Vili PREFACE. the Templars added tlie discipline of the camp, and the stern duties of the military life, joining •' The fine vocation of Liie nword and lance, With the fiross aims, and body-uendirig toil Of a poor brotherhood, who walk the earth Pitied." The vulgar notion that the Templars were as wicked as they were fearless and brave, has not yet been entirely exploded ; but it is hoped that the copious account of the proceedings against the order in this country, given in the ninth and tenth chapters of the ensuing volume, will tend to dispel many unfounded pre judices still entertained against the fraternity, and excite emotions of admiration for their constancy and courage, and of pity for their unmerited and cruel fate. Matthew Paris, who wrote at St. Albans, concerning events in Palestine, tells ns that the emulation between the Templars ami Hospitallers frequently broke out into open warfare to the great scandal and prejudice of Christendom, and that, in u pitched battle fought between them, the Templars were slain to a man. The solitary testimony of Matthew Paris, who was no friend to the twoorders, is invalidated by the silence of contemporary historians, who wrote on the spot ; and it is quite evident from the letters of the pope, addressed to the Hospitallers, the year after the dale of the alleged battle, that such au occurrence never could have taken place. The accounts, even of the best of the autient writers, should not be adopted without examination, and a careful comparison with other sources of information, William of Tyre, for instance, tells us that Nassr-ed-deen, son of sultan Abbas, wits taken prisoner by the Templars, and whilst in their hands became a convert to the Christian religion ; that ho bad learned the rudiments