Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

the Order alone , and that thou wilt make use of it to the support of those wretched brethren that have been scattered over the world by thc late mournful events , and who , fearful of discovery ,

are now enduring the severest privations . Promise me further to propagate the Order until it may reckon nine perfect architects * amongst its numbers . For myself , I beg of thee that thou

wilt , if it be possible , lay my bones m the sepulchre of my fathers , clothed in the habit of the Order , This de Beaujeu promised , and swore to do

his utmost to perform all that he had undertaken . Molay , satisfied ofthe good intentions ofhis nephew , said to him— " I shall demand of thee before God , at the last Judgment , whether thou

hast fulfilled thy promise . Farewell , my dear son , I embrace thee for the last time . From this hour I shall give myself wholly up to preparation for my end . "

Hereupon de Beaujeu left him . The rest of that day Beaujeu passed at home in solitude , for he could not af first determine with himself what he had to do , nor what course

he had to pursue in order to keep his promise and fulfil his obligations , and the approach of night alone put an end to his meditations . He then put on a travelling dress , took the

cloak that he wore at his first descent into the Grand Master ' s Vault , together with the dark lantern and the three keys , and gave his domestics to understand that he was going a journey

into the country . Exactly at the hour of midnight he entered the Grand Master ' s Vault by the small Portal which Molay had pointed out to him and came to

the coffin supposed to contain the remains of his uncle Pierre de Beaujeu from thence hc passed through the niche as he had been instructed into a dark vaulted-chamber , and bavins * due : in the

spot his uncle Molay had told him , found the colter . This he opened with the third key , and as it was too heavy for him to carry away at once he bound linen cloths round his body and

thus brought out at several times the most important papers and documents of tlie order . The Crown , Lamp , seven branched candlestick , Ring of the Grand Alaster , eSrc , the sight of which

caused him no small amazement , he locked the cotfer and covered it up again . The papers , & c , he could not carry out of the vault at once , but was obliged co descend several

times till he had brought them ail up . He then went out of the Temple , rmd left Paris the same ni ght , and went to and resided at a small vineyard in the neighbourhood of thc

City that belonged to him . Here he remained six days and read over repeatedly the documents respecting the former possessions of the order , af the perusal of which he was mvatly astonished ;

at the end of this time he returned to Paris , not forgetting his promi . se that lie would do his best In bury Molay ' s body in the tomb of Iris ancestors , and clothed in the habit of the order , lie

sent for his two Instrutrteurs and discovered to them how he had been emplo ycd for tire last six days , rind that he had uuderla ken to bury . Molay

in the habit of a Knight Ten iplnr , aird sworn to propagate the Order until it should be able to

Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

reckon nine perfect architects upon Earth . Hereupon the two Instructeurs acquainted him circumstantially with all that had happened at ( lie execution of the Grand Master , of which

they had been eye witnesses , and that he had with his last breath summoned Pope Clement V . and King Phili p tlie Fair , the former wilhin 40 days , the latter within one year , to appear

before the Judgment seat of God . They told him further that they had so accurately remarked the spot in which the remains of the Grand AIaster had been hastily interred , that they

could easily find it again , that in fact , with the assistance of seven other Templars they had discovered the exact spot upon a small hillock and had placed upon it as a mark a small branch

so that when they could do it with safety the half-burnt bod y might easily be distinguished . Moreover they had collected the ashes of those parts of his body that had been entirely

consumed , and p laced them in an urn . The Count De Beaujeu hearing tin ' s , sent for tlie Knights Templar , communicated to them what the last Grand Master had enjoined him to

perform with regard to the propagation of the Order , and received from them a solemn promise to assist him in this undertaking . To make this obligation still more solemnly impressive , de

Beaujeu revived an ancient custom ofthe Knights Templar , according to which they * all pledge each other in a goblet of wine into which each knig ht shed a few drops of his blood . They

then at the command ot de Beaujeu admitted eig hteen other brethren to their confidence , disguised themselves as Alasons , and provided themselves with shovels , dark lanterns , and

bells- * Xinc of these brethren were to disinter dc Molay ' s remains , wliilst the other knights were to keep watch at the bottom of the rising

ground , and at the slightest noise to give the signal of alarm with the bells . The were also to arm themselves with swords

in order to oiler resistance il attacked . Having disinterred the body , they were to wrap it up in their aprons , and if asked who they were and what they were about , they were to answer that

they were coming from work , and were carrying one of their comrades , a mason , who had met with nn accident . t All this they performed with the greatest

exactitude , and disinterred without the least confusion or difficulty , the remains of the Grand Alaster , whose , hands they found still bound together with tlie cord , and carried him into thc

Church of tne Temple . De Beaujeu went first , and entered exactly at midnight , and through the large portal into tiie

vault of the Grand Masters , where he made the necessary preparations , and dug up the colli .-r , in which the crown and the other precious things were laid , in this coder they then laid De

Notes On The " United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital."

Afolay ' s remains , in the habit of the Order , together with the ashes that the nine Templars had before collected ; the coffer was then placed in the sarcophagus or coffin , supposed to be that

of the Grand Alaster de Beaujeu . in which , too , a large chest of treasure was contained . To these they then added the treasure concealed in the two pillars that adorned the vault of the

Grand Alasters , and which they were able to take out by removing the capitals . Satisfied with the success of their undertaking , they left the church of the Temple before

daylight , betaking themaelves to Beaujeu ' s vineyard , where they renewed their obligations , aud solemnly swore to propagate thc Order , and to remain faithful to Beaujeu , and pledged each

other once more m the above-mentioned goblet . After this ceremony de Beaujeu exhibited to them all that he had brought out of the vault . What was their astonishment to find that

these precious things were still in the possession of the order , for they had until then been firmly persuaded that they had fallen into the . hands of the Infidels at the time that Palestine was lost

to the Order , and the knig hts were obliged to withdraw * themselves from the East . De Beaujeu now petitioned King Philip to bc allowed to remove the coffin of his uncle , the

forrher Grand Alaster , from the Temple Church , which was granted ; whereupon he , and his nine brethien , whom he had first associated with himself , with the assistance of the other eighteen

raised the coffin containing De Molay ' s body , the treasures , & c , out of the Grand Alaster ' s vault Tvith cords , and bore it to De Beaujeu ' s vineyard , where they interred thc body of the

Grand Alaster afresh . De Beaujeu wished to place the crown with De Molay ' s remains in the the coffin , but the brethren would not suffer him , and the nine Templars , setting it upon his head ,

proclaimed him lawful king ut Jerusalem . But De Beaujeu deprecated this honour , and said : — " Assist me rather . , my brethren , in preserving this sacred pledge in a secure place , so that it may be retained in the Order for

ever . This they then promised , nnd elected him unanimously Grand Af aster of the Ore'er , under the name of Solomon . * The two " Instructeurs " and the first seven brethren were then

elected councillors of Solomon ., ' After that De Beaujeu replaced the papers and documents of th . e Order , together with thc remain . ' , of De Alolny , in the eolrin , and had it

brought to Carpenter ;!* , whither he followed , accompanied by the twenty-seven Temple brethren . Tirey arrived there on the fortysecond day after De Alolay ' s , and the second

after the decease ol Clement V ., and heard flint the corpse of the Pope had that morning been brought thither , rmd was l ying in state hi

the Cathedral . On one and the same day , therefore , there were lying in the same church the bodies of Aiolay , and of Clement V . The remain ;' , ofthe hvltev were to he carried to

I / . cs on the morrow , and there interred . De Beaujeu penetrated with the desire ni revenging the abominable and unjust deetls of tlie