KNIGHTHOOD, MASONIC. There is much difference of opinion as to the origin of this branch of the Masonic Insti tution, and without attempting to show that the form of conferring the order is identical with that of the gallant and devoted soldier-monks of the Crusades, it cannot be controverted that their Institution possessed some features of similarity to Freemasonry. The connection between the Knights Templar and the Masonic Institution has been repeatedly asserted by the friends and enemies of both. Bro. Lawrie says: "We know the Knights Templar not only possessed the mysteries, but performed the ceremonies, and inculcated the duties of Freemasons;" and he attributes the dissolution of the Order to the discovery of their being Freemasons, and assembling in secret to practice the rites of the Order. He endeavors to show that they were initiated into the Order by the Druses, a Syrian Fraternity which existed at that date, and indeed now continues. In a French MS. ritual of about 1780, in the degree of Black and White Eagle (30th), the transmission of Freemasonry by the Templars is most positively asserted. The history of the Templars and their persecution is minutely described in the closing address, and the Grand Commander adds: "This is, my illustrious brother, how and by whom Masonry is derived and has been transmitted to us. You are now a Knight Templar, and on a level with them." The Order of the Temple,. in the twelfth was divided into three classes : Knights, Priests, and Serving Brethren. Every candidate for admission into the first class must have received the honor of knighthood in due form, and according to the laws of chivalry, and consequently the Knights Tem plar were all men of noble birth. The second class, or the Priests, were not originally a part of the Order, but by the bull of Pope Alexander, known as the bull omne datum optimum, it was ordained that they might be admitted, to enable the Knights more commodiously to hear divine ser 7.ce, and to receive the sacraments. Serving Brothers, like the Priests, were not a part of the primitive institution. They owed their existence to the increasing prosperity and luxury of the Order. Over this society, thus constituted, was placed a presiding officer, with the title of Grand Master. His power, though great, was limited. He was in war the commander-in-chief of all the forces of the Temple. In his hands was placed the whole patronage of the Order, and as the vicegerent of the Pope, he was the spiritual head and bishop of all the clergy belonging to the society. He was, however, much controlled and guided by the chapter, with out whose consent he was never permitted to draw out or expend the money of the Order. The Grand Master resided originally at Jerusalem; afterward, when that city was lost, at Acre, and finally at Cyprus. His duty always required him to be in the Holy Land; he, consequently, never resided in Europe. He was elected for life from among the Knights in the following manner: On the death of the Grand Master, a Grand Prior was chosen to administer the affairs of the Order until a successor could be elected. When the day, which had been appointed for the election, arrived, the chapter usually assembled at the chief seat of the Order; three or more of the most esteemed Knights were then proposed, the Grand Prior collected the votes, and he who bad received the greatest number was nominated to be the electing Prior. An Assistant was then associated with him in the person of another Knight. These two remained all night in the chapel, engaged in prayer. In the morning, they chose two others, and these four, two more, and so on until the number of twelve (that of the Apostles) had been selected. The twelve then selected a chaplain. The thirteen then proceeded to vote for a Grand Master, who was elected by a majority of votes. When the election was completed, it was announced to the assembled brethren, and when all had promised obedience, the Prior, if the person was present, said to him: "In the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, we have chosen, and do choose thee, Bro. N., to be our Master." Then, turning to the brethren, he said: "Beloved sirs and brethren, give thanks unto God, behold here our Master." The mode of reception into the Order is described to have been exceedingly solemn. A novitiate was enjoined by the canons, though practically it was in general dispensed with. The candidate was received in a chapter assembled in the chapel of the Order, all strangers being rigorously excluded. The Preceptor opened the busi ness with an address to those present, demanding if they knew any just cause or impediment why the candidate should not be admitted. If no objection was made, the candidate was conducted into an adjacent chamber, where two or three of the Knights, placing before his view the rigor and austerities of the order, demanded if he still persisted in entering it. If he persisted, he was asked if he was married or betrothed, had made a vow in any other order, if he owed more than he could pay, if he was of sound body, without any secret infirmity, and free? If his answers proved satisfactory, they left him and returned to the chapter, and the Preceptor again asked, if any one had anything to say against his being received. If all were silent, he asked if they were willing to receive him. On their assenting, the candidate was led in by the Knights who had questioned him,.and who now instructed him in the mode of asking admission. He advanced, and kneeling before the Preceptor, with folded hands, said: "Sir, I am come before God, and before you and the brethren; and I pray and beseech you, for the sake of God, and our sweet Lady, to receive me into your society and the good works of the order, as one who, all his life long, will be the servant and slave of the order." The Preceptor then inquired of him if he had well considered all the trials and difficulties which awaited him in the order, adjured him on the Holy Evan gelists to speak the truth, and then put to him the question which had already been put to him in the preparation-room, further inquiring if he was a Knight, and the son of a Knight and gentlewoman, and if he was a priest. He then asked him the following questions: "Do you promise to God, and Mary, our dear Lady, obedience, as long as you live, to the Master of the Temple, and the Prior who shall be set over you? do you promise chastity of the body? do you further promise a strict compliance with the laudable customs and usages of the order now in force, and such as the Master and Knights may hereafter add? will you fight for and defend, with all your might, the Holy Land of Jerusalem, and never quit the order but with the consent of the Master and Chapter ? and lastly, do you agree that you never will see a Christian unjustly deprived of his inheritance, nor be aiding in such a deed?" The answers to all these questions being in the affirmative, the Preceptor then said: "In the name of God, and of Mary, our dear Lady, and in the name of St. Peter of Rome, and our
Father the Pope, and in the name of all the brethren of the Temple, we receive you to all the good works of the order, which have been performed from the beginning, and will be performed to the end, you, your father, your mother, and all those of your family whom you let participate therein. So you, in like inanner, receive us to all the good works which you have performed and will perform. 11'n assure you of bread and water, the poor clothing of the order, and labor and toil enow." The Preceptor then took the white mantle, with its ruddy cross, placed it about his neck, and bound it fast. The Chaplain repeated the 133d Psalm : "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !" and the prayer of the Holy Spirit, "Deus qui corda fidelium;" each brother said a pater, and the Preceptor and Chaplain kissed the candidate. He then placed himself at the feet of the Preceptor, who exhorted him to peace and charity, to chastity, obedience, humility, and piety, and so the ceremony was ended. The secret mysteries of the Templars, most of the historians say, were celebrated on Good Friday; nun what those mysteries were, we discover from those who still carry them on as their successors—the order as kept up in France and other countries on the continent—not the Masonic institution. They are accustomed in these secret rites to act over the events which took place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the Holy Week, and then solemnize with great pomp the resurrection of Christ. One writer, Rosati, dis tinctly asserts that the Templars were a branch of the Masonic institution, whose great object in that age was the overthrow of the papal tyranny, and the monstrous fabric it had erected of idolatry, superstition, and impiety; and hence he traces the determination of the Pope to crush, at all hazards, the order of the Temple, with all its daring innovations. Though there is a great probability, if not a certainty, that Masonry was a leading feature' in the Templar institution, we are inclined to believe that the mysteries of the craft were the only secrets of their practice. The wonderful architectural and engineering works which, both in Asia and Europe, were constructed under the direction of the Templars and Hos pitallers—more particularly the former—are, it seems to us, very striking evidence of the Masonic origin of the Knights. Gervase of Canterbury, who wrote in the twelfth century, speaks of both French and English artificers, skillful to work in stone and in wood, who traveled in guilds or societies, for the purpose of proffering their services wherever the architect's and builder's art required to be exercised. These were the only men who possessed the requisite knowledge, and from their ranks kings and princes frequently impressed by violence workmen whom they required to construct their palaces or fortresses. They were the operative Freemasons, to whose surpassing skill and knowledge of the laws of beauty and just proportion we are indebted for the magnificent cathedrals which adorn many parts of Europe. They met in Lodges close tiled from the vulgar gaze, and pursued the practice of their mystic rites under the sanction of the throne and the church. The traveling bodies of Freemasons, which we have mentioned, consisted of brethren well skilled in every branch of knowledge; among their ranks were many learned ecclesiastics, whose names survive to the present day in the magnificent edifices which they assisted to erect. The Knights of the Temple, themselves a body of military monks, partaking both of the character of soldiers and priests, preserved in their Order a rank exclusively clerical, the individuals belonging to which took no part in warfare, who were skilled in letters, and devoted themselves to the civil and religious affairs of the Order; they were the histo rians of the period, and we know that all the learning of the time was in their keeping, in common with the other ecclesiastics of their day. From the best information we are possessed of regarding the Order, we believe there can be little doubt that these learned clerks introduced the whole fabric of Craft Masonry into the system of knighthood, and that not only was the speculative branch of the science by them incorporated with the laws and organization of the Knights, hut to their operative skill were the Templars indebted for their triumphs in architecture and fortification. We have shown that the early Freemasons were the architects of all structures above the hovels of the peasantry; and we have endeavored to trace to influence the eminence attained in structural science by the various knightly orders. In our opinion, there is little room to doubt that the practice of Masonry soon became a prominent feature of the Order, and that Masonic secrets alone were the far-famed mysteries of the Templars. As it is evident that these pursuits would not in the eyes of the world appear to further the original objects of the chivalric orders, we cannot be surprised that the knights made no profession of their Masonic studies; perhaps, even at that remote period, there was a well-grounded fear of the animosity which has been since so fearfully developed in the church of Rome against all secret societies. That power has ever trembled at the progress of liberality and science, knowing full well that in proportion as the intellect of man is strengthened by freedom of thcught, her influence, founded upon blind superstition and puerile credulity, must gradually disappear from the earth. In illustration of the alarm of the papal church at societies of this kind, we will refer, though not strictly belonging to our subject, to the Academy of Secrets, established in Italy in the sixteenth century, by Baptista Porta, for the advancement of science. This association was called I Secreti, and was accessible only to such as hail made some new discovery (real or supposed) in physical science. Porta did not content himself with this private means of instruction and education; he also, to the utmost of his power, promoted public academies, wherein were taught the then recondite sciences of chemistry, optics, and natural history. His voluminous works extended his fame, and he was visited by the learned from all parts of Europe. Such a man, in that age, could not escape the notice and pressing attentions of the Holy Church. Writing, of course, much that was perfectly incomprehensible to the ignorant priests of the time, he was summoned to Rome to answer for his conduct and opinions.