W
When Acre fell in 1292, the Templars, having lost all their possessions and a great number of their members in the Holy Land, retired with the other Christians to Cyprus. Having probably seen the folly of all hope of recovering the Holy Land, they grew indifferent about it; few members joined them from Europe, and it is more than probable that they meditated a removal of the chief seat of the Order to France.[15]The Hospitallers, on theother hand, with more prudence, as events showed, resolved to continue the war against the infidels, and they attacked and conquered Rhodes; while the Teutonic knights transferred the sphere of their pious warfare to Prussia against its heathen inhabitants. Thus, while the Templars were falling under the reproach of being luxurious Knights, their rivals rose in consideration, and there was an active and inveterate enemy ready to take advantage of their ill-repute.
Philip the Fair, a tyrannical and rapacious prince, was at that time on the throne of France. His darling object was to set the power of the monarchy above that of the church. In his celebrated controversy with Pope Boniface, the Templars had been on the side of the Holy See. Philip, whose animosity pursued Boniface even beyond the grave, wished to be revenged on all who had taken his side; moreover, the immense wealth of the Templars, which he reckoned on making his own if he could destroy them, strongly attracted the king, who had already tasted of the sweets of the spoliation of the Lombards and the Jews; and he probably, also, feared the obstacle to the perfect establishment of despotism which might be offered by a numerous, noble, and wealthy society, such as the Templars formed. Boniface's successor, Clement V. was the creature of Philip, to whom he owed his dignity, and at his accession had bound himself to the performance of six articles in favour of Philip, one of which was not expressed. It was probably inserted without any definite object, and intended to serve the interest of the French monarch on any occasion which might present itself.
paris_temple
LA TOUR DU TEMPLE À PARIS
It had been the object of Pope Boniface to form the three Military Orders into one, and he had summoned them to Rome for that purpose, but his death prevented it. Clement, on this, June 6, 1306, addressed the Grand Masters of the Templars and the Hospitallers, inviting them to come to consult with him about the best mode of supporting the Kings of Armenia and Cyprus. He desired them to come as secretly as possible, and with a very small train, as they would find abundance of their Knights this side the sea; and he directed them to provide for the defence of Limisso in Cyprus during their short absence. Fortunately perhaps for himself and his Order, the Master of the Hospitallers was then engaged in the conquest of Rhodes, but Jacques de Molay,[16]the Master of the Templars, immediately prepared to obey the mandate of the Pope, and he left Cyprus with a train of 60 Knights, and a treasure of 150,000 florins of gold, and agreat quantity of silver money, the whole requiring twelve horses to carry it.[17]He proceeded to Paris, where he was received with the greatest honours by the King, and he deposited his treasure in the Temple of that city. It is, as we have said, not impossible that it was the intention of Molay to transfer the chief seat of the Order thither, and that he had, therefore, brought with him its treasure and the greater part of the members of the chapter; and indeed it is difficult to say how early the project of attacking the Templars entered into the minds of Philip and his obsequious lawyers, or whether he originally aimed at more than mulcting them under the pretext of reformation: and farther, whether the first informers against them were suborned or not. The records leave a considerable degree of obscurity on the whole matter. All we can learn is, that a man named Squin de Flexian, who had been a Prior of the Templars, and had been expelled the Order for heresy and various vices, was lying in prison at Paris or Toulouse, it is uncertain which. In the prison with him was a Florentine named Noffo Dei, "a man," says Villani, "full of all iniquity." These two began to plan how they might extricate themselves from the confinement to which they seemed perpetually doomed. The example of the process against the memory of Pope Boniface, shewed them that no lie was too gross or absurd not toobtain ready credence, and they fixed on the Templars as the objects of their charges. Squin told the governor of the prison that he had a communication to make to the King, which would be of more value to him than if he had gained a kingdom, but that he would only tell it to the King in person. He was brought to Philip, who promised him his life, and he made his confession, on which the King immediately arrested some of the Templars, who are said to have confirmed the truth of Squin's assertions. Shortly afterwards, it is said, similar discoveries were made to the Pope by his chamberlain, Cardinal Cantilupo, who had been in connexion with the Templars from his eleventh year.
Squin Flexian declared,1.That every member on admission into the Order swore on all occasions to defend its interests right or wrong;2.That the heads of the Order were in secret confederacy with the Saracens, had more of Mahommedan unbelief than of Christian faith, as was proved by the mode of reception into the Order, when the novice was made to spit and trample on the crucifix, and blaspheme the faith of Christ;3.That the superiors were sacrilegious, cruel, and heretical murderers; for if any novice, disgusted with its profligacy, wished to quit the Order, they secretly murdered him, and buried him by night; so, also, when women were pregnant by them, they taught them how to produce abortion, or secretly put the infants to death;4.The Templars were addicted to the error of the Fraticelli, and, like them, despised the authority of the Pope and the Church;5.That the superiors were addicted to the practice of horrible crimes, and if any one opposed them, they were condemned by the Master to perpetual imprisonment;6.That their houses were the abode of every vice and iniquity;7.That they endeavoured to put the Holy Land into the hands of the Saracens, whom they favoured more than the Christians. Three other articles of less importance completed this first body of charges. It is remarkable, that we do not find among them those which made such a figure in the subsequent examinations; namely, the devil appearing among them in the shape of a cat; their idolatrous worship of an image with one or three heads, or a skull covered with human skin, with carbuncles for eyes, before which they burned the bodies of their dead brethren, and then mingled the ashes with their drink, thereby thinking to gain more courage; and, finally, their smearing this idol with human fat.[18]
It was unfortunate for the Templars that their chapters were held in secret,[19]and by night, for an opportunity wasthereby afforded to their enemies of laying whatever secret enormities they pleased to their charge, to refute which, by the production of indifferent witnesses, was consequently out of their power. Philip having now all things prepared, sent, like his descendant Charles IX. previous to the St. Bartholomew massacre, secret orders to all his governors to arm themselves on the 12th of October, and on the following night, but not sooner, on pain of death, to open the king's letter, and act according to it. On Friday the 13th of October, all the Templars throughout France were simultaneously arrested at break of day. The unhappy Knights were thrown into cold cheerless dungeons, (for they were arrested, we should remember, at the commencement of winter), had barely the necessaries of life, were deprived of the habit of their Order, and of the rites and comforts of the church; were exposed to every species of torture then in use, were shown a real or pretended letter of the Grand Master, in which he confessed several of the charges, and exhorted them to do the same; and finally, were promised life and liberty, if they freely acknowledged the guilt of the Order. Can we then be surprisedthat the spirit of many a Knight was broken, that any hope of escape from misery was eagerly caught at, and that falsehoods, the most improbable, were declared to be true? And it is remarkable that the most improbable charges are those which were most frequently acknowledged, so just is the observation, that men will more readily in such circumstances acknowledge what is false than what is true; for the false they know can be afterwards refuted by its own absurdity, whereas truth is permanent.
Of the Templars in England 228 were examined;[20]the Dominican, Carmelite, Minorite, and Augustinian friars brought abundance of hearsay evidence against them, but nothing of any importance was proved; in Castile and Leon it was the same; in Aragon the Knights bravely endured the torture, and maintained their innocence; in Germany all the lay witnesses testified in their favour; in Italy their enemies were more successful, as the influence of the Pope was there considerable, yet in Lombardy the Bishops acquitted the Knights. Charles of Anjou, the cousin of Philip, and the foe of the Templars, who had sided with Frederick against him, could not fail, it may be supposed, in getting some evidences of their guilt in Sicily, Naples, and Provence. It isnot undeserving of attention, that one of these witnesses, who had been received into the Order in Catalonia, (where all who were examined had declared the innocence of the Order), said he had been received there in the usual impious and indecent manner, and mentioned the appearance and the worship of the cat in the chapter!! Such is the value of rack-extorted testimony! In fine, in every country out of the sphere of the immediate influence of Clement, Philip, and Charles, the general innocence of the Order was acknowledged. In Portugal they were preserved under the altered appellation of the Knights of Christ,—a change which was effected by the friendly policy of Prince Denys, who in 1218, secured for them the sanction of the successor of Clement.[21]
Throughout the entire process against the Templars, from October 1307 to May 1312, the most determined design ofthe King and his ministers to destroy the Order meets us at every step; Philip would have blood to justify robbery; several Templars had already expired on the rack, perished from the rigour of their imprisonment, or died by their own hands; but on the 12th May 1310, fifty-four Templars who had confessed, but afterwards retracted, were by his order committed to the flames, in Paris, as relapsed heretics. They endured with heroic constancy the most cruel tortures, asserting with their latest breath the innocence of the Order, though offered life if they would confess, and implored to do so by their friends and relatives. Similar executions took place in other towns. The Pope soon went heart and hand with Philip. In vain did the bishops assembled at Vienne propose to hear those members who came forward as the defenders of the Order. A Bull of the Pope was fulminated against the Order,[22]and transferred its possessions to the Knights of St. John, who, however, had to pay such enormous fines to the King and Pope before they could enter on them, as almost ruined them; so that if Philip did notsucceed to the utmost of his anticipations, he had little reason to complain of his share.[23]The members of the society of the Templars were permitted to enter that of the Hospitallers,—a strange indulgence for those that had spitten on the cross, and practised horrible vices.
But the atrocious scene was yet to come which was to complete the ruin of the Templars, and satiate the vengeance of their enemies. Their Grand Master, Molay, and three other dignitaries of the Order, still survived: And, though they had made the most submissive acknowledgments to their unrelenting persecutors, yet the influence which they had over the minds of the vulgar, and their connection with many of the Princes of Europe, rendered them formidable and dangerous to their oppressors. By the exertion of that influence, they might restore union to their dismembered party, and inspire them with courage to revenge the murder of their companions;[24]or, by adopting a more cautious method, theymight repel, by uncontrovertible proofs, the charges for which they suffered; and, by interesting all men in their behalf, they might expose Philip to the attacks of his own subjects, and to the hatred and contempt of Europe. Aware of the dangers to which his character and person would be exposed by pardoning the surviving Templars, the French Monarch commanded the Grand Master and his Brethren to be led out to a scaffold, erected for the purpose, and there to confess before the public, the enormities of which their Order had been guilty, and the justice of the punishment which had been inflicted on their brethren. If they adhered to their former confession, a full pardon was promised to them; but if they should persist in maintaining their innocence, they were threatened with destruction on a pile of wood, which the executioners had erected in their view, to awe them into compliance. While the multitude were standing around in awful expectation, ready, from the words of the prisoners, to justify or condemn their King, the venerable Molay, with a cheerful and undaunted countenance, advanced, in chains, to the edge of the scaffold; and, with a firm and impressive tone, thus addressed the spectators.—"It is but just, that in this terrible day, and in the last moments of my life, I lay open the iniquity of falsehood, and make truth to triumph. I declare then, in the face of heaven and earth, and I confess, though to my eternal shame and confusion, that I have committed the greatest of crimes; but it has been only in acknowledging those that have been charged with so much virulence upon an Order, which truth obliges me to pronounceinnocent. I made the first declaration they required of me, only to suspend the excessive tortures of the rack, and mollify those that made me endure them. I am sensible what torments they prepare for those that have courage to revoke such a confession. But the horrible sight which they present to my eyes, is not capable of making me confirm one lie by another. On a condition so infamous as that, I freely renounce life, which is already but too odious to me. For what would it avail me to prolong a few miserable days, when I must owe them only to the blackest of calumnies."[25]In consequence of this manly revocation, the Grand Master and his companions were hurried into the flames, where they retained that contempt for death which they had exhibited on former occasions. This mournful scene extorted tears from the lowest of the vulgar.[26]Four valiant Knights, whosecharity and valour had procured them the gratitude and applause of mankind, suffering, without fear, the most cruel and ignominious death, was, indeed, a spectacle well calculated to excite emotions of pity in the hardest hearts. Humanity shudders at the recital of the horrid deed; and if the voice of impartial posterity has not, with one accord, pronounced the unqualified acquittal of the Templars, it has branded with the mark of eternal infamy the conduct of their accusers and judges.
B
But the persecution of the Templars in the fourteenth 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 brother hood was not suppressed,—and, startling as is the assertion, there has been a succession of Knights Templars from the twelfth century down even to these days; the chain of transmission is perfect in all itslinks. Jacques 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 that time to the present there has been a regular and uninterrupted line of Grand Masters. The charter[27]by which the supreme authority has been transmitted, is judicial and conclusive evidence of the Order's continued existence. The charter of transmission, with the signatures of the various chiefs of the Temple, is still preserved at Paris, with the ancient statutes of the Order, the rituals, the records, the seals, the standards, and other memorials of the early Templars.
Bertrand du Guesclin
BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN
From a Wood-cut in a rare gothic folio, printed at Lyons, 1490, preserved in the Bibliothèque Royale, Paris; and called the "Chronique de Bertrand du Guesclin."
The brotherhood has been headed by the bravest cavaliers of 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 the Templars' red cross. Bertrand du Guesclin was the Grand Master from 1357 till his death in 1380, and he was the only French commander who prevailed over the chivalry of our Edward III. From 1478 to 1497, we may mark Robert Lenoncourt, a cavalier of one of the most ancient and valiant families of Lorraine. Phillippe Chabot, a renowned captain in the reign of Francis I.,wielded the staff of power from 1516 to 1543. The illustrious family of Montmorency appear as Knights Templars, and Henry, the first Duke, was the chief of the Order from the year 1574 to 1614. At the close of the seventeenth century, the Grand Master was James Henry de Duras, a marshal of France, the nephew of Turenne, and one of the most skilful soldiers of Louis XIV. The Grand Masters from 1724 to 1776 were three princes of the royal Bourbon family. The names and years of power of these royal personages who acknowledged the dignity of the Order of the Temple, were Louis Augustus Bourbon, Duke of Maine, 1724-1737,—Louis Henry Bourbon Conde, 1737-1741,—and Louis Francis Bourbon Conty, 1741-1746. The successor of these princes in the Grand Mastership of the Temple was Louis Hercules Timoleon, Duke de Cosse Brissac, the descendant of an ancient family long celebrated in French history for its loyalty and gallant bearing. He accepted the office in 1776, and sustained it till he died in the cause of royalty at the beginning of the French Revolution. The Order has now at its head Sir William Sidney Smith, of chivalric renown, who became Regent upon the death of the late Grand Master, Bernard Raymond Fabré Palaprat. The high and heroic character of Sir Sidney Smith,—[28]whose deeds of arms at St. Jean d'Acre, rivalling thoseof the Royal Crusader, Richard I, obtained for him by Eastern Nations the appellation of the modern "Cœur de Lion,"—specially pointed him out as the most worthy of Christian Knights to fill this eminent station. He who with such noble philanthropy founded and presided over the Society of Knights Liberators of the White Slaves in Africa, cannot but shed additional lustre on the Soldiery of the Temple, whose professed object originally was, and yet is, the protection of defenceless pilgrims, and the rescuing of Christians from Infidel bondage. Under such a Chief the Order must prosper, and there are now Colleges or Establishments in England and in many of the principal Cities of Europe.
Sir Sidney Smith
ADMIRAL SIR SIDNEY SMITH.
Engraved by W. Greatbatch from a picture by F. Opie R.A.
Thus the very ancient and sovereign Order of the Temple is in full and chivalric existence, like those Orders of Knighthood which were either formed in imitation of it, or had their origin in the same noble principles of chivalry. It has mourned as well as flourished, but there is in its nature and constitution a principle of vitality which has carried it through all the storms of fate; its continuance, by representatives as well as by title, is as indisputable a fact as the existence of any other chivalric fraternity. The Templars of these days claim no titular rank, yet their station is so far identified with that of the other Orders of Knighthood, that they assert equal purity of descent from the same bright source of chivalry; nor is it possible to impugn the legitimate claims to honourable estimation, which the modern brethren of the Temple derive from the antiquity and pristine lustre of their Order, without at the same time shaking to its centre the whole venerable fabric of knightly honour.
After this short account of the continuation of the Order, which we have extracted from Mill's Chivalry, it may be interesting to describe the present nature and objects of the Institution; and we shall accordingly make a brief abstract of the statutes established by the Convent-General held at Versailles in 1705, under the Grand Mastership of the Regent Duke of Orleans, and by succeeding General Convocations, so far as they relate to these subjects. The Order of the Fellow Soldiers of the Temple consists of two distinct classes, termed a Superior and Inferior Militia; theformer comprising all Knights consecrated according to rites, rules, and usages, with their Esquires; and the latter, the humbler brethren or persons admittedpropter artem, and the candidates, or as they are designated, thepostulantsfor the honours of Chivalry. Except as a serving brother,[29]no one is eligible even to the lower grade, who is not of distinguished rank in society, which in Great Britain is understood to imply that station in life which would entitle a gentleman to attend the Court of his Sovereign. The Candidate must moreover be strongly recommended by Sponsors as a Christian of liberal education, eminent for virtue, morals, and good breeding, and in no case is a scrutiny into these qualifications dispensed with, unless the aspirant be a Knight of Christ, a Teutonic Knight, or the descendant of a Knight Templar. Should he be ambitious of the rank of Novice Esquire, which usually precedes Knighthood, he is farther called on to produce proofs of nobility in the fourth generation; and a deficiency in this requisite can only be supplied by a formal decree of the Grand Master, conferring on him the nobility necessary for his reception. Considerablefees are paid by all entrants; and members, on being promoted to the equestrian honours of the Order, are expected to make an oblation to the Treasury, the amount of which cannot be less than four drams of gold,[30]but generally very far exceeds that sum. Before receiving the vow of profession, which is still administered to all Chevaliers,[31]the Candidate makes a solemn declaration either that he does not belong to the Order of Malta,[32]or that he abjures the spirit of rival hostility which actuated the Knights of St. John in former days against the Templars. These preliminaries being arranged, his petition is finally decided on, either in a Conventual house, or by the special legate of the Grand Master, in whose name only his reception can be proclaimed, and once armed a Knight, and consecrated a Chevalier of the Temple, he cannot on any pretence whatever renounce the Order.[33]
At the head of the Hierarchy of the Order, ranks the Convent-General, or assembly of the Knights, but the executive power is vested in the Grand Master, whose authority is almost unbounded. He is elected for life from among the Knights, and it is declared impious to substitute a successor to him unless he be deceased, or shall have voluntarily abdicated; he may even nominate his successor by testament orotherwise to the Convent-General. He can create new houses and dignities on the Order, cancelling those already constituted, remit penalties, and confer all benefices and offices, the collation to which is not specially provided for in the statutes. He confirms all Diplomas of profession and patents of appointment, and may send legates possessing powers delegated by himself to different countries. His interpretation of the laws is valid, even against a statute of the Convent-General, and he alone has the power of proposing alterations in the rules to that assembly.
Next in honour to the Grand Master, unless he has publicly appointed a delegate or successor, are his four Deputes, orVicarii Magistrales, who are nominated by himself, and removable at his pleasure. After these follow the Members of the Grand Council, which consists of the Supreme Preceptor, and eight Grand Preceptors, the Primate of the Order, and his four Coadjutors General, with all the Grand Priors, Ministers, and other principal dignitaries that may be present at the Magisterial City. Each nation of the Order is presided over by its Grand Prior, appointed for life, whose language comprises the various subordinate divisions of Bailiwicks or Provinces; Commanderies; Convents of Knights and Noviciate Esquires; Abbeys of Ladies and Canonesses; Chapters of Postulants, and Conclaves of Initiation. Except in special cases, no Chevalier is eligible for a Commandery before the expiration of two years from his having obtained the honours of knighthood, and inlike manner no Commander can be appointed a Bailli, nor any Bailli a Grand Prior, before the same period has intervened.
In order that the objects of the Institution may be distinctly understood, we shall now proceed to translate a decree by the present Grand Master, bearing date the 4th September 1826, in explanation of the Vow of Profession which has been already referred to, observing, at the same time, that the Order of the Temple, being exclusively devoted to the Christian religion, cannot be considered in the slightest degree connected with Free Masonry, which, it is well known, welcomes equally to its bosom the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahommedan, requiring from each only a belief in a Divine Being, with a just sense of moral rectitude and conscientious obligation.
The decree alluded to states, that as the Vow contains manydispositionswhich, misconstructed, might appear incompatible with the advance of knowledge and manners of the age, it is declared that Candidates sign it under the following interpretation:—
1st, That by the Vow of Poverty, the Order does not mean to submit the Chevaliers to an absolute poverty, but to remind them that they ought always to be ready to share their fortune with the unfortunate, and to sacrifice it for the wants of the Order.
2d, That the vow of chastity, and of abhorring lewdness, is the solemn engagement of fulfilling the obligation that society imposes on all men to labour to overcome their vicious propensities, in order not to outrage either decency or morality.
3d, That the obedience due to the Grand Master, and to the dignitaries of the Order, does not exclude the duty imposed on every chevalier of conforming himself, as a man, to natural right, and of obeying, as a citizen, the government of his country.
4th, Lastly, That the Templars are not actuated by the desire of material conquests,—that their principal aim is not to recover the dominions of which the Order was despoiled, or the earth which received the body of Jesus the Christ, but to reconquer to the doctrine for which was precipitated into the tomb that divine preceptor of men,—the empire which it always had over the people when it was revealed to them in all its purity,—in a word, that the Templars are not ambitious of subduing the physical universe to their domination, but the nations that cover it to Christian morality.
It has frequently been asserted, that the Templars have always professed a religion peculiar to themselves, and much at variance with almost every religious creed at present in existence, but on this subject it is only necessary to say here, that although they possess many religious documents of anextraordinary nature, and, amongst others, a very ancient Greek manuscript ofEvangileand the Epistle of St. John, differing from the version contained in the vulgate, yet no chevalier is obliged to subscribe to them unless he be a candidate for certain offices in the Order. This subject is fully explained in a work lately published at Paris, "Recherches Historiques sur les Templiers et sur leurs Croyances Religieuses par J. Plivard, officier superieur d'Artillerie;" and, for the present, we are unwilling to enter upon it, not having as yet received theproces verbalof the Convent-General of the Order, lately assembled at Paris, to which the following question, under the authority of the Grand Master, was submitted:—"L'ordre etant Cosmopolite, et d'après le veu de profession dans la Chevalerie, est il convenable de laisser subsister dans les statuts des dispositions par lesquelles certains officiers de l'Ordre ne pouvent être choisis que parmis les Chevaliers professant la religion Johannite?"
The habit of the Order[34]consists, as formerly, of the white tunic and mantle, with the red cross on the left breast; a white cap with a red feather; a white silk sash fringed with red; white pantaloons, buff-boots, gold spurs and an equestrian sword with a silver hilt. The dress differs somewhataccording to the rank of the individual, but every Chevalier is bound to wear the gold ring of profession, with the Cross of the Order, and the letters, P. D. E. P.[35]together with his own name, and the date of his reception engraven thereon. Each Knight also is decorated with the conventual cross or jewel of the Order, which consists of a gold cross of eight points enamelled white, surmounted by the Grand Master's crown, and bearing on its centre a cross pattee enamelled gules.
In concluding these observations, we regret to say that the Order of the Temple, notwithstanding its undeniable claims to honourable distinction, has never enjoyed much consideration amongst our countrymen. Its exclusive character, together with the great expense and difficulty which attend admission into its ranks, no Englishman being legitimately eligible, unless formally recommended by the illustrious Grand Prior of England, has raised against it a host of enemies. Hence, calumnies have been propagated against it, and an institution perfectly unconnected with politics, and actuated by the purest principles of Christian Philanthropy,[36]has been represented as engendering false notions of Government and wild infidelity. But the registers of the Temple contain the respected names of Massillon and Fenelon; Frederick the Great, and Napoleon[37]sanctioned its ceremonies, and honoured its officers; and even in these days, princes of theblood, and some of the most illustrious nobles, of our own and other countries, have not disdained to display the humble ring of profession, along with the gorgeous decorations of the Garter and the Golden Fleece. Scattered over the mighty empire of Great Britain, there are not more than forty subjects of Her Majesty who are Knights Templars; and the whole Members of the Order do not probably at this moment exceed three hundred; but we assert, without fear of contradiction, that no institution equally limited can boast of a greater number of distinguished and honourable associates.
Templars of Scotland
T
The Knights of the Temple were introduced into Scotland before 1153 by King David the First, who established them at Temple on the Southesk,[38]and who was so attached to the brotherhood, that we are told by an old historian "Sanctus David de prœclara Militia Templi optimos fratres secum retinens, eos diebus et noctibus morum suorum fecit essecustodes."[39]Malcolm, the grandson of David, conferred on the brethren "in liberam et puram Elymosynam unum plenarium Toftum in quolibet Burgo totius terræ," which foundation was enlarged by his successors, William the Lion and Alexander the Second. The charter of the latter is still in the possession of Lord Torphichen, whereby he grants and confirms "Deo et fratribus Templi Salomonis de Jerusalem omnes illas rectitudines, libertatis et consuetudines quas RexDavidet Rex Malcolm et decessus pater meus Rex Willielmuseis dederunt et concesserunt, sicut scripta eorum authentica attestant." This curious document, after enumerating certain of these rights and liberties, scilicet,—the king's sure peace; the privilege of buying, selling, and trading with all his subjects; freedom from all tribute and toll, &c. proceeds "Et nullus eis injuriam faciat, vel fieri consentiat super meam defensionem, Et ubicunque in tota terra mea ad judiorum (q. judicium) venerint, causa eorum primum tractata, et prius rectum suum habeant, et postea faciant. Et nullus ponat hominem predictorum fratrum nostrorum ad foram judicii si noluerint, &c. Et omnes libertates et consuetudines quas ipsi per alias regiones habent in terra mea ubique habeant."
These general privileges, throughout Europe, were very extensive. The Templars were freed from all tythes to the church, and their priests were entitled to celebrate mass, and to absolve from sins to the same extent as bishops, a privilege which was strongly objected to by the latter. Their houses possessed the right of sanctuary or asylum for criminals. They could be witnesses in their own cause, and were exempted from giving testimony in the cause of others. They were relieved by the papal bulls from all taxes, and from subjection and obedience to any secular power. By these great immunities, the Order was rendered in a manner independent, but it would appear, nevertheless, that both the Templars and Hospitallers considered themselves subjects of the countries to which they belonged, and took part in the nationalwars, for we find by the Ragman Roll, "Freere Johan de Sautre, Mestre de la Chevalier del Temple en Ecoce," and another Brother, swearing fealty to Edward I. in 1296; and the author of the Annals of Scotland, taking notice of the Battle of Falkirk, 12th July 1298, informs us, that the only persons of note who fell were Brian le Jay, Master of the English Templars, and the Prior of Torphichen in Scotland, a Knight of another Order of religious soldiery. The former of these Chevaliers met his death by the hand of the redoubted Sir William Wallace, who advanced alone from the midst of his little band, and slew him with a single blow, although the historian adds, that Sir Brian le Jay was a Knight Templar of high military renown, who had shewn himself most active against the Scots.[40]
Little is known of the farther History of the Knights Templars in Scotland from the time of Alexander II. down to the beginning of the 14th century, excepting that their privileges were continued to them by succeeding Kings, whose bounty and piety were in those ages continually directed towards the religious Orders. By their endowments,and the bequests of the nobles, the possessions of the Order came to be so extensive, that their lands were scattered "per totum regnum Scotiæ, a limitibus versus Angliam, et sic discendo per totum regnum usque ad Orchades." Besides the House of the Temple in Mid-Lothian, the following Establishments or Priories of the Order may be enumerated, viz. St. Germains, in East Lothian; Inchynan, in Renfrewshire; Maryculter, in Kincardineshire; Aggerstone, in Stirlingshire; Aboyne, in Aberdeenshire; Derville or Derval, in Ayrshire; Dinwoodie, in Dumfriesshire; Red-abbey-stedd, in Roxburghshire, and Temple Liston, in West-Lothian.
The date of the spoliation of the Templars of Scotland, corresponds of course with that of the persecution of the Order in other countries, and it is to the credit of our forefathers that we can obtain no account of any Member of the Brotherhood having been subjected to personal torture or suffering amongst them; their estates, however, appear to have been duly transferred to the possession of their rivals, the Knights Hospitallers; into which Order it is not improbable that, like their Brethren in England, a number of the Templars entered.
In November 1309, John de Soleure, the Papal Legate, and William, Bishop of St. Andrews, held an Inquisitorial Court at the Abbey of Holyrood to investigate the charges against the Templars, but Walter de Clifton, GrandPreceptor of the Order in North Britain,[41]and William de Middleton, were the only two Knights who appeared before the Tribunal, the proceedings of which, as recorded at length in Wilkins' Consilia, make no allusion to any punishment being inflicted, so that we may fairly conclude they were soon set at liberty. The Preceptor, in his examination, readily confessed that the rest of the Brethren had fled, and dispersed themselvespropter scandalium exortum contra ordinem, and we are told by a learned French writer, that having deserted the Temple, they had ranged themselves under the banners of Robert Bruce, by whom they were formed into a new Order, the observances of which were based on those of the Templars, and became, according to him, the source of Scottish Free Masonry.[42]This statement corresponds withthe celebrated Charter of Larmenius already referred to, in which the Scottish Templars are excommunicated asTempli desertores, anathemate percussos; and along with the Knights of St. John,dominiorum Militiæ spoliatores, placed for ever beyond the pale of the Temple,extra gyrum Templi nunc, et in futurum; and it is likewise supported in some measure by the authority of the accurate historian of Free Masonry, M. Thory, who, in his "Acta Latomorum," states that Robert Bruce founded the Masonic Order of Heredom de Kilwinning, after the Battle of Bannockburn, reserving to himself and his successors on the Throne of Scotland, the office and title of Grand Master. Scottish tradition has, moreover, always been in favour of this origin of the Ancient Mother Kilwinning Lodge, which certainly at one time possessed other degrees of Masonry besides those of St. John; and it is well known to our Masonic readers, that there are even in our own days at Edinburgh, a few individuals claiming to be the representatives of the Royal Order established by Bruce, which, though now nearly extinct in this country,[43]still flourishes in France, where it was established by Charter from Scotland, and even by the Pretender himself, in the course of last century, and is now conferred as the highest and most distinguished grade of Masonry, sanctioned by the Grand Orient, under the title of theRose Croix de Heredom de Kilwinning. It may be interesting to add, that theintroduction on the Continent of this ancient branch of our national Masonry, has been commemorated by a splendid medal struck at Paris, bearing, amongst other devices, the Royal Arms and Motto of Scotland; and that the Brethren of the Lodge of Constancy at Arras, still preserve with reverence an original charter of the Order, granted to their Chapter in 1747, by Charles Edward Stuart, and signed by that unfortunate Prince himself as the representative of the Scottish Kings.[44]Nor can any thing indicate more strongly the high estimation in which the chivalry of the Rosy Cross of Kilwinning is held in France, than the fact that the Prince Cambaceres, Arch-chancellor of the Empire, presided over it as Provincial Grand Master, (the office of supreme head being inherent in the Crown of Scotland,) for many years; and that he was succeeded in his dignity, if we mistake not, by the head of the illustrious family of Choiseul.
But whether the Scottish Templars really joined the victorious standard of Robert Bruce, and with him, as our countrymen would fain hope, fought and conquered at Bannockburn, or whether the majority of them transferred themselves along with the possessions of the Order, to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, certain it is, that from the time of the persecution, the Order of the Temple, together with all its wealth, became merged in that of the Hospitallers, though certainly not to such a degree as to obliterate all distinct traces of the Red Cross Knights. On the contrary, we find by a public document recorded entire in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, and datedtwo centuriesafter the incorporation of the Orders, that King James the Fourth confirmed all former grantssancto Hospitali de Jerusalem, et fratribus ejusdem militiæ Templi Salomonis,—a satisfactory proof that the Order, although proscribed by the Pope, was still retained conjointly with that of the Hospital, in law papers at least.[45]
The Knights of St. John had also been introduced into Scotland by King David the First, and had a charter granted to them by Alexander the Second, two years after that to the Templars. The Preceptory of Torphichen, in West Lothian, was their first, and continued to be their chief residence, and by the accession of the Temple lands and other additions, their property at the time of the Reformation came to be immense. When that event took place, the chief dignitaryor Grand Preceptor of the Order in Scotland, with a seat as a Peer in Parliament, was Sir James Sandilands, a cadet of the family of Calder, whose head, as is well known to readers of Scottish History, was the private friend of John Knox, and one of the first persons of distinction to embrace the reformed religion. We might suspect, that even before the promulgation of the statute 1560, prohibiting all allegiance within the realm to the See of Rome, the former personage had become indifferent to the charge confided to him by the Order; for a rescript from the Grand Master and Chapter at Malta, dated so early as the 1st of October 1557, and addressed to him, is still on record, wherein they complain "that many of the possessions, jurisdictions, &c. were conveyed or taken away from them contrary to the statutes and oaths, and to the damnation of the souls, as well of those who possessed them, as of those who, without sufficient authority, yielded them up; producing thereby great detriment to religion and the said Commandery;" but be this as it may, we are certain that the conversion of Sir James Sandilands, or as he was termed, the Lord of St. John of Jerusalem in Scotland, was followed by his surrender to the Crown of the whole possessions of the combined Templars and Hospitallers, which having been declared forfeited to the State on the ground that "the principal cause of the foundation of the Preceptory of Torphichen,Fratribus Hospitalis Hierosolimitani, Militibus Templi Salomonis, was the service enjoined to the Preceptor on oath to defend and advance the Roman Catholic Religion," were by a process of transformationwell understood by the Scottish Parliament of those days, converted into a Temporal Lordship, which the unfortunate Queen Mary, then only twenty years of age, and newly established amongst her Scottish subjects, in consideration of a payment of ten thousand crowns of the Sun, and of hisfidele, nobile, et gratuitum, servitium, nobis nostrisque patri et matri bonæ memoriæ, conferred on, or rather retransferred to the Ex Grand Preceptor himself and his heirs with the title of Torphichen, which, although the estate is much dilapidated, still remains in his family.[46]All this was transactedacted on the petition of Sir James Sandilands himself, with the formal approbation of the National Legislature; and after renouncing the profession of a soldier-monk, we find that the last of Scottish Preceptors of St. John became married and lived to a good old age, having died so late as 1596 without issue, when the title of Torphichen passed to his grand nephew, the lineal descendant of his elder brother, Sir John Sandilands of Calder.
We shall not pause to consider whether a body of Masonic Templars unconnected with the Hospitallers, and representing the Royal Order which Bruce is said to have instituted from the relict of the Ancient Knights, has been perpetuated in Scotland since the days of Bannockburn, having no means of illustrating so obscure a subject; but, with all due respect to the learned French writer, whose authority we have already quoted, we may observe, that the Masonic Tradition of the country does not connect the Templars with Bruce's Order in any way whatever, but, on the contrary, invariably conjoins those Knights with the Hospitallers, and consequently points to the period of the renunciation of Popery, as the time whenthey first sought refuge, and a continuance of their Chivalry among the "Brethren of the Mystic Tie." The Chevaliers also of the Rosy Cross of Kilwinning in France, own no alliance with Masonic Templary, which they consider a comparatively modern invention; nor do there exist, so far as we know, any authentic records anterior to the Reformation, to prove a connection between the Knights Templars and Freemasons in any part of the world, though we must not omit to mention, that a formal document in the Latin language is said to be deposited in a Lodge at Namur on the Meuse, purporting to be a proclamation by the Freemasons of Europe, "of the Venerable Society sacred to John," assembled by representatives from London, Edinburgh, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Venice, Brussels, and almost every other Capital City, at Cologne on the Rhine in 1535; and signed, amongst others, by the famous Melancthon, in which, after declaring that "to be more effectually vilified and devoted to public execration, they had been accused of reviving the Order of the Templars," they solemnly affirm, that "the Freemasons of St. John derive not their origin from the Templars, nor from any other Order of Knights; neither have they any, or the least communication with them directly, or through any manner of intermediate tie, being far more ancient," &c.—all of which would imply, that some sort of connection was understood in those days to exist between certain of the Masonic Fraternities and the Knights Templars. A Copy of this document was sent to Edinburgh in 1826, by M. de Marchot, an Advocate at Nivelles, and atranslation of it has been inserted under the attestation of a Notary Public in the Records of the Ancient Lodge of Edinburgh, (Mary's Chapel); but we have little faith in German documents on Free Masonry, unless supported by other testimony; and as no Historian of the Craft makes the slightest allusion to the great Convocation of the Brethren at Cologne, in the sixteenth century, rather than ask the reader to believe that it ever took place, we shall presume that M. de Marchot may have been deceived.[47]
From the era of the Reformation, the combined Order appears in Scotland only as a Masonic body; but there are some records to indicate that, so early as 1590, a few of the brethren had become mingled with the Architectural Fraternities, and that a Lodge at Stirling, patronised by King James, 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 neighbourhood. The next authentic notice we can find on this 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, theEcossais, theNovice, and theKnight Templar. The English Grand Lodge rejected the system of Ramsay,who, as is well known, along with the other adherents of the Stuart Family, transferred it to the Continent, where it became the corner-stone of thehauts grades, and the foundation of those innumerable ramifications into which an excellent and naturally simple institution has been very uselessly extended in France, Germany, and other countries abroad.[48]
In pursuing the very curious subject of thehauts grades, we may observe, however, that they never obtained much consideration during the lifetime of Ramsay, although they are invariably traced to him and to Scotland, the fairy land of Foreign Masonry,[49]but gathered their chief impulse from the disgraceful dissentions in the Masonic Lodges at Paris, about the middle of last century, which induced the Chevalier de Bonneville, and other distinguished persons at the Court of France, to form themselves into a separate institution, named the Chapitre de Clermont, in honour of one of the Princes of the Blood, Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Clermont, then presiding over the Masonic Fraternities. In this Chapter they established, amongst other degrees, Ramsay's system of theMasonic Templars, which, along with other high grades, was soon conveyed into the Northern Kingdoms of Europe, by the Officers of the French Army, but especially, by the Marquis de Bernez, and the Baron de Hund, the latter of whom made it the ground-work of his TemplarRegime de la Stricte Observance, which occupied, for several years, so prominent a place in the Secret Societies of Germany. This adventurer appeared in that country with a patent, under the sign-manual of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, appointing him Grand Master of the seventh province; but although he had invented a plausible tale in support of his title and authority,—both of which he affirmed had been made over to him by the Earl Marischal on his death-bed,—and of the antiquity of his order, which he derived, of course, from Scotland, where the chief seat of the Templars was Aberdeen,[50]—the imposture wassoon detected, and it was even discovered that he had himself enticed and initiated the ill-fated Pretender into his fabulous order of Chivalry. The delusions on this subject, however, had taken such a hold in Germany, that they were not altogether dispelled, until a deputation had actually visited Aberdeen, and found amongst the worthy and astonished brethren there, no trace either of very ancient Templars or Freemasonry.[51]From some of the Continental States, it is conjectured that Masonic Templary was transplanted into England and Ireland, in both of which countries it has continued to draw a languid existence, unconnected with any remnant of the Knights of St. John, whose incorporation in the Scottish Order, is one of the most remarkable features of that Institution. We are happy to add, nevertheless, that the most fraternal feelings and intercourse subsist between the Scottish brethren and the Templars of the sister kingdoms, and we can ourselves testify to the cordiality with which the former are received in the encampments of London.
During the whole of the eighteenth century the combined Order of the Temple and Hospital in Scotland can be but faintly traced, though I have the assurance of well-informedMasons that thirty or forty years ago 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 of obtaining documentary authority for their chapters, as well as of 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 Lodges of Templars in Scotland about the beginning of the present century, but these bodies maintained little concert or intercourse with each other, and were certainly not much esteemed in the country. Affairs were in this state when, about 1808, Mr. Alexander Deuchar was elected Commander, or Chief of the Edinburgh Encampment of Templars, and his brother, Major David Deuchar, along with other Officers of the Royal Regiment, was initiated into the Order. This infusion of persons of higher station and better information gave an immediate impulse to the Institution, and a General Convocation of all the Templars of Scotland, by representatives, having taken place at the Capital, they unanimously resolved to discard the Irish Charters, and to rest their claims, as therepresentatives of the Knights of old, on the general belief of the country in their favour, and the well-accredited traditions handed down from their forefathers. They further determined to entreat the Duke of Kent, who was a Chevalier du Temple, as well as 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, erecting them into a regular Conclave of Knights Templars, and Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The Duke of Kent lost no time in complying with their request, and his Charter bears date 19th of June 1811. By a provision in it, Mr. Deuchar, who had been nominated by the Brethren, was appointed Grand Master for life.
These wise and vigorous measures rescued the Order from obscurity; and in its improved condition, we find that it continued rapidly to flourish, numbering, in the course of a few years, no less than forty encampments or lodges in different parts of the British dominions holding of its Conclave. In 1828, the Order seemed to have received a fresh impulse, and assumed a novel and interesting aspect by the judicious introduction of the ancient chivalric costume and forms. Dissentions, however, unfortunately occurred, from 1830 to 1835, tending to impede the further progress of the Order; and for a while it may be said to have again almost fallen into abeyance. In the end of the latter year, a committee of ten gentlemen was appointed to settle all differences, as well as to frame properregulations for the future government of the Order. Under their arrangement and arbitration, the present statutes were established, and a reconciliation effected between the contending parties. In January 1836, Admiral Sir David Milne, K. C. B. was unanimously elected Grand Master, and at a general election in the same month, Lord Ramsay (now Earl of Dalhousie) was appointed his Depute, the various other offices in the Order being filled by gentlemen, generally well known, and of a respectable station in society. In the course of three months after the re-union, not fewer than a hundred persons, chiefly men of fortune, officers, and members of the learned professions, had been received into the Order in the Edinburgh Canongate Kilwinning Priory or Encampment alone. Since then, other Priories have been established in the country, and the Institution has assumed an importance and dignity worthy of the highest class of gentlemen connected with the Masonic Institutions of Scotland.