The True Historical Aspect Of The " Religious And Military" Order Of The Temple ; Ci-Devant " Masonic.'

century , Avas its reputed dissent from the tenets of the Roman See . This drew doAvn upon it the same unsparing hostility that exterminated the Waldenses and Albigenses ; the agents of that hostility are not ahvays visible , and the open revival of an Order suppressed under such

circumstances would be necessarily about the bitterest pill which the Court of the Supreme Pontiff could have to swallow . Again , it would seem that M . Clavel in his patent desire to ruin the revived Order in the estimation of the reader

Avhom his easy and flippant style may have attracted , has not escaped the pitfall which has snared many an author , especially amongst French critics , —he states too much . I think the bias declared in his assertions may be taken as proved .

To begin with , he is unable to accuse Fabre-Palaprat and his compeers of the forgery of the Charter ; and , in order to find a false original for the Society , he remounts to the days of Louis XIV . What is his account of its object ? Its identity Avith the accusation against the

martyrs strikes us , and Avhilst we ponder on the improbability , even on the authority of Bnsse-Rabutin , of an Order being founded for such a purpose , we remember that similar charges have been ever the handy weapon of a ruling hierarchy , and that even the apostolic gatherings of

the founders of our faith , did not escape it from the mouths of the heathen priesthood . To account for the apparent genuineness of the Charter , with its antique character , its monkish and illuminated Gothic border , he ascends to the days of Philippe d'Orleans ( suggested , may be , by the first

signature in the only remaining Statute-book ) , and finds a convenient Italian Jesuit , an excellent draughtsman for the purpose . Supposing , however , such to have been the case : as M . Clavel was not cotemporary with that Grand Master , nor his confidant , and as it is highly improbable ( if

the association Avere really re-established as he states , for occult political ends ) , that the fact of the forgery should have been transmitted to posterity , to the infamy of the concoctors ; Avhence did M . Clavel derive that link in his circumstantial narrative ? Was it from Dr . Morrison of

Greenfield , who , as he says , was about to publish his documentary evidence ? I fear not , I have many works upon the Temple , once the property of that gentleman ; I have seen a correspondence of his for years on that and other subjects , and neither in the letters , nor in eA en in a

marginal note , is there anything Avhich supports M . Clavel ' s implication . Dr . Morrison Avas known equally Avith Dr . Burnes , as versed in the history of tho Order ; Clavel Avrote Avhen it Avas lapsing into chaos , and the circulation of his attractively-illustrated work Avonld for the time distance all contradiction . Even Avere the assertions

based on Dr . Morrison ' s authority , it Avould not establish improbabilities ; and Avhere are the interesting documents , which , Avhen published , were to prove so much ? The unsuccessful attempt to correspond with the Order of Christ , is an unfortunate instance for M . Clavel , being

evidently adduced in support of his calumny . When examined , it will tell the other way . The Templars of Portugal : transformed or incorporated into the Order of Christ , preserved none of the spirit of their illustrious origin , but had become simply a State incumbrance on the

Kings of Portugal , Avilling slaves of the Popes . The Order Avhich dared to make such an attempt must have been notorious in France ; how then , if its very existence involved a falsehood , Avas it tolerated or connived at by the King of that country ? Its impudent envoys to Portugal

must have had no small faith in its pretensions , Avhich , if palpably fictitious , merited nothing but contempt ; Ave are told , however , by M . Clavel , that a royal order Avas issued for their arrest , that one Avas captured and transported to Africa , where he died .

These bits of history do not fit Avell into the narrative . The details subsequent to the death of the Due do Cossc Bi-issac were , M . Clavel implies , furnished by Dr . Morrison , Avith much circumstantiality ; and certainly the respectable

physicians , advocates and others , AVIIO are accused of manufacturing martyrs' bones , thieving from arsenals , & c , & c , must have been a set of blackguards , if capable of a tithe of what is thus laid to their charge .

As Ave pull up , wo reflect that nothing is easier than to vilify , especially after tho lapse of years ; and , in a general way , it seems to come as easy to M . Clavel , as to deify does to a greater author with whom AVO arebettor acquainted , io remove the impression once made , is not so easy ; though , in this case , the task is b y no means so difficult as

The True Historical Aspect Of The " Religious And Military" Order Of The Temple ; Ci-Devant " Masonic.'

Avonld be that of pulling clown the Great Frederick from his plinth . I should he quite content to stake tho zealous adhesion of noble Sir Sydney Smith , and of keen Dr . Burnes , against the

two gross libels of M . Clavel , even could they be supported by the documents of Dr . Morrison . The other scoffers at the Charter have fallen into the

error which Dr . Findel and the hyper-critical school are so fond of pointing out in English Masonic authors . They have accepted and repeated Clavel's assertions without further examination . The only one I deem noteworthy is that made by our brethren of Scotland , in their " Statutes

of the Religious and Military Order of the Temple , " published in 1843 . Their origin and succession is eminently respectable , but they felt sorely Avounded by a passage which appears in the Charter of Larmenius . ... " Decreto e supremo , mild auctoritate , Scotos Templarios Ordinis

deseriores , anathemate percussos , Mosque et Fratres Sancti Johannis Hierosolymce , dominiorum Militicespoliatores ( qidbus apud Deum misericordia ) extra gyrum TempU nunc et in futarum , volo , dico et jubeo . " They therefore , although perceiving the independent testimony conveyed to their

story of their OAvn origin , adopt Clavel s exposure , and proceed— "The author ( of the Charter ) has fatally exposed himself by making Larmenius excommunicate the Knights of St . John . HOAV could that brotherhood , Avho never were within the pale of the Temple , be driven from it ? "

I have before adverted to Z ^ er-cnticism , and record my conviction that more honest truths are endangered than falsehoods exposed thereby . Of course it is extremely clever , and it serves a purpose , which is too frequently the bias , conscious or unconscious , of the critic ' s mind . It was

clever of the Spanish Bishops to demonstrate that Columbus ' s statements Avere moonshine , it illustrated their acumen , and showed their knowledge of Holy Writ ; but the world was round notwithstanding . I see nothing in

the exclusion from f elloAvship of the sister and rival Order , with Avhich individual Knights had from the beginning exchanged mutual hospitality , but a natural outburst of wrath on its enrichment at the expense of the martyred Templars .

I have also seen it objected that the signature of Du Guesclin is Avritten Bu Guerdin , and that that hero could not in fact Avrite at all . But I submit that there are

innumerable mediaeval MSS . Avhere the letter " s " is undistinguishable from " r , " and that the statement against Du Guesclin is only susceptible of negative proof . The mission of the Order , illustrating one of those remarkable retributive prophecies , Avhich are the enigmas

of history , its lofty aspirations and mortal antagonism to the Roman See , I will endeavour to unfold in a future Number . I Avould merely add here , that iu presence of the large proportion of intelligent and instructed members of the Order to be found in this country , I endeavour ,

above all , to avoid the suspicion of dogmatising , and am emboldened to record my opinions only by reliance upon the very great facilities I have had for making myself

acquainted Avith the subject . All opinions demand a like respect , and risk a like analysis ; I Avould not have mine give offence to any companion of the Order ; the badge Ave wear is the symbol of Charity as Avell as of martyrdom .

The following paragraph , from the Detroit Evening News , should be ventilated , as it raises a question as interesting to English Masons as to our American brothers . Tlio State Grand Lodge of coloured Masons ,-met at Jackson , this

week . Hie principal topic of public interest was relative to recognition by the white folks . The committee , appointed a year ago , to petition the Grand Lodge ( white ) , reported that they had performed that duty , and that the Graud Lodge had passed a resolution affirming

exclusive jurisdiction for over 30 ycaw , as a reason for refusing recognition . This Grand Lodge ( coloured ) considers this aciion to bo contrary to tho action taken iu the case of a Lodco holding a

warrant from the Grand Lodge . The coloured Masons arc qnite confident that in time this recognition will be given as an act of justice . The following officers were elected : —

M . "W . G . M . —Isaac Burdine , Ypsilanti . D . G . D . —Kiehard Stewart , Cass conntv . G . S . W . —Win . R . Hackley , iNiles . G . J . W . —John A . Freemaun , Ann Arbor , G , Sec , — 'f , J , Martin , Dowagtac ,