The daily gazette., 1880-08-12
The KntDIts Tempt0T-Their
OyiOill.
From the Chicago Inter Ocean,

probability, the origin of Free Mason
ry. 1t happened that, in the year of
our Lord 1000, the wild lawlessness,
rapine, and bloodshed of the day was
suddenly checked with this millennial
panic. The world was to come to an
end that year. The doughty baron
laid aside his brand and took to his
prayers others did penance by fast
ing /; others made long and dangerous
pilgrimages to Palestine, as expiation
for their crimes. By these and SINH
lar extraordinary efforts it was be-
lieved that the wrath of God was tenn
porarily averted. There followed this
panic three or four centuries of relig-
ious fervor, in which church building
progressed, and religious orders were
instituted. Of purely religious form
were the Augustinian monks, founded
A. d. 1861 The Gilbertines, for men
and women, in 1880 i; the Ciatercians,
and Benedictines, and others which
fourished, held vast possessions in
real estate, built great monasteries,
abbeys, and minister's, and were a
power in the land up to the days of
Harry the Eighth, the much married
Defender of the Faith" OF semi
monastic fraternities Of military Or
ganization were two orders, viz. =
Knights of st. John, OF Hospitalers-
so styled because they built hospital
at Jerusalem for the benefit of pilgrims
and the Knights Templar, who dc
rived that title from having an asylum
first given them by King Baldwin near
the supposed site of the Jewish tenn
pie, in his own palace erected there.
This was about the year 1119, and
from it modern Templars date, this
year CA. D. 1880, being the A. o. 762
of the Knights. From being crusaders
that is, soldiers devoted to the redemp-
tion of the Holy Land from the grasp
of the Saracens, the Knights Templar
came back to Western Europe, whence
they marched, having attained nought
else but glory. The doughty Saladin
and his brave successors were equal to
the crusader kings, and the Crescent
drove out the Cross and remained in
possession, even to this day. In Eng
land, where they had settled, the
Templars had two centuries of great
They grew so wealthy
and powerful that their Grand Master
sat in Parliament the peer of the high
est baron in the realm. The Temple
in London, on the banks of the Thames,
was wonder of architectural beauty,
and was the headquarters for England.
Here they have left a monument, en-
Turing to our own times, in the shape
Of the Temple Church, in which somo
Of their tombs may yet be seen. Their
wealth and power at last became the
cause of their downfall. The Church |
lad long regarded them with a greedy |
,ye, and, il 1912, Edward III of Eng
and received bull from Pope Gle
nent V for their suppression. From |
307, when Grand Master Jacques dc |
Iolai was arrested in Paris, until 1918,
Vheh he perished at the stake outside |
he walls of that city, the order in
france passed through a terrible Or
leal, and, with the smoke from the
Grand Masters funeral pyre, the ac-
ual medieval Templarism ceased for
yer.
Coeval with the institution of military |
,nighthood was that of Free Masonry
t was an age of religious fraternities.-
len banded together for mutual pro-
ection against the aggressiveness of the
eudal lords or the rapacity of the princes
f the Church. Necessary as they were
, the nobility, the Masons, being train
d and skilled in architecture, they soon
elt their power and importance, and to
laiutain ii effected organizations as a Sc
ret fraternity having three degrees. In
, this brotherhood were admitted only
lose who had devoted themselves to the
,ience of architecture, more especially
lurch building. The three degrees of
Entered Apprentice" )" "Fellow Craft"
I'd "Master Mason" were not attained
ithout due and fitting preparation.-
ach step was proven, and III days when
plomas were almost unknown, when
W could read, and fewer still could
rite, the catechism of Masonry, the
ss-words and signs of recognition, were
necessary to distinguish the
ee and accepted Mason from the slave {
hirelin, laborer. Near each cathe. I
al in course of erection the brethren /
ected for themselves home, where :
ey lodged, where they met after the
bors of the day, and which was the
lgln of the lodge of the speculative :
zee Masonry of modern times. As the :
asous increased in numbers and inf1u- +
ce they cut themselves loose from the |
of the Church, though II
ey still were loyal, and from that o
ne the bishops and abbots of Central 9
irope, as we'll as the petty German =
inces, looked with disfavor "on the n
and prosecuted them. The D
essed' Reformation was not much !,
a blessing to them, as church-buildng O
ased, and mems minds became imbued ii
tn the iconoclastic spirit which promp- c.
them TO destroy rather than to build. o o
III the Masons preserved their Or al
and in April A. ID. 1859, held 81
,ir fir conclave at Ratisbon, at which 6,
, architect of the magnificent Cathe- u
Al of Stlasburg was made Grand Mas ~
!, and his lodge the Grand Lodge of u
, world. From the Continent Mason ~
sun was taken to England and Scot ol
i'd, where, finding congenial soil, it ri
w and flourished for 100 years, when pl
ceased to be practical, by the admis- cl
n of persons not practical builders, p'
d thus become the speculative Free " "
Isonry of to-day. --,-- ="
)n ITS rapid rise and development in
United States little need be said here.
has grown up with the country, re- re
wing a severe setback in 1882, indeed, ~
the M organ anti Masonic war, but ~n ",
,edily recuperated, ana now numbers pa
mem bership by thousands. OK
Knights Templar originated with the w
sons of the Scottish Rite.
n the language of an eminent writer,
was introduced into the Masonic WI