The Knights Templars.

showing the humility of the founders of the Order , could reflect upon their pride , and point them out as having degenerated from the single-heartedness of their illustrious predecessors . But from poverty and insignificance , the Order

suddenly emerged into wealth ancl pre-eminence , for Baldwin IL , having been made prisoner by the Saracens , determined , upon his deliverance , to ] 3 i-otect his kingdom , and raise a barrier of resistance against the attacks of the enemy , by

increasing the power ancl position of the Templars . One great cause of the success of the Crusaders had been the absence of unanimity between the Turks and the Saracens , and the bloody feuds that ensued upon their disputes ; but , seeing how little

head they made against the dauntless soldiers of i the Cross while thus divided into factions , they coalesced at last for mutual protection against their common enemy . It was , therefore , of immediate consequence that Baldwin should have some

force to rely upon for the safety of his throne , and , on looking over the martial bodies that had arisen in the Holy City , the Templars recommended

themselves , in a peculiar degree , to his best attention . He had already been their protector and benefactor , and they had ever been ready ancl willing to assist him against his enemies—ever in the vanguard of the army , and on the front wave

of battle ; besides , already in Europe the singlemiudedness , valour , and benevolence of the Templars were themes of popular applause . The troubadours , in kingly halls , sang their deeds of bravery and their acts of charity , and a Templar

was a word which signified to the public mind every quality that was both Christian ancl knightly . To obtain them , therefore , greater liberty ancl extended powers , Baldwin resolved to have their

rule confirmed by the Pope . Accordingly , in 1127 , he despatched two of their number , Andreas and Gundemar , to Rome with a letter conveying his wishes to the Pope , and at the same time instructed them to lay before his Holiness the then

dangerous state of the Hol y Land . He , moreover , gave them a letter to the famous St . Bernard , Abbot of Clairvaux , whose power was at the time paramount in the Church , recommending them to his distinguished notice . St . Bernard was nephew

of the envoy Andreas , so that . the Templars had a peculiar claim upon his attention . This celebrated Churchman was born at Fontaine , near Dijon , in Burgundy , in 1091 . From his earliest days his aspirations had been towards

the Church , ancl in 1113 he became a monk of Citeaux . In 1115 he founded a new branch of the Cistercian order at Clairvuax , in Champagne , and was elected its first Abbot . He died on 20 th August , 1153 , ancl was canonised by Alexander

III . in 1174 . His austerity , fastings , solitary studies , aud burning eloquence , made him , during ' his lifetime , the oracle of Christendom . Crowds followed wherever he went , and listened with rapture and awe to his stirringlaugutige .- Dry , cold ,

scholastic argument characterised the Churchmen of his day ; they never got beyond quibbles and rule , so that the vivid pictures flashing from the mind of Bernard , in the most eloquent language , relieved the darkness that had fallen upon

the preachers of the church . He was styled the " Mellifluous Doctor / , " and his writings " a river of Paradise . " By his personal exertions he repressed the persecution of the Jews in Germany . Luther pays him the high , but justly-merited

compliment , that " If there ever lived on earth a Godfearing and holy monk , it was St . Bernard of Clairvaux . " A character of so much benevolence and devoutness , such as that of St . Bernard , could not but be enchanted with the Order of the

Temple , as in it he recognised the offspring of his feelings that prompted to deeds of charity and acts in honour of God . He had already been prepossessed iu favour of the Order , and , three years before the arrival of the envoys , had written

to the Count of Champagne , upon the occasion of that nobleman joining the ranks of the Templars ,, approving highly of the step , as one pleasing in the eyes of God . Shortly after the departure of Andreas and

Gundemar , Hugo cle Payens , with five other of the brethren , Godfrey cle St . Omar , Roral , Bisol , Payens de Montidier , and Archibald cle St . Aniando , set sail

for Europe , at the desire of the king , to support , by their presence , the application to the Pope for the confirmation of the rale of the Order , and to call upon the people of Europe to assist in protecting tlie Holy Land from the attacks of the

Infidels . The reception by St . Bernard of Hugo de Payens was cordial in the extreme . The Abbot of Clairvaux had heard much of him , ancl had been struck by his devotion to the cause of the Cross , his bravery , and exemplary humility . Indeed ,,

this was not to be wondered at , considering the character of the Grand Master . He was one of those giant minds that , conceiving an idea , works it out to its fullest extent , and acids an impetus to