The Knights Templars.

tell you the truth . I persist in attesting it before yon . Come what may of it , I prefer my soul to my body . " De Pollencourt , hoAvever , reckoned without the Inquisitors in this statement ; for , three days after , he again appeared before the

Commissioners , revoked all he had uttered , spoke of the cat which used to appear at the Chapters , and said that if the Order had not been abolished

he would have quitted it . Can there be any doubt of his having undergone the torture , in the interval between his first and second appearance before the Commissioners ? A few of the Avitnesses testified to the Head

being worshipped in the chapters , but they could not agree regarding its description . * One said it Avas like that of a man with a long Avhite beard ; another , that it was like a woman ; while another declared it to be the head of one of the 11 , 000

virgins . One witness gave the following account of it , which he said he had had from a secular Knight at Limisso , in Cyprus . A certain nobleman was passionately attached to a maiden , but , being unable to overcome her repugnance for him ,

he took her body , after her death , out of the grave , and cut off her head , ancl while thus engaged , he heard a voice , crying , " Keep it safe , whatever looks on it will be destroyed . " He did as desired , and made the first trial of it on the Grissons , an Arab tribe , Avhich dwelt in Cyprus ; and Avhenever

he uncovered the head , and turned it toAvards any of their towns , the Avails instantly fell down . He next embarked with the head for Constantinople , having determined to destroy that city . On the way , his nurse , ovAt of cariosity , opened the box

which contained the head . Instantly there came on a terrific storm , the shijj Avent to pieces , and nearly all Avho Avere on board perished . The very fish vanished from that part of the sea . This story reminds us of the Gorgon ' s Head and the Box of

Pandora , in heathen mythology . The same incident Avill be fouud recorded by the old chroniclers , who are , however , silent regarding the possessors of the head . Another of the same Avitnesses had heard a similar story . The common tradition in

the East , according to his statement , AA'as , that in old times , before the rise of the Spiritual Orders of Knighthood , a head used to appear in a certain whirpool called Setalia , Avhen the ships near it Avere placed in imminent danger . The evidence , although not expressly stating it , Avould lead us to suppose

The Knights Templars.

that the Templars had possessed themselves of this head , but no one seems to say that they made use of its formidable powers . Peter de la Palu , a bachelor in theology of the Order of the Preaching Friars , the 201 st Avitness ,

gave this remarkable evidence in favour of the Order . " I have been present at the examination of several Templars , some of Avhom confessed many things contained in the said articles , ancl some others totally denied them . For many reasons it

appears to me that greater credit is to be given to those who denied , than to those Avho confessed . " ( To be Continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

CHIPS OF FOREIGN ASHLAR . I write without " scruple or diffidence " to correct a remark made hy your correspondent , J . A . H ., on the above subject in your last number , page 848 , col . 2 . He there says , — " When will England cease to take an enemy into their mouths to steal away tlieir

brains ? a question Shakespeare asked , and Avhich . is still unanswered . '' With all due respect to J . A . H ., and to say nothing of his strange grammar , I would refer him to Shakespeare ' s play of " Othello , " Avhere he Avill find that the poet does not ask so stupid and foolish a question . With respect to mine host of the

Bible Hotel , at Amsterdam , inquiring , " with the utmost politeness , " if the sight of drunken men did not remind us of England , I think the fellow ought to have been kicked for his insolence , ancl I do not coincide Avith J . A . H . in his sympathetic exclamation , " Alas ! it did . " Surely we are not so besotted a

nation as to go crying stinking fish all over the Avorld * It is not usually the case for the keeper of a " public " to insult his customers by remarking on the drunken habits ( supposing such to exist ) of their countrymen . At any rate , I should recommend all Englishmen ( and especially Freemasons ) to avoid quaffing their " bumpers of Schiedam " at ; the hostelry of the polite and free-spoken landlord of the Old Bible at Amsterdam . —DASUJI .

BIBLICAL BEEEBESCES . Your correspondent , " Senei - , " has fallen into aa error ( or , perhaps , it is the printer ) in his reply last Aveek to the incomprehensible writing of Henry Melville on Celestial Mysteries . "Senex " refers to the Book of lluth , chap . 19 , when , in fact , there are hutfour

chapters in the book . Perhaps his reference isintended for chap , ii ., v . 19 , or to chap , iv ., v . 7 . On the subject of biblical references , permit me to point out one which may have some Masonic significance . I refer to I . Kings , chap , xx ., v . 32 , 33 , in Avhich are the Avords , "He is my brother , " and

"Whether anything should come from him , and they did hastily catch it . " The passage is interesting , and Avorthy of consideration . I know it has been usual for kings to address each other as brothers ; but , in this case , there seems something more than that ; and the question is Avhether the allusion is to Masonry . I point out the passage , and leave the consideration of it to others . — DANUAI .