Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-05-10


and conseerated usage the holiday Of
the Order.
Under the command of Sir Knight
George Mellersh, the body marched
through the streets preceded by Arnold's
band. The route lay along the line OF
Main street as far as Beale; Beale as far
east asSecond, and Second as far north as
I DR.. Slater's church, where the religious
Observances of the Order were solemn
lied. DIR. Slater offieiated.
Il IN CHURCH.
The body having filed into church,
salutiRg their commander as they
passed.in, DR.. Slater, as chaplain of the
order, Officiated at the altar. He first
gave out the hymn,
"He dies, the friend Of sinners dies"
which was sung by the brotherhood, and
then DR.. Slater offered prayer. As a
prelude to his address he read from the
first chapter of the Acts Of the apostles
the account of our Saviour's accession.
H4HE THE ADDRESS.
He said it was with feelings of pleas
ure he stood before them as the minister
of the cross, and also, as he trusted, a
true and faithful Knight of their noble
order. He had been member of it, he
said, for thirty years. As Napoleon, at
the foot of the Pyramids, pointing to
them, said to the soldiers that followed
him into Africa, tThirty centuries look
down upon your actions" 3" so he could
tell the Sir knights present that many
centuries of noble prOgenitOrs in the
brotherhood looked down upon them
and witnessed their actions. Having
given a few salient points in the bril-
liant history of the order, DIR. Slater said
| that it was about forty years ago the first
commandeTy of the order in the United
! States was established in Baltimore,
since which time it had spread all over
| the country with such rapidity that now
/ its representatives were found in every
city from sea to sea. He did not intend
to commemorate or glorify the deeds of
! the order-he was not there for that OBJ
| ject, but to call to their minds the deeds
| of the Divine RedeemeF, for the order is
! a religious order, and rests on the SUBJ
lime truths of mans redemption. With
out it embraced the facts of the gospel it
would not he the order it is.
The learned and truly touching dis
course then naturally followed a relig
| ious vein of which the Ascension of
our Lord was the central idea. DIR.
/ Slater held that as Christ himself told
his Apostles, 'It is expedient for you
that 1 go,n the fact of the ascension Of
| Christ into heaven, showed the immOr-
! tality of man, showed his own divinity
and showed that our home is not here,
but away beyond the clouds. The good
Father of US all has prepared a house Of
many mansions in which his followers
shall dwell for ever and ever. DIR Slater,
I l. l. l.,
mestic af1iictiOn lately, spoke most
feelingly and effectively when he re-
Cured to the badge of the Order-the
cross. He said it was the symbol Of
mans redemption, the token of our
faith 1t was the badge of the order
because no man could be true and
! loyal Knight without being a faithful
follower of Christ, soldier of the cross
in the highest spiritual sense. Unless
we bear the cross as the symbol of our
redemption and are ready to die for the
faith of Christ, said the preacher, we
cannot be true knights. IL is pre-emi-
nently a Christian order, and every
member is pledged to sacrifice even life
in its defense -r-- Z. So
HISTORY OF THE ORDER.
The Doctor then gave a sketchy account
of the order from its first establishment
in Palestine until the present day, from
which it appear
The Benedietine monks had establish
ed two houses at Jerusalem, under the
patronage of st. John and Mary Magde-
line respectively, for the purpose Of en-
tertaining pilgrims to the holy sepul-
chre. They entertained all without dis
tinetion, Christians as well as Turks, but
in Ills it became necessary to protect
the pilgrims as well as feed them, and
hence the institution of knights Tenn
plar, who IN addition to the three vows
of chastity, poverty and obedience, also
vowed to defend the holy sepulehre of
Christ and to protect the pilgrims that
went to visit it. The order was very
successful and became great power in
those days. Pope Honorius prescribed
a peculiar dress for them, to which was
subsequently added a red cross on the
left breast, which distinguishes the
knights even to the present day. The
cross was borne on their banners made
of striped black and white cloth which
was called BeaaGced7at, which became
the battle-cry of the order When the
order became powerful its government
became complex, the chief of which was
the Grand Commander, elected BY the
general body of the knights. This fea-
ture of the order is still retained. To-
ward the middle of the thirteenth cen- !
tury the order owned nine thousand
lordships and estates, the principal part
of which was in France, so that country |
had generally the power to elect the |
Grand Commander. For forty years |
after their organization none bat lay
men were admitted into the order; but |
by bull of Alexander the Third priests |
were admitted who celebrated mass and |
performed all the necessary religious |
offices for the members. They became |
in time a formidable and wealthy COM /.
munity, the chief of which was equal, |
and often superior, to q sovereign, so /
that the Pope found it necessary to sup |
press the order. This was done by
Clement the Fifth, on the second of
May, 1872. Vestiges of the order or one
similar to it, remained in Europe until
1873, when Napoleon got possession Of
their last refuge, the Island of Malta,
which he did through the treachery of
their chief. Since then no independent
military association of men has existed
in Europe.
The knights Templar that exist now
have all the features of the old order ex-
cept poverty. They are pledged to succor
to champion the cause of distressed
woman. They are also pledged to sup
port religion and defend it, and as DR..
Slater emphatically said, if needs be,
die for it. They are very numerous
and eminently respectable body. The
appearance on the street yesterday Of the
! Cyrene Commandary under Sir Knight
George Mellersh, was creditable to the
members and to the city. Every one
was lavish in praise of the magnificent
appearance they made.
The services in the church being over
the Chaplain dismissed them with a
blessing, after which they repaired to
their hall and concluded the ceremonies
of their holiday.
ASCENSION DAY.
8 Dedicated to Cyrene con,,nandery, No. 4.
Hail the Saviour has ascended
10 His home eternal,
Then His mission here is ended,
And His triumph final.
He left His scepter and His crown,
To free the human race,
And lead the weary, trodden down,
Up 10 the Court OF GrGce.
While dying each.mortal TO save,
He taught how to forgive,
Aud came triumphant from the grave,
IhaI poor sinners may live.
He promised followers to guard.
And guide them from the skies,
Then rose in glory heaVenWard,
And entered Paradise.
Oh, gracious Redeemer, we pray,
For Thy kingdom TO come;
Grant that we may enter and stay,
in thy celestial home.
MEMPHIS, May }, 1872 j. j. SUTER.
OLD TIMES.
shiP-Buiasiiag al Memphis.