The Knights Templars.

would have fallen . The Christians succeeded in regaining their entrenchments , and Coradin was forced to retire . * The inhabitants of Damietta meanwhile were reduced to the greatest straits , and various

expedients were resorted to to relieve them , Leather sacks filled with provisions , and loaves concealed in the sheets which enveloped dead bodies , were abandoned to the Nile , which carried them to the wall of the city . These stratagems were soon

discovered , and a stop put to them . The Musselmen became alarmed for the safety of the city , and hearing that the Emperor of Germany was proceeding to the assistance of the Christians at the head of an immense force , the Sultan of Damascus

sent to the Crusaders to ask for peace . He offered to abandon the city and kingdom of Jerusalem , to repair the walls of the Holy City which Coradin had destroyed , and only to reserve the places of Krak and Montreal as necessary for the safe passage of pilgrims and merchants to Mecca , and

for these he offered to pay tribute . He furthermore engaged to give up the wood of the true cross , and to set at liberty all the Christian prisoners . The king of Jerusalem , and the principal leaders of Palestine , urged the acceptance

of these terms , but Pelagius , desirous of still being at the head of the army , refused compliance , and consequently this most important offer for the Christians was thrown aside , and the siege prose .-cuted with the utmost vigour . The citizens at

length were forced to sue for terms of surrender , and two Templars , and two Hospitallers were deputed to arrange the terms , but they could not agree , and the next morning the city was stormed . One shudders at the description of the city upon

the entrance of the stormers . Out of a population of seventy thousand at the commencement of the siege , only three thousand pale withered shadows remainedf Immediately after the fall of the city the Templars accompanied the King of Jerusalem to Palestine to concert measures for the

protection of the Holy Land . The military orders during the winter employed every means and strained every energy to meet the inevitable spring campaign . Their position was not only difficult but dangerous in the extreme , for the Europeans , satisfied with their exploits , returned home , leaving the defence of the kingdom

to them . Coradin , in the spring , led a vast army of cavalry and infantry into the Christian possessions , blockaded Acre , and proceeded to invest the Chateau Palerin . De Montagu threw himself into it , with four thousand men , and prepared to

make a desperate resistance . The siege was prosecuted with great skill and vigour , but the Templars repulsed the attackers at every assault . It is said that in this siege Coz-adin lost six emirs , two hundred Maralooks , and a number of archers ;

and on one day alone he had a hundred and twenty valuable horses slain , one of which cost fourteen thousand marks . The King of Jerusalem and the Masters of the military Orders wrote urgent letters to Europe for

assistance , ancl called upon the Pope to compel the Emperor Frederick of Germany to fulfil his vow , ancl at once to proceed to the Holy Laud . De Montagu wrote the following pitiful letter to the Bishop of Ely , describing the state of Palestine :

"To our reverend brother in Christ , by the grace of God , Bishop of Ely , Peter de Montagu , Master of the Kni ghts of the Temple , greeting . How we have proceeded in the business of our Lord Jesus Christ since the capture of Damietta ,

and the castle of Taphuis , we , by these present letters set forth to your holiness . Be it known to you , then ,- that in the first passage after the aforesaid captures , such a number of pilgrims arrived at Damietta , that , with the rest of the

army which remained , they were sufficient to garrison Damietta and to defend the camp . Our lord , the legate , and the clergy , desirous to advance the cause of the army of Christ , often ancl earnestl y exhorted the people to make an attack on the infidels , but the nobles of the army , as well as those

of the transmarine provinces as those on our side of the water , thinking that the army was not sufficient for the defence of the aforesaid cities and castles , and at the same time to proceed further for the advantage of Christianity , would not

consent to this plan ; for the Sultan of Babylon , with an innumerable host of infidels , had pitched his camp near Damietta , and on each arm of the river had built bridges to obstruct the progress of the Christians , ancl was there waiting with such , an

immense army that the Crusaders , by proceeding further would incur the greatest danger . Nevertheless , we fortified the said city and camp , and the coast round with trenches in all directions , expecting to be consoled by the Lord with the assistance of those who were coming to help us .