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The History of Freemasonry

by Albert Gallatin Mackey

Chapter 51 - General History of Christian Knighthood

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In our examination of various authors who have written on Templarism, we have found it very difficult, if at all possible, to determine, categorically, when the American Rite of the " Commandery " was really formulated. We learn from ancient as well as recent writers that the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine, Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, Knights of St. John the Evangelist, and Knights of the Grand Cross were of a much earlier date than the Knights of the Templar Order. The Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine was the first Order of Christian Knights. The Knights of the Red Cross, which is the first degree conferred in the Commandery of Knight Templars in the United States, has no connection whatever with the Templar Order of the Crusades, nor the events in the history of the other Knightly Order of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine first above mentioned.

The real history of the present American degree of the Red Cross is, that it is composed of the 15th and 16th degrees of the A.'. A.'. S.'. R.'.; and the incidents commemorated therein are located at the time of the captivity of the Jews, after the destruction of King Solomon's Temple, and the return of the Jews to Palestine by direction of Cyrus, and after him by Darius the Persian monarch.

The original symbol of the red cross, which is a Christian symbol, has no place in the Ritual of the Commandery degree of Red Cross, which relates to the Jews in captivity and the Persian Court of that date. The first red cross of Constantine, with its motto, "In hoc sings vinces," was adopted by Constantine the Great as the "Labarum" from the following circumstance, according to tradition: The night before the battle between himself and Augustus Maxentius the sign of the cross appeared to him in the heavens, with the inscription "In hoc signo vinces." This battle has been called "of Saga Rostra," which was an ancient station on the "Flaminian Way," eight miles north of Rome, which meant "red stones."

Having been successful in defeating his opponent, Constantine, on December 25, A.D. 312, instituted a new order of knights, of the "Red Cross of Rome and Constantine." The red cross became a badge, and was worn on the right arm of each knight or on his shield, this insignia thereafter being the highest honor of knighthood.

The Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, some writers say, "was instituted by Constantine, at the prayer of his mother Helena, for the avowed purpose of protecting the Holy Sepulcher, and defending it from the enemies of the Christian faith. Only Knights of the Red Cross, by royal decree, were eligible for the Order." It is also said that Constantine " instituted the Order of Knight of the Grand Cross, which he conferred (in 326) on several of his generals and ministers, as a special mark of merit and distinction."

The same writers say: "After the death of Constantine (337) the popes of Rome claimed, and exercised, sovereign authority over the Order throughout Christendom, delegating to the Papal Nuncios and Cardinal Princes, at the various Catholic Courts, the right to nominate candidates fos the Order of Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine. Samuel Cole, in the Freemason's Library, gives a list of the various Masonic degrees and says:

"In a later publication, 1816, we find the following list of Masonic degrees, which the author states are conferred on the Sublime Grand Lodges in Charleston, S.C., in the city of New York and in Newport, R. I.: No. 9 is Knight of the Red Cross; No. 10, Knight of Malta; No. 11, Knight of the Holy Sepulcher; No. 12, Knight of the Christian Mark; No. 13, Knight Templar. The degrees enumerated amount to forty-three. Besides these degrees there were ten others which were in the possession of most of the Inspectors given in different parts of the world, and which they generally communicate, free of expense, to those brethren who are high enough to understand them - such as Select Masons of 27, and the Royal Arch, as given under the Constitution of Dublin; six degrees of Maconnerie d' Adoption , Compagnon Ecossais, le Maitre Ecossais, et le

(1) "Freemason's Library " and General Ahiman Rezon. Baltimore, Md., 1826.

Grand Master Ecossais, etc., making, with the regular number of forty-three, in the aggregate fifty-three degrees.

"It will be well here to notice that the Select Masons of 27, which the Grand Chapter of Virginia alone retains in her curriculum and confers prior to the Royal Arch, was designed, by the Consistories of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of the last century, and by the Supreme Council of the A.'. A.'. A.'. S.'. Rite of 1802, to follow the Royal Arch. A great many of our distinguished Masons think that the Select of 27 should precede the Royal Arch, as, by its chronology, it does; but they forget that the same chronological circumstances occur in the present arrangement of the Mark degree, which not only follows the Fellow-Craft but also the Master's degree, while chronologically the events of the first section were prior to the completion of the Temple."

Cole thus refers to the Knight of the Red Cross: " After having, as we had supposed, satisfactorily shown that the Order of Knights Hospitalers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who were afterwards called Knights of Rhodes, and now Knights Templars and Knights of Malta, is indisputably the oldest order of knighthood in the world, we are suddenly transported into the distant regions of Persia, and instructed to believe that the Order of the Cross was instituted 520 years before the birth of Christ, namely during the reign of Darius.'' (1) This was written prior to 1826, and he continues: "This Order has not, until late years, been practiced in America. I have, indeed, conversed with well-informed knights, who received the degree in Ireland; perhaps it may have originated there - be that as it may, it has found its way into our books, and is practiced, though very imperfectly, in some of our encampments, usually preceding the degrees of Knights Templars and Knights of Malta. A reference to the foregoing list will show us that the author has given us two other degrees, which are intended to precede the two last mentioned, namely, Knights of the Holy Sepulcher and Knights of the Christian Mark. Nor shall we have cause to wonder, if, in the process of time, an attempt should be made to precede the important Degree of Knights Templars, etc., with that of Knight of the Golden Spur, Knight of the White Elephant, or of the Golden Fleece."

Cole does not seem to have been aware that the 15th and 16th

(1) Samuel Cole: "Freemason's Library," p. 321, 1826. Note. - Cole refers of course, to the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine. - EDITOR.

degrees of the A.'. A.'. S.'. R.'. were the materials for the so- called Red Cross, which has no connection historically with the Templarism of Christianity.

The Caleph Muez destroyed the church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was rebuilt by the Red Cross Knights and Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, in 969. In 1093 Philip I., King of France, revived the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and nominated his son, the Dauphin of France, as Grand Marshal. After the return of the Crusaders from the Holy Land, the Knights of the two Orders were called the first and second grades of the " Knight of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine."

From A.D. 337 to 1094 the Popes exercised sovereign authority over the Orders. In 1099 there was held a Grand Conclave of the Orders of the "Knights of the Red Cross and Knights of the Holy Sepulcher."

Addison says: "The Holy Sepulcher presented itself to the eyes of the pilgrims, surrounded by a magnificence which redoubled their veneration.

"An obscure cavern had become a marble temple paved with precious stones and decorated with splendid colonnades. To the east of the Holy Sepulcher appeared the Church of the Resurrec tion, in which they could admire the riches of Asia, mingled with the arts of Greece and Rome. Constantine celebrated the twenty first year of his reign, A.D. 333, by the inauguration of this church, whose corner-stone had been planted under the auspices of his sainted mother, and thousands of Christians came, on occasion of this solemnity, to listen to the panegyric of Christ from the lips of the learned and holy Bishop Eusebius. St. Jerome, who, toward the end of the 4th century, had retired to Bethlehem for literary labors and religious solitude, informs us, in one of his letters, that pilgrims arrive in crowds in Judea, and that around the holy tomb the praises of the Son of God were to be heard uttered in many languages. From this period pilgrimages to the Holy Land were so numerous that several doctors and fathers of the Church thought it their duty to point out the abuses and dangers of the practice. They told Christians that long voyages might turn them aside from the path of salvation; that their God was not confined to one city, that Jesus Christ was everywhere where faith and good works were to be found. But such was the blind zeal which then drew Christians toward Jerusaiem that the voices of the holy doctors severe scarcely heard. The councils of enlightened piety were not able to abate the ardor of the pilgrims, who believed they should be wanting in faith and zeal if they did not adore Jesus Christ in the very places where, according to the expression of St. Jerome, ' the light of the Gospel first shone from the top of the Holy Cross.'

"As soon as the people of the West became converted to Christianity, they turned their eyes to the East. From the depths of France, from the forests of Germany from all the countries of Europe, new Christians were to be seen hastening to visit the cradle of the faith they had embraced. An itinerary for the use of pilgrims served them as a guide from the banks of the Rhone and the Dordogne to the shoresof the Jordan, and conducted them on their return from Jerusalem to the principal cities of Italy. When the world was ravaged by the Goths, the Huns, and the Vandals, pilgrimages to the Holy Land were not at all interrupted. Pious travelers were protected by the hospitable virtues of the barbarians, who began to respect the Cross of Christ, and sometimes even followed the pilgrims to Jerusalem. In these times of trouble and desolation a poor pilgrim who bore his scrip and staff often passed through fields of carnage and traveled without fear amidst armies which threatened the empires of the East and the West.

"Illustrious families of Rome came to seek an asylum at Jerusalem and by the tomb of Christ. Christians then found, on the banks of the Jordan, that peace which seemed banished from the rest of the world. This peace, which lasted several centuries, was not troubled before the reign of Heraclius, A.D. 610 - 641. Under this reign the armies of Chosroes, King of Persia, invaded Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. The Holy City fell into the hands of the worshipers of fire. The conquerors bore away into captivity vast numbers of Christians and profaned the churches of Jesus Christ. All the faithful deplored the misfortunes of Jerusalem, and shed tears when they learned that the King of Persia had carried off, among the spoil of the vanquished, the Cross of the Saviour, which bad been preserved in the Churches of the Resurrection." (1)

At the Council of Clermont in Auvergne, November, 1095, Pope Urban addressed himself to all the nations represented at

(1) "Addison," p. 66

the council, and particularly to the French, who formed the majority:

" Nation beloved by God," said he, " it is in your courage that the Christian Church has placed its hope. It is because I am well acquainted with your piety and your bravery that I have crossed the Alps and am come to preach the word of God in these countries. You have not forgotten that the land which you inhabit has been invaded by the Saracens, and but for the exploits of Charles Martel (A.D. 732) and Charlemagne (A.D. 768-800), France would have received the laws of Mohammed. Recall without ceasing, to your minds, the dangers and glory of your fathers. Led by heroes, whose names shall never die, they delivered your country, they saved the West from shameful slavery. More noble triumphs await you under the guidance of the God of armies. You will deliver Europe and Asia; you will save the city of Jesus Christ - that Jerusalem which was chosen by the Lord, and from whence the law is to come to us."

As Urban proceeded, the sentiments by which he was animated penetrated to the very souls of his auditors. When he spoke of the captivity and misfortunes of Jerusalem, the whole assembly was dissolved in tears; when he described the tyranny and the perfidy of the Infidels, the warriors who listened to him clutched their swords and swore in their hearts to avenge the cause of the Christians.

"When Jesus Christ summons you to his defense, let no base affections detain you in your homes. See nothing but the shame and the evils of the Christians; listen to nothing but the groans of Jerusalem, and remember well what the Lord has said to you: He vho loves his father or his mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; whoever will abandon his house, or his father, or his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his inheritance, for the sake of My name, shall be recompensed a hundred-fold, and possess life eternal."

At these words the auditors of Urban displayed an enthusiasm that human eloquence had rarely before inspired. The assembly arose in one mass as one man and answered him with the unanimous cry, " Dieu le veut ! Dieu le veut ! "It is the will of God ! It is the will of God!" "Yes, without doubt, it is the will of God," continued the eloquent Urban; "you to-day see the accomplishment of the word of our Saviour, who promised to be in the midst of the faithful when assembled in His name. It is He who has dictated to you the words that I have heard. Let them be your war-cry, and let them announce everywhere the presence of the God of armies." On finishing these words, the Pontiff exhibited to tne assembled Christians the sign of their redemption. " It is Christ himself," said he to them, "who issues from His tomb, and presents to you His Cross. It will be the sign raised among the nations, which is to gather together again the dispersed Children of Israel. Wear it upon your shoulders and upon your breasts. Let it shine upon your arms and upon your standards. It will be to you the surety of victory or the palm of martyrdom. It will unceasingly remind you that Christ died for you, and that it is your duty to die for him."

When Urban had ceased to speak, loud acclamations burst from the multitude. Pity, indignation, despair at the same time agitated the tumultuous assembly of the faithful. Some shed tears over Jerusalem and the fate of the Christians. Others swore to exterminate the race of the Mussulmans. But all at once, at a signal from the Sovereign Pontiff, the most profound silence prevailed. Cardinal Gregory, afterward St. Innocent II., pronouncing, in a Bud voice, a form of General Confession, the assembly all fell upon their knees, beat their breasts, and received absolution for their sins. (1)

Joseph Francois Michaud, in his Historyof the Crusades, states: "To the feudal Princes, assembled in the Holy Land in A.D. 1099, belongs the glory and honor of reviving the Order of the ' Knights of the Holy Sepulcher.' The Order was conferred on the Knights of the Red Cross for rare personal valor and courage. Every recruit receiving the Order of 'Knight of the Holy Sepulcher,' or that of 'Knight of St. John,' was required to wear a Red Cross on his arm or shield."

In 1100 the Crusaders of every country carried the banner of the Order of Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine.

A Grand Conclave of that Order assembled in Rome, May, 1119. Emperor Michael Angelo Comnenus was chosen Sovereign Grand Master. The Sovereign Grand Council issued an edict limitng the active membership of Knights of the Grand Cross to fiftty

(1) McCoy's " Addison," pp. 87, 88.

Sir Knights in each kingdom or independent country, and that a Grand Cross Knight shall have precedence, in all assemblies of Sir Knights of the Red Cross, immediately after the Sovereign Grand Master.

Pope Innocent III. urged the Knights of the Red Cross, Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and Knights of St. John to overthrow the Infidels in Constantinople in 1193. Richard of England in 1195 was proclaimed Sovereign Grand Master of the Knights of Rome and Constantine, and Senior Knight of the Grand Cross, by the Duke of Burgundy, for valorous services in front of Jerusalem. After the return of the Crusaders (1200), to about 1654, the history of the Order of Knights of Rome and Constantine is somewhat uncertain. No General Assembly was held. The Kings of Spain and France and the Emperor of Germany asserting sovereignty by Divine authority in their respective countries. In 1270 the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine, under the leadership of the monarch of France, a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order, drove the Mohammedans out of Carthage. In 1460 the germs of a new civilization had been scattered over Europe by this Order. They opened up the East to the nations of Europe and brought Asia and Europe in closer relations. In 1550 Father Boniface, a Prior of the Order, was appointed Warden of the Holy Sepulcher, by Pope Julius III. The Orders of Red Cross, Holy Sepulcher, and St. John were resuscitated in England, the first conclave being instituted by the German embassador to the Court of St. James, February, 1688. The Abbe Guistiniani, a Venetian priest of great learning, while visiting England, May, 1692, conferred these three Orders, of Red Cross, Holy Sepulcher, and of St. John, on several of the attaches of the English Court. The Abbe was the first writer to gather, prepare, and preserve the traditions and rituals of the Order as now existing. Sir Bernard Burke says: "Duke Francis I., of Parma, of the house of Farnese, was installed (September, 1699) Grand Master of the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine with much pomp."

Baron Hunde states: "The great and rapid progress of Freemasonry on the European Continent is largely due to the efforts of the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine." He also credits the Knights of the Red Cross as being the true Templars and as the only Order of Christian Knighthood that has had a regular succession since it was instituted in 312. After the Royal Arch degree was introduced into English Freemasonry prior to 1760. Many companies of the Royal Arch, in England, petitioned the local conclaves to modify the ancient landmarks of the Order, in age interest and welfare of Royal Arch Masonry, by changing the qualifications of membership in the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine and the Appendant Orders, from a Master Mason to Royal Arch Mason. From time immemorial a Master Mason, if a believer in the Christian religion, has been the qualification necessary for membership. In January, 1760, the Grand Masters of the English and Scottish Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine assembled in London, and adopted as a requirement for Knighthood in the Order that the applicant be a Royal Arch Mason and a believer in the Christian religion.

At Charleston, S.C., November 12, 1783, in St. Andrew's F. & A. M. Lodge, the Order of Knight of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine was conferred on a class of eight, a dispensation having been obtained in England by a retired British officer, then residing in Charleston. This is the second authentic account of the conferring of the Order in America.

The history of the Order of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine and also of Masonry being both silent as to the first connection of these two, there is some authority in the statement of the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Masons of England, that (in 1788) all the Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of England and Scotland received the Order of Knight of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine on their election, and before being installed as a Grand Officer. The retiring Grand Master, if he served two or more terms, receiving the Order of Knight of the Grand Cross on retiring from the Grand East. Masonry and Knights of the Red Cross evidently became closely allied early in the 17th century. All of the above extracts, referring to the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine, Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and Knights of St. John, have been taken, with some slight alterations of language, from a small pamphlet, issued by C.L. Stowell, K.T. 33d, Sovereign Grand Master of the Knights "of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine," and Thos. Leahy, K. T. 32d, Grand Registrar General - which pamphlet is an addition to the literature on the subject of the Knightly "Appendant Orders," and shows the chronological sequence of those degrees from their origin and present connection with freemasonry through the degree of Knights of Malta - which at present is conferred after the degree of Knight Templar. (1)

ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD.

Peter Heylinl in his Cosmography of the World (1660), says:

"The Chief Orders of Knighthood in this Kingdom (Jerusalem), after the recovery from the power of the Turks, were:

"1. Of the Sepulcher, said to be instituted originally (A.D. 314) by Queen Helena, the Mother of Constantine the Great, by whom the Temple of the Sepulcher was indeed first built; but more truly by Philip, King of France. Anna 1099, at such time as that Temple was regained from the Turks. The Arms, the same with that of the Kings (the Arms of the Christian Kings in Hierusalem was Luna, a cross Crosset, crossed, Sol, which was commonly called the Hierusalem Cross), representing the five wounds of our Saviour CHRIST. At the first, conferred on none but Gentlemen of blood and fortunes, now (A.D. 1660) salable to any that will buy it of the Pater-Guardian who with a Convent of Franciscans doth reside near that Temple.

"2. Of Saint John of Hierusalem, begun by one Gerrard, Anno 1114, and confirmed by Cope Paschalis the second. Their Badge or Cognizance is a White Cross of eight points. Their duty to defend the Holy Land, relieve Pilgrims, and succor Christian Princes against the Infidels. They were to be of Noble Parentage and Extraction; and grew in time to such infinite riches, especially after the suppression of the Templars (most of whose lands were after given to the Order), that they had at one time in the several parts of Christendom no fewer than 20,000 Mannors; and of such reputation in all Christian Kingdoms, that in England the Lord Prior of this Order was accounted the prime Baron in the Realm. But now (1660) their Revenue is not a little diminished, by the withdrawing of the Kings of England, and other Protestant Princes, from the Church of Rome; who on that change seized on all the Lands of that Order in their several Countries, and either kept them to themselves, or disposed them to others, as they pleased.

(1) See Mackey in chapters xxviii. - xxix., ante.

"Their first Great Master was that Gerrard by whom they were founded; the last that had his residence in the Holy Land was one John D. Villers, in whose time, being driven out of Palestine, they removed unto Cyprus, and in the time of Fulk de Villaret, Anno 1309, to the Isle of Rhodes. Outed of which by Solomon the Magnificent, Anno 1522, they removed from one place to another, till at last by the magnificence of Charles V., Anna 1530, Whey were settled in Malta; and there we shall speak further of them.

"3. Of the Templars, instituted by Hugh of Pagennes, Anno 1113, and confirmed by Pope Euggenius. Their ensign was a red cross, in token that they should shed their blood to defend Christ's Temple. They were buried cross-legged, and wore on their backs the figure of a Cross; for which they were by the common people called Cross-backs, and by corruption crook-backs. Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, second son to Henry the Third, being of this Order, was vulgarly called Edmund Crook-back; which gave Henry the Fourth a foolish occasion to feign that this Edmund (from whom he was descended) was indeed the eldest son of King Henry the Third, but for his crookedness and deformity, his younger brother was preferred to the Crown before him. These knights had in all Provinces of Europe their subordinate Governors, in which they possessed no less than 16000 Lordships; the greatness of which revenue was not the least cause of dissolving the Order. For Philip the Fair, King of France, had a plot to invest one of his sons with the Title of King of Hierusalem, and hoped to procure of the Pope the revenue of this Order to be laid unto that Kingdome, for support of the Title: which he thought he might the better do, because Clement the V., then Pope, for the love he bore to France, had transferred his seat from Rome to Avignon. But herein his hopes deceived him; for this Order being dissolved, the lands thereunto belonging were given to the Knights Hospitallers or of St. John. The crimes objected against this Order were - first, their revolt from their professed obedience unto the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was their Visitor. Secondly, their unspeakable pride; and, Thirdly, their sins against Nature. The House of our Law-Students in London called the Temple was the chief house of the Knights of this Order in England; and was, by the Knights of St. John, whose principle Mansion was in Smithfield, sold unto the Students of the Laws, for the yearly rent of 10l., about the Middle of the reign of Edward III. These three Orders M. Selden (and deservedly) put not in his Title of honour, in that they were prohibited to kiss a woman; honorary Knighthood and the love of Ladies going together, like Virtue and Reward."

KNIGHTS TEMPLARS DURING THE SEVEN CRUSADES FROM 1118 TO 1291 .

Hugo de Paganis, after arriving in Palestine, as a Crusader and pilgrim, finding that the Moslem inhabitants infested the approaches to Jerusalem and other sacred places, and persecuted such pilgrims as were not in sufficient numbers to protect themselves, gathered with him eight other companions, viz.: Godefroi de St. Aldemar, Roral, Gundemar, Godefroi Bisol, de Montdidier, Archibald de St. Aman, Andrew de Montbar, and the Count of Provence, and bound themselves to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, in A.D. 1118, "to guard the approaches to the Holy City, so that pilgrims to the sacred places might have easy access; to live as regular Canons of the Church, under the Benedictine rule; and to fight for the King of Heaven and the Bride of Christ, in chastity, obedience, and self-denial. In 1119 Hugo de Paganis became the first Master. The palace of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem, which had been a Mosque on Mount Moriah - which Mount constitutes now the Haram Es Sheriff - and then was known as "Solomon's Temple," was assigned to them as their quarter (1) This Mosque, after many vicissitudes from the time of its first erection, is at the present day called the "Mosque of Omar," because at one time in its history he was supposed to have been its builder, but it has been well determined by good authority that he was not; but when he conquered Jerusalem, between A.D. 640 and 644, he put it in thorough repair. (2)

(1) In consequence of the services to the Christians performed by the "Poor Fellow Soldiers," Baldwin II., King of Jerusalem, gave them for a habitation, for hitherto they seem to have had no fixed place of abode, " the palace or royal house to the South of the Temple of the Lord, vulgarly called the Temple of Solomon " (Addison). There seems to be confusion in this locality, by different writers, owing to the ignorance concerning the various buildings on this site. - EDITOR.

(2) Mosque of Omar or Kubbet es Sakra (Dome of the Rock). This building, which is on the Platform or Original Site of Solomon's Temple, is an Octagon of 66 feet to each side, having four porticoes and a range of pointed windows incrusted with beautifully colored Persian tiles. Within are two concentric ranges of columns and square pillars - the interior range supporting the drum of the magnificent dome, which is nearly too feet in height and over 60 feet in diameter. Within the central range is a rock 60 x 50 feet rising seven feet above the pavement - tradition saying that it was upon this rock Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac. Underneath this rock is a cave - a chamber 14 x 16 feet, in which the Mohammedans now worship. The walls and the drum are covered with beautiful Byzantine Mosaics of different dates, and the windows are filled with splendid sixteenth century colored glass. It is supposed that this Mosque was originally a very early Byzantine church. It was no doubt greatly improved by Omar, when the Mohammedans occupied Jerusalem. Some writers say, by Abd-el- Malek Ibn Marwan, before the time of Omar.

From this palace, or "Solomon's Temple," these Knights took the name of "Templars," and were also called "poor fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon." They had every one of them seen hard service under the leadership of Godefroi de Bouillon, and were well qualified to render efficient service in aid of pilgrims and all others requiring their assistance.

Their fame and valuable services soon spread over all Europe, and many of the sons of noble houses were induced to enter into this body, so distinguished by its acts of benevolence and charity. The Order was brought prominently to the especial notice of St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, by whom a pastoral was issued praising the valor and extolling the merits of the Templars. At the Council of Troyes, in 1128, statutes were formulated for the new Order. Seventy-two rules of discipline were adopted, which met the concurrence of Pope Honorius II. and the Patriarch of Jerusalem. So rapid was the growth of this Order that they had been established in every kingdom of Latin Christendom. Domains in Normandy were granted to them by Henry I. of France. In 1129 they were established in Castile, in 1131 in Rochelle, in Languedoc in 1136, in Rome in 1138, in Brittany in 1141. The White Mantle was chosen to be worn to distinguish them from the Hospitalers, who wore a robe of black. The Red Cross was added in 1146 by Pope Eugenius III., to be placed on the breast as a symbol that the Order was expected to invite martyrdom.

Hugo de Paganis, the first Master of the Templars, visited England, and many English knights followed him to Palestine as Members of the Order. Among these was Fulk, Count of Anjou, who afterward was King of Jerusalem, in II3I. Hugo de Paganis died in 1136.

Robert de Craou, a nephew of Anselm, Archbishop of Canter bury, succeeded Paganis as Grand Master of the Order.

The Second Crusade was excited by the troubles and dangers to which the Christians of Syria were exposed from the conquering arms of the Turks, who defeated the Franks at Antioch, and had taken Edessa, and threatened the destruction of all the Christian kingdoms of Syria. In this crusade Everard de Baris, the third Master of the Templars, was greatly renowned for his deeds of valor. This crusade, as before stated, was incited by St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux in Champagne, who was distinguished for his learning and devotion. Under Louis VII., King of France, and Conrad III., Emperor of Germany, two immense armies marched for the Holy Land - this was in 1147. Manuel Comnenus, the Greek Emperor, through whose country the armies marched, by his treacherous conduct, caused great and a long series of disasters. A fruitless attempt was made to take Damascus, and the expedition was finally abandoned; only a small remnant of this vast host returned to Europe. Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, in 1187 caused a Third Crusade to be started. Frederick Barbarossa, Emperor of Gem many; Philip Augustus, King of France; and Richard I. of England, were the Leaders of this crusade. In 1189 the Emperor of Germany set out first, but unfortunately died of a fever caused by imprudently bathing in the Orontes River, the modern Nahr-el-Asi, the chief river in Northern Syria; it flows past Antioch, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. His army was then joined to the forces of the other two monarchs at Acre. Nearly two years were passed by these armies in the siege of Acre before it was surrendered, although Saladin made every effort to relieve the defenders. Nine battles were fought, and over 100,000 Christians perished during the siege. Unfortunately, from the peculiar temperaments of Philip of France and Richard of England, they could not agree; and Philip returned to Europe. Richard led his army to Ascalon and defeated Saladin; but was finally driven from Jerusalem. Richard performed prodigies of valor during this crusade, by which the admiration of the Saracens was excited, and from which he derived his name of "Coeur de Lion." He made a treaty with Saladin, by which the pilgrims were protected from injury and oppression; he then returned to Europe, in 1192. Saladin died in 1193; the unity of his empire was destroyed. The Sultans of Damascus, Egypt, and Aleppo became hostile to each other, and the Christians of Syria were not molested for many years. Pope Innocent III., in 1203, promoted the Fourth Crusade. At Venice an extensive armament was fitted out. The expedition, however, was diverted from its true mission against the Mohammedans, and, led by Baldwin, Count of Flanders, proceeded against Constantinople. In 1204 the Crusaders took this city, and then founded there the Latin dynasty of emperors who continued to fill the throne for fifty-six years.

Frederick II., Emperor of Germany, in 1228 led the Fifth Crusade, and it was ended by a treaty which he made with the Sultan of Egypt, according to which Palestine was ceded to Frederick, and free toleration granted to the two faiths of Christianity and Mohammedanism. By this arrangement the Christians lived in Jerusalem in peace and prosperity, until the Mongols, in the middle of the 13th century, disturbed this harmony.

Louis IX. (St. Louis) of France, in consequence of the capture and pillage of Jerusalem by the barbarous Mongols, in 1249, undertook the Sixth Crusade. After he had taken Damietta he was completely defeated by the Sultan of Egypt and taken prisoner; but was, in 1250, ransomed by his subjects. In alliance with Prince Edward (afterward Edward I.), son of Henry III. of England, St. Louis undertook the Seventh and last Crusade, in 1269, because of the capture of Antioch by the Mame-luke (1) Sultan of Egypt. Louis went to Africa, expecting to receive the King of Tunis as a convert to Christianity; he, however, found him to be a determined enemy. A pestilence having seized upon the French camp, they perished by thousands upon the burning sands. St. Louis died in his tent; and his son, after making a treaty with the King of Tunis, returned to France. Prince Edward, who at the age of fifteen had been married (August 5, 1254) to Eleanora of Castile (infants donna), not ten years of age, sister of King Alphonso, surnamed the "Astronomer," proceeded to Palestine, accompanied by his wife, who, leaving her three infants in England at Windsor, met her lord at Bordeaux, and from thence they sailed to Ptolomais, and in that campaign he won a great battle and stormed Nazareth. Embarking at Cyprus he won another victory, June, 1271, at Cahow.

(1) Mame-luke, meaning in Arabic slave.

The Saracens became greatly alarmed, and an attempt was made against Edward by the prince of the Assassins, called the "Old Man of the Mountains." He employed a fanatic, who, pretending to be a Christian convert, was admitted to the presence of Edward, aimed a dagger at his side, but stabbed him in the arm. Although wounded as he was, he overcame and killed the assassin before his attendants reached him. Being fearful that the weapon had been poisoned, for the wound turned black, when the Master of the Temple and the doctors recommended incision, the Princess Eleanora, agonized at what her lord had to suffer, cried and lamented, until his brother Edmund said: "My sister, it is better you should cry than all England weep." Edward, holding out his arm, bade his surgeons "cut away and spare not, he would bear it," and told his favorite knight, John de Vesci, to "carry the Princess away from a sight not fit for her to witness." Sir John carried her away to her ladies, she shrieking and struggling all the time. The surgical operation was effectual, and, owing to Edward's virtue of temperance and Eleanora's tender care of him, he was convalescent in fifteen days. (1)

The forces of Edward, having been greatly reduced by sickness and want, prepared to leave the Holy Land, where his wife had given birth to a daughter, celebrated under the name of "Joanna of Acre," in which city she was born, and who afterward married Gilbert de Clare, the first nobleman of England. On their arrival in Sicily sad news met them - that their heir, Prince John, had died suddenly, and his brother Henry also. A messenger arrived on the third day, announcing that Edward's royal sire, Henry III., had expired, and Edward was now King of England. He had borne the loss of his sons with firmness, but was thrown into agonies upon the news of his father's death. When surprise was expressed at this he replied, "Eleanora may bring me more sons, but the loss of a father can never be replaced."

This closed the era of the Crusades. Antioch had fallen by the hands of the Sultan of Egypt, and the inhabitants were slaughtered or carried into slavery in 1268. All the other towns in Syria, successively, were reduced and fell into the hands of the Mohammedans excepting Acre, which for some time was the seat of the Christians. It was captured by the Sultan in 1291, and 60,000 of its inhabitants

(1) Agnes Strickland, "Queens of England," 1871, p. 97.

were massacred or sent into slavery. Soon afterward all the churches and fortifications of the Latin Christians throughout Syria were destroyed.

We might with some profit here pause, and reflect upon the wonderful effect that resulted from these vast and religious wars, between the Western Christian nations and the hordes of ignorant and benighted Mohammedan believers of the East, which successively followed from the First Crusade in 1096 No less than 275,000 men, mostly the dregs of the population of the various nations of Europe, were commanded by a religious fanatic, Peter the Hermit. The first detachment, under Walter the Penniless, was destroyed by the Bulgarians, a few only succeeding in reaching Constantinople, where those led by Peter himself joined with them. After many difficulties a part of these succeeded in reaching Asia Minor, opposite Constantinople, where, upon the plains of Nice, they were defeated with great slaughter by the Turkish Sultan. A third and fourth expedition met with similar misfortune. However, the real Crusaders very soon thereafter arrived at Constantinople, who consisted of six armies of veteran soldiers, who were commanded by the most skillful and experienced commanders of that age: Godfrey of Bouillon; Duke of Lorrain; Hugh the Great, brother of Philip I., King of France; Robert, son of William the Conqueror of England; Count Robert of Flanders; Bo'he-Mond, Count of Tarentum, with his cousin, the noble and illustrious Tancred; and Count Raymond of Toulouse; amounting to nearly 600,000 men.

This force, under these noble leaders, defeated Sultan Sol'i-man, and took possession of his capital, Nice, in 1097, and afterward marched on to Syria, and besieged and took Antioch, in 1098, after seven months' siege; during which time Peter the Hermit, with multitudes of others, deserted the Crusaders. The Persian Sultan, having sent an immense army of Mohammedans to aid the others, they were also defeated and routed. The Crusaders then marched to Jerusalem, and found their numbers reduced to 40,000. This city surrendered to the Crusaders in 1099, after a short siege; and Godfrey de Bouillon was unanimously chosen King. Soon thereafter he met the Sultan of Egypt, with an immense army, at Ascalon, and there defeated him.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem, in a short time, was extended, until it embraced the whole of Palestine; nearly all or the best parts of Asia Minor were restored to the Eastern Empire; Bohemond was made Prince of Antioch. At this time the two Orders of Knights Hospitalers of St. John and Knights Templars above referred to were founded, " and for nearly fifty years the three Latin principalities or Kingdoms of the East - viz.: Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem - maintained themselves against the Mohammedans, and increased in power and wealth."

Then a Turkish Emir, who, having been made Governor of Aleppo, had defeated the Franks at Antioch, had taken Edessa, and threatened the destruction of all the Christian Kingdoms in Syria.

The influence of these crusades, extending from 1090 to 1291, a period of two hundred years, was very evident upon the European nations who had so repeatedly furnished their contingents to supply the armies who fought so hard and through so many difficulties in that unfavorable climate of Syria. In reading the accounts of these various crusades we are constantly reminded that in nearly every successful battle the conduct of the brave and gallant Knights Templars insured a complete victory.

The great reputation which they gained caused a constant increase of their numbers from the very best elements of the higher classes in Europe - and a constant increase of lands and monasteries and other estates. The political and social improvement of the nations of Europe followed. They tended to break up the feudal system, and the great barons were compelled to sell their extensive estates, in order to get the means of paying for the equipments of their armies; and their estates were divided up among the people generally. Popular freedom was given to towns and cities, with political privileges, in return for contributions of money to pay for troops and equipments. Commerce was encouraged by the demand for so many ships to transport such immense amounts of supplies and men - and every branch of trade was greatly stimulated and increased to furnish arms, equipments, and food supplies. Knowledge was diffused among the people, who formerly were almost as ignorant of the outer world as their domestic animals. Where was in those two centuries a wonderful advance in science, art, and literature. The Greek and Saracenic civilization was soon imbibed by those who visited the East, and on their return to Europe, their own countries soon felt the influence in every branch of human knowledge.

Among those who returned, and thus impressed at home the great improvement in manners and customs, none were more influential than the Knights of the several Orders. Their influence was greater by far than any others who were fortunate to return; and consequently, according to human nature everywhere, these Orders became distasteful to all classes by their arrogant and tyrannical conduct, both to high and low; until the King of France, Philip the Fair, and Pope Clement V., for their own selfish purposes, and to gain the wealth of these Orders, determined to suppress them, which resulted in, first, their imprisonment for several years, until the plot was ripe; then by their execution, after the minds of the people had become sufficiently reconciled to their suppression.

During A.D. 1118, some writers say 1188, according to a Swedish Legend, "the Rose Croix came from the East into Europe, to propagate the doctrine of Jesus. Three of them founded in Europe the Order of Masons of the East [some writers say that our Knight of the Red Cross may probably have been derived from this degree], to serve as a preparatory seminary for those pupils whom they intended to instruct in the sublime sciences." (1)

To Ormesius, a priest of Alexandria in Egypt, is attributed the origin of the Order of Rose Croix. He with six others embraced Christianity at the solicitation of St. Mark the Evangelist, A.D. 46. (2) This tradition may be reconciled with the tradition of the formation of the Order of the Temple in Paris, which declares that the "Order of the East gave birth to the Order of the Temple; that, in Ancient Egypt, we find the cradle of the Order of the East." Also, "the Swedish brethren," as Reghellini observes, "have always enjoyed in the Order a very brilliant reputation for their learning; the proof of which is that all nations have adopted, in the Master's degree, the distress stgn as it was established in the catechism of their symbolic degrees." (3) This, however, can not be reconciled with that, which gives the origin of the Rose Croix, by the admission of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem of 27,000 Scottish Masons, who had given their

(1) "La Maconnerie," tome ii., p. 431. (2) Ibid., tome ii., p. 431. "Acta. Lat.," tome i., p. 336. (3) "La Maconnerie," tome ii., p. 430.

aid to the Christian Princes during the wars of the First Crusade, as given by Oliver (1) and several others. (2) Addison says (3): "That the first authentic notice of an intention on the part of the Hospitalers to occupy themselves with military matters occurs in the bull of Pope Innocent the Second, A.D. 1130." It is very probable that the latter Order was not of a military character at this time.

The Order of the Templars, by the exertions of Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, was greatly extended throughout Europe. The church, through the Pope and clergy, was enlisted in their favor. A code or set of rules was given them, afterward confirmed by a Papal Bull. Large grants of land, and also money, were made to the Templars, after the visit of Hugode Payens, to Normandy, England, and Scotland, as before mentioned (A.D. 1128). According to Reghellini, "Eighty-one Masons, under the conduct of Garimont, Patriarch of Jerusalem, crossed into Europe, in 1150" (date probably erroneous). "They went to the Bishop of Upsala, in Eastern Sweden, who received them very favorably, and by this means the Bishop was initiated into the mysteries brought from the Copts; afterward they intrusted to him the sacred depot of these doctrines, rites, and mysteries. The Bishop of Upsala took care to conceal them in the subterranean vault of the tower of the four crowns, which at that time was the treasure-house of the King of Sweden. Nine of these Masons, among whom was Hugo de Payens, established in Europe the Order of the Templars, who subsequently received the depot, which had been given to the Bishop of Upsala, which held the doctrines, dogmas, and mysteries of the Coptic Priests. Reghellini adds: "It was by this action that the Templars became the conservators and guardians of the mysteries, rites, and ceremonies brought from the East by the Masonsand the Levites of the true light." (4) Hugo of the Temple, as he is sometimes called, before he left England, appointed a Prior to govern (5) the Order in England.

The enthusiasm which prevailed in favor of the Templars was so great over Europe at this time that the King of Navarre bequeathed his kingdom to the Order. Most of the Barons of Navarre and Aragon ratified the act; notwithstanding which, the claims of the Templars were afterward successfully resisted. After Hugo had

(1) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 135, note 40. (2) "Dalcho's Oration," Appendix, note A, p. 66, Lexicon. (3) "Addison," p. 55. (4) "La Maconnerie," tome i., p. 437. (5) "Addison," p. 27.

laid the foundations of the Order, he returned to Jerusalem and was greeted with great distinction (A.D. 1129), and a grand Council of War was called; soon after which he died.

Hugo de Payens was succeeded by Robert de Craou, surnamed the Burgundian, son-in-law of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1136, who became a Templar after the death of his wife. The Templars were defeated in several battles by Zenghis and Naureddin, and lost several towns, the principal one being Edessa In consequence of these defeats application was made to the Pope for assistance by the clergy of the Eastern Churches, and he commissioned St. Bernard to preach the Second Crusade. In 1146 Everard des Barres, or de Barri, succeeded; Lord Robert convened a general chapter at Paris, where the Second Crusade was arranged. The Red Cross was permitted to be worn by the Templars by Eugenius III. In 1148 the red cross banner was first unfurled in battle, it is supposed, at Damascus. It was a white standard, having in the center the blood-red cross, the symbol of martyrdom. Reghellini supposes the origin of this symbol to be of the highest antiquity. The Second Crusade having been a failure, the Master returned with King Louis to Paris. The Templars could only collect one hundred and twenty knights and one thousand serving brethren to recover the province of Antioch, which had been invaded by the enemy. The Master abdicated, and spent the rest of his life in the Monastery of Clairvaux.

He was succeeded by a nobleman of illustrious family of Burgundy, in France, Bernard de Tremelay, a valiant and experienced soldier, who was chosen Master in 1151. The Infidels were defeated near Jerusalem (1152) in a night attack, and driven to the Jordan, five thousand being left dead on the plain near the ford. Against this victory a disastrous defeat was encountered by the Templars, who in 1153 attempted to take the city of Ascalon. "They penetrated, at dawn of day, through a breach in the wall, reached the center of the town, were surrounded by the Infidels, and 'slain to a man.' Their bodies were exposed in triumph from the walls."

Bertrand de Blanquefort, of a noble family of Guienne, a pious and God-fearing man, succeeded to the Mastership in 1154. The enemy captured him, with Otho, the Marshal, and eighty-five others in an ambuscade near Tiberias in 1156. Shortly thereafter, thirty Knights Templars put to flight, slaughtered, and captured two hundred Infidels. At the instance of Manuel Comnenus. Emperor of Constantinople, the Master was liberated (1158). in 1167 "Phlilp of Naplous became Master; he was the first Master who had been born in Palestine. He had been lord of the fortresses of Krak and Montreal in Arabia Petrsea; having assumed the habit and taken the vows of the Order of the Temple, after the death of his wife." Philip resigned his office in 1170, and Odo de St. Amand, of undoubted courage and resolution, succeeded as Master of the Temples according to William, Archbishop of Tyre, "having the fear neither of God or man before his eyes." In 1168, because the Master of the Temple refused to invade Egypt, in violation of certain treaties, Gilbert d'Assalit, the Guardian of the Hospitalers, the friend and confident of Almaric, King of Jerusalem, armed the Hospitalers as a great Military Society, in imitation of the Templars.

Egypt having been unjustifiably invaded by the Christian Knights, without the Templars, Saladin crossed the desert with 40,000 horse and foot, and after ravaging the borders of Palestine, advanced to and laid siege to Gaza, but was forced to retire again into Egypt by the Templars.

After this the Templars and Hospitalers became the guardians of the true cross - the former marched on the right, and the latter on the left of the sacred emblem.

The Templars conquered the Assassins in 1172, and their chief, "the Old Man of the Mountains," was forced to sue for peace. Near Ascalon, in a battle (November 1, 1177), "the Infidels were defeated. Odo with eighty Knights broke through the famous guard of Mamelooks, slew their commander, and forced Saladin to fly, almost naked, on a fleet dromedary." At the battle of Jacob's Ford, "where there was much hard fighting, the Master of the Hospital, covered with wounds, having fled, and the Count of Tripoli also, the Templars were all killed or taken prisoners and the Master Odo de St. Amand fell into the hands of the enemy. The fortress was burned down, and all the Templars taken in the place were sawn in two except the most distinguished."

THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE MARTYRDOM OF DE MOLAY AND OTHERS.

During the difficulties between Philip, King of France, and Boniface VIII., the Templars coincided with the Pope. The King had issued coin below the proper standard, which caused a rebellion, and as the rents of the Templars were very great, they were thought by the King to be the instigators of the disaffection. The King determined to be revenged, and was not long in finding someone suited to his purpose. The evidence of the party who, to obtain the royal pardon, gave his testimony, was merely "hearsay," but two apostates from the Order, who were expelled and condemned to imprisonment for their crimes, corroborated this testimony. This information was treasured up by the King, to be made use of at the right time. Clement, an unprincipled man, in order to gain the summit of his ambition, had pledged himself on the holy sacrament to comply with a condition of which he was then ignorant. He became the instrument of the vindictive and wily monarch This Order, which had been for one hundred and seventy years the admiration of all Christendom, its members having shed freely their blood, and given thousands of lives to defend Christianity, and lavished their treasures in defense of the Cross against the Infidels, were declared to be heretics and apostates; they were accused of the blackest crimes, all of which were impossible. All the Templars in French dominions were simultaneously arrested and cast into prison. Tortures of every kind were unsparingly applied. Some, to escape these horrible pains, confessed these crimes and absurdities imputed to them, in hopes of obtaining pardon. Most of these, after being restored to liberty, renounced their confessions and solemnly declared that the excessive torments to which they had been put alone induced them to confess that which they knew to be false. They were then treated as relapsed heretics and cast into the flames. Neither age nor rank could escape of those who persisted in denying the guilt of the Order. Some languished in loathsome dungeons for years and perished from neglect disease, and starvation. Others, more robust, were in time restored to liberty, to wander about the world with mutilated limbs, to gain a living as best they could.

It would seem that these events, so well known to the nations of Europe, would have taught them all along the ages, from the Crusades to the 19th century, the humanitarian principles inculcated in their religion. Unfortunately, cruelty of every kind was so deep set ln the very nature of all the Latin races, that where the religious sentiment was prevalent it was utterly impossible for the Roman Church ever to forgive any individual, high or low, who dared to controvert in the least manner any dogmatic utterance which might be promulgated from the Church authorities. Total obedience, the most abject and servile, was exacted from every individual. The history of every nation upon the continent of Europe, and where the Pope of Rome had authority elsewhere, shows that cruelties of the worst description were visited upon all who would not conform to the exactions of the Church of Rome. Such were the influences of that "curse of the world" which followed upon the suppression of the Templars by that "Curse of France" - as Philip the Fair was styled by Dante - that cruelties for differences in religious matters have been continued to the present day where any particular church is sustained by secular authority. The conduct of Spain in her treatment of her West and East Indian colonies in political matters is but the continuation of the old religious persecutions of the "Inquisition," " which caused countless millions to mourn." The persecutions of the Spanish governors in Cuba, Porto Rico, and Philippines, are the latest phases of the Spanish "Inquisition" and the "French Bastile" - The Devil's Island being but an outgrowth of that famous fortress destroyed in Paris during the Revolution.

EXECUTION OF DE MOLAY

Let us now complete the history of the Templars of the Crusades. One recent author says: "The last scene of this dreadful tragedy was yet to be enacted. The four most noble victims were reserved for the last. James de Molay, the Grand Master; Guy, the Grand Preceptor; Hugo de Paralt or Peraldes, the Visitor General. and Theodore Bazile de Merioncourt, who had returned from the East (1307), when summoned by the Pope, and who had languished In prison for five years and a half, were (March 11, 1313) led out to a scaffold which had been erected in front of Notre Dames publicly to avow confessions which the Grand Master had declared were forged. The confessions were read, their assent was required. Two were silent, and were condemned to be incarcerated for life. "But the Grand Master raising his arms, bound with chains, toward heaven, and advancing toward the edge of the scaffold, declared, in a loud voice, that to say that which was untrue was a crime, both in the sight of God and man. 'I do,' said he, 'confess my guilt, which consists in having to my shame and dishonor suffered myself, through the pain of torture and the fear of death, to give utterance to falsehoods, imputing scandalous sins and iniquities to an illustrious Order, which hath nobly served the cause of Christianity. I disdain to seek a wretched and disgraceful exist ence by engrafting a naked lie upon the original falsehood.' He was here interrupted by the Probo and his officers, and Guy, the Grand Preceptor, having commenced with strong asseverations of his innocence, they were both hurried back to prison." (1)

King Philip was then informed of the occurrence, and in his blind fury ordered them to be immediately executed. This took place at four o'clock the same day, Addison says at dusk. There is no apparent discrepancy in this, as in March it often occurs that it is dusky soon after 4 P.M. They were conducted to the "Isle de la Cite," a funeral pile having been erected, and not yet completed, near where now stands the equestrian statue of Henry IV.

While the work of completion was going on, the Grand Master solemnly declared the innocence of his brethren, and then prayed as follows: "Permit us, O God! to remember the torments which Jesus Christ suffered to ransom us, and to imitate the example which he set us in enduring, without a murmur, the persecutions and tortures which injustice and blindness prepared for him. Pardon, O my God! the false accusations which have caused the total destruction of the Order of which Providence appointed me the head. And if thou wilt deign to hear the supplication which we now offer thee, grant that the deceived world may, at some future day, better know those who have endeavored to live for thee. We hope to receive, from thy goodness and mercy, the reward for the torments and death which we are about to suffer - to enjoy thy divine preset ence in the realms of bliss."

(1) "Addison," p. 279. Vertot gives this speech in different cords, though alike is substance, vol. i.,p. 219.

They were then hurried off to the stake, the executioners of the King being fearful of an insurrection of the people. Small fires were kindled under their feet. "This hellish torture was borne with fortitude and resignation, without cries or groans, imploring the mercy of God and maintaining the innocence and purity of their beloved Order to the last. At length De Molay, when his body was almost consumed, having yet command of his tongue, looking at the crowd before him, exclaimed:

"You who behold us perishing in the flames shall decide our innocence! I summon Pope Clement V. to appear in forty days, and Philip the Fair in twelve months, before the just and terrible throne of the ever-living God, to render an account of the blood which they have unjustly and wickedly shed!" (1)

The fires burned lower and lower, and in time became extinguished! The mortal parts of James de Molay and Guy had been reduced to ashes - their spirits had returned to their creator!

Vertot and L'Histoire de l'ab. de l'Ord. both doubt the truth of this tradition. The manuscript of Knights Hospitalers, the manuscript of Knights Hospitalers of de la Hogue, and the degree of Novice of the Order of Unknown Phil. Judges state that De Molay made this prediction just before he was placed on the funeral piles. (2) *

(1) Vertot, vol. i., p. 219. (2) "Orthodoxie Maconnerie," p. 393. * Vertot, in his account of the origin of the Order of Knights Templars, states that "A Templar and a citizen of Breziers, having been apprehended for some crime, were committed together to a dungeon; for want of a priest, they confessed each other; that the citizen, having heard the Templar's confession, in order to save his own life, accused the Order to Philip, King of France; charging them, on the authority of what his fellow-prisoner had told him, with idolatry, sodomy, robbery, and murder; adding that the Knights Templars being secretly Mahomedan, each Knight, at his admission into the Order, was obliged to denounce Jesus Christ, and to spit on the Cross, in token of his abhorrence of it. Philip, on hearing these accusations, pardoned the citizen, and disclosed to the Pope this extraordinary confession, with a request that their Order should be suppressed." - Cole, " Masonic Library," p. 286.

Vertot says that "In Germany the historians of that nation relate that Pope Clement having sent his bull for abolishing the Order to the Archbishop of Metey, for him to enforce, that prelate summoned all his clergy together, that the publication might be made with greater solemnity; and that they were suddenly surprised by the entry of Wallgruffer, Count Sauvage, one of the principals of the Order, attended by twenty other Templars armed and in their regular habits. The Count declared that he was not come to do violence to any body, but, having heard of the bull against his Order, came to insist that the appeal which they made from that decree to the next Council and successor of Clement should be received and published. This he pressed so warmly that the Archbishop, not thinking it proper to refuse men whom he saw armed, complied. He sent the appeal afterward to the Pope, who ordered him to have it examined in a Council of his province. Accordingly a synod was called, and after a lengthy trial, and various formalities which were then observed, the Templars of that province were declared innocent of the crimes charged upon them. - Cole, " Masonic Library," pp. 288, 289.

Notwithstanding this verdict of innocence it does not appear that either their government or their possessions were restored to them as a distinct order. Their estates in the German Empire were divided between the Knights of Malta and the Teutonic Knights. Many of the Templars joined themselves to the Knights of Malta; and some writers hold this to be probable, for prior to this time the habit of the Knight Templar was originally white; but they now distinguish themselves by the same color as the Knights of Malta, viz., black.

"The fate of the persecutors of the Order is not unworthy of notice. A year and a month after the horrid execution, the Pope, Clement V., was attacked by a dysentery, and speedily hurried to his grave. His dead body was transported to Carpentras, where the Court of Rome then resided. It was placed at night in a church which caught fire, and the mortal remains of the Holy Pontiff were almost entirely consumed. His relations quarreled over the immense treasures he left behind him and a vast sum of money, which had been deposited for safety in a church at Lucca, was stolen by a daring band of German and Italian freebooters. Before the close of the same year, King Philip IV. died of a lingering disease which had baffled all the art of his medical attendants, and the condemned criminal, upon the strength of whose information the Templars were originally arrested, was hanged for fresh crimes. "History attests," says Raynouard, " that all those who were foremost in the persecution of the Templars came to an untimely and miserable death. The last days of Philip IV. were embittered by misfortune. His nobles and clergy leagued against him to resist his exactions. The wives of his three sons were accused of adultery, and two of them were publicly convicted of that crime."

"The chief cause of the ruin of the Templars," justly remarks Fuller, "was their extraordinary wealth. As Naboth's vineyard was the chiefest ground of his blasphemy, and as in England Sir John Cornwall, Lord Fanhope, said merrily, not he, but his stately house at Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, was guilty of high treason, so certainly their wealth was the principal cause of their overthrow. We may believe that Philip IV. would never have taken away their lives, if he might have taken their lands without putting them to death, but the mischief was. he could not get the honey unless he burnt the bees."

King Philip IV., the Pope, and the European sovereigns appear to have disposed of all the personalty of the Templars, the ornaments, jewels, and treasures of their churches and chapels, and during the period of five years over which the proceedings against the Order extended they remained in the actual receipt of the vast rents and revenues of the Fraternity. King Philip IV. put forward a claim upon their lands in France, to the extent of a million dollars, for the expenses of the prosecution, and Louis, his son, claimed a further sum of $300,000. "I do not know," says the celebrated Voltaire, "how much went to the Pope, but evidently, the share of the Cardinals, the Inquisitors delegated to make the process good, amounted to immense sums." The Pope, according to his own account, received only a small portion of the personalty of the Order, but others make him a large participator in the good things of the Fraternity.

ERA SUBSEQUENT TO THE DISPERSION OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.

Extracts from writings of Edward Manning, Cardinal Archs bishop of Westminster:

"The south of France, where a large Jewish and Saracenic element remained, was a hotbed of heresies, and that region was also a favorite one with the guild of Masons. It is asserted too that, as far back as the 12th century, the lodges of the guild enjoyed the special protection of the Knights Templars. It is easy in this way to understand how the symbolical allusion to Solomon and his Temple might have passed from the Knights into the Masonic formulary. In this way too might be explained how, after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, some of the recalcitrant, maintaining their influence over the Freemasons, would be able to prevent what had been hitherto a harmless ceremony into an elaborate ritual that should impart some of the errors of the Templars to the initiated. A document was long ago published, which purports to be a charter granted to a lodge of Freemasons in England, in the time of Henry VII., and it bears the marks in its religious indifference of a suspicious likeness between Freemasons of then and now. In Germany the guild was numerous, and was formally recognized by a diploma granted in 1489 by the Emperor Maximilian. But this sanction was finally revoked by the Imperial Diet in 1707.

"So far, however, the Freemasons were really working stonemasons; but the so-called Cologne Charter (the genuineness seems certain), drawn up in 1535 at a reunion of Freemasons gathered at Cologne to celebrate the opening of the Cathedral Edifice, is signed by Melanchthon, Coligny, and other ill-omened. Nothing certain is known of the Freemasons - now evidently become a sect during the 17th century, except that in 1646 Elias Ashmole, an Englishman, founded the Order of Rose Croix, Rosicrucians, or Hermetic Freemasonry, a society which mingled in a fantastic manner the jargon of alchemy and other occult sciences with Pantheism. This Order soon became affiliated to some of the Masonic lodges in Germany, where from the time of the Reformation there was a constant founding of societies, secret or open, which undertook to formulate a philosophy or religion of their own.

"As we know it now, however, Freemasonry first appeared in 1725, when Lord Derwentwater, a supporter of the expelled Stuart Dynasty, introduced the order into France, professing to have his authority from a lodge at Kilwinning, Scotland. This formed the basis of that variety of Freemasonry called the Scotch Rite. Rival organizations soon sprang up. Charters were obtained from a lodge at York, which was said to have been of a very ancient foundation." (1)

From this extract some of our recent writers have thought that "this connection exists just so far as the Templary of our own day clings to its knightly practices, and is true to its Templar Dogmas of the Christian faith and teaching."

The same spirit of Clement V. is here shown by this famous Manning.

From the various high-grade systems which sprang into existence in Europe during the middle and latter past of the 18th century came the Templary on the continent of Europe, for in each system there was to be found the Knight Templar degree. The Ancient and Accepted Rite of Twenty-five degrees. and its successor, the "Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite," formulated at the close of the last century, are permeated with the Templar spirit.

The principles in all of the several rites wherein is to be found

(1) A Catholic Dictionary containing some "Account of tbe Doctrine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils, and Religious Orders of the Catholic Church." By William E. Addis, Secular Priest, sometime Fellow of the University of Ireland, and Thomas Arnold, M.A., Fellow of the same university. Second Edition, London. Large 8vo, 1884. In loco.

the Templar degree, are dogmatic utterances, and "squared with the words of that Ancient Landmark, God's Holy Word." The lessons of duty found in our modern Templarism are to be applied and practiced in our daily life, and he who follows faithfully all the teaching of our Order will be a "Christian in deed and in truth, and in whom there is no guile."

History says Philip died a few weeks after the martyrdom of De Molay, and Addison fixes the period of the death of the Pope a year and one month afterward, and he also says, "History attests that all those who were foremost in the persecution of the Ternplars came to an untimely and miserable death.'' (1)

By the execution of the principal officers of the Templar organization their enemies supposed that the Order was destroyed for all time; " but the Eagle of St. John was merely scorched - not killed. From the ashes of the old Phoenix has arisen another Order, more glorious in all its aspects than the original; and in the latter part of the 19th century, the Knightly Order of the Templars, clad in the Armor of Integrity, and armed with the sword of knowledge have waged, are still waging, and will ever wage eternal war against the three ancient enemies of the human race - Falsehood, Fanaticism, Superstition! Dieu le vent - 'The will of God."'

After the execution of De Molay and the dispersion of the Templars, in all the nations of Europe, their possessions were confiscated and divided among various other Orders; the survivors were compelled to leave their homes, discard their garb of Templars, and mingle again with the world.

If traditions can be relied upon, some preserved their "Order of the Temple at Paris; " and some the "Templars in Scotland," of whom Charles Edward Stuart was chosen Grand Master. Some, it is said, sought refuge in the Society of Free and Accepted Masons, in order "that they might there enjoy with impunity the religious dogmas which they had brought with them from the East - the liberal sentiments of the Johannite Christians - the pure doctrines of the primitive Christian Church. Many entered the preceptories of the Knights Hospitalers, after a part of their lands had been granted to them." From this circumstance no doubt the modern degree of Knights of Malta has been incorporated into the Encampments of

(1) "Addison," p. 280.

Knights Templars. The Knights of Malta were never anciently claimed to have been Freemasons. "In 1740 the Grand Master of the Order of Malta caused the bull of Clement XII. to be published in the Island of Malta, and forbade the meetings of Freemasons. On this occasion several Knights and many citizens left the Island." " In 1741 the Inquisition pursued the Freemasons at Malta. The Grand Master proscribed their assemblies under severe penalties, and six knights were banished from the Island, in perpetuity, for having assisted at a meeting."

From tradition, after the death of De Molay, in 1313, the Templars were divided into four parties, viz.:

1. The Templars in Portugal and Italy - known since as Knights of the "Order of Christ."

2. Those who accepted Peter d'Aumont as the successor of De Molay.

3. Those who asserted that John Marc Larmenius was his successor.

4. Those who refused to accept either Larmenius or D'Aumont.

Passing by the first, second, and third classes, our sketch need only to refer to the fourth - as Modern Templarism is supposed to be derived from the fourth class, which may be divided into two classes - the Scotch and English.

Edward having debarred the Templars from taking refuge either in England or Ireland, and who attempted to force them, as he had done their brethren, in those countries to enter the preceptories of the Knights of St. John, they were forced to join Bruce, who gave them ample protection; and it is said by their assistance he was enabled to defeat the forces sent against him by Edward at the battle of Bannockburn. He is said to have created, on June 24, 1314, the Order of St. Andrew du Chardin,' to which was afterward united that of Heredom (H.D.M.). He reserved to himself and to his successors forever the title of Grand Master; and founded the Royal Grand Lodge of the Order of H.D.M. at Kilwinning. As our object is, if possible, to trace the origin of our Templar Orders, we must here drop the history of the Royal Order and refer to the General History preceding - Chapter XXIX. - where a full

(1) This order was most probably created by James II. in 1440. - Mackey, in this work Chapter xxix., p. 259 et seq.

statement is made, according to all the light which could possibly be thrown on this difficult problem.

By the death of De Molay, the Order of the Temple was broken up, and the members scattered in all directions, as they had no common head. Those of them who had been leaders in each country were mostly imprisoned for life, or executed, the brethren, persecuted in all directions, and for concealment, wandered about and cast off the clothing of the Order, and again mingled with other men. Addison says: " Papers and certificates were granted to men with long beards, to prevent them from being molested by the officers of justice as suspected Templars."

Their assemblies were forbidden under severe penalties, and at one time six Knights were banished from the island for having been at one of the meetings. There was no ritual of the Order, hence the ritual now used, which is a very beautiful and impressive one, is entirely modern. Gourdin says: " From ignorance of the true causes which forced some of the Templars to enter the Order of Malta has arisen the highly reprehensible practice of dubbing the candidate ' a Knight of the most valiant and magnanimous Order of Knights Templars and Knights of Malta of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.' This ritual was once in force in the United States, and was incorporated in the diploma or patent."

1. The Order of Christ. When the Templars were suppressed in Portugal, their property, of all kinds, was assigned over to the Order of Christ, the equestrian militia, the latter name having been changed to the former. This Order, since its foundation in 1317, has been always protected by the Kings of Portugal, and also by the Popes. They wear "a long and loose black mantle, turned up with ermine and thereupon the Crosses." They are called "Christian Militia," which is their motto. Thory says that "A Portuguese Mason founded at Paris, in 1807, in a Lodge, a chapter of this Order; he applied the formulas of reception to those of Freemasonry. It was the Templar system. He pretended to have received from Portugal the power to create Knights.'' (1) The same Order was in Italy. Pope John XXII. reserved the right of nominating those members called Pontifical Knights. (2)

2. The D'Aumont Templars. They professed the system of

(1) "Acta Latomorum," tome i., p. 299. (2) "Encyclopedia of Heraldry," vol. i.

"Strict Observance," which its opponents declare to have been organized in Prussia by Baron Hund, who derived his knowledge of the doctrines in the Chapter of Clermont, in Paris, he being a member in 1754. (1) This system is exclusively used in Germany and Sweden. A long list of Grand Masters is produced who succeeded De MoJay, the first being D'Aumont, who is said to have been elected on an island of Scotland, December 27, 1313. (2) In Sweden it is said that the Grand Chapter of Stockholm has the last will and testament of De Molay, and that Beaujeau, his nephew, collected his ashes, interred them, and erected his monument with suitable inscriptions. (3)

3. The Larmenius Templars. James de Molay, foreseeing the evils by which the Order was threatened, nominated as his successor John Mark Larmenius, of Jerusalem, and invested him with the Patriarchal and Apostolic power. Larmenius transmitted this power to Brother Thibault of Alexandria in 1324. (4) The Order of Paris claim to have the Charter of transmission signed by Laminius and also the others who succeeded him in Office, down to the present time. They claim also to have the original statutes of the year 587 in manuscript, and several relics which formerly belonged to the martyrs. Some of the Templars were sent out in 1826 to Greece, to fight the Turks. (5)

There has been a difference of opinion among the brethren as to the authenticity of these legends relative to D'Aumont, Beaujeau, and Larmenius, and the relics. Some writers have asserted that De Molay had appointed four Grand Chiefs of the Order in Europe: at Edinburgh in the north; Paris in the west; Naples in the south, and Stockholm in the east. (6) According to the rules of the Order at that time it is very doubtful if De Molay appointed anyone as his successor, as the office had, up to that time, been elective, and no one appointed by De Molay or anyone else would have been recognized by the Order at large unless he had been regularly elected; hence we may be sure that De Molay had no successors.

4. The fourth were the Templars, who did not recognize either of

(1) "Acta Latomorum," tome i., pp. 68, 328. "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 45. The system of Ramsay was known in Germany before the Chapter of Clermont. "Orthodoxie Maconnerie," p. 222. (2) "Acta Latomorum," tome i., p. 329. "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 13, note 26 (3) "Acta Latomorum," p. 339. (4) "Manuel," p. 8. (5) "Freemasons Magazine." vol. I p. 170. (6) "La Maconnerie." tome I., p. 466.

the three above mentioned who assumed the authority of a Grand Master. Those may be divided into two classes: 1st. The Scotch Templars. These may be sub-divided into two sections: a. Those who fought with Robert Bruce; b. Those who entered the Order of Knights Hospitalers.

1. The Templars in Scotland, in consequence of the hostility of Edward III., King of England, were forced to join with Bruce, as he had refused to let them take refuge either in England or Ireland, and had endeavored to force them, as he had their brethren in those countries, to enter the preceptories of the Knights of St. John. These Knights having joined Bruce and aided in the victory at Bannockburn, he created, June 24, 1314, the Order of St. Andrew du Chardon, to which was afterward united that of Heredom (H.D.M.).(1) He raised the Lodge of Kilwinning in Scotland, founded at the time of the constitution of the abbey of that name, in 1150, to the rank of Royal Grand Lodge of Heredom. These Scotch Templars are reported to have been expelled in 1324 by Larmenius, who had invented different signs and words to exclude them from the Order of which he was chief, because they had assisted Bruce, and of having joined the order of H.R.D.M. Some writers have conjectured that from this Royal Order had sprung the Ancient and Accepted Rite. The present writer feels confident that the third degree of Symbolic Masonry was originally derived from the H.R.D.M.

"From the General Regulations of Royal Arch Masons of Scotland, it may be inferred that the preservation of a remnant of the Templars in Scotland is chiefly to be attributed to the wars between Robert Bruce and Edward III. of England." It is confidently said that "the 25 degrees of Heredom were practiced at York, in 1784, by the College of Heredom Templars, being No. 1 under the Constitution of the Ancient Lodge at York, south of the river Trent, sitting at York."

In 1785 the Order of H.R.D.M. resumed its functions at Edinburgh, the presiding officer being styled Wisdom. (2) The body at Edinburgh established a Chapter at Rouen in 1786. (3) On January 4, 1787, a Chapter of Harodim was opened in London, (4) but it is not known whether this was a branch of the Royal Order. About

(1) Chapter xix., ante. (2) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 86. (3) "Acta Latomorum," tome i., p. 169. (4) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p . 86.

the beginning of the present century there was a consistory at Hull and one at Grimsby. (1)

Rebold has it that the Grand Lodge of Heredom of Kilwinning united together with all the subordinates to the St. John Grand Lodge of Edinburgh. (2)

2. Those who entered the Order of Knights Hospitalers. In Scotland, in England and Ireland, many of the Templars joined the Order of the Knights of St. John. They resided amicably in the same preceptories at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries, and continued thus until the Reformation. (3) But they did not, however, hold all their lands in common. (4) Many of these Knights of both Orders embraced Protestantism, and fraternized with the Freemasons. The Preceptor in Scotland, having become a Protestant, resigned the whole prosessions of the Preceptory, of the Hospitalers and Templars, received the same, as Lord Torphichen, ftom the Crown. Those Knights who remained Roman Catholics united with David Seaton. The Grand Master, Viscount Dundee, was slain at Killiekrankie. Charles Edward Stuart, who had been admitted, September 24, 1745, at Holyrood, became the Grand Master. (5) Mr. Oliphant, of Bachiltar, succeeded him. He died in 1745. (6) From the General Regulations of Royal Arch Masons of Scotland it may be inferred that the Masonic branch of the Order preserved the ceremonies which are used at a reception. The Sterling Ancient Lodge conferred the degree of Royal Arch, Red Cross, or Ark, the Sepulcher, Knights of Malta and Knights Templars, until the beginning of the last century, when two lodges were formed. The Ancient Lodge joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736, and the new one, called the Royal Arch, in 1759, when another division took place. And these degrees were conferred in an encampment until 1811, when the supreme encampmnent of Masonic Knights Templars was formed in Scotland. (7) Sev

(1) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 671, note 16. (2) "Histoire Generale de la Francois Maconnerie," p. 151 Oliver, "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 16. (3) "General Regulations of Royal Arch Masons of Scotland," Introduction, p. iii. (4) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 20, note 46. (5) Gourdin, p. 25. (6) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 20, note 46. It is presumed that this portion of the Order is not connected with Freemasonry. (7) "General Regulations of Royal Arch Masons of Scotland," Introduction, pp. ii., iii.

eral encampments in Scotland, however, obtained, about 1795, charters from Ireland with the privilege of conferring the Royal Arch degrees, though the encampments in the latter country were merely private bodies. (1)

3. The English Templars. It is supposed, that with the exception of the Encampment of Observance, all the encampments in the United States and England owe their origin to the three original is Encampments of Baldwin," established at Bristol, Bath, and York. (2) Oliver says: " In England and Ireland, as the Conciliae Magnae Britannicae show, the Templars were put down, and the Knights compelled to enter the preceptories of their opponents, the Knights of St. John, as dependants." (3) " Their lands were confiscated and given to the latter Order. But in treating of the manner in which a remnant of the Order was preserved in England, I must avail myself of information kindly furnished me by an eminent Brother who resides in Bristol."

"The Order of Knights Templars has existed in Bristol from time immemorial. The Templars held large possessions in this ancient city, and, with their House or Preceptory, and the Men of the Temple, are mentioned in many old charters and documents. The Temple Church and Parish of Temple point out the locality of their residence. About fifty years ago an active and respected member of the Craft, Brother Henry Smith, now deceased, introduced from France three degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, which, with the degree of R.C., long before that time connected with the Knights Templars, were united into an Order or Community, called the Royal Orders of Knighthood. These were the degrees of the Nine Elect, the 9th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the Knights Grand Architects of Kilwinning, the 14th degree of that Rite, and the Knights of the East, the Sword and Eagle, answering to the 16th degree, and the Knights R.C. or 18th degree, were, together with the order of the Knights Templars, held and practiced under one authority. In our oldest records the style or title of Knights Templars is given with the addition of K.-H., but that degree was, as far as I know, never given, and even the meaning of the title has fallen into oblivion."

(1) "General Regulations of Royal Arch Masons of Scotland," Introduction, p. vii. (2) "Lexicon," p. 265. Temp. chart, p. 47, by J. L. Cross. (3) "Historical Landmarks," vol. ii., p. 20, note 46.

"A candidate for admission into any one of the five degrees before mentioned must be a Royal Arch Mason. He may, however, take any one of the five degrees first, which may happen to be about to be given, at the time he seeks admission, as one general payment to the fund of the United Orders entitles him to admission to all. An attempt was made to enforce the proper progression through the five degrees, but failed.

"Nothing is known here of the Order of the Temple of Paris, but that is the real source of the present Grand Conclave of England, the late Grand Master, the Duke of Sussex, having been created at Paris in that body.

"I will shortly endeavor to explain the difference between the Encampment of Baldwyn and the Grand Conclave.

"The Duke of Sussex, having been installed as Knight Templar at Paris, I believe by Sir Sidney Smith, then Grand Master, was created Grand Master of the Knights Templars in England. From some cause or other, he never would countenance the Christian degrees connected with Masonry, and would not permit a badge of one of these degrees to be worn in a Craft Lodge. In London, of course, he ruled Supreme, and the meetings of Knights Templars there, if they continued at all, were degraded to the mere level of public-house meetings. A true descendant of the Knights of St. John of the Hospital was held, with all circumstances of ribaldry, at St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, and the degrees conferred at a weekly convivial meeting for the sum of 5s. On the death of the Duke of Sussex it was resolved to rescue the Order from its degraded position, and the Grand Conclave of England was formed, some of the officers of the Duke of Sussex's original Encampment, which he held once, and I believe once only, being then alive.

"In the mean time, of the three Original Encampments of England, the genuine representatives of the Old Knights of the Temple, two had expired, those of Bath and York, leaving Bristol the sole relic of the Order with the exception of those encampments which had been created in various parts of the country, not holding under any legitimate authority, but raised by Knights who had, I believe, without exception, been created in the Encampment of Baldwyn at Bristol.

"Under these circumstances, the Knights of Baldwin felt that their place was at the head of the Order, and though willing, for the common good, to submit to the authority of Colonel Tynte, or any duly elected Grand Master, they could not yield precedence to the Encampment of Observance (the Original Encampment of the Duke of Sussex) derived from a foreign and spurious source, the socalled Order of the Temple in Paris, nor could they consent to forego the privileges which they held from an immemorial period, or to permit their ancient and well-established ceremonies, costume, and laws to be revised by persons for whose knowledge and judgment they entertained a very reasonable and well grounded want of respect. The Encampment of Baldwyn, therefore, refused to send representatives to the Grand Conclave of England, or to acknowledge its authority in Bristol, until such time as its claims should be treated with the consideration it is believed they deserve. I am, however, in hope that an arrangement will shortly be effected, and all the Templars in England united under one head." (1)

Gourdin, from whose admirable Historical Sketch of Knights Templars we have made many extracts, says, in continuation of the matters referred to in the above letter: "While we approve of the noble conduct of the Encampment of Baldwin, and trust that it may soon attain the eminent position to which it is entitled as the sole surviving preserver of our Ancient Mysteries in England, during many centuries of trial."

Some writers have contended that the Masonry of modern times "originated in the Holy Land during the Crusades, and was instituted by the Knights Templars." Laurie, or Brewster, who it is said wrote the work which bears Laurie's name, embodies the tradition as follows:

"Almost all the secret associations of the Ancients either flourished or originated in Syria and the adjacent countries. It was here that the Dionysian Artists, the Essenes, and the Kassideans arose. From this country also come several members of that trading association of Masons which appeared in Europe during the dark ages; and we are assured that, notwithstanding the unfavorable condition of that Province, there exists at this day, on Mount Libanus, one of these Syrian Fraternities. As the Order of the Templars, therefore, was originally formed in Syria, and existed there for a considerable time, it would be no improbable supposition that they received

(1) Letter of David W. Nash, September 29, 1853, to Theo. S. Gourdin, Charleston, S. C., in his " Historical Sketch," 1855.

their Masonic knowledge from the Lodges in that quarter. But we are fortunately, in this case, not left to conjecture, for we are ex pressly informed by a foreign author [Adler, de Drusis], who was well acquainted with the history and customs of Syria, that the Knights Templars were actually members of the Syriac fraternities There is no evidence of Freemasonry in Syria at that period.

It is very certain, from the best histories of the Templar Order, that, in addition to the open ritual for the reception of a candidate for the Order, there was a secret ritual, and no one was admitted within their quarters during the ceremony of reception. This does not, however, prove that, whatever secret ceremonies were used, they were in any manner connected with the Freemasons. Recent examinations by our most advanced Masonic scholars, such as Wm. James Hughan, Robert Freck Gould, and others too numerous to mention who are members of the Lodge Quartuor-Coronati in England, and the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, D. Murray Lyon, that, prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, there was no ritualistic observance in the reception to Masonry. Nor have any indications been found anywhere in the world, that our modern rituals of the various degrees of the Lodge, Chapter, Council, and Templar Order, had any ancient formulas whatever. To the careful student, every one of these ritualistic formulas bears intrinsic evidence of the modern era in Masonry. In the three degrees of the Blue Lodge, the want of congruity and manifest errors as to the facts at the building of King Solomon's Temple, the topography itself of the site of the Temple, and the situation of the City of Jerusalem - all concur in the conclusion that the ceremonies are all symbolic and allegorical, and consequently so much the more valuable to the student of symbolism and the philosophy contained in these degrees - and this can be said also of all the other degrees.

The Knights of Malta being at the present day incorporated in the Order of Knights Templars, we deem it necessary that this sketch should include some important matters connected with that Order, which, from our preceding notices of them, it will be seen succeeded the Knights Hospitalers, or Knights of St. John, and so called Knights of Rhodes.

Pilgrims and traders from the West to Palestine were so numerous and constant, it became requisite to build in the city of Jerusalem hospitals or places of entertainment during their stay in Jerusalem. In 870 Bernard, a monk, founded in the valley of Jehoshaphat, close to the Church of the Virgin, a hospital, consisting of twelve houses for pilgrims from the West, which held possession of gardens, vineyards, and fields for grain. There was a collection of books given by Charlemagne (in 768 to 800). A market was held in front of this place. When, in the 11th century, pilgrimage was greatly increased, a hospital was established in the city of Jerusalem, for the Latin pilgrims, which was erected by Amalfi and the Latin traders, about A.D. 1050. They also erected a church to the Holy Virgin, called St. Mary of the Latins. This hospital was the residence of the Benedictines, who devoted themselves to the necessities of the pilgrims, and contributed to the wants of those who were poor, or had been robbed by the banditti who infested all the roads leading to Jerusalem, and also aided them to pay the taxes required by the Moslems for permits to visit the Holy Places.

The great increase of pilgrims required another hospital which was raised near their church, having a chapel dedicated to St. John Fleemon (Almoner), a canonized Patriarch of Alexandria, who was the son of the King of Cyprus in the 6th century. He was elected Patriarch and founded a Fraternity in Jerusalem, whose object was to attend upon the sick and wounded Christian pilgrims to the Sacred Land. The Greek and also Roman Churches canonized this Archprelate by the name of St. John of Jerusalem.

Gerard, as before mentioned, presided over the Hospital of St. John at the time the Crusaders appeared at Jerusalem. When the city was taken (July 15, 1099), the wounded pilgrims were received, and "Duke Godfrey de Bouillon, some days afterward, visited them, to whom he personally administered aid and consolation, and, to mark his sense of the humane services rendered by the brethren, he endowed the hospital with his own Lordship of Montboire, in Brabant, and all its dependencies. Having enjoyed universal favor, Gerard and his brethren desired to be separated from the Monastery of St. Mary de Latina and become independent. There was no opposition to this, and they made a rule for themselves, to which they vowed obedience in the presence of the Patriarch, and assumed a black mantle with a white cross on the breast.

In 1130, from the Bull of Pope Innocent II., we have the first authentic notice of an intention of the Hospitalers to have any connection with military affairs. This Bull gives information that the Hospitalers retained, at their own expense, a body of foot- soldiers and horsemen to defend the pilgrims in going to and returning from the Holy Places. The Hospitalers had resolved to add the protecting to the task of relieving pilgrims.

In 1168, the first year of Philip of Nablous as Grand Master of the Templars, the King of Jerusalem and Knights Hospitalers went forth on their memorable and unfortunate expedition to invade Egypt. The Templars refused to join this expedition, as it was in violation of all treaties.

From this period there was an entire change in the Order of the Hospital of St. John, and they became a great military body; their Superior was styled Grand Master, and he led in person the brethren into the field of battle. They, however, still continued their duties as attendants upon the sick and to relieve the indigent.

The Order of the Holy Sepulcher was instituted at the same period as the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and for the same causes.

The following is a list of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, A.D. 1099 to 1187, from De Vogue:

Diambert ) Arnulphe ) 1099 to 1107 Ebremard ) Gibelin 1107 to 1111 Arnulphe 1111 to 11118 Gorman 1118 to 1128 Etienne (Stephen) 1128 to 1130 Guillaume (William) 1130 to 1146 Foulcher 1146 to 1157 Amanry 1157 to 1180 Eraclius (Heraclius) 1180 to 1190

In 1847 the Pope re-established the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the person of Bishop Velerga. He only had authority to confer the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. This was done in the apartment styled the Chapel of the Apparition, where Jesus is said to have appeared to Mary after his resurrection. The Candidate, kneeling before the Patriarch, is asked the traditional questions, and is then girded with the sword and spur of King Godfrey. We have in a former part of this sketch explained the union of the Knights of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine with the Knights Hospitalers and Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, so that, when these Orders, after the Crusades had ceased, had been driven successively from Cyprus and Rhodes and found refuge in the island of Malta, Which was tendered to them by Charles V., King of Spain, and when the Order of the Templars was suppressed and many of them found a home with the Order of Malta, the junction of the two Orders was formed. We presume that when the modern Order of Knights Templars was formulated, the ritual of Malta was added to that of Knight Templar, and we consider the association much more consonant with the history of these two Orders than the degree of Knight of the Red Cross of Persia and Syria, which has evidently been mistaken for the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine, as before explained.

ORDER OF KNIGHTS OF MALTA.

This Order has been known at different periods by the title of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Hospitalers of St. John, Knights of St. John D'Acre, Knights of Rhodes, and finally Knights of Malta

In the year 1048 some pious merchant from Amalfi, in the kingdom of Naples, built a church and monastery at Jerusalem, which they dedicated to St. John the Almoner. The monks were hence called Brothers of St. John, or Hospitalers, and it was their duty to assist those sick and needy pilgrims whom a spirit of piety had led to the Holy Land. They assumed the black habit of the hermits of St. Augustine, distinguished only by a white cross of eight points on the left breast. They rapidly increased in numbers and in wealth and at the beginning of the 12th century were organized as a military order by Raymond du Puy, who added to their original vow of chastity, obedience, and poverty, the obligation of defending the church against Infidels. Raymond then divided them into three classes: Knights, who alone bore arms; Chaplains, who were regular ecclesiastics; and Servitors, who attended to the sick. After long and bloody contests with the Turks and Saracens, they were finally driven from Palestine in the year 1191. Upon this they attacked and conquered Cyprus, which, however, they lost after eighteen years' occupation. They then established themselves at the island of Rhodes, under the Grand Mastership of Fulk de Villaret, and assumed the title of the Knights of Rhodes.

It was here that the illustrious Villars died in the seventieth year of his age and the fourteenth of his Grand Mastership. In justice to his distinguished merit, the following epitaph was inscribed on his tombstone: "Here lies Virtue victorious over Fortune."

On December 15, 1542, after a tranquil occupation of this island for more than two hundred years, they were finally ejected from all their possessions by the Sultan Soliman the Second.

After this disaster they successively retired to Castro, Messina, and Rome, until the Emperor Charles V., in 1530, bestowed upon them the island of Malta, upon the condition of their defending it from the depredations of the Turks and the Corsairs of Barbary, and of restoring it to Naples, should they ever succeed in recovering Rhodes.

This island was formerly called Melita, from the vast quantities of honey which it produced. The Romans gained possession of it when they conquered Sicily; they were deprived of it by the Arabs in 828, who were expelled by Roger the Norman in 1190. From that period it continued under the dominion of the Kings of Sicily, till it fell, by the conquest of that island, into the hands of the emperor, Charles V.

The Order now took the name of the Knights of Malta, by which title they have ever since been designated. Here the organization of the Order was as follows: The chief of the Order was called "Grand Master of the Holy Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and Guardian of the army of Jesus Christ." He was elected for life, and resided at the city of Valette. He was addressed by foreign powers with the title of "altezza eminentissima," and enjoyed an annual revenue of about one million guilders. The Knights were divided into eight languages, according to their respective nations. The languages were those of Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, Germany, Castile, and England. Upon the extinction of the language of England, that of Anglo-Bavaria was substituted The Grand Officers were also eight in number, and consisted of the chiefs of the different languages, as follows:

1. The Chief of the language of Provence was Grand Commander 2. " " Auvergne was Marshal. 3. " " France was Hospitaler. 4. " " Italy was Grand Admiral. 5. The Chief of the language of Aragon was Grand Conservators 6. " " Germany was Grand Bailiff. 7. " " Castile was Grand Chancellor. 8. " " England was Turcopolier, or Captain-General of the Cavalry.

The Knights, in time of war, wore over their usual garments a scarlet surcoat, embellished before and behind with a broad white cross of eight points. In time of peace, the dress of ceremony was a long black mantle, upon which the same cross of white linen was sewed.

From the time that the island of Malta was bestowed upon the Order, until the year 1724, the Knights were continually at war with the Turks; during which time the latter had expended vast quantities of blood and treasure, and the former had exhibited the most magnanimous examples of patience and undaunted heroism. A peace was at length concluded for twenty years, to be renewed at the expiration of that period, if the parties could agree.

In 1565 the island of Malta was beleaguered by Soliman II., on which occasion the Knights suffered immense loss, from which they never entirely recovered. Of the eight languages, the English became extinct in the 16th century; those of France, Auvergne, and Provence perished in the anarchy of the French Revolution; Castile and Aragon were separated at the peace of Amiens; and the remaining two have been since abolished. The Order, therefore, as respects its ancient constitution, has now ceased to exist.

On June 9, 1798, the island of Malta was taken by the French under Bonaparte. In the same year the Knights chose Paul I., Emperor of Russia, as their Grand Master, who took them under his protection. Upon his death they elected Prince Carriciolo. Upon the reduction of the island by the English in 1800, the chief seat of the Order was transferred to Catanea in Sicily, whence, in 1826, it was removed, by the authority of the Pope, to Ferrara. The last public reception of the Order took place at Sonneburg in 1800, when Leopold, the present King of Belgium, and Prince Ernest, of Hesse Philippsthal Barchfeld, with several other Knights, were created.

In 1841 Ferdinand I., Ernperor of Austria, issued a decree restoring the Order in Italy, and endowing it with a moderate revenue. But the wealth, the power, and the magnificence of the Order have passed away with the age and the spirit of chivalry which gave it birth.

COMMENTARY REMARKS.

In Chapter XXIX. of this work, p. 258 et seq., Bro. Mackey reviews the history of the Templars in Scotland, and emphatically denies any claims of the Scottish Modern Templars to be the successors of the Templars who were dispersed after the death of De Molay. We shall not, in this sketch, attempt any defense of their claims or those of the Templars of the present day as to the legitimate succession. However, we must give our readers some extracts from Addison which will demonstrate that there were some reasons why such claims have been set up.

Lawrie, in his History of Freemasonry in Scotland, says that before 1153 King David I. introduced the Knights of the Temple into Scotland and established them at the Temple on the Southesk, and was greatly attached to them.

Little is known of the history of the Knights Templars from the time of Alexander II. until the 14th century, except that all their privileges (which we have omitted) were continued to them by succeeding kings, who directed their piety and their bounties toward the religious Orders. The possessions of the Fraternity were so extensive that their lands were scattered 'over the whole kingdom of Scotland toward England and over the whole kingdom to the Orchardis."

At the time of the persecution of the Order in other countries correspondently the Templars of Scotland suffered spoliation, but it is to be remarked, to the credit of the people of Scotland, that there is no account of any single member having suffered any personal torture. Their estates were transferred to their rivals the Hospitalers, and like their brethren in England a number very probably entered into that Order.

The Knights of St. John had also been introduced by David I. into Scotland, and Alexander II. had granted a charter to them soon after that granted to the Knights Templars. Their first Preceptory was at Torphicen, in West Lothian, which continued to be their principal residence, and after the acquisitions of the lands of the TempIars and some others thelr possessions came to be immense and the date of the Reformation.

A union was effected, at the beginning of the reign of James IV., between the Knights Templars and the Knights of St. John, and their lands were consolidated. The precise period of this union is nor known. but the fact is established by the charter of King James, October 19, 1488, confirming the grants of lands made by his predecessors to these two Orders in Latin, which is thus translated: "To God and the Holy Hospitalers of Jerusalem and to their brethren of the Soldiers of the Temple of Solomon." Both Orders were then united and placed under the charge of the Preceptor of St. John, and there can be no doubt that such an arrangement was political and natural.

It was in Scotland alone that the Knights Templars owned independent property. The ban against them being yet in force throughout Europe, necessarily contracted their sphere of action. The Knights of the Hospital, however, being entirely free of any obstruction, had great wealth and influence, and stood high in the favor of the sovereigns of Europe. Both Orders were represented by the Preceptor of St. John in the Parliament of Scotland, and the union continued down to the Reformation.

From the era of the Reformation these two Orders, combined, appear in Scotland only as a Masonic body; but the late Mr. Deucher averred that so early as 1590 a few of the brethren had become mingled with the Architectural Fraternity, and that a Lodge at Stirling, patronized by King Jamest had a Chapter of Templars attached to it, who were termed cross-legged Masons, and whose initiatory ceremonies were performed, not in a room, but in the old Abbey, the ruins of which are still to be seen in the neighborhood. The first authentic notice we can find on the subject is in M. Thory's excellent Chronology of Masonry, wherein it is recorded that about 1728 Sir John Mitchell Ramsay, the well-known author of Cyrus, appeared in London with a system of Scottish Masonry, up to that date perfectly unknown in the Metropolis, tracing its origin from the Crusades, and consisting of three degrees, the Ecossais, the Novice, and the Knight Templar. For further notice of this subject we refer our readers to Chapter XXIX., ante.

During the 18th century the Scottish Order can be but faintly traced; though Mr. Deucher had, in 1836, the assurance of well-in formed Masons that, thirty or forty years previously, they knew old men who had been members of it for sixty years, and it had sunk so low at the time of the French Revolution that the sentence which the Grand Lodge of Scotland fulminated in 1792 against all degrees of Masonry except those of St. John, was expected to put a period to its existence. Soon after this, however, some active individuals revived it, and with the view to obtaining documentary authority for their chapters, as well as avoiding any infringement of the Statutes then recently enacted against secret societies, adopted the precaution of accepting Charters of Constitution from a body of Masonic Templars, named the Early Grand Encampment, in Dublin, of whose origin we can find no account, and whose legitimacy, to say the least, was quite as questionable as their own. Several charters of this description were granted to different Encampments of Templars in Scotland about the beginning of the present century; but these bodies maintained little concert or intercourse with each other, and certainly were not esteemed in the country. Affairs were in this state when, about 1808, Mr. Alexander Deucher was elected Commander or Chief of the Edinburgh Encampment of Templars; and his brother, Major David Deucher, along with other Officers of the Royal Regiment, was initiated into the Order. A General Convocation of all the Templars of Scotland, by representatives, having taken place in Edinburgh, they unanimously resolved to discard the Irish Charters, and to rest their claims, as the representatives of the ancient Knights, on the general belief and traditions of the country.

They further determined to entreat the Duke of Kent, the Chief of the Masonic Templars in England, to become the patron protector of the Order in North Britain, offering to submit themselves to his Royal Highness in that capacity and to accept from him a formal Charter of Constitution. The Duke of Kent lost no time in complying with their request, and his Charter erecting them into a Conclave of "Knights of the Holy Temple and Sepulcher, and of St. John of Jerusalem. H.R.D.M. + K.D.S.M." bears date June 19, 1811. (1)

By a provision in it Mr. Deucher, who had been nominated by the brethren, was appointed Grand Master for life. (2)

Mills, Southerland, De Magny, Dumas, Burnes, Gregoire, and

(1) "Addison," p. 548. (2) Ibid., p 549

others show that the Order of Knights Templars, although suppressed, was never dissolved in France.

The persecution of the Templars in the 14th century does not close the history of the Order; for though the Knights were spoliated, the Order was not annihilated. In truth, the Cavaliers were not guilty, the brotherhood was not suppressed, and, startling as is the assertion, there has been a succession of Knights Templars from the 12th century even down to these days; the chain of transmission is perfect in all its links. James de Molay, the Grand Master, at the time of the persecution, anticipating his own martyrdom, appointed, as his successor in power and dignity, Johannes Marcus Larmenius of Jerusalem, and from time to time to the present there has been a regular, uninterrupted line of Grand Masters. The Charter of transmission, with the signatures of the various chiefs of the Temple, is preserved at Paris, with the ancient statutes of the Order, the rituals, the records, the seals, the standards, and the early memorials of the early Templars. (1)

The brotherhood has been headed by the bravest Cavaliers in France; by men who, jealous of the dignities of knighthood, would admit no corruption, no base copies of the Orders of Chivalry, and who thought that the shield of their nobility was enriched by the impress of theTemplars' Red Cross. Bertrand du Guesclin was the Grand Master from 1357 till his death, 1380, and he was the only French commander who prevailed over the Chivalry of Edward III. of England. From 1478 to 1497 we may mark Robert Lenoncourt, a Cavalier of one of the most ancient and valiant families of Lorraine. Philippe Chabot, a renowned Captain in the reign of Francis I., wielded the staff of power from 1516 to 1543. The illustrious family of Montmorency appears as Knights Templars, and Henry, the first Duke, was chief of the Order from 1574 to 1614. At the close of the 17th century, James Henry de Duras, a Marshal of France, the nephew of Turenne, and one of the most skillful of the soldiers of Louis XIV., was Grand Master. From 1724 to 1776, three princes of the Bourbon family were Grand Masters, viz.: Louis Augustus, Duke of Maine, 1724-1737; Louis Henry Bourbon Conde, 1737-1741; and Louis Francis Bourbon Conde, 1741-1746. Louis Hercules Timoleon, Duke de Cosse Brissac, accepted

(1) "Addison." p. 550.

the office of Grand Master in 1776 and remained in office until he died in the cause of royalty at the commencement of the French Revolution. The Grand Master at that time was Bernardus Fabre Palaprat. There are Colleges in England and in many of the chief cities in Europe. (1)

Grand Master Bernard Raymond died in 1838; he was succeeded in the regency of the Order by Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, until his death in 1840. At that time, among the subjects of Great Britain who were office-bearers were the names of the Duke of Sussex, Grand Prior of England; the Duke of Leinster, Grand Prior of Ireland; the Earl of Durham, Grand Prior of Scotland; the Chevalier Burnes (Grand Master of Scottish Freemasons in India), Grand Preceptor of Southern Asia; the Chevalier Tennyson D'Eyncourt, Grand Prior of Italy; General George Wright, Grand Prior of India, etc. Among the functionaries of France were Prince Alexander de Wirtemberg, Dukes de Choiseul and Montmorency, and Counts Le Peletier, D'Aunay, De Lanjuinais, De Brack, De Chabrillan, De Magny, De Dienne, and others equally distinguished. (2) In consequence of the political changes in France, an institution so much identified with ancient nobility and tradition naturally fell into abeyance; it, however, in 1874, is said by McCoy's Addison to number about thirty British Ministers, most of whom are in the Public Service in India, received by the Grand Preceptor of Southern Asia, under legative powers from the Grand Master, Bernard Raymond, sanctioned by the Duke of Sussex, without whose approval no British subject was admissible. (3)

The history of Sir William Sidney Smith's connection with the Order of KnightsTemplars is well substantiated, and is brought very near to our period, as will appear in the following extracts from John Barrow's Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir W. Sidney Smith. (4)

From the end of 1815, Sir Sidney mostly made his residence in Paris, France. It was here, in fact, that he carried on the vast correspondence with the Knights Liberators, and also with another Order of Knighthood, of which he became a member, invested at the fountain-head, in a curious and romantic manner.

The following is Sir Sidney's own account of his obtaining this

(1) "Addison," p. 251. (2) Ibid., p. 551. (3) Ibid., p. 552. (4) London, 1848.

cross, which he wore during his life, and which is now in possession of the Convent of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at Paris. The paper is in Sir Sidney's own handwriting, but has no address, though, judging by the appeal made on a point of conscience and religion, it was probably meant for the English Bishop resident in Paris at that time, viz., Dr. Luscomb.

Sir Sidney wrote a letter to a friend from Paris, dated October 28, 1839, saying:

"I am most anxious to leave Paris before another insurrection, though as Regent of the 'Order of the Orient' and the 'Milice du Temple,' denominated the Order of the Temple, I must always have a pied a terre (foot of ground) here, a residence magistral.

"In the exercise of my duty, representing the King in his dignity, as his Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ottoman Porte, and being decorated by Sultan Selim with his imperial Aigrette, and with a commission to command his forces by sea and land, on the coast of Syria and Egypt, consequently representing that Sovereign in his authority, in the absence of the Grand Vizier (his highness being the one to exert it, when present), and as the Captain Pasha was expressly put personally under my Orders, I thought it my duty to land at Cyprus, for the purpose of restoring subordination and the hierarchy of authority, on a sudden emergency, which arose from the bursting out of an insurrection of Janissaries, Arnants, and Albanians, in the year 1799, after the raising of the siege of Acre.

"On visiting the Venerable Greek Archbishop afterward at the capital (Nicosia), to prevent him from disgracing himself by a visit to me, which I understood was his intention, his grace met me outside the city gates. I, of course, dismounted to receive his welcome and animated harangue, at the termination of which he embraced me paternally, and at the same moment adroitly threw the Templar's cross, which he wore as an Episcopal decoration on his breast, around file neck of his English guest, saying, 'This belonged to an Englishman formerly, and I now restore it. It belonged to Sr. Richard (Agio Ricardo), surnamed "Coeur-de-Lion," who left it in this church at his departure, and it has been preserved in our treasury ever since. Eighteen archbishops, my predecessors, have signed the receipt thereof, in succession. I now make it over to you, in token of our gratitude for saving all our lives, the archbishops ecclesiastics, laymen, citizens, and peasantry." (1)

CONCLUSION.

In all writings, sketches, and theses upon any particularly im portant subject, it is eminently proper to draw conclusions there upon, that those who read may learn and duly appreciate the value of such examinations upon the subject-matter under consideration.

The old philosophers suggested that upon all valuable questions, or propositions, there should be, first, the affirmation; second, the denial; third, the discussion; fourth, the conclusion. We have, in preceding pages, endeavored, by quotations and deductions from the most approved authors, shown, we think, the tme history of the Organization, the progress, triumphal success, decline, and final destruction of the most glorious, chivalnc, and magnanimous Order of Knights which the world has ever witnessed

In the day of their successful and triumphant battles of Truth against Error over their Saracen and Turkish opponents, they excited the wonder of their friends in the West and the highest admiration of their enemies. They were enthused by their zeal for the cause of Christ, as were also the Crusaders of every rank who suffered every inconvenience, toil, dangers, from their human foes, and the more insidious foes found in the climatic conditions of the countries through which they passed and were more than decimated by the peculiar local circumstances which accompanied and surrounded them, in their journeys, marches, and camping-grounds; yet they faltered not, nor ever ceased in their persistent efforts, which many times were so eminently successful in repelling all attacks, and in the forward movements to conquer and possess the strongholds of the Infidels. In the First Crusade, after untold misfortunes due to the special conditions of the country, diseases of the climate, and attacks of their foes, they, with a mere handful compared with the vast numbers with which they crossed the Hellespont, at length conquered and took Jerusalem, and finally, with the aid of the Templars and Hospitalers, succeeded in extending the Kingdom of Jerusalem

(1) "Addison," p. 554

over the whole country of Palestine. Their success, as is often the case in human affairs, caused their rulers to forget the circumstances of the "Crusade," and, exalting themselves above the great CAUSE for which they should be fighting, strove for dominion and empire for themselves each individual claiming rank and power, for human glory, and not for Christ's sake. Human history from time immemorial teaches the scholar this great lesson, that all things are by the direction of a Divine Providence. This is the true philosophy of all history; without that Providence we are driven to the evident conclusion of Fatalism of the Mohammedan, or Fortuity of the Infidel. These three conditions are alone possible. Which shall we choose? The vast majority of the world in all ages have chosen and acted under the "Faith" in a

"Divinity above who shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may."

Does history repeat itself? What shall we say of the events at the close of the 19th century, as to the war between Spain and the Young giant of the West?" Can we perceive any parallel between the 11th, 12th, and 13th century Crusades and that of the 19th? Both have been impelled by a force beyond human conception. History has told us why the Old Crusades were undertaken - viz., for the Salvation, the conservation of the doctrines of Christ, which was for Humanity's sake. can any deny that the United States, almost unanimously, entered into the War for " Humanity's" sake and not for conquest or aggrandizement ?

Our limits will not admit of the many extracts from various writers, in continuation of the history of the Knight Templar Order in France, England, Scotland, and Ireland, which could be made to show that, up to the close of the 18th century, and some years in the present century, the Order was in a measure intact in Europe, and consequently, when Masonry was introduced into the United States, very many of the brethren belonged to the Templar Order, and from them we may surmise that the several encampments which are mentioned in the history of Masonry in this country can trace their origin. This particular matter will engage our attention when we write the history of the Knights Templars in the United States in the appropriate chapter.

LIST OF GRAND MASTERS OF KNIGHTS TEMPLARS

1. Hugho de Payens, 1118. 2. Robert de Craon, 1136. 3. Everard des Barres or Barri, 1146. 4. Bernard de Tremelay, 1151. 5. Bertrand de Blanquefort, 1154. 6. Philip of Naplous (Native), 1167 to 1170. 7. Odo de St. Amand, 1170. 8. Arnold de Torroge or de Troy, 1180, Chief Preceptor; while St. Amand was a prisoner the Chief Preceptor died at Verona, 1185. 9. Gerard de Riderfort, 1185. Taken captive near Brook Kishon, 1187; surrendered October 2, 1187; seat removed to ancient Tyre, successfully defended against Saladin; Grand Master released, 1188; eleven cities given up as a ransom; Grand Master fell at siege of Acre, October 4, 1189. 10. Brother Walter, 1189. During four years of siege of Acre, 100,000 Christians perished, among them Patriarch Heraclius. Third Crusade, preached by William, Archbishop of Tyre, Richard Coeur de Lion, and Philip Augustus, King of France, arrived in Palestine, 1191. 11. Robert de Sable or Sabloil, 1191. Great battle of Ramlah was gained and city of Gaza taken by Templars, 1191. About this time three encampments were established in England, at Bristol, Bath, and York. (1) Those in Bath and York were in existence in the early part of the present century, the one in Bristol in active operation in 1855. King Richard, in the guise of a Templar, left Palestine October 25, 1192. Bro. Richard John Bridges was the Eminent Commander of this Ancient and Venerable body, probably the oldest Encampment of Knights Templars in the world. 12. Gilbert Horal, or Erail, 1195. Many strong fortifications were built; most celebrated was Pilgrims' Castle, which would hold a garrison of four thousand men. 13. Philip Duplesseis, 1201. King John of England frequently resided at the Temple in London. He was there when he resigned England and Ireland "to his lord Pope Innocent the Third" and signed the "Magna Charta."

(1) Letter of D.W. Nash, Secretary General H. E. for England and Wales, September 29, 1853. MS.

14. William de Charters became Grand Master. The Grand Master died at siege of Damietta, 1218. 15. Peter de Montague, Grand Preceptor of Spain, the Veteran Warrior, 1218. Damietta was surrendered to the Infidels, together with the prisoners of Tyre and Acre, and he obtained in return "the wood of the true Cross" and the prisoners at Cairo and Damascus; and the Sultan granted a truce for eight years. 16. Herrnan de Perigord, 1236. In this time a treaty was made with the Infidels to surrender again the Holy City to the Christians, 1242. In 1243 the Templars rebuilt the "formidable Castle of Saphet." In a great battle in 1243, near Gaza, with the Carizmians, a pastoral tribe of Tartars, which continued two days, the Grand Master was slain. Thirty-three Templars and twenty-six Hospitalers alone escaped. Pope Innocent IV. ordered a new crusade to be preached, but very little assistance was obtained 17. William de Sonnac, "A Veteran Warrior," 1245. The brethren in the Western Preceptories were summoned to Palestine The Carizmians, in 1247, were annihilated. The Grand Master presented to Henry III. "a magnificent crystal vase, containing a portion of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1) The Templars, with Louis IX of France, took Damietta in 1249. Louis was taken captive; afterward released by paying ransom. In 1250, in a battle near the Tanitic branch of the Nile, the Grand Master lost one eye, but was enabled to cut his way through the lines of the enemy with only two knights; however soon after, on the first Friday in Lent, he lost the other eye and was killed. 18. Reginald de Vichier, Grand Marshal, 1152. King Louis, after his release from captivity, aided in placing Palestine in a defensible condition. 19. Thomas Berard, 1256. The country was in a miserable condition. The Bibars or Benocdar, the Sultan of Egypt, with 30,000 cavalry, had invaded Palestine (1262) The Infidels took all the strongholds with the exception of Pilgrims' Castle and Acre. When the Castle of Saphet capitulated (1266), Benocdar put the whole garrison to death, because of their refusal to become Mahomedans. Edward, afterward Edward I. of England, drove the enemy back to Egypt; a truce lasting ten years was made. 20. William de Beaujea was elected, May 13, 1273. Lists of Strict Observance give Robert , who died in 1277, and then Pierre de Beaujeu.

This closed the Seventh and last Crusade An effort was made by the Pope to raise another crusade; having, however, died in the meantime, with him all hopes of assistance from Europe died also. In 1291 the city of Tripoli and fortress of Margat were taken by the Infidels, and very soon thereafter, in the third year from recommencement of hostilities, Acre and the Pilgrims' Castle were all that were left to the Christians.

(1) Gourdin. Hist. Sketch. p. 12.

Acre was besieged on April 4th of the same year by Sultan Kahlil with 60,000 horse and 140,000 foot, and Acre had only 12,000 men under the Grand Master, "exclusive of the forces of the Templars and Hospitalers, with 500 foot soldiers and 200 cavalry commanded by the King of Cyprus."

Addison says: "so the garrison, which plainly saw they could not hold out long without a commander that was skilled in the art of war, elected Brother Peter Beauieu, Grand Master of the Templars, a general of great experience, who had grown old in the command of armies, to be Governor of the place Necessity of State, the truest interpreter of merit, made them offer the command to him and it was done even with the consent of the King of Cyprus himself, who on a juncture of such importance and so full of danger was well contented to forget the title, which he had always affected, of King of Jerusalem." (1)

Beaujeu was killed on May 18, 1291, and the three hundred knights who had fought their way to the Temple appointed Theobald de Gaudini Grand Master (Addison fails to give his first name; the Manual calls him Theobaldus Gaudinius). (2)

The Grand Master, however, and a few companions, with the treasure of the Order and ornaments of the Churchs May 19th, at night, made their escape through a secret postern, and safely reached Cyprus. (3) The rest of the Knights were buried beneath the ruins of "the Tower of the Master" when it fell, victims to their resolution to protect, at all hazards, the Christian women from insult and violation by the ruthless Infidels, and to their jealous devotion to the religion of the Cross. The power of the Latin Church in the East was extinguished by the destruction of the city of Acre. Limisso, in Cyprus, became the chief seat of the Order. However, from Vertot, we learn that an anonymous writer says that Knight Roger succeeded Beaujeu as Grand Master, and that he established the seat of the Order at Ninove? a town of Cyprus, which belonged to the Order. He also says that Jean de Gaudin succeeded Brother Roger. (4)

James de Molay, Preceptor of England, was elected Grand Master by a general Chapter of the Order in 1297. He is thus described by an enemy of the Order, a French writer: "Molay was the younger brother of one of the most distinguished houses of the 'Comte' of Burgundy. His elder brother possessed, in that country, a large property, and had a higher position. From his youth, Molay had been a member of the Order; in it he had acquired a great reputation. He had passed through all the degrees, and had become a Grand Prior.

(1) Vertot, vol. i., p. 171, says: "The Sultan tempted the Grand Master with offers of immense sums, to which the Templar made no answer but by showing a just indignation at the Sultan's fancying him capable of listening to him." (2) "Manual," p. 252, and Lists of Strict Observances. (3) "Addison " p. 395. Vertot (vol. i., p. 173) says: "Out of five hundred Templars that behaved themselves so bravely in the defense of Acre, only two escaped, who, getting into a boat, landed happily on the coast of Cyprus." (4) Vertot, vol. i., p. 174. "Histoire de lab. de l'ord. des Templiers," p. 5. In another place he calls Gaudin, Monaoui de Gaudin. p. 21.

He was a lord of true merit; brave, of high intellect, of a mild and amiable character; his morals were pure, and his character without a reproach. He had always appeared with distinction at the Court of France, and had been fortunate enough to merit the favor of the King, who, in 1297, had selected him to hold, at the baptismal font, M. Robert, his fourth son. He was still held in such high esteem, when all the lords of the Court, who were yet ignorant of the hatred of the King. and his fatal determination against the Order, concerning which he preserved the most profound secrecy, aided in the election of Molay, even believing that they were affording a pleasure to that prince."

An endeavor was made by the Grand Master to recover Palestine in 1302, which the Sultan of Egypt defeated, with a loss to the Knights of one hundred and twenty. This closed the efforts for the recovery of the Holy Land, and the usefulness of the Knightly Orders as military organizations ceased. No longer did the people of the several nations in Europe manifest any zeal in the Crusades. The Templars, by many grants, from time to time, had become possessed of large estates and they were very rich, and consequently very powerful. Instead of Christendom having now any use for these military Orders, who were so prosperous from the donations of the lords and princes, they were jealous of them.

The clergy were also in constant dispute with them, and the Pope had been compelled to intervene. By some means Philip had become manifestly displeased with the Templars, and it is asserted that his need of money, and his own avarice, prompted him to suppress the Order, that he might enjoy the benefits to be derived from the confiscation of their riches and estate.

GRAND MASTERS OF THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN, RHODES, AND MALTA, A.D. 1099 TO 1799.

1. Gerard Tunc, installed, 1099; died, 1118. 2. Raymond du Puys, installed, 1118, died, 1160 3. Otteger Balben, installed, January, 1160. 4. Arnaud de Comps, installed, 1162. 5. Gilbert d'Ossaly (De Sailly), installed, 1163; drowned 1170. 6. Castus, installed, 1170 7. Joubert (De Osbert), installed, 1175; died, 1177 8. Du Moulin (Roger de Moulin), installed, 1177; killed, May 1, 1187 9. N. Gardiner, installed, 1187; died at Askalon, 1187. 10. Godfrey de Duison, installed, 1192; died, 1201. 11. Alphonsos installed, 1202; abdicated. 12. Godfrey Lo Rath, installed, 1205; died, 1208. 13. Gawen de Montacute, installed, 1208; died, 1231. 14. Bernard de Texis, installed, 1231. 15. Girino, installed, 1232; died, 1236. 16. Bertrand de Comps, installed, 1236; slain in battle, 1241 17. Peter de Villebride, installed, 1241; slain in battle, 1243 18. William de Chateau-neuf. installed, 1243; died, 1259, 19. Hugh de Revel, installed, 1259; died, 1278 20. Nicholas de Lorgne, installed, 1278, died broken-hearted, 1289. 21. John de Villiers, installed, 1289; died, 1297 22. Otho de Pins, installed, 1298 23. William Villaret, installed, 1300; died, 1306 24. Fulk de Villaret, installed, 1307; deposed, 1319 25. Helion de Villannoba, installed, 1319; died, 1346 26. Deodate de Gozon, installed, 1346; died, December, 1353 27. Peter de Cornillan, installed, 1354; died, 1355 28. Roger de Pins, installed, 1355 29. Raymond de Berenger, installed, 1365; died, 1374. 30. Robert de Julliac, installed, 1374; died, 1377 31. Heredia Castellan d'Emposta, installed, 1377 32. Richard Caraccioio, installed, 1383; died, 1395 33. Philip de Naillac, installed, 1396; died, June, 1421 34. Antony Fluvian, installed, 1421; died, October 26, 1437. 35. John de Lastic, installed, 1437; died, May 19, 1454 36. James de Milly, installed, 1454; died, August 17, 1461 37. Peter Raymond Zacosta, installed, 1461; died February 14, 1467 38. John Orsini, installed, 1467; died, 1476 39. Peter D'Aubusson, installed, 1476; died, June 30, 1503 40. Almeric Amboise, installed, 1503; died, November 8, 1512. 41. Guido de Blanchefort, installed, 1512; died, 1512 42. Fabricius Carretto, installed, 1512; died, January, 1521. 43. Philip Villers de l'Isle Adam, installed, 1521; died, August 22, 1534 44. A. del Ponte, installed, 1534; died, November, 1535 45. Desiderio di s. Jalla, installed, 1536; died, September 26, 1536. 46. Homedez, installed, 1536; died, September 6, 1553 47. Claudius de la Sengle; installed, 1553, died, August, 1557 48. John de Valetta, installed, 1557; died, August 21, 1568 49. Peter del Moate, installed; 1568; died, January 20, 1572. 50. Cassiere, installed, 1572 51. Verdale, died, 1595 52. Garzes, installed, 1595; died, February, 1601 53. Wignacourt, installed, 1601; died, 1622 54. Vasconcellos, installed, 1622 55. De Paul, installed, 1622; died, 1636 56. Paul de Lascaris Castellar, installed, 1636; died August 14, 1657 57. Redin, installed, 1657; died, February 6, 1660 58. Clermont de Chattes Gessan, installed, 1660; died, June 2, 1660 59. Raphael Cotoner, installed, 1660; died, 1663 60. Nicholas Cotoner, installed, 1663; died, April 29, 1680 61. Caraffa, installed, 1680. 62. Wignacourt, installed, 1690; died, September 4, 1697. 63. Perrellas, installed, 1697; died, February, 1720. 64. Zondadari, installed, 1720; died, 1722. 65. Anthony Manoel de Vilhenas installed 1722; died, 1742. 66. Pinto de Fonseca, installed, 1742. 67. Ximenes, installed, 1773; died, November, 1776 68. Rohan, installed, 1776, died, 1797. 69. Hompesch, installed, 1797.

LIST 0F RULERS OF THE LATIN KINGDOM OF PALESTINE, A.D. 1099 - 1205

I. Godfrey de Bouillon, crowned, 1099; died, July 11, 1100 II. Baldwin I., crowned, 1101; died, 1118. III. Baldwin II., crowned, 1118; died, 1131. IV. Foulques (Fulk), Count Anjou, crowned, 1131, died, 1144. V. Baldwin III., crowned, 1144, died, 1162. VI. Almeric, crowned, February 18, 1162; died, 1174. VII. Baldwin IV., crowned, abdicated, 1184. VIII. Baldwin V., crowned, 1184; died, 1186. IX. Sibylla and her husband, Guy de Lusignan, crowned 1186; Sibylla died, 1192; Guy abdicated, 1192. X. Henry, Count of Champagne, crowned, 1192, killed by accident, 1194. XI. Amauri, King of Cyprus, crowned, 1194; died, 1205

The following lists of Popes of Romey A.D. 1088 to A.D. 1316, will be found; useful for reference. The authority is Haydn's Dictionary of Dates.

Urban II., 1088. Promoted the First Crusade from 1096-1099. Pascal II., 1099. Council of Clermont, 1095 Gelasius II., 1118. Calixtus II., 1119. Honorius II., 1125. Innocent II., 1130. Celestine II., 1143. Lucius II., 1144. Eugenius III., 1145. Promoted the Second Crusade, 1146. Anastasius IV.,1153. Adrian IV., 1154. Alexander III., 1159. Lucius III., 1181. Urban III., 1185. Gregory VIII., 1187. Clement III., 1188. Promoted the Third Crusade, 1188. Celestine III., 1191. Promoted the Fourth Crusade, 1195-1197. Innocent III., 1198. Promoted the Fifth Crusade, 1198. Honorius III., 1216. Gregory IX., 1227. Promoted the Sixth Crusade. Celestine IV., 1241. Innocent IV., 1243. Promoted the Seventh Crusade Alexander IV., I254. Urban IV., 1261. Clement IV., 1265. The eighth and last Crusade. (1) Gregory X, 1271. Innocent V., 1275. Adrian V, 1276. Vicedominus, John XXI., Nicholas III., 1277. Martin IV., 1281 Honorius IV., 1285 Nicholas IV., 1288, Celestine V., Boniface VIII 1294 Benedict XI., 1303. Clement V., 1305. John XXII., 1316

As a comment upon the chronological confusion of the times we append from Dr. Barclay's City of at Great King, a second Table of the Crusades:

Crusade I., 1096 - 1099. Capture of Jerusalem. Crusade II., 1147. Crusade III., 1189. Crusade IV., 1202. Crusade V., 1217. Crusade VI, 1238. Crusade VII., 1245. Crusade VIII. 1270.

Dr. Barclay wisely adds: "The cessation of the Crusades was not produced by any abatement of the love of arms, or of the thirst of glory to the chivalry of Europe. But the union with these martial qualities, of that fanatical enthusiasm which inspired the Christian warriors of the 11th century, had been slowly but almost thoroughly dissolved.''

(1) After the Seventh Crusade and the surrender of all the places in Syria, there were several expeditions inaugurated, but the seventh was the last crusade.

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