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Article THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. ← Page 4 of 8 →
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The Knights Templar.
Will it be replied , that on a question respecting clandestine crimes , as the proofs of them could not be obtained from witnesses , strangers to the Order ; therefore it became necessary to recur to the evidence of the apostates . If by exterior and public acts of impiety ; if , by the scandal of
their manners , the chevaliers had given cause to suspect the existence of this horrible and preposterous statute ; if some token or vestige of those statutes had been discovered , then perhaps justice might have admitted the depositions of the apostate Tenrplars , and believed that there existed in the Order a secret and criminal statute . Then that
statute would have seemed probable , and almost proven by the effects of the impious and dissolute conduct of the Templars , which would have appeared to be its natural consequence . But when there cannot be proven one positive and ] Dublic fact which can authorise just suspicions ; when the conduct of the chiefs
of the Order , and even of the members , is justified by the most honourable attestations ; by those of the very Popes and kings Avho afterwards became their persecutors . How can one presume to call the apostates from the Order necessary witnesses , and by their depositions maintain that such a statute had existed ? A statute Avhich
could afford no interest or utility whatsoever to the Order , chiefs or members , whom it would have degraded in their own eyes : besides , can it be supposed that so many thousand chevaliers , men of the best families , of the best education , well grounded in their religion , and born in so many different countries , could subscribe to such a statute .
What doubts can counterbalance the noble and courageous assertions of those brave Templars , Avho from the gloom of their dungeons , faithful to their oath , to virtue , and to truth ; dared , to the number of seventy-five come forward as defenders of the oppressed Order , and speak in the name of an immense majority *
Ought not such witnesses as those , who were punished by a cruel death , to prevail against the vile and interested denunciations of apostates , who purchased their lives at the expense of honour ? The defence of the seventy-five generous TemjDlars Avas disregarded by the judges of those times ; but posterity , more just and impartial , Avill
afford it due consideration . It will suffice here , to give only an abridgement of their defence . I shall not attemjot to give the least ornament to its elegant simplicity , were I to attempt it , my labour might prove to no purpose .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Knights Templar.
Will it be replied , that on a question respecting clandestine crimes , as the proofs of them could not be obtained from witnesses , strangers to the Order ; therefore it became necessary to recur to the evidence of the apostates . If by exterior and public acts of impiety ; if , by the scandal of
their manners , the chevaliers had given cause to suspect the existence of this horrible and preposterous statute ; if some token or vestige of those statutes had been discovered , then perhaps justice might have admitted the depositions of the apostate Tenrplars , and believed that there existed in the Order a secret and criminal statute . Then that
statute would have seemed probable , and almost proven by the effects of the impious and dissolute conduct of the Templars , which would have appeared to be its natural consequence . But when there cannot be proven one positive and ] Dublic fact which can authorise just suspicions ; when the conduct of the chiefs
of the Order , and even of the members , is justified by the most honourable attestations ; by those of the very Popes and kings Avho afterwards became their persecutors . How can one presume to call the apostates from the Order necessary witnesses , and by their depositions maintain that such a statute had existed ? A statute Avhich
could afford no interest or utility whatsoever to the Order , chiefs or members , whom it would have degraded in their own eyes : besides , can it be supposed that so many thousand chevaliers , men of the best families , of the best education , well grounded in their religion , and born in so many different countries , could subscribe to such a statute .
What doubts can counterbalance the noble and courageous assertions of those brave Templars , Avho from the gloom of their dungeons , faithful to their oath , to virtue , and to truth ; dared , to the number of seventy-five come forward as defenders of the oppressed Order , and speak in the name of an immense majority *
Ought not such witnesses as those , who were punished by a cruel death , to prevail against the vile and interested denunciations of apostates , who purchased their lives at the expense of honour ? The defence of the seventy-five generous TemjDlars Avas disregarded by the judges of those times ; but posterity , more just and impartial , Avill
afford it due consideration . It will suffice here , to give only an abridgement of their defence . I shall not attemjot to give the least ornament to its elegant simplicity , were I to attempt it , my labour might prove to no purpose .