Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Address Of The V. H. And E. Sir Kt. Col. W. J. B. Macleod Moore, Of The Grand Cross Of The Temple, Grand Prior Of The Dominion Of Canada,
Baby lon , or Babylonish Pass ) , should be adopted as a pre-requisite to entering the Order of the Temple . This degree is quite out of ptace , as having any reference to the Temp lars , being of Jewish and Persian origin , founded on a legend of the
apocryp hal Book of Esdras , its history being also given in the antiquities of Josephus , hut the authenticity of which is denied by modern ecclesiastical writers . In its dramatic form it is made very attractive , and inculcates principles of the highest
moral tendency , and therefore much importance is attached to it in the American Templar system , but its proper historical p lace precedes the Royal Arch , to which it is properly a prelude , the legend describing the steps taken to obtain
permission for rebuilding the temple . Besides , it is quite impossible to expect that the English branch of the order should so completely change their system in connection with Freemasonry as to adopt degrees discarded at the Union of the Grand
Lodges of England in 1813 . The Craft degrees , including the Royal Arch , were then alone recognized as pure and ancient Freemasonry . The possession of the Royal Arch degree in modern times has been , and is now considered quite sufficient to preserve the link between the
Templar Order aud Freemasonry , but it is a very great mistake to suppose that having the Royal Arch degree entitles the possessor to be admitted into the Templar ranks , or that the Order of the Temple is a continuation or climax of the
degrees of Craft and Royal Arch Masonry . Exception was also taken to the Order of Malta as being opposod to the true Order of the Temple , but in this they seem to have lost sight of the fact that when the Order of the Temple was first
introduced into the United States from Great Britain and Ireland , it was as the combined Orders of Kni ghts of the Temple and Malta . Now we are to consider that it is our traditional belief that
our present Order of the Temple was partiall y in England and Ireland and completel y in Scotland , merged into that of the Hospitallers of St . John ( afterwards known as Knights of Malta ) on the suppression of the Templars . That such was the case in Scotland cannot be disputed , and this amalgamation of the two
bodies continued until the time of the Reformation , and it is affirmed by the Scottish Templar Order to a much later period . The use of the knightly title and the question of the legitimacy of the combined orders were fully believed in by the
Stuart party as late as 1745 , when , its principal members being in the service of Prince Charles Edward ( commonly called the Young Chevalier ) , the order was proscribed , and we only hear of this branch afterwards in connection with
Freemasonry , with which it still continues , its ritual assimulating with that in use b y the Templar body , the two naturally and harmoniously blending together , although the one now adopted is considerably more elaborate than the simple ceremony used
in former years . In Canada there is no difficulty in continuing the same cordial and friendly relations that have always existed between us and our fratres of the United States , our Masonic system admitting the recognition of the degrees required by the United States Templars , although the pre-requisite for our Templar candidate is the same as that observed in
England . Neither can I see any difficulty in members of a Knights Templar foreign jurisdiction visiting the United States Commanderies by merely requiring of them a profession of secrecy as to the degrees they are unacquainted with , but required by the United States Templars in their
ceremonies . It was suggested to me now that we have taken a new departure as a National supreme body , that a resume of the different phases the Temple Order has undergone in England would not be uninteresting , as giving a short and concise
sketch of the English Langue from its first appearance publicly as attached to the Masonic Society to the present time , as also the alleged claim the order has to be considered the legitimate successor of the Red Cross Warriors of Palestine . Dr .
Albert Mackay , in his admirable Encyclopedia of Masonry , to which I must refer you , arranges the pedigree of the modern Templars under six different heads , but the legeuds adduced are , I think , for the most part unreliable , and the legality of each branch far from satisfactory , unless we except the existing State order of "Christ in Portugal , "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Address Of The V. H. And E. Sir Kt. Col. W. J. B. Macleod Moore, Of The Grand Cross Of The Temple, Grand Prior Of The Dominion Of Canada,
Baby lon , or Babylonish Pass ) , should be adopted as a pre-requisite to entering the Order of the Temple . This degree is quite out of ptace , as having any reference to the Temp lars , being of Jewish and Persian origin , founded on a legend of the
apocryp hal Book of Esdras , its history being also given in the antiquities of Josephus , hut the authenticity of which is denied by modern ecclesiastical writers . In its dramatic form it is made very attractive , and inculcates principles of the highest
moral tendency , and therefore much importance is attached to it in the American Templar system , but its proper historical p lace precedes the Royal Arch , to which it is properly a prelude , the legend describing the steps taken to obtain
permission for rebuilding the temple . Besides , it is quite impossible to expect that the English branch of the order should so completely change their system in connection with Freemasonry as to adopt degrees discarded at the Union of the Grand
Lodges of England in 1813 . The Craft degrees , including the Royal Arch , were then alone recognized as pure and ancient Freemasonry . The possession of the Royal Arch degree in modern times has been , and is now considered quite sufficient to preserve the link between the
Templar Order aud Freemasonry , but it is a very great mistake to suppose that having the Royal Arch degree entitles the possessor to be admitted into the Templar ranks , or that the Order of the Temple is a continuation or climax of the
degrees of Craft and Royal Arch Masonry . Exception was also taken to the Order of Malta as being opposod to the true Order of the Temple , but in this they seem to have lost sight of the fact that when the Order of the Temple was first
introduced into the United States from Great Britain and Ireland , it was as the combined Orders of Kni ghts of the Temple and Malta . Now we are to consider that it is our traditional belief that
our present Order of the Temple was partiall y in England and Ireland and completel y in Scotland , merged into that of the Hospitallers of St . John ( afterwards known as Knights of Malta ) on the suppression of the Templars . That such was the case in Scotland cannot be disputed , and this amalgamation of the two
bodies continued until the time of the Reformation , and it is affirmed by the Scottish Templar Order to a much later period . The use of the knightly title and the question of the legitimacy of the combined orders were fully believed in by the
Stuart party as late as 1745 , when , its principal members being in the service of Prince Charles Edward ( commonly called the Young Chevalier ) , the order was proscribed , and we only hear of this branch afterwards in connection with
Freemasonry , with which it still continues , its ritual assimulating with that in use b y the Templar body , the two naturally and harmoniously blending together , although the one now adopted is considerably more elaborate than the simple ceremony used
in former years . In Canada there is no difficulty in continuing the same cordial and friendly relations that have always existed between us and our fratres of the United States , our Masonic system admitting the recognition of the degrees required by the United States Templars , although the pre-requisite for our Templar candidate is the same as that observed in
England . Neither can I see any difficulty in members of a Knights Templar foreign jurisdiction visiting the United States Commanderies by merely requiring of them a profession of secrecy as to the degrees they are unacquainted with , but required by the United States Templars in their
ceremonies . It was suggested to me now that we have taken a new departure as a National supreme body , that a resume of the different phases the Temple Order has undergone in England would not be uninteresting , as giving a short and concise
sketch of the English Langue from its first appearance publicly as attached to the Masonic Society to the present time , as also the alleged claim the order has to be considered the legitimate successor of the Red Cross Warriors of Palestine . Dr .
Albert Mackay , in his admirable Encyclopedia of Masonry , to which I must refer you , arranges the pedigree of the modern Templars under six different heads , but the legeuds adduced are , I think , for the most part unreliable , and the legality of each branch far from satisfactory , unless we except the existing State order of "Christ in Portugal , "