The Knights Templars.

The people were , by these considerations , violently agitated . They shed tears while they deplored the fate of the Templars , and the field wherein the execution had taken place resounded with the prayers of the pious on behalf of the

victims . The news of this change in the popular mind was at once conveyed to the King . He ordered certain ecclesiastics to proceed to the spot , and preach to the people . Several Dominicans , who had previously been leaders in

the attacks upon the Order , willingly undertook the duty . They declared the- Templars guilty by irreproachable evidence , treated their constancy as brutal obstinacy , as a frenzy inspired by the devil , and their fate as a just judgment from God , who

had blinded them , and permitted them to die in final impenitence . These speeches fell coldly upon the ears of the people . They dispersed in ominous silence to their homes ; and the King became alarmed , as day followed day , and the popular

opinion only deepened in favour of the Templars . There remained still twelve Templars to execute . They had been reserved by the commands of the King , in the hope that the fate of their brethren might intimidate them , and cause them to

¦ withdraw their recantations . Among them was an almoner of the King , whom Philip wished to save , if possible . Such a hope was vain . To strike terror into the hearts of the people , and to crush any popular commotion , Philip ordered the

almoner , with four others , to be convoyed , on the eve of Ascension Day , to the field of St . Anthony , and be there burnt , a doom which the Templars bore with the greatest intrepidity . Five others , who had been confined in the prison of St . Denis ,

were , a few days after , conveyed to the place of execution . Liberal offers were made to them to confess and be pardoned , but these the Knights refused , and they accordingly were burned displaying a firmness equal to that of the other victims . { To he continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THS BLUE BLANKET . At page 121 of the Magazine for 15 th August 1 ast , we are told that " the Blue Blanket had ' its rise about the 1200 year of God , when the Crusade was carried on by Pope Urban the Second . ' " That quotation contains another Masonic myth . , simply the reall relic about

making now y old three centuries older than it is , saying so also puts another nail into the coffin of the idea which would—on such

supposititious data—connect Freemasonry with theTeinplarsv The following from " the Chronicles of Edinburgh , from its foundation in A . D . 617 to A . D . 1851 , by E . H . Stevenson , " is something more sensible like , — page 43 . " James III . involved the kingdom in much tumult and bloodshed by removing the nobles from

his councils , and suffering himself and the nation to be implicitly governed by a few minions , chiefly artificers , who had nothing to recommend them hut their skill in some of the arts and sciences which he himself understood and cultivated . The nobles considering themselves insulted by his conduct ,

combined to remove these upstarts . The Duke of Albany , the King ' s brother , being at the head of the conspiracy , was suddenly seized and confined to Edinburgh Castle ; from which he made his escape by inviting his keepers to a splendid supper , who , after drinking freelfell asleep" Mr . Stevenson then

y , . goes on to tell of the duke ' s escape by tying the sheets of the beds together to form a rope ; of his return to Scotland again , and of his assisting to release his brother , the King , from the castle where he had been confined by his nobles , who had assumed the government themselvesand ( 44 ) "With

, page that view he made an appointment to meet some of his friends in the city , and they having been joined by the provost and a great number of citizens who still adhered to the royal cause , suddenly assaulted the castle , took it by surprise , and restored the King to libert The two brothers mutually embraced

y . , and then rode together to the Palace of Holyrood amid the tumultuous joy of a deluded people ; and James , in gratitude for the part the citizens had taken , granted in favour of the provost , town council ,

and community , two charters , dated the 6 th ONovember , 1482 , by which he conferred on the citizens many valuable privileges . The provost was made hereditary sheriff within the city , and the city received the fines and escheats arising from the office ; the town council was empowered to make by-laws and statutes for its

good government , and the citizens were not only freed from payment of duties on many necessary commodities , but a . grant was given them to take custom on certain merchandise imported and exported at the port of Leith ; and the incorporated trades , as a mark of gratitude for their royalty , were presented

with ii banner or standard , which from its colour , received the name of the Blue Blanket . This banner is still in existence , and is kept by the convener of the trades for the time being ; and when it is displayed , tradition says , that not only the whole artificers of the citybut also those of the whole

king-, dom are bound to follow it , and fight under the convener in defence of their own rights and those of the king and country . A ridiculous legend reports that it was once used in the Crusades , and planted on the walls of Jerusalem by the trades of Edinburgh !" "The onlreddendum required of the council for

y these ample privileges was the annual celebration of a funeral mass in St . Giles's Church for the Icing ' s soul , and those of his progenitors and successors . " " Before the close of the year Albany , who had been constituted Lieutenant-General of Scotland , again intrigued against the kingwho by retiring into the

, castle and rousing the citizens , disappointed his treasonable plots . " At page 165 ( Aug . 29 th ) , there are some further remarks on " the Blue Blanket" by S . Z ., and shortly after , at page 188 , a query is asked