our readers have any information to communicate on this subject, we shall be glad to hear from them. In closing this chapter we quote the words of our distinguished Frater, Sir Knight W. J. B. MacLeod Moore, on this subject as most applicable to our own position: "It has been asserted that I hold extreme views on the doctrines of the Order. I may ask in what way? I merely endeavor to prove that the Templar Order we represent, from its inception, has been always orthodox in Christianity." We have simply compiled historical facts on the question as to whether belief in the dogma of the "Holy Trinity" was and is a part of the Templar's creed. These facts we submit to the Order, and with the simple admonition, that the question involved is an important one, and not to be disposed of or settled by equivocation or ridicule. For the prusent we rest our case. Once more our annual labor as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence is done, and right glad we are of it. Again, with warm, fraternal feelings to our brethren of the reportorial corps, we bid them a kind adieu. And now that our work is done, we repeat our words of thanksgiving, words in which Trinitarians and Unitarians may join, LAUS DEO. Sir Henry H. Tatem of Cincinnati, was elected R. E. Grand Commander. Sir James Nesbitt of Troy, was re-elected E. Grand Recorder. PENNSYLVANIA. The Twenty-eighth Annual Conclave was held at the Asylum of Cœur de Lion Commandery No. 17, in Scranton, commencing on Tuesday, May 31, A.D. 1881, A.O. 763. Sir DeWitt C. Carroll, R. E. Grand Commander. Forty-nine subordinate Commanderies were represented. The freedom of the city was granted the officers and members of the Grand Commandery. The Grand Commander says of the duties of his high position: On assuming the high and responsible duties of Grand Commander of this exalted Order, to which, by your unanimous voice, you called me twelve months since, it was with reluctance I accepted, fearing I might falter. My misgivings have not been realized so far as the officers and members of this Grand Body are related. To them I owe a debt of gratitude for the very cordial and fraternal feeling ever evinced toward me. The counsel, advice and an ever-readiness which they at all times displayed are deeply engraved upon my heart, which time cannot efface. In my official visitations throughout the jurisdiction I have ever met with words of cheer and an ever-ready welcome from both officers and members. I can only reiterate what my Worthy Brother who preceded me stated in his closing address - that the Orders of the Temple, etc., stand to-day as bright and proudly as ever. Having witnessed the conferring of the Orders frequently, I can truly say the new Ritual, as promulgated in the jurisdidtion, leaves a lasting impression upon the minds of all those who witnessed the conferring. I therefore congratulate the Order throughout Pennsylvania on its present prospects and bright future before them. During the year I have been accompanied on many occasions by our Worthy Grand Recorder, Sir Meyer, who, as usual, has shown an ever-ready acquiescence in furthering the advancement of tho Order. No matter the state of weather or the distance traveled, he was at all times ready to attest by his presence that his was a duty which met with a hearty response. A large amount of detail duty performed by the Grand Commander during the year was reported by him and was approved by the Grand Body. He returns thanks to his officers for their kind assistance during the year in the following words: To the officers of this Grand Body who have so nobly and generously aided me these years that are past and gone, I but repeat the sentiments of my heart that I thank you for the cheering words you gave me and the cordial support I have ever met with at your hands. If we have elevated the standard of our noble Order throughout our own Commonwealth, surely this should suffice for all the trials undergone. To the Division Commanders who have attended to their various commands, and from whom come such glowing words of growth and power, much is due, and it is with pleasure I here make mention of the fact. He reports the finances of the Grand Body in a highly prosperous condition. The Committee on Templar Jurisprudence submitted the following report, which was accepted and adopted: Has a member a right to disclose his ballot? Respectfully report that they have considered the matter and are of the opinion that the question should be answered as follows: If the member referred to in the interrogatory or in the supposed case is one that has deposited a black ball, then he may, if he sees proper, disclose the fact; if, however, the member has deposited a white ball or favorable ballot, then he is not at liberty to disclose how he voted. The reasons actuating the Committee are these: In the first case, Templar law provides for a secret ballot. This provision is for the protection of the person depositing an unfavorable ballot, and it is a well-settled principle that a man may waive any law that is simply for his beneft. In the second case, however, to answer the question in the affirmative would operate to nullify the law and expose the member depositing the black ball to all the unpleasant consequences of his act. If, for example, fourteen members vote, thirteen deposit white balls and on e a black ball, each of the thirteen by declaring how he voted would violate the secrecy of the ball t and expose the member who cast the unfovorable ballot Your Committee, however, deprecate the idea of disclosing a ballot under any circumstances as one contrary to the spirit of Templar law. Twenty-three sister Grand Commanderies were courteously reviewed by Sir Samuel Harper, and many goods things said about each and all. We are at a loss to know why Michigan failed to get before the eyes of Sir Harper. We can ill afford to be absent on such occasions. We quote at length what the Committee say on the Holy Trinity, as called forth by the discussion of the subject by our Fraters in Canada and the remarks of Grand Master Hurlbut; also the endorsement of the Committee's report by Past Grand Master Hopkins: The resolution of the Grand Priory of Canada, in 1878, requiring all visiting Sir Knights to make a profession of their belief in the Holy Trinity, and which wa z rescinded the following year, has given rise to considerable discussion in the United States. It raises a question of so much importance that, although we do not feel competent to elucidate it, we deem it our duty to place ourselves on the record. Grand Master Hurlbut, Grand Commander Drummond of Maine, and Past Grand Commanders Simonds of New York, and Cruft of Indiana, have entered the lists against the dogma as an article of the Templar creed, whilst Past Grand Commander Carson of Ohio, with that great earnestness which is his most distinguishing characteristic, and with great ability, is in the van of the defenders of the faith. Our own personal conviction and what we believe to be the undivided opinion of Pennsylvania Templars have caused us to join the standard of the latter. In his report to the last Triennial Conclave, Grand Master Hnrlbut said: "The Grand Priory of Canada, following and adopting the requirements of the English Ritual, have closed the door of affiliation with the Knights Templar of the United States by making a confession of faith in the dogma of the Trinity a prerequisite for admission, not only to membership, but to the right of visitation. The English Order of Knighthood is strictly Trinitarian, while the Order in this country is not. We have simply demanded a confession of faith in Christ as divinely ordained as the Savior of the World, as the Son of God, and the authority of the Christian religion. Under this general statement of a common faith Trinitarians and Unitarians have taken our obligations, buckled on their armor, and marshaled themselves under the banner of the Cross. "We cannot introduce into our Ritual and confession of faith any explicit statement of the doctrine of the Trinity without rending and scattering it into fragments, and while our Canadian and English Fraters hold to this rigid rule we must forego the pleasure of affiliation with them. I indulge in no censure, no unkind criticism of their action. They are a sovereign and independent body, with undoubted right to maintain a conscientious belief, and make it a test of fellowship, while it is our privilege and duty to maintain a more liberal construction and interpretation of Christian doctrines." We cannot accept this as a correct statement of our confession of faith. It is not only belief in Christ, as stated by the Grand Master, that is required, but it is belief in the Christian religion itself, and as a consequence, in all that that religion implies. Whatever is a fundamental doctrine of that religion, whether it be the Holy Trinity or the divinity of Christ, is required of us. We regret to see the statement made by so eminent an authority as the Grand Master that the introduction of au explicit belief in the Trinity would rend and scatter the Order into fragments. The statement is only a rhetorical flourish, however. The number of anti-Trinitarians in the Order is but small. There is not one in Pennsylvania, as the Trinity clause has always been retained in the petition. Sir Knight Carson has consulted the statistics, and finds that in the United States there are in the Protestant sects 18,980,453 Trinitarians and 660,830 antiTrinitarians, and of Roman Catholics, 1,990,514. He then says: "These figures show that of all the Protestant Christians of the United States, ninety-six and one-half per cent. of them profess belief in the dogma of the Holy Trinity. This calculation gives the anti-Trinitarians the Mormons, Shakers and Spiritualists. No Templers come from either of these sects. "If we would make the percentage calculation, including the Roman Catholics, the anti-Trinitarians would form only about three per cent. of the whole number!" Sir Knight Drummond, in his address to the Grand Commandery of Maine last year, says: "But I will not disguise the fact that a principle of the most serious importance may be involved. We require belief in the Christian religion. Is it that religion as expounded by the early fathers of the Church, or as expounded by the Christian world for the time being? To illustrate: Assume that in the time of the Ancient Templars the term, Christian Religion' necessarily included a belief in the Trinity, but that now the term does not necessarily imply that belief. In which one of the two are we, as Templars, required to profess belief? "I understand that there were dogmas included in the Christian belief in those days that are now wholly discarded by all Christians. Do our Canada friends claim that belief in all these dogmas is still a necessary qualification for a Templar? If not, where shall the line be drawn? Must not the test be the Christian religion as expounded by the Christian world for the time being?" This is not stated with our Brother's usual frankness. It admits that the Christian Religion as expounded by the early fathers of the Church embraced the doctrine of the Trinity, but ingeniously argues that as expounded at the present time it does not. Where is the proof that the Trinity has ever been discarded as an article of the Christian religion? It is certainly not in the fact that only about three per cent. of the professed Christians of the United States refuse to accept the doctrine. Admitting that some dogmus which were believed in the early days of the Church have been abandoned, where is the evidence that the Holy Trinity has ceased to be a cardinal principle of the Christian religion? There is positively none, while the evidence abounds on all hands that the Christian world was never so heartily in accord upon that doctrine as now. True it is that there are a few sects which discard it; but they are so numerically weak that they can only be regarded as exceptions, and exceptions prove the rule. If Brother Drummond, who is an able lawyer, were called upon to decide the question judicially, he would not hold that a mere handful of Universalists and Unitarians would overpower the great mass of Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians. He would decide according to the weight of evidence, and the evidence preponderates so largely in favor of the doctrine that there could be no doubt about the decision. His judgment as an intelligent man, as he is, cannot differ from his judgment as a lawyer. He also tells us that in 1874, when it was proposed in the Committee to draft the Code of the Grand Encampment, to include belief in the Trinity, he opposed it, using this line of argument: "The Ritual requires a belief in the Christian religion as the test; if this neces sarily includes belief in the Trinity, it is sufficient as it stands; if it does not include it, we have no right to add an additional requirement; in either view the |