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

reality of our Knighthood , also dispute the claims of our Craft brethren and their ancient traditions . I merely claim for the Knights Templar that their traditions should be treated with as much

respect as those of the Craft . Bro . Findel , for instance , ridicules the pretensions of the Knights Templar , but damages his cause very much by bringing up against them

asain those infamous charges which almost all historians have admitted were false , as I have shown in the preceding four articles , at the same time that he repudiates the Masonic Order of

the Templars , he also equally objects to the Royal Order of Scotland , the Royal Arch , and the high degrees generally ; declares tlie charter of Cologne a forgery , and Prince Edwin ' s charter a

myth . A well-known brother , a redoubtable opponent of the Templars , from disbelieving their claims , lost faith in the Craft , pooh-poohed the charters

of the ancient Scotch lodges as forged and utterly unworthy of credence , grew sceptical as to the whole of the Craft traditions , —disputed the inspiration of the Scriptures , and finally

became an avowed Atheist , and disappeared from Masonry . Another brother wrote a great deal against the Templars and the other high degrees in Scotland and in England . The reason of his

animus was not known for some lime , until it was discovered that he himself was conferring spurious high degrees , and pocketing the fees . That brother became a Masonic beggar , and

has also now disappeared from Masonry . There are , of course , honourable exceptions , and we have foemen , like a " Masonic Student , " worthy of our steel , —brethren whom we , as

lemplars , should be proud to welcome into our ranks , but who , hitherto , have held aloof ; but it is to be regretted that in many instances the Templars have been attacked ( as have the other high

degrees ) by men who have quarrelled with the constituted authorities , or who have been influenced by personal , ^ andj I am sorry to say , most unworthy motives .

But I am digressing , and must come back tu « ny notes as to the German Templars . From Findel * we gather that Baron Von Marscliall , who had been initiated in London , was

afterwards at St . Germain-en-Laye , in France , consecrated by the adherents of the Pretender in the Masonic Order of the Temple . It was this brother who transplanted this Order to Germany .

After an adventurous life , chiefly passed in foreign countries ( France , England , and Denmark ) , he , in 1 749 , established in Nuremburg the Lodge of" The Three Hammers , " to which he imparted

the high degrees , as he received them . Von Marschall was nominated Provincial Grand Master of Upper Tuscany , by Lord Darnlev , Grand

Master . He afterwards transferred the care of the lodge to the Baron Von llunde , the originator of the Rite of Strict Observance .

Findel , ] speaking of the simplicity and home liness of the fundan 1 ent . 1 l rules of the Craft de gress , says that it gave occasion to the supposition that a great secret must be involved in

them , which was only to be revealed to a verj select few amongst the initiated . This supposition , he says , was greatly strengthened by Ramsey ' s well-known speech and its re

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

ference to the Crusades , and it was further heig htened by the close intimacy kept up between Germany and France . Findel says that French influence first began

to show itself in the German lodges through the introduction of the Scotch lodges , of which the first was founded in Berlin , in 1742 , from members of the Lodge " Three Globes . "

Another was formed by Count Schmettau in Hamburg , in 1744 ; another at Leipzig , in 1747 , ind another at Frankfort , in 1753 . From this

period , he says , we may date the use of the word " nochwurdig" ( Right Worshipful ) in the rough minutes of the lodges , instead of the . more simple one of " chrwurdig ( venerable ) .

Surely , Bro . Findel will hardly say that venerable , which is of distinctly French origin , and is the title of the W . M . in French and Belgian lodges , is mere ancient or more Masonic than that of

Right Worship ful . The latter title was formerly used in the old lodges , and is even now adopted by the Master in Scotland , but is very properly , being the style ,

heraldically speaking , of a Knight , restricted tc Prov . Grand Masters in England . Esquire , as everyone knows , is a title of worship , to use heraldic language ; and thus Justices of the Peace )

being Esquires by virtue of their office , are properly ^ styled " Your Worship , " A " Masonic Student , " in a recentcoiiimunication to the Freemason , says that the old Freemasons ranked as

gentlemen ( generosus ) . One of the objections made to the theory that the Knights Templar ever joined the Masonic body , has been that a chivalric body which , obliged the candidates for

the white mantle to be Knights previous to investiture , and exacted proof of coat armour , would scarcely admit handicraftsmen like Freemasons ; but if a "Masonic Student" is correct , there

would not have been anything out of the way in their admitting into their ranks the Freemasons , if they ranked as gentlemen , possibly through the ranks of esquires and serving brethren , as many distinguished people joined them in this

way . Does Bro . Findel know that the title Venerable is in England confined to Archdeacons , and does he , I wonder , immediately trace clerical

influence or Jesuitry in the appellation , as applied to foreign lodges , as he seems to do elsewhere ? By the way , the address of the Chevalier Ramsey , alluded to by Findel , is , like most other things

in Masonry , repudiated by some very worthy people . Air . Pinkerton , a rabid anti-Mason , in writing

to Antes au < l Queries sometime since , asserted his belief that Ramsey , who , he says , was a good Catholic , " was never a Mason at all . "

Amongst others who propagated the High degrees in Germany , was the Marquis de Lerney , who went to Berlin as a prisoner of war , taking with him documents from the Chapter of

Clermont . He succeeded better than Baron Von Marschall , as he established a chapter of his own . Of Baron Von I luiide , before alluded to , it is said that he declared that in 1743 he had taken

the chair in a foreign lodge in Paris , and had there become acquainted with several Scotch brethren and adherents of the Pretender , and that from them he had received his first idea of the higher degrees in Freemasonry . Lord Kilmar-

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

noch , in the presence of Lord Clifford , had made him a Templar , and introduced him to the Pretender . Findel , speaking of him , says that he was

indisputably the most active instrument in spreading the Masonic Order of the Knights Templar in Germany . He describes him as a rich nobleman from the Lansitz , an upright and well

meaning man . " He was admitted , so Findel tells us , as a Mason at Frankfort-on-the-Maine , it appears , in 1741 , probably by French brethren , and thus

brought into contact with the English refugees living in France . While residing in'Paris he received intimation of the existence of the Order of Kni g hts Templar in the Scottish islands , and

firmly believing in their genuineness , permitted himself to be nominated Grand Master of the seventh province . After his second residence in Paris he returned to his estates , and there in

1743 , with several of the brethren who were well known to him , he began to work , and on June 24 th , 1751 , he established the lodge of the "Three Pillars" in Kittlitz , which

forthwith became associated with Nuremburg Lodge , Many brethren of rank were made Kni ghts , and his , system , which was called the Rite of Strict Observance , became the , ' system of Masonry

adopted by the Grand Lodge of Germany . By the way it has often struck me that if Bro . Findel and his friends are ri ght , and if we as Freemasons , are d escendants of the Craftsmen ,

and never had any connection with the chivalric bodies , how comes it we that give our Provincial Grand Masters the title of Knight ? How comes it that so many members of Heralds '

College , including the present Garter King at Arms have joined us ? How comes it that our Grand Masters , Grand Wardens , and Provincial Grand Masters wear chains of gold like knightly collars of S . S . ? and we have such heraldic titles

in our Grand and Provincial Grand Lodges as Poursinvant ? How comes it that works like Hutchinson ' s •' Spirit of Masonry " which claims a distinct chivalric origin to Masonry , ( which it

dates from the Crusades ) , should be written in the last century , and dedicated by permission to the then Grand Master , Lord Petre ? How is it that our Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand

clothing should be Garter blue in England , whilst in Scotland it is green , the colour of the Order of the Thistle r Wh y is it that the Provincial Grand Masters there wear golden chains of office

formed of thistles linked together , and fastened by green ribbon , and the Grand Master wears a magnificent jewel set in diamonds with the figure of St . Andrew and his cross upon it ?

St . Andrew , be it remembered , being the Patron Saint of Scotland and of the Order named , whilst Masonry in Scotland is called St . John ' s Masonry ? If a chivalric connection with

Masonry is so absurd , why is it allowed to be symbolised in this way ? Findel says that the breast of the members of the higher degrees in Sweden is adorned with St . Andrew ' s cross ,

because St . Andrew was the first disciple who followed the true Master . I merely put these queries for the benefit of the curious enquirer in Heraldic and Masonic