The Knights Templars.

gave faint encouragement to the advocates of a crusade , and Henry III . of England had no money to spare . Thomas de Beraud , in a melancholy letter which he wrote him , says—** The letters have been continual , the prayers incessant , which

the poor Christians on this side of the sea have used to obtain assistance and succour from the kings and princes of this earth . Above all have we implored the aid and support of your Majesty , with bitter sighs and tears imploring you to have

compassion on us . A ¥ ith a loud-sounding voice and crying out with au anxious cry , in the hope that it would reach your royal ear and penetrate to the furthest limits of the earth , that the faithful aroused from their slumbers , might rush to the

protection of the Holy Land . " * Instead of sending them money , Henry was obliged to borrow it in France for his own uses , giving in pledge the royal jewels , which were deposited in the Temple there for safe custody . f

Bendocdar , the celebrated general , headed the Mamlook army , and in a battle fought near Tiberias he obtained a decisive victory over the Tartars , and succeeded in driving thera beyond the

Euphrates . " ] : Thereafter Bendocdar returned to Egypt , where lie was warmly welcomed by the people , and , aspiring to the throne , with his own hand slew the Sultan and had himself crowned . Bendocdar had imbibed all the hatred towards

the Templars which had been a leading feature in the character of Saladin , and after consolidating his kingdom , he entered Palestine in 1263 at the head of a large army , and resolute in obtaining possession of it . He , however , retired to Egypt

without obtaining ' any decided advantage , § but the next year , at the head of an army of thirty thousand cavalry , he overrun the whole of Palestine . The Christians sent to sue for peace , but he dismissed the envoys without an answer , and in

contempt of their offers , gave up the Church of Nazareth to the flames , ravaged all the country between Nain and Mount Tabor , finally encamping before the gates of Acre ; from thence he marched to Jerusalem , and paid his devotions in the mosque

of Omar , thereafter retiring to Cairo . The Templars and Hospitallers , on his retreat to Egypt , assumed the offensive , and issued forth from Acre to retaliate on the Infidel . They carried

The Knights Templars.

the castle of Lilion by storm , destroyed the fortifications , and razed the walls to the ground . They captured three hundred of both sexes , and led them away prisoners , at the same time obtaining a rich prize in oxen and sheep . Flushed with this

success , they pursued their ravages to Ascalon , surprised a party of Mamlooks , and killed two emirs and twenty-eight of their followers . Marching towards the Jordan in November , they stormed Bisan , and laid waste all the valley of the Jordan to Tiberias .

On hearing of these proceedings Bendocdar secretly assembled a large army , advanced by a forced march into Palestine , and at morning ' s dawn appeared before Cassarea , to the consternation of the inhabitants . His troops poured into

the ditch , and by means of ladders and ropes burst into the city , killing the sentinels and slaughtering the scarcely awakened citizens . The citadel , however , made a stubborn resistance , and on a dark night the garrison made j their escape . * Having

destroyed the walls , Bendocdar marched against the Chateau Pelerin , but it appearing almost impregnable , and the Templars making a gallant resistance , he withdrew towards the south , and destroyed Arsoof , the castle of the Hospitallers . He had sent a large body of troops to besiege

Safet and Beaufort , two castles of the Templars , and having taken Arsoof he marched against Safet to conduct the siege in person . The Templars made a brilliant defence , and many an infidel fell beneath their strong arms ,

but their condition became dangerous , and the battlements almost untenable when Bendocdar got his military engines to play upon the walls . Thomas de Beraud , to create a diversion in favour of the garrison , sent out a force of twelve

hundred horse from Acre ; but the movement being discovered to the Sultan by a spy , the whole force was destroyed . Bendocdar neglected no means of compelling the garrison to surrender . He was constantly at the head of his army , and led many desperate assaults . To inflame the ardour of the Mamlooks he distributed robes of honour and

purses of money among them , and the great Cadi of Damascus came to the siege to animate the soldiers by his presence ; and the promises which he made to them , in the name of Mahomet , inflamed their fanaticism . The Templars , however , continued to make a gallant resistance , which pro-