S. M. G. D. O.
We, the Elect Masters of the Venerable Society sacred to John, or of the Social Order of Freemasons, Rulers of the Lodges or Tabernacles, constituted at London, Edinburgh, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris, Lyons, Frankfort, Hamburgh, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Madrid, Venice, Ghent, Regiomonte, Brussels, Dantzic, Middleburgh, and in the City of Cologne, in Chapter assembled in the said City of Cologne, in the year, month, and days aftermentioned. Our Preses being the Master of the Lodge established in this City,—a venerable Brother and most learned, prudent, and judicious man, called to preside over these deliberations, by our unanimous vote;—do, by these letters addressed to all the above-mentioned Lodges,—to our Brethren present and future, declare, that forasmuch as we have been considering the designs, which in these calamitous times embroiled, by Civil dissensions and discord, have been imputed to our foresaid Society, and to all the Brethren belonging to this Order of Freemasons, or of John, opinions, machinations, secret, as well as openly detected; all which are utterly foreign to us, and to the Spirit, Design, and Precepts, of the Association. It moreover appears that we, the Members of this Order, (chiefly because we are bound by those inscrutable secrets of our connection and covenant which are most sacredly kept by us all,) in order that we may be more effectually vilified among the uninitiated and profane, and that we may be devoted to public execration, are accused of the crime of reviving the Order of the Templars, and commonly designated by that appellation, as if we had combined and conspired for the purpose of recovering, as Members of that Order, its property and possessions, and avenging the death of the last Grand Master, who presided over that Order, on the posterity of the Kings and Princes who were guilty of the crime, and who were the authors of the extinction of said Order; as if, with that view, we were exciting schisms in the Churches, and disturbance and sedition in the Temporal Government and Dominions; as if we were influenced by hatred and enmity against the Pope, the Chief Pontiff, the Emperor, and all Kings; as if obeying no external power, but only the superiors and elected of our own Association, which is spread throughout the whole World,—we executed their secret mandates and clandestine designs, by the private intercourse of correspondence and emissaries; as if, in fine, we admitted none into our Mysteries but those who, after being scrutinised and tried by bodily tortures, became bound and devoted to our Conclaves. Therefore, having all these considerations in view, it hath seemed to us expedient, and even absolutely necessary, to expound the true state and origin of our Order, and to what it tends, as an institute of charity itself, according as these principles are recognised and approved by those who are most versant in the Highest Craft, and by masters enlightened in the genuine sciences of the Institution, and to give forth to the Lodges or Conclaves of our society the principles thus expounded, digested, and organised, as an examplar authenticated by our signatures, whereby a perpetual record may remain of this our renewed covenant, and the unshaken integrity of our purpose; and also in case, through the daily increasing propensity of the people to animosities, enmity, intolerance, and wars, this our society should hereafter be more and more oppressed, inasmuch as to be unable to maintain its standing and consolidation, and thus be dispersed to some distant regions of the earth; and in case, through lapse of time, the society itself should become less observant of its integrity, purity, and incorruptibility, nevertheless, in better times and more convenient circumstances, there may remain, if not the whole, yet perhaps one or other of the duplicates of these presents, by which standard the Order, if subverted, may be restored, and if corrupted or estranged from its purpose and designs, may be reformed. For THESE CAUSES, by these our universal letters, compiled according to the context of the most ancient monuments which are extant, concerning the objects of the institution,—the rites and customs of our most ancient and most secret order,—We, Elect Masters, influenced by the love of the true light, do, by the most solemn sanctions, adjure all fellow-labourers, to whom these presents now or in time hereafter may come, that they withdraw not themselves from the truth contained in this document. Moreover, to the enlightened, as well as to the darker world, whose common safety concerns and strongly interests us, we announce and proclaim,—
(Α) That the Society of Free Masons, or Order of Brethren attached to the solemnities of St. John, derive not their origin from the Knights Templars, nor from any other order of knights, ecclesiastic or secular, detached or connected with one or more, neither have any or the least communication with them, directly, or through any manner of intermediate tie; that they are more ancient than any order of knights of this description, and existed in Palestine and Greece, as well as in every part of the Roman Empire, long before the Holy Wars, and the times of the expeditions of the above mentioned knights into Palestine.
That from various monuments of approved authenticity, the fact is to us quite notorious, that this our Association took its origin from the time when first on account of the various Sects of the Christian World, a few adepts distinguished by their life, their moral doctrine, and their sacred interpretation of the Arcanic Truths, withdrew themselves from the multitude; for the learned and enlightened men, who lived in those times, (the true Christians who were least infected with the errors of Paganism,) when they considered, that through a corrupt religion, schisms, and not peace, and neither toleration nor charity, but atrocious wars, were promulgated, bound themselves by a most solemn Oath, in order more effectually to preserve uncontaminated the Moral Principles of this Religion, which are implanted in the mind of man, that to these they would devote themselves; that the True Light, arising gradually out of darkness, might proceed to the subduing of superstitions, by the cultivation of every Human virtue, and to the establishment of peace and comfort among men. That under these benign auspices the Masters of this community are called Brethren dedicated to John, following the example and invitation of John the Baptist, Precursor of the Rising Light,—first among the Martyr Stars of the Morning.
That these Doctors and Scribes who were also, according to the custom of those times, called Masters, did, from the most experienced and best of the Disciples, collect and choose fellow labourers, whence arose the name of Socius. When others were elected, but not chosen, they were designed, after the manner of the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman Philosophers, by the appellation of Disciple.
(Β) That our Association now, as formerly, consists of the Three Degrees of Disciple, Fellow, and Master. The last, or Masters, admitting of Elect Masters and Superior Elect Masters. But that all Associations or Fraternities so called, who admit of more or other denominations or subdivisions, and who ascribe to themselves another origin, and, intermeddling with Political and Ecclesiastical affairs, make promises and protestations under whatever titles they may assume, of Freemasons and Brethren, attached to the solemnities of John, or others which belong not to our Order, are to be expelled and ejected from it as Schismatics.
(Γ) That among the Doctors, Masters of this Order, cultivating the Sciences of Mathematics, Astronomy, and other Studies, a mutual interchange of doctrine and light was maintained, which led to the practice of electing out of those who were already Elect Masters, one in particular, who, as excelling the rest, should be venerated as Supreme Elect Master or Patriarch. Being known only to the Elect Master, he was regarded both as the Visible and Invisible Head and Chief of our whole Association; so that, according to this Ordnance, the Supreme Master and Patriarch, though known to very few, yet still exists. The premises being compiled from the mass of parchments and charter of the Order itself, committed, by authority of our Patrons, with the sacred documents, in future to the charge of our Preses and his successors; and being herewith diligently compared by W. E. Santona, by authority of the same illustrious Patriarch, ordain and command as follows:
(Δ) The government of our society, the mode and rule according to which the flaming light may be imparted and diffused among the illuminated brethren, as well as the profane world, rest entirely with the highest Elect Masters. To them belongs the charge of watching and taking care, lest the members, of whatever rank or order, should attempt any thing contrary to the true principles of our Society. Upon the same chiefs of the Society are incumbent the defence of the Order, the preservation and safeguard of its welfare, which, should occasion require, they are to protect at the expense of their fortunes, and the risk of their lives, against all who attack our Institution, whatsoever and wheresoever this may be done.
(Ε) To us it is by no means clear, that this association of brethren, prior to the year one thousand four hundred and forty, were known by any other denomination than that of Joannite Brethren; but at that time we are informed, the fraternity, especially in Valence in Flanders, began to be called by the name of Free Masons, from which period, in some parts of Hanover, Hospitals began to be built by the aid and pecuniary assistance of the Brethren, for those who laboured under the Sacred Fire, called St. Anthony’s Evil.
(Ζ) Although in works of benevolence we pay no regard to religion or country, we however consider it safe and necessary hitherto to receive none into our Order but those who, in the society of the profane and unenlightened, are professedly Christians. In conducting the inquisition and trial of those who apply for the initiation of the First Degree, which is that of Disciple, no bodily tortures are employed, but only those trials which tend to develope the nature, inclinations, and dispositions of the Candidates.
(Η) To those duties which are commanded and undertaken by a solemn oath, are added those of fidelity and obedience to the secular rulers, lawfully placed over us.
(Θ) The principle on which we act, and all these our efforts, to whatever purpose and direction they may tend, are expressed in these two precepts:—“Love and regard all men as Brethren and Relations—render to God what is God’s, and to Cæsar what is Cæsar’s.”
(Ι) The Secrets and Mysteries which veil our undertakings conduce to this end,—that without ostentation we may do good, and without disunion of action, prosecute our designs to the uttermost.
(Κ) We celebrate annually the Memory of St. John the Forerunner of Christ, and Patron of our Community.
(Λ) These, and the rest of the corresponding ceremonies of the Institution, though conducted in the meetings of the Brethren by signs, or speech, or otherwise, do nevertheless differ totally from the rites of the Churches.
(Μ) The above is considered a Brother of the Joannite Society, or a Freemason, who, in a lawful manner, by the help, and under the direction of some Elect Master, with the assistance of at least seven Brethren, is initiated into our mysteries, and who is ready to prove his adoption by the Signs and Tokens which are used by other Brethren; but in which Signs and Words are included, those which are in use in The Edinburgh Lodge or Tabernacle and its Affiliated Lodges; as also in the Hamburgh, Rotterdam, and Middleburg Tabernacles, and in that which is found erected at Venice, whose ministrations and labours, though they be ordained after the manner of the Scots, differ not from those which are used by us, in so far as they respect the origin, design, and institution.
(Ν) This our Society, being superintended by one General Prince, while the different governments of which it consists are ruled by various Superior Masters, adapted to various regions and kingdoms, as need requires. Nothing is more necessary than a certain conformity among all those who are dispersed throughout the whole World, as members of one aggregate body; and likewise an intercourse of missionaries and correspondence harmonising with them, and with their doctrines in all places.—Wherefore, these present letters, testifying the nature and spirit of our Society, shall be sent to all and sundry Colleges of the Order as yet existing. For these reasons above-mentioned, nineteen uniform duplicates of letters, composed in this form, exactly of the same tenor, confirmed and corroborated by our subscriptions and signatures, are given at Cologne on the Rhine, in the year one thousand five hundred and thirty-five, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of June, according to the Era, designated Christian.
Harmanius + Carlton, Jo. Bruce, Fr. V. Upna, Cornelius Banning, De Colligni, Virieux, Johani Schröder, Kofman, 1535, Jacobus Praepositus, A. Nobel, Ignatius de la Terre, Dona Jacob Uttenhove, Falk Nacolus, Va Noot, Phillippus Melanthon, Hugssen, Wormer Abel.
Certified in form to the printed examplar, deposited into the Archives of the Gr. and Sublime Chap. of the Temples Interior, Sitting in the East of Namur.
The Gr. Chancellor of that Chief Chap.
De Marchot.
Footnotes
1 “The Greek Convent adjoins the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. From the terrace of this Convent, you see a spacious enclosure, in which grow two or three olive trees, a palm tree, and a few cypresses. The house of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem formerly occupied this deserted spot.”—Chateaubriand.
2 At a subsequent period, the war-dress of the Knights Hospitallers was a scarlet tunic, or sopra vest, on which was embroidered the sacred emblem of the Order. In the Convent, they wore a black robe similarly adorned, with a cap of dignity. The knights were authorised to wear these dresses by a Bull of Pope Alexander IV, in 1259. The other insignia were,—First, A star which was worn on the left breast, in the form of a cross patée, having eight points, symbolical of the eight beatitudes and the eight languages, which composed the Order; Second, A badge formed of a white enamelled cross, having the angles charged with the supporters, or principal device, of the respective kingdom to which the language belonged. This, surmounted by an imperial Crown, was worn originally suspended from the neck by a gold chain, latterly by a black ribband; to these were added the sword, scarf, spurs, &c. As an armorial distinction, the knights were privileged to augment their family arms with a chief, gules, charged with a cross, argent; and exteriorly adorned the shield with the mantle, cap of dignity, banners, badge, and motto, Pro Fide. These insignia, however, were of more modern adoption.—Vide Hospitallaria.
3 The first introduction of the Knights Hospitallers into England took place, according to Tanner, in 1101. Soon after this, the Grand Priory of St. John, at Clerkenwell, London, was founded by the Lord Jordan Briset. In 1185 it was formally dedicated by the Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem. Matthew Paris mentions that, in 1237, there went from the Priory of Clerkenwell three hundred knights to the wars in the Holy Land. It was set on fire by the rebels under Wat Tyler in 1381, and burnt for seven days; and it was not finally repaired till one hundred and twenty-three years afterwards, when the Grand Prior Docwra completed its reconstruction. This building is said to have exhibited curious specimens of the Arts of Europe and Asia, and contained collections of books and other rarities.—(Cromwell’s Hist. Parish Clerkenwell.)
The old gateway of St. John’s, Clerkenwell, is nearly all that remains of the once princely Priory, the revenues of which, at the time of the Reformation, amounted to the sum of two thousand three hundred and eighty-five pounds twelve shillings and eightpence sterling. Besides the above, the Order possessed subordinate priories or establishments in almost every county of England and Scotland; to which were attached valuable lands, with rights of venison and fishing, and immunities of various kinds.
4 The other original associates of the Order were the Knights Roral, Gundemar, Godfrey Bisol, Payens de Montidier, Archibald de St. Aman, Andrew de Montbar, and the Count of Provence, according to the German historian, Wilcke.
5 Bauseant or Bausant, was, in old French, a pie-bald horse. The word is still preserved with its original meaning in the Scotch dialect, in the form Bawsent:—
“His honest, sonsie, baws’nt face,
Aye gat him freends in ilka place,”
says Burns, describing the “Ploughman’s Collie” in his Tale of the “Twa Dogs;” and in the Glossary, Dr. Currie explains Bawsent as meaning “having a white stripe down the face.” Some conceive that the word Beauseant may be merely an old variation of the modern French word Bienséant, as referring to something handsome or attractive.
6 Expediency afterwards prompted the infraction of this original rule. Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Order, was liberated by Saladin, along with several other captives, for no less a ransom than the city of Ascalon. In 1244 also, the Templars endeavoured to redeem their brethren from captivity in Egypt.
7 Mathew Paris charges a certain Templar, named Ferrandus, with having gone over to the Infidels, and betrayed the state of the Christian garrison in Damietta, A. D. 1221. This deserter was reputed to have been a knight “in armis strenuus et consilio circumspectus.”
8 The affiliated were persons of various ranks, and of both sexes, who, without any outward sign of connection, were acknowledged by the Order as entitled to its protection, and admitted to a participation in certain of its privileges,—such as exemption from the effects of ecclesiastical interdicts, which secured to them at least the occasional service of the mass, and Christian burial in consecrated ground. These were advantages of the last importance, for which both men and women, Knights and Burghers, were content to pay considerable sums while alive, and leave to the Treasury of the Temple the residue of their property after death.
The donates and oblates stood in a somewhat different relation to the Order, being personally dedicated or offered, as their titles denote, to the Society. These were either youths whom their parents destined for the service of the Order, when they had attained a proper age, or they were adults who bound themselves gratuitously to aid and assist the Order so long as they lived, solely in admiration of its sanctity and excellence, a portion of which they humbly hoped to share. Among these latter, all classes were to be found,—princes and priests, as well as other persons. (See Secret Societies of the Middle Ages.)
9 No specific sum appears to have been exacted from entrants, but each was expected to pay according to his means. Thus it is recorded of the Prince Guy Dauphin, that he gave to the Order 1500 pieces (Livr. Tourn.) for his own entry-money, and a contribution of 200 a-year in name of his parents.
Wealthy Squires of the Order, of respectable though not noble parentage, gave sometimes large sums at their reception. Of this class, Bartholomew Bartholet gave property to the amount of 1,000 livres Tournois to be admitted, and William of Liege gave 200 a-year of the same circulation.
10 Hugo de Payens, the founder of the Order, set a laudable example of rigour in the selection of candidates. When a certain Knight, named Hugo d’Amboise, was desirous of being received into the Order, the Grand Master refused to let him take the vows, because he had oppressed the people of Marmoutier, and disobeyed a judicial sentence of the Count of Anjou; and until he had given satisfaction to all whom he had injured, and otherwise amended his life, he was informed that he could not be admitted into the Temple.
11 The Rule of St. Bernard prohibited the Templars from even looking at a woman. The translation of the statute, chap. lxxii, is as follows:—
“We hold it to be dangerous to all religion to look too much on the countenance of women, and, therefore, let no Brother presume to kiss either widow or virgin, or mother or sister, or aunt, or any other woman. Let the militia of Christ, therefore, shun feminine kisses, by which men are often exposed to danger, that with a pure conscience and secure life, they may walk continually in the sight of God.”
12 This stronghold of the Order was built about 1217, under the Grand Master, William de Chartres, who employed a number of pilgrims of the masonic class in its erection. Hence the appellation of Pilgrim Castle which it received.
13 The Knights in general seem to have been buried with their swords placed beside the body. Several skeletons are said to have been found in the Templar Cemetery at Mount Hooly, near Edinburgh, lying cross-legged, with swords by their sides. See Maitland’s History of Edinburgh.
14 The first preceptory of the Templars in England was founded at Holborn, then in the suburbs of London, whence they afterwards removed to Fleet Street about 1185. The only remains of the latter place of residence is the beautiful circular edifice still called the Temple Church, supposed to have been built after the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This seems to have been a favourite form with the Order. The Church of St. Sepulchre at Cambridge, built by the Templars, is of a circular construction, having the appearance of a fortified tower. In examining this building (says Mr. Britton) we are struck with its ponderous and durable appearance, as if it was intended for a castellated edifice. The masonry of the ancient walls, and also of the pillars and arches, is such as to evince great skill in the building, the stones being all squared and chisselled with the most perfect accuracy to fit their respective places. At Northampton, the same form seems to have been observed. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (says Pennant, speaking of this place,) was supposed to have been built by the Knights Templars on the model of that at Jerusalem. Others of the chapels appertaining to the Order do not, however, present a similar plan.
The principal Bailliwicks of the Order in England were the following, viz. London, Kent, Warwick, Waesdone, Lincoln, Lindsey, Bolingbroke, Widine, Agerstone, York. In these were seventeen preceptories. Most places having the prefix of Temple belonged to the Knights,—such as Temple-Bruer in Lincolnshire, where, Camden says, that in his time there were the ruins of a church or chapel, “not unlike that of the new Temple at London.” Probably it was of the circular form above noticed. Some account of the Irish preceptories will be found in the Appendix.
15 This seems somewhat countenanced by the great additions made to the buildings of the Temple at Paris previous to the arrival of the Grand Master. In 1306, was erected a large square tower, flanked by four round towers, with an adjacent building on the north side, surmounted by turrets. The principal tower contained four stories, in each of which there was an apartment thirty feet square: three of the inferior towers had also each a hall. The remaining tower contained a fine staircase, which conducted to the different chambers and battlements. The walls of the central keep were nine feet in thickness. This Tower of the Temple has been rendered memorable in modern times by the captivity of the unfortunate Louis XVI. and his family. It is also noted as the place of imprisonment, by Buonaparte, of the celebrated Sir Sidney Smith, now the Head of the Order of the Temple.
16 Jacques de Molay was elected Grand Master in the year 1297, and was the second elevated to that dignity after the expulsion of the Christians from the Holy Land. He was of an ancient family in Besançon, Franche Compté, and entered the Order in the year 1265.
17 It is probable that part of this treasure was formed from the spoils of Greece, which the Templars had been invited from their retirement to invade, at the instigation of the King of Sicily. After overrunning great part of that country, they returned loaded with the plunder of its cities, leaving their possession to some allies.—Vide Michaud, Histoire des Croisades.
18 A French writer gives the following opinion regarding the origin of some of these charges:—“Les Chevaliers supportaient un grand nombre d’épreuves religieuses et morales avant de parvenir aux divers degrés d’initiation; ainsi, par exemple, le récipiendaire pouvait recevoir l’injonction, sous peine de mort, de fouler aux pieds le crucifix, ou d’adorer une idole; mais, s’il cédait à la terreur qu’on cherchait à lui inspirer, il était déclaré indigne d’être admis aux grades élevés de l’Ordre. On conçoit, d’après cela, comment des êtres, trop faibles ou trop immoraux pour supporter les épreuves d’initiation, ont pu accuser les Templiers de se livrer a des practiques et d’avoir des croyances infâmes, superstitieuses.”—(Recherches Historiques sur Les Templiers. Paris, 1835.)
19 “Quod clam consueverunt tenere capitula sua;” and “Quod similem clandestinitatem observant et observare consueverunt ut plurimum in recipiendo fratres,” were principal counts in the indictment against them. From this secrecy, some writers have inferred that the Templars practised a species of Freemasonry, of which certainly no direct evidence transpired during the inquest. Signor Rosetti, the celebrated commentator of Dante, has, we understand, a work in the press, in which he seeks to demonstrate that the Templars were a branch of that great secret confederacy which was formed against the papacy, which included the Troubadours and all the literati of the time, and which ultimately produced the Reformation. This information is derived from a letter to Dr. Burnes by Mr. Keightly, the talented reviewer and friend of Rosetti.
20 In June 1310, Pope Clement wrote to the King of England blaming his lenity, and calling upon him to employ the torture upon the unfortunate Knights. The Council of London, after a long discussion, ordered it to be employed, but so as not to mutilate the limbs, or cause an incurable wound, or violent effusion of blood.
21 The Knights of Christ have continued to exist as a recognized Order of Knighthood down to the present day. The supremacy is vested in the Sovereign of Portugal, and the greater part of the revenue is understood to accrue to the royal coffers. The sums, however, paid in pensions to Knights of the Order, about the beginning of the present century, are said to have amounted to about £4000 per annum. In 1793 they possessed twenty-one provincial towns and villages, and counted four hundred and fifty-four commanderies, exclusive of colonial acquisitions. The various recent changes, occasioned by war and intestine commotions, probably have reduced their income and possessions. In 1820 the Grand Prior of Portugal was Louis Antonio de Fontado, of the House of Barbasena, and who died in 1832. We are not informed as to his successor. The Cross of the Order of Christ is sometimes bestowed upon foreigners as an honorary distinction. Dr. Bowring, (who was employed on a mission to the Portuguese Government,) and several other Englishmen, have of late years received its Cross; generally, it is believed, that of the third class of Knights.
22 The Pope (Clement V.) committed the glaring absurdity of making a provisional decree to be executed in perpetuity. The Bull which is issued at the Court at Vienne, without asking the judgment of the assembled bishops and others, declares, that although he cannot of right, consistently with the Inquisition and proceedings, pronounce a definite sentence, yet by way of apostolical provision and regulation, he perpetually prohibited people from entering into the Order, and calling themselves Templars. The penalty of the greater excommunication was held out as a punishment for offending.
Mills’ Chivalry, Vol. I. Chap. 7.
An extract from the Bull, in the original Latin, will be found in the Appendix.
23 Besides appropriating to himself all the moveable property of the Order, three hundred thousand livres of France were retained by the King, ostensibly to repay the expense of the prosecution. No doubt the treasure brought by De Molay from Cyprus would be amongst the first booty seized, as well as the rich gold and silver utensils and plate, with which the chapel and palace of the Temple at Paris were furnished.
24 On the 28th March 1310, no fewer than 546 Templars were assembled under a strong guard, in the gardens of the Bishop of Paris, who had been conveyed thither to make the defence of the Order, and hear read the accusations against them. This shew of justice was, of course, a mere pretence of their persecutors, to save appearances. The number of the Templars in Paris afterwards encreased to nearly 900. Ferrati of Vicenza has reckoned the entire members of the Order throughout Europe at 15,000 persons.
25 Histoire des Chevaliers Hospitaliers de Saint Jean de Jerusalem, par l’Abbe Vertot, tom. ii. pp. 101, 102.
26 So dreadful and impressive an event could not fail to be the source of many strange stories with the vulgar. Among these, chroniclers report, that the venerable martyr, ere life was extinct, summoned Pope Clement to answer before the bar of the Almighty Judge, within forty days, and King Philip before the same tribunal, within the space of a year. Certain it is, that the Pope did suddenly die in the night between the 19th and 20th of the following month; and the church in which his body was placed taking fire, one-half of the corpse was consumed,—a circumstance which naturally confirmed the people in the belief that his death was a special judgment of Heaven for the burning of the knights, and which probably also suggested the prediction. In the month of July following, a tumult arose in the town where the half consumed corpse was kept, during which the populace tried to get forcible possession of the remains; but whether from some superstitious motive, or with a view of avenging on the Pope’s body the murder of De Molay, is not known. Philip of France expired within the year, in consequence of a fall from his horse, and others of the persecutors of the Order met a violent death.
27 A copy of this remarkable Charter, the original of which I had an opportunity of examining through the kindness of the Grand Master and Sir Sidney Smith, at Paris, will be found in the Appendix. The Charter was submitted to the inspection of nearly 200 Knights of the Order, at the Convent-General held at Paris in 1810.
28 The following anecdote of Sir Sidney Smith may not be inappropriate here, as relating to a Soldier of the Cross:—
After the signal defeat of Buonaparte at Acre, the tyrant Djezzar, to avenge himself upon the Franks, inflicted severe punishment on the Jewish and Christian inhabitants of Saphet, and, it is said, had resolved to massacre all the believers in Moses and Jesus Christ, who might be found within his dominions. But Sir Sidney Smith, on being apprized of his intention, instantly caused the Turk to be informed, that if a single Christian head should fall, he would bombard Acre, and burn it about his ears. This decisive interposition of the gallant Admiral is still remembered in the hearts of the inhabitants.
Such was the confidence placed by them in their deliverer, that Burckhardt, alluding to Sir Sidney, says,—“His word, I have often heard both Turks and Christians exclaim, was like God’s word—it never failed;” and Professor Loěwe, recently returned from Palestine, affirmed, that the Firmaun of Sir Sidney at once procured for him, both from the Sultan and the Pacha of Egypt, every assistance and facility in pursuing his learned hieroglyphical and mythological researches.
In connection with our subject, it may be mentioned as a singular fact, that Sir Sidney Smith was the first Christian ever permitted to enter the Holy City of Jerusalem armed, since the days of the Crusaders, which he was allowed to do as a special compliment, after the surrender of the French army in Egypt. By his means, also, his followers were granted the like privilege.
Several official documents, relating to Sir Sidney as a Knight Templar, are inserted in the Appendix.
29 The exact condition, or relative position, of the serving Brothers in ancient times is not very perfectly known. That they sometimes held a responsible, and even high command, is proved by the following passage from Michaud’s “Bibliographie des Croisades,” referring to the work of an old Latin annalist,—“A la page 540 se trouve une lettre d’un Chevalier Servant (Dapiferi) de la milice du Temple, addressée au Grand Maître Eberard des Barres, qui était revenu en France avec le roi Louis VII. Dans cette lettre sont peints les malheurs de la Terre Sainte après la morte du prince d’Antioche. Le Chevalier Servant prie le Grand Maître de revenir promptement porter du secours au Chrétiens, reduit à l’extremité. Cette Lettre est de 1149 ou 1150.” A serving Brother here appears acting the part of chief officer in the East.
30 Equal to about 50 Francs.
31 For the Vow, vide Appendix.
32 The Order of the Hospitallers of Malta, although in these days almost unheard of, still exists through its members, scattered over Europe. Few, if any, of the old Knights who belonged to the Order in its palmy days are now alive. One of the last of these was the Chevalier Grěche, who died at Malta in 1838, where he had continued to linger amid the scenes of his Order’s former greatness and glory. He was of a French family, and, it is said, spoke French of the time of Louis XIV. He was page to the last Grand Master at Malta, in which capacity there is a full-length portrait of him in the palace of a Portuguese Knight. He often used to look at this picture; pointing the while to his wrinkles and white hair, and laughing at the change from the fair face and flowing locks represented in the painting. Until he became very infirm, he was fond of society, and was frequently to be met with at the houses of the English, by whom he was much esteemed on account of his interesting recollections and traditions. It is believed that there now remains only one member of the Order as it existed before the dispersion, and he belongs to the Langue d’Italie. The Vow of the Knights of St John will be found in the Appendix.
33 We give the following extracts from the statutes themselves:—Art. 308—Nullus ad novitiatum armigerorum accedit, nisi genere in quarto gradu sit nobilis. Art. 310.—Si quis, virtute præstantissimus, novitiatum armigerorum postulans, non sit nobili natus genere, audita Conventus relatione petitoria, a Commendariæ, Ballivatus et Linguæ congressibus, sicut et a Comitiis Statutariis Curiaque Præceptoriali, sancita, illum ordini nobilium, in quarto gradu, adscribendi potestatem solus habet in Militia Templi Supremus Magister. Art. 315.—Quacumque de causa, ab Ordine deficere Equiti nefas est. Si autem honoribus Equestribus vel Militia indignus, judicatus fuerit Eques, in proprii Conventus albo, singulisque Conventuum, Abbatiarum, Postulantiarum initiationisque Cœtuum albis, pro sententia, adnotatur: Vel ab Equestribus Honoribus suspensus: vel, ab Equestri Militia interdictus: vel Utraque Militia indignus. Art. 390.—Nullus ad initiationem accedit, nisi Christianus, liberaliter institutus, civili ordine insignis, virtute, moribus, fide et urbanitate præstantissimus. Art. 391.—In militia inferiori aggregari possunt minoris conditionis viri qui, propter artem, Ordini perutiles esse possunt. Art. 392.—Ad quemcumque Ordinis gradum quemlibet cooptare potest Supremum Magister. Cooptatus autem frater vel in Conventu, vel in Capitulo, vel in Cœtu, sicut et in Abbatiâ cooptata soror, juxta Magistrale Decretum, recipitur, solemniumque rituum et usuum in receptione solitorum immunis fieri, potest, Equestri Consecratione excepta, qua nullus donatur nisi votis solemnibus susceptis. Art. 408.—Templi Commilitonum Posteri; Equites Christi; Equites Teutonici; Patres a mercede; Patres a redemptione captivorum, si jubeat Lingualis Congressus, in inferioribus domibus admittuntur, sicut et ad Novitiatum armigerorem illico provehuntur, tenenturque tantum fide dare jusjurandum
Statuta Commilitonum Ordinis Templi e regulis sancitis in Conventibus Generalibus prosertim in Conventu Generali Versaliano, Anno Ordinis 586, et in Conventibus Generalibus Lutetianis, A. O. 693, et 695, confecta et in unum codicem coacta.
34 We shall be excused referring to this subject, considering that it engaged so much of the attention of the pious St. Bernard. Respecting the habit of the early Templars, he says, chap, xxii and xxv, “It is granted unto none to wear white tunics or mantles, but to the Knights of Christ.—If any brother wish to have the handsomest or best mantle, either as of due or out of pride, for such presumption, he will, without doubt, deserve the very worst.”
35 Pro Deo et Patria. This is one of the present mottoes of the Order. The other, Ferro non auro se muniunt, is taken from the following striking expressions of St. Bernard,—“Equites Christi intus fide, foras ferro non auro se muniunt, non turbulenti aut impetuosi, et quasi ex levitate præcipites, sed consulte atque cum omni cautela et providentia se ipsos ordinentes, et disponentes in aciem, juxta quod de patribus scriptum est. Ita denique vero, quodam ac singulare modo, cernuntur et agnis mitiores et leonibus ferociores:”—Ex. Lib. Sanct. Bernard, Abbat Milit. Templ. cap. 4, No. 8.
36 La société des Templiers vient d’en offrir une preuve éclatante, à l’occasion du mariage de S. M. l’Empereur et Roi avec Marie Louise, d’Autriche. Le 16 Août 1810, elle a donné une fête, terminée par une distribution de vêtemens, des vivres et d’argent à des vieillards indigens choisis dans les douze municipalités des Paris. On peut voir dans le proces verbal qu’ils en out fait imprimer les témoignages flatteurs d’estime qu’ils ont reçu de M. M. les Maires des arrondissemens de Paris et des membres de plusieurs bureaux de bienfaisance.—Thory.
37 En 1811, Napoleon, empereur, revenant a ses idées sur l’importance de cet ordre, tant sous le rapport civil que sous le rapport religieux, fit appeler le grand-maitre Bernard-Raymond, et après plusieurs questions a sa maniere sur l’êtat actuel de l’ordre, sur ses statuts, etc. il s’informa des époques de ses assemblées. Apprenant qu’il y en aurait bientôt une pour la célébration de l’anniversaire du martyre de Jacques de Molay, l’empereur s’empara de cette circonstance, et donna des ordres pour que cette ceremonie se fit publiquement avec une grand pompe religieuse et militaire. Une place d’honneur était réservée pour le grand-maitre et ses lieutenans generaux. M. Clouet, chanoine de Notre-Dame, coadjuteur-general du primat du Temple, et revêtu du camail primatial, prononça l’oraison funèbre du grand-maitre martyr, dont le catafalque était richement orné des insignes de la souveraineté magistrale et patriarcale. On peut se souvenir de l’étonnement que produisit cette grande ceremonie par sa publicité, ainsi que des conjectures auxquelles elle donna lieu; tout porte à croire que l’empereur se proposait de tirer bon parti de l’ordre du Temple et de son culte s’il ne pouvait parvenir a maîtriser a cour de Rome.
L’empereur don Pedro, après avoir accepté le titre de premier chevalier d’honneur du Temple, autorisa un de ses ministres a recevoir le brevet de grand-prieur titulaire du Bresil; et l’on ne peut douter, d’après la correspondance de ce ministre avec le grand-maitre Bernard-Raymond, que don Pedro n’eut l’intention de faire refleurir l’ordre du Temple au Bresil, comme aussi il avait êté sauvé de sa destruction en 1312 par le roi Denis, qui créa l’ordre des chevaliers proscrits par le décret de Clement V.—
Biographie des Hommes du Jour. Paris, 1836.
38 The original name of Temple on the Southesk, according to Chalmers, was Balantrodach. In the Chartular of Aberdeen the Preceptory is styled “domus Templi de Balantradock;” and in the Chartular of the Abbey of Newbattle we find mentioned, “Magister et Fratres Templi de Blentodoch,” which is a contraction or corruption of the same term. The place became known by the designation of Temple only after the establishment of the Order there. This was the head-quarters of the Grand Preceptors of Scotland, and became, at the suppression of the Templars, attached to the Hospital of St. John. In the 15th century, Sir William Knolls, Grand Preceptor of St. John’s, obtained an Act of Parliament, changing the old name into that of the barony of St. John. But the people never conformed to the alteration. Part of the foundations of the original convent were dug up about a century ago. The ancient chapel of the Temple continued till lately to be used as the parish kirk. It is now partly dilapidated, in consequence of a new church being built. On the eastern gable there is an antique inscription, formed with lead run into the letters, which appears to be as follows:—
V Æ S A C
M T H M.
These letters, when extended, may signify, Vitæ Sacrum Militiæ Templi Hierosolymitani; or, Virgini Ædem Sacram Militiæ Templi Hierosolymæ Majister; supplying condidit or consecravit. The Virgin Mary, it is well known, was the patroness of the Order. What monstrous mysteries would not the ingenious Von Hammer make these letters the vehicle of revealing! In the second line the learned German could not fail to discover the presence of the Metis or Tau of the Gnostics, whose doctrines, he insists, the Templars held, as attested by their monumental remains, and by coins or medals imagined to refer to them.
39 Book of Cupar quoted in Father Hay’s MS.
40 This gallant Templar,—worthy to have fallen in a holier cause,—is thus strangely vilified, after death, by some miscreant, at the trial of the Templars:—“Brian le Jāy dixit quod Jesus Christus non fuit verus Deus et vérus homo; quod minimus pilus barbæ unius Saraceni fuit majoris valoris quam totum corpus istius qui loquitur. Pauperibus quibusdam eleemosynam a Briane petentibus pro amore Dei et beatæ Mariæ Virginis respondit, ‘Que dame, allez vous pendre à votre dame;’ et projiciens impetuose unum quadrantem in luto, fecit pauperes musare in eodem et hoc tempore frigidæ hyemis.” Such is a sample of the evidence against the Order.
41 It appears by the following extract from Clifton’s examination, that the Preceptor of Scotland was a subordinate officer to the Master, or Grand Prior in England. “Interrogatus; quis recepit eum ad dictum ordinem et dedit ei habitum? dixit, quod Frater Willielmus de la More oriundus de Comitatu Ebor. tunc et nunc Magister dicti Ordinis in Anglia et Scotia.”
42 “Après la mort de Jacques de Molay, des Templiers Ecossais étant devénus apostats, a l’instigation du roi Robert Bruce, se rangérent sous les banniéres d’un nouvel Ordre institué par ce prince, et dans lequel les réceptions furent basées sur celles de l’Ordre du Temple. C’est là qu’il faut chercher l’origine de la Maçonnerie Ecossaise, et même celle des autres Rites maçoniques.—Du schisme qui s’introduisit en Ecosse naquit un grand nombre de sectes. Presque toutes ont la prétention de dériver du Temple, et quelques unes celle de se dire l’Ordre lui-meme.”
Manuel des Chevaliers de L’Ordre du Temple. Paris, 1825.
The historian, Raymouard, thus formally excuses himself from speculating on the fate of the disbanded Scottish Knights:—“Que devinrent-ils? Ce n’est pas à moi de soulever le voile mystérieux de ces infortunés: l’histoire publique se tait, mon devoir est de me taire comme elle.”—Monumens Historiques.
43 An attempt has been very recently made to revive this Order, by the initiation of a number of new members, chiefly Brethren of the Lodge of St. David, Edinburgh.
44 The medal alluded to was struck at the expense of the Chapitre du Choix at Paris, to celebrate the establishment in France of a Provincial Grand Lodge of Heredom de Kilwinning, by a Charter, dated Edinburgh the 1st of May 1786, constituting Mr. John Mattheus, a distinguished merchant of Rouen, Provincial Chief, with very ample powers, to disseminate the Order. The Chapitre du Choix was itself erected by a charter from Edinburgh in the same year, addressed to Nicholas Chabouille, avocat en parlement, and other brethren. Both these documents bear the signatures of William Charles Little, Deputy Grand Master, William Mason, and William Gibb. At a later date, a Provincial Grand Master was also appointed for Spain, in the person of Mr. James Gordon, a merchant at Xeres de la Frontera, whose commission was signed by Deputy Grand Master Dr. Thomas Hay, and Messrs. Charles Moor and John Brown, as heads of the Royal Order. In 1811, there were no less than twenty-six Chapters of Heredom holding of the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Order in France, including some in Belgium and Italy.
—Histoire de la Fondation du Grand Orient de France.
Paris, 1812.
45 An abstract of this interesting document will be found in the Appendix.
46 The reader will find the Preceptor’s motives and proceedings explained in an authentic family document printed from a manuscript copy in the Advocates Library, in a little work named, “Templaria. Edinburgh, 1828.” We extract from it the following account of the surrender of the Preceptory:—“He personally compeirit in presence of the Queen’s Majesty, the Lord Chancelour, the Earles of Murray, Marischall, and diuers others of her Hiehnes Privy Council, and there, as the only lawful undoubted Titular, and present possessor of the Lordship and Preceptorie of Torphephen, which was never subject to any Chapter or Conuent whatsomever, except only the Knights of Jerusalem and Temple of Solomon, Genibus flexis et reverentia qua decuit, resigned and ouergave in the hands of our Souerane Lady, his undoubted Superior, ad perpetuam remanentiam, all Right, Property, and Possession, which he had, or any way could pretend to the said Preceptorie, or any part thereof, in all time Coming; to the effect the same might remain perpetually, with her Hyeness and her Successours, as a Part of Property and Patrimony of her Crown for ever. After this resignation in the Queen’s Majesty’s hands, ad Remanentiam, of this Benefice, be the lawful Titular thereof, her Hyeness, in remembrance of the good service of the said Sir James Sandilands, gave and grantid and dispon’d, in feu-farme, heritably, to the said Sir James, his heirs and assignies, All and Haill, the said Preceptorie and Lordship.”
That the payment of the above sum of ten thousand crowns of the Sun subsequently involved Sandilands in serious difficulties and embarrassments, we are instructed by the works referred to, in which it is stated that—“albeit the charter bears present payment of ten thousand crowns, that the money was paid at divers times, partly upon Her Majesty’s precepts to her servants, French Paris, Sir Robert Melvin, Sir James Balfour, and Captain Anstruther; and the rest of the sum to Mr. Robert Richardson, treasurer for the time, whereof there is a receipt under the privy seal. That a great part of that money, numbered in gold and silver, was borrowed from Timothy Corneoli, an Italian gentleman of the Preceptor’s acquaintance at Genoa, and a banker of the house of———resident in Scotland for the time. That this nobleman being burthened with great debts, for his exoneration and relief, was forced to let in feu-farm his own roumes for a reasonable composition,” &c.; and he was afterwards obliged to part with some of the larger baronies of the estate.
47 To satisfy the curious, a copy of the translated document is inserted in the Appendix.
48 Il est certain que l’invention des hauts grades maçonniques a fait le plus grand tort á l’institution, en dènaturant son objet, et en l’affublant de titres pompeux et de cordons qui ne lui appartiennent pas. On conviendra que jamais elle n’eût êté proscrite, dans une partie d’Allemagne, si les dissentions occasioneés par la Stricte-Observance, les pretentions de soidisant successeurs des Frères de la Rose-Croix, et surtout l’invention de l’illuminatisme qu’on introduisit dans quelques L. n’eussent rendu “l’association suspecté aux gouvernemens.”—Acta Latomorum.
49 There have been at least a hundred grades of Continental Masonry denominated “Ecossais.”
50 On this subject we shall let the Baron de Hund speak for himself:—Les Frères de la Stricte-Observance se disent les successeurs des Templiers, et leur doctrine consiste a perpétuer l’existence de l’Ordre sous le voile de la Franche Maçonnerie. Voici l’Histoire de l’Institution, selon le Baron de Hund; Dans l’année 1303, deux Chevaliers, nommés Noffodoi et Florian, furent punis pour crimes. Tous deux perdirent leurs commanderies et particulièrement, le dernier, celle de Montfaucon. Ils en demandérent de nouvelles au Gr.-Maître provincial de Mont-Carmel; et comme il les leur refusa, ils l’assassinérent dans sa maison de campagne, prés de Milan, et cachérent son corps dans le jardin, sous des arbrisseaux. Ils se refugiérent ensuite á Paris, ou ils accusérent l’Ordre des crimes les plus horribles, ce qui entraina sa perte, et par suite le supplice de J. Molay. Après la catastrophe, le Grand-Maître provincial de l’Auvergne, Pierre d’Aumont, s’enfuit avec deux Commandeurs et cinq Chevaliers. Pour n’être point reconnus, ils se deguisérent en ouvriers maçons, et se refugiérent dans une ile Ecossaise, ou ils trouvérent le Grand-Commandeur Haupton-court, Georges de Hasris, et plusieurs autres Frères avec lesquels ils resolurent de continuer l’Ordre. Ils tinrent, le jour de St.-Jean 1313, un Chapitre dans lequel Aumont, premier du nom, fut nommé Grand-Maitre. Pour’se soustraire aux persécutions, ils empruntèrent des symboles pris dans l’art de la Maçonnerie, et se denommérent Maçons libres.... En 1361, le Grand-Maitre du Temple transporta son siege a Aberdeen, et par suite l’Ordre se repandit, sous le voile de la Fr.-Maçonnerie, en Italie, en Allemagne, en France, en Portugal, en Espagne et ailleurs. Der Signatsterne, etc., p. 178.
51 It is stated in the Freemason’s Review, that, according to authentic documents, the Aberdeen Lodge has existed since 1541.
A List of Major Illustrations was created.