The Knights Templars.

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS .

LONDON , SATURDAY , DECEMBER 21 , 1867 .

By ANTHONY ONEAL HAYE . ( Continued from page 466 . ) CHAPTER XI . GRAND MASTEE , GEEAED DE EIDEFOET .

Saladin captures Ascalon , Gaza , aud other toujns . — Advance upon Jerusalem . —Heroism of the defence . — Fall of Jerusalem . —Treatment of the inhabitants bij Saladin . — -The Saltan attacks Tyre , but is repulsed . — Releases the king and Gerard de Ridefort . —A . D . 1187 .

By the disastrous loss of the battle of Tiberias , the Holy Land lay at the mercy of Saladin . There was no body of troops strong enough to withstand him . The soldiers of the Cross hid themselves from the attacks of the Infidel behind the walls

of their fortresses . They dared no more venture forth in search of their foes . They waited in silence and despair for their approach . Sad times for the Christians , who saw but ruin and desolation about to fall on the holy places , and death

upon themselves ; glad times for the Musselmen , who gathered wealth in heaps , and who were flushed with enthusiasm at the slaughter of their enemies and the prospect of recapturing the Holy City . Saladin , to break for ever the power of the

Christians in the east , to deprive them of their citadels , and to wrest Jerusalem from their hands , divided his army into various troops , and appointed as their leaders his bravest and most experienced generals . These troops were to depart in different

directions , to overrun and subdue the country on their march , and at an appointed day to meet before Jerusalem .

Malek-el-Afdal , who had already proved himself so skilful and successful a leader , Avas placed at the head of one of these divisions , and sent against the Templar fortress of La Feue . The Templars had but a few brethren there , the Order having

been nearly exterminated by the slaughters of the Kedron and Tiberias , where the whole garrison of La Feue had fallen , so that very few of the surviving Knights could be spared for garrison duty . Still , few as there numbers were , the brethren

showed a determined front to the enemy , refused to surrender the castle to the Infidel , and Malek only obtained possession of it when the last of the Templars had fallen . His loss in the attack as enormous , even in those days , Avhen no fortress

was captured but at a fearful sacrifice of life . The Templars , Avho were well aware of the hatred Avhich Saladin bore to them , and the commands he had g iven his generals to slay every one belonging to the Order , fought like men possessed ., The massacre of their brethren after Tiberias was

ever before their eyes , banishing any hope of safety . Thus , aware that martyrdom was their lot if they fell alive into the hands of the Musselmen , they resolved to sell their lives dearly , and to slay as many of their enemies as they possibly could

before they died . The defence of La Feue was therefore most desperate . Each Knight fought with the furious strength of a giant ; every sweep of their weapons gave an Infidel to death , and they only sunk when , from a thousand wounds ,

their blood was emptied from their veins . Malek dismantled the fortress , and threw down the walls , Excited by this capture , he led his army across the great plain to Sebaste , a city held in the greatest veneration by the Christians , for here the

pious Empress Helena had built a magnificent church over the site of the prison in which St , John the Baptist had been confined , and where he suffered martyrdom by the command of Herod . The graves of the martyr aud of his parents , Zachariah and Elizabeth , were also in this place . The bishop ,

on learning the approach of the Saracens , terrified by the tales of their cruelty and cupidity , hid the sacred vessels , the rich stoles , copes , and vestments of the clergy , and the money belonging to the church . On entering the city , Malek was

disappointed at this loss , and having vainly attempted to extort from the bishop an indication of the place where the wealth was concealed , he had him stript naked ancl beaten with rods . Thereafter , he led the priests away into captivity . On

approaching iSTaplous , Malek found it deserted . The people had abandoned it and fled to Jerusalem for protection . The Infidels then pitched their tents beside the famous well , the scene of the Saviour's conversation with the woman of Samaria ,

and there they waited for tidings of their bretliren . They , however , did not remain inactive , for bands were sent out to destroy the country which lay between Naplous and Jerusalem , and they continued , according to Coggleshale , both by night and day , to slaughter every living thing they met , seizing much spoil .

Another body of the enemy proceeded through the valley of the Jordan , and entered the plain of Esdraelon by way of Mount Tabor . Taking the