The Knights Templars.

of Odo , Sinan Ben Suleiman , Sheikh of Massyat , was the Imaun of the Assassins . The Sheikh was no ordinary man . He was distinguished for his learning , subtlety , discretion , and eloquence . He

had been carefully instructed in the Mahometan faith , as well as in the customs of Assassin ancestors . According to Roger of Wendover , having obtained possession of a copyof the Book of the Gospels , and the writings of the apostles , he studied therein the

Christian miracles and precepts . Joinville , in his memoirs of Saint Louis , gives an account of the estimation in which the Scriptures were held by the Assassins , " While lather Ives le Breton was on his embassy to the Old Man of the Mountain , he

found one day at the head of the prince s bed a small book , in which were written many of the excellent words that our Saviour had said during his residence on earth , and prior to his passion , Eather Ives having read them , said ' Ah , my lord ,

the frequent reading of this book will do you much good ; for , small as it may be , it contains many excellent things . '' The Old Man of the Mountain replied that he had often read it , and had a profound belief in St . Peter . The prince

had , in this respect , followed the example of his predecessors , who had made themselves acquainted with the mysteries of our religion , by reading the Evangelists and the Epistles of St . Paul . " Erom these studies he was led to abandon the

false and filthy law of the seducer Mahomet , and to turn to the sweet and virtuous law of Christ . He began to throw down the mosques which his people had formerly used , and caused them to pray according to the customs of the Christians

becoming filled with an anxious desire to be admitted into the Christian pale . " This appears to have been the account , given by the Sheikh himself of his conversion , as after narrated , while the truth was , that he had conceived the project ,

of freeing himself from the payment of the tribute to the Templars , by offering to become , along with his followers . Christians . He did so , not that he had any idea of becoming truly a Christian , or of being instructed in the doctrines of the Cross but

simply as a means of getting rid of the galling tribute ; for the Assassins had a strange doctrine of their own , and all other religious persuasions , were assumed or cast aside by them as suited their plans . To carry out this scheme , the ¦ Sheikh

dispatched a trusty messenger , one of the most prudent , discreet , and eloqueut members of his council , to lay before Almeric the terms of the

proposed treaty . By this treaty , the Sheikh engaged to renounce his false religion , and , along DO O ' ' O with his people , to be baptised and become thenceforward Christian ; but as it was not proper that one

body of Christians should be bound to pay tribute to another , he stipulated , that the Templars should cease to demand or to levy , the annual two thousand ducats , and that that tribute should thenceforth be remitted him .

Almeric was in raptures with the offer , which served the purpose of making converts of such formidable enemies ; of having for friends and allies , warriors so powerful and unscrupulous ; while it enabled him to gratify in some degree , the feeling

of revenue which he entertained against Ado and D O the Templars , for the many slights they had put upon him , and for the many times they had crossed and thwarted his purposes . The proposition was accordingly most favourably

entertained by the King , and the Templars were informed , that they would not be losers by the transaction , as the tribute would be paid to them in future from the roj r al treasury . The Templars , however , were not duped by the King ' s fair speech and crafty proposition ; they were fully aware of the

hatred he fostered towards their Order , aud of the burning ; desire he nourished , of doing them a mis-D JO chief . Like the King , they dissembled their real intentions , and offered no opposition to his proposition , but appeared to acquiesce tacitly in the

arrangement . Interest and revenge being thus linked hand in hand , and both alike certain of gratification , Almeric showered the most valuable gifts upou the Ambassador , and entertained him for several days , with the most disinguished

honours . Upon the envoy's departure for his own territory , the King , who was not altogether certain how far the Templars were to be trusted , furnished him with an escort and a guide , giving them strict injunctions to see the Assassin safely to his own land .

As we have already said , the Templars were anything but pleased with this arrangement of the King's . They knew him of old , and how much readier he was to promise , than to fulfil his engag-ements , and they were perfectly well aware

that , if he was to be the paymaster of the Assassin ' s tribute , his avarice would prevent him doing so , if he had even the inclination , to give one ducat to the coffers of the Order . Besides , they estimated an alliance with the Assassins at its proper value , and from their residence among them , were well