Correspondence.

these evidences , because , if they can be made plain or clear , the whole question in dispute is at an end . What evidence , then , I would ask , is there of any such encampment having been formed at Bristol ? "Encampment" is a word of very modern use indeed , and unknown to the old Knights Templar .

" Preceptory " was the name given to tire homes of Templars , or the word " Temple , " conjoined with the local name , as Temple Hurst , Temple Newsam , and Temple Thorpe . As far as I have yet seen , "Encampment" is purely a word of Masonic use . Historically , too , this

connection of Richard I . with the Templars seems very questionable , as it is well known how opposed to him on all occasions were the soldiery of the Temple , and how serious was the dissension between them . Perhaps , all that the writer means to say is that the Templars who returned to England when King

Richard was imprisoned in Germany formed such an encampment at Bristol . But yet , historically , such an assertion requires great proof . What , then , is really the amount of evidence existing which connects the Baldwin Encampment with an actual preceptory of Knights Templar ?

Again , is it quite correct to say that , from the three encampments at Bath , Bristol , and York , the present Masonic Knight Templary has descended , and that thus a lineal connection exists between the Grand Conclave of to-day and the old Knights Templar ? What the history of tho Bath Encamp-

Correspondence.

ment may be I know not , hut that of York is very modern indeed , the original warrant being still in existence , and not later than the middle or latter part of the 18 th century . At the suppression of the actual Templar Order in England , in pursuance of the decision of the Ecclesiastical Council at York ,

all the northern Knights Templar then arrested and present Avere dispersed among the northern monasteries , where they died , and the southern Knights Templar are generally believed to have been admitted into the Hospitallers . A " Knight Templar " may have other evidences

forwhat he claims , but , so far , in my humble studies I have not met with any . As regards the French Templars , a great deal may be said pro and con the charter of transmission . No doubt , as a Knight Templar most correctly states , there is such an order yet existing in Paris , though

I believe in comparative decadence , and in one of their authorised publications they undoubtedly claim , as a Knight Templar asserts , direct descent from the old Templars and Jacques de Molay . But he also probably knows that a good deal of doubt has been thrown upon their claimsandif I remember rightly

, , , the Scotch Templars repudiate them altogether . I think also Burnes alludes to the subject , and , before I write again , I will see what they say . I feel I have submitted however , enough doubts and queries for to-day . Yours fraternally , A MASONIC STUDENT .

The Pen-And-Ink Sketches Of One Fang.

THE PEN-AND-INK SKETCHES OF ONE FANG .

( Continued from page 32 , JS o . 367 . ) No . 15 .

THE WHEEL OF THE IMMOVEABLE BUDDHA .