CHAPTER XXXV
Arouse the tiger of Hyrcanian deserts, Strive with the half-starved lion for his prey; Lesser the risk, than rouse the slumbering fire Of wild Fanaticism. --Anonymus
Our tale now returns to Isaac of York.--Mounted upon a mule, the gift ofthe Outlaw, with two tall yeomen to act as his guard and guides, theJew had set out for the Preceptory of Templestowe, for the purpose ofnegotiating his daughter's redemption. The Preceptory was but a day'sjourney from the demolished castle of Torquilstone, and the Jew hadhoped to reach it before nightfall; accordingly, having dismissed hisguides at the verge of the forest, and rewarded them with a piece ofsilver, he began to press on with such speed as his weariness permittedhim to exert. But his strength failed him totally ere he had reachedwithin four miles of the Temple-Court; racking pains shot along his backand through his limbs, and the excessive anguish which he felt at heartbeing now augmented by bodily suffering, he was rendered altogetherincapable of proceeding farther than a small market-town, were dwelta Jewish Rabbi of his tribe, eminent in the medical profession, andto whom Isaac was well known. Nathan Ben Israel received his sufferingcountryman with that kindness which the law prescribed, and which theJews practised to each other. He insisted on his betaking himself torepose, and used such remedies as were then in most repute to check theprogress of the fever, which terror, fatigue, ill usage, and sorrow, hadbrought upon the poor old Jew.
On the morrow, when Isaac proposed to arise and pursue his journey,Nathan remonstrated against his purpose, both as his host and as hisphysician. It might cost him, he said, his life. But Isaac replied,that more than life and death depended upon his going that morning toTemplestowe.
To Templestowe! said his host with surprise again felt his pulse,and then muttered to himself, His fever is abated, yet seems his mindsomewhat alienated and disturbed.
And why not to Templestowe? answered his patient. I grant thee,Nathan, that it is a dwelling of those to whom the despised Children ofthe Promise are a stumbling-block and an abomination; yet thou knowestthat pressing affairs of traffic sometimes carry us among thesebloodthirsty Nazarene soldiers, and that we visit the Preceptories ofthe Templars, as well as the Commanderies of the Knights Hospitallers,as they are called. [48]
I know it well, said Nathan; but wottest thou that Lucas deBeaumanoir, the chief of their Order, and whom they term Grand Master,is now himself at Templestowe?
I know it not, said Isaac; our last letters from our brethren atParis advised us that he was at that city, beseeching Philip for aidagainst the Sultan Saladine.
He hath since come to England, unexpected by his brethren, said BenIsrael; and he cometh among them with a strong and outstretched arm tocorrect and to punish. His countenance is kindled in anger against thosewho have departed from the vow which they have made, and great is thefear of those sons of Belial. Thou must have heard of his name?
It is well known unto me, said Isaac; the Gentiles deliver this LucasBeaumanoir as a man zealous to slaying for every point of the Nazarenelaw; and our brethren have termed him a fierce destroyer of theSaracens, and a cruel tyrant to the Children of the Promise.
And truly have they termed him, said Nathan the physician. OtherTemplars may be moved from the purpose of their heart by pleasure, orbribed by promise of gold and silver; but Beaumanoir is of a differentstamp--hating sensuality, despising treasure, and pressing forward tothat which they call the crown of martyrdom--The God of Jacob speedilysend it unto him, and unto them all! Specially hath this proud manextended his glove over the children of Judah, as holy David over Edom,holding the murder of a Jew to be an offering of as sweet savour as thedeath of a Saracen. Impious and false things has he said even of thevirtues of our medicines, as if they were the devices of Satan--The Lordrebuke him!
Nevertheless, said Isaac, I must present myself at Templestowe,though he hath made his face like unto a fiery furnace seven timesheated.
He then explained to Nathan the pressing cause of his journey. The Rabbilistened with interest, and testified his sympathy after the fashion ofhis people, rending his clothes, and saying, Ah, my daughter!--ah, mydaughter!--Alas! for the beauty of Zion!--Alas! for the captivity ofIsrael!
Thou seest, said Isaac, how it stands with me, and that I may nottarry. Peradventure, the presence of this Lucas Beaumanoir, being thechief man over them, may turn Brian de Bois-Guilbert from the ill whichhe doth meditate, and that he may deliver to me my beloved daughterRebecca.
Go thou, said Nathan Ben Israel, and be wise, for wisdom availedDaniel in the den of lions into which he was cast; and may it go wellwith thee, even as thine heart wisheth. Yet, if thou canst, keep theefrom the presence of the Grand Master, for to do foul scorn to ourpeople is his morning and evening delight. It may be if thou couldstspeak with Bois-Guilbert in private, thou shalt the better prevail withhim; for men say that these accursed Nazarenes are not of one mind inthe Preceptory--May their counsels be confounded and brought to shame!But do thou, brother, return to me as if it were to the house of thyfather, and bring me word how it has sped with thee; and well do I hopethou wilt bring with thee Rebecca, even the scholar of the wise Miriam,whose cures the Gentiles slandered as if they had been wrought bynecromancy.
Isaac accordingly bade his friend farewell, and about an hour's ridingbrought him before the Preceptory of Templestowe.
This establishment of the Templars was seated amidst fair meadows andpastures, which the devotion of the former Preceptor had bestowed upontheir Order. It was strong and well fortified, a point never neglectedby these knights, and which the disordered state of England renderedpeculiarly necessary. Two halberdiers, clad in black, guarded thedrawbridge, and others, in the same sad livery, glided to and fro uponthe walls with a funereal pace, resembling spectres more than soldiers.The inferior officers of the Order were thus dressed, ever since theiruse of white garments, similar to those of the knights and esquires, hadgiven rise to a combination of certain false brethren in the mountainsof Palestine, terming themselves Templars, and bringing great dishonouron the Order. A knight was now and then seen to cross the court in hislong white cloak, his head depressed on his breast, and his arms folded.They passed each other, if they chanced to meet, with a slow, solemn,and mute greeting; for such was the rule of their Order, quotingthereupon the holy texts, In many words thou shalt not avoid sin, andLife and death are in the power of the tongue. In a word, thestern ascetic rigour of the Temple discipline, which had been so longexchanged for prodigal and licentious indulgence, seemed at once to haverevived at Templestowe under the severe eye of Lucas Beaumanoir.
Isaac paused at the gate, to consider how he might seek entrance in themanner most likely to bespeak favour; for he was well aware, that to hisunhappy race the reviving fanaticism of the Order was not less dangerousthan their unprincipled licentiousness; and that his religion would bethe object of hate and persecution in the one case, as his wealthwould have exposed him in the other to the extortions of unrelentingoppression.
Meantime Lucas Beaumanoir walked in a small garden belonging to thePreceptory, included within the precincts of its exterior fortification,and held sad and confidential communication with a brother of his Order,who had come in his company from Palestine.
The Grand Master was a man advanced in age, as was testified by his longgrey beard, and the shaggy grey eyebrows overhanging eyes, of which,however, years had been unable to quench the fire. A formidable warrior,his thin and severe features retained the soldier's fierceness ofexpression; an ascetic bigot, they were no less marked by the emaciationof abstinence, and the spiritual pride of the self-satisfied devotee.Yet with these severer traits of physiognomy, there was mixed somewhatstriking and noble, arising, doubtless, from the great part which hishigh office called upon him to act among monarchs and princes, andfrom the habitual exercise of supreme authority over the valiant andhigh-born knights, who were united by the rules of the Order. Hisstature was tall, and his gait, undepressed by age and toil, waserect and stately. His white mantle was shaped with severe regularity,according to the rule of Saint Bernard himself, being composed of whatwas then called Burrel cloth, exactly fitted to the size of the wearer,and bearing on the left shoulder the octangular cross peculiar to theOrder, formed of red cloth. No vair or ermine decked this garment; butin respect of his age, the Grand Master, as permitted by the rules, worehis doublet lined and trimmed with the softest lambskin, dressed withthe wool outwards, which was the nearest approach he could regularlymake to the use of fur, then the greatest luxury of dress. In his handhe bore that singular abacus, or staff of office, with which Templarsare usually represented, having at the upper end a round plate, on whichwas engraved the cross of the Order, inscribed within a circle or orle,as heralds term it. His companion, who attended on this great personage,had nearly the same dress in all respects, but his extreme deferencetowards his Superior showed that no other equality subsisted betweenthem. The Preceptor, for such he was in rank, walked not in a line withthe Grand Master, but just so far behind that Beaumanoir could speak tohim without turning round his head.
Conrade, said the Grand Master, dear companion of my battles and mytoils, to thy faithful bosom alone I can confide my sorrows. To theealone can I tell how oft, since I came to this kingdom, I have desiredto be dissolved and to be with the just. Not one object in England hathmet mine eye which it could rest upon with pleasure, save the tombs ofour brethren, beneath the massive roof of our Temple Church in yonderproud capital. O, valiant Robert de Ros! did I exclaim internally, as Igazed upon these good soldiers of the cross, where they lie sculpturedon their sepulchres,--O, worthy William de Mareschal! open your marblecells, and take to your repose a weary brother, who would rather strivewith a hundred thousand pagans than witness the decay of our HolyOrder!
It is but true, answered Conrade Mont-Fitchet; it is but too true;and the irregularities of our brethren in England are even more grossthan those in France.
Because they are more wealthy, answered the Grand Master. Bear withme, brother, although I should something vaunt myself. Thou knowest thelife I have led, keeping each point of my Order, striving with devilsembodied and disembodied, striking down the roaring lion, who goethabout seeking whom he may devour, like a good knight and devoutpriest, wheresoever I met with him--even as blessed Saint Bernard hathprescribed to us in the forty-fifth capital of our rule, 'Ut Leo semperferiatur'. [49]
But by the Holy Temple! the zeal which hath devoured my substance andmy life, yea, the very nerves and marrow of my bones; by that very HolyTemple I swear to thee, that save thyself and some few that still retainthe ancient severity of our Order, I look upon no brethren whom I canbring my soul to embrace under that holy name. What say our statutes,and how do our brethren observe them? They should wear no vain orworldly ornament, no crest upon their helmet, no gold upon stirrup orbridle-bit; yet who now go pranked out so proudly and so gaily as thepoor soldiers of the Temple? They are forbidden by our statutes to takeone bird by means of another, to shoot beasts with bow or arblast, tohalloo to a hunting-horn, or to spur the horse after game. But now,at hunting and hawking, and each idle sport of wood and river, who soprompt as the Templars in all these fond vanities? They are forbiddento read, save what their Superior permitted, or listen to what isread, save such holy things as may be recited aloud during the hours ofrefaction; but lo! their ears are at the command of idle minstrels, andtheir eyes study empty romaunts. They were commanded to extirpate magicand heresy. Lo! they are charged with studying the accursed cabalisticalsecrets of the Jews, and the magic of the Paynim Saracens. Simplenessof diet was prescribed to them, roots, pottage, gruels, eating fleshbut thrice a-week, because the accustomed feeding on flesh is adishonourable corruption of the body; and behold, their tables groanunder delicate fare! Their drink was to be water, and now, to drink likea Templar, is the boast of each jolly boon companion! This very garden,filled as it is with curious herbs and trees sent from the Easternclimes, better becomes the harem of an unbelieving Emir, than theplot which Christian Monks should devote to raise their homelypot-herbs.--And O, Conrade! well it were that the relaxation ofdiscipline stopped even here!--Well thou knowest that we were forbiddento receive those devout women, who at the beginning were associatedas sisters of our Order, because, saith the forty-sixth chapter, theAncient Enemy hath, by female society, withdrawn many from the rightpath to paradise. Nay, in the last capital, being, as it were, thecope-stone which our blessed founder placed on the pure and undefileddoctrine which he had enjoined, we are prohibited from offering, even toour sisters and our mothers, the kiss of affection--'ut omniummulierum fugiantur oscula'.--I shame to speak--I shame to think--of thecorruptions which have rushed in upon us even like a flood. The soulsof our pure founders, the spirits of Hugh de Payen and Godfrey de SaintOmer, and of the blessed Seven who first joined in dedicating theirlives to the service of the Temple, are disturbed even in the enjoymentof paradise itself. I have seen them, Conrade, in the visions of thenight--their sainted eyes shed tears for the sins and follies of theirbrethren, and for the foul and shameful luxury in which they wallow.Beaumanoir, they say, thou slumberest--awake! There is a stain in thefabric of the Temple, deep and foul as that left by the streaks ofleprosy on the walls of the infected houses of old. [50]
The soldiers of the Cross, who should shun the glance of a woman as theeye of a basilisk, live in open sin, not with the females of their ownrace only, but with the daughters of the accursed heathen, and moreaccursed Jew. Beaumanoir, thou sleepest; up, and avenge our cause!--Slaythe sinners, male and female!--Take to thee the brand of Phineas!--Thevision fled, Conrade, but as I awaked I could still hear the clank oftheir mail, and see the waving of their white mantles.--And I will doaccording to their word, I WILL purify the fabric of the Temple! and theunclean stones in which the plague is, I will remove and cast out of thebuilding.
Yet bethink thee, reverend father, said Mont-Fitchet, the stainhath become engrained by time and consuetude; let thy reformation becautious, as it is just and wise.
No, Mont-Fitchet, answered the stern old man--it must be sharpand sudden--the Order is on the crisis of its fate. The sobriety,self-devotion, and piety of our predecessors, made us powerfulfriends--our presumption, our wealth, our luxury, have raised upagainst us mighty enemies.--We must cast away these riches, which area temptation to princes--we must lay down that presumption, which isan offence to them--we must reform that license of manners, which is ascandal to the whole Christian world! Or--mark my words--the Order ofthe Temple will be utterly demolished--and the Place thereof shall nomore be known among the nations.
Now may God avert such a calamity! said the Preceptor.
Amen, said the Grand Master, with solemnity, but we must deserve hisaid. I tell thee, Conrade, that neither the powers in Heaven, northe powers on earth, will longer endure the wickedness of thisgeneration--My intelligence is sure--the ground on which our fabric isreared is already undermined, and each addition we make to the structureof our greatness will only sink it the sooner in the abyss. We mustretrace our steps, and show ourselves the faithful Champions ofthe Cross, sacrificing to our calling, not alone our blood and ourlives--not alone our lusts and our vices--but our ease, our comforts,and our natural affections, and act as men convinced that many apleasure which may be lawful to others, is forbidden to the vowedsoldier of the Temple.
At this moment a squire, clothed in a threadbare vestment, (for theaspirants after this holy Order wore during their noviciate the cast-offgarments of the knights,) entered the garden, and, bowing profoundlybefore the Grand Master, stood silent, awaiting his permission ere hepresumed to tell his errand.
Is it not more seemly, said the Grand Master, to see this Damian,clothed in the garments of Christian humility, thus appear with reverendsilence before his Superior, than but two days since, when the fond foolwas decked in a painted coat, and jangling as pert and as proud as anypopinjay?--Speak, Damian, we permit thee--What is thine errand?
A Jew stands without the gate, noble and reverend father, said theSquire, who prays to speak with brother Brian de Bois-Guilbert.
Thou wert right to give me knowledge of it, said the Grand Master; inour presence a Preceptor is but as a common compeer of our Order, whomay not walk according to his own will, but to that of his Master--evenaccording to the text, 'In the hearing of the ear he hath obeyedme.'--It imports us especially to know of this Bois-Guilbert'sproceedings, said he, turning to his companion.
Report speaks him brave and valiant, said Conrade.
And truly is he so spoken of, said the Grand Master; in our valouronly we are not degenerated from our predecessors, the heroes of theCross. But brother Brian came into our Order a moody and disappointedman, stirred, I doubt me, to take our vows and to renounce the world,not in sincerity of soul, but as one whom some touch of light discontenthad driven into penitence. Since then, he hath become an active andearnest agitator, a murmurer, and a machinator, and a leader amongstthose who impugn our authority; not considering that the rule is givento the Master even by the symbol of the staff and the rod--the staff tosupport the infirmities of the weak--the rod to correct the faults ofdelinquents.--Damian, he continued, lead the Jew to our presence.
The squire departed with a profound reverence, and in a few minutesreturned, marshalling in Isaac of York. No naked slave, ushered into thepresence of some mighty prince, could approach his judgment-seat withmore profound reverence and terror than that with which the Jew drewnear to the presence of the Grand Master. When he had approached withinthe distance of three yards, Beaumanoir made a sign with his staff thathe should come no farther. The Jew kneeled down on the earth which hekissed in token of reverence; then rising, stood before the Templars,his hands folded on his bosom, his head bowed on his breast, in all thesubmission of Oriental slavery.
Damian, said the Grand Master, retire, and have a guard ready toawait our sudden call; and suffer no one to enter the garden until weshall leave it.--The squire bowed and retreated.--Jew, continued thehaughty old man, mark me. It suits not our condition to hold withthee long communication, nor do we waste words or time upon any one.Wherefore be brief in thy answers to what questions I shall ask thee,and let thy words be of truth; for if thy tongue doubles with me, I willhave it torn from thy misbelieving jaws.
The Jew was about to reply, but the Grand Master went on.
Peace, unbeliever!--not a word in our presence, save in answer toour questions.--What is thy business with our brother Brian deBois-Guilbert?
Isaac gasped with terror and uncertainty. To tell his tale might beinterpreted into scandalizing the Order; yet, unless he told it, whathope could he have of achieving his daughter's deliverance? Beaumanoirsaw his mortal apprehension, and condescended to give him someassurance.
Fear nothing, he said, for thy wretched person, Jew, so thou dealestuprightly in this matter. I demand again to know from thee thy businesswith Brian de Bois-Guilbert?
I am bearer of a letter, stammered out the Jew, so please yourreverend valour, to that good knight, from Prior Aymer of the Abbey ofJorvaulx.
Said I not these were evil times, Conrade? said the Master. ACistertian Prior sends a letter to a soldier of the Temple, and can findno more fitting messenger than an unbelieving Jew.--Give me the letter.
The Jew, with trembling hands, undid the folds of his Armenian cap, inwhich he had deposited the Prior's tablets for the greater security, andwas about to approach, with hand extended and body crouched, to place itwithin the reach of his grim interrogator.
Back, dog! said the Grand Master; I touch not misbelievers, save withthe sword.--Conrade, take thou the letter from the Jew, and give it tome.
Beaumanoir, being thus possessed of the tablets, inspected the outsidecarefully, and then proceeded to undo the packthread which secured itsfolds. Reverend father, said Conrade, interposing, though with muchdeference, wilt thou break the seal?
And will I not? said Beaumanoir, with a frown. Is it not written inthe forty-second capital, 'De Lectione Literarum' that a Templar shallnot receive a letter, no not from his father, without communicating thesame to the Grand Master, and reading it in his presence?
He then perused the letter in haste, with an expression of surprise andhorror; read it over again more slowly; then holding it out to Conradewith one hand, and slightly striking it with the other, exclaimed--Hereis goodly stuff for one Christian man to write to another, and bothmembers, and no inconsiderable members, of religious professions! When,said he solemnly, and looking upward, wilt thou come with thy fannersto purge the thrashing-floor?
Mont-Fitchet took the letter from his Superior, and was about to peruseit.
Read it aloud, Conrade, said the Grand Master,--and do thou(to Isaac) attend to the purport of it, for we will question theeconcerning it.
Conrade read the letter, which was in these words: Aymer, by divinegrace, Prior of the Cistertian house of Saint Mary's of Jorvaulx, toSir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, a Knight of the holy Order of the Temple,wisheth health, with the bounties of King Bacchus and of my Lady Venus.Touching our present condition, dear Brother, we are a captive in thehands of certain lawless and godless men, who have not feared to detainour person, and put us to ransom; whereby we have also learned ofFront-de-Boeuf's misfortune, and that thou hast escaped with that fairJewish sorceress, whose black eyes have bewitched thee. We are heartilyrejoiced of thy safety; nevertheless, we pray thee to be on thy guard inthe matter of this second Witch of Endor; for we are privately assuredthat your Great Master, who careth not a bean for cherry cheeks andblack eyes, comes from Normandy to diminish your mirth, and amend yourmisdoings. Wherefore we pray you heartily to beware, and to be foundwatching, even as the Holy Text hath it, 'Invenientur vigilantes'. Andthe wealthy Jew her father, Isaac of York, having prayed of me lettersin his behalf, I gave him these, earnestly advising, and in a sortentreating, that you do hold the damsel to ransom, seeing he will payyou from his bags as much as may find fifty damsels upon safer terms,whereof I trust to have my part when we make merry together, as truebrothers, not forgetting the wine-cup. For what saith the text, 'Vinumlaetificat cor hominis'; and again, 'Rex delectabitur pulchritudinetua'.
Till which merry meeting, we wish you farewell. Given from this den ofthieves, about the hour of matins,
Aymer Pr. S. M. Jorvolciencis.
'Postscriptum.' Truly your golden chain hath not long abidden with me,and will now sustain, around the neck of an outlaw deer-stealer, thewhistle wherewith he calleth on his hounds.
What sayest thou to this, Conrade? said the Grand Master--Den ofthieves! and a fit residence is a den of thieves for such a Prior. Nowonder that the hand of God is upon us, and that in the Holy Land welose place by place, foot by foot, before the infidels, when we havesuch churchmen as this Aymer.--And what meaneth he, I trow, by thissecond Witch of Endor? said he to his confident, something apart.Conrade was better acquainted (perhaps by practice) with the jargon ofgallantry, than was his Superior; and he expounded the passage whichembarrassed the Grand Master, to be a sort of language used by worldlymen towards those whom they loved 'par amours'; but the explanation didnot satisfy the bigoted Beaumanoir.
There is more in it than thou dost guess, Conrade; thy simplicity isno match for this deep abyss of wickedness. This Rebecca of York was apupil of that Miriam of whom thou hast heard. Thou shalt hear the Jewown it even now. Then turning to Isaac, he said aloud, Thy daughter,then, is prisoner with Brian de Bois-Guilbert?
Ay, reverend valorous sir, stammered poor Isaac, and whatsoeverransom a poor man may pay for her deliverance---
Peace! said the Grand Master. This thy daughter hath practised theart of healing, hath she not?
Ay, gracious sir, answered the Jew, with more confidence; and knightand yeoman, squire and vassal, may bless the goodly gift which Heavenhath assigned to her. Many a one can testify that she hath recoveredthem by her art, when every other human aid hath proved vain; but theblessing of the God of Jacob was upon her.
Beaumanoir turned to Mont-Fitchet with a grim smile. See, brother,he said, the deceptions of the devouring Enemy! Behold the baitswith which he fishes for souls, giving a poor space of earthly life inexchange for eternal happiness hereafter. Well said our blessedrule, 'Semper percutiatur leo vorans'.--Up on the lion! Down with thedestroyer! said he, shaking aloft his mystic abacus, as if in defianceof the powers of darkness--Thy daughter worketh the cures, I doubtnot, thus he went on to address the Jew, by words and sighs, andperiapts, and other cabalistical mysteries.
Nay, reverend and brave Knight, answered Isaac, but in chief measureby a balsam of marvellous virtue.
Where had she that secret? said Beaumanoir.
It was delivered to her, answered Isaac, reluctantly, by Miriam, asage matron of our tribe.
Ah, false Jew! said the Grand Master; was it not from that samewitch Miriam, the abomination of whose enchantments have been heard ofthroughout every Christian land? exclaimed the Grand Master, crossinghimself. Her body was burnt at a stake, and her ashes were scattered tothe four winds; and so be it with me and mine Order, if I do not asmuch to her pupil, and more also! I will teach her to throw spell andincantation over the soldiers of the blessed Temple.--There, Damian,spurn this Jew from the gate--shoot him dead if he oppose or turn again.With his daughter we will deal as the Christian law and our own highoffice warrant.
Poor Isaac was hurried off accordingly, and expelled from thepreceptory; all his entreaties, and even his offers, unheard anddisregarded. He could do not better than return to the house of theRabbi, and endeavour, through his means, to learn how his daughter wasto be disposed of. He had hitherto feared for her honour, he was nowto tremble for her life. Meanwhile, the Grand Master ordered to hispresence the Preceptor of Templestowe.