The Knights Templars.

reckless Renaud . About the time of the slaughter of the Templars at Kedron , the mother of Saladin , who had been residing in Egypt , on her way to Damascus , with a numerous and splendid retinue , passed through the Christian territories , which lay

on the other side of the Jordan , trusting to the treaty of peace to be unmolested on her journey . The tidings were brought to Renaud , who , tempted by the richness of the spoil , assaulted the company , carried off all their valuables , aud the

Sultan's mother only saved herself from death by a precipitate flight . Saladin , aroused by this injury , demanded restitution and satisfaction , according to the terms of the treaty ; but Renaud when called upon to clo so , only returned a

contemptuous answer . At the same time the news was brouo-ht to the Sultan of the reconciliation of his ally , the Count of Tripoli , with the king . He thereupon declared the truce ended , and determined , at the head of a large army , to carry

destruction into the lands of the Christians , to punish the perfidy of his late ally , and to revenge himself upon De Chatillon . He gave instructions

for the summoning of his troops to the field , and placed them under the leadership of his most distinguished generals . Everything conspired to aid him in his schemes , aud to bring about the destruction of the Christians . The news of the

slaughter of the Templars at Kedron broke the spell which had compelled the Musselmen to flee before them . They found that the Knights were not immortal ; that , though brave , they could be slain , although as yet they could not be made to

flee . The ancient dread of fighting against the supernatural fled , ancl the Infidels proudly told of the slaughters of their determined enemies , both at Jacob ' s Ford ancl Kedron . But their religious

enthusiasm was increased to a maddening degree , when the Sultan declared his intention of wresting Jerusalem , the sister of Medina ancl Mecca , from the hands of the Christians , and of restoring- it to the worshippers of the Prophet . Saladin had

succeeded in reducing his rebellious vassals , and his vast kingdom was completely under his sway . While disunion and ill-feeling reigned in the councils of the Christians , he had consolidated his kingdom on a surer basis , so that when he raised

his standard against the Holy Land , the crowds that flocked to it to follow so renowned a leader , were numberless . Turks , Arabs , Kurds , and Egyptians daily trooped in to take part in what was devoutly considered to be a holy war , aud to

share in the plunder of those cities which might fall before their victorious arms , as well as in the rich spoil of the holy city of Jerusalem itself ' Saladin , to inflame them the more against tho Christians , distributed towns and provinces

beforehand among his faithful emirs , and held out to his followers the tempting bait of a certainty of booty , or a glorious martyrdom , and consequent immediate entrance upon the joys of Paradise . The Caliph of Bagdad , and all the imauns of Egypt , Syria ,

and Mesopotamia , put up daily prayers for the triumph of his arms , and the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Christian yoke . The news of this immense gathering filled the hearts of the Christians with dismay , and nothing but desolation and destruction was prophesied to the Holy Laud . The heavens were filled with

signs , that proved how plainly God held in abomination their wickedness . Impetuous winds , tempests , ancl storms arose on all sides ; the light of the sun was obscured during several clays , and hailstones as large as the egg of a goose fell from

heaven . The earth , equally agitated by frequent and horrible earthquakes , gave notice of coming ruin ancl destruction , with disasters and defeats in war , which were soon to visit the kingdom . Neither could the sea confine itself within its

bounds ancl limits , but announced to the Christians , by its horrible floods and its unusually impetuous waves , the anger of God ready to fall upon them . Fire was seen blazing in the air like a house in flames ; all the elements and architecture of God

were angry , as if they abhorred the excesses , wickedness , dissoluteness , and offences of the human race .

At Ashtara , Saladin was joined by his son , Malek-el-Afdal , the leader of the Musselmen at the Kedron , and other famous commanders , and there he reviewed his troops . Confident of success , at the head of an army of eig hty thousand horse

and a great host of footmen , he crossed the Jordan , and advanced into Galilee . The march of his army is compared , by an Arabian historian , to mountains in motion , and the rolling billows of a tempestuous sea . On Friday , the 17 th of the

month Rabi , he marched , in three divisions , upon AI Soheira , a village situated at the head of Lake Tiberias , where he encamped for the night . Next day he approached , iu battle order , Tiberias , which he stormed on the 21 st , put all to the sword who resisted , and made slaves of the survivors . The Countess of Tripoli , upou the capture of the