The Knights Templars.

Infidel . Despite of deeds of bravery performed by the Templars ancl other Christians , unparalleled iu any history , the pages of the chronicles of the time are but epitomes of defeat , bloodshed , ancl

death . Occasionally a partial gleam of success came to cheer the fainting hearts of the Christians , bat it was soon followed by a cloud of defeat , and our only wonder is how , in the face of the constant victories of the Saracens , they had the courage to

persevere iu defending a country which was slipping mile by mile from their grasp . Had it not been for the determined valour of the Templars and the other Avarlike monks , who , ivheu taken prisoner by the Saracens , preferred to suffer all the tortures

¦ of fiendish hate rather than to abandon the Holy Land , or the sacred cause in which they fought , Saladin would have driven the Christians from Palestine long before the ascent of Gerard de Eidefort to the throne of the Grand Master .

Nor upon his ascension was the horizon clear , or of such a character as to augur a successful resistance to the attacks of the Infidels . Guy de Lusignan was still in revolt ; the ex-King Baldwin

-was dying ; the new king but a mere infant . Saladin Avas preparing a large force to resume the war , lvhile Europe , from whence so much was expected , had not sent a single ship to the aid of the Christians . To add to the difficulties of the

occasion , there existed a deadly hatred between the regent , Raymond , Count of Tripoli , ancl Gerard de Eidefort . Instead of co-operating iu a friendly spirit to concert measures for a defence , they met only to quarrel . We can discover no

satisfactory reason for this among the chronicles . Martene states that it arose from a dispute between them regarding a lady , which has some SIIOAV of probability , considering the licentious and lawless

• character of the count , AVIIO respected neither man in his hate , nor Avoinan in his lust . However , perhaps the real cause Avas the suspicions entertained by De Eidefort regarding the Count of Tripoli aspiring to the throne of Jerusalem . That

the count ivas intriguing for this there is ample evidence , and even sought the assistance of Saladin to aid him in seizing upon the supreme power . Furthermore , jealousy had crept in between the Templars and the Hospitallers , and the latter were

the staunch supporters of all the regent ' s measures . The Hospitallers hacl at this time become formidable rivals to the Templars . Bold , unscrupulous in their measures , their policy Avas dangerous in the last degree to the Avelfare of the Christians ,

if indeed it Avas not altogether criminal . They leagued ivith any one powerful enough to advance the interests of their Order , schemed acts of treachery to benefit themselves , as in the attack upon Egypt , and desired not the defeat of the Musselmen so much for the benefit of the Holv

Land as for their own aggrandisement , lhe Templars , on the other hand , ivere actuated only by the purest motives . They desired to drive the Infidel from the Holy Land for the benefit of the j . ilgi'ims . For this purpose they freely sacrificed

their lives , and poured forth the treasures of their Order in defence of the sacred places . Shortly after Gerard de Eidefort ascended the throne of the Grand Master , the Count of Tripoli and he came to an open rupture . BaldAvin IV .,

after the coronation of his nepheiv , lost possession of all his bodily and mental faculties , and death at length put an end to his torments . He Avas buried in the Church of Eesurrection , by the side of Godfrey de Bouillon and the other Christian kings . Seven months thereafter the infant King-Baldwin also died . New difficulties arose , and

the grief of the people Avas disturbed by the intrigues for a kingdom ivhich ivas rapidly passing ' away from the Christians , and for a diadem Avhich proved but a crown of thorns to the Avearer . The Count of Tripoli refused to surrender the reins of

government , and insisted upon still retaining the regency . On the other hand , Sybilla , the undoubted heiress to the throne , desired the government to be bestowed upon her husband , Guy . The count not only refused to resign the regency ,

but charged Sybilla ivith the horrible crime of poisoning her child , Baldwin V ., to Avhich she was prompted by her desire of opening up the succession to the throne for herself and her husband . This charge received ready credence ivith the

populace , and the story of her guilt was current among the inhabitants of Palestine , although it is impossible to believe iu its truth .

Finding most of the barons and Knights unfavourable to her Avishes of raising Guy to the throne—for , as Ave have already shown , he had ivhen regent proved himself a wavering ruler , a spiritless leader , and unworthy of any serious trust , and so

hacl forfeited the good opinion of the Eastern Christians—Sybilla resorted to artifice to gain her ends . For this purpose she stated her desire to be at once divorced from De Lusignan ; ivhereupon Gerard de Eidefort invited her to repair to Jerusalem , and caused the necessary preparations