The Knights Templars.

De Molai motioned to the Dauphin to permit him to speak first , and then uttered these truly memorable words . " It is but just , that , in so terrible a day , and iu the last moments of my life , I should make

-known all the iniquity of falsehood , and cause the truth to triumph . I acknowledge then , in the face of heaven and earth , ancl I take you all as witnesses , and declare , to my eternal shame -and dishonour , that I have been guilty of the

• most atrocious crimes ; but it has been in acknowledging those scandalous crimes and iniquities which have been so foully charged against the Order . I attest , and truth compels me to attest , that the Order is innocent . I made the contrary

• declaration only to suspend the excessive pains of torture , and to mollify those who made me endure them . I am aware of the punishment which they

have inflicted on those Knights who nave had the courage to revoke a similar confession ; but the dreadful spectacle which is presented to me is not able to make me confirm one lie by another . The life which they offer me upon such infamous

terms , I reject with disdain , and abandon without regret a wretched and disgraceful existence , which is to be bought , by engrafting another lie upon the original falsehood . " ¦ No sooner had he ceased speaking , than the

gallant Guy thundered forth his asseveration of the innocence of the Order , appealed to Heaven to declare it , ancl denounced in the strongest terms , the cruel tortures which hacl been employed , to wring confessions from the innocent . The

consternation of the Commissioners was extreme , ¦ and they knew not how to finish their task , nor how to pronounce sentence in the face of the prisoners' declarations . Their astonishment was little

compared to that of the spectators . There reigned a silence more profouned than that which had accompanied the reading of the judgment—a silence of compassion , of dismay , and fear . Many cast their eyes to heaven , while Guy spoke , as if to

observe the coming of some messenger from thence at his appeal .- They knew what would follow so important a disavowal . They gazed upon the two captives , contrasting their spent and squalid condition at that moment , with their noble

and gallant appearance when they entered Paris on their arrival from Cyprus . Then the Grand Master had been , the equal of sovereign princes , the cynosure of all eyes—nor could they fail to ¦ be struck Avith the courage displayed by so young

a man as the Dauphin . The last lingering doubts regarding their innocence , were dissipated in the minds of the minds of the people , as they remembered the wise and severe conduct of these two men , when the Order was still in its palmy

days , and they felt more disposed to believe the assertions made at such a critical moment , and at such a dreadful peril , than those made by the authority of the Pope and the King . The Commissioners saw no way of escape . They

remonstrated with the two nobles , iu vain pointed out the consequences of their retractions , and the evil to which they exposed themselves . Finding

them resolute , they offered them liberty if they would humble themselves and confess the crimes . De Molai mildly refused , while the Dauphin asked hotly , if as churchmen they could insist upon demanding from them confessions which were

false , and which would damn their souls for ever . Upon this the Commissioners deliberated anxiously , and at length resolved to send the four Templars back to prison , and to assemble upon the following day to decide upon their fate . The

Templars were then delivered over to the custody of the Provost of Paris , who was present assisting at the ceremony . This was about two o ' clock in the afternoon * .

With regard to De Peyraud and Coeur-de-Eoi , no satisfactory explanation has been given of their silence . Either they were terrified at the fate in store for their Brethren , or they had not been able , byAveakness or force , from joining in their avowals .

Probably weakness prevented them , for they were , by the direction of the Commissioners , who took their silence for a confession of their crimes , sent to the prison appointed for their reception , where they died a few days after their entrance .

The Commissioners sent to the King , who was at the Louvre , tidings of these circumstances . He was fearfully enraged at the obstinate conduct of the Grand Master and the Prince Dauphin , ancl irritated at the Commissioners postponing the

sentence which had been passed on all those who should recant , and for doing which many Templars had already been burned . He was afraid that the Commissioners' would allow the prisoners to escape—thus , to prevent their compassion , and perhaps their sense of justice , from taking part