The Knights Templars.

It is easy to judge . the effect of these courageous deaths upon the people . All the spectators were filled with awe . If , on ordinary occasions , the executions of the greatest criminals can draw forth pity ancl compassion , what would be the feelings

of the people upon seeing two men of such great consideration perish by so cruel a death ? The Grand Master of a famous Order , who was the equal of Kings : a Prince , son of a sovereign allied to all Kings , and son of a princess of the blood !

Could they fail to accuse the King of cruelty—of not respecting his own blood ? The Grand Master was an old man , and the Prince Dauphin a young man in the flower of his clays—for he had not completed his twenty-seventh year . The people

believed in the innocence of the Order , and received the last words of the Templars in the light of oracles . They abandoned themselves to the liveliest grief , ancl shed abundant tears . Looking upon the Knights as martyrs in the

cause of truth , a judgment confirmed by posterity , many gave money for masses for the repose of their souls . When the bodies had been consumed , and the fires burned out , they gathered the ashes , and carried home with them the bones which they

could find , viewing them as precious relics , which -should be preserved carefully aud even revered . Among the precious treasures of the modern Order of the Temple in France , are some of these ashes and bones , and some are likewise preserved by the Order of Christ .

Our task now draws to a close . We have traced the ste ] DS by which the Templars were destroyed ; we have seen them undergoing the torture , we have been with them while they were expiring at the stake . We have now to consider

the fate of those who were instrumental in the destruction of the Order . As we have said , De Molai , when nearly consumed , and havingvbnly his tongue at his command , summoned the Pope , within forty days , and the King , Avithin a year , to

appear before the bar of Heaven . The Pope , afflicted by different maladies , grew dangerously ill , shortly after the burning of the Grand Master . He hacl a trouble which rendered life wearisome to him , accompanied by stomach complaint , which

ended in dysentery . He had gone to Carpentras on business , but finding himself very weak , and believing that his native air would revive him , he resolved to go to Bourdeaux , where he had been born . He got into a litter , and proceeded thither , but every motion augmented his disorder , so that

he was obliged to stay at Eoquemanda , a little town on the Ehone , near Avignon , in the diocese of Nirnes , and here he died on the 20 fch of April 1314 , precisely forty days after the death of De Molai . The church in which his body was placed

took fire , ancl the corpse was half consumed before it could be removed . In the month of July following , a tumult arose in the town where the half consumed corpse was kept , during which the populace tried to get forcible possession of the

remains ; but whether from some superstitious motive , or with a view of avenging on the Pope ' s body the murder of De Molai , is not known . This Pontiff was not destitute of good sense and talent , but he sacrificed all to policy , ambition , and

the thirst for gold ; while the false step which he took in subscribing to Philip ' s secret request , embittered his life , and has destroyed his fame . The chroniclers have not failed to cast reproaches upon his morals , and they accuse him of entertaining a

criminal passion for Brunisand de Foix , Countess of Talleyrand , * the daughter of the Count de Foix , who was considered to be in her time the

most beautiful woman in France . f Clement left to his nephews all the immense treasures which he had amassed by the most nefarious means . This wealth his nephews soon dissipated in riot and debauchery . Philip fell from his horse , and received

very severe injuries . These , however , have not been considered the eause of his death . After the death of De Molai , he fell into ill health , and was attacked at last by a slow fever , which carried him off on the 29 fch November 1314 , in the forty-sixth

year of his age . There are strong suspicions that this fever was the result of poison | Whether De Molai summoned the Pope to appear within forty days , and the King within the year , before the bar of Heaven , is a question much

debated . Probably their dying within these periods gave rise to the story . It seemed , however , as if the Divine justice pursued all those who had contributed to the extinction of the Order , ancl to so many bloody tragedies . The two apostate Templars , whose accusations had told so fatally , perished iniserably § Noffo Dei was convicted of