speaks of the Templars in the highest terms , and declares that they were universally loved of all

men for their humility and piety . As this act has constantly been brought forward as a grave accusation against the Templars , it is worth knowing the Arabian

account of the story . The well-known Orientalist , Von Hammer , whose portrait has been given in " Hood ' s Own , " brought forward many most extraordinary and

unfounded charges , destitute of all authority , against the Templars j and Wilchc , the writer of a German history of the Order , seems also to have imbibed all the vulgar prejudices against

the fraternity . It is useless to deny that many grave and improbable charges have been brought against the Templars by monks and priests , who

wrote in Europe concerning events in the Holy Land , and who regarded the vast privileges of the Order with aversion and indignation . Matthew Paris , the monkish historian , par exemple , tells