The Knights Templars.

Temple to their own devices in combating the Infidel , who , now victorious , harassed the Christians , committing a thousand atrocities , and murdering every pilgrim that fell into their hands . In vain the Templars performed prodigies of valour ,

in vain did they rush upon and rout the enemy , the Infidel returned upon them in larger hordes , and , like locusts , covered the land . Deprived of their chief , the brethren could make no head against the Saracens , and at length their position

became so critical , after the defeat and slaughter b > y the foe of the Prince of Antioch and all his nobility , that the Grand Prior of Jerusalem wrote to Everard , then at the Court of France , in the following terms : — " We conjure you to bring with

you from beyond the sea all our knights and ¦ serving brethren capable of bearing arms . Perchance , alas ! with all your diligence you may not find one of us alive . Use , therefore , all imaginable

celerity ; pray forget not the necessities of our house . They are such that no tongue can express them . It is also of the last importance to announce to the Pope , to the King of France , and to all the Princes and Prelates of Europe , the approaching

• desolation of the Holy Land , to the intent that they succour us in person or send us subsidies . " Another letter was written in 1145 or 1150 by . Dapiferi , a serving brother , imploring immediate help .

The Grand Master , however , was unequal to the -emergency . Brave although undoubtedly he was , de Barri was unfitted for the command of such a body as that of the Templars ; so , frightened at the responsibility of his position , he resigned the

• Grand Mastership , and retired into a monastery at Clairvaux , where he devoted himself entirely to prayers and fasting , subjecting himself to the most rigorous and severe penances and mortifications . The brethren elected in his room Bernard de

Trenellepe ( 1151 ) , a nobleman of an illustrious Burgtmdian house , and who had the character of being a brave and experienced soldier —( William ¦ of Tyre ) . The Infidel , flushed with victory , and eager to

extirpate the Christians from the Holy Land , marched against Jerusalem , and encamped on the Mount of Olives , where their barbarous music of kettledrums , trumpets , and cymbals rang through

¦ the air , carrying dismay and terror into the breasts ¦ of the Christians . The Saracens were worked up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm as they gazed from the top of the Mount of Olives upon Beit

Allah , the Temple of the Lord , their holy house of prayer , from whence Mahomet ascended to heaven . The sight inflamed them , and they eagerly desired to be led to the assault of the city , that they might vent their fury upon the

Christians , and purge the Holy Places of their presence . Bernard , enraged at their audacity and insolence , prepared a night attack , in which the Infidels were defeated with immense slaughter , aud 5 , 000 of their bravest left dead on the plain between the

Holy City and the Jordan . The Templars met with a severe loss in the death of St . Bernard , which took place on the 20 fch of April , 1153 . He had never recovered from the mortification he felt at the disastrous

termination of the Second Crusade . According to Gibbon , he had been stigmatised as a false prophet , as the cause of public and private mourning , and while his friends were covered with confusion , his enemies exulted in his defeat . His justification

was slow and unsatisfactory , and his principal defence was that he had obeyed the commands of the Pope . It preyed , however , so much on his mind that he gradually sank under mental agony and died . Among his last acts was to pen three letters regarding his beloved Order of the Temple , which he had cherished and loved with the affection of a

father . To the Patriarch of Antioch he wrote , recommending him to protect and foster the Order , by which he would perform an act well pleasing both in the sight of God and of man . To Melesinda , the Queen of Jerusalem , he wi-ote , thanking

her for her munificence to the Order , and recommending it to her best protection . To Andre de Montbar , one of the nine who founded the Order , and who subsequently became Grand Master , hewrote at considerable length , sending his

affectionate farewell to the Master and brethren , giving them some parting advice , and recommending himself to their prayers . De Trenellepe soon proved that the trust which the brethren reposed in him was not misplaced .

He gathered the scattered bodies of the Crusaders who still remained in the Holy Land together , and , following up the success of the midnight attack on the enemy at the Mount of Olives , he defeated them in many pitched battles . This

preeminence of the Order above the other Christians began to sow the seeds of avarice and pride among the Templars , and fatal effects ensued . In 1153 , the Christians laid siege to the town of Ascalon , then iu the possession of the enemy ,