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Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.
to expose the guilt of the Order , when the Master interrupted him , aud thus spoke , taking all the spectators to Avitness : — "' Itis just that , in so terrible a day , and iu the last moments of my life , I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood , and make the truth to triumph . I declarethenin the face of heaven and earthand
, , , acknowledge , though to my eternal shame , that I have committed the greatest of crimes ; but it has been the acknowledging of those which have been so foully charged on the Order . I attest , and truth obliges me to attest , that it is innocent . I made the contrary declaration only to suspend the excessive pains of
torture , and to mollify those who made me endure them . I know the punishments which have been inflicted on all the knights AVIIO had the courage to revoke a similar confession ; hut tlie dreadful spectacle which is presented to me is not able to make me confirm one lie by another . The life offered me on such
infamous terms I abandon without regret . ' " Molay was follotvecl by Guy in his assertion ot the innocence of the Order ; the other two remained silent . The commissioners were confounded , and stopped . The intelligence was conveyed to the king , who , instantly calling his council together , without any spiritual person being present , condemned the two knights to the flame .
" A pile was erected on that point of the islet in the Seine , where afterwards was erected the statute of Henry IV ., and the folloAviug clay Molay and his companion were brought forth and placed upon it . They still persisted in their assertion of the innocence of the Order . The flames Avere first applied to their feetthen to their more'Vital parts . The fcetid
, smell of their burning flesh infected the surrounding air , and added to their torments ; yet still they persevered in their declarations . At length death terminated their misery . The spectators shed tears at the view of their constancy , and during the night their ashes were gathered up to be preserved as relics .
" It is mentioned as a tradition , hy some historians , that Molay , ere he expired , summoned Clement to appear Avithiu forty days before the Supreme Judge , and Philip to the same tribunal within the space of a year . The pontiff actually did . die of a cholic on the nig ht of the 19 th of the folloAving month , and , the
church iu which his body was laid taking- fire , the corpse was half consumed . The king , before the year had elapsed , died of a fall from his horse . Most probably it Avas these events which gave rise to the tradition , which testifies the general belief of the innocence of the Templars . It was also remarked that all the active jiersecutors of the Order perished by premature or violent deaths .
" It remains to discuss the tAvo following points : — Did the religio-inilitary Order of the Knig hts Templar hold a secret doctrine subversive of religion and morality ? Has the Order been continued down to our own days ? " We have seen what the evidence against the Temlars wasand it is very plain that . such evidence
p , would not be admitted in any modern court of justice . It was either hearsay , or g iven by persons utterly unworthy of credit , or wrung from the accused by agony and torture . The articles themselves are absurd and contradictory . Are we to believe that the same men had adopted the pure deism
of the Mohammedans , aud Avere guilty of a species of idolatry * almost too gross for the lowest superstition ?' But when did this corruption commence among the Templars ? Were those Avhom St . Bernard praised as models of Christian zeal and piety , and whom the whole Christian world admired and revered , engaged iu a secret conspiracy against reli g ion and
government ? Tes , boldly replies Hammer , the tAvo humble and p ious kni g hts who founded the Order Avere the pupils and secret allies of the Mohammedan Ismailites . This was going too far for Wilkie , and he thinks that the guilt of introducing the secret doctrine lies on the chaplains ; for he could discern that the doctrines of
gnosticism , which tho Templars are supposed to have held , were beyond the comprehension of illiterate kni ghts , who , though they could fight and pray , were but ill qualified to enter into the mazes of mystic metaphysics . According , therefore , to one party , the whole Order was corrupt from top to bottom ,
according to another , the secrets Avere confined to a feAV , and contrary to all analogy , the heads of the Order were frequently in ignorance of them . Neither offer anything like evidence in support of their assumption . " The real guilt of the Templars was their wealth and their pride ; t the last alienated the people fromthem , the former excited the cupidity of the King of France . Far be it from us to maintain that the
morals ofthe Templars Avere purer than those of the other religious orders . With such ample means as they possessed of indulging all their appetites and passions , it would be contrary to all experience to suppose that they always restrained them , and we will eveu concede that some of their members were
obnoxious to charges of deism , impiety , breaches of their religious vows , and gross licentiousness . Weonly deny that such were the rules of the Order . Had they not been so devoted as they Avere to the Holy See they would perhaps have come doAvn tons as unsullied as the knig hts of St . John ; J but they
sided Avith Pope Boniface against Philip the Fair , and a subservient pontiff sacrificed to his oivn avarice and personal ambition the most devoted adherents of the court of Eome . § " We make little doubt that anyone who cooly and candidly considers the preceding account of the
manner in which the Order was suppressed will readily concede that the guilt of its members was anything but proved . It behoves their modern impuguers to furnish some stronger proofs than any they have as yet brought foi'Avard . The chief adversary of the Templars at the present day is a Avriter whose veracity aud love of justice are beyond suspicion , and who has earned for himself enduring fame by his labours in the field of Oriental literature , but in .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
to expose the guilt of the Order , when the Master interrupted him , aud thus spoke , taking all the spectators to Avitness : — "' Itis just that , in so terrible a day , and iu the last moments of my life , I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood , and make the truth to triumph . I declarethenin the face of heaven and earthand
, , , acknowledge , though to my eternal shame , that I have committed the greatest of crimes ; but it has been the acknowledging of those which have been so foully charged on the Order . I attest , and truth obliges me to attest , that it is innocent . I made the contrary declaration only to suspend the excessive pains of
torture , and to mollify those who made me endure them . I know the punishments which have been inflicted on all the knights AVIIO had the courage to revoke a similar confession ; hut tlie dreadful spectacle which is presented to me is not able to make me confirm one lie by another . The life offered me on such
infamous terms I abandon without regret . ' " Molay was follotvecl by Guy in his assertion ot the innocence of the Order ; the other two remained silent . The commissioners were confounded , and stopped . The intelligence was conveyed to the king , who , instantly calling his council together , without any spiritual person being present , condemned the two knights to the flame .
" A pile was erected on that point of the islet in the Seine , where afterwards was erected the statute of Henry IV ., and the folloAviug clay Molay and his companion were brought forth and placed upon it . They still persisted in their assertion of the innocence of the Order . The flames Avere first applied to their feetthen to their more'Vital parts . The fcetid
, smell of their burning flesh infected the surrounding air , and added to their torments ; yet still they persevered in their declarations . At length death terminated their misery . The spectators shed tears at the view of their constancy , and during the night their ashes were gathered up to be preserved as relics .
" It is mentioned as a tradition , hy some historians , that Molay , ere he expired , summoned Clement to appear Avithiu forty days before the Supreme Judge , and Philip to the same tribunal within the space of a year . The pontiff actually did . die of a cholic on the nig ht of the 19 th of the folloAving month , and , the
church iu which his body was laid taking- fire , the corpse was half consumed . The king , before the year had elapsed , died of a fall from his horse . Most probably it Avas these events which gave rise to the tradition , which testifies the general belief of the innocence of the Templars . It was also remarked that all the active jiersecutors of the Order perished by premature or violent deaths .
" It remains to discuss the tAvo following points : — Did the religio-inilitary Order of the Knig hts Templar hold a secret doctrine subversive of religion and morality ? Has the Order been continued down to our own days ? " We have seen what the evidence against the Temlars wasand it is very plain that . such evidence
p , would not be admitted in any modern court of justice . It was either hearsay , or g iven by persons utterly unworthy of credit , or wrung from the accused by agony and torture . The articles themselves are absurd and contradictory . Are we to believe that the same men had adopted the pure deism
of the Mohammedans , aud Avere guilty of a species of idolatry * almost too gross for the lowest superstition ?' But when did this corruption commence among the Templars ? Were those Avhom St . Bernard praised as models of Christian zeal and piety , and whom the whole Christian world admired and revered , engaged iu a secret conspiracy against reli g ion and
government ? Tes , boldly replies Hammer , the tAvo humble and p ious kni g hts who founded the Order Avere the pupils and secret allies of the Mohammedan Ismailites . This was going too far for Wilkie , and he thinks that the guilt of introducing the secret doctrine lies on the chaplains ; for he could discern that the doctrines of
gnosticism , which tho Templars are supposed to have held , were beyond the comprehension of illiterate kni ghts , who , though they could fight and pray , were but ill qualified to enter into the mazes of mystic metaphysics . According , therefore , to one party , the whole Order was corrupt from top to bottom ,
according to another , the secrets Avere confined to a feAV , and contrary to all analogy , the heads of the Order were frequently in ignorance of them . Neither offer anything like evidence in support of their assumption . " The real guilt of the Templars was their wealth and their pride ; t the last alienated the people fromthem , the former excited the cupidity of the King of France . Far be it from us to maintain that the
morals ofthe Templars Avere purer than those of the other religious orders . With such ample means as they possessed of indulging all their appetites and passions , it would be contrary to all experience to suppose that they always restrained them , and we will eveu concede that some of their members were
obnoxious to charges of deism , impiety , breaches of their religious vows , and gross licentiousness . Weonly deny that such were the rules of the Order . Had they not been so devoted as they Avere to the Holy See they would perhaps have come doAvn tons as unsullied as the knig hts of St . John ; J but they
sided Avith Pope Boniface against Philip the Fair , and a subservient pontiff sacrificed to his oivn avarice and personal ambition the most devoted adherents of the court of Eome . § " We make little doubt that anyone who cooly and candidly considers the preceding account of the
manner in which the Order was suppressed will readily concede that the guilt of its members was anything but proved . It behoves their modern impuguers to furnish some stronger proofs than any they have as yet brought foi'Avard . The chief adversary of the Templars at the present day is a Avriter whose veracity aud love of justice are beyond suspicion , and who has earned for himself enduring fame by his labours in the field of Oriental literature , but in .