Masonic Notes And Queries.

life , gains the ascendancy This supposed modern form of delusion has been in existence in the middle empire for centuries . "—Blackwood . There is much to lead one to believe that the mystery , made of the sacrament of the Lord ' s Supper by the gnostics , was an application of these rites . Those whom it may concern will readily understand the foregoing . —A .

THE KNIGHTS HOSriTALLEKS 01 ? ST . JOUN OE JERUSALEM . [ Our contemporary Notes and Queries has some further ¦ communications on the above Order in the number for March , which we extract for the benefit of those amongst our readers , to whom they may be welcome , either histori > cally , or as Knights of Malta . ] As some of your correspondents are curious about the

Order of St . John , I send you a translation of an official -document , which will interest them . It was sent to me ¦ b y order of the Grand Mastership , and , in obedience to ' ¦ the same authority , I transmitted copies thereof ( the receipt of which was duly acknowledged ) to H . R . H . the Prince Consort , then the only British subject having the ' -Grand Cross , to the Lord Chamberlain , the Home

Secretary , and the Heralds' College . Your judicious -correspondent " Historicus" is quite right in holding that the Pope is not Grand Prior . His holiness , liow'ever , has the appointment of the Grand Prior of Eome by convention with the Order ; and the present Grand Prior of Eome is Cardinal Patrizi . As for the capitular

commission , sitting at Paris in 1814 , the faculties under which it was constituted are in the Archives at Rome , ; and they restrict its powers to the affairs relating to the Prench languages , which , it was hoped , might be reconstituted . The commission was created by the Grand Master and Council , and in 1826 it was dissolved by the same authority . I need scarcely say that the

commission had no power to , and did not , reconstitute or revive 'the Langue of England , and on that subject the enclosed ideclaration of the supreme authority of the Order will ¦ suffice . —GEORGE BOWYEB .

" The undersigned knights and functionaries of the Sovereign Order of St . John of Jerusalem have become acquainted with a book , entitled Synoptical Sketch , cfc , published in London by a society calling itself Sovereign Order of St . John of Jerusalem , . Anglia ; and having observed in the lists contained therein their own names as well as that of his most Reverend Excellency , Bro . Philip de Colloredo , Lieutenant of the Grand Mastership , residing temporarily at Romethe sole lawful successor of the

, Grand Masters and Lieutenants of the Grand Mastership of the Order of St . John of Jerusalem who resided successively at Jerusalem , at Rhodes , at Malta , at St . Petersburgh , at Catania , at Ferrara , and lastly at Rome ; and fearing lest erroneous deductions should be made in consequence of the appearance of those names in the above mentioned lists , —Declare in the name and by command of His Excellency the "Venerable Lieutenant

of the Grand Mastership and in their own names , that the Order of St . John of Jerusalem , of which His Excellency is the Chief , has never been in any connexion with the above mentioned society , either at its origin or subsequently , —nor with regard to its organisation , the persons who composed it , nor its action .

"Ihe Grand Priories of the Order in the Langues of Italy and Germany , which alone have a legitimate existence according to the Statues of the Order , and are in communion of jurisdiction and obedience with the Grand Mastership and Council , resident temporarily at Rome , are as lollows : 1 . The Grand Priory of Rome . 2 . The Grand Priory , Lombardo-Venetian , 3 ncluding Parma and Modena . 3 . The Grand Priory of the two Sicilies . 4 . The Grand Priory of Bohemia .

" The existence of the Knights of St . John in Prussia , who trace their origin by a lawful and uninterrupted succession to tie Antient Grand Balliage of Brandenburg , is recognised by the Order as legal , although that branch has been placed for several centuries , by special reasons , out of the ordinary and « ontinuous jurisdiction of the Grand Mastership . "The small number of Knights of Justice , and of Knights decorated with the Cross of Devotion , who , by their birthplace « o not belong to any one of the Priories or Langues still legally «» sting , are recognised by our Order solely because and

inasmuch as they have been received by the mastership and council in sinu Seligionis , or they have been admitted by Bulls of de-Devotion duly delivered by the same authority . "Beyond and out of the above mentioned Langues and Priories , and excepting the Knights created and constituted as aforesaid , all those who may so call or entitle themselves are legally ignored by our Sacred Order . Therefore His Excellency the chief of our Orderand the

, undersigned , desire and demand that their names be erased , and declare that they regard their names to be already erased from the lists published in the Synoptical Sketch , in which they have no right to be included . "Done at Rome in the Magisterial Palace of the S . Order of St . John of Jerusalem , 16 Dec , 1858 . ( Seal ) " The Commander ( Count ) Bro . Averardo , De

Medici Spada , Vice Chancellor of the S . Order of St . John of Jerusalem . ( Seal ) " The Knight ( Count ) Louis de Gozze , Magisterial Secretary of the same Order . " I am happy in being able to give your correspondent " Historicus " some details with reference to the Prench Capitular Commission . At the breaking out of the

Prench Revolution , this was the state of the possessions of the Order of Malta in the three languages of Prance : — I . Provence contained : — Tvio Priories 83 Commanderies . ( 1 Magisterial . 1 . St . Giles ) 47 ° l ¥ -ni ^ ks- , 1 1 of Patronatus

Jus . C 4 of Chaplains and Serving Brothers . C 1 Magisterial . 2 . Toulouse ] 24 of Knights . ( . 5 of Chaplains and Serving Brothers . And one Bailiwick , that of Monasque . II . Auvergne contained : — One Priory 52 Coinmandries .

C 1 Magisterial . Auvergne . < 40 of Knights . ( . 11 of Chaplains and Serving Brothers . And one Bailiwick , that of Lyons . III . France contained : — Three Priories 113 Commanderies . C 2 Magisterial . 1 . France . j 45 of Knights . 11 of Brothers and lains

( . Serving Chap . C 1 Magisterial . 2 . Aquitaine < 25 of Knights . ( . 5 of Chaplains and Serving'Brothers . ( 1 Magisterial . 3 . Champagne < 17 of Knights . ( . 6 of Chaplains and Serving Brothers . I am not prepared to state what was the worth of these six priories , two bailiwicks , and 248 commanderies : but

the responsions which they paid into the Treasury of the Order , in 1788 , amounted to £ 58 , 040 12 s . 2 cZ . Of course , when the Republicans sequestrated all the property of the Order in Prance , the deficit of nearly £ 60 , 000 to the Treasury was a heavy blow , especially as all the Prench exiled Knights had to be supported by the Treasury . At the restoration of the legitimate dynasty in 1814 , it

was considered advisable that the interests of the Order in Prance should not be overlooked ; and for this object the existing Knights of the ci-devant Prench languages formed a ^ commission , which should represent those three languages ; and endeavour , if possible , to obtain the restoration of what remained unsold of their former possessions . According to the Art de Verifier les Bates ,

this commission was named by the Knights , and approved of by the Lieutenant of the Magistery and Sacred Council in 1814 . The reclamation which this Commission addressed to the Chambers , in 1815 , was signed by the Prince Camille de Rohan , President Ordinaire , - Le Bailli de Clugni , President ; Le Commandeur de Bataille , representant la Langue ' , de France ;

Le Commandeur de Peyre de Chateauneuf , representant la Langua de Provence ; Le Commandeur de Dienne , representant la Langue d'Auvergne . The Bailli de Clugni died in Pebruary , 1816 : and the Bailli Prince de Rohan ,