Masonic Antiquities, Documents, &C.

MASONIC ANTIQUITIES , DOCUMENTS , & c .

JERUSALEM ENCAMPMENT , MANCHESTER . Information Collected on the Ancient York Rite by JOHN YARKER , Jxmr . P . M . ; P . M . M - ; P . Z . ; KT . Pt . ; P . E . C . j ROSK t ^ t , & c , & c , P . Grand Vicc-Chaiicollor of Cheshire , and P . Grand Constable , or MaresehaL of England .

( Continued from faye 114 . ) t FEW words may be acceptable here respecting the Sovereign Order of St . John of Jerusalem , Palestine , Rhodes , and Malta , deriving its origin from St . J ohn of J erusalem . The Order dated from a very early period , but assumed the

profession of arms about A . D . IIOO , as is supposed , through its connection Avith the Templars of Jerusalem . They had large possessions in England and , on the dissolution of the latter Order in 13 x 3 , obtained their estates in 1327 , Avhich they held until the time of Henry VIII . Brother Preston asserts that under Henry VII . the Order ( then of Rhodes ) was connected with Freemasonry . In 1530 , the

Knights obtained possession of Malta , but the Reformation deprived them of all their property in England , in 1534 . This was restored , and the Order revived by Mary , in 1553 , but they Avere again divested of it by Elizabeth , in 1559 , though they continued the representative of England at Malta . In 1561 , it is asserted , on the authority of the Grand Lodge at York , Queen Elizabeth sent an armed force , under Sir Thomas Sackville , to break up a Grand Lodge in that city . Charles II . and his successors are known to have used

Freemasonry , as Avell as the Religious and Military Orders , politically . Encampments of the Order also existed in England , during the lastcentury , dating their origin from time immemorial . In 1798 Malta was lost , and the Knights dispersed over Europe and , at a chapter held in Russia , declared the Emperor Paul their " Most Eminent Master , " and he Avas solemnly inaugurated in the same

year . On the death of Paul his successor , Alexander , assumed , by proclamation , the title of Protector of the Order , but the Knights in their chapters submitted certain names to Pius VIII ., and he nominated Tomassi , an Italian , as Grand Master . In 1814 the French Knights assembled under Camille de Rohan as Grand Prior , and in 1823 endeavoured to obtain a loan in order to establish themselves

in Greece , but failed . In i 860 the Order Avas reformed by the Roman Pontiff , and brought back to its original principles , and a noviciate and hospital again established at Jerusalem . Knights , Avhether " professed" or " of devotion , " must give proofs of unblemished descent and gentle blood , for 200 years , and Grand Priors of this reformed " Sacred , Religious , and Military Order of St . J ohn of Jerusalem" have been nominated in several countries ,