CHAPTER XLIX

THE INTRODUCTION OF ROYAL ARCH MASONRY INTO AMERICA


THE Royal Arch degree was introduced into the North American
Colonies not very long after its invention or adoption in England.

The Grand Lodge of Ancients granted its first Warrant for a lodge
in the colonies in the year 1758. (1) In the same year, as will be
seen hereafter, a chapter connected with an Atholl lodge was
established. This alone would prove, if such proof were necessary,
that the Royal Arch Masonry of Pennsylvania, where it first
appeared on this continent, was derived from the "Grand Lodge of
England, according to the Old Institutions," and that the degree
which was then worked was what is commonly known as Dermott's Royal
Arch.

Of course, the degree must have been conferred in a chapter working
under a Master's Warrant, as at that time no Grand Chapter had been
organized.

The Grand Lodge of Ancients had always granted this privilege to
its lodges, and it was maintained up to the early years of the
present century by several of the American lodges. Thus as late as
January, 1803, Orange Lodge of Ancient York Masons, an Atholl lodge
in Charleston, S.C., granted the privilege of its Warrant for the
use of the Royal Arch Chapter of South Carolina." (2)

The first Royal Arch Chapter in America of which we can find anv
account, was held in Philadelphia in the year 1758. The author of
the Historical View prefixed to Pennsylvania Ahiman Rezon, says
that it was held "anterior" to that year. This is manifestly an
error, as the date of the Warrant of the first lodge of the
"Ancients"


(1) It is so stated in Gould's "Register of the Atholl Lodges," p.
16, and the fact is confirmed by the recent researches of the Grand
Lodge of Pennsylvania.
(2) "Historical Sketch of Orange Lodge." See Mackey's "History of
Freemasonry  in South Carolina," p. 471. 


in that city, and indeed in the country, was June 7, 1758, and it
is evident that no chapter could have preceded the lodge in date of
birth, as the former derived its authority from the latter, and
worked under its Warrant.

The author of the Historical View, which has just been referred to,
stated that it worked under the Master's Warrant of Lodge numbers
and that it was recognized by and had communion with a military
Chapter working under a Warrant number 351 granted by the Grand
Lodge of England, meaning, as the context clearly shows, the Atholl
Grand Lodge or the Grand Lodge of the Ancients. (1)

There can be no doubt of the truth of the statement that a chapter
of Royal Arch Masons was established in Philadelphia about the year
1758 and that it worked under the Master's Warrant of Lodge number
3. Bro. Clifford MacCalla, who is the very best authority on the
early history of Freemasonry in Pennsylvania, says that the minutes
of this Chapter, which he designates as Jerusalem Chapter number 3,
are in existence as far back as 1767, and that they mention prior
minutes. (2)

But it is not easy to reconcile the statement that it held
communion with a military lodge, numbered 351, granted by the
Atholl Grand Lodge, with the facts of history.

Up to the year 1756 the Atholl Grand Lodge had granted only two
military Warrants, numbers 41 and 52, one in 1755 and the other in
1756. In fact, at the end of the year 1757 the numbers on the roll
of that Grand Lodge as accurately arranged by Bro. Gould amounted
to only 68. (3)

There was a military Warrant numbered 351, but it was not granted
until October, 1810. (4)

Indeed, number 351 is too high for the year 1758 roll of either of
the Grand Lodges of England, or of those of Ireland or Scotland.
Even in England, the oldest of the four bodies, the numbers had not
at that early period gone far into the two hundreds.

What then was this military Lodge, numbered as 351, at a time


(1) "Ahiman Rezon of Pennsylvania," edition of 1825, p. 79.
(2) "Philadelphia, the Mother City of Freemasonry in America," p.
99.
(3) Gould's "Atholl Lodges," p. 16.
(4) Ibid., p. 102. By a typographical error the number is printed
361 instead of 351 as it should evidently have been.


when no such numbers could have been reached by the existing
registrations, and what was this Lodge number 3 on the Pennsylvania
roll which held communion with it, and both of which were thus
engaged in the propagation of the Royal Arch degree in America ?

Bro. MacCalla, referring to the military lodges in Pennsylvania,
during and before the war of the Revolution, says that "Lodge
number 18 was in the 17th Regiment British army." Nowin the first
official list of the Atholl lodges given in the Ahiman Rezon for
1807, we find if "18, 17th Regiment of foot," as the third of the
miIitary lodges. No date is given for its Warrant, but from its
position in the list we may presume that it was one of the oldest
lodges Gould says it was originally warranted as number 237, and he
gives the original 18 as having been constituted as a civil lodge
at London in 1753. This lodge becoming extinct, the number seeme by
a system of registration peculiar to the Atholl Masons to have been
taken up by the military lodge instead of its original number, 237.

Again this military Lodge number 18 makes its appearance in another
official quarter.

C. Downes, Past Master of Lodge number 141, on the registry of
Ireland, published at Dublin in 1804, Lists of lodges "according to
the 'Old Constitutions' of the kingdom of Great Britain, and also
of America, the East and the West Indias, &c." Downes was the
printer to the Grand Lodge of Ireland and with its permission had
edited the Irish Ahiman Reman. His Lists are therefore possessed of
some official authority.

In his List of military lodges he also gives Lodge number 18, in
the 17th Regiment, as third lodge in order of sequence as having
been warranted by the Atholl Grand Lodge of England.

But he also gives a list of the lodges which had been warranted up
to the year 1804, amounting to 65. How many of these had been
discontinued, and what was the date of any of their warrants we can
not learn from the List, which gives only the numbers and places
and times of meeting. (1)

The 8th Pennsylvania lodge in Downes's List is marked as


(1) In an article on "Military Lodges," published by Bro. Gould in
the "Freemasons' Chronicle," and copied into the "Keystone" (July
31, 1880), he finds after much research, much difficulty in
"disentangling the history of Lodge number 18." The only
explanation at all satisfactory, and that nose altogether so, is
the one given in the text.


number 18, British 17th Regiment of Foot." The coincidence here
apparent would indicate that this was the same lodge as that marked
in Downes's, Harper's, and Gould's list of military lodges
warranted by the Atholl Grand Lodge of England. By what process it
changed its obedience from its Mother Grand Lodge to the Grand
Lodge of Pennsylvania, Downes does not inform us.

We have an authentic record that in 1767 there had been and was a
military lodge in an Irish regiment stationed at Philadelphia.

The records of Lodge number 3, which have been copied in the Early
History and Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, (1)
contained the following item:

"Dec. 9, 1767. The majority of (the) Body was of opinion that it
would not be proper to admit Bro. Hoodless a member of this or to
enter, pass, or raise any person belonging to the army, in this
lodge, as there is a lawfull warranted Body of good and able Masons
in the Royal Irish regiment." (2)

So much for the military lodge which is said to have introduced
Royal Arch Masonry into the American Colonies, and through whose
instrumentality the degree was first conferred in Lodge number 3.

Our next inquiry must be directed to the character and position of
this lodge, which, without rhetorical exaggeration, may be well
called the Mother of Royal Arch Masonry in America.

The Lists of the Atholl lodges show that the Grand Lodge of the
Ancients granted a Warrant for a lodge at Philadelphia in the year
1758. On the Pennsylvania roll this lodge was known as number 2,
but in Gould's List it is marked as "No. 69, Philadelphia, 7 June
1758." On June 13, 1761, the Grand Lodge of Ancients granted a
Warrant for another lodge, which Gould records as is 89, number 1
Philadelphia." This Warrant was, however, lost. and another one was
issued on June 20, 1764.

It is from the date of this Warrant that the organization of the
Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is reckoned.

Why the lodge warranted in 1758 should be designated as number 2,
while that warranted three years afterward should be designated


(1) Compiled and published by authority of the Grand Lodge, 1777.
(2) "Early History," etc.,p. 11. The "Royal Irish Regiment"
afterward became the 8th on the Muster roll of the British army.
see Debrett's "British Imperial Calendar for 1819," p. 137


as number 1, can be accounted for in only one way. There was most
probably a deputation accompanying the Warrant for number 2, which
deputation must have organized a Provincial Grand Lodge which took
the number 1. The Ahiman Rezon of Pennsylvanza, for 1825, referring
to Lodge number 2, says that "the patents to Provincial Grand
Masters were usually in force for one year, at the expiration of
which, if a Grand Lodge was formed, it elected its Grand Master,
Wardens, Secretary and Treasurer. . . If no Grand Lodge was
constituted upon a patent, it expired, and another patent was
issued as occasion required." (1)

The writer then concludes that "it is probable that no Grand Lodge
had been organized upon the first patent issued for Pennsylvania
since a second was issued on June 20, 1764, by the Grand Lodge of
England to William Ball, Esqr., and others authorizing them to form
and hold a Grand Lodge for the then province." (2)

This conjecture is very plausible. The deputation which accompanied
the Warrant for number 69 in Philadelphia may have been intended
for a Provincial body, which was not, however, completely
organized, but which nevertheless took the number 1, while the
lodge which on the registry of the Atholl Grand Lodge of England
bore the number 69 was changed on the Pennsylvania roll to number
2. The Provincial deputation which had been appointed in 1758 not
having completely fulfilled its functions by the permanent
establishment of a Provincial Grand Lodge, another Warrant for that
purpose was issued in 1761, and that having been lost on the way,
a second was issued in 1764, and the Provincial Grand Lodge was
formed. In fact this must have been merely a continuation of the
first lodge or deputation, and the Lodge number 69, which had been
originally transmuted into number 2, retained that number, and,
excepting the Provincial Grand Lodge, we find no number 1 on the
registry of Pennsylvania.

But though this deputation of 1758 did not formally and permanently
organize a Provincial Grand Lodge, or if it did, has left no record
of the transaction, it performed the functions of one by warranting
another lodge, which received the number 3.

Of this fact we have the following evidence. When the Grand Lodge
of Ancients granted its warrant for a lodge in 1758, no further


(1) "Ahiman Rezon of Pennsylvania," for 1825, p. 67. 
(2) Ibid., p. 68.


notice of Pennsylvania was taken by it until it granted the Warrant
numbered 89 on its register in 1761, which being lost was replaced
by another of the same tenor issued in 1764, and which Gould calls
number 1, at Philadelphia.

Between 1758 and 1764 it granted no more Warrants for the
establishment of lodges in Pennsylvania, nor did it ever afterward
do so. With the exception of the Warrant issued at first in 1761
and renewed or rather replaced in 1764, Freemasonry in Pennsylvania
appears, from the year 1758, to have been controlled solely by some
authority within the Province, and from that authority Lodge number
3 must have received its Warrant.

The first act of the Provincial Deputation, or Provincial Grand
Lodge, or whatever may have been the character and designation of
the authority existing in Philadelphia in the year 1758 was to
grant a Warrant for the establishment of another lodge as number 3.

There is no record extant of this Warrant but the author of the
Early History of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania says that in Lodge
number 3 of Philadelphia by tradition dates its warrant about the
same time as number 2." (1)

This Lodge number 3 is the one which in 1758, with the concurrence
and under the instruction of the military lodge in the 17th Royal
Irish Regiment, introduced the Royal Arch degree into Pennsylvania
and worked it, as all "Ancient" lodges at that time did, under the
authority of its Master's Warrant.

The absence of the records of early Freemasonry in Pennsylvania,
which were lost or destroyed during the revolution, forces us to
trust, more than is desirable in writing history, to conclusions
mainly based on conjectures; but the conjectures are reasonable,
sustained by the strongest evidence and entirely consistent with
facts derived from the very few authentic documents that remain.

We are told in the Pennsylvania Ahiman Rezon that other Chapters
were afterward established "upon like principles." That is, they
were established under the shadow of Master's Warrants.

The writer of the Historical View of Masonry, contained in the 1825
edition of the Pennsylvania Ahiman Rezon, tells the story of the
further progress of Royal Arch Masonry in that State in the
following words:


(1) "Early History and Constitution of the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania." p. 35


"In November, 1795, an irregular attempt was made, at the instance
of one Molan, to introduce innovations in the Arch degree and to
form an independent Grand Royal Arch Chapter, under the Warrants of
numbers 19, 52, and 67, held in the city of Philadelphia, and a
lodge constituted by authority of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, and
another holding under the Grand Lodge of Georgia. Chapter number 3
instituted an enquiry into these proceedings, which they declared,
after investigation, to be contrary to the established uniformity
of the Craft. The Grand Lodge, upon complaint made, unhesitatingly
suspended the Warrants of numbers 19, 52, and 67, and having
received the report of the committee raised for that purpose,
resolved that Molan ought not to be received as a mason by the
lodges or brethren under its jurisdiction. The offending lodges, by
the mild and firm course of the Grand Lodges were convinced of
their errors, and were received into favora having their Warrants
restored to them.

"Throughout this controversy, the Grand Lodge acknowledged the
right of all regular warranted lodges, so far as they have ability
and number, to make masons in the higher degrees, but lest
differences might exist, or innovations be attempted in such higher
degrees, which for want of some proper place to appeal, might
create schism among the brethren, they resolved that a Grand Royal
Arch Chapter should be opened, under the immediate sanction of the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania; and that all past and present officers
of the Grand Lodge, having duly obtained the degree of Royal Arch,
and all past and existing officers of Chapters of Royal Arch
masons, duly and regularly convened under the sanction of a warrant
from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, to be considered as members
of the Grand Rowral Arch Chapter; and that all members of the
regular Chapters shall be admitted to their meetings, but without
the right to vote or speak therein, unless requested." (1)

It has, from this record, been maintained that this was the first
Grand Chapter established in America, and that Webb was mistaken in
giving the priority to that organized at Hartford in 1798.

But the truth is that the Grand Chapter established at Philadelphia
in 1795 was not a Grand Chapter in the sense attached to such


(1) "Ahiman Rezon of Pennsylvania," edition of 1825, p. 79.


a body by those who organized at Hartford the Grand Chapter of the
Northern States.

The Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania was merely an instrument of the
Grand Lodge. That body alone could grant permission to hold a
Chapter, and no Chapter could be held unless with the sanccion of
the Warrant of a lodge, and it was expresslydeclared that the Grand
Chapter was to be opened "under the immediate sanction of the Grand
Lodge."

Now all these prmcipies oil dependence were repudiated by Welbb and
his associates. They expressly declared in the very outset of their
labors of organization - no matter whether the statement was
historically accurate or not - that no Grand Lodge could "claim or
exercise authority over any convention or Chapter of Royal Arch
masons." In the first constitution which they formed they placed
Chapters exclusively under the control of Grand Chapters, and by
implication abolished all authority of Grand Lodges over them and
at the same time denied the right of any Chapter to work under the
Warrant of a Master's lodge.

This system has ever since prevailed in the United States. It was
subsequently adopted by the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania itself.

The Grand Chapter established at Philadelphia in 1795 was only an
organization for the more convenient administration of Royal Arch
Masonry in the bosom and under the superintendence of the Grand
Lodge.

The Grand Chapter established in 1798 at Hartford was, as has been
shown, of a very different construction, and based on very
different principles of Masonic law.

To the Grand Chapter formed at Hartford in 1798 must therefore in
all fairness Ibe given the precedency of date as being the first
independent Grand Chapter established in the United States - indeed
we may say it was the first in the world, as the Grand Chapters
previously established in England were like that of Pennsylvania,
dependent instruments of the Grand Lodge.

The credit, however, must be given to Philadelphia of having
introduced Royal Arch Masonry into the British Colonies. We have no
record of the establishment of a Chapter in any other of the
Provinces before the year 1758, at which time, as we have seen, the
degree was conferred in a Chapter attached to Lodge number 3 .


But during the succeeding years of the 18th century the degree,
under various modifications, was introduced into other States,
principally by Atholl, or as they were pleased most incorrectly to
style themselves, "Ancient York Masons."

The original system inaugurated by the "Ancients" was strictly
followed, and as Thomas Smith Webb, the founder of the American
system, has said, during all that period "a competent number of
companions, possessed of sufficient abilities, under the sanction
of a Master's Warrant, proceeded to exercise the rights and
privileges of Royal Arch Chapters, whenever they thought it
expedient and proper, although in most cases the approbation of a
neighboring Chapter was deemed useful if not proper."  (1)

The degree practiced was that of the Grand Lodge of Ancients from
whom it was derived. Virginia was, however, an exception. Whether
the English Royal Arch was worked in the early period of
Freemasonry in that State is not known. Dr. Dove, the author of the
Virginia Text Book of Royal Arch Masonry, our best authority on the
subject, does not inform us.

Joseph Myers was one of the deputies of M. M. Hayes, who had, under
the authority of Stephen Morin, been engaged in the dissemination
of the twenty-five degrees of the Rite of Perfection, which was
afterward developed into the Ancient and Accepted Rite of thirty-
three degrees.

Soon after 1783 Myers removed to Richmond, Va., where, says Bro.
Dove, he imparted the degrees of the Rite Ecossats to many Master
Masons. (2)

Among these degrees was the Arch of Enoch, which was really
Ramsay's Royal Arch. This degree, Dove says, was taught in Virginia
until the year 1820, when it was abandoned and Webb's degree, which
was the modification of the English system, and which is novn
universally practiced in the United States, was adopted.

During the latter part of the 18th century several Chapters were
organized in Virginia, each of which worked under the authority of
Master's Warrant. Such were the Chapters at Norfolk, Richmond,
Staunton, and Dumfries. In the year 1808 the first three united in
the organization of a "Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter," which
immediately assumed jurisdiction over the degree in the State.


(1) "Freemason's Monitor," p. 155. 
(2) "Virginia Text Book," p. 91.


The Royal Arch degree was introduced into New York not long after
its introduction into Pennsylvania, and most probably by some of
the English military lodges, many of which were at that time in the
Province. (1)

Independent Royal Arch Lodge was warranted in December, 1760. Bro.
John G. Barker, the author of the Early History of Masonry in New
York, says "that the history of this lodge, prior to the year 1784,
is involved in obscurity, as is also the derivation of its name."
(2)

But it is evident that the peculiarity of the name refers to the
fact of its having been engaged in working the Royal Arch degree.
I do not therefore hesitate to place, conjecturally, the
introduction of that degree into the Province at a time
contemporaneous with the organization of the lodge.

From New York, Royal Arch Masonry extended into other Northern
Provinces, and independent Chapters were established which
eventually gave birth to the General Grand Chapter.

Chapters were successively formed in different parts of the
Province, each acting under the authority of a Master's Warrant.
One of the most important of these was Washington Chapter in the
City of New York, which, as it will hereafter appear, granted
Warrants for the establishment of other Chapters.

In 1798 a Deputy Grand Chapter was formed under the newly adopted
constitution of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern
States, and when in 1799 that body changed its title to that of the
General Grand Chapter," the Deputy Grand Chapter of New York
assumed rank and name as a " Grand Chapter."

In the Province of Massachusetts, Royal Arch Masonry was introduced
about the year 1769, probably a year or two later.

In that year the Grand Lodge of Scotland granted a Warrant for a
lodge under the title of "St. Andrew's Lodge number 82." In the
same year, if we may credit the statement of Bro. C. W. Moore, (3)
"the degree was conferred in Boston in a "Royal Arch


(1) Of the nine lodges engaged in 1782 in the organization of the
Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, six were military lodges,
attached to different regiments in the British Army.
(2) "Early History and Transactions of the Grand Lodge of the State
of New York," published by Kane Lodge, 1876, p. 17.
(3) "Freemasons' Monthly Magazine," vol. xii., p. 165.


Lodge," which he "thinks" was attached to St. Andrew's Lodge
Subsequent researches have removed all uncertainty on that point.

There is no positive information as to the original source whence
the ritual of the degree as it was practiced by the St. Andrew's
Chapter was derived. Its introduction has been attributed to Moses
Michael Hayes, who is said to have introduced it from France, under
the authority of a patent dated December 6, 1778. This statement
Bro. Moore declares to be not true, (1) and his close official
connection for a long series of years with the Masonry of
Massachusetts, certainly makes him a competent judge.

But besides Hayes was one of the Inspectors appointed by Stephen
Morin for the propagation of the Rite of Perfection which
subsequently became the Ancient and Accepted Rite, and if the
degree had been instituted by him, it would have assumed, which it
did not, the form of Ramsay's Royal Arch, or the thirteenth degree
of that Rite, as it did in Virginia, where Royal Arch Masonry was
introduced by Myers, who was one of the collaborators of Hayes.

But according to Moore, the degrees conferred by the St. Andrew's
Chapter corresponded in number and name with the degrees which were
then conferred in Scotland, and hence he asserts with great
plausibility that the system was brought over from Scotland,
perhaps at the same time that the Warrant for St. Andrew's Lodge
was issued.

The degree had no rapid growth in Massachusetts. In 1798 there were
but two Chapters in the State. St. Andrew's at Boston, and King
Cyrus's at Newburyport. These two united to form a Deputy Grand
Chapter, and in 1799 became the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts,
under the new Constitution of the General Grand Chapter.

The history of the introduction of Royal Arch Masonry into Rhode
Island presents some interesting facts in reference to the degrees
which were at that time conferred preparatory to the Royal Arch.
(2)

In the year 1793 a number of the members of St. John's Lodge number
1, in the city of Providence, met to consult upon the proper


(1) "Freemasons' Monthly Magazine," vol. xii., p. 165.
(2) The facts stated in this narrative are derived from the Records
of St. John's Lodge, extracts from which were published in "The
Warden," a Masonic magazine, printed at Providence, No. IV.,
September, 1879, p. 23 et seq.


steps to be taken for the establishment of a Royal Arch Chapter,
after consulting with those brethren who were already in possession
of the degree.

An agent was accordingly sent to New York, who, on October 5, 1793,
returned with a Dispensation issued by Washington Chapter in the
city of New York.

Though called in the official records a Dispensation, the words of
the instrument show that it was really a Warrant of Constitution.
Its date is September 3, 1793.

The brethren proceeded under this Warrant to organize Providence
Chapter number 2. This was done on November 23, 1793, with the
assistance of certain Royal Arch Masons who had been invited from
Newport, and who were members of a Chapter.

As we learn from the records of this Chapter, the essential
officers were, a High Priest, King, Scribe, Royal Arch Captain, and
Zerubbabel, the latter officer evidently being the one now known as
Principal Sojourner. The fact that an inferior office was
attributed to Zerubbabel instead of the more exalted station of
King, as is now the case, shows that the ritual used in New York
and in Rhode Island was different from the present one.

Such a position for the "Prince of the Captivity" is more
conformable to the ritual of the Sixteenth degree or Prince of
Jerusalem, in the Rite of Perfection which afterward became the
Scottish Rite, but altogether incompatible with the functions
ascribed to him in the Royal Arch of the present day.

This circumstance would indicate that there is some foundation for
the hypothesis that in its early introduction into the American
Colonies, Royal Arch Masonry was to a considerable extent affected
by the rituals of the Hautes Grades or High Degrees, which were
brought over from France in 1761 by Stephen Morin as the Agent of
the "Deputies General of the Royal Art," for the purpose of
"multiplying the sublime degrees of High Perfection."  (1)

Morin appointed his Deputies, who spread over the West India
islands and the continent of North America, and there isvery strong
evidence that they or some of them exercised an influence in the
organization of Royal Arch Masonry in several parts of the country.
Charters for Mark Lodges were originally issued by Grand Councils


(1) The language of the Patent issued to Morin.


of the Prince of Jerusalem. The Select degree was one of the
honorary degrees conferred by the Inspectors - we have seen that
Myers, one of Morin's Inspectors, organized the Royal Arch Masonry
of Virginia according to the ritual of the Thirteenth degree -
Moses Michael Hayes, who was also an Inspector of the new Rite, was
at one time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and
as he was a very zealous Mason and a very energetic officer, it can
scarcely be doubted that he exercised an influential connection
with St. Andrew's Chapter, the first Chapter established in that
State - and finally we have a significant fact stated in the
records of the organization of the chapter at Providence, which
shows the intimate relation which existed at that time between the
Royal Arch Masons who founded the Chapter and certain possessors of
the High Degrees imported into this country by the deputies and
agents of Stephen Morin.

When the Dispensation or Warrant had been issued by Washington
Chapter for the holding of a Chapter at Providence, the brethren to
whom it had been granted, feeling perhaps incompetents from their
want of skill and experience to undertake unaided the task of
organization, invited the assistance of the Royal Arch Masons who
resided at Newport to give their assistance in the ceremony. The
invitation having been accepted, the lodge met on Tuesday evening,
October 29th. But "unavoidable necessity having prevented the
attendance of the brethren from Newport, the brethren who had met,
agreed to postpone any further meeting until they should arrive."
Nearly a month passed before any further steps were taken toward
the organization, and it was not until November 23d that the
Newport Royal Arch Masons having then made their appearance, the
organization was completed.

The evidence of the connection of these Newport brethren with the
"High Degrees" is to be found in the following extract from the
record of the proceedings:

"Our worthy and respectable Brethren from Newport, viz.: R. W.
Moses Seixas, 45th Degree or Deputy Inspector General of Masonry in
and thro'out the State, and Master of St. John's Lodge number 1, in
Newport, the W. Peleg Clark 28th Degree or Knight of the Sun, and
Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge in this State, and the Hon. Thomas
W. Moore 28th Degree or Knight of the Sun and Consul of his
Britannic Majesty in this State, having this Day cheerfully
attended at the Council chamber in this Town, agreeably to
invitation, for the express Purpose of assisting in the Formation
of a Royal Arch Chapter, the Brethren of the Royal Arch here, with
the brethren aforesaid and our worthy Brother, Samuel Stearns, 7th
Degree, R. A. (who also attended by Invitation), proceeded
agreeably to the Directions in that case provided to open and
consecrate a Royal Arch Chapter, by the name of 'Providence Chapter
of Royal Arch Masons' under the Dispensation from the M. W.
Washington Chapter of R A. Masons of New York, etc." (1)

The figure "45 " is evidently either an error of the pen in the
manuscript record or of the press in the printed copy in The
Warden. It should be " 43." In David Vinton's Short Historical
Account of Masonry appended to his Masonic Minstrel, which was
published at Dedham, in Massachusetts, in the year 1816, will be
found a list of the degrees said to be conferred in Charleston, New
York, and Newport. The number is 43, and the last, or 43d, is
Sovereign Grand Inspector-General. The number is made up by adding
to the thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite ten others,
embracing the degrees of the American Rite and several Orders of
Knighthood. In this enumeration the Knight of the Sun is made the
38th, and therefore I suppose that the number "28" prefixed to that
degree in the extract above quoted is also an error. This
enumeration of 43 degrees was never accepted nor used by the
legitimate bodies of the Scottish Rite, but only by some spurious
associations which then existed. Newport was the locality of one of
these associations, and Moses Seixas was its chief. This does not,
however, affect the truth of the statement that the possessors of
the "High Degrees," whether legally or illegally obtained, sought,
in the infancy of Royal Arch Masonry in this country, to take a
part in its institution and in giving complexion to its ritual.

There is another record in these minutes of the proceedings of
Providence Chapter which is of far greater importance, as it shows,
officially, the number, names, and sequence of the degrees which in
the year 1793 and for some time before were considered
asessentially preliminary to the reception of the Royal Arch.

At the meeting on October 5, 1793, when the Dispensation was


(1) Proceedings of Providence Chapter, published in " The Warden,"
No. iv., p. 24.


received from New York, we find the following proceedings recorded:

"Our M.W. having suggested that in order to confer the R A. Degree
it would be necessary that the Brethren who were Candidates for the
same should previously be initiated in Three Degrees which were
between that of Master Mason and the R A., and to accomplish the
business as soon as possible, proposed the immediate opening of a
lodge for that purpose, which was done accordingly.

"Present, M. W. DANIEL STILLWELL, M.
W. JONA. DONNISON, S. W. 
W. JACOB SMITH, J. W. 
BR. WILLIAM MAGEE.

"And the Brethren whose names here follow after due preparation
were regularly initiated in the degrees of Master lWark, Past
Master, and Most Excellent Master."

This record conclusively proves that Thomas Smith Webb was not the
inventor of the Mark and Most Excellent degrees, an opinion that
has been entertained by several Masonic writers Webb was not
initiated into the symbolic degrees until about the year 1792;
certainly not before, for having been born in October, 1771, he was
not qualified by age to receive those degrees at an earlier period.
The Royal Arch degree he of course obtained at a still later date,
and it is certain that in October, 1793, he could not have been
competent by skill or experience to invent a ritual, nor could he
have had influence enough to establish it.

All that can justly be ascribed to him is that in 1798, and in the
subsequent years in which he was engaged in teaching a ritual, he
modified the degrees of the Chapter, as well as those of the lodge,
so as to give them that permanent form which they have ever since
retained.

But though it appears very satisfactorily from this record that
about the year 1793 the system of degrees given in a Royal Arch
Chapter was well settled in the Northern States, at least in New
York and in New England, yet in other parts of the United States
and in Canada there remained for a long time, even to the early
years of the 19th century, a great diversity in the names and
number of the preparatory degrees.

In Philadelphia, where Royal Arch Masonry made its first
appearance, having been derived from England through a military
lodge, warranted by the Ancient Masons, the system pursued by the
Atholl Grand Lodge appears to have adopted, and the Royal Arch
immediately followed the Master's degree. Such was the case in
Royal Arch Lodge number 3, whose minutes, as far back as 1767, have
been preserved. (1)

This lodge was so styled because it conferred the Royal Arch degree
as well as the three symbolic degrees. In its minutes, so far as
they have been published, we shall find no allusion to any
preparatory steps. Indeed, the only reference to the degree in the
earlier minutes is on December 3, 1767, when the important
admission is made that the initiation into the symbolic degrees of
a candidate who had been Entered, Passed, and Raised by three Royal
Arch Masons acting without a Warrant was lawful. (2) There is no
evidence elsewhere, either in England or America, that this
prerogative was ever claimed or admitted for the possessors of the
Royal Arch degree.

It was, however, from the earliest period made the qualification of
the Royal Arch degree that the candidate should have passed the
chair either by election or by a dispensation from the Grand
Master.

We learn from the minutes of Jerusalem Chapter number 3 that in
1783 the Royal Arch as given in Pennsylvania differed so much from
that conferred in Scotland that Bro. George Read, coming from the
latter country, where he had been made a Royal Arch Mason, "not
being able to make himself known in some of the most interesting
points, he was (in consequence of his certificate) granted the
privilege of a second initiation." Bro. Charles E. Meyer, when
quoting this extract from the Minutes, in his History of Royal Arch
Masonry and of Jerusalem Chapter number 3, as a proof that the
rituals of Scotland and Pennsylvania were not alike, says: "It
would be interesting to know what these points were that Bro. Read
did not possess."

(1) "See Early History and Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania," Part 1., p. 11.
(2) "It appearing by good authority that Bro. John Hoodless has
been duly and lawsfully entered, passed and raised at Fort Pitt in
the year 1759 by our brethren, John Maine, James Woodward and
Richard Sully, all Royal Arch Masons." Minutes of Royal Arch Lodge,
No. 3.


I think it very probable that there was a difference in the rituals
of the two countries at that time, as there is at the present day.
But the proof of it from this record is not positive, since the
question may very naturally arise, whether the difficulty in this
case arose from the difference of ritual or from the ignorance or
forgetfulness of the candidate, who had possibly not retained in
full the lesson which he had been taught.

In May, 1795, we have the first record of the adoption of the Mark
as a preparatory degree, though Bro. Myers thinks it was doubtless
previously conferred as a side degree.

The first record of the Most Excellent Master's degree in the
minutes of Jerusalem Chapters is on November 5, 1796, and from that
time the three preparatory degrees have been conferred in
Pennsylvania as they are in the other States.

In Virginia, the Royal Arch was introduced as we have already seen
by Myers, and was not the degree practiced either by the Ancient
Masons of England or by the Chapters of this country. It was the
Thirteenth degree or Royal Arch of Solomon, contained in the series
of degrees of the Rite of Perfection. Dislocated from its proper
place in the original Rite to which it belonged, it was made to
follow the Third degree, without the interpolation of any
preparatory step.

Subsequently the Virginia Chapters introduced preliminary degrees,
derived from other sources. In the minutes of the Grand Chapter, as
late as 1808, we find references to the degrees of "Most Excellent
Master," and of "Arch and Royal Arch Excellent and Super-Excellent
Masons."  (1)

In Connecticut all the Chapters except one had derived their
Warrants from Washington Chapter of New York, and necessarily
adopted the system of degrees which was practiced by it and by the
Chapters which it established. These degrees, as we have already
seen in the instance of Providence Chapter in Rhode Island, were
the Master Mark, Past and Most Excellent Master as preliminary to
the Royal Arch. (2)


(1) Dove, " Royal Arch Text Book," p. 132.
(2) There was not, however, absolute uniformity. According to
Wheeler ("Records of Capitular Masonry in Connecticut," p. 21), the
minutes of Solomon Chapter No. 5 at Derby contain no notice of the
Past Master's degree until January, 1796, and the Mark and Most
Excellent Master are not mentioned until a later period.


But in Vanden Broeck Chapter, at Colchester, which was warranted in
1796 by the Grand Chapter of New York, the names and sequence of
the preparatory degrees was as follows: Mark Master, Excellent
Master, and Super-Excellent Master. In 1800 it conformed to the
system which has been established by the General Grand Chapter.
Excellent Master was exchanged for Past Master, and Super-Excellent
for Most Excellent. (1) It is probable that the change was rather
in the nomenclature than in the ritual.

We have already seen that the names and ranks of the officers of
Chapters in the 18th century differed from those now used. For
instance, Zerubbabel, who now occupies one of the prominent places
in our modern ritual, was formerly placed at the bottom of the
list.

The by-laws of Hiram Chapter, at Newtown, which were adopted March
3, 1792, give the following succinct account of the duties of these
officers, and throw considerable light upon the ritualistic history
of the time:

"It shall be the duty of the High Priest to preside at every
meeting, to direct the business and to give occasionally a lecture;
of the King to preside in the absence of the High Priest, and to
assist him in his duty; of the Scribe, to preside in the absence of
both, to cause the Secretary to enter in a fair and regular manner
the proceedings of the Chapter in a book provided for that purpose,
to summons the members for attendance at every regular and special
meeting and also to administer the obligation; of Zerubbabel, to
superintend the arrangements of the Chapter; of the Royal Arch
Captain, to keep watch at the Sanctuary; of the three Grand
Masters, to watch the vails; of the Treasurer, to receive the
monies, to keep an account thereof and to pay none but on the
warrant of the High Priest, and to render an account at the meeting
previous to the annual election; of the Secretary, to keep the
minutes under the direction of the Scribe, to receive the fees for
admission, and to pay the same to the Treasurer; of the Clothier,
to provide and to take care of the clothing; of the Architect, to
provide and take care of the furniture." (2)

The Royal Arch was probably introduced into many of the Southern
States, as it had been into the Northern, either by possessors of
the degree coming direct from England, or by military

(1) "Records of Capitular Masonry in Connecticut," p. 24. 
(2) By-laws of Hiram Chapter, Article VIII. See Wheeler's "Early
Records." D. 10.


lodges in the British army, and which held their Warrants from the
Grand Lodge of the Ancients.

Chapters were, however, not organized as independent bodies, but
the degree was, until some time after the beginning of the 19th
century, conferred both in South Carolina and Georgia, and, I
think, also in North Carolina, (1) in Chapters dependent on and
deriving their authority from Master's Warrants.

Many years ago, while investigating the history of Royal Arch
Masonry in South Carolina, I was led to make the following
statements, the correctness of which I have since had no reason to
doubt. (2)

I have in years past made the acquaintance of several Royal Arch
Masons in the upper part of South Carolina, who had received their
degrees in Master's lodges. The long period which had elapsed since
their withdrawal from the active pursuits of Freemasonry, and the
imperfection of memory attendant on their extreme age, prevented
them from furnishing me with all the particular information in
reference to the ritual which I desired, but I learned enough from
my frequent conversations with these Patriarchs of the Order (all
of whom must long since have succeeded to their heritage in the
Celestial Lodge) to enable me to state, positively, that in the
upper counties of the State, at as late a period as the year 1813,
the Royal Arch degree was conferred in Master's lodges. The same
condition of things existed in the neighboring State of Georgia.

The manuscript Minutes of Royal Arch Chapter number 1, under the
sanction of Forsyth's Lodge number 14," are now, or were, some
years ago, on the Archives of the Grand Chapter of Georgia. For an
examination of these interesting records I was indebted to the
kindness of the Grand Secretary, Comp. B. B. Russell.

The Chapter met in the City of Augusta, and the Minutes, to which
I shall have occasion again to refer, are restricted to the year
1796.

These records state that the chapter at Savannah, having announced
its intention to apply to the Grand Lodge of Georgia for


(1) The first warrant for an independent chapter in North Carolina
was granted in 1808 by the Grand Chapter of Virginia to "sundry
Royal Arch Masons" in Bertie County. But the petition was
recommended by the Lodge at Windsor, and by the Master of the Lodge
at Winston. The Royal Arch Masons who signed the petition had, it
is to be supposed, previously received the degree in these Lodges.
Dove, "Royal Arch Text Book," p. 122.
(2) Mackey's "History of Freemasonry in South Carolina," 1861, p.
471.


a dispensation or warrant, a letter was written to the brethren at
Savannah by the chapter at Augusta on May 27, 1796, in which the
following declaration appears:

"If there is any rule or by-law that requires a Royal Arch Chapter
to apply for a special dispensation or Warrant, it is unknown to
us. We conceive that the Warrant given to Forsyth's Lodge was
sufficient for the members thereof to confer any degree in Masonry
agreeable to the ancient usages and customs." (1)

The same usage was pursued at the same time in South Carolina,
where, as has been previously stated, Orange Lodge number 14 in
1796 adopted a resolution to "sanction the opening of a Royal Arch
Chapter under its jurisdiction, and again in January, 1803,
resolved "that the privilege of the Warrant of this lodge be
granted for the use of the Royal Arch Chapter of Charleston." (2)

That this usage was not confined to the Atholl lodges is seen from
the fact that while Orange Lodge in South Carolina was a lodge of
"Ancient Masons," all the lodges in Georgia were "Moderns," the
Atholl Grand Lodge of England never having extended its
jurisdiction over that State nor organized any lodges in it.

The first Chapters in these States, under the constitution of the
General Grand Chapter, were established in 1805 at Beaufort in
South Carolina and at Savannah in Georgia.

The Grand Chapter of the former State was formed in 1812; that of
the latter in 1816.

But reverting to the subject of the early ritual of Royal Arch
Masonry and to the differences which prevailed toward the end of
the 18th century in the names and character of the degrees, we
shall meet with some interesting information in these Minutes of
the Royal Arch Chapter at Augusta.

The business of electing candidates for the Royal Arch having been
accomplished in an informal meeting of Royal Arch Masons. a Master
Mason lodge was opened, when, the qualification for exal tation
being to "pass the chair," they were made what are now called
"Virtual Past Masters."

We find this in the records of the first meeting of the Chapter of
which the following is an exact transcript made by me from the
original manuscript.


(1) "MS. Minutes of Forsyth's Royal Arch Chapter."
(2) "Historical Sketch" appended to By-laws of Orange Lodge, p. 4


"At a meeting of the subscribers, Royal Arch Masons at Forsyth's
Lodge room the 29th February, 1796.

"Read a petition from Brothers Joseph Hutchinson, William Dearmond,
and John McGowan, Master Masons of Forsyth's Lodge, praying to
become Royal Arch companions; and the same being agreed to, a
Master's lodge was then opened.

"Present: Thomas Bray, Master; Thomas Davis, S.W.; D.B. Butler, J.
W.; Joseph Hutchinson, Tyler; William Dearmond, John McGowan.

"Brothers Hutchinson, Dearmond, and McGowan were regularly passed
the chair and obtained the degree of Past Master, and returned
thanks for the same. The lodge was closed.

"A Royal Arch Chapter was then opened in ancient form.

"Present: Thomas Bray, H. P.; Thomas Davis, C.S.; D.B. Butler, K.

"Bro. Hutchinson (attending) received the preparatory degree; also
Brothers Past Masters Dearmond and McGowan. They were then in
rotation raised to the super-excellent degree of Royal Arch Masons,
and returned thanks for the same."

Subsequent minutes are of the same character, except that the
election of the candidates took place in a Master's lodge and not
as in the first in an informal meeting of Royal Arch Masons. But,
of course, we are to suppose that all the Master Masons present
were not only Past Masters but also Royal Arch Masons.

But what were the preparatory degrees? That question is answered by
the Minutes of November 29, 1796 these degrees are for the first
time given. The record is as follows:

"At an extra meeting of Forsyth's Lodge, convened by the order of
the W. M. and held at the court-house on Tuesday 29 November, 1796.

"Present: Thomas Bray, Master; Thomas Davis, S.W.; William
Dearmond, J. W. pro tem.

"A Master's Mark lodge was opened for the purpose of conferring the
degrees of Fellow-Craft Mark and Master Mark on Brothers John
McGowan, Lawrence Trotti, and John B. Wilkinson, when they,
attending, received the same and returned thanks to the lodge;
which was then closed. A Past Master's lodge was then opened.

"Present: Thomas Bray, M.; Thomas Davis, S.W.; William Dearmond, J.
W. pro tem., John McGowan.

"The lodge was opened for the purpose of conferring the degree of
Past Master on Brothers Lawrence Trotti and John B. Wilkinson,
when, they attending, were regularly passed the chair and obtained
the degree of Past Master, and gave thanks for the same. The lodge
was then closed in ancient form. The Royal Arch Chapter was then
opened.

"Present: Thomas Bray, H. P.; Thomas Davis, C. S.; John McGowan,
K.; William Dearmond, R. A. C.

"The minutes of the last Chapter were read. The M. E. H. P.
informed the companions present that the Chapter was called for the
purpose of conferring the Super-excellent degree on Brothers
Lawrence Trotti and John B. Wilkinson, who were then attending.
Bro. Trotti was then duly prepared and received the preparatory
degree of R. M. and R. A., also Brother Wilkinson. They were then
raised to the super-excellent degree of Royal Arch Mason, and
returned thanks. The Chapter was then closed by order of the M. E.
H. P."

These records supply us with several interesting and important
facts relating to the ritual and the organization of Royal Arch
Masonry in America about the close of the 18th century.

The Chapter degrees were then, as has been already shown from other
sources, conferred under the sanction of the Warrant of a Master's
lodge, but the body in which the Royal Arch degree was given was
called a Chapter.

Nine Royal Arch Masons were not then deemed necessary to the
opening of a Chapter or the conferring of the degree.

The only officers mentioned are a High-Priest, Chief Scribe, King,
Royal Arch Captain, Treasurer and Secretary, and the Scribe appears
to have taken precedence of the King. The officer called
"Zerubbabel" in the Northern Chapters, is not mentioned in the
Southern. In the latter it is probable that the same officer was
called the "Royal Arch." The Royal Arch Captain could not have
supplied his place, for both officers are recorded in the Minutes
of the Providence Chapter in Rhode Island. The absence of an
officer called "Zerubbabel" in the Southern Chapters, while it is
found in all Northern ones, would evidently indicate some
difference in the rituals of the two sections of the country. It is
also significant on this point, that in the records of the Chapters
at Augusta, no mention is made of the three Grand Masters of the
Vails. They are included in the list of officers of all the
Chapters in Connecticut which derived their Warrants and, we may
suppose, their rituals from the Washington Chapter in New York.

It was always deemed an indispensable qualification for the
reception of the Royal Arch degree that the candidate should be a
Past Master. This practice, established in England at the origin of
the degree, was followed by all the Chapters in America. As the
restriction of the degree to those only who had presided for twelve
months over a Symbolic lodge and thus become "Actual Past Masters"
would have circumscribed the number of candidates within a very
narrow and inconvenient limit, the ceremony of passing the chair
was invented, by which the candidate became a "Virtual Past
Master." This usage, which was the real origin of what is now
called the Past Master's degree, was adopted by all the American
Chapters, and thus the earliest records of the Augusta Chapter show
that each person before being raised to the degree of Royal Arch
was made to "pass the chair."

At first, as is shown by the minutes of February 29, 1796, the
ceremony was performed in a Master's lodge. The same usage was
observed at several subsequent meetings, but on December 26, 1796,
for the first time it is recorded that the Master's lodge was
closed and a Past Master's was opened for the purpose of conferring
what had then become, not a mere qualification, but a preparatory
degree.

Other preparatory degrees are mentioned in the earliest Minutes,
but their names are not given until a later period. From the later
minutes we learn what these degrees were. They are recorded in the
November minutes as having the following names and being given in
the following order:

Past Master, Fellow-Craft Mark, Master Mark, R.M., and R.A. These
last two degrees are never recorded otherwise than by their
initials, but we have every reason to believe, from other
authorities, that they were Royal Master and Royal Ark, or Royal
Ark Master.

Samuel Cole, writing in 1826, says of these two degrees that "they
are considered as merely preparatory and are usually conferred
immediately before the solemn ceremony of exaltation." Cole's work
received the sanction of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, and it is
hence evident that these two degrees were at one time conferred in
the Chapters of the State. They were not known to or practiced in
the chapters of the Northern States.

It will be noticed also, as a further evidence of the want of
uniformity in the rituals of the 18th century, that the Minutes of
the Chapter at Augusta make no reference to the Most Excellent
Master's degree, which from an early period was always conferred as
a preparatory step to the Royal Arch in the Northern States.

Passing over from the United States to Canada, we shall find the
Royal Arch ritual at the close of the 18th century in another but
still confused condition.

In the year 1856 the members of Ancient Frontenac Chapter, attached
to the St. John's Lodge number 491, English Register, situated at
Kingston in Canada, published a history of the Chapter from its
organization. From this little but interesting work may be gleaned
a very satisfactory statement of the character and condition of
Royal Arch Masonry at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the
19th century.

Ancient Frontenac Chapter, which is or was the old Chapter in
Canada West, was established at Freemasons' Tavern, in the town of
Kingston, on June 7, 1797, under the sanction of a Warrant which
had been granted to Lodge number 6 on November 20, 1795, by R. W.
William Jarvis, at that time Provincial Grand Master of Canada,
under the Atholl Grand Lodge of England.

Master's lodges in Canada, as in the neighboring United States,
assumed the right to hold Chapters for conferring the Royal Arch
degree. It was a right always sanctioned by the usages of the
"Ancients" and tolerated by the "Moderns," nor ever denied until
after the organization of the General Grand Chapter at Hartford. As
late as February, 1806, at a convocation held in Kingston a charge
was preferred against a member of Frontenac Chapter of "unmasonic
conduct in striving to separate the Holy Royal Arch Chapter from
the body of number 6."

Until the year 1809, the three principal officers of the Chapter
were designated as "1, High-Priest; 2, Solomon, King of Israel; and
3, Hiram, King of Tyre." Judging by this, we must conclude that the
ritual used in Frontenac Chapter differed very materially from all
the various systems which prevailed at the time in other parts of
America.

The earliest records of the Chapter do not show any recognition of
preparatory degrees. The "Most Excellent" was first conferred on
April 17, 1807, and the "Mark" on July 20, 1818. These degrees were
not, however, even then obligatory, but appear to have been taken
or not, at the action of the candidate; and as there was an
attendant expense, few of the brethren availed themselves of the
opportunity of receiving them. The Past Master's was, however, a
prerequisite qualification toward exaltation, and, as elsewhere, it
was always conferred in the Master's lodge to which the Chapter was
attached.

Up to the end of the last century, many candidates were exalted
when only seven Royal Arch Masons were present, the mystical number
nine not being then required to constitute a quorum for conferring
the degree.

Capitular Masonry seems to have been separated in Canada from Lodge
Masonry in 1806, for on January 18th in that year a decision was
received from the Provincial Grand Master for holding a Chapter at
Kingston, which, says the pamphlet from which I have been quoting,
was "the first step towards this Chapter working under a warrant
separate from that of the Craft lodge."

On February 10, 1818, the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Upper Canada
was established, and on March 25th of the following year Frontenac
Chapter number 1 received its Charter as one of its constituents.

The extracts given in the preceding pages, from the records of
Chapters working at the close of the last and the beginning of the
present century, have been sufficient to show that there prevailed
at that time, in the different parts of the American Continent, a
very confusing variety in the ritual of the Royal Arch and in the
number of preparatory degrees, which clearly demonstrates that the
conflicting systems must have been derived from different sources.

What these sources were it is impossible to precisely say, at least
in every instance, in consequence of the unavoidable scantiness of
the records. The general drift of history leads us to believe that
among these sources were the Grand Lodge of Ancients, in England,
and at a later period the Grand Lodge of Moderns, both of whom
disseminated the degree through their military lodges, the Grand
Lodge of Scotland, or rather the Royal Arch Masons of that kingdom,
who practiced the degree without the recognition of their Grand
Lodge, and as in Virginia and the Southern States the possessors of
the "Sublime degrees," as they were called, which had been
introduced into this country from France by Stephen Morin and his
emissaries or deputies.

The result of borrowing rituals from so many different sources
inevitably led to a deplorable diversity in the ceremonies, which
led the Royal Arch Masons in some of the Northern States to attempt
the laying of a firm foundation on which a uniform system might be
established, and the constitution of a superintending authority
which should maintain that uniformity, and give to Capitular
Masonry a symmetry and shapeliness which should secure to it a
permanence and success such as had been previously given to Craft
Masonry by the ritualistic labors of Desaguliers and his associates
in the second and third decades of the 18th century.

This work of reformation and of purification, in which the dross
was rejected and the pure ore only retained, was finally
accomplished by the institution of the General Grand Chapter of the
United States, which was one of the most important events in the
Masonic history of the United States.

To this event we must therefore next direct our attention. But the
extent and interest of the subject demand a separate chapter for
its consideration.






CHAPTER L

THE GENERAL GRAND CHAPTER OF THE UNITED STATES


As the system of Royal Arch Masonry which is practiced in the
United States of America is really indebted to the organization of
the General Grand Chapter for its existence and popularity, no
history of that body could be complete without some account of the
Masonic life of Thomas Smith Webb, who was the founder of both the
system and the General Grand Chapter.

I shall therefore precede the history of the origin of the General
Grand Chapter by a brief sketch of the Masonic services of that
distinguished ritualist. (1)

Thomas Smith Webb was the son of English parents who had emigrated
to this country a few years before his birth, and settled at
Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, where he was born, on
October 13, 1771.

Having received an elementary education in the public schools, he
was bound as an apprentice to the art of printing, or perhaps of
book-binding. There is some uncertainty about this question, but
the testimony preponderates in favor of the former. It is, however,
not material as, in after life, he did not pursue either calling.

Having soon after removed to Keene, in New Hampshire, he there
married, and about the year 1792 was initiated in the primary
degrees of Freemasonry.

Subsequently he removed to Albany in New York. It is probable that
he there received the higher degrees, as we find him, while
residing there, engaged in the establishment of a Chapter of Royal
Arch Masons and a Commandery of Templars. We may also suppose


(1) In "Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry" will be found a
copious memoir of Webb, from which, as the creation of my own pen,
I have not hesitated to borrow the materials and indeed much of the
language of the present sketch.


that while living in Albany he became acquainted with the Ineffable
degrees of which Albany was an early seat.

It was about this time that Webb commenced his career as a Masonic
ritualist and teacher. In 1797 he published the first edition of
his Freemasons' Monitor, or Illustrations of Masonry. (1) In the
Preface to this work he acknowledges his indebtedness to Preston
for the observations on the first three degrees. But he states in
his Preface that he has made an arrangement of the lectures which
differs from that of Preston, because the latter's distribution of
the sections is not "agreeable to the present mode of working." (2)
If other proof were wanting this would be enough to show that the
"Prestonian work," as it has been called, differed from that then
practiced in the United States, and ought to be an answer to those
who at a later period have attempted to claim an identity between
the ritual and lectures of Webb and those of Preston.

About 1801 he removed to Providence, R. I., and commenced the
manufacture of wall-paper on an extensive scale. But he did not
abandon his labors in the field of Speculative Masonry. By
invitation he became a member of St. John's Lodge number 2, of
Providence. He passed through the various grades of office and was
elected in 1813 Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.

His labors in the constitution of a Grand, and afterward a General
Grand Chapter, will be hereafter referred to.

While continuing his interest in the manufacture in which he was
engaged he did not neglect his Masonic labors, but in 1816 visited
the Western part of the United States and appeared to have been
actively employed in the organization of Chapters and Encampments.

He died at Cleveland, O., where he was on a visit on July 6, 1819,
and was buried with Masonic honors. The body was subsequently
disinterred and carried to Providence, where it was reinterred by
the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.


(1) This edition is very rare. The title-page, in a copy now lying
before me, is as follows: "The Freemasons Monitor; or Illustrations
of Masonry: in two Parts. By a Royal Arch Mason, K. T. - K, of M. -
&c., &c. Printed at Albany, for Spencer and Webb, Market street,
1797," p. 284.
(2) "The observations upon the first three degrees are principally
taken from Preston's 'Illustrations of Masonry,' with some
necessary alterations. Mr. Preston's distribution of the first
lecture into six, the second into four, and the third into twelve
sections, not being agreeable to the present mode of working, they
are arranged in this work according to the general practice First
edition. Preface.


As to Webb's Masonic character and services, I see no reason to say
otherwise than what I have already said on a former occasion.

His influence over the Freemasons of this country is to be ascribed
almost wholly to his personal communication with them and to his
oral teachings. He has made no mark in Masonic literature of any
importance. His labors and his reputation as an author are confined
to a single work, and that one of but little pretension. It is,
indeed, only a meager syllabus of his Lectures. He seems, though
the author of a Masonic system now universally practiced in the
United States, to have been but very inadequately imbued with the
true philosophical spirit of symbolism. He was an able workman of
the ritual which he had invented, and an effective teachers and to
this he owed his popularity. The deficiencies of his system are to
be regretted, but Webb undoubtedly deserves commendation for his
devotion and perseverance in the establishment or a system of
ritualism which has been productive of such abundant fruit.

The Freemasons of America have generally attributed to him the
invention of the preliminary degrees of the Chapter. But of this
fact we have no satisfactory evidence, while there is much to the
contrary. It has been seen in a preceding chapter that the Mark and
Past degrees, as well as the Most Excellent, though probably under
a different name, had been conferred in Chapters before Webb had
been exalted in Albany to the Royal Arch.

But what Webb really did, was to change the rituals of these
degrees and to give to them the form which is now universally
adopted in the Chapters of this country.
For instance, the Mark Master's and the Most Excellent Master's
songs, which now constitute essential parts of the working of those
degrees, and are indispensably connected with their most important
ceremonies, were composed by him and first published in his
FreeMason's Monitor. They could therefore have been introduced into
the work only after his composition of them.

In short, Webb can be deemed the founder of what is now called the
"American Rite" only in so far that he modified the degrees which
had previously existed, and gave to them not only a new and
improved form, but established them in a legitimate sequence which
has ever since been recognized by the constituted authorities.

Previous to his teaching, there was no regularity in the management
of the preliminary degrees. In some Chapters they were conferred as
preparatory to the Royal Arch; in others they were omitted, and the
Royal Arch immediately followed the Third degree. For the permanent
regularity now existing, we are certainly indebted to Thomas Smith
Webb.

With this brief sketch of the Masonic life of this popular
ritualist, we are now prepared to direct our attention to that
portion of his labors which were especially given to the
establishment of Royal Arch Masonry on a plan peculiar to this
country.

The supplement of the Master's degree, which had been introduced by
the Seceders into the English system, about the middle of the last
century, was not long after imported into this country. This
importation has been generally attributed to the military lodges
which worked under the regime of the Atholl Grand Lodge, and which
had received, at the time of their constitution, the instructions
and the privileges of the Royal Arch.

It has been seen that the first American Chapter was instituted at
Philadelphia in 1758, and that the degree had been received from an
English military lodge, at that time stationed in that city.

At a somewhat later period in the century the Royal Arch degree was
conferred in many lodges in the United States, under a Master's
Warrant. This custom continued for several years to be observed in
the Southern States, where distinct Chapters were unknown until the
19th century.

But in the Northern States, the control of the Royal Arch was
assumed by independent Chapters at an earlier period.

From the records of the General Grand Chapter it appears that St.
Andrew's Chapter was instituted at Boston, in 1769; King Cyrus
Chapter at Newburyport, Mass., in 1790; Providence Chapter at
Providence, R. I., in 1793; Solomon Chapter at Derby, Conn., in
1794; Franklin Chapter at Norwich, another of the same name at New
Haven, Conn., and Hudson Chapter at Hudson, N. Y., in 1796. (1)

Temple Chapter at Albany, N. Y., is mentioned in the Proceedings of
a convention held in 1797, and was probably instituted at an
earlier period.

On October 24, 1797, a convention of Royal Arch Masons was held in
Boston, for the purpose of forming a Grand Chapter.

At this convention delegates from three Chapters were present:


(1) "Compendium of Proceedings of the General Grand Chapter from
1797 to 1856," p. 8.


St. Andrew's, of Boston; Temple, of Albany, and King Cyrus, of
Newburyport.

This convention, probably in consequence of the small number of
Chapters represented, did no more than issue a circular addressed
to the various Chapters in the Northern States, recommending a
future meeting to be held at Hartford.

In this circular the delegates at Boston enunciated the principle
which has since been universally accepted as the law of Royal Arch
Masonry in the United States; namely, that "no Grand Lodge of
Master Masons can claim or exercise authority over any convention
or Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, nor can any Chapter, although of
standing immemorial, exercise the authority of a Grand Chapter.''
(1)

On January 24, 1798, a convention of delegates from seven Chapters
assembled at Hartford, in the State of Connecticut.

At this convention the following Chapters were represented: St.
Andrew's, of Boston; King Cyrus, of Newburyport; Providence, of
Providence; Solomon, of Derby; Franklin, of Norwich; Franklin, of
New Haven; and Hudson, of Hudson.

The States represented were, therefore, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and New York.

It was then unanimously resolved that the delegates should
establish a Grand Chapter for the States of New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York, to
be denominated " The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the Northern
States of America." (2)

On the next day, delegates from Temple and from Horeb Chapter, both
of New York, presented their credentials. These nine Chapters then
proceeded to the organization of a Grand Chapter.

On January 26, 1798, a constitution was adopted and immediately
afterward the officers were elected.

The preamble to this constitution ordains and establishes the body
as "The Grand Royal Arch Chapter for the Northern States of
America," a title under which jurisdiction was assumed over the
States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
Vermont, and New York.

In each of these States there was to be under the jurisdiction of
the Grand Chapter a Deputy Grand Chapter, over which a Deputy


(1) "Compendium of Proceedings," p. 6. 
(2) Ibid., p. 9


Grand High-Priest was to preside, assisted by a Deputy Grand King
and a Deputy Grand Scribe.

The Grand Chapter was to be composed of its officers elected for
the time, of the Past Grand High-Priests, Kings, and Scribes, and
of the first three officers of the Deputy Grand Chapters.

The Deputy Grand Chapters were to be composed of the elected
officers, of the Past Deputy Grand High-Priests, Kings, and
Scribes, and of the High-Priests, Kings, and Scribes of the
subordinate Chapters.

The Grand Chapter was to meet biennially and the Deputy Grand
Chapters annually, and the first meeting of the former body was to
be held at Middletown, Conn., on the following September.

In this Constitution the nomenclature and precedency of the
Capitular degrees, which had hitherto been somewhat unsettled, was
finally determined, so that the names and order of sequence should
remain forever thereafter as they were then established.

This arrangement has ever since remained unchanged and makes the
Mark Master, Past Master, and Most Excellent Master essentially
preliminary degrees, to be followed by the Royal Arch degree as the
consummation of the system.

This constitution gave to the Grand Chapter an exclusive power to
hear and determine all controversies between Chapters within its
jurisdiction, and an appellate jurisdiction over all the
proceedings of the Deputy Grand Chapters.

As far as regards the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and New York, which States were represented in the
convention, the Constitution was definitely adopted. But the
Chapters in Vermont and New Hampshire, not having sent delegates,
a committee was appointed to solicit their concurrence in the
organization.

The convention then proceeded to the first election on the newly
adopted constitution, which resulted in the following choice of
officers:

Ephraim Kirby, of Connecticut, Grand High-Priest; Benjamin Hurd,
Jr., of Massachusetts, Grand King; Thomas Smith Webb, of New York,
Grand Scribe; William Woart, of Massachusetts, Grand Secretary;
Rev. Abraham Lynsen Clarke, of Rhode Island, Grand Chaplain;
Stephen Titus Hosmer, of Connecticut, Grand Treasurer, and Gurdon
Lathrop, of Connecticut, Grand Marshal.

It will be seen that the meeting here described was only that of a
convention to take the preliminary steps for the organization of a
Grand Chapter. The first meeting of the "Grand Chapter of the
Northern States," after that organization, was holden on October
19, 1798, at the city of Middletown in Connecticut. The object of
the meeting, as expressed in the Proceedings, was "for the choice
of officers." Although these had already been elected, at the
meeting of the convention in January preceding, that election was
not by the Grand Chapter, which was at that time inchoate, and
could hardly have been considered as regular. It was therefore
legalized by the subsequent action on October 1, 1798, which was in
fact the first meeting of the Grand Chapter.

"Agreeably to the Constitution," says the compendium, "the Grand
Chapter proceeded to the choice of officers, when on sorting and
counting the votes the old officers were all declared reselected."
(1)

No other business was transacted, and the Grand Chapter adjourned
to hold its second meeting on the second Wednesday of January,
1799, at Providence, in the State of Rhode Island.

The Grand Chapter accordingly convened at Providence on January 9,
1799, when the representatives of the Deputy Grand Chapters of
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York were present.

At this Convocation some important changes in the regulations were
made, and the constitution was revised.

The title of the Grand Chapter was altered to that of the "General
Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons for the six Northern States of
America," and its meetings were changed from a biennial to a
septennial period. The Deputy Grand Chapters were in future to be
styled "State Grand Chapters." The powers of the General Grand
Chapter were much abridged. The section giving it appellate
jurisdiction over the State Grand Chapters was omitted from the new
Constitution, and has never again been re-asserted. Its powers were
confined to a control of the ritual and to the establishment of
Chapters in States where there were no Grand Chapters. It
continued, however, to maintain the prerogative of defining the
powers and functions of State Grand Chapters. This prerogative has
never been denied, and the law of Royal Arch Masonry, as it now
exists and has ever since the close of the last century existed in
this country, is dependent on the Constitution of the General Grand
Chapter.

(1) "Compendium of Proceedings," p. 18.


Thus, the internal regulations of the State Grand Chapters and
their subordinates are all directed by this Constitution. It
prescribed the method of granting charters, the number of
petitioners, the fee to be paid, the titles of the officers, the
time of election, the price of the degrees, and the rule for
receiving candidates, with several other points, all of which have
always been implicitly obeyed.

In a word, the Constitution of the General Grand Chapter has been
received as, in some sort, the common law of Royal Arch Masonry in
this country. This law, derived from and formulated by that body,
has universally been accepted, and it is admitted that it cannot be
repealed or rescinded in any of its parts by any inferior body.

If the General Grand Chapter had accomplished no other good result
by its organization, this alone would furnish a sufficient defense
of its institution, and an answer to those discontented spirits who
from time to time have sought for its dissolution.

The third convocation was holden at Middletown, Conn., on January
9, 1806. Representatives from only four States were present. The
Constitution was again revised, and some important changes were
made. Hitherto the General Chapter had claimed jurisdiction over
only the six Northern States. But it now sought to extend its
territorial limits over the whole country and assumed the more
pretentious title of "The General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch
Masons for the United States of America." This title it has ever
since retained.

An oath of allegiance was also for the first time prepared, and
every officer of a lodge or Chapter under the jurisdiction of the
General Body was required, on assuming office, to swear that he
would support and maintain the General Grand Royal Arch
Constitution.

The exclusive right of issuing charters to subordinate Chapters, in
States where there were Grand Chapters, was conferred by this
constitution on those bodies, while the General Grand Chapter
reserved to itself the right of issuing warrants for Chapters which
were to be established in States where no Grand Chapters existed.

The next septennial convocation of the General Grand Chapter should
have taken place in 1813. But at that time the United States were
engaged in a war with Great Britain, and the situation of the
country incidental to such a cause was such as to prevent the
General Grand Chapter from convening.

A special session was called in 1816 at the city of New York. But
no business of any especial importance was transacted, except the
admission of the Grand Chapter of Maryland and the District of
Columbia, under a provision which permitted it to confer the
degrees of Royal and Select Master as preliminary to the Royal
Arch. This permission has always been refused to other Grand
Chapters, as being in positive contradiction of the terms of the
constitution, which recognizes only three preparatory degrees in
the Chapter. In the subsequent history of the General Grand Chapter
this too liberal action has been found to be productive of some
trouble.

Indeed, in the very inception of this proceeding there was an
evident irregularity. The Grand Chapter of Maryland proposed to
enter the Union of the Grand Chapters and to support the Consti
tution of the General Grand Chapter, but "requests that it shall
not be forced to alter its mode of working."

This was reported to the General Grand Chapter by the Committee of
conference, which recommended the admission of the Grand Chapter of
Maryland, "under a consideration of all the circumstances," which
of course must have referred to its request to continue its
peculiar mode of working. The terms of the report were agreed to by
the Maryland delegates, and accepted by the General Grand Chapter,
which immediately afterward resolved that the Grand Chapter of
Maryland and the District of Columbia be admitted under its
jurisdiction, "subject to the Constitution and Regulations of the
said General Grand Chapter."

It is very difficult to discover the real meaning and result of
this action. The acceptance of the report permitted the Maryland
body to confer its two additional preliminary degrees. The adoption
of the subsequent resolution prohibited it from so doing, because
the Constitution to which it was made subject as a condition of
admission, recognized only three preliminary degrees, and excluded
the two conferred in Maryland.

The Maryland companions selected the explanation which was most
agreeable to their own views. They entered the Union of Grand
Chapters, and continued, for a time, to confer the Royal and Select
Master's degrees as preliminary to exaltation to the Royal Arch.
Subsequently they dropped the Council Degrees and confined
themselves to the usual four degrees.

In 1829 the General Grand Chapter recommended that these degrees,
which have always been under the control of independent
organizations, known as Grand Councils, should be conferred in
Royal Arch Chapters, but in 1853 it retraced its steps and declared
that the Mark, Past, and Most Excellent Master were the only
captular degrees, thus returning to the original arrangement of
Webb.

In 1870 another attempt was made by several of the Grand Chapters
to get the two degrees of Royal and Select Master incorporated as
preparatory steps in the Capitular system, but it did not succeed,
and most probably never will.

According to adjournment another session of the General Grand
Chapter was holden inthe city of New York on September 9, 1819. No
business of great importance was transacted and it was ordered that
the next convocation should be held at the city of Washington in
February, 1823. No such meeting was held.

The sixth session of the General Grand Chapter was holden at the
city of New York on September 14, 1826, which was the regular
septennial convocation. The Grand Chapters were largely
represented, delegates from no less than fifteen of them being
present.

The Constitution was again revised, and among other amendments the
word "triennial" was substituted for "septennial," so that the
Convocations were thenceforth to be holden every three years. This
regulation has ever since been continued.

Probably the most important event that occurred at this meeting was
an attempt made to dissolve the General Grand Chapter. This was the
first effort at a suicidal policy which has since been several
times repeated, but always without success.

The attack was made by the Grand Chapter of Kentucky, which
presented a memorial, copies of which had previously been
transmitted to the different Grand Chapters with the hope that they
would unite in the action.

In this memorial the Grand Chapter of Kentucky set forth at great
length its reasons for desiring a dissolution of the organization.
They are the same arguments which have since been advanced at
different times.

The objections urged against the General Grand Chapter were its
nationality, the danger of its usurping the functions and
destroying the sovereignty of the State Grand Chapters, the
existence in it of life members, whose voice and numbers might
become more potential than the votes of the elected delegates who
would soon be in a minority, and, finally, the great expense of
supporting such an organization.

But the arguments, plausible as they might have appeared, had no
weight with the Grand Chapters, nearly all of which expressed their
opposition to any such movement. When the question was submitted to
the convocation, only two votes, those of the delegates from
Kentucky, were found in its favor. Every other officer and member
voted against a dissolution.

It is "passing strange" that an institution whose utility has been
proved by ample experience, should ever have met with opposition to
its existence. We have already seen that to it we are indebted for
that common and universal law, which has done so much good in the
establishment of an organized system.

When we remember the discordant condition of Royal Arch Masonry at
the close of the last century, when the number of the degrees,
their names and the order of their sequence, which varied in every
State and sometimes even in adjacent Chapters, when there was no
positive and generally recognized principles of Masonic law, and no
authority to which to appeal for the settlement of controversies in
ritual or in custom, and when we view the uniformity which now
prevails in all parts of the country, which is undoubtedly owing to
the weight and influence of the General Grand Chapter as a well-
organized head, it can not be denied that all American Royal Arch
Masons owe a debt of gratitude to the founders of that institution
which thus wisely brought order out of chaos.

It is not worth while to extend this history beyond the period at
which we have arrived. From the year 1826 the General Grand
Chapter, now placed on a stable foundation, has continued to meet
triennially at different cities of the United States. There has
been but one interruption to this continuity. In 1862 a civil war
then dividing the country into two hostile sections so that there
was a military impossibility for the convocation to be held at the
appointed place, which was Memphis in Tennessee, the General Grand
High Priest, Albert G. Mackey, suspended the meeting until the
restoration of peace, and by his proclamation the session was held
at Columbus, O., in 1865. The session lasted but one day, when it
adjourned to meet in the same place and on the next day in a new
triennial session.

Its jurisdiction now extends over the whole of the United States,
embracing all the Grand Chapters except those of Pennsylvania and
Virginia, which have never entered into the confederation, and
Texas, which withdrew during the war, 1861 - 65, and has never
reunited.

The following list of all the Presiding officers of the body since
its organization will be of interest as an historical document. It
will be seen to embrace the names of some who have been
distinguished in Freemasonry or in political life:

1798, EPHRAIM KIRBY, of Connecticut.
1799, EPHRAIM KIRBY.
1806, BENJAMIN HURD, of Massachusetts
1816, DEWITT CLINTON, of New York.
1819, DEWITT CLINTON. 
1826, DEWITT CLINTON.
1829, EDWARD LIVINGSTON, of Louisiana
1832, EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
1835, Rev. PAUL DEAN, of Massachusetts 
1838, Rev. PAUL DEAN. 
1841, Rev. PAUL DEAN. 
1844, Rev. PAUL DEAN. 
1847, ROBERT P. DUNLAP, of Maine. 
1850, ROBERT P. DUNLAP 
1853, ROBERT P. DUNLAP.
1856, CHARLES GILMAN, of Maryland.
1859, ALBERT G. MACKEY, of South Carolina. 
1865, JOHN L. LEWIS, of New York. 
1868, JAMES M. AUSTIN, of New York 
1871, JOSIAH H. DRUMMOND, of Maine 
1874, ELBERT H. ENGLISH, of Arkansas.
1877, JOHN FRIZZELL, of Tennessee.
1880, ROBERT F. BOWER of Iowa.
1883, ALFRED F. CHAPMAN, of Massachusetts. 
1886, NOBLE D. LARNER, of District of Columbia. 
1889, DAVID F. DAY, of New York. 
1891, JOSEPH P. HORNOR, of Louisiana. 
1894, GEORGE L. MCCAHAN, of Maryland. 
1897, REUBEN C. LEMMON, of Ohio. 
1900, JAMES W. TAYLOR, of Georgia. 
1903, ARTHUR G. POLLARD, of Massachusetts. 
1906, JOSEPH E. DYAS, of Illinois. 
1909, NATHAN KINGSLEY, of Minnesota.


REPRINT

In Deo Fiducia Nostra.

Or .'. of Washington, June 24th, 1881.

THE GRAND COMMANDER OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL FOR THE SOUTHERN
JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES:

To the Free-Masons of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
throughout this Jurisdiction 

DEAR BRETHREN: Sickness and old age have brought the ending of his
days to the Dean of the Supreme Council, its Secretary-General,
Brother ALBERT GALLATIN MACKEY, Born at Charleston, in South
Carolina, on the 12th of March, 1807, made a Mason there, it is
said, in the year 1831, he became a member of the Supreme Council
and Secretary General in 1844, and continued to be both until his
death, at Fortress Monroe, in Virginia, on the 20th of June, 1881.

The Masonic Text-books written by him for the Symbolic Lodge, the
Chapter of Royal Arch, and the Council of Royal and Select Masters,
his Treatises on Masonic Jurisprudence, on Parliamentary Law as
applied in Masonry, and on Symbolism, his Lexicon and Encyclopaedia
of Free-Masonry, and the Masonic Periodicals at different times
edited by him, have made his name as an Author widely and well
known in this and in other countries. He stood, indeed, at the
head, facile princeps, of all the Masonic writers of the world. A
ripe scholar and an accomplished writer as well as an educated
physician, he would have won even a larger fame in other and wider
fields of literature.

Bro.'. Mackey was Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of South
Carolina for many years, a Commander of Templars, Grand High Priest
of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the State, and General
Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United
States. In the Sessions of 1856 and 1859 of that Body, he was
especially prominent in debate. In our Supreme Council, in 1870, he
was elected Lieutenant Grand Commander, and declined, preferring to
continue to be Grand Secretary. The Symbolic Masonry, above all, is
his debtor, because most of his works were written for the use of
the Masons of the Blue Degrees; and he intended to render it
further service, if he had lived, by exploding some of the fictions
that have been imposed upon Masons for history and truth.

Bro.'. Mackey had lived all his iife among gentlemen, and had the
manners and habits of a gentleman. Tall, erect, of spare but
vigorous frame, his somewhat harsh but striking features were
replete with intelligence and amiability; he conversed well, and
was liked as a genial and companionable man, of a cheerful,
tolerant and kindly nature, who if he had quarrels with
individuals, had none with the world. Idolized by his wife and
children, he loved them devotedly, and suffered intensely when, one
after another, his two intelligent and amiable daughters died. He
had many friends, and made enemies, as men of strong will and
positive convictions will always surely do. He plotted no harm
against any one, and sought no revenge, even when he did not
forgive, not being of a forgiving race, for he was a McGregor,
having kinship with Rob Roy.

Masonry will not soon lose as great a man, and she may well put
dust upon her head and wear sackcloth in her Lodges, where, in
Masonry, his heart always was.

Of course, as he grew old, he had his crosses and troubles, and
fortune was not kind to him. Adversity may be profitable; but the
world goes too hardly with too many of us; and Sallust truly says:

'In luctu argue miseries mortem arumnarum requtem, non cruciatum,
esse:'

'In grief and sorrows, death is a rest from troubles, and not a
misfortune.

A great man hath fallen in Israel; and, in the words of Pushmataha
the Chahta Chief, it is like the falling of a huge oak in the woods
The fall will be heard afar off, and the sound be re-echoed from
many and far-off lands.

Upon the reading of this letter in the Bodies of our Obedience, the
altars and working-tools will be draped in black, and the Brethren
will wear the proper badge of mourning during the space of sixty
days. And may our Father Which is in Heaven have you always in His
holy keeping! 

Albert Pike 33d,
Grand Commander.


Supreme Council, 33d, A.'. A.'. S.'. Rite,
For the Northern Masonio Jurisdiction of the U.S.
ORIENT, BOSTON, MASS

Offiice of the the M.'. P.'. Sov.'. Gr.'. Commander, Milwaukee,
Wis., July 10th, 1881.

The M.'. P.'. Sovereign Grand Commander, to all Free Masons of the
Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the obedience of the said Supreme
Council.

 Sorrow ! Sorrow ! Sorrow !

BRETHREN:

With profound sorrow I announce to you the decease of our
Illustrious Brother ALBERT GALLATIN MACKEY of the A.'.A.'.Scottish
Rite of the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction of the U. S. He died at
Fortress Monroe, Virginia, on the 20th of June, 1881. Bro.'. MACKEY
was born at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 12th of March, 1807.
and had long since passed the allotted span of three score years
and ten.

For a full half century he had been an active, zealous Mason,
always laboring where his work was most needed, to elevate and
dignify Masonry and enlarge the sphere of its usefulness. During
his long and active masonic career he honored many exalted official
stations, the duties of all of which he discharged with signal
fidelity. He was for many years Grand Secretary of the Grand
Lodge of South Carolina, "a Commander of Templars, Grand High
Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the State and
General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the
United States."

In the Ancient Accepted Rite he was the Dean of the Supreme Council
of the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction, and at the time of his
decease and for many years prior thereto, the Grand Secretary
General of our sister Supreme Council. A ripe scholar and an
accomplished writer, his taste naturally led him to enter the
literary field of the craft, in which his labors were of
immeasurable value to the Great Brotherhood he loved so well. The
various works he prepared and published, and without which no
masonic library is complete, have rendered his name a household
word among the fraternity everywhere, and constitute a fitting
monument of his love for masonry and his patient and intelligent
labor in its behalf. After a long and useful life he has been
called to rest, his departure leaving a void to be filled - when ?
by whom ? Others may indeed extend and enlarge the work he
commenced, but it was he who laid the foundation, and first reared
the superstructure. In addition to the various text books prepared
by him for the use of Lodges and Chapters, and his other works of
a more general character, the Fraternity are more indebted to him
than to any other one man for its present admirable system of
masonic jurisprudence. When such a man falls, it is meet that his
brethren, who alone can appreciate his entire worth, should deplore
his loss.

While we tender our sincere sympathy to our Brethren of the
Southern Jurisdiction, who were more immediately connected with our
deceased Brother, we also feel the loss we have all sustained, and
mingle our tears with theirs.

Let these letters be read in all the Bodies of our obedience at the
first meeting thereof held after its receipt, and let the altars
and working tools be draped with the usual badge of mourning for
the space of sixty days.

Given at the Grand Orient, the day and year aforesaid.


REPRINT

ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND
IN CRUCE STAT SECURUS AMOR

Washington, 24 June, 1881, A. O. 568.

The Brethren of the Provincial Grand Lodge of the United States
will already have learned that their Brother, the Senior Provincial
Grand Wardens SIR ALBERT GALLATIN MACKEY, closed his eyes upon this
world, and his life here ended, at seven of the clock on the
morning of the 20th day of this month of June. Worn and wasted by
age and disease, he fell into unconsciousness a little while before
he died, and his life passed painlessly away, as when one falls
asleep.

He was Forn at Charleston, in South Carolina, on the 12th of March,
1807, and so was an old man. Made a Mason in 1831, he had laboured
in Masonry during half a century, and the works of his brain,
published for the use of Masonic Bodies and for the instruction of
the Brethren, are known to all reading Masons at home, and to many
abroad By them he will be long remembered. He was a man of mark,
who toiled in the Masonic field assiduously, an accomplished writer
and impressive speaker, and one who made many friends, a genial and
companionable man, whose death a host of Masons will regret.

I invite the Brethren of the Provincial Grand Lodge to wear with me
the badge of mourning of the Order, on account of the death of this
Veteran Brother and Knight, during the space of thirty days from
the receipt of this letter.

Morte detur aliquando otium Quiesque fessis.

ALBERT PIKE
PROV'L GRAND MASTER


THE HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION AND PROGRESS OF FREEMASONRY IN THE
UNITED STATES

THE HISTORY OF THE SYMBOLS OF FREEMASONRY

AND THE

HISTORY OF THE A.'. A.'. SCOTTISH RITE

BY

WlLLIAM R. SINGLETON, 33D


PART THREE
THE HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION AND PROGRESS OF FREEMASONRY IN THE
UNITED STATES

SALUTATORY

THE death of Dr. Albert Gallatin Mackey, June 21, 1881, prevented
the completion of his great work on the "History of Freemasonry."
The preceding chapters, ending on page 1302, were all written by
him, and, as he had contemplated continuing his labors until the
whole history of the Masonic Orders and Degrees should have been
completed, his publishers have complimented the present writer by
selecting him to do, imperfectly as it will appear, what so able a
writer as Dr. Mackey would have done, had his life been spared a
little longer. Dr. Mackey's long and useful career as a Masonic
savant and writer had endeared him to all Masonic students over the
wide world of Masonry. Wherever the English language is spoken may
be found the Masonic works of our distinguished brother. In the
conclusion of the admirable "Historical Sketch of the Order of
Knights Templar," by Theodore S. Gourdin, of Charleston, S. C.,
1855, he says: "The history of our Order remains yet to be writs
ten. It can not be attempted by an American, alone and unaided. in
fact, it can not be written at all in this country; for we have not
the materials. But this great work can and ought to be undertaken
by the Templars of the United States. . . . Let them select a
Brother, who, from his great learning and his thorough knowledge of
the principal modern languages, as well as the dead, is fully
qualified for the work. I know but two brethren in the United
States who are qualified to execute the work proposed: Bro. Albert
G. Mackey, of Charleston, S. C.; and Bro. William S. Rockwell, of
Milledgeville, Ga."

We thus see that, at as early a date as 1855, Bro. Mackey shared,
with that other eminent and distinguished Brother, Rockwell, the
highest reputation for scholarship among all the Masons of the
United States. He then continues: "Then would a history be written
worthy of our illustrious Order, and of the distinguished body
which governs it in this country ! The author of such a work would
earn, for himself, an immortal reputation, and each individual
brother who contributed his mite would enjoy the delightful
consciousness that the Masonic world was, in a measure, indebted to
him for a work which would prove the great desideratum of the age."

The rapid and continued increase of the membership of the Templar
Order has kept pace with the growth of the population of the United
States, and the progress in all branches of human knowledge, in
science, and arts, as we shall demonstrate when we give a history
of the Order and show in each particular State, what is the present
membership, and the great field for usefulness laid open and the
prospect before us, for the great battles which are yet to come,
between truth and error, light and darkness, ignorance and
enlightenment, crime and obedience to lawful authority, fanaticism,
bigotry, and persecution against toleration, liberality and freedom
of thought.

The Templars, in the Crusades, for two hundred years fought with
material armor against the Infidels and Turks of Syria, but our
modern Templars are engaged against more powerful and insidious
foes, scattered everywhere in our midst. The Templars of the
Crusades were carried from the West to the East, to fight for the
Christianity as then known and practiced, a system of ignorance,
the great parent of superstition, bigotry, fanaticism, intolerance,
and persecution; these are the elements which finally culminated in
the Middle Ages, in the Inquisition; and by which the Templar
Order, for so many centuries the instrument of the Church of Christ
in oppressing mankind, was totally destroyed, and the leaders
burned at the stake by Clement V. and Philip the Fair, after they
had no further use for them.

"God works in a mysterious way His purpose to fulfill ! "

The Templars, now only such in name, may be the instruments of God,
in turn, in the next century, to deliver His true children from the
fangs of the monster who for so many ages has kept mankind, so far
as they could be, within his power, in total ignorance of the TRUTH
as it was, and is yet, in Christ the Lord, for whose sake and in
whose name the original Templars fought, bled, and died upon so
many hard-fought battle-fields of Syria. Let this thought be in the
mind of every Knight Templar of the present day and in the future,
whose eyes may see these words, written in the year 1899: That this
great country, beginning with a few emigrants from several European
nations, bringing with them to Virginia, first, at Jamestown, the
descendants of the pride and chivalry of Old England; then the
Puritans in New England - while these differed greatly in their
method of interpreting the Scriptures, they were yet agreed in the
great principles therein inculcated, viz.: EQUALITY, FRATERNITY,
AND LIBERTY.

These, the descendants of the Reformation, have grown from the
original Thirteen Colonies, despised and looked down upon by the
great monarchies of Europe and Asia, with scorn and sometimes with
contempt. Now these scornful peoples begin to appreciate what is
before them in the future.

We therefore say to the Commanderies, Preceptories, and
Encampments, and also to each private member of the Knightly Order
of the Temple, remember your vows of obedience to the Grand Master
of all Temples. The sword which you wield is not a weapon of carnal
warfare, but a symbol, whose significance you have learned, and
should ever put in practice in the defence of Truth, not as
explained by the Mother Church of the Middle Ages, for the purpose
of propagating error, but the truth as so well understood by every
Templar, and in whose cause he should be prepared to make every
sacrifice, and perform his pilgrimage even to the loss of life
while engaged therein, and remember that you shall reap your reward
if ye faint not.

"Magna est Veritas, et prevalebit."

WILLIAM R. SINGLETON





CHAPTER LI

GENERAL HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN KNIGHTHOOD


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.