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Article among their ranks were many learned eccl... Page 1 of 12 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Among Their Ranks Were Many Learned Eccl...
among their ranks were many learned ecclesiastics ^ whose names survive to the present day in the magnificent edifices which they assisted to erect . The Knights of the Temple , themselves a body of military monks , partaking both of the character of soldiers and
priests , preserved in their Order a rank exclusively clerical , the individuals belonging to which took no part in warfare , who were skilled in letters , and devoted themselves to the civil religious affairs of the Order , —they were the historians of the period , and we know that all the learning of the time was in their keeping , in common with the other ecclesiastics of the time . Prom the best information we are
possessed of regarding the Order , we believe there can be little doubt that these learned clerks introduced the whole fabric of craft Masonry into the body of the Templars , and that not only was the speculative branch of the science by them incorporated with the laws and organization of the Knights , but to their operative skill were the
Templars indebted for their triumphs in architecture and fortification . And it is worthy of remark , that in the records of the Order we find no mention of individual architects or builders ; we may therefore not unfairly draw the inference that the whole body were made participators in the knowledge and mysteries of the Craft .
A far different origin and organization than that of Freemasonry has been attributed to the Order of Templars ; and to this we will shortly allude , more perhaps to the amusement than the edification of our readers . The argument which we are now about to examine , is curious as showing how far the power of prejudice can warp the
mind and opinions of a learned and industrious student . Von Hammer , who has acquired a well-deserved and extended celebrity as an antiquary and a historian , has actually attempted to identify the Templars and Freemasons with the celebrated eastern sect of Assassins . Speaking of the extent and influence of the latter body , he says : —
" The Templars incoiiirovertibly stand in the next rank to them ; their secret maxims , particularly in so far as relates to the renunciation of positive religion , and the extension of their power by the acquisition of castles and strong places , seem to have been the same as those of the Order of Assassins . The accordance , likewise , of the white dress and red fillet of the Assassins , with the white mantle and red < cross of the Templars , is certainly remarky
ably striking . " ^ "* ' " The Assassins were a branch of the Ismaelites , the proper illuminati of the east . The institution of their Lodge , with the various grades of initiation , agree , completely with what we have heard and read in our own days concerning secret revolutionary societies ; and they coincide not less in the form of their constitution , than in the common object of declaring all kings and priests superfluous ! The ostensible object of this institution was in itself sufficiently laudable , and the
exoteric doctrine had merely for its object the extension of knowledge and the mutual support of the members . The greater number of the members were certainly deceived into good faith by the fair exterior of a beneficent , philanthrppical knowledge , spreading far and wide ; they were a kind of Preemasons . As in the west , revolutionary societies arose from the hosom of the Freemasons , so in the east , did the Assassins spring from the Ismaelites , " ' 3 Q 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Among Their Ranks Were Many Learned Eccl...
among their ranks were many learned ecclesiastics ^ whose names survive to the present day in the magnificent edifices which they assisted to erect . The Knights of the Temple , themselves a body of military monks , partaking both of the character of soldiers and
priests , preserved in their Order a rank exclusively clerical , the individuals belonging to which took no part in warfare , who were skilled in letters , and devoted themselves to the civil religious affairs of the Order , —they were the historians of the period , and we know that all the learning of the time was in their keeping , in common with the other ecclesiastics of the time . Prom the best information we are
possessed of regarding the Order , we believe there can be little doubt that these learned clerks introduced the whole fabric of craft Masonry into the body of the Templars , and that not only was the speculative branch of the science by them incorporated with the laws and organization of the Knights , but to their operative skill were the
Templars indebted for their triumphs in architecture and fortification . And it is worthy of remark , that in the records of the Order we find no mention of individual architects or builders ; we may therefore not unfairly draw the inference that the whole body were made participators in the knowledge and mysteries of the Craft .
A far different origin and organization than that of Freemasonry has been attributed to the Order of Templars ; and to this we will shortly allude , more perhaps to the amusement than the edification of our readers . The argument which we are now about to examine , is curious as showing how far the power of prejudice can warp the
mind and opinions of a learned and industrious student . Von Hammer , who has acquired a well-deserved and extended celebrity as an antiquary and a historian , has actually attempted to identify the Templars and Freemasons with the celebrated eastern sect of Assassins . Speaking of the extent and influence of the latter body , he says : —
" The Templars incoiiirovertibly stand in the next rank to them ; their secret maxims , particularly in so far as relates to the renunciation of positive religion , and the extension of their power by the acquisition of castles and strong places , seem to have been the same as those of the Order of Assassins . The accordance , likewise , of the white dress and red fillet of the Assassins , with the white mantle and red < cross of the Templars , is certainly remarky
ably striking . " ^ "* ' " The Assassins were a branch of the Ismaelites , the proper illuminati of the east . The institution of their Lodge , with the various grades of initiation , agree , completely with what we have heard and read in our own days concerning secret revolutionary societies ; and they coincide not less in the form of their constitution , than in the common object of declaring all kings and priests superfluous ! The ostensible object of this institution was in itself sufficiently laudable , and the
exoteric doctrine had merely for its object the extension of knowledge and the mutual support of the members . The greater number of the members were certainly deceived into good faith by the fair exterior of a beneficent , philanthrppical knowledge , spreading far and wide ; they were a kind of Preemasons . As in the west , revolutionary societies arose from the hosom of the Freemasons , so in the east , did the Assassins spring from the Ismaelites , " ' 3 Q 2