Chips Of Foreign Ashlar.

The Danish Masons claim great antiquity for their branch of the Order , but according to Bro . J . G . Findel , a high authority , the modern system only dates from 1743 . The Craft in Denmark has owed much of its prosperity to Royal

support . The late King Frederick VII . was Grand Master , and he laboured unceasingly and enthusiastically to advance the Order . The present King Christian IX . is not a Mason , but it is probable that before long he will become one .

We cannot but condemn the un-Masonic spirit which would seek , by begging , to secure the aid of Royalty ; but , nevertheless , it is to be hoped the time will never come when ( unless through the era of universal republics ) it will cease to be

true that" Great kings , dukes , and lords , Have laid by their swords , Our mystery to put a { food grace on ; And ne ' er been ashamed To hear themselves named With a . Free and an Accepted Mason . "

Our constant companion in visiting the various places of interest in and around Copenhagen was Herr Johan Frimodt , a young Dane of literary tastes , whose intellectual conversation and honhomie made his company very acceptable . J . A . H .

The Knights Templars.

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS .

By ANTHONY ONEAE HATE . { Continued from page 388 ) . BOOK IV . —CHAPTER VIII . —{ conkl . ) It is somewhat difficult to understand the real

wishes of the Pope regarding the Grand Officers . Either he did not desire to see them , or had implicit faith iu the reports of the cardinals . Chinon was only a short distance from Poictiers , and on an occasion so important , in an affair of such

interest to Christianity , it was his bounden duty to have gone personally and examined them . Why did he not summon to Poictiers such of them as were not ill ? For it appears from a Bull issued after the return of the caudiuals , that he was aware

that * " certain of them were in good health . " Why did he not insist upon seeing the Grand Master , who had so repeatedly demanded to be brought before him to justify the Order ? But why , if the Grand Officers were well enough to be transported in litters back to Paris after their

interview with the cardinals , were they not well enough to be conveyed to Poictiers , a far shorter distance ? The Pope appears to have been courageous enough when out of the presence of the King ; but when under Philip ' s eye he was an arrant coward .

The report of the cardinals , and the silence of the seventy-two knights , were held to be conclusive evidence of the crimes of the Order , and the Pope now resolved to sanction its abolition . However , that the shew of justice might be complete , and to

display his power , Clement feigned to doubt the legality of the judicial proceedings of the previous year , by the Inquisitor of the Faith and the bishops , and resolved to make new investigations under his own authority .

To hasten matters , by a Bull dated the 3 rd July , 1308 , he summoned a General Council to be held at Vienne , in Dauphine , for the month of October , 1310 , and enjoined all the archbishops ,

bishops , abbots , priors , aad deans to repair thither , and begged the presence and assistance of Philip on the occasion . By a second Bull , he summoned the whole Order of the Temple to repair to this council , there to defend themselves

from the charges made against them , and commanded the Cardinal Bishop of Preneste , who had been charged with the custody of those arrested in France , to bring the Grand Officers to this council . He also issued two fresh Bulls one

of these , we think right to quote here entire , as it contains all the charges made against the Order , of whatever character . It is the one dispatched to England , and is similar to those sent to other countries .

" Clement , Bishop , servant to the servants of God , to the venerable brothers , the Archbishop of Canterbury and his Suffragans , health and apostolical blessing . The Son of God , the Lord Jesus Christ , using mercy with His servant , would

have us taken up into the eminent mirror of the Apostleship , to this end , that being , though unworthy , His substitute upon earth , we may , as far as human frailty will permit , in all our actions and proceedings , follow His footsteps . In

truth , long since , about the time of our first promotion to the dignity of the Pontificate , before we came to Lyons , where we received the honours of our Coronation ; and also after that , as well there as elsewhere , a secret information had intimated to us , that the Master , Preceptors , and other brethren of the Order of Knighthood of the