The Knights Templars.

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS .

ji J Z 0 ND 0 N , SATURDAY , AUGUST 1 , 1863 .

By ANTHONY ONEAL HAYE . ( Continued from page 64 ) . BOOK THIRD—CHAPTER VII .

INTERREGNUM—REGENT , WILLIAM DE RUPEI ? OET . Progress of the Carizmans . —A mournful letter to Europe . Ascalon and Tiberias taken . —Affairs of the Order in Hungary , Spain , Venice , and England , A . D . 1244—47 . The Carizmans flushed Avith this victory , and joined by the Egyptian troops , inarched against

Ascalon , and laid siege to it , but the Hospitallers , who garrsioned it , repulsed every assault , aud drove back the enemy with frightful slaughter . * The enemy abandoned the siege in despair , and proceeded to lay waste the unprotected parts of

Palestine . The loss sustained by the Templars in the late battle paralysed them . JSTo Grand Master was appointed till their numbers were recruited from the West , and William de Rochefort or Rupefort

was appointed Regent . He , in conjunction with others , addressed the following letter to the European Christians : — " A mournful letter to the Reverend Fathers iu Christ and all our friends , the archbishops , bishops ,

abbots , and other prelates in England and Eranne , to whom these present letters shall come . Robert , by the grace of God Patriarch of the Church of Jerusalem , and legate of the Apostolic See ; Henry , Archbishop of Nazareth ; I , elect of

Caesarea ; R ., Bishop of Acre ; the Bishop of Sidon ; Brother William de Rupefort , Vice-Master of the House of the Knights of the Temple , and the brethren of the same House ; H ., Prior of our Lord ' s sepulchre , Abbot of St . Samuel of the

Premonstrate Order : and the Abbots , B ., of Mount Olivet ; I , of the Temple of our Lord ; P ., of Mount Tabor ; and R ., of Mount Zion , health and success according to your wishes . The ferocity of wild beasts has come forth from the regions of

the East , and directed its course to the province of Jerusalem , which , although it used at various times to be harassed in manifold Avays by the surrounding Saracens , yet of late Avas in some measure breathing freely , the neighbouring enemies having been lulled to rest ; yet the sins of the

Christians have aroused an unknown people to their own destruction , and have brought the sword of the avenger on them from afar . Yes , the rage and fury of the Tartars have now shaken the whole of the eastern region with the terrors of a

manifold calamity ; persecuting all alike and making - no difference between Christians and infidels , but driving off their booty from the most remote quarters , even of those who would themselves have preyed upon the Christian people .

These said Tartars , after ravaging the whole of Persia , have made war in a Averse spirit , and hunting out those cruel Carizmans have dragged them forth like snakes from their holes , and driven them from their own provinces . These

latter having no habitation , as they could not obtain a place of refuge amongst any of tho Saracens , owing to their wickedness , Avere only aided by the Sultan of Babylon , that persecutor of the Christian faith , who although he refused them

a place of refuge in his own territory , offered them that which belonged to others , and summoned and invited these said infidels to inhabit

the Laud of Promise , which the Most High has promised and given to those who believe in Him . They , therefore , relying on the assistance of the said Sultan , came with their wives and families , and several thousand armed warriors , into the

Lord's inheritance , which , as they said , the Sultan of Babylon had given to them ; and their arrival was so sudden that it could not be foreseen , either by us , or the neighbouring people , so as allow us by a forewarning to guard against the

coming dart , and they entered the district of Jerusalem through the provinces of Safet and Tiberias . And although we applied all care and diligence to devise means for restoring the

Holy-Land to its former state of peace and tranquility , which was disturbed by these new enemies , yet the power of the Christians was inadequate to the task of expelling them , and the aforesaid Carizmans then took possession of the whole country ,

from Thoron , of the Knights , which is near Jerusalem , to Gazara . We , therefore , by the advice and wish of all iu common , in conjunction Avith the Masters of the religious houses , namely , of the Temple , of the Hospitallers of St . John , and the Preceptor

ofthe Teutonic Knights of St . Mary , as well as of the nobles of the kingdom , called into the assistance of the Christians , the Sultans of Damascus and Camel , Avho were then allied by a treaty of peace with us , and Avho held a special enmity against