God of heaven; wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. Also I

have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and, being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed. Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shetharboznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Žechariah the son of Iddo; and they builded and finished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king," and in the year of the world 3489.

CHAPTER III.

Observations on the Orders of Knights Templars, and Knights of Malta.

According to the Abbe de Vertot, the order of knights of Malta, who were originally called hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, took its rise about the year 1099; from which time to the year 1118, their whole employment was works of charity, and taking care of the sick.

Some time after the establishment of this order, nine gentlemen (of whose names two only remain on record, viz. Hugbo de Paganis and Godfrey Adelman) formed a society to guard and protect the Christian pilgrims who travelled from abroad to visit the holy sepulchre.

These men were encouraged by the Abbot of Jerusalem, who assigned them and their companions a place of retreat in a christian church, called the church of the holy temple, from which they were called templars, and not from the temple of Jerusalem, that having been destroyed by Titus Vespasian, 982 years before the society of Templars was instituted.

The society increased rapidly, and was much respected; but had neither habit, order or mark of distinction, for the space of nine years, when pope Honorius II, at the request of Stephen, patriarch of Jerusalem, laid down a rule and manner of life for them; and ordained that they should be clothed in white; to which garment pope Eugenius III, added a red cross, to be worn

.

on the breast, which they promised by a solemn oath to observe forever.

Incited by the example of the knights templars, about the year 1118, the hospitallers also took up the profession of arms, in addition to their original charitable professions; occupying themselves at one time in attending upon the sick, and at others in acts of hostility against the Turks and Saracens. At this time they took the name of knights hospitallers.

Both orders flourished and increased daily; but that of the templars, though the youngest of the two, having from its original establishment been wholly employed in the profession of arms, was by many esteemed to be the most honourable; and therefore many noblemen, princes and persons of the highest distinction, who thought the service of tending the sick too ser vile an employment, entered themselves among the knights templars, in preference to the other order.

Both orders, for years, generally took the field together, and as well by themselves as in conjunction with the troops of the crusaders, won many battles, and performed prodigies of valour. The emulation, however, which subsisted between them, often occasioned warm disputes, which rose to such a height as produced frequent skirmishes between detached parties of the two orders. This occasioned the pope and the respective grand masters to interfere; who in a great measure suppressed these quarrels ; but the knights of the different orders ever afterward continued to view each other with jealons eyes.

Some time after these difficulties were thus partially suppressed, the Turks assembled a great force, and drove the whole of the christians out of Palestine. The last fortress they had possession of was that of St. John D'Acre. This was long and bravely defended by the knights_templars against their besiegers. The Turks, however, at last forced three hundred knights, being all that remained of the garrison, to take refuge in a strong tower, to which also the women fled for safety. The Turks hereupon set about undermining it, which they in a short time so effectually accomplished, that the knights saw, in case they held out any longer, they must all inevitably perish. They therefore capitulated, stipulating, among other things, that the honour of their women should not be violated. Upon this, the tower being opened, the Turks marched in; but, in total breach of the terms of capitulation, they immediately began to offer violence to the women. The enraged knights instantly drew their swords, hewed in pieces all the Turks who had entered, shut the gates against those who remained without, and resigned themselves to inevitable death, which they soon met with, by the tower being undermined and thrown down upon their heads.

After this defeat, the two orders found an asylum in the island of Cyprus; from whence, after some time, the knights templars, finding their number so diminished as to leave no hopes of effecting any thing towards the recovery of the holy land, without new crusades, (which the christian princes did not seem inclined to set on foot)

returned to their different commanders in various parts of christendom.

From this time the two orders separated; the knights hospitallers remained a while at Cyprus, from whence they afterwards went to Rhodes, and thence to Malta; which name they then assumed. The knights templars dispersed themselves throughout all Europe, but still enjoyed princely revenues, and were extremely wealthy.

Vertot says, that pope Boniface the VIII, having engaged in a warm dispute with Philip, king of France, the two orders, as had too frequently happened before, took opposite sides. The knights of Malta declared in favour of king Philip, while the knights templars espoused the cause of the pope. This conduct, Philip, partly from a revengeful disposition, and partly from the hope of getting possession of the vast wealth of the knights, never could forgive; but formed, thenceforward, the design of suppressing the order whenever a proper opportunity should offer. This however did not occur till after the decease of pope Boniface.

Immediately on the death of that pontiff, the cardinals assembled to elect his successor; but party disputes ran so high in the conclave, that there seemed no probability of again filling the papal chair very speedily. At length, through the intrigues and machinations of the friends of Philip, the cardinals were all brought to consent to the election of any priest that he should recom mend to them.

This was the darling object the monarch had in view this being accomplished, he immedi