The victory, however, remained with the Christian army, and Saladin retired towards Jerusalem. Throughout the campaign the Templars and Hospitallers fought side by side, and their experience and knowledge of the country caused them to be the real leaders and directors of all operations, Cour de Lion himself seeking and following their advice.

Several strong fortresses were erected at this time. by the Templars, the most remarkable of which was called the Pilgrim's Castle, on the coast road from Acre to Jerusalem, near Mount Carmel. Two enormous towers, 100 feet high and 74 feet wide, formed the chief feature. The castle was so extensive that it could shelter 4000 men. There were two walls, fifteen feet thick and forty feet high, and there was a beautiful church within the enclosure.

In A.D. 1218, an expedition was fitted out against Egypt, and the Templars furnished a number of galleys and a considerable force. The Grand Master at this time was William de Chartres, and a letter of his to the Pope describes the condition of the Christian cause in the East.

It is addressed, "To the Very Reverend Father in Christ, the Lord Honorius, by the Providence of God, Chief Pontiff of the Holy Roman Church, by William de Chartres, humble Master of the Poor Chivalry of the Temple."

It states that since the arrival of a large force of Crusaders from Germany and other parts of Christen dom, Saladin had remained in Egypt and had made no attack upon any of the Christian possessions in

Palestine, and that the Mahometan power was weaker than it had been for many years.

There had been, however, a failure in the crops, and great scarcity of food in consequence, by which they had lost a great number of their horses, and had not sufficient to mount their knights.

No sooner had the Crusading army landed at Damietta than a terrible pestilence broke out, and the Grand Master and many of the knights, together with a vast number of the rank and file of the army, were carried off by it.

The fighting during the campaign was exceedingly fierce and bloody. On one occasion the Saracens surprised the camp, and panic had seized upon all, when the serried ranks of the Templars appeared and stopped the advance of the enemy and the flight of the Christians.

Sometimes the fighting was upon the Nile itself. In one of these naval engagements a galley belonging to the Templars sank, and all on board were drowned. In the end, however, Damietta was taken.

In the following year a great disaster happened to the Christian army. During a march the enemy cut some of the banks of the canals, and completely surrounded the Christian army with water. Provisions and baggage were lost, many were drowned; and the leaders were obliged to make terms, and they purchased their lives by the hard alternative of the surrender of the city of Damietta which had cost so much blood and labour.

In Palestine the war continued with varying

fortune; but all accounts agree in praising the valour and devotion of the Templars and Hospitallers, who constantly fought side by side. On one occasion the Templars were entirely surrounded by a superior force, and, refusing to surrender, they fell to the last man, covered with wounds.

An English knight, Reginald de Argenton, was standard-bearer, and, though dreadfully wounded, bore the banner aloft till he was cut down with all his comrades.

In A.D. 1242, the Christian cause again prevailed, and Jerusalem was recaptured. The Templars and Hospitallers once more occupied their old quarters, and taxed their resources to the utmost to rebuild and strengthen the fortifications of the city. The churches were re-opened for divine service, and pilgrims worshipped at the Holy Places after more than fifty years' exclusion. Other fortresses, in different parts of the country, were also rebuilt with enormous defences, as their ruins still testify.

CHAPTER IV.

Jerusalem taken by the Tartars-Atrocities-Siege of AcreCouncil of Lyons-A new Crusade proposed-Its failure-Capture of Damietta-Exploits of the Templars-The Sultan of Egypt invades Palestine-Siege and capture of Acre-Palestine lost to the Christians.

"The loud war-trumpet woke the morn,

The quivering drum, the pealing horn ;
From rank to rank the cry is borne,
'Arouse to Death or Victory!"'

HOGG.

BUT a new enemy now appeared in the Tartars, who everywhere gained victories and massacred the inhabitants of cities and castles.

At the battle of Gaza, the Grand Masters of the Temple and the Hospital were both slain, together with three hundred and twelve Templars and a multitude of soldiers. And, finally, in A.D. 1244, Jerusalem was taken by assault, and the Tartars were found to be infinitely worse enemies than the Saracens had been. The Holy Places which the latter had respected were treated with contempt by the Tartars, and defiled with every insolent sacrilege. Unarmed priests, nuns, and persons of all ages and ranks, were cruelly tortured, outraged, and murdered; even the graves of the dead were violated, and their ashes flung to the winds. The remnant that escaped retired to Acre, whither they were speedily followed and besieged by the enemy.

Again piteous and earnest letters were despatched by the Master to the Christian powers in Europe, imploring aid, and trying to excite their religious zeal and indignation, by describing the ruin of the Christian cause in the East, and the invasion of the Holy Places by degraded and savage Asiatics.

A Council was assembled at Lyons by Pope Innocent IV., and it was resolved that another Crusade should be preached. A truce of four years between all Christian princes was commanded, and contributions levied upon the income of all the clergy, and earnestly solicited from the laity.

But Bernard was no longer living to preach, the Crusading spirit had cooled down, and there was but a feeble response; so that the Templars and Hospitallers were left almost unsupported to maintain the Christian cause in the East.

In this extremity a truce was agreed upon between the Knights and the Sultan, which caused great dissatisfaction in Europe, and gave the first ground for those charges against the Templars which were soon to become so fatal.

In A.D. 1249, another expedition was fitted out against Egypt, and sailed from Acre, which succeeded in taking Damietta. Joinville gives many details of the campaign, and especially dwells on the exploits of the Templars; for courage and endurance seem ever to have distinguished the Order throughout its whole course, and though the knights were single and there was no hereditary succession, there never was wanting a continuous supply of