The Sword Of The Knight Templar.

THE SWORD OF THE KNIGHT TEMPLAR .

By SIE KNT . REV . R . A . HOLLAND . An Address delivered before the Gvaxid Commandery of Kniglits Templar of Kentucky , on the Occasion of a Public Installation of Officers , June Jitli , 1866 . Sir Knights , —Ours is symbolically a military

institution . Established to protect from Saracen marauders the weary pilgrims who travelled from afar to Jerusalem , aud fostered by the patronage of popes and princes until it grew to a puissant and wealthy Order renowned for deeds of valour

and magnanimity , and embracing the great , the noble , the crowned in its ranks , it was finally proscribed by a bull of Clement V ., and suppressed by the persecutions of Philip , King of France . Plundered of their vast possessions ,

incai-cerated in loathsome dungeons to extort a false avowal of infamy , menaced with the rack , the saw , the stake , the courteous Knights whose fame was co-extensive with Christendom , were driven to seek within the sacred precincts of Freemasonry

that asylum they were denied alike in the State and the Church . Here they found seclusion and security . Here they renewed their vows of chastity and charity . Here they rehearsed with

oftrepeated pleasure the stories of their penance aud prowess , and rekindled the torches of their zeal at the shrine of a past but unforgotten glory . Here , faithful to their solemn covenants , though the armour of steel was hung up as a hallowed

relic , and helmet , and cuirass , and battle-axe were laid aside as silent but eloquent eulogists of deceased honours , in vested with an interior panoply of etherial temper and cherubic sheen , they maintained their well-earned claim to the title of

defenders of ** innocent maidens , destitute widows , helpless orphans , and the Christian religion . " This panoply has been bequeathed by them through successive generations to us—their legal descendants , aud I trust we all worthily wear it .

It is a panoply of the soul . It was wrought and polished by Jesus Christ , and consists iu those virtues which he has inculcated upon all who would fight under his captaincy ** against principalities , against powers , against the darkness of

this world , against spiritual wickedness in high places . " Its chief aggressive weapon is the sword , to a description of Avhich , and the duties it represents , I devote the remainder of my remarks . " The sword of the Knight Templar , " we are

told , "is endowed with three most excellent qualities , viz .: its hilt with justice , its blade with fortitude , and its point with mercy ; and it teaches us this important lesson , that , having faith in the justice of our cause , we must press forward

with undaunted fortitude , ever remembering to extend the point of mercy to a fallen foe . " In regard to the first of its lessons , I am happy to say that but few words of vindication or praise ' are necessary . The time was , when we

weroinsultingly called upon to deny villainous charges ,, dissipate ungrounded prejudices , quiet opprobriousclamours ; but that time , in America at least , is nolonger . That there may be some who still cling to their erroneous conceptions of the nature

andmission of our Order , like blind bats to a deadbough , I am constrained to acknowledge . But their number is insignificant . Like Christianity ,-it has been the fate of Masonry to be persecuted from her cradle , but like Christianity also ,

persecutions have only given her new strength and impetus , as the storms which cannot prostrate the oak serve only to make its roots take firmer hold on the soil , so that its branches can reach out tooverhang larger multitudes seeking repose in their heads , and its defiant head to be lifted nearer

thanever to the skies . And to-day , as I look abroad upon the land , I see it thickly dotted with Masonic Lodges . I count senators , divines , generals , judges , scholars , and the leaders of nearly every tradeand profession iu our swelling bands . With a-

fringe extending round from Grand Lake to Vancouver ' s Island , and from the Rio Grande to the-Florida Reefs , our brotherhood is woven of many intersecting fibres of gold into a seamless texture , which not even the earthquake shock of the

latecivil conflict could tear asunder . It was during that conflict my attention was first attracted to thebenign influences of your society . Too young atthe time to be eligible to its rights , I was astonished at the fact that while churches ( I speak

it with regret ) participated with conspicuous rancour in the hatred engendered by the strife ,. Masonic obligations were with rare exceptions kept intact , and the spirit of Masonry spanned the track of the war-tempest with rainbow hues that

lent to desolation itself a beauty which seemed of heaven . I was astonished to see where cities and towns were burned , and colleges and sanctuaries laid in ashes , Masonic edifices standing erect ,. unscathed , as if they bore a charmed life and in their very lonelihood gave persuasive evidence to