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Article among their ranks were many learned eccl... ← Page 5 of 12 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Among Their Ranks Were Many Learned Eccl...
oratory reminded passengers that the bridge they were crossing was the work of charity . y . " The clergy , who were rich , and could only display their opulence in buildings , made it their glory to erect churches . To complete their work , they called in the aid of painting and sculpture , which , like architecture , owed their first encouragement to piety , and whose earliest masterpieces were consecrated to " the ornamenting of the altars of the Christian religion .
" Nothing was more common than to see noble Crusaders , on their departure for Palestine , or on their return to the west , found a monastery or a church . Several pilgrims are named , who , on coming back from Jerusalem , employed their treasures in constructing churches , the form of which' might offer them an image of the holy sepulchre they had visited . The treasures " . conquered from the infidels , were often appropriated to such buildings . "
Numerous indeed have beenthe conjectures , and various the writers upon the interesting subject of the secret associations and practices of the early Crusaders . Some of these authors have brought to bear upon the subject much learning and archaeological knowledge , whilst others are more distinguished for the enthusiastic views they hold upon the subject , than for any great value that can be attached to their real or supposed discoveries . Prejudice and ignorance have of course been frequently busy in detraction of these Orders , as
being more or less connected with the essence of Masonry ; w e have , however the satisfaction of knowing that while those writers wdio have attacked the Templars are gradually sinking into well-deserved obscurity , there is on the other hand a brilliant galaxy of advocates of the Masonic and general virtues of the Knights . A somewhat peculiar theory as to the Masonic customs of the Knights was held by Hutchinson , who in his " Spirit of Masonry" ( a work which claims for our institution a far more exalted origin than the mere practice of building ) , has the following remarkable observations : —
"No sooner was Christianity fully developed in this land ( England ) than all Europe was inflamed with the cry and madness of an enthusiastic monk , Peter the Hermit , who prompted the zealots in religion to the holy war ; in which for the purpose of recovering the holy city and Judea out of the hands of the infidels , armed legions of saints , devotees , and enthusiasts , in tens of thousands , poured forth from every state of Europe , to waste their blood and treasure in a purpose as barren and unprofitable as it was impolitic .
"It was deemed necessary that those who took up the ensign of the cross in this enterprise should form themselves into such societies as might secure them from spies and treacheries ; and that each might know his companion and brother , as well in the dark as by day . As it was with Jeptha ' s army at the passes of the Jordan , so also was it requisite in these expeditions that certain signs , signals , watchwords or
pass-words should be known amongst them ; for the armies consisted of various nations , and divers languages . No project or device could answer the purposes of the crusaders better than those of Masonry : —the maxims and ceremonials attending the Master ' s order had been previously established , and were materially necessary on 'that expedition ; for as the Mohammedans w ^ re also worshippers e-f the Deity , and as the cftterpriserp
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Among Their Ranks Were Many Learned Eccl...
oratory reminded passengers that the bridge they were crossing was the work of charity . y . " The clergy , who were rich , and could only display their opulence in buildings , made it their glory to erect churches . To complete their work , they called in the aid of painting and sculpture , which , like architecture , owed their first encouragement to piety , and whose earliest masterpieces were consecrated to " the ornamenting of the altars of the Christian religion .
" Nothing was more common than to see noble Crusaders , on their departure for Palestine , or on their return to the west , found a monastery or a church . Several pilgrims are named , who , on coming back from Jerusalem , employed their treasures in constructing churches , the form of which' might offer them an image of the holy sepulchre they had visited . The treasures " . conquered from the infidels , were often appropriated to such buildings . "
Numerous indeed have beenthe conjectures , and various the writers upon the interesting subject of the secret associations and practices of the early Crusaders . Some of these authors have brought to bear upon the subject much learning and archaeological knowledge , whilst others are more distinguished for the enthusiastic views they hold upon the subject , than for any great value that can be attached to their real or supposed discoveries . Prejudice and ignorance have of course been frequently busy in detraction of these Orders , as
being more or less connected with the essence of Masonry ; w e have , however the satisfaction of knowing that while those writers wdio have attacked the Templars are gradually sinking into well-deserved obscurity , there is on the other hand a brilliant galaxy of advocates of the Masonic and general virtues of the Knights . A somewhat peculiar theory as to the Masonic customs of the Knights was held by Hutchinson , who in his " Spirit of Masonry" ( a work which claims for our institution a far more exalted origin than the mere practice of building ) , has the following remarkable observations : —
"No sooner was Christianity fully developed in this land ( England ) than all Europe was inflamed with the cry and madness of an enthusiastic monk , Peter the Hermit , who prompted the zealots in religion to the holy war ; in which for the purpose of recovering the holy city and Judea out of the hands of the infidels , armed legions of saints , devotees , and enthusiasts , in tens of thousands , poured forth from every state of Europe , to waste their blood and treasure in a purpose as barren and unprofitable as it was impolitic .
"It was deemed necessary that those who took up the ensign of the cross in this enterprise should form themselves into such societies as might secure them from spies and treacheries ; and that each might know his companion and brother , as well in the dark as by day . As it was with Jeptha ' s army at the passes of the Jordan , so also was it requisite in these expeditions that certain signs , signals , watchwords or
pass-words should be known amongst them ; for the armies consisted of various nations , and divers languages . No project or device could answer the purposes of the crusaders better than those of Masonry : —the maxims and ceremonials attending the Master ' s order had been previously established , and were materially necessary on 'that expedition ; for as the Mohammedans w ^ re also worshippers e-f the Deity , and as the cftterpriserp