Masonic Notes And Queries.

The artful manner in which this paragraph is worded , is well calculated to mislead the general reader ; for it is so put , as to lead to the belief that the Executive Chiefs of the Langue of Italy , and the Grand Master ad interim , are one and the same ! But the Grand Master ceases immediately on his election or nomination to belong to any Language ; and we have already been informed that the Grand Masterad interimhas been elected " to

pre-, , serve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute ; " therefore , he must be the Head of the Order , and not the Executive Chief of the Language of Italy in particular . Such then being the case , lohy are the official cammunications , and , above all , why is tlw reply—for we are told that the communications were acknowledged by a letter dated Aug . 17 , 1843—passed over so quietlyand not given ? It would

, have been better if the communications and the reply had been included in the Syn . Sketch ; for the suppression of a despatch from the reigning Chief , elected to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute , argues very unfavourably . " With the seizure of Malta , the Order lost its political power ; but neither its conventional organisation , " & c . —P . 26 .

Conventional , or rather conventual organisation ( for that is what the author evidently means ) , can only have reference to the convent ; and as the term " convent" is applied in the Order exclusively to the residence of the Grand Master , or his Lieutenant and the S . Council , & c , we have here conclusive evidence from the Syn . Sketch that the conventual organisation , i . e . supreme authority

of the Order , had not been lost . ' And with this admission , ib is impossible to understand why no mention is made of tho supreme authority of the Order in the transactions of 1827—1831 . Then we have the corporation again : — " An abeyance of the Corporation in England , for upwards of two-and-a-half centuries , did not prevent the two last monarchs of the House of Guelf from recognising the Order and wearing its Cross . "—P . 28 .

They recognised the Order equally as the other sovereigns of Europe have done , and still do . But "the two last monarchs of the House of Guelf" never recognised the " English Language . " And an abeyance of a corporation is impossible . We are now coming to remarkable statements : — - " Since the date of the last General Chapter under a Grand Master , eighty years have elapsed ; during which no Conventual Council , representing the eight langues has existed . " — P . 39 .

The Syn . Sketch was printed m 18 o 7 . Consequently , the above statement takes us back to 1777—a period when there actually were eight Languages in existence ; for the Anglo-Bavarian Langue had been created , and it was nob until 1789 that the three French Languages ceased to exist . Convenbual Council is only another term for the ordinary councils ; and on referring to the statutes , I find that either the Conventual Bailifts , or their Lieutenants ,

must be present at the ordinary council . But we have just learned that the conventual organisation of the Order had been preserved ; therefore , of course , the usual councils were held . It is needless to observe , that General Chapters and Conventval Councils are quite of a different character from each other . Yet the Syn Sketch makes them appear to be one and the same . Be Novo : —

" Since the date of the last General Chapter under a Grand Master , eighty years have elapsed ; during which time no Conventual Council , representing the eight Langues , lias existed . Hut during this interregnum in the government of the Order , its relation with the Christian Powers of Europe have been continually upheld . " —P . 29 . We have just learned that the conventual , organisation of the Order had been preserved , and we are now told that an interregnum in the government of the Order has existed for eighty years , i . e . from 1777 ; so that the Order was at Malta for twenty-one years without a government IJ

But the " continually upholding of relations with the Christian Powers , " only proves that there was no interregnum in the government of the Order ; for otherwise by whom , or by what supreme authority , could these relations have been kept up ?

"In 1815 , its ambassadors ( who at foreign courts took the place of all those not deputed by kings ) were : at London , the Commander Thuisy ; at Paris , the Bailli Ferretti ; at . Vienna , the Grand Prior Colloredo ; at Rome , the Bailli Bonaccorsi ; in Portugal , the Bailli Carvaslho ; at Madrid , the Commander Paez ; and at St . Petersburgh , ithe Duke of Serra Capriola . " —P . 29 .

If the names are correctly given , these ambassadors must all have been accredited by the Lieutenant of the Mastership—the reigning Chief elected " to preserve the vitality of the Sovereign Institute , " for I cannot make out the existence of any other authority of the Order possessing the power to exercise the prerogative of accrediting or whose would be received .

envoys , envoys " In 1843 , the ministers of the sovereign and illustrious Order were , in Austria , the Bailli-general , Count Khevenhuller ; at Parma , Count S . A itale ; in Modena , the Marquis Caradini , " & c ., & c—P . 29 . ' These ministers also must have been accredited by the Lieutenant of the Mafcership . We are then informed who the principal officers of the

Order in France have been during the same period : there was a "Grand Secretary , " and another official named the "Mandataire General "—the Baron Nottred de St . Luys . Who was the Baron , and what were his duties as Mandataire ? I seek information because , in 1858 , an individual of this name I believe figured in a process at law before the Correctional Police in . Paris ,

"foa trafficking in titles and decorations . " The admissions into the Order during the present century include the names of King George IV . and King William IV . ; Charles X of France ; the King of the Belgians ; the King of Naples ; the King of Sardinia ; the Archduke Frederic ; H . R . H . Prince-Albert , " & c ., & c—P . 30 . It is quite certain that none of tbe Kings or Princes here named would have compromised themselves by being received into tho Order , unless they were fully satisfied that their reception was at the hands of an authority , lecially constituted , and the legal representative of

the supreme authority or government of the Order . If these names are correctly given , it will be easy to ascertain when and by whom these royal personages were admitted ; and this will be conclusive evidence as to who is the recognised and legitimate Head of the Order , if there can be any doubt remaining . "From the period of the General Chapter of the French , Spanishand Portuguese Languages under Prince Camille de

, Rohan , when the plenary Capitulary Commission was constituted , which revived the language of England , the executive Sovereignty of the Order may be said to have been exercised , exclusively by the Six Langues of Auvergne , Provence , France , Aragon , England , and Castile . "—P . 30 . Let ns dissect this paragraph , which , certainly is cunningly worded .

"From the period of the General Chapter of the French , Spanish , and Portuguese langues , under Prince Camille de Rohan . " The Commission of Paris was formed in 1814 , and De Rohan died in 1816 ; and tbe official Reclamations of the Commission make no mention of the Spanish and Portuguese Knihts

g . "From the period , i . e . 1814 .... the executive Sovereignty of the Order may be said to have been exercised exclusively by the Six Langues of Auvergne , Provence , Aragon , England , and Castile . " tt " may be said to have been exercised exclusively , " but ivas it exercised exclusively ? If it was , _ why were "the proceedings of this Commission sanctioned , and

afterwards confirmed by the Lieutenant of the Magistery and the Sacred Council seated at Catania ? " ( See Syn . Sketch , p . 23 . ) The one statement contradicts the other . At p . 24 , we are informed , that " between the years 182 &