Knights Templars.

Knights Templars .

^^^^^ p HE precise origin of Masonic Knight Templary l / I ^^^ wl ' ias not yet ^ ecn c '' scovei"ec '< but 'he a ^ anc ^ | ( (^^ Pyj || interesting address on " 'I'he Orig in and Progress Ip- ^^^ JjI of Chivalric Freemasonry , " by Sir Charles A . s ^ s ^ m , Cameron , M . D ., C . B . ( April 26 th , ioooVwill help

very much in tbat direction . It contains many well authenticated facts on the subject , skilfully arranged ancl most carefully digested and explained , ancl is by far the best summary yet published .

It seems impossible , at present , to decide which ot the three countries ( England , Scotland , or Ireland ) was the lirst to work the Knight Templar Degree , though , if thc " Early Grand Encampment" is anything like the age claimed by its friends , the latter country must be accepted as the premier home of that

Ceremony ; but even then , its actual origin would remain unsolved . The Degree may have been arranged by brethren connected with one of the three countries named , and not an importation from France , as is generally supposed , and certainly the evidence tends in such a direction .

So far as is known the Royal Arch was always a necessary prerequisite for Knight Templary during the last century , and assuming that fact to be admitted , it appears to be more likely that the Ceremony is of British or Irish origin rather than of Continental manufacture . Its Military character , in part , is more

in favour of Ireland than either of the other two countries , and any way , as an organisation , with numerous subordinates , the "Early Grand" Body has much evidence in its favour as the premier K . T . authority of the British Isles . That point , however , cannot be established , as yet , as ( 1 ) in England , the

Degree is met with at Portsmouth so early as 177 8 ; ( 2 ) the Charter at Bristol is dated Dec . 20 th , 1780 , and provides for the Degree being conferred only on those who have " passed the four Degrees of Masonry , " fees were to be paid on Subordinate "Grand Encampments" being warranted , and none were to be

recognised unless authorised by that " Supreme Grand and Royal Encampment , " or constituted prior to 1780 , and ( 3 ) the " Five Degrees or Orders of Masonry" were regularly worked at York under the wing of the " Grand Lodge of all England , " a

Certificate being preserved of the year 1779 , having these live Degrees duly noted as being given from January to November inclusive . These dates are as early as any yet traced elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland .

I here are other sources of information , which , however , leave the matter undecided , but the oldest minutes known certainly connect Ireland more immediately with thc honour of being one of the earliest ( probably the lirst ) to make the Degree known in America . The " Massachusetts Grand Lodge" was

formed at Boston , U . S . A ., on December 37 th , 1 769 , by " St . Andrew ' s Lodge ( warranted by Scotland in 1756 ) with the assistance of three Army Lodges held in the 14 th Regiment ( No . 5 8 England ) , 29 th Regiment ( No . 322 Ireland ) , and 64 th Regiment ( No . 106 Scotland ) respectively . A "Koyal Arch

Lodge" was held under the a * gis of "St . Andrew ' s , " on August 28 th , 176 9 , when thc "four steps" were conferred upon Bro . William Davis , of " Excell ' , Sup-Excclh , Roy' Arch and K

Templar , ' subsecpiently termed "the four Degrees of a Royal Arch Mason . " This is the earliest record of the kind yet traced as respects the K . T . Ceremony , and it is suggestive to note that the W . M . and S . W . at this meeting , with another

Knights Templars.

member , were the S . W ., W . M ., and j . W . respectively of Lodge No . 322 , Ireland ; so that it is but fair to suppose that to these brethren the St . Andrew ' s Lodge was indebted for a knowledge of the ceremony . Lodge 58 was constituted in the 14 th Regiment by the "Atholl" G . L . or "Ancients , " in 1759 , and

had the right to work the R . A . without another Charter , but no authority was conferred by its Grand Lodge as to Knig ht Templary . The Grand Lodge of Scotland has never recognised either of these two Degrees , though many of its subordinate Lodges worked them notwithstanding .

The " High Knight Templars Lodge , " Dublin , chartered by " Mother Loelge- Kilwinning , " was only for Craft purposes , but it is evident that the promoters were mostly ( if not all ) Knights Templars , and it is remarkable that the lirst W . M ., in signing the minute of its inaugural meeting held immediately following its

constitution , Dec . 27 th , 1779 , added to his name the letters " E . G . M ., ' and the next in rank those of " E . G . S . W ., " thus proving they were Early Grand Knight Templars . This Lodge had apparently assembled previously , and the Scottish Lodge only

authorised its members to meet under the " Kilwinning " auspices , with " all powers ancl privileges which now are , or for any time past , may have been legally enjoyed by any other Lodge of our creating , " i . e ., for Craft purposes exclusively .

So far as Scotland is concerned , the existing facts all go to show that the K . T . was introduced into that country bv the

" Early Grand Encpt . of Ireland , " and the rival organisation , which later on became the chief of the two Bodies ( but the junior nevertheless ) , was started by Alex . Deuchar , who had , for some lime , been connected with the "Grand Assembly of Knight

Templars in Edinburgh , N "* 31 , " holding of the " Early Grand . Body of Ireland , as proved by a Certilicate in possession of Bro . F . J . XV . Crowe , of the year 1809 , and signed by Deuchar as G . M .

Sir Charles A . Cameron has clone well to bring together , in such an attractive and useful form , so many facts concerning the early History of Knights Templars in Great Britain and Ireland , and all of us interested in such a study owe him a debt of gratitude for the trouble he has taken , and the success he has achieved . WM . JAMES HUGHAN .

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