Yale University Li K^ KNIGHTS OF ^^ ST. JOHN AXD ^/lALTA, (i'hc (Thaptcv (f^eun'iil of 3Vmcvica III-- THK Aiirieiit and Reformed Rite, l(|c ^tiantl ltntampn|in|t of ^toJtanil AMI THE SO-CALLED SUPREME GRAND COMMANDERY. - A~ VINDICATION and EXPOSURE. HEIXC : A complete vindication of the Chapter (General and its reforms, as well as a full exposure of the unhistorical [position and W'lLFil. DEPAUrnih: FUOM Ayc/h'XT !,.{M>M.IRKS. on the part of the r, and that the sarne are correctly cited and quoted; and that,, in our opinion, the position taken- therein that the Chapter General of America is the only leg;itimate' 'Maltese Grand Body in America is fully sustaint H' • nofeover, it is al'so clearly'proveri'i'/^a:/' th^ Grand En- ¦ ' ;¦¦¦'¦¦ b campnxent of Scotland and the so-f ailed Grand Commandery have, i}i divers ways, wilfully removed the Ancient landmarks, and in nought, save the historic connection,- are entitled to the -appella tion of Knights of Malta. ¦ " JONAS L. Mcelroy, Grand'Chan^Gellor. JOHN L. SHIRLEY, ' '' ' '"' ¦ - '¦¦ Grand' 'Att'y Gen'U New York City, Nov. 14th, 188&. ¦ -¦ -¦- THE LEGITIMACY OR OTHERWISE OF THE CHAPTER GEN ERAL OF AMERICA, AND THE SO-CALLED GRAND COMMANDERY. There are now in America three Grand Bodies or Associations claiming to be Knights of Malta, all of which likewise claim to derive their powers from one source, viz: The Grand Encamp ment of Scotland. The question naturally arises, which of the three is legitimate? We will endeavor to answer that question. In doing so our subject matter will be divided into eight parts: 1 'art I. The Chapter General of America, what is it, and whence derived ? Part ii. The Grand Priory and Supreme Council, what are they and whence derived ? Part hi. The Grand Commandery, what is it and whence de rived ? Part iv. The Violation of the Chapter General's Warrant by the Grand Encampment of Scotland, showing its utter illega lity, and the so-called recognition of the clandestine Grand Commandery by the same Body. Part v. How the invasion of American Territory by the Scot tish Grand Body in the three instances cited was brought about; the true inwardness of the movements against the Chapter General in 1879 and 1881, and for the recognition of the Grand Commandery in 1889. Part vi. The Degree Question. Part vii. The College of Ancients. Part viii. The Grand Encampment of Scotland. PART L The Chapter General, what is it, and whence derived ? First. — The Chapter General is in the direct, continuous, and unimpeachable line of succession from St. John's Encampment No. 1, the foundation Encampment of Knights of Malta on this continent, through the District and Royal Grand Encamp ments of Canada and the Supreme Black and Supreme Encamp ments of America. The Grand Encampment of Scotland, otherwise styled by its- self the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe is the original source of authority in our Branch of the Order. This Grand Body granted a warrant to St. John's Encampment, No. 74 (Grand Registry of Scotland), now No. 1 (Grand Registry of America), which was instituted at Toronto, Ont , November 30th A. D., 1870. This, the Mother Encampment of the American Order, is still in existence, and in affiliation with the Chapter General. ^Yithin two years thereafter the following Ejpcamp- ments were stationed: King David's, No. 80, at Guelph ; Maple Leaf, No. 84, at Toronto; Brampton, No. 86, at Brampton ; and Constantine, No. 88, at BowmanvUle, Ontario. These Encamp ments were all numbered on the Grand Registry of Scotland, their warrants being sent to us from Glasgow, and this practice prevailed until the year 1876. On November 23d, 1872, delegates from these Encampments met at Toronto, and by warrant from Scotland, organized a Dis trict Encampment for Canada. Sir R J. Liddy being chosen District Commander. The following isa minute of the transaction copied from the Records of the District Encampment. Toronto, Friday, November 22d, 1873. " A meeting of the members of the Knights of Malta was held this day for the purpose of furthering the best interests of the said Order in Canada. It was then agreed that it would be beneficial in the highest degree to the Order if we proceed to the formation of a District Encampment, the war rant having been granted by the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe, the said warrant having bee'n granted in the name of Companion Robert James Liddy." ' ' The warrant for the Iwlding of this District Encampment having leen read it was then proposed by Sir Knight Companion Clark, Sir Knight Comman der No. 74 Toronto, seconded by Sir Knight Companion Scroggie, No. 80, Guelph, that Sir Knight Companion Robert James Liddy do take the chair, carried." Among other resolutions passed at this convocation was one authorizing the District Executive Officers to write to Scotland for a Provincial Grand warrant for Qi^nada, as the following ex tracted from the minutes attests. "Proposed by Companion E F. Clarke, seconded by Companion Hdnry Stone, 74,,tliatthe District Recorder bg empowered to write tpr a Prpvan- cial Warrant, Rituals, &c.,&c. in the name of this District. -parried _ ^ ' "Proposed by Sir Knight ciompanion Adair, seconded by Sir Enight, Companion John Pritchard, that ths ndme of our respected Sit iKmgM. Companion Edward F. .Clarke,, be inserted in the \yarrant as our first G. M., — Carried." ^ - ,. He next meeting of the District' was held .Ji^n^ %^'Cb., 187^^, when the District Officers were installed, as the following minutes attest. ; ¦ ¦ I :,¦'¦¦ '' ' i -1 ¦ . ,¦ ! ' il .^; ,-ii ' , _ , -, /roro.nto, TuesA?-y'f Jffle,^fljth,:^873| ^ S' The meeting of thel')istrict Epciimpmentwii.'^ hdd; fhjs ;^ veping f or ^^ig; traii'sactioii of business ; Sir Kujylit Commander %bei:t Jamfes Liddj,. District Com'malnder; in the chair, ilimitcsbf previous tt'eetiAg r^ad ari(^ connrmed. - • ,- , j i " The District Officers wete then ili^lalled according to' tlie 'fotni-'bfHhfe' Grand Lodge of Scotland., Comp. .Jn.tqih No^twood; us Dele(j\ite frmn BeoiC land installed, Oomp. R. J. LiiMi/ as,Di.drkt C«iTOma»tZ«r, ¦ and i the ; DistirJBt) Commander installed all the, other .officers. " , ,. i i, -.-.,;. * ' ' ' = - 111 the m'eahtime the District Officers' had been vnriting to Glas^' gow for aGrand Warrant;-whiCh was, in due' time,' gratitetf. Thd result being the institution of th'S- Royal Grand Black Enckittip-' nient -of Canada,' at Toronto, Septeinbef 29th,- 1873, 'Edward' F. Clarke 'being cliosen Grahd Comtnander.' The'-followihg is a- minute of the proceedings copied from' the Records of the Dis- rict- and' Royal Grahd B'liack Encampments. , Toronto,. Ont., Saturday,, September 29th, 1873.- - , , (District Encampment No. 5, Knights of Malta.) "At meeting, of the above District Encampment was held in the Orange- Hall, Touge Street, on Saturday, September 29th, 1873, at the hour of tWo' o'clock, P. i\I. Sir Knight Comp. Robert, James Liddy, District Commander, in the chair. Minutes of previous meeting ( June 24th) were read and ap proved." "The warrant for the Provincial Qrand Encampment havinr/ heen received, ii was on motipn resolved that th,is District Encampment do now' proceed to the formation of a Prorincial Orand Eiiccimpment, and that Sir Knight Comp. 'Edwai;dF.. Clarke, ,74, do take the ehaii." '' ' " Proposed by Comp. J. A. Cowan, seconded by Comp. Pritchard that this Encampment do no-iv proceed to ballot for the election of officers.—^ Carried." ' ¦ , , ¦ ^ ¦¦" Proposed by Comp. John Pritchard, 84, seconded by Sir Knight Comp. Prebble, that this Grand Encampment confirms the nomination- of Sir Knight Comp. Edward P Clarke, S. .K. .C, No. 74, as Grand Commander. ;— Carried. " HI "i On motion- of. Sir Kjiight Comp. Henry Stone, seconded by Sir KnigW Comp. Hu^;h McCaw. that Comj).- Robert James Liddy. District Com mander, do install Sir Knight Comp. Edward P. Clarke as Provincial Grand Cotoinan-der. — Carried." .. " pompanion Clarke- was then installed, and he afterwards installed all the officers elect." ' ' ' About this time some steps *ere taken to- iotroduce the Order into- the United States as the following minute extracted from the Records of the. Grand Encampment Committee go to show : Toronto, Febi-uary 18th, 1874. "A meeting of the Grand Committee was held this afternoon; present, Gompanion-.Edw^rd F. Clarke, (pjrand ; Commander, Companions James B. ;Dayis, Generalissimo, Robert J. Liddy, William Arnot. Isaac B. Johnson, 'R. 'E. A. Land, and John A. Cowan, Registrar." "Companion R. E. A. Land suggested the necessity of instituting En campments in the United States, and read a letter which he had received -fram-'Brother Henderson, of ' Derry Walls ' Lodge, New York. ,0n motion, it ,'T\-as resolved to .-write to the Imperial Grand Encampment, to grant us authority to issue warrants to the United States. " At the' Convocation of said Royal Grand Encampment, held at ^Bdwmahville, Ont., June 18th, 1874, the Grand Commander re- .'fe'rred'to the result of the correspondence with Glasgow, had iii 'purs'u^pe 'of the above.' The following is his language : " Application at your request has been made for a Dominion Warrant, a,ndfor authority to open. Eneaniphienlis in the U/iit,i? States ; an nnsiccr to the latter has been received ertending Companion Nuriri/diTs Commission to the United Steites. " ¦' i ,Ey the authority above conferred, and under the Banner of said Grand Body, George Washington Encampment No. 101, of ¦ New York City, Washington Encampment No. 104, of Philadel- 'phia, 'and Rochdale Encampment No. 10-5 of Rochdale, Pa., were ihstittited and became entitled to representation in the Grand Encampment <)f Canada, as appears from -the following, minute : Toronto, .January 27th, 1875. " To the M.-.E.-.G.'.C. and Companions of the Grand Black Encamp ment of Canada." , "Your Comjnitte on Credentials beg leave to report as follows: — That ttiey ha-ye examined the credentials submitted to them, hailing from the ¦ Stib'ofdinate Encampments in this jurisdiction, and find the following Coth- pan-ipns,-, entitled to sit and vote in the Grand Black Encampment of , Caiiada/' ' J.-_ -|r .'.:' ';-;'¦- "No. 101, Nm York City,: Sir Knights James Hale, J. E. Hendersoii, William ScarS; M. Patterson, James Calhoun, S. Gardner, Thomas Beckett, by virtue of their offices in the Encampment." ^ I " Ko. V)^.,- Philadelphia, Pa.: Sir Knights John Carlisle, AVm. Allen, Jno. Gordon, Thos. All,en, Robert Pempsey, , Edward Wilson, John M. Thompson, by virtue of their offices in the Encampment. No returns from Ih-ampton or Rochdale, Pa., all of which is respectfully submitted. R E. A. LAND, ) Committee ALFRED CO YELL, ^ on E R. POOLE. ) Ckbdbntiai.s. The Order being thus extended to the United States, it was found necessary to enlarge tbe title and jurisdiction of the Royal Grand Black Encampment, which was formally done by the fol lowing resolutions, passed at its Annual Convocation, held at Toronto, January 27th and 28th, A. D , 1875. The Committee on Constitution and Laws having reported re commending that no change be made in the title of the Giand P)0dy. "It was moved by Companion Pritchard, .seconded by Companion Cowan, that the third clause t)e referred back to the Committee with instruc tions to insert that the name and title of this Encampment shall be Tlie Siipr.")iie Black Enenmpment of America. — Carried." '' On reassembling. Companion Dr. C. B Hall presented the special re port on Constitution and Laws, recommending that the name of the Grand Encampment be changed from the "Hoyal Grand Black Encampment of Canada" to that of the " Supreme Black Encampment of America." " The report was received, and on division was adopted." The above action was had under the following minute of the the (irand Council of Scotland. 33 Cimdleriggs Street, Glasgow, 27th December, 1874. ' ' The Grand Council met this evening to consider a letter from the Pro. G. .M. and G.-..Rof Canada, asking why the Kingdom warrant had not l)een sent. It was agreed that a warrant be got ready at once and sent out for British North America, also supplementary authority to them to issue Warrants, and Provincials if necessary, to the United States of America, or any other part of the Continent beyond British North America, until such time as such Provincial claimed a grant of their own when they would receive it from the Parent Grand of the Universe." And said action in setting up a Continential Grand Body was, -later on, fully confirmed by the Scottish Authorities, as the fol lowing minute of the (j-rand Council of Scotland goes to show : Orange Hall, Glasgow, 17th April, 187.i. ¦' Met, The Grand Council of the Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe. " Present: — GEORGE McLEOD, WILLIAM HUNTER. THOS. MACKLIN, THOMAS CAMPBELL, JOHN A. BAILLIE, THOMAS FORSYTH, ' WILLIAM JOHNSON. " At this meeting, after brotherly consideration, the following resolution wf s moved by Brother Sir Thomas Maeklin, and seconded by Brother Sir Wm. Johnson, aud unanimously agreed lo, duly passed and signed by the most worshipful chairman." " That considering the loss of time occasioned by the distance of the American Continent from the Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Uni verse, and the great advantage of local knowledge, it is hereby resolved that the Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe, do give, grant and transmit to the Grancl Black Encampment of British America, full author ity to issue, rule ^nd govern all warrants for us on the American Continent, whether in the New Dominion or in the United States, on the condition that the Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe in Scotland be still acknowledged as the original source of authority, and that three pence sterling of Briti.-.!! money be annually paid to the said Parent Black En campment of tbe Universe for each Black Encampment or Lodge working on the Continent of America." -{ sisAi, }¦ JAMES CULLEY, G. .R. In addition to the above Official communication granting us continental control. Grand Master McLeod favored us about the same time with the following letter : 69 Ingram Street, Glasgow, 19th April, 1875. Deab Sir and Brother : "Your letter of 31st March came to hand on the 16th inst., and prefixed, I beg to hand you the resolve of the Grand Council. The Secretary will transmit this to you' officially, (see the above). Warrant No. 63 is not on our list as working. It has been one of those missionary warrants I ex pect. I question if it ever turned up as working till now. It is an irregu larity which must be put a stop to, 'the giving away of warrants to parties leading the Kingdom for the purpose of establishing the Order, wherever it may happen. This cannot affect you now, seeing that you will have the entire control over all warrants on the American Continent, North, South, East, West, British, Yankee, Brazilian, &c. You can suppress No. 63 if you think it should be suppressed. You have full control now and you shall have hereafter of all warrants of Knights of Malta on the American Conti nent by whomsoever issued. If anyone shotild come to us after this, asking Warrants, or with cjbny complaint from, any portion of America, we would Kim,ply refit tlie. leholc ntatter to you on tlie grownd that you possess Supreme Jurisdiction. I think you should have your own plate engraved to please yourselves, and send a copy here for signatures, which you can frame after getting it back. I trust this will meet all your requirements, and that the Brethren will be satisfied with what the Grand Council have done. I shall feel obliged by your letting me know if this is so ; meantime believe me to be, Dear Sir and Brother, Yours Faithfully and Fraternally, G. McLEOD. JOHN A. COWAN, Toronto." And in the following June (1875) the Grand Encampment of Scotland granted a Kingdom Warrant to America which ratified , the Action of the Grand Council of Scotland, and conferred up- lO upon tiie American Grand Body Continental control, and untram melled powers. The following is a copy of the Grant : Glasgow, 25th June, 1875. " Ax the Annual Meeting ot the Imperial Parent Urand Black Encamp ment of the Universe, held on the 19tb day of June, 1875, it was unani mously resolved to give and grant full Grand Lodge power to issue warrants, try cases, rule, guide and govern to the Supreme Grand Black Encampment of Toronto, Province of Ontario, British America, or New Dominion, and power is now and hereby given to the said Supreme Grand Black Encamp ment to issue warrants, try cases, rule, guide and govern all and every En campment originally holding warrants from the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe in and throughout British North America, and the whole of the American Continent. The only condition, being that the said Supreme Grand Black Encampment pay the sum of 3d. (three pence) per annum for each private Encampment enrolled under them to the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe. ^--— GEORGE McLEOD, I.-.G.-.C. ''.ff^' JAMES CULLEY. G.-.R. The above grant was based upon the following action of the I.-.P.-.G.-.B.-.E. of the U., had at its Annual Convocation, June 19th, 1875. The minute of the proceeding extracted from the Scottish Grand Encampment Reports for 1874-5, page 10 reads as follows : " Sir Knight Thomas Maeklin then subjnitted the following resolution, which was unanimously agreed to, viz : "That the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe do hereby give and grant full Grand Lodge Pow er to issue warrants, try cases, rule, guide and govern to the Supreme Grand Black Encampment of Toronto, Province of Ontario, British America or New Dominion, and power is now hereby given to said Supreme Grand Black Encampment to issue warrants, try cases, rule, guide and govern all and every .Encampment originally holding warrants from the Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe in and throughout British America, and the whole American Continent. The only condition being that said Supreme Grand Encampment pay to thp Parent Grand Black Encamp ment of the Universe the sum of three pence for each private Encampment under their authority." We commend the above to the adherents of the so-called Grand Commandery, and especially to Mr. Pierce, who falsely asserted in, the September i^ra/d'r^a/JJmfze; that the warrant Of the Chapter General was granted by the Grand Council of Scotland and not by the Parent Encampment. The above shows that it was granted by the Parent Body. The Supreme Body continued to be styled " The Supreme Black Encampment of America" until September 19th, 1877. when at Philadelphia, on a revision of the Constitution,, the word " Black " was expunged, the title thus reading in the Constitution of 1877. 1 1 TITLE. "1. The Supreme Body of the Knights of Malta on this Continent shall be known as and styled " The Supreme Encampment of America." That the Constitution was revised at the time specified appears from the following minute of the Session. ' "The Supreme Encampment then resolved itself into Committee of the whole on the revised Constitution. The Committee sat until 2:30 A. M , when it aroSe and reported the Constitution adopted in Committee. The Constitution thus adopted in Committee was then adopted in open Encamp ment and ordered to be printed." The Grand Body thus became known as the " Supreme Encamp ment of America." This title was used for three years, or until its Annual Convocation, held at Toronto, September 1 3th and 14th, A. D., 1880, when the title was changed to "The Chapter General of America," by the following resolution. " Resolved, that the title of the Supreme Body be changed to conform to the following amendment, and that it be henceforth known as the Chapter General of America, instead of the Supreme Encampment of America." And at the same session the title of the Order in America was changed from ' Knights of Malta ' to ' Knights of St. John and Malta,' as appears by the following minute. "That the Name be altered from 'Knights of Malta' to Knights of St. John and Malta." " Each recommendation was considered and adopted seperately, and as a whole, finally adopted to go into effect from this date," The above shows how libellous is Mr. Pierce's statement that " The so-called Chapter General was made up of a few members of the Supreme Encampment, " throwing out the inference that the Chapter General was formed by a few private members apart from the Supreme, Encampment. Our minute shows the exact case that the Supreme Encampment changed its name to " The Chapter General " at the Convocation of 1880, that the change took place one year before the trouble with Scotland, and that the Chapter General is the Supreme Encampment under another name. It was not a few making up another Grand Body, as was the case with the spurious Grand Commandery, but a corporate and legitimate Grand Body changing its name. The following table exhibits a list of the consecutive convoca- 12 tions of the District, Royal Grand, Supreme Black, and Supreme Encampments, and the Chapter General from the organization of the first Encampment to the year 1889 inclusive. St. John's Encampment No. 1, instituted Nov. 30th, 1870. District Encampment of Canada instituted at Toronto, Nov. 22d, 1872. District Encampment of Canada convoked at Toronto, June 24th, 1873. District Encampment of Canada convoked at Toronto, Sept. 29th, 1873. (The District Encampment was merged into the Royal Grand Black Encampment of Canada at this session). Royal Grand Black Encampment of Canada convoked at Guelph> Jan. 2nd, 1874. Royal Grand Black Encampment of Canada convoked at Bow- manville, June 18th, 1874. Royal Grand Black Encampment of Canada convoked at Toronto, Jan. 27th, 1875. (Th'e title was changed to the " Supreme Black Encampment of America ', at this session). Supreme Black Encampment of America convoked at Toronto, July 13th, 1875. Supreme Black Encampment of America convoked at Toronto, Jan. 10th, 1876. Supreme Black Encampment of America convoked at I-Jamilton, July 31st, 1876. Supreme Black Encampment of America convoked at Philadel phia, September 18th, 1877. (The title was changed to the " Supreme Encampment of America " at this session. Supreme Encampment of America convoked at Albany, Sept. - 10th and 11th, 1878. Supreme Encampment of America convoked at New Y'ork, Sept 9th and 10th, 1879. Supreme Encampment of America convoked at Toronto, Sept. 13th and 14th, 1880. (The title was changed to the " Chapter General of America " at this session). The Chapter General of America convoked at Troy, Sept. 13th and 14th, 1881. The Chapter General of America convokeid at Rochester, Sept 12th and 13th 1882. The (^hapter General of America convoked at Philadelphia, ,Sept. 11th and 12th, 1883. The Chapter General of .\merica convoked at Buft'alo, Sept. Sth and 9th, 1884. The Chapter General of America convoked at New York, Sept. 9th and 10th, 188.5. The Chapter General of America convoked at Brooklyn, E. D., Sept. 14th and 15th, 18.sr,. The Chapter General of .\merica convoked at New York Citv, Sept. 13th and 14th, 1887. The Chapter General of America convoked at Wilmington, Del., Sept. 4th and 5th, 1888. The Chapter General of America convoked at Brooklvii, N. Y., Sept. 10th, 11th and 12th, 1889. The Convocations of the Supreme Body were held semi-annually for the years 1874-5-6, since then annually, and no year has elapsed without its regular Convocation. It may also be as well to give the succession of the District and (irand Commanders of the Regular American Body since the formation of the District Encampment, Xov. 22nd, 1872. -R. J. Liddy, Dist. Com., installed by Joseph Norwood, (Scotch Delegate), June 24th, 187-3. Edward F. Clarke, (irand Com., installed by R. J. Liddy, P.'.D. Com., Sept. 29th, 1873, term, 1 year 3 months 30 days. Robert E. A. Land, Grand Com., installed by R. J. Liddy, P.'.D. Com., Jan. 28th, 1875. Robert E. A. Land, Grand Com., 1876. 1877. " " " 1878, term, 4 years, 7 months 13 days. Julius R. Pettis, Grand Com., installed bv R. E. A. Land, P.-.(t.-.C 1879. Julius R. Pettis, Grand Com., 1880, term, 2 years. R. E. A. Land, Grand Com., installed by J. R. Pettis, P.-.G.-.C, 1881, term, 1 year. James E. Henderson, Grand Com., installed by R. E. A. Land, P.-.G.-.C, 1882. James E. Henderson, Grand Com., 1883, term, 2 years. R. P. Hallgreen, Grand Com., installed by R. E. A. Land, P.-.G.-.C, 1884. ¦ R. P. Hallgreen, Grand Com., 1885, term, 2 years. J. F. Waring, Grand Com., installed by R. E. A. Land, P.-.G.-.C. 1886, term, 1 year. 14 R. A. Beatty, Grand Com., installed by R. E. A. Land, P.-.G.-.C-, 1887. R. A. Beatty, Grand Com., 1888, term, 2 years. C. Armbruster, Grand Com., installed by R. E. A. Land, P.-.G.-.C , 1889. (The above is a pretty severe commentary' on the. statement that Charles McClintock was the " Father " of the Order in the United States). Hence, as stated at the beginning of this section, it has been proved that the Chapter General is in the direct, continuous and unimpeachable line of succession from St John's Encampment No. 1, the foundation Encampment of the Order on this Con tinent, through the District and Royal Grand Encampments of Canada, and the Supreme Black and Supreme Encampments of America. Second. ^The Chapter General was legally constituted in that she received a warrant of Constitution from the Imperial Parent Encampment at the time of Institution, and that her warrant covered Territory unoccupied at the date of the grant. The Chapter General was not self-organized and clandestine at the start, and later on bolstered up with a questionable warrant from a Grand Body which had previously parted with its juris diction,* but at the date of institution of the Chapter General, the Grand Body of Scotland still claimed to have and exercise authority over the territory transferred, and this authority and territory were granted and conveyed by her to the Chapter Gen eral. Again, on June 19th, 1875, when the grant of powers and territory was made to the Chapter General, there was not existing in America, any Grand Body of Knigjrts of Malta but herself, nor was there working any subordinate Body that did not recognize her authority, so that when instituted all' the conditions of legal ity were hers. Third.— By the terms of the grant the jurisdiction of the Chap ter General in America was unlimited, 1st, as to territory, all America was transferred to her, 2nd, as to powers of action and legislation, there was no restriction on either point in the grant. * First.— The grant was unlimited as to territory, it witnesses as follows : "*It is thus the Clandestine Grand Commandery was established. [See Part iii]. 15 " Power is now and hereby given to the said Supreme Grand Black En campment to issue warrants, try cases, rule, guide and govern all and every Encampment originally holding warrants from the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe in and throughout British North America, and the whole of the American Continent." Again McLeod, G.-.M., writing under date of 19th April, 1875, said as follows : " You will have the entire control over all warrants on the American Continent, Noi-th, South, East, West, British, Yankee, Brazilian, &e. You have full control now and you shall have hereafter of all warrants of Knights of Malta on the American Continent by whomsoever issued." Second. — The grant was unlimited as to powers of action and legislation. It witnesses as follows : " Th.e sole condition being th&t the said Supreme Grand Black Encamp ment pay the sum of 3d. (three pence) per annum for each private Encamp ment enrolled under them to the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe." Again. McLeod, G.-.M., in his communication to us of ApriJ 19th, 1875, writes as follows : "If anyone should come to us after this, asking warrants, or with any complaint from any portion of America, we would simply refer the whole matter to you, on the ground that you possess Suprems Jurisdiction ." Again, the Grand Council of Scotland on August 17th, 1875, ruled as follows : " Inasmuch as the Parent Grand ,Black Encampment of the Universe has already given a Kingdom Warrant to the Brethren in Canada, covering the whole Anierican Continent, it rests with them to irork tliese powers out for the present and future good of tlie Order to the best of their judgment. " Even after the sundering of fraternal relations between the mother and daughter, McLeod, G.-.M., writing under date of De cember 19th, 1882, speaks as follows ; " You have the the power in your own hands, you have your Kingdom Warrant from the Parent Grand Encampment, and I take for granted, that you will not give it up, even if you were asked so to do ; besides that, you had a communication shortly after receiving the Kingdom Warrant em- i6 powering you to work it out as you thought best for the prosperity of the Order on the Continent of America, thus legalizing any and all changes yoii m,ay think propier to uuike ; so that you areinvested with all the autliority irhich the Paren,t Encampment can confer." Thus it can be seen that there was no restriction in the grant tying the powers of the Chapter General. They were unlimited both as to territory and powers of legislation. Fourth. — The Chapter General is the Mother Grand Body of a majority of the Encampments (now styled Commanderies), and men which organized the Grand Priory, associated in which, and organized through said Encampments was Constantine Command ery No. 34, later on the illegal Parent of the so-called Grand Commandery, while Charles McClintock, one of the chief organi zers of the latter, was received into the Order under her Banners. Six Commanderies organized the Grand Priory of America on February 26th, 1883; of these six the following four derived their warrants from the Chapter General, viz: Washington No. 9 and Philadelphia No. 16, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Mount Calvary No. 19, of Wilmington, Del., and St Elmo No. 26, of Rochester, N. Y. The numbers are those in the Grand Registery of the Chapter General. After their cancellation by the Chapter General, the num bers, except that of St Elmo No. 20, were changed. Washington No, 9 became No 27, Philadelphia No. 16 became No. 29, and Mt. Calvary No 19 became No. 44 ; the fifth, Constantine No. 34, was warranted from Glasgow, and was organized through the other Philadelphia bodies; thus five out of the six were linked in some way to the Chapter General. The four (.Commanderies above named were originally warranted as follows : Washington No. 9, (Old Scottish No. 104), by Edward F. Clarke, Grand Com mander of the Grand Encampment of Canada ; Philadelphia No. 16, (Old Spottish No. 112), by Robert E. A. Land, Grand Com mander of the Supreme Black Encampment of America; Mt. Cal vary No. 19, (Old Scottish No. 119), by the same, and St Elmo No. 26, by Julius R. Pettis, Grand Commander of the Supret-ne Encampment, and the names and numbers of these Encampments appear on the minute books of the Supreme Black and Supreme Encampments and the Chapter Genera! of America. 17 All the Principal men who organized the Grand Priory, with possibly a few exceptions, were received into the Order under her Banners, among the number being George Cheesman, M. E. Joiner, T. K. Carlisle, Robert Dempsey, (He was an affiliate I be lieve), John Russell, Robert McKelvey, William Long, Thomas McCracken, J. M. Friezleben and Charles McClintock, as well as ' the later additions, W. B Dowse, and James G. Cummings, of Olive Branch No. 17, (G.-.R -A.) re-organized under the Grand Priory as No. 46, (G.-.R.- S.), and Jacob Smythe of Gethsemane No. 11, (G.-.R. -.A.), rechristened Phoenix No. 48, (G.-.R. -.S.), all these were made under the banner of the Chapter General or affiliated with her. By referring to the Annual Report of the I.-.P.-.G.-.B.-.K. of the U. for 1885, we find no less than 10 out of the 16 offices of the Grand Priory filled with former Chapter Gen eral men, while of the 10 Commanders reported, five were the same. As to the Grand Commandery, Constantine Commandery No. 34, (now No. 1 on their registry), which occupies the rather ano malous relationship to that spurious Body of Father and Son, as we shall see hereafter, was itself, the offspring of the Phila delphia dissentient bodies above named, while Charles McClin tock, the reputed Father of the Grand Commandery, received his Orders under the Supreme Black Encampment, now the Chapter General, during the years 1875-6, and his name appears on the Records of said Grand Body. The following tables extracted from the Reports of the Grand Encampment of Scotland will aid the reader in the identification of the Encampments specified, will be of interest otherwise, and may be elsewhere referred to. 1 SS2-3. ENCAMPMENTS WORKING UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF IMPERIAL PARENT ENCAMPMENT OF THE UNIVERSE. UNDBK THE IMPERIAL PARENT BHCAMPMENT OF (iN) AMERICA. No. Name. Convocation Night. Where Stationed. Commanders Name. Addi'ess. 26 St Elmo First and Third Fri day. Rochester, N. Y. M. E. Joiner. Rochester NYU. S. A. 27 Washington Every alternate Thursday. 17 South St. Phila delphia. John M. Carlisle. 1,412 South 16th St. Philadelphia. 39 Philadelphia Every Saturday. Frankfort Road, Philadelphia. John Strain. 311 Sergeant Street Philadelphia. 34 Constantine- Every Monday. Liberty Council Hall, Phila. Chas McClintock. 1,713 Warnock St., Phila. Pa, U.S.A. 44 Mt. Oalvar-y . . . Wilmington, Del. R. A. McKelvey. Shallcross Ave. Wil mington, Del. U.S.A. XSB5. BLACK KNIGHTS OF MALTA Working under the Jurisdiction of the Imperial Grand Black Encampment of the Universe, and under the immediate supervision of Sir George Cheesman, Grand Inspector General of the S.-.C. of the Great Cross. OFFICE BEARERS OP THE CONTINENTAL GRAND PRIORY FOR 1883-6. Grand Prior— Sir John Russell, 1,236 Washington Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. Grand Generalissimo— Sir Robert McKelvey, Wilmington, Del. Grand Captain General- Sir James A. Duffy, Norristown, Pa. Grand Senior Warden — Sir W. Adair, Pittsburg, Pa. Grand Junior Warden — Sir Thomas McCracken, Wilming ton, Del. Grand Standard Bearer — Sir John McKelvey, Wilmington, Del. Grand Sword Bearer — Sir J. M. Friezleben, Wilmington, De). . . fe . 00 Grand Prelate — Robert Dempsey, Philadelphia, Pa. Grand Recorder — George Cheesman, l,7u4 Titan St., Phila delphia, Pa. Grand Asa't Recorder — John G.. Russell, Philadelphia, Pa. Gtand Treasurer— Henry Elkin, Pittsburg, Pa. Grand Registrar — T. K. Carlisle,' Philadelphia. Pa. Grand 1st Guard— William Long, Philadelphia, Pa. Grand 2nd Guard— Robert Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa. Grand Warder— W. B, Dowse, Albany, N. Y. Grand Sentinel— John Kerr, Philadelphia, Pa. ^ SUBORDINATE COMMANDERIES. No Name. Convocation Night. -Whei-eStationed. Commanders Name. Address. 26 St Elmo 1st & 3rd Friday. Rochester, N. Y. Frank T Smith... 93 Genessee Street, Rochester, N. Y. 27 Washington 2nd & 4th Friday. Harmony Hall, Philadelphia, Pa. T. K. Cariisle 1412 S. 16th Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 29 Philadelphia Friday Irons Hall, Phila delphia, Pa. William Long. .... 1715 Leib St., Phil adelphia, Pa. 34 Ivanhoe Saturday Harmony Hall, Philadelphia, Pa. John McKay 2009 Federal St., Philadelphia, Pa. 44 Mt. Calvary Wednesday 605 Market Street, Wilmington, Del. Thos. McCracken. 619 W. 2nd Street, Wilmington, Del. 45 Star of the West . . Tuesday 22nd & Penn. Ave., Pittsburg, Pa. D. E. Davis Pittsburg, Pa. 46 Olive Branch 1st & 3rd Tuesday, Parental Hall, Al bany ,^N. Y.'' J as. G. Gumming. 18 Morris Street, Albany, N. Y. 48 Phoenix Orange Hall,. Troy, N. Y. Jacob Smythe. .- . . 8 House Avenue, Troy, N. Y. 51 Montgomery Tuesday Fisher's- Hall, Nor- istown, Pa. Bertolette Chester Norristown, Pa. 53 Eureka Every other Tues Knights of- Malta William Flaws . . . Black River, Alcona day Hall, Black River Mich. County, Mich. >o 20 Fifth. — The Chapter General is the Father and sole legal pro prietor of the Ritual, worked by itself, the Grand Priory and Grand Commandery, so that no ^ Bodies claiming to be Knights of Malta have any right to use the same without its consent. We will take up and settle the Degree question in Part VI. We may here state, however, that the Order, when brought to America, came without a Ritual, the lectures and work based upon them being orally communicated. Up to the time when the Royal Grand Encampment of Canada, and later on, the Supreme Black Encampment undertook the task, a settled form of Ritual with appropriate charges was unknown. This was so in America, and it was also the case in Scotland, as appears by the follo'wing extract from a communication hailing from the Grand Recorder of the Grand Encampment of Scotland dated July Sth, 1878. "We are just waiting to receive your Rituals as promised. Send the whole 8, and you will do us and the Order an everlasting benefit." Again, " We would like to be able to §-ive theili something worthy of the Order of Knights' of Malta, and that something you have got." Again, in a communication from the same source, dated Janu ary 16th, 1878, appears the following: "We were glad to learn that the first degree Ritual (Revised) was appro ved of. and Ihope you will let us have it as soon as you can; you might send send us Rituals for all the 8 degrees. It will be the salvation of the Order here." Again from the same source, dated February 19th, 1880: •' You jibe us with being in a fever about the Rituals; It was yourself was to blame. Y^ou showed us them, and we saw the advantages of having them, and you still promised but never fulfilled," Again, from the same source,, dated December 10th, 1881: " So far as Rituals are concerned, we have no Ritual for degree work, nor are we likely to have them for years to come.'' The fact is so late as June 5th, 1880, the Scottish Order had no Rituals of its own, and what is more, did not want any as ap pears by the following minute of the proceedings of the Grand Encampment of Scotland, 1879-80. " After returning thanks, the Recorder brought forward the report on Rituals. After much discussion it was proposed by Sir Knight W. J. Red- path, seconded by Sir Knight .John Barclay, that tlie Rituals be burned; amendment by Sir Knight Thomas Flannigan that we do not entertain them at all, hut work on the old system of initiating members; amendmeilt 13, motion C, proposed by Sir Knight James Boyd, seconded by Sir Knight 2 I Robert Stewart, that we appoint a committee to draw out Rituals for the working of the several degrees ; amendment by ' Sir Knight David Forbes, seconded by Sir Knight John Galloway, that we do not appoint a Committee ; amendment 17, motion 16, amendment carried." The extracts quoted make it evident that the Order in America never obtained its Rituals from Scotland and a.v&pri7na facie proof as to the parentage of the present Ritual. This loose way of conducting the secret rittes of the Order, it was soon seen, would not answer for America, let alone the ten dency to change, and the admission of novelties, it was quite out of the way for the officers to do fine work; indeed there was no fine work for them to do. We also saw the possibilities of an im pressive service were the ideas contained in the lectures properly worked up, and the skeleton judiciously clothed. Thus the Grand Body of the day and its successors took the matter vigorously in hand and never rested until the desired goal had been reached. As soon as the Royal Grand Black Encampment of Canada had been formed, Sept. 29th, 1873, the Grand Commander (E. F. Clarke) and associates went to work and wrote up Rituals for the first six degrees, which were printed at " The Leader and Patriot Printing Office," Toronto, Canada, the moving spirit in this work being Sir James Boyd Davis, a very clever writer, entirely competent to un dertake the task. Bills for printing these amounting to $81 00 were presented to said Grand Body at its convocation, held Jan. 2nd, 1874. Later on, at Bowmanville, June 18th, 1874, we find the following report of the Committee on Rituals, as it appears in the minutes: " Companion Davis presented and read report of Committee on Rituals." " Your Committee on Rituals beg to report that they have had printed Rituals for the various Degi-ees of our Order up to the Eighth Degree or Royal Green, and for want of funds we have not been able to proceed fur ther, and trusting they will meet the approbation of this Grand Encampment we would suggest that a new Committee be appointed to draft the remaining Rituals. JOHN A. CdWAN, Chairman." Notwithstanding this report, that the Rituals of Eight Degrees had been printed, or perhaps because they had been printed, and the defects and inconsistencies of the work had become apparent, a good deal of dissatisfaction was quietly expressed ; the myster ies had not come dp to the mark anticipated. That such was the sentimeat then prevailing is evidenced by the following statement emanating from James Boyd Davis at said Convocation (June 18th, 1874). ' ' Companion Davis, in reply to a communication from the Grand Recor der, as to the conferring of the Degrees and the subject of them, replied that he thought the Knight of Malta (Justice) ought to be improved in a manner similar to what he had submitted at the first meeting; also considered 22 that the rotation of the Degrees should be altered so as to coincide with the Scriptures; that the Green Degree should be first, and thought that the Order would never occupy its proper position until this work was accomplished." This statement exhibits clearly enough the tangled state of things, Ritualistically. the Order was in, through the carelessness, or worse, of the Grand Encampment of Scotland. Owing however, to the unsettled state of the Order, nothing further was done at the time towards clearing out the rubbish, and with the exception of the Burial Service, which was drafted by the writer the following Spring, (1875), the matter remained in statu quo until the semi annual Convocation of the Supreme Black Encampment, July 13th and 14th, 1875, when the Committee, on Grand Commander's address, recommended as follows : " Second. — We recommend the printing of the Burial Service as soon as the Grand Treasury can report funds for the same." '•Twelfth.— We recommend that the Ritual Committee be authorized to prepare and submit a revised form of the Ritual of the fvrst Degree to the Grand Committee." " The report was received and adopted." The Grand Commander, (B. E. A. Land) armed with the au thority thus conferred, set about to study the question ; the result being the preparation and adoption of the Ritual of the first Order, (Knight of Justice or Malta), substantially as we now have it, (Barring of, course several changes made from time to time). This Ritual was based upon the Scottish work with additions drawn from the ancient Maltese Ritual, and chivalric customs, and to it were added a few original ideas, and suitable forms for opening and closing ; the language being fixed in all cases, and not left to the officer's judgment (or lack of it) as before, with proper charges explanatory of the work and the historic allusions therein con tained. No advantage was taken of Sir Knight Boyd Davis' ideas, referred to above, as in the opinion of the writer they bordered too closely on the Ritual of a kindred Order. A few trials in private preparing us for a pubhc rehearsal, the Degree was fully exempli fied at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Black Encampment held Nov. 10th, 1875, as the following minute will explain : " Supreme Black Encampment of America, Toronto, Nov. loth, 1875." " The M. -.E. -.G. '.C, Sir Knight R. B. A. Land, having taken the chair- called the Supreme Encampment to order. Sir Knight W. J. Duff, Haniil- 2i ton, acting as Generalissimo; Sir Knight E. G. Kittson, D.A) -.G.-.C . Hamilton, as Prelate; Sir Knight W. H. Coo, as Captain General ;\>ir Knight George Harris, as Senior Warden; Sir Knight W. M. Milligan, as Junior Warden." " The Encampment having been opened in due and ancient form, the M. B. Grand Commander stated that he had called this emergency meeting for the purpose of exemplifying the workings of the reeised Iinight of Malta Deg ree, for the Benefit of the two Delegates to Halifax, Sir Knights Pritchard and Langille." " The secret work of the Knights of Malta Degree was then exempli fied." " The Encampment was then called to order and closed in due and ancient form." JOHN A. COWAN, Recorder." The success of the revised Ritual of the First Order embold ened the Grand Commander to take the other Rituals in hand, the result being that at the annual Convocation of the Supreme Black Encampment, held at Toronto, Jan. lOth, 1876, he presen ted a system of Ritual, comprising Eight Degrees, the rite to con sist of the following : 1. — Knights of Malta, (J.ustice) ; 2. — Scarlet; 3. — Black (Hospitallers); 4. — Blueman Master Builder; 5. — Mark; 6. — White ; 7. — Green ; 8. — Red Cross, which system received the unqualified approval of the Supreme Black Encampment, as may be perceived from the following minute of that Grand Body : Knights of Malta Hall, Toionto, Jan. 10th, 1876. " To the Supreme Encampment of America. — The Committee, to wh6m was referred the M. -.E. -.G. -.C's address, having appointed a Sub-Committee to consider the propositions with regard to the revision and improvement of the Degrees, beg respectfully to report as follows : " "1. — They have carefully gone over the proposed amendments to the Scarlet Degree, aspresentedby theM.-.E. -.G. '.C, and consider that there is no deviation from the general landmarks of the Order, and hereby recom mend that it may be printed and distributed as the recognized Ritual of the Order." " 3. — They have carefully gone over the amendments to the Black Degree (Hospitallers), and would recommend that with one or two trifling additions, it be adopted and printed for use in the Encampments. The Master Builder and Mark Degrees have been carefully gone over by us, and meet with our entire approval; with regard to the Ritual of the Red Cross we also entirely approve of the amendments proposed, but would suggest before it is printed that it be submitted to the Grand Committee for a slight revision." " All of which is respectfully submitted." E. F. CLARKE, J» E. DORAN, y Committee. R. LIDDY. H " The report was received. On the motion for adoption, it was the ex pressed opinion, that subordinate Encampments should be charged for the revised Rituals, and that the matter be left in the hands of the Executive Officers ; the report was then adopted." The Ritual, as then revised, was printed and distributed, and no further alteration was made in it until the great Ritual Reform of 1878 (see Part vi.), with the exception of a modification of the First Order, which was recommended by the M.-.E. -.G.-.C. to, and adopted by the Supreme Encampment, September, 1887, as ap pears by the following minute : A. P. A. Hall, Philadelphia, Wednesday, Sept 19th, 1877. "A. O. 829." " To the M.-.E. -.G.-.C and Sir Knights of the Supreme Encampment of America." ' Your Committee appointed to consider the annual address of the M. -¦ E.•.G. '.C. , fraternally submit the following report." " 14:th. — Your Committee recommend tlie adoption of the Revised Knight of Malta Degree Ritual." " On behalf of the Committee," E. GRAVES KITTSON, M. t)., Chairman, E. J. ROBERTS, Secretary. " The report was received, and on motion adopted." In the two editions and more of the Ritual, by that time printed, the Royal Grand and Supreme Encampments had drafted and settled the Rituals for ten out of the twelve Scotch Degrees, (the Gold and Priestly Pass having been expunged) and later on, the Priestly Pass was incorporated into the Order of Priesthood of the Reformed Rite, so that the Chapter General through its antecedent Grand Bodies, had gone over eleven out of the twelve Scotch Degrees. We will not dwell here upon the later develop ment of the Ritual, or the reasons therefor. It suffices to note 1st, that the Chapter General is the First Grand Body of Knights of Malta to frame a Ritual of the Orders ; 2nd, that the organi zers of the Grand Priory and Grand Commandery took advantage of her work, and instead of surrendering it as they were in honor bound, used the same in erecting their own fraternal edifices. A propef- demand was made upon the Philadelphia Rebels for our warrants and Rituals but they refused to return either, and later on, received permission from Scotland to work with them as 25 appears by the following- from Glasgow in response to a request by the Rebels for Rituals: " So far as Rituals are concerned, we have no Ritual for Degree work, nor a/re we likely to.liave them for years to come." " If you still retain the eight Rituals that was issued by the Supreme En campment, you have all the 13 we work condensed into 8, with the excep tion of one, and it is not worth printing." This communication was sent Dec. 10th, 1881, was signed by James Boyd, their Grand Recorder, and was written on official paper. It is now in our possession. Of course the Grand Priory and Grand Commandery people have got up their own Rituals of twelve or less Degrees, but in doing so they have certainly drawn upon our work; so far as the Grand Priory is concerned this can be proven right off. At date of writing (July 1889), we have in our possession, a complete set of Rituals of said Grand Body. On comparing these Rituals of the twelve Degrees printed by "S. Whybrew, Printer, 13 Stone St., Rochester, N. Y.," with the Rituals of the old eight Degrees as formerly worked by the Chapter General, and printed by Com panions Pritchard and McFadden. We find the following : 1st. — That the Rituals of the Decrees of Knights of Malta, Scarlet, Black, Apron Green, Knights of the Green, and Red Cross as worked by the Grand Priory are copied almoat word for word from the Rituals of the same Degrees (barring of course the division of the " Green " into two Degrees, "Apron Green" and "Knights of the Green) formerly worked by the Chapter General. 2nd. — That the Rituals of the Mark, Blue, and Blueman Master Builder De grees of the Grand Priory are, with certain slight changes, copied from the old Mark and Blueman Master Builder of the Chapter General, (now, of course eliminated by us), and that those of the White and Priestly Pass are based upon the old White and Order of Priesthood of the Chapter General, the text being in most cases identical ; 3rd.— that the sole Ritual original with the Grand Priory is the Gold, (it will be remembered that the Chapter General never published a Ritual of that Degree). This comparison fully bears out in all its details what has heretofore been said or suggested. It shows that the whole Order owes its Rituals, good and bad, to the Chapter General. Without being able to demonstrate the state ment so accurately in the case of the Grand Commandery, as above our information leads us to a similar conclusion. 26 We hold the matter to be beyond any reasonable doubt; the wire pullers and would-be-Popes of the Grand Commandery, not withstanding their self assumed infallibility, would not dare to introduce what might seem novelties to the rank and file, for reasons that will readil}' suggest themselves to the reader. They have misled their following as to the origin of the Ritual; they have called "Ancient" that which is not ancient, and have even denounced, as violations of a trust, those who suggested any necessary change; hence, they are caught in their own net, and are convicted of "borrowing" almost all they possess from those who antedated them in the Order, and from the His toric Body which they, with their brood of Foreign Harpies, are seeking to destroy. — Yes, ^he Chapter General is the Father, and the sole legal Proprietor of the Ritual of the Orders. Sixth. — The Chapter General is the Reforming Grand Body of the Order. What those reforms were will be explained as we proceed. It suffices to state that largely through carelessness, and partly from ignorance, a vast amount of corruption had crept into the Order received from Scotland, such corruptions being : 1.— Of Name, 5.— Of Title of the Supreme 2.— Of Rite, Body, 3 —Of Official Titles, ' 6.— Of Prerequisites for Mem- 4. — Of Degree Titles, bership. 7. — Minor Corruptions. 1 . — Corruption of Name. The Order was absurdly styled "Royal, Grand, Black, Knights of Malta." 2. — Corruption of Rite. Nine new, and for the most part, sense less Degrees were added to the ancient three; the Chapter General purged the Ritual of the corrupt and foreign additions,' and effectually reformed it upon the ancient basis of the three Orders of Knights, Hospitallers and Priests, (see Part vi). 3. — Corruption of Official Titles. Those then, in use had been ignorantly borrowed from Templar sources, and very modern ones at that. The Chapter General reformed the nomenclature in this as in other respects, by expunging the Templar usage, and adopt ing titles in use in, or adapted from, or in conformity with the old Order of Malta. Those who wish to be known as Knights of Malta, and not as Knights Templars, will choose titles in confor mity with the usage of their own Order, and leave the Templar titles to those best entitled to use them. 27 4. — Corruption of Degree Titles. The Degrees were styled "Royal." th^us the Scarlet was known as the "Royal Scarlet," the Black (Hospitallers),, as the " Royal Black " The Chapter General abolished the ridiculous '' Royal," and" Grand," and "Black" style of nomenclature, and restored the ancient names. Thus the First Order, according to Scottish usage, incorrectly styled the Order of " Knights of Malta," is now correctly called the " Order of Knights of Justice," the" Black Degree," the "Order of Hos pitallers," and the "Priestly Pass Degree," the "Order of Priest hood," while she expunged :i whole string of " Colored " Degrees having all the tints of the rainbow, such as the "Blue," the, " Green," the •' White," the " Scariet," and the " Gold," all these farcical and baby play Degrees, more fit for the madhouse ,or the nursery than for a Body of sober gentlemen the Chapter General cast out. 5. — Corruption of Title of the Supreme Body, which was known as the "Royal Grand Black Encampment of Canada," or the " Supreme Black Encampment of .America," after a struggle, the Grand Body at length got rid of the " Royal, Grand, Black En campment " nonsense, and conformed the title to ancient Maltese usage, styling it the " Chapter General," or " General Chapter " of the w-hole (American) Order. 6. — Corruption of the Prerequisites for Membership The Grand Encampment of Scotland became identified with Orangeism, and by By-Law, restricted its membership to those having received the Orange Degrees. The Supreme Black Encampment did away with that restriction, and opened its doors to the world. This, possibly, one of the gueatest reforms ever effected in any institution, which indeed, was nothing less than a complete revolution, was brought about by the following resolution, constitutionally carried by the Supreme Black Encampment, at its Convocation, held July 14th, 1875. '" Moved by Sir Knight Hugh McCaw, G. -.T,, seconded by Sir Knight E. T. Essery, that the membership o£ this Order be not confined to Orange men only." "An amendment was put which was defeated, yeas, 8 ; nays, 19. On the original motion being put, it was carried on the following division, yeas, 19; nayk, 6." This action of the Supreme Black Encampment, was, later on, approved, by the Grand Council of Scotland, as falling within the powers of said Supreme Body, as appears by the following min ute : 28 , Glasgow, 17th August, 1875. "Met, the Grand Committee of the Paient Grand Encampment of the Universe, and resolved, viz : That inasmuch as the Parent Grand Black En campment of the Universe lias already given a Kingdom Warrant to the Brethren in Canada, covering the whole American Continent, it rests with them to work these powers out for the present and future good of the Order to the best of their judgment. The point under consideration, tiz : whether it is essential to be Orange and Purple before becoming a Knight tf Malta, is not, and has ncrerbeen a fiindumcntal hue of the Knights of Malta. It is only an approved practice regulated by a By-Law, but a practice which the P. '.G.-. B.-.E. of the Universe recommends, without at all enjoining upon those who work under Independent Kingdom Warrants, as the Continent of America now does." '— — . G. McLEOD, G.-.C. ^i.'^.^i-'" JAMES CULLEY, G.-.R. 7. — Minor Corruptions. Such as the wearing of Aprons in the Knightly Order, (who ever heard of Knights wearing aprons, ex cept when in the cradle); the use of the Red Templa.T Cross, (cross pat^) instead of the JVhilc Cross of Malta : the display of the Templar colors, IVhite and Black, instead of the Maltese colors, Red and Black; the wearing of the Templar Jewels of Office, and the use of the Templar ceremonial of installation. The Chapter General 'drove out all these foreign and corrupt forms; abolished use of the apron except in the 2nd or Hospital ler Order, where it properly belongs, as denoting a nurse in the Hospital; restored the proper colors in garment and cross; de signed jewels adapted to and in harmony with ideas inherent in the Order, taking our own emblems as the proper basis ; drafted an original service of installation, and reverted, so far as possible, to ancient form and usage. All this reforming and revifying pro cedure has been undergone since Jan. 28th, 1875, and by means of it, we have a young, beautiful, and in every way satisfactory Order, which, we trust, under the blessing of Divine Providence, will, to the inhabitants of this great Continent, ever be "A thing of beauty, and a joy forever." Summary of Part i. By the above it has been demonstrated — 1. — That the Chapter General traces its descent in a direct, con tinuous, and unimpeachable line from St. John's Encampment No. 1. 2. — That the Chapter General, and all the Bodies through which it claims were legally constituted at the time of institution, and that its warrant covered territory unoccupied at the date of the grant, which, in this case, included the entire American Conti nent, North and South, 29 f 3 — That its jurisdiction as to territory and legislation is un limited in its scope. 4. — That it is the Mother Grand Body of the American Order. 5. — That the Chapter General is the Father of the American Ritual, and 6. — That it was the reforming Grand Body of the Order, driving out corrupt and foreign elements, and basing the Consti tution and Rite upon the practice of antiquity. The Chapter General is thus the Father and Defender of that system of principles and rites which, combining as it does, in re lation to the Order of Malta, the essentials of antiquity and util ity, has earned from the Sir Knights under its obedience, the just appellation of "The Ancient and Reformed Rite." 20 PART IL The Grand Priory, what is it, and whence derived ? The Grand Priory was organized at Liberty Council Hall, Phila delphia, on Monday, February 26th, 1883, by commission from Scotland, directed to George Cheesman, as Most Eminent Grand Prior, to guide and govern the Order in America, the following Commanderies participating, viz : Washington No. '9. Philadelphia No. 16. Mt. Calvary No. 19. St. Elmo No. 26. Constantine No. 34, and Star of the West No. 45. The first four of which had originally derived theit warrants from the Chapter General, and had been cancelled by the same for insubordination. At the above date (Feb. 26th, 1883), the Grand Priory Council accepted the conditions laid down by the Imperial Council, and a constitution was adopted. At the special Convocation of the Imperial Council, held March .^th, 1884. the powers granted to Companion Cheesman were ratified and trans ferred to a Continental Grand Priory in the following words : "At a special Convocd.tion of the Imperial Council, held in Glasgow, March, 1884, it was resolved by unanimous vote of the Council to grant the American Companions permission to form a Continental Grand Black Priory of America, and we do hereby, and by these presents authorize our well be loved Companion, George Cheesman, to institute said Continental Grand Priory; said Priory to have power to elect its officers annually; to guide and govern the Order on the Continent as long as it does not depart from the ancient landmarks, and continues to pay the Imperial Parent such tax as may be levied annually for such conce,ssion, subject to the supervision of the Grand Inspector General, George Cheesman and his successors in office b-y appointment of the Imperial Council." (Malta Recorder. July, 188.5.) And at the same meeting Companion Cheesman was authorized to create and establish an Order of Merit to be designated " The Ancient and Most Illustrious Order of the Great Cross of Malta and St. John of Jerusalem, &c." A Supreme Council of the Great <'ross was also authorized, said Council to be the Court of Ap peal for the Continent of America. The decision of said Supreme Council on all matters appertaining to the Order of Malta to be final, unless reversed by the Imperial Grand Council of Scotland. In December, 1886, power was given by Scotland to merge the Continental Grand Priory in the "Supreme Council of the Great Cross," which was accordingly done. The above action of the Imperial Council of Scotland of March Sth, 1884, was produced, and the minute granting authority to establish the Grand Priory and to create the Supreme Council of the Great Cross was read, tacitly approved, and declared to be satisfactory, at the Convocation of the Parent Body, June 14th, 1884. (See Annual Reports, 1884, P. 15). We have been thus explicit on the points touched on as an answer to Mr. Stewart or Mr. Pierce's statement in the so-called Grand Commandery, October 17th, 1889, when the following question was put by P.- C. Chas. Laing : Question — If what is known as the Cheesman Branch had ever received exclusive rights in the Order ? Answer — No, they were merely working under Subordinate En- campment Charters. (Knight of Malta, November, 1889). The above answer is a piece with almost every statement con cerning the Order's American History emanating from Pierce, McClintock, Stewart & Co. Our citations show the answer to have been false, th'at exclusive powers were pretended to have been given to (jeorge Cheesman and the Grand Priory and Supreme Council, and that said Branch does not work merely under Sub ordinate Encampment Charters. While the Chapter General has never recognized the Grand Priory as ought but an ifivasion of her rights it was necessary to allude to said Body for the purpose of demonstrating the spuri ous origin of the (3-rand Commandery, which is thence illegiti mately derived, as will be fully shown in Part III. SUMMARY OF PART IL 1. — The Grand Priory was organized February 26th, 1883 under Commission from Scotland, by six Encampments, four of which had been cancelled by the Chapter General. 32 3. — The powers of the above were enlarged and ratified by the Scottish Grand Council, March Sth, 1884, and authority granted the Grand Priory to form a " Supreme Council of the Great Cross," said Council to be the final Court of Appeal. 3. — All the above was tacitly ratified by the Grand Encamp ment of Scotland, June 14th, 1884, 4. — In December, 1886, The Grand Council of Scotland gran ted permission to merge the Continental Grand Priory in the Su preme Council of the Great Cross. 5. — All the above action of the Grand Encampment of Scot land, in setting up a Grand Priory in America, was illegal, in con travention of the Chapter General's rights, and an unlawful inva sion of her territory. 33 PART HI. The (xrand Commandery, what is it, and whence derived ? 1st. — ^The Grand Commandery is an unwarranted offshoot from the Grand Priory of America. The Grand Commandery is one of the most illegitimate of secret associations. We have seen that Constantine Commandery No. 34 was one of the six which organized the Grand Priory. It is now in order to show the process by which the same Commandery, without warrant from any quarter, was instrumental in organizing the so-called Grand Commandery. The first semi-official notice thd public had of its existence was an advertisement in the Protestant Standard, of Philadelphia, under date February 7th, 1884, which read as follows: Grand Commandery Ancient and Illustrious Order Knights of Malta, Established al Jerusalem, A. D. 1048. Incorporated by State of Pennsyl vania. U- S. A., A. D. 1884. Constantine Commandery No. 1. Meets every Monday Eivning, at Liberty Council Hall, Germantown Avenue, above Berk, Street. Sir Wm. Stewart, Commander. Sir James T. Stewart, Recorder. Residence, 65th and Callowhill Street." And seemingly, in explanation of the above card, we find the following in the same paper, under date of February 14th, 1884 : "CONSTANTINE COMMANDERY." "The Grand Commandery of the Ancient and Illustrious Order of Knights of jNIalta stationed in this city, celebrated the investment of their corporate rights in a very appropriate manner last week. On Monday eve. ning they instituted a new Commandery, in the upper section of the city, whose roll of members>hip numbered 170 names, a thing unprecedented in the history of any secret organizatioti. The new Commandery is called Constantine after the first Roman Emperor, who embraced the Christian Religion." "The Grand Oificers were present and installed the following officers according to ancient rite, rule and custom: Sir Knight Commander, William Stewart ; Generalissimo, Adam Wortman ; Captain General, Thomas Cle ments ; Prelate, .los-eph C. Young ; Recorder, James T. Stewart ; Assistant Recorder, William H. Wilson ; Treasurer, John Heilman; Senior Warden, Peter F. Jones ; Junior Warden, Charles McClintock ; Warder, Fowler Smith ; First Guard, John Barbour ; Second Guard, Jacob Hoffman ; Sen tinel, N. G. Maling. Several new Commanderies are in course of construc tion, and will be instituted at an early date." The above attests that at the date given, (1884) this new Order had just been got under way, and that Constantine Commandery No. 1 was its first subordinate Body. We have not far to go to find out whence the new clandestine Grand Body and subordinate hailed. On turning to page 9 of the Annual Report of the Grand Encampment of Scotland, 1882-3, we find in the list of Encampments working under the Parent Body in America, the following : " Constantine No. 34, Convocation Night every Monday, at Liberty Council Hall, Philadelphia, Commander, Charles McClintock, 1713 'War nock Street, Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A." ^ Clearly the Constantine Commandery No. 34, mentioned in the Report, and the Constantine Commandery No. 1, meeting in the jsame Hall, and on the same night of the week, are one and the same Commandery. This inference is fortified by the following excerpt from the same paper of date, February 14th, 1884 : Rochester, N. Y , 1884. F. G. Bailey, Esq.: " Dear Sir and Brother: — In last week's number of your valuable paper I noticed the card of Constantine Commandery No. 1 as Grand Commandery, Ancient and Illustrious Order Knights of Malta. That, I presume, is the sanie Gonvmandery No. 34, hitherto working under a Scottish Warrant, which, I believe, was cancelled last month, and its Officers expelled or suspended from the Order. ¦ That being the case, how can they style themselves, consistently, "Ancient and Illustrious," when, according to th-eirown showing, tlheyareasdf styled Grand and Subordinate Commandery of a few days growth, having no claim whatever to, or recognized by the Companions of that Ancient Order '! As there is a possibility of many being misled by that card, I think it only right to make this explanation. Hoping you may find sufficient space to insert the above in your next week's issue. Fraternally yours, Feb. 5th, 1884. MALTA." The writer of the above correctly stated the case The Grand Commandery was self constituted, and received no warrant for organization from any quarter, for the State Charter is not a War rant in the fraternal sense, neither can it take the place of a true Charter which, of course, must emanate from a qualified Body of 35 , Knights of Malta. The Grand Commandery obtained no war rant from Scotland, none from the Chapter General, and none from the Grand Priory of which it was the illegitimate offspring. What the promoters of the new aspirant evidently did was to con stitute a Grand Commandery out of the Officers and membership of Constantine Commandery No. 34, and then grant a Warrant back to said Commandery as No. 1, on their own Grand Registry. No-w if this sort of thing is to be considered legal, or is to be en couraged, we might very soon have in this country as many Grand as Subordinate Bodies. All that is necessary in such a case would be for a few officials of an Encampment, headed and hooded by a plausible Sir Knight, to raise a disturbance in the body with which they were connected, then secede from said Body, start one of their own, and publish in the " Press " that they had founded a new " Ancient and Illustrious Order." Evidently that sort of license will not do, and as evident is it, that if we are to have an American Grand Body worthy of the name, and if the Institution is not to be brought into utter disrepute, the multiplication of so- called and warrantless Grand Bodies of Knights of Malta must be made to cease, and the law of the fraternity governing their for mation strictly enforced. As it is, however, we are warranted in asserting the Grand Commandery to be an illegal and unwarran ted offshoot from the Grand Priory of America. 3nd. — The Grand Commandery is not only an unwarranted off shoot from the Grand Priory, but it was organized by suspended and expelled men out of a cancelled Commandery, which suspen sion, expulsion and cancellation were ratified by the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe, while Charles McClintock, one of its chief organizers, was suspended years be fore by Philadelphia Encampment then under the obedience of the Supreme Encampment, which suspension was approved by the Supreme Encampment, now the Chapter General of America. We have shown elsewhere that the Grand Commandery was organized out of Constantine Commandery No. 34, said Grand Commandery immediately afterwards granting to said Command ery a warrant as No. 1, on its own Grand Registry. That such was the origin of said spurious Grand Body, nobody, not even Mr. McClintock or Mr. Pierce will, (since they have been found out), have the hardihood to deny. The movers had no fraternal warrant for their illegal act, so to cover up their nakedness in that respect, they procured Charter of incorporation (which any man might have done) from the State, and used it to pull the wool over the eyes of the rank and file. 36 We will now show that at the time they did this, the organizers of the Grand Commandery, viz : Charles McClintock, James T. Stewart, Wm. Stewart, and Isaac Wortmann, had no standing in the Order, but on the contrary were expelled men, and that Constan tine No. 34 waK a cancelled Commattdery. The following, inserted in the columns of the Protestant Stand ard, of Philadelphia, Feb. 14th, 1884, appears to be an official notification to the public of said suspension, expulsion and cancel lation. SPECIAL NOTICE. "To all whom it may concern.'' " Notice is hereby given that the -warrant of Constantin,e Commandery No. 34, Knights of Malta, was. on Jamiary 9th, 1884, declared cancelled, its four prindpcA officers expelled the Order for life, and the remaining members allowed six months wherein to affiliate with some other Commandery of the Order, or in default, to become suspended for disloyalty." " By order of the Most Eminent Gr&nd Prior," GEORGE CHEESMAN. And by referring to the Malta Recorder for July, 1885, a de funct organ of the Grand Priory, we get further information re lating to that transaction: '- The Philadelphia Companions not coming to any decision regarding a D.-.D. -.G. Commander, the Grand Prior appointed and commissioned as D.-.D. Grand Commander for Philadelphia, Companion John Russell, on March 3rd, 1883. This appointment apparently did not meet the wishes of some few Companions of ConstantiTie Commiamdery No. 34, who, undoubted ly, preferred their own elevation to higher office rather than the good and welfare of an Order they had solemnly pledged themselves to uphold and maintain. The result was, that Constantine No. 34 placed themselves in open rebellion to constituted authorities, denying the action they had taken through their representatives at the Grand Priory Council, refusing to act constitutionally unless the Grand Prior withdrew the commission of D.-. D.-.G. Commander John Ru.ssell, (a proposition which could not be enter tained). Their action could only be accounted in two ways, (1) their refusal and objection to have their Commandery books examined, a circumstance suspicious in itself, and (3) a desire to have the higher officials selected from their Commandery, in order that they might be left free to act as they pleased, without any immediate supervision. The result of their continued insubordination was that after due summons and trial by a competent court tlie warrant of Constantine Commandery No. 34 was declared cancelled, and Charles McClintock, James T. Stewart, Wm. Stewart and Isaac Wm'tmann were expelled from the Order for life ; the remaining Companions of No. 34 being allowed the privilege of affiliating with any legal Commandery they might desire. The above sentence has been fully confirmed by the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the Universe." . 31 And that the chain of evidence against the above named mountebacks might be complete, we turn to the Annual Report of the Parent Body for 1884, page 19, and, sure enough, we find the following : GKAND PRIOKY OF AMERICA. " William J. Hughes, St. Elmo's Commandery No. 36, has been expelled; also Charles McClintock, James T. Stewart, William Stewart and Isaac Woi-t- imn has Jeeftai^peifcrf for insubordination, o.tid Constantine Eneumpmenf docs not now belong to the Registi-y of the Parent Encampment." There it is. Sir Knights, and deluded Gentlemen ; you who went into the Order in good faith, and have been deceived right along, carried along as it were, on the strength of most wilful prevari cation, and concealment of material facts ; it is established that your Clandestine Grand Commandery was founded by expelled men and a cancelled Commandery, both the expulsion and can cellation having been ratified by the Grand Encampment of Scot land, the very Grand Body that lately, it is claimed, gave McClin tock and Pierce's Grand Clandestine Body recognition . If the Parent did recognize the concern (about which there is more than a doubt) she stultified herself, made it plain that recoignition from such a quarter is not worth having, and should receive the contempt she des'erves. Again, if all regular Bodies require recognition from Scotland, as Mr. Pierce, in his perpetual Charter and Union with Scotland circular asserts, what status was the Grand Commandery in from on, or about, Jan. 19th. 1884, to June 15th, 1889. Mark down Irregular and Clandestine in Capitals, During all this time, for four years and one half, Mr. Mc Clintock et al were swearing men into the Order, when they knew they had no right to do so, and all this time they had to cover up their tracks by misrepresentations. The reader will also note, that as Constantine Commandery was cancelled Jan. 9th, 1884, and its principal officers expelled, and the rest of the membership suspended, and as the Grand Com mandery was not organized until on, or about Jan. 19th, 1884, (see Miller's History), said spurious Grand Body was got together when the promoters thereof had no standing in the Order. One figure of the Illustrious four- alone remains to be further dealt with. Among the ^•A/(?//^a' men of Jan. 9th, 1884, was Mr. CJharles McClintock, who has made himself very busy of late in traducing the Chapter General: Mr. McClintock hidhimself away dov^n on the list of the Office Bearers of Constantine Command ery No. 1, as its Junior Warden, but he by no means occupied so humble a post in the Councils of the Grand Commandery. He was the head and frortt of the movement, in reality, the power 38 behind the scenes, so much so, indeed, that in common parlance, he Grand Commandery is styled by many " McClintock's Body,'' and of course we all know, being told of it so often, that he is the " Father " of the American Order, an " Honorary .Assistant Imperial Grand Master," and " Grand Inspector General," so richly is he " adorned with all his honors,'' to quote the wording of the old Scottish Charters. McClintock, however, is wary, so he took a subordinate post for the time being, " to encourage the rest," and that he might thd easier cover up his tracks. All his honors, however, did'nt save him from being expelled the Order, on Jan. 9th, 1884, for setting everybody by the ears, but this was not his first experience at eviction. Charles McClintock, notwith standing his " Fatherhood," was made a Knight of Malta under the Supreme Black Encampment, now the Chapter General, dur ing the year 1875-6, and was suspended by Philadelphia Encamp ment No. 16, during the year 1878-9, which suspension was after wards confirmed by the Supreme Encampment, Sept. 9th, 1879,- as appears by the minutes of that Grand Body, and he was thus on the Roll of Philadelphia Encampment as a su.e worked accordins; to rule laid down by the I. -.P.. G.-. B.-.E. of the Universe " We were commanded to work the twelve Degrees, in default, our warrant was to-be cancelled. So soon as the above Edict was received, the American authorities penned protests to Glasgow. and later on rendered the following official replj- which as fully sustaining the contention of the Chapter General is here inserted in extenso: New York, December 31st, A. O. 831, (1879). Alexander Kexxedv, Esq., Grand Recorder of the L.P. ...imn...- .....n.^..., .jo rr,Ur,TJi'0 Ancient and Primary grades, as follows : ¦¦ -M. 111. Fr. J. R. Pettis, Grand Master." "R. III. Fr. J. E. Henderson, Grand Commander." " " " J. A. Cowan, " Marshall." " " " E. H. Warker, " Hospitaller." " " " G. Cheesman, " Admiral." " " A. Henderson, " Conservator.' " " " E. G. Kittson, " Turcopolier." " " " .\. Kennedy, " Bailiff." " " " R. E. A. Land, " Chancellor.' " The request of the petitioners was granted by the unanimous vote of the Chapter General " (The Supreme Encampment had changed its uiime to the " Chapter General "the Siime day ). The iSfiToW convocation was held at Rochester, N. Y., Septem ber 12th, 1882, when Sir R. P. Hallgreen was admitted. Sir R. E. A. Land elected Grand Master and Sir R. P. Hallgreen, Grand Chancellor. The Third convocation was held at Philadelphia, Pa., Septem ber 11th, 1883, when Sirs John C. Gager and Hervey H. Smith were admitted. The Fourth convocation was held at Buffalo, N. Y., September 10th, 1884, when Sir Knights F. H. Robinson, W. S. Jenkins, C. S. Hanks and W. A. Hobday were admitted. A committee con sisting of Sirs R. E A. Land and James E. Henderson was ap pointed to report on grades and constitution. The Fifth convocation was held at Brooklyn, E, D., Septem ber 15th, 1886, when Sir James McKelvey was admitted. The Sixth convocation was held at New York City, September, 14th, 1887, when Sirs J. F. Waring R. A. Beatty, and W. Alexander were admitted. The Seventh convocation was held at Brooklyn, N.Y., September 10th and 10th,1889, when the following Sir Knights were admitted: Eminent Sirs, W. L. Lillibridge, J. J. Freeman, E. C. Dean, Nelson Perkins, B. W. Dyer, W. Ewing, C. Armbruster, J. L. McElroy, J. M Goodenough, J. L. Shidey, M. D. Hamilton, C. Merritt. W. R. Relyea, W. D. Murphy, W. Goff, W. A. Carter, Isaac Hoagg, A. D Smith, A. Parsons, J. B. Burns, Thos. Hooton, Thos Bewley. From the above named true account of the organization and subsequent career of the first and only regular " College of An cients," the reader can judge of the confidence to be placed in any statement bearing upon the Order that emanates from cer tain quarters. This case is a sample easily verified, and shows what terrible and for the most part gratuitous falsehoods have been manufactured in the temporary interest of the Grand Com mandery. It will also be noted that neither Charles McClintock, Geo. IL Pierce, H. D. Miller, nor any other person" affiliated with the GrandCommandery ever was received into the regular College. Mr. McClintock's connection with the Chapter General was severed in September, 1879, one year before the organization of the College. It is plain, therefore, that wherever McClintock got his College it was not obtained from the regular body. There can be no doubt it is of his own manufacture like the- statements made to bolster it up. Sir George Cheesman, the only regular Grand Cross Knight associated with McClintock in the Grand Priory, denies ever having given him the Order Had he done so the conferr ing of it would have been irregular. The motto on the seal of McClintock's College " Spes Mea in Deo est," is not the motto of the regular Body, neither is the Cross, nor the word so far as can be judged from printed matter coming into our hands (see charm, llorstmann's catalogue, p. 2-f). The entire concern has the ap pearance of having been borrowed. Sir Geo. Cheesman quite hit the mark when he affirmed that McClintock borrowed the ideas of the College, Eagle, and Grand Cross from the regular College and the Christian Mark from himself, to which may be added the Cross and Motto from the A and A Masonic ¦ Rite. McClintock, however, is not the only party that derived the Grand Cross idea from' the original College. (It must be borne in mind that the " Eagle," and " (Jrand Cross" Orders are the distinctive rites of the College). When Sir George Cheesman separated from the Chapter General, he was still (and he still is) a Grand Cross Knight and carried with him from the Mother Supreme Council the idea of a Grand Cross Order. Later on he seems to have ap plied to Scotland for permission to create an Order of iVlerit to be styled " The Order of the Great Cross of Malta." the " Grand" in the original rite being turned into "Great" in his, the terms being synonymous The following intimation of the above is contained in Grand Recorder Boyd's report to the Parent Body, .1 une 9th, 1884. .Page 2 of the Report. " During tlie past year we have seen the Order more firmly consolidated on the gre-at Continent of America, and more united to the Parent Encamp ment than previously. Ihis most desirahle end has been attained through 89 us granting to our American Companions authority to organize a Grand Priory for that Continent, the same to have complete supervision over the Encampments under its jurisdiction. Leave was also granted them to create and establish an Order of Merit, designated " Tlie Order of tlie Ch'eat Cross of Malta," And on page 15 of the Reports the matter is still further re ferred to. The above is the first official intimation the Grand En campment of Scotland ever had of the existence of a "Great Cross Order," and the allusion is confined to America. Scotland had no such Order then (1884) or previously. Once suggested, how ever, the idea grew. The next year (1885), Boyd in his report, speaks as follows: ' ' Since the commencement of this year we have been engaged in im proving the Degree to be known in the future as the Great Cross, and should it meet with your sanction, we are .sure that it will tend to emulate our mem bers with the earnest desire to obtain the highest position, to enable them to become recipients of the Degree." (Reports, 1885, page 4), and on page 15, same reports we get the record of its introduction into the Scottish Order. The minute reads as follows: "Companion Stewart next introduced the Great Cross Degree, and in doing so said that in asking tlie representatives to sanction its adoption he did so, believing that its adoption would be the means of creating a desire in the mem tiers to work with a deeper interest in the welfare of the Order, and that only iho.se who had i-eceived the highest Degree, and being elected to the position of Giand Councillor or Commander, would be eligible to re ceive this Degree of Merit. They had also in contemplation the formation of a Priory composed of those who had received the IDegree, but that in all matters it would be subject to the Parent Encampment. He, therefore, trusted that there would be no serious objection to its adoption, as all the Giaud CouiK-il were in favor of it, and that, he held, was a proof that, while he could uot acquaint them of the private work of the Degree, it was one they could acce[jt as being in harmony with the principles of the Order." ¦-Companion Taylor moved that this Convocation sanction the adoption of this Degree of Merit, and he remarked that a number of the Council had taken him into their confidence and explained to him the method in which it was worked, and he had no hesitation in saying that its adoption would -be beneficial to the Order." "Companion Ledgerwood seconded, and believed that its adoption would accomplish all that Companion Stewart had mentioned in his intro duction, and he further believed that when in full working Order, they, in Ireland, would not be satisfied until it was established under their own authority." " Companion William Ingram supported its adoption, remarking that he, with a few other members who knew the whole intention and working of tlie Degree, had every faith in iti success should the Convocation sanction its adoption." "Companion Robert Johnston remarked that they were called on to adopt a Degree, the details of which could not be discussed, seeing that 9° they were being kept in ignorance of the pi'ivate working of the same, bu^ as they had every faith in tlieir office-bearers, he thought they could accep the guarantee given by them as sufficient, and allow it to pass." " Companions Barclay and Boyd also supported its adoption, aud with out going to the vote it was passed unanimously." ¦' Companion Boyd then moved that this Degree be conferred on all Com manders, Past Commanders, and newly appointed Councillors, during the recess." " Companion William Johnson seconded and this was agreed to unani mous." They then went to work and organized a " Great Cross Priory' and received 32 men into it (Reports 1885, page 3). During the next year they had completed their- organization as we find on reference to page 3 of the reports of that year (1886), where the following may be read: "GREAT CROSS PRIORY EXECUTIVE." " Grand Inspector General, Companion Robert Stewart." " Deputy " " " William G. Ingram." " Grand High Priest, " William Hunter." " Grand Scribe, " .James Boyd." " Grand Chancellor, " Robert Johnson, " " Grand Deacon, " JohnMcKean." " Grand Watchman, " Andrew Young.'' And at the convocation of 1886, the Supreme Encampment of Ireland applied for and received power from the Grand Encamp ment of Scotland to confer the Order. (Reports 1886, page 14). We have thus traced theldea from its inception in the brain of Harwood, including its formulation into a Rite by Land, the or ganization of the Mother Supreme Council at Toronto, in 1880, the carrying of the idea into the Grand Priory by Cheesman, whence it spread to Scotland and then to Ireland, and how it was borrowed by McClintock to aid in bolstering up his. Grand Com mandery. Now, as the Supreme Council of America, Knights of the Grand Cross, College of Ancients was the original and Mother Supreme Council and College, and thus entitled to the exclusive styles and titles of " Grand Cross " and " College of Ancients," in connection with the Order of Malta, and as the only legal Col lege never granted permission to any Body of men to use the above styles and titles, it follows that all the subsequent varia tions in connection with the Order of Malta, whether in America or Europe, are not only more or less derived from her, but are an infringement on her rights. 91 ''fhe one point remaining to be settled is: Do the irregulariy derivative Bodies claiming to be Grand or Great Cross Knights possess the genuine secrets of the Eagle and Grand Cross Or ders as communicated by the Mother Supreme Council. As to .McChntock's so-called College, there can be no doubt that it never possessed the real secrets. As to M. E. Sir George Chees man's Supreme Council we are in doubt As to Scotland and Ireland we long thought it likely the secrets had been transferred to them by Comp. Cheesman in return for permission to form his Order of Merit. But this is what Comp. Cheesman most em phatically denies having dune as the following extract from a letter of his dated November 22nd, 1889, attests: " Yours to hand this P. M. What do .you take me for anyway ? To think I gave anything awa.y to violate my obligation. I have been repeatedly asked to furnish the Imperial with at least the ground work of my Great Cross Ritual and work by both Boyd and Stewart, especially since he has been in America, but I imparted neither work nor pass word. The Great Cross Degree I claim to have control of. in spite of their desire to father it. The only work known and conferred on Great Cross members by Imperialis the Old Comruauder's Degree of which I fortunately, am possessed. Tlie Ea,gle or any intermediate Degree they know nothing of. If Stewart conferred the Great Cross, other than the Old Commuiider's Degree, he has drawn upon his im agination of which I do not credit him with an extra allowance. I have been very cautious in re that higher Order. There can be no doubt at all that McClintock's College Degree^ are bogus." Comp. Cheesman's view as to what the Great Cross Order in Scotland means, viz.: Merely the old Order of Commanders is .somewhat borne out on page 15. of the Reports of the Grand En campment of Scotland, 1884. We have gone fully into this subject not only for future ref erence, but with a more direct purpose. After the issue of Cir cular No. 5. by the Supreme Council of America, Knights of the (j-rand Cross, College of Ancients, denouncing McClintock's Col lege as clandestine, there was inserted the following in a Phila delphia paper (the Press we believe) COLLEGE OF ANCIENTS. " Sir Robert Stewart, Past Imperial Assistant Grand Master of Glasgow, Scotland, by iu'ilructions of the Imperial Giand Master, will confer the Orders of the Grand Cross upon the Venerable Collegiates who have not yet received these Degrees." Thus seeking through Scotland (which lately has been the Scape-goat for all McClintock's humbugs), to legitimize his spur ious College and Orders. It would be interesting to know what has transpired between McClintock and 'Stet^axt., and just when McClintock gave Steivart his Grand Cross and Eagle degrees, that 92 Stewart might be enabled to confer them, as having come from Scotland (where they never heard of them). The whole thing is very amusing. In any case, we have shown, and that was our purpose, that the Scottish Great Cross is itself spurious and ir regular, so that McClintock can get no aid from Scotland to wards legitimizing his College. The entire chain of Orders and Colleges under McClintock and Scotland is worthless for want of one link legitimately binding them to the Supreme Council of America, organized Sept. 14th, 1880, and which is the Mother Supreme Council of the world. Summary of Part VII. From the above then we deduce the following: 1 . That the first and only regular " College of .-Ancients " dates its existence from September 14th, 1880. 2. That before said date there never existed any such Body, neither did there exist, nor do there now any Imperial or Grand Colleges, whether in Scotland, America, or the Himalaya Moun tains. > 3. That all subsequent variations in connection with the Order of Malta are derived at least in idea from the Mother Supreme Council. 4. That the so-called College in affiliation with the Grand Com mandery was manufactured by Charles McClintock in imitation of the real one, the presumption from printed matter, etc., being that said imitation does not possess the true mysteries of the Eagle and Grand Cross Orders: 5. That the said Grand Commandery College, never having in any way been recognized by the Regular College, and yet being an imitation of it, is an infringement on its rights and is thus ir regular and clandestine. Gentlemen of the Grand Commandery is it not about time for you to ^yizlsxva. with the poet: "To what base uses have we come ?" And is it not time for you to sever your connection with a concern which, to a greater degree than any other with which we are acquainted, was conceived in a conspiracy, born in rebellion, and has grown on lies. There is a passage in Scrip ture which directs the faithful to come out from her and to touch not the unclean thing. That in the opinion of the writer would seem to h&your duty with reference to the Grand Commandery. 93 PART VIII. The Grand Encampment of Scotland. The previous pages have been written on the supposition that the Grand Encampment of Scotland is the legitimate heir of the Ancient Grand Priory of Scotland, and that by reason thereof it possesses some degree of original sovereignty over the American Continent, or at least such a high station of honor as should en title it and its acts to the respect of the Order, and as would thus equal any legal sovereignty of which strictly speaking it could not be the legal possessor at any time ; and the liberties and prerogatives of the Chapter General have been deduced from the powers conferred under the grant. The supposition above stated, is, however, the baseless fabric of a dream. New light in this as on other matters connected with the Order has been granted us the past few years The old view, and one which was long accepted without any eiddence in its favor was that the Grand Encampment of Scotland is in the direct, continuous, and unimpeachable line of descent from the old Grand Priory under Sandilands, just as the Chapter General is in the line from St. John's Encampment, No. 1 of the American Order. As investiga tions, however, progressed, we were obliged to abandon the greater portion of the ground. The first shock to our credulity was had when James Culley, Grand Recorder of Scotland wrote the following, bearing date March 24th, 1875, to Sir John A. Cowan, Grand Recorder of the Supreme Black Encampment: ' ' Sir Knight Grand Commander R. E. A. Land wrote Sir Knight G. C. McLeod asking information concerning the history of the Knights of Malta since the Reformation. This, I am afraid, we can scarcely promise, as there are no documents to refer to, however, toe will see if there can be anything got in this way. " The reader can imagine the feelings of those who had been so often told and had come to believe the I. P. G. B. E. of the U. to be the genuine heir, when informed there were no documents to substantiate the claim; and in addition told that they, the Scottish authorities " would see if there can be anything got in this way," as if it were a matter of search or manufacture, and not of actual possession of title deeds. Evidently there was an African in the fence. The suspicion thus raised was strength ened when the writer visited Scotland and found how lit tle the- Scottish Body knew of the old Order, none of its Com panions having so much as even visited the Priory (now called 94 the Choir), of Torphicen,- at the town of the same name, which was the residence of the old Scottish Knights; and it was con firmed upon a critical study of the ancient constitution, and through the knowledge there acquired of the almost complete divergence of the present Scotch Order from the constitution of the old Order under Sandilands. It was then seen that it was impossible for the Scottish Order to be in the direct and contin uous line from the old Grand Priory. This important discovery being made, we were, however, as much in the dark as ever as to the actual date of the organization of the present Scotch Grand Body. It is but lately that this point has been definitely cleared up. V\'e now believe ourselves to be in possession of the main facts. 1. And first of all, although the Scottish Grand Body has made vast claims it is only very lately that it has done so. By refer ence to a warrant of date October 1st, 1858, given to Sir Thomas C. Knowles, to hold a Provincial Grand Priory for British North America, we find two very important facts stated. The first is that the warrant is styled " Provincial Grand Commission No. one," showing it was the first Provincial Grand Commission ever issued. It was not the first foreign warrant, however, though it was among the first (there having been Provincials previously granted to Canada, East and West), but at any rate it ranked as No. 1, at that date. The second is that the warrant witnesses as follows: ' ' We, the undersigned Chiefs and Knights Companions of the Grand Black Lodge of Scotland, the Imperial Parent Grand Black Encampment of the L'niverse, Imviug, on the Seventh day of March, in the year of Our Lord One Ihousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-three, by public proclamation, established our right to tlie Supreme Government of the above Religious and Military Order of the Knights of Malta, do by virtue of this our Imperial Universal Authority, grant, &c." Rather a late date (.March 7th, 185-3), to make such a wide and sovereign claim, and rather a childish way of asserting it as if a Public Proclamation could of itself reserve and establish such vast powers in the hands of any Grand Body. From the lateness of the claim we judge its spuriousness as well as the modern organization of the Body making it. 2. This judgment is further substantiated by the dates of the first and fourth warrants ever issued by the Scottish Grand Body. Those warrants were not issued in A. D. 1600, 1700 or even IbOO, or at any intermediate date. They were issued in A. D. 1844 and 1845, and they of course, witness that the Grand Body issu ing them had just commenced busines.s, just as we prove the 95 • organization of McClintock's Grand Commandery, in 1884, by the issue of a warrant to Constantine Commandery, No. 1, The above named warrants (1 and 4) are now in the possession of a gentleman residing in the City of Toronto. The history of the organization of the Grand Encampment of Scotland seems to be as follows: The Order of Knights of Malta or Black Order, has existed from time immemorial in the British Isles, sometimes cropping up in England, sometimes in Ireland, and then in Scotland, but we really have fewer evidences of its existence in Scotland than in the two sister kingdoms. We can trace it through the Orange Body very well from 1795, but the foot prints are in Ireland. We haven't a trace of it in Scotland from that date until 1844, after the disruption of the Orange and Black Orders in Ireland by act of Parliament. " It would appear that a few Irish Orangemen from County Tyrone who, for their Country's good, liad taken refuge in Glasgow, and whose previous proceedings are duly recorded, established a heterogeneous combination, in fact a Grand Lodge composed of men of the lowe,st grades of society. These men undertook to confer various Degrees and inflict on the literary world specimens of English composition. Such queer pretensions, however, did not receive a commensurate success, for we find that the Parent Society had not extended its tender influence to England until 1845, when theyissaei the first Warrant to Manchester, to which the following signatures were aflaxed: " Sir Robert Blair, G.-.M." " William Boyce, D.-.G. .M." " John Brown, H.-. P." " William Blair, G. .S." " .lohnMcGown, G,-.T." " JohnMcKeand, G.-.P.-.M." " These worthies met in the house of their grand and potent chief, who resided at the Gallowgate, Glasgow, and kept a Tavern for his profit and their accommodation." The party who favored us with the above extract adds that — '' My friend (the party furnishing him with the information contained in the above extract) is a little out on his date, and although No. 1, Manchester was issued in lt<45. No 4, Toronto, was issued December, 1844, how this occurs I don't know " As previously stated these warrants are yet in existence and in the possession of a reliable party. By the above it is evident that at date of the issue of warrant No. 4 (Dec. 1844), the Grand Encampment of Scotland had not been many years alive, which accounts for its having no docu ments tracing descent from the old Grand Priory, for its " heter ogeneous combination " of mysteries and its long list of historic and Ritualistic inaccuracies. g6 That such as described was the real origin of the Parent Body there seems no doubt. When first brought to light it appears -as an Orange Society. Now Orangeism took its rise in Ireland, and it was, nay, must have been on Irish ground that the Knights of Malta first became identified with Orangeism. Apparently as the extract above given attests, the Order as an Orange Body was taken to Glasgow by Irish Orangemen and there set up in the form we now know it as the I. P. G. B E. of the.U. This must have been done after 1835, else the material sufficient to work upon (an Orange membership of some numerical standing), would have been " non est." Col. Fairman, in his testimony before the Committee of the House of Commons on Orange Societies (1835), testified that in 1835 there were no more than three Orange Lodges in Glasgow, and that the Order was weak in Scotland. The view here taken, viz : That the Grand Encampment of Scotland really hailed from Ireland at a recent date is also fa vored by the Report of Committee of the Parent Body, 1854, to which allusion is made in our little History, 5th Edition, p. 11. In that report continuous reference is made to " Original Laws," " Original and old Scotch Laws," " Dublin and old Scotch Laws, Original Maltese Laws," etc. Now, the expression " Dublin " Laws, looks suspicious. We never could, on the old hypothesis, understand that expression, for on the theory that the Parent Body has always existed since Sandiland's time, or that the Scot tish connection was clear, or that Scotland was its main residence why should reference be made to Dublin Laws, and why should they be cited as in a manner authoritative. The screw seemed loose, but we could not adjust it properly. But on what appears to be the true theory that the Body existed in Ireland as an Orange Society before 1835, or thereabouts, that it was taken thence to Scotland and carried with it the old laws used in the Irish Order before the disruption, the expression is clear, for we know that the old Black Order of Knights of Malta did exist in Ireland from 1795 to the date of the organization of the Grand Encampment of Scotland on or about 1844. How came it then that such a stupendous fabric of claims was reared on such a slender, not to say ignoble and modern founda tion ? Why easily enough. Just as the claims of the Church of Rome were advanced as she went along, and the evidence there for manufactured to order, so the founders of the Grand En campment of Scotland (Blair & Co.) had read up somewhere about the Grand Priory under Sandilands, and once settled in Scotland, conceived the happy idea of regular descent. The claim in both cases is a fraud. The Grand Encampment of Scotland, 97 while having the historic succession, does not possess it in, the direct line from Sandilands, (no such claim has ever been or ever can be proven, all facts are against it). It comes not in the regu lar succession of bodies, but in the irregular succession of Knights, and even in that way is derived through Ireland and not Scot land. As we have seen the Grand Encampment of Scotland is a very modern Association, dating no further back than on or about 1835—44. SUMMARY OF PART VIII. From the above it is apparent — 1. — That the Grand Encampment of Scotland is a modern In stitution, having been organized between the years 1835-44, and that said Grand Body does not trace its descent by Scotland in the direct line, but by Ireland, it coming down through the Orange Body since 1795. 2. — That the Grand Encampment of Scotland is a self-organi zed Grand Body, with jurisdiction only over Scotland, and possesses no sovereignty over the Order nor jurisdiction in for eign parts, (America for instance), and thus said Grand Body has and can have no power of cancellation, nor right to interfere in the slightest degree with American Maltese affairs, and that said Grand Body has no right to arrogate to itself the title of " Im perial " and "Parent," there existing other branches of the Order in England, Germany and Italy, whose legitimacy is undoubted, that do not claim through the Scottish Body, and in fact do not so much as even know of the existence of the latter, and that said Grand Body has no just claim to the titles above assumed, as it is of modern manufacture, and dates no further back than 1865-44. 3. — That said Grand Encampment of Scotland in relation to America or other foreign territory has but the simple right to plant the Order in said territory, after which, even that right ceases, and that any conditions annexed thereto, express or im- pHed, not in accordance with the Ancient Constitution and Statutes of the Order (of the Old Order of Malta), are ipso facto, nul and void. 4. — That the Chapter General having been planted in America on Jan. 28th, 1876, and being the first Grand Body on the ground, and having a continuous existence since then, is of necessity the sole legal Body, and all other Grand Bodies subsequently planted are irregular, and clandestine. 98 5. — That the Chapter General is the peer on all points of the Grand Encampment of Scotland, deriving from the latter merely the historic connection as one Knight does from another, and is thus possessed of inherent powers, and is entitled to act and leg islate on all points without a grant from any quarter, as in its opinion the best interests of the Order, from time to time, de mand. 6. — The value of Scottish recognition by the above is entirely upset, as Scotch sovereignty is absolutely destroyed, and all Grand Bodies of Knights of Malta are placed upon the level, and under the same rules as to legality (said rules applying to Scotland as to the others), and the legitimacy of a Maltese Grand Body does not depend upon its recognition by Scotland, but upon the date and legality of its formation, its unimpeachable existence from that date, and its adherence to the Ancient landmarks as laid down in the Constitution, Statutes and Historians of the Ancient Order. AMEN! AMEN!! AMEN!!! ADDENDA. Page 59. 5. — The condition (the payment of an annual tax), beins^What is called a condition subsequent, the action of the Scottish^rand Body on June 4th, 1881, purporting to cancel and put an end to the grant, before any breach of the condition, (all the payments having been made up to the date of said action) operated to dis charge the condition and rendered the estate of the Chapter General absolute and freed from all conditions for the future. (Underbill vs. Saratoga, &c., R. R. Co., 20 Barb). YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08867 1020 - p tess of A. D . SMITH, 228 Pearl St., New York. 1 YALE