Masonic Notes And Queries.

assembler les moindres essains , nn Ordre dont le Lieutenant du Magislere et le Sucre Conseil resident en Sicile , qui a des Ambassadeurs et des ministres plenipolentiares dans la plupart des cours de l'Europe , et dont les envoyes out pant , en dernier lieu au- Conyres de Vienne . "—Reclamation , p . 22 .

Here there is a positive evidence of the existence of a supreme authority " of the Order , and that the Capitular Commission did not claim to have the government of the Order concentrated in itself . I now come to another reclamation on the part of the Capitular Commission to the Congress of Verona . It was evidently not sanctioned by the supreme authority

of the Order , and I cite it only as additional evidence on the part of the Capitular Commission of the existence of a supreme authority . It begins by stating , in reference to the " pretendue convention du 13 Juin , 1798 " ( the surrender of the Island of Malta ) , that the Grand Master and S . Council alone possess or constitute the supreme power of the Order : —

iN i le Sacre Conseil , ni le Grand Maitre , seuls depositaires du pouvoir supreme ne participerent a cet acte d'iniquite . jSulle puissance legitime ne sanctionna par son assentiment la dispersion de 1 'Ordre . Loin de la presque tons Souverains de l'Europe se prononcerent en sa faveur . . . . Enfin la Sicile aceaeillit les venerables debris de la plus memorable association qui ait jamais cte formee , et Catane devint Vasyle oil le Gonvemment de I'Ordre s'esl perpelue jusqu'a ce

jour ; it attend , dans line inaction forcee , cfc . ( Dated Verona , 6 December , 1822 , and signed ) "En l'absence des Chefs de VOrdre , "Le Comte ACHILLE DE JOTJEEROY fordo des pouvoirs , " & c . These quotations , from official documents , issued by the French Capitular Commission , afford positive evidence that there did exist a supreme authoritof the

y Order , and which was acknowledged by tho said Capitular Commission . And from these documents , therefore , I learn that down to , and actually in , 1822 , there existed a Lieutenant of the Mastership and Council , whose authority the Capitular Commission obeyed , and with whom it was in constant communication ; for tho Count de St . Ange , in his Code des Ordres de Chevalerie du

Royaume ( printed at Paris in 1819 ) , says : — " The numerous and important services which this Commission has rendered , and is daily rendering , to the langues of France and to the Order in General , have merited the esteem and gratitude , not only of all the members , hit also of the Lieutenant of the Mastership and S . Council , who have constantly approved of its proceedings . "

Thus , from its oivn evidence , the Commission of Paris existed down to 1822 ; and was in constant communication with the Lieutenant of the Mastership and S . Council , who approved of its proceedings . And the continued existence of the commission proves that to this date ( 1822 ) the French Languages had not " been revived . I now endeavour to learn something of the Languages of Aragon and of Castile . According to the Booh of Knighthood , edited by Sir Bernard Burke ( Ulster ) , it appears

that"After tho Peace of Amiens , in 1802 , the Portuguese and Spanish languages ( Aragon and Castile ) separated from the Order , and formed a college of their own under the supreme authority of their respective monarchs , who in consequence exercised essential influence iu all matters connected with nominations , benfiees , & c ; tbe Grand Mastership being thus , in effect , though not by right , vested in the Crown . " —( P . 296 . )

By a royal decree , dated Aranjuez , April 17 , 1802 , Charles IV . declared himself Grand Master ofthe Order of St . John of Jerusalem in Spain : —• "Vengo en incorporar , y incorporo perpetuamente a mi Real Corona las Lenguas y Assembleas de Espana de la precitado Orden Militar de San Juan de Jerusalem declarandome Gran-Maestro de la misma en mis dominios , para invigila sobre su bien _ gobierno y direccion en la parte externa ; dejando lo concerniento al regimen espiritual y religioso a la Autoridad de la Iglesia y del Santo PontiSco , que no ha desoprobado esta provideneia . "

And by a Papal Brief issued in 1819 , Ferdinand VII . was recognised as " Grand Master of the Order of St " . John in Spain , " into which Order the two Languages of Aragon and Castile were now merged ; and the Eoyal Spanish Order of St . John was IIOAV entirely separated from , and had no longer any connexion with the soverei gn . Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St . John of

Jerusalem . On the other hand , it appears that the language of Germany remained intact , and never lost any of its commanderies and revenues , which are very largeand also that the language of Italy Avas much in " the same condition . Therefore , according to the principle laid down by Pozzo and based upon the Statutes , these

two languages exist in all their integrity , and not " urider the Pope as Grand Prior only , " as the writer in the United Service Magazine has stated . Now , according to the Statutes , sec . v . ( of the Treasury ) , certain revenues or tithes , called " responsions , " have to be jsaid into the

Treasury of the Order by the different Commanders . Who receives these " responsions ? " There must be a a common treasury of the Order somewhere . I presume at Eome , where the head of Order , lives . From the foregoing data , I learn that a supreme governing authority of the Order existed , and was recognised as such down to the year 1822 , and that the

head of the Order resides now ( 1863 ) in Eome . Consequently a supreme head ofthe Order must have continued to exist betAveen 1822 and 1863 . I also leai-n that the languages of Italy and of Germany are the only tivo of the eight which exist as " Languages , " as they are still in possession of their revenue ^ and estates ; and , moreover , that in 1802 and definitely

in 1819 , the languages of Aragon and Castile had ceased to exist , and to have any connexion with the Order , being converted into the Eoyal Spanish Order of St . John , and under the Grand Mastership of the Kings of Spain . Eeferring again to the article in the United Service Magazine , I find the following statement : —

"The three French Languages during tbe Bourbon dynasty , however , reasserted their rights , and under their guidance , with the full concurrence of Aragon and Castile , being a majority ( sic ) of the languages , reorganised the venerable English language as it now stands . This important step was taken in 1826 . " ( P . 303 . )

From this paragraph it would appear that the " language of England" has been revived , and the names of some of the " officers " are given . To this asserted fact I now proceed to apply the test of the aforecited data .

1 . The languages of Aragon and Castile had definitely ceased to belong to the Order in 1819 , and still continue in the same state . How , therefore , can they be adduced as talcing part , seven years later , in the affairs of an Order to which they do not " belong ? 2 . The French languages did not exist in 1822 . Had they recovered their property , and thereby become

revived again , between that date and 1826 ? If so , the Capitulatory Commission Avould have ceased to exist , ipso facto . 3 . Why is no mention made of the two languages of Germany and Italy , the only two languages actually in existence at the period . Were they ever consulted ? 4 . Why is no mention made in the transactions of the

Lieutenant Master and the Council , in whom the supreme power and government of the Order are vested ? This is a vital omission ; for by the Statutes , sec . ix . ( of the Master ) No . 11 , it appears that the languages cannot assemble ivithont the leave of the Master , and of tlie Master alone , for the Council is not even named . Did they g ive their consent , or were they ever consulted ? These

questions need some lucid reply . Is the English language—which we are informed was revived in 1826—the real English language , and a branch of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St . John of