The Knights Templars.

own most holy hand , clad not in steel , but armed with a scourge which he had made of small things , drove out the merchants , poured out the money of the changers , and cast down the tables of those who sold cloves , declaring against the impiety of

those who had made his Father's House of Prayer a den of pollution and a place of merchandise . " Rejoice , oh Jerusalem , for the time of thy visitation has arrived . Arise now and shake thyself from the dust . Hail , 0 holy city of the king ,

wherein so many miracles marvellous have been wrought , city hallowed by the tabernacle of Him the Most High . Hail , mistress of all nations , queen of all countries , mother of all prophets and apostles , conductress to all truth , boast of all

Christians , whom God , to teach his people patience , hath permitted to be covered from the beginning with severe tribulation , that by thine example , virtue and salvation might be taught to valiant men . Land of Promise , hail ! where in former

days only flowed rivers of milk and honey for its inhabitants , but whose waters are now the food of life to man , and salvation to the whole earth ,

* "Tis then , most excellent , most happy land , which receiving from the heart of the Father , that Heavenly seed , hath in that fruitful bosom of thine given to the cause of Christ such gallant harvests of martyrs , and whose teeming earth

hath borne fruit , thirty , sixty , yea , a hundred fold , in the remaining faithful people throughout the earth . Who have been most agreeably filled with the abundance of thy good things ? Those who have witnessed thy abundant sweetness sjireading

into all lands . They toll of thy glorious splendour fco the utmost ends of the earth , to those who have not seen thy beauty , and speak of the wonderful works wrought in thy courts . Glorious

things are spoken of thee , 0 city of God ! " This epistle , widely circulated throughout Europe , written by the most eloquent churchman of his day , and eulogising an Order then the theme of pilgrim and troubadour , produced an extraordinary

excitement . Nothing was talked of but the bravery and kindness of the Knights ; and the minstrel was doubly welcome who could touch the lyre in praise of the Templars . Hor did the friends of the Order remain satisfied with this

effect . They fanned the flame of public approbation , and , by all just and laudable means , carried it forward into general repute , and these efforts were crowned with the greatest success . On the 31 st January , 1128 , a council was held

at Troyes , presided over by Matthew , Cardinal D'Albano , the Papal nuncio . There were likewise present Rainald , Archbishop of Rheims ; Henry , Archbishop of Sens ; the Bishops of Chartres , Soissons , Paris , Troyes , Orleans , Auxerre ,

Meaux , Chalons , Laon , and Beauvais , and a great number of abbots , among whom was St . Bernard himself , the two famous doctors Alberic de Rheims and Fouger , and among the laity Thibault , Count of Champagne , and the Count de Nevers .

Beforethis Council Hugo de Payens appeared , and entered into a long explanation of the purposes and intentions of the Order , the disturbed state of the Holy Land , and the consequent danger to pilgrims from the attacks of the Infidel . He also modestly

referred to the exploits of the Knights , and showed the good which they had already been themeans of effecting in the treatment of the

pilgrims , and the probable results to arise from a confirmation of their rule , which would induce ' many gallant warriors to join the Order . He was listened to , with profound attention , by the august assembly , and murmurs of . approbation ran

through the hall , but which were stilled as soon asuttered by the rapt listeners . And it was a strange sight presented in that hall . The proud .,, the learned , and the highest of the Church , rich in silks and sparkling * with gems , listening in

amazement and joy to the browned and wellscarred soldier , dressed in sober raiment , clad in plain armour , so unlike the fripperies of the Knights who attended them , who shone forth rich in cloth of gold and loaded with jewels .

Nocourtly language , no scholastic rhetoric , dropt from his lips , but the pregnant words of truth wellina * out from a heart of honour and devotion .

But when Bernard rose to speak in favour of the granting of the request made by the Grand . Master , a dead silence fell upon the vast multitude .. At first , low and whispering , his voice stole upon the ears of the assembly , as he told of how the

Holy Sepulchre was in clanger from the Infidels ,, who spurned the ever blessed name of Jesus ; how that the passes to the Mount of Calvary , where the Redeemer had suffered , were dangerous from the proximity of the followers of the false prophet ; .

and how that Bethlehem and Nazareth were surrounded by those who thirsted for and delighted in shedding the blood of the Christian . And his voice became broken , his words melancholy and thrilling , as he spoke of the brave hearts that still flocked to the Holy Land , in spite of these clangers ,