Masonic Discipline.—V.

brethren will thus have the power by ballot , of electing a brother to the degree he would have attained had he not lost his turn , and in giving them this power they would perhaps be right in exercising it in those instances where sickness or

unavoidable absence from home had prevented the brother proceeding onwards in his Masonic career .

The Knights Templars.

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS .

By ANTHONY ONEAL HAYE . ( Continued fromjiagc 505 ) . BOOK IV . —CHAPTER XL—Contd . The King of Arragon received Philip ' s letter

on the 3 rd December 1307 . By it he was informed of all that had been done in France , and exhorted to do the same in his territories . The bearers of this letter were , a famous Doctor of Theology and a Dominican , who swore to the

• crimes of the Order . The King thereupon assembled his nobles , and by their advice , he charged the Archbishops of Saragossa and Valentia , and the Inquisitor General , with the persecution of the Order- This order was given

on the 3 rd of December , and the proceedings commenced in January . The Templars had been informed of the fate of their brethren in France , ancl acquainted with the orders given by the King of Arragon , they flew to arms , to withstand the ¦ storm with which they were menaced . The Order

possessed several towns and castles in Arragon , Valentia , and Catalonia . They retired to these , and fortified them strongly . The Inquisitor General informed the King of this , and demanded -a royal order for the arresting of the Templars ,

and the seizing of their wealth , which was granted . He thereupon sent letters to the heads of the great towns , commanding them to lend troops for the reduction of the Knights . Considerable delay ensued , as a great force was necessary to enable

the Inquisitor to attack the Templars , who were certain to make an obstinate defence . To prejudice the people against the Order , the Inquisitor summoned the Knights to appear at the Dominican Convent at Valentia , there to answer the charg-es

made against them . The King also assembled all the bishops of his territories at Valentia , to proceed in the cause ; but the Templars treated the summons with contempt . The assembly took place on the 6 th of January , but was postponed

to admit of the Knights appearing . As they did not do so , but continued victualling and fortifying their strongholds , orders were given for the immediate levying of troops , generals were appointed , ancl war declared . The Templars' greatest towns

were Miravette , Cantavicia , Castellot , and Moncon , the last being their head-quarters . These the Templars strongly fortified . They , at the same time , despatched letters to the Pope , complaining of the persecution ; but Clement never

condescended to answer them . Don Artaud de Lune was appointed General of the Royal Army . He proceeded to attack the Templar fortresses , but

the brethren defended them with superhuman valour . De Lune proceeded from place to place , and took them in succession . Two years were occupied in reducing the fortresses , aud the loss of numbers belonging to the Royal Army is said

to have been incredible . Moncon , the strongest of all the fortresses , held out so long as to appear impregnable ; but after prodigious slaughter , the town was captured , and several Knights , who survived , were cast into prison .

The Pope appointed the Bishop of Valentia head of the Council , which was to try the Templars . After' applying the torture , the Council declared the Order innocent . At the Council of

Medina-del-Campo , in Leon , one witness said that he had heard that , when some Minorites visited the Preceptor at Villalpando , they found him reading a little book , which he instantly locked up in three boxes , saying , " This book might fall into

hands where it may be very dangerous to the Order . " This was the only suspicious evidence which the witnesses , not Templars , could give against the Order , and this , too , was only

hearsay . Ferdinand , King of Castille , on receiving Philip's letter , acted more promptly in the affair than did the King of Navarre . He pursued the policy which had been so successful in France , ancl the Templars were arrested on the same day , and

their riches confiscated . The King of Portugal , Denis , acted in a similar manner . Two Councils were appointed to proceed against the Order Don Gonzalez , Bishop of Toledo , presided over the one held in that town , and was assisted by his

suffragans . The Knights were examined , and the Grand Prior , Don Rodrigo Ilbanes , defended the Order in a bold and eloquent speech . Details of the evidence have not been preserved , nor even the sentence ; but the proceedings were conducted