Masonic Notes And Queries.

Order could not have been in tho disintegrated state in which it is represented to have been . "In tho close of 1814 , a General Chapter of the French langues took place in Paris for the purpose of electing a permanent Capitulary Commission , and declaring the executive Government of the Order concentrated in such Commission , with plenary power to regulate all civil and financial affairs connected with the institution . "—P . 23 .

This is only a repetition of the words of Sutherland , to which I have already applied the test of the official Reclamations of the Commission itself . "This General Chapter was attended by the Baillies , the Commanders , and Knights representing the three Langues of Provence , Auvorgiio , and France , and the two Langues of Aragon and Castile ; being five of the original component branches of the Order . "

; But the official Reclamations of this Commission make no mention of the representatives of the Langues of Aragon and Castile being present ; neither could they , since these two Languages had ceased to belong to the Order in 1802 , and had become the Eoyal Spanish Order of St . John , under Charles IV ., who had declared himself Grand Master thereof by a royal decree , dated Aranjuez , April 17 , 1802 . —

The proceedings ivere sanctioned , and afterwards confirmed hy the Lieutenant of the Magistery , and the Sacred Council seated in Catania . " —P . 23 . This is a further proof that the " executive government of the Order with plenary power , " & c , was not concentrated in the French Commission . It must also be kept in mind , that the object for which this Commission of

Paris was instituted , was to endeavour to obtain the restoration of such of the possessions of the Order in jTrance as had not been sold , and thereby to revive the three French Languages . See their Beclamation to the Chamhers , in 1816 . The Synoptical Sketch then proceeds to say that the " main achievement" of the Capitulary Commission , was :

"The formal resuscitation of the venerable Lingua Sexta ( the Language of England ) , comprehending the Grand Priories , baliwicks , and cominanderies , within the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty . "—P . 23 . I presume this to mean , that the French Commission formally revived the English Language by recovering the possession of the priories , baliwicks , add

commanderies , of which the Order had been deprived by Act of Parliament in the reign of Henry VIII ., and again under Elizabeth ! And I presume there is as much foundation for this statement , as for that of the revival of the lapsed charter of Philip and Mary which follows .- —¦

" By virtue of powers derived from this commission of the three venerable Langues of France , with the full and entire adhesion of the Langues of Aragon and Castile { reservation heing made of right io the Langues of Itali / and Germany to concur at time and place convenient ) , in three several instruments of convention given under their common seal , at the Hotel of the Chancellery in Paris , bearing dates respectively the 14 th clay of June 1826 ; the 24 th Augustand loth October

, , , 1827 . And having attached to them the signatures and seals of the Vice-President of the Council , the Commander de Dienne , the Count de Feuillasse , the Chevalier de Chastelain , the Chancellor of the Gallic Langues , and others , steps were taken in London , between the years 1826 and 1831 , with a view to the re-organisation of the Langue of England , as one of the component branches of tbe Sovereign Order of St . John ; and as

an independent corporation still subsisting under the Royal letters Patent of King Philip and Queen Mary , bearing date date the 2 nd of April , 1559 . [ I presume this is a mistake for 1557 ] . "These steps were consummated on the 29 th of January , 1831 ; iu accordance with the deliberations and instructions of the FrenchSpanishand Portuguese authorities of the Order .

, , On this occasion , at a Chapter of the Knights then constituting the British Langue , at whicli was present an Envoy Extraordinary representing the Continental authorities , the late Sir Robert Peat , Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St . Stanislaus , was installed into the office of GBAISD PIUOK or ST . Jomr .

AXOZTA { sic ); and , together with the Officers forming the Executive Council , was invested with the necessary powers for admitting members and regulating the Order in the United Kingdom . " —P . 25 . So , on this occasion , " the Knights then constituting the British Langue and Sir Eobert Peat , were invested with the necessary powers for admitting members . "

Then when , and by whom , were they themselves admitted ? And how can this direct violation ofthe Statutes about the reception be ex ] . lained ? And who were the Spanish and Portuguese authorities of the Order ? And who were the "Continental authorities" represented by the "Envoys Extraordinary ? " According to the Synoptical Sketch , I now perceive that there are three

distinct authorities I There is authority No . 1 : Count Colloredo , the reigning Ghief , elected as his predecessors were , " to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute " ( Syn . Sketch , p . 22 ) . Then there is authority No . 2 : the " permanent French Capitulary Commission , in which was declared concentrated the executive government of the Order , with plenary power , " & of ; but whose earlier proceedings are stated to have been sanctioned , and afterwards confirmed by authority No . 1 , the Lieutenant

of the Magistery and Sacred Council seated at Catania " { Syn Sketch , p . 23 ) . Then there is authority No . 3 : "the French , Spanish , and Portuguese authorities ; " but the Spanish and Portuguese authorities of the Order did not exist at this date . In these Articles of Convention I read , that " reservation loas made of right to the Langues of Italy and Germany to concur at time and place

convenient . " Were they—the only two Languages actually in existence at that date—ever informed of this alleged reservation , or even consulted ? And as these proceedings took place in 1826-7 , there has been time enough to obtain their concurrence . Has that concurrence ever been obtained ? And lastly , why is mention made of the Supremo Authority , the Sacred Council , and the Lieutenant

of the Mastership , the " reigning chief'" elected to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute ? " All this requires distinct explanation , if explanation can be given . " By proceedings in the Court of King's Bench , ou the 24 th February , 1834 , before Sir Thomas Denman , Knight , Lord Chief Justice of England , the Grand Prior , formally revived the Corporation of the Sixth Langue under the Boyal Letters Patent of King Philip ang Queen Mary , and took the oaths de fideli administralione . " —P . 25 .

The revival of a lapsed Charter is an impossibility . Yet this statement is repeated througkout the Synoptical Sketch on every possible occasion : as for affidavits in the King ' s Bench , as elsewhere , the oaths are administered by the clerk in open court , but the judge knows nothing of the matter . " Throughout the quarter of a century which has now elapsed

since the re-erection of the time-honoured banner of the Baptist , the various steps and proceedings of the langue of England have been duly made known to the constituted authorities ofthe Langues of the Order on the Continent . "—P . 26 .

Since 1802 , there have only been two Languages—Italy and Germany ; therefore , " constituted authorities" can only apply to them . And if the proceedings of the Langues of England have been duly made known to them , it would be well to learn if they ever acknowledged these communications . And particularly whether these proceedings were ever made known to the supreme

authority of the Order , the reigning Chief elected " to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute ?" " Further , through his Excellency the Grand Bailli , Count Christopher Ferretti , Mimister Plenipotentiary of the Order in the lombardo-Venetian Kingdom , who visited london in 1843 , special communications were made to the Executive Chiefs of the Order of the langue of Italy ; which communications were

acknowledged by a letter from the Grand Bailli de Condida , Grand Master ad interim , dated Home , 17 th of August , in that year , since whicli period , further intercourse of official character has taken place . "—P . 26 .