Masonic Notes And Queries.

j 00 Ve in 1751 , and also William , Lord Blantyre , in 1773 ; the latter presented a very valuable set of jewels to tho lodge , which are now in possession of the present Renfrew * County -Kilwinning , No . 370 on the registry of the Grand Lodge of Scotland . —T . D . FAIULEY .

GENERA ! SIB , JOHN MOORE . » V . M . " inquires " Where was Sir John Moore made ?" fjjis illustrious hero and brother was made in Paisley , under the charter of the Eenfrew County Kilwining Lodge ( No . II ) , the old minute-book of which bears the following entry : — " At the Saracen ' s Head Inn , 30 thNovember , 1798 , in presence of Bro . James Dunlop , 5 W 3 Land a respectable meeting of the brethrenBro .

,. , , John Moore of the 15 th regiment was initiated into the se cret mysteries of Masonry , and admitted a member of this lodge , and paid the usual dues . " The same book contains a list of members of the lodge admitted from November , 1750 , to April , 1805 , and the name of Bro . lloore is therein entered as " Lieutenant John Moore , 15 th regiment of Foot . " Sir John's Mother Lodgeafter

, lying dormant for a great many years , was resuscitated in 1855 ; but , being unable to comply with certain reqnirements of Grand Lodge in the case of dormant lodges applying to be restored , the petitioners failed in obtaining for the lodge its original number , and it now stands No . 370 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland . —D . M . L .

DOCTOR DESAGUXIERS . In Once a Weeh , p ' . 643 , is an account of the old Charlton Hunt , with extracts from the weighing book . In it is the name of Dr . Disagnillers , ( Desaguliers ) . It is desirable to have the date and particulars of this entry , as they may serve to trace his connexion with the Duke of Richmond . It is very likely that the names of other

G . O's . will be found in the same company , affording some further elucidation of a portion of authentic Masonic history but little studied . The date of Dr . Desaguliers ' entry seems to be 1736-8 . I am glad the FREEMASONS ' MAGAZINE Notes and Queries have supplied some facts as to the seventeenth century in answer to my questions . — HYDE CLARKE , D . P . G . M . Turkey .

THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS OE St . JOHN OE JERUSALEM . We reprint the following article from our contemporary "Notes and Queries , " believing that it will be of interest to a large number of our readers : — Iu the United Service Magazine for February , 1863 ( pp . 191—204 ) , there is an article ou the Order of the Knights

Hospitallers . It is meagre in detail ; and , from the general tone of its statements , it leaves much to be inferred by the reader . It would be well that there should be no doubt on the subject ; and in the hope , therefore , that my doubts may be solved in a satisfactory manner , I shall be obliged to any correspondent of " N . & Q . " Avho will kindly ansAver the questions I shall put in this

communication . At p . 203 , of the United' Service Magazine , I read .- — " The Head of the Order is now ( 1863 ) represented by a Lieutenant-Master at Eome . " This is conclusive , and requires no explanation . The lieutenant-Master is the head of the Order . Further onI read : —( The languages of ) "Italand

, y Germany exist under the Pope as Grand Prior only . " How can this be ? Is the Pope a Grand Prior of the Order ? If so , where and what is his Priory ? And if he be a Grand Prior of the Order , he is subject to the authorit y of the Lieutenant-Master ; who , as we have learned above , is head of the Order ? I seek for further explanation .

Now for the " Languages . " I have before mo a copy of the Statutes of the Order of St . John of Jerusalem , and in Section XIX ., No . 25 , 1 read that— " In our Order 'he Nations are called Languages . " Drgo , a nation is synonymous with language , i . e . the " English nation " ! s desi gnated by the " English language . "

I have also before me a copy of the continuation of tho History of the Order of Pozzo ; and on searching for any particulars relating to the English Knights I read , under the date 1598 , that " the English Language was considered to be extinct , because it had lost its property " ( Pozzo , Historia di Malta , vol . i . p . 401 ) . It seems that , owing to the severity of the penal laws ,

many English and Irish Catholics were obliged to leave the countries of their birth , and to take refuge in foreign lands . Some of these unfortunate gentlemen sought to be admitted into tbe Order ; but they could not be received on account of an old rule , that no ene belonging to a nation which had not " limits" in the Order [ i . e . was . possessed of prioriesbailiwicksand commanderies )

, , , could be admitted . And for this reason the language of England was considered as extinct , since it had no longer any property . Hence it is evident , from the ; above statement of Pozzo , that property is essential to the existence of a " Language . " For this reason , therefore , the three French Languages ( France , Provence , and Auvergne , ) ceased to existwhen their property was confiscated b

, y decree of the Constituent Assembly on Sept . 19 , 1792 : when it was enacted , " that the Order of Malta should cease to exist within the limits of France " ( see Porter ' s History of the Order , vol . ii . p . 432 , et seq . ) This is an undoubted fact ; for I read , in Sutherland ' s History of the Order ,

that" In 1814 , the Prench Knights , taking heart at the humiliation of their arch-enemy Napoleon , assembled at Paris in a General Chapter under the Presidency of the Prince Camile de Rohan , Grand Prior of Acqnitaine , for the election of a permanent Capitulary Commission . Tlie Government being declared concentrated in tills Commission , it was empowered to regulate all political , civil , and financial affairs connected with the Order ; and under its - direction a formal but fruitless application was made to the of Vienna for of soverei

Congress a grant some gn independency in lieu of that of which the Order had been so wrohgously despoiled . " [ The italics are mine . ]—Sutherland , History of Malta , vol . ii . p . 327 .

- The Statutes make no mention of a Capitulary Commission ; therefore , the formation of this Capitular Commission fully proves that , at the date of its establishment , tbe three French Languages did not exist ; otherwise the Commission would never have been formed . It appears , from the Statutes , that the Grand Master , or tbe Lieutenant-Master and tbe Council , form the

supreme authority of the Order , and constitute ihe government of the Order . I UOAV ask , By w 7 iose autlwrity was this Capitulary Commission elected ? This is an important point , on which I wish to be fully informed . Sutherland , it will be observed , says , that this Capitulary Commission was composed of the French Knihts ;

g and that , under its direction , the application was made to the Congress of Yienna . On referring to this document , which is entitled— " Memoire presentee par les Ministres Plenipotentiares de l'Ordre Souverain de St . Jean de Jerusalem au Congres General a Yienne , —I find it states , that the government of the Order is in the hands of the Lieutenant of the Mastershiand 8 . Council . It is dated

p Vienna , September 20 , 1814 ; and is . signed by the Plenipotentiaries of the Order— " Le Baiili Miari , le Commandeur Berlinghieri . " Who accredited these Plenipotentiaries ? Certainly not the French Capitular Commission , for the Master and Council alone have the power to accredit envoys and plenipotentiaries . It is , thereforeevident that Sutherland is in error- ' and it is

, , advisable to test the accuracy of his statement , " that the government ( or supreme authority of the Order ) was declared concentrated in this Commission . " For this purpose I refer to the Official Reclamation of this very Commission , printed in 1816 ; and in it I read : —

" . . . on verra enfin que cet Ordre , qnoique ses membres soient momentanement epars dans les etiits de la Chretienete , n ' est pas moins un Ordre entier , dont le moindre signal peut