The Knights Templars.

nary manner , and under circumstances which render the whole charges made against the Order suspicious and improbable . The news of this sedition , the active share taken in it by the two degraded Templars , ancl the

hatred which the King bore towards the Order , soon spread through France . Nothing was talked of but the King ' s desire to ruin the Order ; and there is little doubt that emissaries of Philip were actively employed through France in collecting

matter prejudicial to the Knights . The governor of a castle in Languedoc was the first to fire the train of destruction . On hearing of the King's anger and wish for vengeance , he sent a letter to Philip , stating that there was a prisoner confined

in a dungeon of his castle , lying under sentence of death for a capital crime , who was in possession of a secret of such importance , that it could only be confided to the king . The secret , he added , was of so much importance , that he felt sure the

King would rather lose his crown than be ignorant of it . Upon receipt of this letter , Philip was moved with a lively curiosity ; he commanded the citizen to be brought before him at Paris , and in the meantime suspended the sentence for his execution . The citizen accordingly , well bound

and under the charge of a strong military escort , was sent to Paris , and upon his arrival was at once conducted into the royal presence . He cast himself at the feet of the King , and begged for his life in return for the secret he had to divulge .

This the King promised him , providing that his tidings should be of that value which he ascribed to them . The citizen then stated that , having been condemned to death along with an apostate Templar , he was placed in the same dungeon with

him . They were denied the privilege of confession , as it was not the custom to permit a priest to administer the sacrament of penance to criminals accused of such crime as they were condemned to death for committing . Consequently

, they did , as had been often done before b y criminals in their condition—they confessed to one another . The Templar , in his confession , spoke in general terms of the immorality which reigned in the Order , ? nd hinted at certain abominations

committed by the members at the reception of the Knights , so terrible and execrable , that he , the repository of this confession , thought it was for the interest of the kingdom and Christianity that Philip should be informed of such things existing among a body of men reputed to be so godly .

The Knights Templars.

He then charged the Knights with a disbelief in God , of denying Jesus Christ , and of practising crimes which cannot be named . ( To be continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

I-EEEMASOJrBX . PEOGBESS , EPOCHS . Freemasonry , like all other human institutions , is subject to the law of progress , and has its epochs . These epochs are seven , and at each of them Freemasonry underwent considerable changes . The first epoch may be called pre-historic . The second epoch

is the middle of the seventeenth century . The third epoch is the last part of that century . The fourth epoch is the early part of the eighteenth century . The sixth epoch is the last part of that century ; and the seventh epoch is the early part of the present century . —From a bundle of old Masonic notes in Bro .. PUUTON COOMB ' S possession .

SUPREME COUNCILSThe Supreme Council of England I have always understood to be the chief and mother Supreme Council of the world . "What Supreme Councils are derived from it , and by what Councils is it recognised ? I am not able to ascertain this in the usual course . — R ^< .

THE TBIJE EEEEMASOITEY . " The intolerance which would be incompatible with true Freemasonry , " Freemasons' Magazine , vol . 15 , page 433 . It is there stated , " Should Christian , Mahoinmedan , Jewish , or Parsee Freemasonry bar the entrance of an individual into the lodge , on the

ground that he acknowledged no other religion except natural religion , that would , in my judgment , he incompatible with true Freemasonry "—meaning the true Freemasonry . " Toleration of true Freemasonry , " ibid vol . 16 , page 350 . There it is stated that " the Freemasonry which does not tolerate the Theism of natural religion is not true Freemasonry "—meaning the true

Freemasonry . " Christian , Jewish , Parsee , and Mahommedan Freemasonry , " ibid page 426 . It is there said that " by the adoption of the wise toleration existing in English Freemasonry , the toleration of all other religions in which there is a recognition of the Great Architect of the Universe and a belief in the soul's

immortality , the particular Freemasonry becomes universal ( the term universal being taken according to its correct signification ) , and therefore true Freemasonry "—that is to say the true Freemasonry . —• C . P . COOPEE .

SQUARE AND COMPASSES . Are these emblems , affixed to a tavern or beershop , any safe indication that the keeper is a Mason ? Do they not rather give a suspicious character to the house ? Will it not be safer for a tavern-keeper , who is a Mason , not to mix himself up with the general herd of Masons and non-Masons by appearing to tout , but to abstain from putting up suspicious emblems ?—IGNOTUS .