Chapter Xiv.

uncles their nephews , because they know it to be holy and pure . When the Templars , captives of the Infidel , were reduced to the deplorable choice of denying our holy religion , or of submitting to a cruel death , did they hesitate ? No ! Would they have had the heroic courage to prefer death ,

if they had not been true Christians ? We are ready to maintain and to prove our innocence with heart , with word and deed , ancl by all possible means . Whoever our accusers may be , we are " ready to combat all , saving the Pope and the King .

" It is only too true that the confessions made by Templars at Paris , aud in the provinces , have created a frightful prejudice against the Order ; but you are not to be misled by such confessions , deceitful in appearance , and wholly untrue . It will be the duty of the defenders to examine these

confessions , to satisfy you in what manner these have been obtained , and of their utter falseness . It is notorious that these confessions have not been voluntary , that they have been wrung from the Templars by means of the most excruciating

tortures , ancl no blame can attach to the victims , but rather to the infamous men , who , by such vile means , have extorted lies from bleeding lips , to suit their own base ends . True , indeed , there is a great number of witnesses , who have not been tortured , and have emitted similar depositions .

But these are not the less excusable , seeing that fear and the sig ht of the terrible state of their companions , had on them the same effect as the application of the torture—torture fo _ which they had not the courage to submit , seeing what a brokendislocatedand itiful statethose who

, , p , had undergone it , were reduced to . Indeed , all of them have shewn a degree of cowardice and feebleness unworthy of their condition in life , since they ought to have preferred a glorious martyr-¦ dom to the horror of betraying the truth . Still , findingalthough the number is smallseveral

, , noble and generous minds , preferring the sacrifice of their lives to the staining their souls with a lie , the pusillanimity of these Templars under the torture and fear of death , can give no force to their depositions , made under such terrible

circumstances . " But while I am not ignorant tbat there have been many Templars who have avowed the commission of the most horrible deeds , without

having undergone the torture , or having even been menaced with it , it is no less certain , and the proof of it is easy , that these are only soulless men , who have surrendered to temptation , who have received gold and silver , to whom the most magnificent promises have been made , and whose

depositions can not be true . There have been noble and intrepid hearts , who have spumed such offers , and maintained the honour and innocence of the Order . Even many of those who have confessed to such horrible crimes , have since revoked their depositions , declaring that these have

been wrung from them by torture , and now brave all the clangers of such a disavowal , rather than be guilty of a continued lie . These are men who have nothing to look for but danger from such a disavowal , whose word trust can be placed in ; not in the word of those who have been bribed to lie

against the Order . "Let those Templars , who have abandoned their religious habits , and adjured the Order , after having deposed against it , be faithfully guarded under the hand of the Church , until it be decided whether they have given a true or false testimony

, When the accused are examined , let no laymen , no one that can browbeat or intimidate them , be present , Tho Templars are struck with such terror , that one might be less astonished at their making false avowals , than surprised at the courage of those who have maintained the troth

, in spite of peril ancl fear . A crowd of Templars have died in prison . Let those persons be examined who assisted at their last moments . Let them be permitted to reveal the confessions of the dying , aud then judge of the truth or falsehood of the crimes , which we are charged with

committing . Is it not astonishing that more credit is giving to the statements of those , who for the defence of truth , have won the palm of martyrdom , aud of that holy and larger body of Templars who survive , and who , by only wishing to satisfy their consciences , have suffered , and suffer still every day ?

" What is the character of Squin de Flexian ? Is it honest or holy ? No ! Before these crimes were charged against us , he was driven forth from our society , as too wicked and too vile to belong to it . And yet the word of a ruffian ancl a condemned felon is taken before the oaths of the first

Knights in Christendom . Bring him hither , confront him with us in your presence , and we will have no trouble in stripping the mask from his face , and in proving him to be the Judas of our holy Order ; for whereas the Jewish Iscariot betrayed our blessed Redeemer for silverthis

, French Iscariot betrays his Order for his worthless life . Let him look to it , that his fate be not the same . " * Boulogne then read a manifesto , which he had drawn up with the help of his associates , in defence of the Order . He read it with afire ancl unction ,

which shewed as much his grief atthe accusations , as his persuasion of the innocence of the Order . It contained nearly the same matter as his speech , but as there are some differences , it may be as well to recapitulate it . It bore that the proceedings attacked a holOrderof which the

founday , tion was Charity and Brotherly Love , while its establishment had for its sole object , at the price of the lives of the Templars , the succour of the Christians against the Infidel , especially in the