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Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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To The Editor.
The accusations were that they were idolaters , and worshipped a golden head with a long beard , that they at their initiations were obliged to spit upon the cross , that they were Sodomites , and manv other crimes too numerous to fill the pages of this useful Review . 1 hat some of the Knights may have led irresular lives T frPPlv I ™ .
_ , lor where is there a human institution that ' is not abused ? Yet to charge so extensive a bod y of brave and honourable Knights ' with the ££ ™ ° 7 ?? £ VT 0 f the ° rder ' is as "" charitable as it is irrational and unphilosophical . The accusation of their spitting uoon the cross and denying the Christian faith , is one of the most unfounded charges against men who prided themselves on being in possession of the true cross on which our Saviour sufferedand which
, they carried before them going to battle against the Saracens and other opposers of the Christian faith ; and m defence of which so many of their Brethren had shed their blood m battle , as well as in captivity , where they were cruelly butchered b y their enemies , because , in order to make them fight to the last extremity , the Templars never ransomed any of their Order when made prisoners .
__ Ilwt'f f ° f the g 0 l , ld ° - ' CaIled B * ° ™ % » equally as absurd ™ W ™ ? . fan , ler ' «« I » the invention of ignorance and determined S- i " „/ .. ls most admirab ] y recorded b y the learned and pious S ofro 7 f l ™^ - ' " >' ' " -hole co „ sti - tataon of the Order of the Knights Templars was according to the temper of the age , innocent and blameless , and fell only fhroueh the avarice and revenge . of a most perfidious king , who spared no means , if Tem l unchrlstlan > aud tyrannical , to effect the destruction of the
Twl wrlt fs who treat or exert themselves in the vindication of the I emplars , both ancient and modern , are numerous , and are men whose accounts may be safely credited , whilst the veracity of those who wrote against them is generally doubted , if not wholly rejected , by mZ of fTi r ™} readl - " £ - , Nothin S can be ™»* Absurd than the charging the Templars with the adoration of the supposed long-bearded figure of the golden Baffomet . If we duly consider wheref or from what eastern nation tribe the
or Templars should have received for adoration a figure of gold , wood , or stone , called Baffomet , we mu t be left m an endless field of uncertainty and fiction . For from the Turks they could not have obtained the gilded deity , for they condemn all materia representations of the Deity ; and if we admit that they have received that idol of superstitious adoration from the Saracens , we must admit that the principles of their Order were a complete fa-dand a foul deception of the then Christian States by whom they were so amply rewarded for their valiant deeds against the real worshippers of th ^ F . ^
many otner idols . The story of this enchanting Baffomet * must then for ever remain a most wanton invention of their enemies and as a charge mos triumphantly defeated b y every man of good ense and uninfluenced b y the ungodl y party records b y which thft valiant Order was suppressed , and its members delivered up to the flames The
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
The accusations were that they were idolaters , and worshipped a golden head with a long beard , that they at their initiations were obliged to spit upon the cross , that they were Sodomites , and manv other crimes too numerous to fill the pages of this useful Review . 1 hat some of the Knights may have led irresular lives T frPPlv I ™ .
_ , lor where is there a human institution that ' is not abused ? Yet to charge so extensive a bod y of brave and honourable Knights ' with the ££ ™ ° 7 ?? £ VT 0 f the ° rder ' is as "" charitable as it is irrational and unphilosophical . The accusation of their spitting uoon the cross and denying the Christian faith , is one of the most unfounded charges against men who prided themselves on being in possession of the true cross on which our Saviour sufferedand which
, they carried before them going to battle against the Saracens and other opposers of the Christian faith ; and m defence of which so many of their Brethren had shed their blood m battle , as well as in captivity , where they were cruelly butchered b y their enemies , because , in order to make them fight to the last extremity , the Templars never ransomed any of their Order when made prisoners .
__ Ilwt'f f ° f the g 0 l , ld ° - ' CaIled B * ° ™ % » equally as absurd ™ W ™ ? . fan , ler ' «« I » the invention of ignorance and determined S- i " „/ .. ls most admirab ] y recorded b y the learned and pious S ofro 7 f l ™^ - ' " >' ' " -hole co „ sti - tataon of the Order of the Knights Templars was according to the temper of the age , innocent and blameless , and fell only fhroueh the avarice and revenge . of a most perfidious king , who spared no means , if Tem l unchrlstlan > aud tyrannical , to effect the destruction of the
Twl wrlt fs who treat or exert themselves in the vindication of the I emplars , both ancient and modern , are numerous , and are men whose accounts may be safely credited , whilst the veracity of those who wrote against them is generally doubted , if not wholly rejected , by mZ of fTi r ™} readl - " £ - , Nothin S can be ™»* Absurd than the charging the Templars with the adoration of the supposed long-bearded figure of the golden Baffomet . If we duly consider wheref or from what eastern nation tribe the
or Templars should have received for adoration a figure of gold , wood , or stone , called Baffomet , we mu t be left m an endless field of uncertainty and fiction . For from the Turks they could not have obtained the gilded deity , for they condemn all materia representations of the Deity ; and if we admit that they have received that idol of superstitious adoration from the Saracens , we must admit that the principles of their Order were a complete fa-dand a foul deception of the then Christian States by whom they were so amply rewarded for their valiant deeds against the real worshippers of th ^ F . ^
many otner idols . The story of this enchanting Baffomet * must then for ever remain a most wanton invention of their enemies and as a charge mos triumphantly defeated b y every man of good ense and uninfluenced b y the ungodl y party records b y which thft valiant Order was suppressed , and its members delivered up to the flames The