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Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.
overthrow of the Order by its expulsion from Malta did not affect any one existing language more than another . Rohan , in 1797 , foreseeing and fearing the intentions of the Directory of the French Republic to seize upon Malta , had sought the protection of the court of . Russia for the falling brotherhood , but he died ou the 13 th July , before Baili Count de Litta ( whom he had despatched to
St . Petersburgh ) returned . Ferdinand de Hompesch Was elected in his place Grand Master ; he was a member of the German Langue , had been ambassador of the Order at the court of Vienna , and afterwards Grand Bailiff of Brandenburgh , Chief of the Auglo-Bavarian Langue , added to the Order in 1782 . The Emperor Paul bad just succeeded to the crown ,
arid , yielding to Rohan's solicitations , restored to the Order their possessions in Poland , ivhich had fallen to Russia upon the partition of that kingdom , and converted the Polish Priory , largely augmented iu revenue , into a Russian Priory . On November 29 , the Emperor was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order , ancl assumed the title of " Protector of the Order of Malta . "
The great body of the knighthood , who , upon their expulsion from Malta became destitute , proceeded to Russia , tho emperor having retained the title of " Protector of the Order ; " and although the Graud Master , Hompesch , was the undoubted head , they assembled iu conclave , and elected the emperor Graud Master on October 27 th 1727 *
, . The Emperor Paul died in 1801 , when Alexander , his successor , convened a council of the Order of St . Petersburgh ( which called itself the " Sovereign Council of the Order" ) on Juno 22 in that year , wherein a substitute was proposed for the original mode of election of the Grand Mastership , as required by tho condition in which
the Order was then placed . The nomination from amongst the nrmes contained in the several lists to be returned being left to the Pope , as supremo chief of the Romish Church , ancl as superior of all religious orders . Under this , degree John de Tomasi was named by the Pope Grand Master , and he resided at Catania until his death , iu 1805 , since which period the executive functions of the
Order have been carried on by lieutenants of the Master iu succession , down to his Excellency Count Colloredo , Lieutenant , who succeeded in 1847 , but now deceased . . Whether the nomination of the Emperor Paul was informal or imperfect , from the fact of Hompesch being alive , and not having resigned or surrendered his office of Grand Master , or from a want of the proper elements
necessary to a valid election under the statutes , I cannot say ; but it is clear that the Emperor Paul was proclaimed Grand Master , exercised the office , and was recognised as Grand Master of the Sovereign Order by the English Government , by sanctioning the grant on September " 20 , 1799 , of a licence , at the instance of his imperial Majestyto Captain Homes Ri PophamE . N . to receive
, gg , , and bear iu his own country the insignia of Commander aud Knight of the Sacred Sovereign Order , ivhich his Imperial Majesty had iu that character conferred upon that officer . Under this view tbe original institution or fraternity of the Knights Hospitallers of St . John would seem never to have ceasedalthough there was a defalcation or
extinc-, tion of some of the original Langues or nations . The executive , now residing at Rome , has at this time a minister received at Vienna as representative of this Sovereign Order , ivhich still bears the character more of a religious than an equestrian Order . The Emperor ' s acceptation of office is dated November
13 , 1798 , Hompesch not actually resigning until July ( j ,. 1799 . His Imperial Majesty erected a new Russian . Priory for such of his subjects as were members of the Greek Church , in addition to that which existed for those of the Church of Rome witwih his kingdom . The English Langue of the Order flourished under a Graud Prior for England during three centuries and a
half , until its destruction in the reign of King Henry the-Eighth . In April , 1540 , an Act of Parliament passed ,, vesting iu the Crown all the possessions , castles , manors , churches , houses , & c , of the Order of St . John . Tne siteof its Priory and its precincts were granted away . Out of its revenues certain provisions were made , for the late-Prior , Sir Richard Weston , the last legitimate Grand .
Prior . Queen Mary , by charter , April % 1551 , restored , replaced , and refounded the said Hospital of St . John of " Jerusalem in . England , under the same title of St . John of Clerkenwell , which it possessed before the said dissolution , and appointed Sir Thomas Tresham , Knight , Prior of the said Hospital , and Richard Shelley , Turcopolier of the Turcopoliership , & c , and other persons , who were
formed into a body corporate , with perpetual succession ,, under the title ofthe "Prior and Brethren of the Hospital of St . John in Jerusalem , " aud at the same time transferred to them the possessions formerly vested in the-Order , then in the hands of the Crown . It is very questionable whether the charter of Queen Mary , incorporating the Prior , Bailiff , and Commanders
of the Hospital of St . John , can be construed to revive orconstitute a corporation of the English language : it is to be observed that the knights were not included in this charter of incorporation , though they formed part of the Langue of England . The question then arises as to how the society in Londou has acquired any position , and by what means the English Langue , said to be extinguished iu the reign of Elizabeth , has been attempted to be revived . The last Graud Prior sat the 1 and 2 parliament of
Queen Elizabeth ; but in the year 1559 that Queen destroyed the Langue of the Order , and it has ever since remained in a defunct state until an attempt made in 1782 : by the Grand Master , De Rohan , to revive it , by combining it with that of Bavaria under the title ofthe "Anglo-Bavarian Langue ; " but this does not in any way assist the case of the society alluded to .
In tho preface to a tract entitled The Ritual of Profession of the Knights and Religious Ladies , by John Bowyer , Esq ., IIP ., ancl Knight of the Order ( now Sir-George Bowyer ) , it is stated , page 6 , that in the year 1811 ' ¦ ' a commission of the Langues of Provence , Auvergue ,. and France was constituted at Paris , with faculties from the Grand Mastership and Sacred Council ( as appears
from the bull registered in the Chancery of the Order at Rome ) to administer the affairs of those three Langues . It was presided over by the Baili de Clugny , and thou by Prince Camilla de Rohan , Grand Prior of Aquitaine . " This commission at first did many things for the benefit of the Order , but the Prince di Rohan having died , and tho other surviving chiefs of the commission having
become old and incapable , its affairs fell into the hands of an unprincipled secretary , who made a most illegal and dishonest use of tbe authority ofthe commission , and even usurped powers belonging to the Grand Master ancl Sacred Council , the only Supreme Executive authority of the Order . It has been stated ( we know not whether truly ) - that three different instruments were given under
colouiof the authority of the commission , bearing dates respectively June 14 , 1826 , August 24 and October 15 , 1827 , purporting to re-establish the extinct or dormant Langue of England , and it has been alleged that the objects of those instruments were carried into execution by divers acts between 1826 and 1831 . In the year 1825 , the proceedings above referred towere made known to the Grand Mastership and Sacred Council , who then recalled and annulled the faculties of the commission of Paris , and declared void , and protested
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
overthrow of the Order by its expulsion from Malta did not affect any one existing language more than another . Rohan , in 1797 , foreseeing and fearing the intentions of the Directory of the French Republic to seize upon Malta , had sought the protection of the court of . Russia for the falling brotherhood , but he died ou the 13 th July , before Baili Count de Litta ( whom he had despatched to
St . Petersburgh ) returned . Ferdinand de Hompesch Was elected in his place Grand Master ; he was a member of the German Langue , had been ambassador of the Order at the court of Vienna , and afterwards Grand Bailiff of Brandenburgh , Chief of the Auglo-Bavarian Langue , added to the Order in 1782 . The Emperor Paul bad just succeeded to the crown ,
arid , yielding to Rohan's solicitations , restored to the Order their possessions in Poland , ivhich had fallen to Russia upon the partition of that kingdom , and converted the Polish Priory , largely augmented iu revenue , into a Russian Priory . On November 29 , the Emperor was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order , ancl assumed the title of " Protector of the Order of Malta . "
The great body of the knighthood , who , upon their expulsion from Malta became destitute , proceeded to Russia , tho emperor having retained the title of " Protector of the Order ; " and although the Graud Master , Hompesch , was the undoubted head , they assembled iu conclave , and elected the emperor Graud Master on October 27 th 1727 *
, . The Emperor Paul died in 1801 , when Alexander , his successor , convened a council of the Order of St . Petersburgh ( which called itself the " Sovereign Council of the Order" ) on Juno 22 in that year , wherein a substitute was proposed for the original mode of election of the Grand Mastership , as required by tho condition in which
the Order was then placed . The nomination from amongst the nrmes contained in the several lists to be returned being left to the Pope , as supremo chief of the Romish Church , ancl as superior of all religious orders . Under this , degree John de Tomasi was named by the Pope Grand Master , and he resided at Catania until his death , iu 1805 , since which period the executive functions of the
Order have been carried on by lieutenants of the Master iu succession , down to his Excellency Count Colloredo , Lieutenant , who succeeded in 1847 , but now deceased . . Whether the nomination of the Emperor Paul was informal or imperfect , from the fact of Hompesch being alive , and not having resigned or surrendered his office of Grand Master , or from a want of the proper elements
necessary to a valid election under the statutes , I cannot say ; but it is clear that the Emperor Paul was proclaimed Grand Master , exercised the office , and was recognised as Grand Master of the Sovereign Order by the English Government , by sanctioning the grant on September " 20 , 1799 , of a licence , at the instance of his imperial Majestyto Captain Homes Ri PophamE . N . to receive
, gg , , and bear iu his own country the insignia of Commander aud Knight of the Sacred Sovereign Order , ivhich his Imperial Majesty had iu that character conferred upon that officer . Under this view tbe original institution or fraternity of the Knights Hospitallers of St . John would seem never to have ceasedalthough there was a defalcation or
extinc-, tion of some of the original Langues or nations . The executive , now residing at Rome , has at this time a minister received at Vienna as representative of this Sovereign Order , ivhich still bears the character more of a religious than an equestrian Order . The Emperor ' s acceptation of office is dated November
13 , 1798 , Hompesch not actually resigning until July ( j ,. 1799 . His Imperial Majesty erected a new Russian . Priory for such of his subjects as were members of the Greek Church , in addition to that which existed for those of the Church of Rome witwih his kingdom . The English Langue of the Order flourished under a Graud Prior for England during three centuries and a
half , until its destruction in the reign of King Henry the-Eighth . In April , 1540 , an Act of Parliament passed ,, vesting iu the Crown all the possessions , castles , manors , churches , houses , & c , of the Order of St . John . Tne siteof its Priory and its precincts were granted away . Out of its revenues certain provisions were made , for the late-Prior , Sir Richard Weston , the last legitimate Grand .
Prior . Queen Mary , by charter , April % 1551 , restored , replaced , and refounded the said Hospital of St . John of " Jerusalem in . England , under the same title of St . John of Clerkenwell , which it possessed before the said dissolution , and appointed Sir Thomas Tresham , Knight , Prior of the said Hospital , and Richard Shelley , Turcopolier of the Turcopoliership , & c , and other persons , who were
formed into a body corporate , with perpetual succession ,, under the title ofthe "Prior and Brethren of the Hospital of St . John in Jerusalem , " aud at the same time transferred to them the possessions formerly vested in the-Order , then in the hands of the Crown . It is very questionable whether the charter of Queen Mary , incorporating the Prior , Bailiff , and Commanders
of the Hospital of St . John , can be construed to revive orconstitute a corporation of the English language : it is to be observed that the knights were not included in this charter of incorporation , though they formed part of the Langue of England . The question then arises as to how the society in Londou has acquired any position , and by what means the English Langue , said to be extinguished iu the reign of Elizabeth , has been attempted to be revived . The last Graud Prior sat the 1 and 2 parliament of
Queen Elizabeth ; but in the year 1559 that Queen destroyed the Langue of the Order , and it has ever since remained in a defunct state until an attempt made in 1782 : by the Grand Master , De Rohan , to revive it , by combining it with that of Bavaria under the title ofthe "Anglo-Bavarian Langue ; " but this does not in any way assist the case of the society alluded to .
In tho preface to a tract entitled The Ritual of Profession of the Knights and Religious Ladies , by John Bowyer , Esq ., IIP ., ancl Knight of the Order ( now Sir-George Bowyer ) , it is stated , page 6 , that in the year 1811 ' ¦ ' a commission of the Langues of Provence , Auvergue ,. and France was constituted at Paris , with faculties from the Grand Mastership and Sacred Council ( as appears
from the bull registered in the Chancery of the Order at Rome ) to administer the affairs of those three Langues . It was presided over by the Baili de Clugny , and thou by Prince Camilla de Rohan , Grand Prior of Aquitaine . " This commission at first did many things for the benefit of the Order , but the Prince di Rohan having died , and tho other surviving chiefs of the commission having
become old and incapable , its affairs fell into the hands of an unprincipled secretary , who made a most illegal and dishonest use of tbe authority ofthe commission , and even usurped powers belonging to the Grand Master ancl Sacred Council , the only Supreme Executive authority of the Order . It has been stated ( we know not whether truly ) - that three different instruments were given under
colouiof the authority of the commission , bearing dates respectively June 14 , 1826 , August 24 and October 15 , 1827 , purporting to re-establish the extinct or dormant Langue of England , and it has been alleged that the objects of those instruments were carried into execution by divers acts between 1826 and 1831 . In the year 1825 , the proceedings above referred towere made known to the Grand Mastership and Sacred Council , who then recalled and annulled the faculties of the commission of Paris , and declared void , and protested